FlyFishing The BOW River
The Bow River is world reknowned for it's bruiser Brown Trout. It starts up in the mountains at the Bow Lake and tails off into the Oldman River in South-Central Alberta. The fish in this are Browns, Rainbows, Cutthroat, Brookies, Bull Trout, Rockies and the occassional Pike, Goldeye, Pickeral, and Sturgeon. The best time to fish this river is in early to late spring, and then again in late summer thru to fall. There are a lot of reservoirs on the river such as Bossano, Ghost, and Bears paw, as well as Carsland Weir. It is important to read the regs on the Bow because all sections of the river have different regulations to go by. The best part of the river to fish would have to be the lower stretchs as it gets closer to the Oldman. Over by Bossano, the Rainbows have become quite large, and the Pike enter into the picture.
The stretch of the river that runs right thru the city of Calgary is becoming quite popular with the anglers. Right in the core of the city have Brown Trout revieled their true size and power. There have been 5 to 10 pound browns taken from the stretch of the 10th street bridge to the C.P rails bridge. This portion of the river is best suited for the fly fisher using the Blue Winged Olive and March Brown in the spring. Hoppers, Nymphs, and Coachman's work well into the summer. Caddis immitations, royal coachman's and Wooly Buggers work quite well in the fall.
Click below for Info on the Rainbow Trout
Here is the Hatch Chart for the Bow.
| Insect | Date | Fly Patterns | Fly Sizes |
| Blue-Winged Olive | April 1- Mid May | Adams | #12-#20 |
| April 1-Mid May | Blue-winged olive | #14-#20 | |
| March Brown | May-Mid June | March Brown | #12-#16 |
| Caddis | June-Sept | Elk Hair Caddis | #10-#16 |
| Stonefly | July-Mid Aug | Yellow Stimulator | #4-#10 |
| July-Mid Aug | Orange Stimulator | #4-#10 | |
| Grass Hopper | Aug-Oct | Jay Dave's Hopper | #6-#10 |
Although these are just some of my favorites to use on the Bow, there are some other flies that work just as well. Some other patterns are:
Dry Flies like the Royal Coachman in the size 10 range and the Humpy in the 10 - 12 range. Nymphs always work well when nothing else seems to work. Some patterns are the Hare ear 10-14, the prince nymph size 12-14, and the ever popular San Jaun Worm. Streamers such as the Bow River Bugger and the Wooly Bugger seam to work well on cloudy days.
Get your ownFree Home Page