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Rivers

All riversHatch chartBow RiverWhite River, ArkansasDavidson RiverPenns CreekLetort Spring RunFarmington RiverPere Marquette RiverNorth Umpqua RiverDeschutes RiverSan Juan RiverFryingpan RiverYellowstone RiverBighorn RiverTraun RiverBeaverkill RiverRío GrandeGreen River below Flaming GorgeRiver WharfeHenry's Fork of the SnakeSoča RiverAu Sable RiverTongariro RiverSouth Platte — Deckers and CheesmanRiver TestMadison River

Insects

Brown troutRainbow troutMountain whitefishBrook troutCutthroat troutSteelheadEuropean graylingMarble troutSea-run brown troutResident brown trout

Techniques

Reading waterMatching a hatchNymphingDry-fly presentationStreamer fishingSwinging a flyCatch and release, done properlyTying flies you will actually fish

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Rivers
Bow RiverWhite River, ArkansasDavidson RiverPenns CreekLetort Spring RunFarmington RiverPere Marquette RiverNorth Umpqua RiverDeschutes RiverSan Juan RiverFryingpan RiverYellowstone RiverBighorn RiverTraun RiverBeaverkill RiverRío GrandeGreen River below Flaming GorgeRiver WharfeHenry's Fork of the SnakeSoča RiverAu Sable RiverTongariro RiverSouth Platte — Deckers and CheesmanRiver TestMadison River
Brown troutRainbow troutMountain whitefishBrook troutCutthroat troutSteelheadEuropean graylingMarble troutSea-run brown troutResident brown trout
Reading waterMatching a hatchNymphingDry-fly presentationStreamer fishingSwinging a flyCatch and release, done properlyTying flies you will actually fish

Bow River · access

Southern Alberta, Canada · Canada

By The Fly Desk · Published 2026-10-19

Licence and rules

Licence and rules. Alberta requires a sportfishing licence from 16, and a separate Bow River licence tag is required between the Bearspaw and Carseland dams — the revenue funds enforcement on the river. Bait is banned in the Bow; barbless hooks are mandatory province-wide. The season on the Bow is open all year below Bearspaw, which is rare for an Alberta trout water.

Season

The city reach fishes all year; the best dry-fly weeks are late June and September

Flow

3,000–8,000 cfs through Calgary; the mountain headwaters spike hard in June

The Bow is regulated by Bearspaw and Glenmore, so the city reach has a stable base flow while the mountain headwaters above Canmore spike violently with June snowmelt and after heavy rain. Visibility in the city reach is usually over a metre; after a big rain upstream it can drop to 20 cm within a day and take three days to clear.

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