It was June 27, 2004 and nearing the end of run off. A friend and I were floating the McKinnon to Carseland reach in my jet boat and we drifted into a back channel. We had the river to ourselves on this day. The Bow was in prime run off fishing condition and this particular back channel had formed up perfectly. I rowed to the far bank so as not to disturb the run and then came across and anchored at the bottom of the run. We spread out and started nymphing. In the space of an hour we must have hooked and landed about 20 trout both browns and rainbows. This magnificent hen brown was hooked at the head of the run which was a surprise to me as browns generally prefer the tail of such runs. She was duped by a size 16 Tom's BH nymph and almost bent the rod over so the tip touched the butt section. During the fight I was hoping that my knots would hold and that the outcome would be favorable. I knew the trout was big but had no idea just how large until she broke the surface in the middle of the channel. I almost fell in at that point. After the battle she was taped (28 inches long/18 inches in girth), photograped, kissed on the snout and then released. To view more photos of large Bow River trout, click on this link. -Source: thebowriver.

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