The Middle Bow River

Every good story starts with a hook, well my story starts with an old friend; my first fly rod. About a month ago, I was cleaning and organizing when I dug out my first fly rod that I ever owned. It was a fiberglass rod of an unknown make, because my earlier work of rebuilding the rod had removed any trace on the butt section of the fiberglass, which most likely had evidence of the original manufacturing identification at one time, but that branding was now gone forever. It was not an expensive fly rod, but it had wonderful action. At one time, in my younger years, I had considered this fly rod an extension of my own right hand, because it was in that hand for a very long period of time!

In any case, when the dust was removed from that wonderful magic wand, I decided at that point in time, I would fish this old friend before the snow flew this fall. The day of the 7th of October rolled around, and prior to my sudden impulse to go fly fishing, there was no previous plan or even thought regarding the matter, I just knew that I had to get onto the water for this perfect, warm and calm fall day.

The old fly rod had previously been dressed out with a new fly reel and line that I just happen to have on hand, so the tool was ready for its return to the river. When I rebuilt the rod, I had embelished the old fiberglass with a few new coats of polyurethane varnish, over a a fresh coat of black paint, its original color coating. The cork handle had recieved some filler, with a finish sanding to complete the job. It looks pretty colorful and sparkley. What was I thinking? In any case, the rod did handle the new line very well, as a few practise casts were always in order, prior to any foray into the wilds, to pursue the wild trout.

After suiting up in chest waders and grabbing all of my well prepared gear, I was out the door and off to the river. My first fly had already been tied on the new leader and it was ready for a stream side dressing of floatant and a wish and a prayer before the first cast. On my destination plan, there were a few boulder sites that I had put in the Bow River, here in the town of Cochrane, back in 1989 and again in 1996. With the lower flows, I was really looking forward to casting dry flies over the complex currents and vortexes of the large rocks that were used in the program, all of them were 4 to 6 ton boulders, so they were pretty significant structure for a freestone river, like our reach of the Bow River.

As a matter of fact, you can see some of the very large boulders in the river channel, in the photograph used at the top of this page. This kind of structure can really work like a trout magnet, so fly fishing over the rocks is a real joy for me personally. The type of line mends that you need to use, to get that longer drag free drift, is very challenging, but I like that a lot!

The weather could not have been more perfect for my first outting on the Bow River, since the early spring. It was late enough into the fall that you can fish midday, when the trout are more active in the cold fall flows of the Bow River. Now that is fly fishing heaven! I may not get out as much as I once did, but when I do, sometimes, it is the best thing that could happen to me in a very long time! Dry fly fishing in a downstream direction, what an easy ride, when you are wading the river. The current helps you on your way, was you carefully navigate the shallows of the river.

When wading, I like the chest waders in the river. Most of the wading is done shallow, so if you ever slip, you won't get as wet in chest waders. The didymoe is very slippery these days, and I don't use felt sole, but rather a wading boot rock gripping tread. The cleat soles are the next purchase that I will make for my Korkers wading boots. The water seldom gets too far above my thigh on this reach of the Bow River, where the faster flowing water keeps the trout in a little closer to the shore in some spots, so casting from the bank is a better idea on some stretches.

The fly pattern that I had tied on at home was quick to produce the first small trout, which just happen to be a rainbow trout of approximately 5 inches. This was great, it immediately confirmed the presence of some 4 to 5 inch trout in the river, and the first to take my hook was a JP rainbow trout. This presence of juvenile rainbow trout is the foundation of tomorrows rainbow trout population, so I was really pleased to let that little trout rocket off into the rapids, when it was released. The bullet head wood ant had done its job, so I was really pleased with that quick action!