The Smell Of Summer Is In The Air

The sun comes up over the horizon; the birds are a sweet sound to the ears early in the morning. The worms are squiggling out of the soggy cool soil after a clean spring rain. No need to dig for worms, they are all covering the lawn. The coffee pot clicks on and the shower fills the bathroom with moisture. The coffee is made and the first few sips go down so smooth. The fishing gear is ready and waiting at the front door and the mental check is complete. Rods, yep, hooks, yep, good to go. Then the mad dash for the river bank, there is no traffic at six am so the drive is a quick one. Then the heart starts pumping rapidly, adrenalin rushes though your veins as you walk to the fish. You know where they are and you’re prepped to get some reel screaming action. The hook is tied and you double check its strength in case a monster hits hard. Finally the first cast is launched and you’re in heaven.

Yes the sure delight of fishing, many do not fully comprehend. What’s so cool about a slippery fish, well until you catch the bug you will never entirely understand! For those of you who know, there is no need to clarify. The lure is probing, high and low, bottom to middle to top. The wait is excruciating until finally a hit, a glimpse of hope that you will catch and land one. Tap, tap and then BANG, a solid hook set and the battle ensues. From side to side fights the trout, tugging the rod as it pumps up and down, then the trout takes flight and you see it in all its glory, the silver bullet splashes down and then you pick up the slack taking back the line he stripped just moments ago. Wow you say as you try and catch your breath, then the moment arrives you have been waiting for; you get to touch him and gently remove the hook from his chops. Then you let him go back to where he came from, watching him with wonder.

Fishing is enjoyed by all, young and old. It is cheep to get into and it’s gratifying far beyond words. Many campfire stories are told about the big one landed, or the one that got away. Memories that will never be forgotten are made on the water all over the world. New world records are being broken month after month and angling just keeps getting more and more popular every year. For me, I think about catching fish almost every day. It’s that passion for the sport that keeps me on the river bank year after year. What keeps you coming back for more? I’d like to read your comments, feel free to add your comment here.

Just What The Doctor Prescribed

After working diligently to get all my work done this week, I packed my fishing tackle and my rod into the back of my car and headed off to finish the work week. Friday morning was looking really great to leave work early and sneak away to fish the Bow River. Just as a doctor would prescribe ointment for a rash, fishing scratches and heals all my itches. I left work early at ten thirty and drove thirty minutes to meet up with some trout.

I parked the car and got out. Burr, it was a little chilly so I got on my snow pants. I added an extra sweater for good measure as well, after all I am not leaving the river until I catch at least one fish. I tied up a Rapala Countdown and made sure the knot was going to hold if I caught a monster Trout. The knot broke the first time I tied it up, so I made extra sure the knot was solid the second time I tied it up. I am a little rusty but the clinch knot was perfect this time. I then put my back pack over my shoulders and make the short walk to the river bank. I fished my way upriver with no bites for the first five or ten minutes. I was looking for a deeper section of river as the countdown can run fairly deep. If you use a lure that runs deeper than the river, all you will catch is rocks, branches, and weeds.

I gingerly walked out onto the ice that has gathered on the bank and made my cast. I was able to almost cast all the way across the river, the ice was quite far out into the river in some spots. The lure was running true and clean when, tap, tap I feel the bite of a trout. I seen the fish swim back into the rock he was hiding behind. Even though I thought there were fish stacked in this area, I kept moving upriver to see what else was alive down there. Just a short distance upriver I finally hooked into a twenty inch Brown Trouton a Brown Trout Rapala. This guy was hungry and engulfed my offering. Then there came another slow period. I decided that instead of leaving the original hook on, I would change it to another Rapala of a different color. I feel some fishermen make the mistake of leaving their hook on too long when they are not catching fish. Today all it took was to change the color pattern and then I started slamming trout. I was using the same hook, it was the same size but I just changed the color.

After I switched hooks I made a long cast into a seam in the middle of the river. I could see there were some large rocks and I wanted to see what was hiding behind them. My cast was made just a metre in front of the spot I wanted to work my lure through. I was careful not to spook the fish from the splash of my lure. I clicked the bail over and reeled the lure making it swim erratically and fast, then BOOM a trout was hooked on and fighting hard. I reeled him in and to my surprise it was a chunky rainbow. I love rainbows! The very next cast was put almost to the exact same place the first cast went into, this time the lure dove down and I let it sit still, BANG another trout was hooked up. Back to back trout’s. This time it was a big brown that was rolling to get the hook out of his mouth. I managed to slowly reel him in to land him and what a beautiful looking fish. I released him back into the frigid water and wiped my hands off. It was getting windy by now and it was time to walk back downriver towards my vehicle. I was fishing all the way back downstream as the wind was howling behind my back.

