Ask a question like “where did you catch that fish?” and you’re more than likely to get a smart aleck answer like “in the water” or “by its mouth” than for veteran anglers to reveal the actual spot where they landed their prize.

Thankfully, in Calgary finding the perfect fishing hole is not too much of an issue. Being on the junction where the Elbow River and the Bow River meet, the city has miles and miles of teeming fishing grounds. And this is just on the rivers, there are also several man-made lakes that dot the city and adjacent towns, as well as lagoons like Bowness and Carburn Park, where one can spend a lazy afternoon fishing to the heart’s content.
But Calgary’s international claim to fame in the fly fishing game is the Bow River.

The Bow River, 623 kilometres in length, originates in the Canadian Rockies, flows south to the village of Lake Louise, turns east to Banff and then through Canmore. The Bow continues eastward to the city of Calgary; and forms the South Saskatchewan River when it joins with the Oldman River near Grassy Lake in southern Alberta. The Bow River, often 100 yards (91 metres) wide, is the lifeblood of millions of hectares of prairie farmland, and is world famous for the fly-fishing adventures it offers.

“Fly fishermen from all over the world come to the Bow River to try this challenging environment, it’s a very rewarding experience because of the quality of fishing available here,” says Terry Johnson of the Fish Tales Fly Shop—one of the city’s many fly fishing tour companies.

Johnson is the head guide of Fish Tales and has been doing guided fishing tours of the Bow for the last 13 years. “The sizes of fish you can get on the Bow River are among the biggest you can get in North America, here 20-inch trout is the norm, everywhere else it’s the exception.”

It was noted by the Fly Fisherman magazine that the Bow produces larger average trout than virtually any other stream in the continent, and veteran fly fishers can catch rainbow trout and brown trout between 20 and 24 inches long.

In fact, Johnson says the size of the fish is just about the most constant thing about the river. “It can be unpredictable and even experienced fly fishers have difficulty with it, but the beauty of it is you can go for miles on the boat and the terrain is always different, you never get bored.”

There are plenty of good access points to the river, and contrary to what others may say, it is not necessary to have a boat to fish the Bow.

There is no question that a drift boat or pontoon boat is a substantial asset, but there is also a reasonable amount of good wade-in fishing available. According to the Bow River fly-fishing web site (http://www.thebowriver.com), the best way to find a wade spot is to walk for 15 or 20 minutes from one of the public access sites between south Calgary and the town of Carseland. You can access the river at the Highway 22X Bridge, Deerfoot Trail Bridge, Policeman’s Flats (off Dunbow Road), McKinnon flats, and near the Carseland weir.

The Bow between Calgary and Carseland is open to angling all year, but only the upper portion of that section remains ice-free through the winter. Most visitors to the Bow are interested in fishing the other three seasons. “The best time I find is from July to August when water levels are at their best,” Johnson says.

The shortest path to good fishing on this water comes from up-to-the-minute local knowledge. Even experienced fly fishers will benefit from hiring a guide or fishing with a local angler for their first few days on the Bow. Good luck, and don’t forget your license! NL