As the wind was blowing strong my lure was going even farther out into the River than when I first started my day. I hooked the bottom; probably a tree or a large rock in the river and my hook broke off. “Oh well” I said and reached into the back pack for another. A different colour Rapala was selected. It’s a new color out this year. As I came to a deep small pocket of water, I flicked the lure into the drop point of the hole and slowly reeled the Rapala towards the deepest part of the hole. After the third try, what I left early from work for was pulling my lure hard. A twenty five inch Brown trout was getting the best of me. I loosened the drag on my reel as I could see this was no small fry. He then peeled out several yards of line before coming to a stop; quickly I picked up the lost line and brought him close to shore where I tailed him out and removed the Rapala from his tooth jaws. “Now that’s what I’m talking about” I said out loud. I saved the best for last today that’s for sure. Hopefully next week the weather is nice and I can get away again. What are you doing this week? Perhaps some trout fishing!

Fishing Rapala’s For Big Rainbows

My family and I decided to fish this Sunday that just passed. We floated the Bow River in search of Browns and Rainbows that occupy this river. It has taken me until today to write this post so sorry for the delay. I brought the movie camera along and my girlfriend was kind enough to be my camera woman for the day. I am planning a video series on fishing rivers with various types of fishing tackle being featured. A few weeks back was the practice run for this series of videos.

I am hoping to get the first two videos of the series filmed before the snow flies here in Alberta. As we locals know the time is ticking. The video above is me chucking a Brown Trout Rapala into the banks of the Bow River. The fish were going nuts for this proven lure from Rapala. The lure is a countdown CD-9 and has a very tight wobble which looks very life like to sport fish!

Please watch the video and share it with your friends!!!! Leave some feedback on the Blog as to what you would like to see featured, lures, spinners etc.

Click “Watch In High Quality” while on YouTube for a better viewing experience.

Thank you.

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I made my way down to the Bow River earlier in the week to try my luck at some trout fishing. I arrived and viewed the splendid colors of fall here in Alberta. The leaves are turning a golden yellow mixed in with warm reds. The leaves are slowly dropping from the trees as the north wind is pushing them off their branches. I still cannot believe summer has come and gone once again. What a summer I had fishing the Bow River! I would like to thank my fantastic clients I was able to guide this spring and into the summer months. I sure hope you had as much fun as I did!

When I decide to fish the banks of the Bow River I usually pick a slow deep spot in the river, so I drove down to a hole which usually holds big browns at this time of the year. I walked out into the clearing and stood beside the river in total shock. I saw back hoes, earth movers and likes damming up one side of the river. “So much for catching any fish in that place today” I mumbled to myself. I was in the same location in the summer and ran into two guys surveying the river. I asked them what they were doing and they informed me they were planning to put some sewage piping from one side of the river to the other under ground. I spitted out some words I cannot repeat here and left the river thinking “there goes another good spot to fish the Bow”.

There was a time not so long ago that a fisherman could leave Calgary and take a short drive into seclusion. Not anymore! As this city grows and grows it infringes on the once private sections of the river. Pretty soon I will need to drive an hour to escape the commotion of the concrete jungle. Those secret spots on the river are no longer secrets, but I still remain grateful we have the river here. It sure has been good to me over the years!

I left the river with my head hung a little lower than usual. Destruction of the river never gets me into a good mood. I never hooked into any trout that day, wonder if all the construction had anything to do with that? I stopped to daydream of the past and shoot a few pictures of the fall colors. A playful duck was hammering away at the larva which was all along the shore line. The wind picked up and sent chills down my back, a little reminder from Mother Nature that winter is just around the corner.

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As we enter the fall season in Alberta, Brown Trout fishing on the Bow River will pick up. Those elusive Brown Trout will show up on the end of our monofilament fishing line. Brown Trout will start to fatten up for their spawn making for good fishing for this species. So how are we to hook into these lovely specimens? The answer I believe lies in their diet!

Young Brown Trout feed on insects and other invertebrates, but the larger fish are active predators of other bait fish including young Brown Trout, suckers, White Fish and Rainbow Trout. Larger Brown Trout will also feed on small animals that fall in the water from shore. This is a hint as to where to cast your lure when fishing from a boat! Brown Trout usually do not become active or feed until the late afternoon or early evening but when the weather is cool enough they will feed during the day as well. The largest Brown’s of the river feed under the cover of darkness, so stay out on the river bank a little longer than most fisherman dare too. Brown trout can be caught with artificial flies, spoons, jigs, plastic worm imitations and lures.

When I target Brown Trout I use lures with natural looking colors to imitate their natural diet. I select lures that look like Rainbow Trout, Rocky Mountain Whitefish and Brown Trout during daylight hours. It is very important to key in on these colors to have good success fishing browns when there is cloud cover. Browns have better “dim light” eyesight than most other trout. However I find success with brighter colors during the cover of darkness. Use the most natural of bright colors and you are sure to land a trophy brown in the dark.

On the Bow River I have found you need to stay fishing well past dusk, an hour past the last light is usually when I start to hook up trout. There is a slow period between twilight and total darkness on the Bow River. I use this time to conserve energy and prepare for what is about to transpire. I make a habit of checking my hooks for any damage, bent hooks or dull hooks will be dealt with at this time before complete blackness arrives. If I need to change a hook out I will do this before there is no light left. I like my hooks strong and very sharp, Eagle Claw hooks is what I prefer over any other hook manufacturer. There are a few other companies I like also but Eagle Claw is my selection when I trout fish the Bow River.

Plan your time to fish browns accordingly and make sure you use lures that are close to what the browns are feeding on. Find deep holes in the river and present your lure at the top, middle and tail ends of these holes. Try different speeds of retrieve and you will catch these wonderful hard fighting species of trout!

Before I head out to fish a river at night I will go out and do some scouting during the daylight hours. I look for hazards that could endanger me and I also look for prime fishing water while there. I look for classic trout holding water such as pools, slow deep runs and under cut banks where fish could be holding. When fish are hiding here during the day it can be quite difficult to cast to them, or they are not going to feed during the day. As nightfall happens, these fish move out of their cover and come alive into more approachable fishing water where you can cast to them.

For these reasons your prime water at night might now include slow outside bends, tail end of a pool, inside shallow bends, and those calm open flats can all start to produce fish once the cover of darkness arrives, especially if this water boarders deeper “classic” holding areas.

The lures I prefer to use at night include plugs like Rapala’s, Berkley Frenzy’s, Matzuo jointed minnows. What I will do when fishing at night is have two fishing rods rigged up and ready to go. I do not like fumbling around at night trying to tie on hooks. So I avoid this hassle and get prepared before hand in the daylight hours.

When approaching the location of water you plan to fish, do so quietly and softly as to not scare off any fish that are holding near the edge of the bank. Also keep your flashlight or head mounted light away from your targeted water. Remember, the less you disturb your location the more chance you will have at landing a trophy Brown.

Please remember fishing in the dark is sometimes awkward and can be challenging. This type of fishing is purely based on feel. But once you have done it a few times you will become productive and could be rewarded with the trophy Brown Trout of your dreams.

On a warm winters day as February is coming to an end, I decided to wander on over to a spot on the Bow River where three weeks ago was fully covered in ice. I was frantically looking for my sunglasses before I left the house for the river, I then remembered they were in my car the whole time. I loaded my new Berkley rod into the vehicle with care and strapped the camera firmly around my neck; you never know when you are going to hook a monster! I dressed for the occasion; ok I overdressed and stepped on the gas pedal hard. There was one reservation however, would the water be open or would it be loaded with ice?

As I arrived at the river I was pleasantly surprised the river had opened wide enough to cast a lure. The sun was beating down on the slightly stained Bow River and making the water glisten as it sparkled off the choppy water in the afternoon sky. Sure glad I had those sunglasses with me! I surveyed the river and the tall ice ledge I was standing on as I put safety first while walking on ice. You cannot reach the bank of the river as the ice has heaved and piled up in this area of the river so I needed to be crafty and select the right hook for the conditions. This was no foot of ice, eight feet of ice has piled up and lined the river bank.

Blue Fox was the first out of the tackle box today. Presentation was important today! I aggressively casted upstream and quickly retrieved my lure as naturally as possible. This method looks real to a trout as the lure is moving downriver. Food is carried from upriver to where these fish were lying in wait to pounce. A twenty plus inch Rainbow was quick to grab a hold of my Blue Fox and take it for an exciting ride across and down the river until he was tired enough and was landed on the ice ledge. I had to step down onto a lower block of ice to get him back into the river without a ten foot drop from where I was standing. This was just the tip of the iceberg.

I had the presentation down to a science and several Rainbow Trout later I decided to change hooks. I am a big fan of the Rapala X-Rap and decided it needed to seek and find some trout along the river bed. The color selection plays a factor when the water is stained or dirty. I fancied a color that was more on the natural looking side of the color spectrum. I launched it out into a slower pocket of water just below a long run in the river. I slowly reel the lure to make it dive down into the water and then I gently lift the rod tip up to make the lure rip in the water, this ripping affect makes the fish go nuts and entices them to strike. If at first I do not get a strike I leave the lure sit in the water and do not reel for a few seconds, this pause is sometimes is what the fish are looking for, a wounded fish not moving which makes for easy prey. Six trout later and a sore arm to show for the effort, I unhooked the lure from my line and placed it back into the clear plastic box it came from.

Before I left the river I stopped and sat on the long brown grass that the cold and snow has killed. I could not help but think to myself; only one more month and spring will be upon us once again. The ice will be gone and the sunglasses will be taken out from their case to shade the glare of the sun from the reflection coming off the clear blue water of the Bow River.