Smiling guest holding a Bow River rainbow trout under a bluebird sky on a guided fly fishing trip with King Trout Outfitters near Calgary

Fishing Reportgood

Bow River Fishing Report Week of October 18, 2026

By Dan King · Lead Guide, King Trout Outfitters

The Bow River conditions report for the week of October 18, 2026, over the DELTATECH live river cam in downtown Calgary. The river's running 42 to 51 cms, about half the summer flow and gin clear, so go light with 6X and long leaders. Blue-winged olives and midges hatch on cloudy afternoons, and the season wraps at the end of October. Watch on YouTube →

Bow River fly fishing conditions in downtown Calgary on October 18, 2026: very low, clear fall water with rocks showing in the riffles below the skyline and Centre Street Bridge, where King Trout Outfitters runs guided Bow River trips. — The Bow running low and clear through downtown Calgary late on the afternoon of Sunday, October 18, 2026, under full sun, with rocks showing in the shallow riffles and most of the fall leaves already down, looking across to the skyline and the Centre Street Bridge. Point-in-time snapshot from the DELTATECH Calgary live river camera. Source: DELTATECH Calgary Live Camera →

Bow River fishing conditions for the week of October 18, 2026 are good. Flow is 42 cubic meters per second and falling. Water temperature is 7°C. No angling restrictions are in effect. Active hatches include Blue-Winged Olive (BWO), Midges, Water Boatman, and October Caddis.

Flow (m³/s) ↓

7°C

Water Temp ↓

good

Overall Conditions

None

Restrictions

iFlow context: The Bow read 42 cms this afternoon, the lowest reading the Calgary gauge has shown in the past month and well under half the 90 cms late-summer baseline. The early-October morning pulses are done. From October 5 to 9 the river jumped from the mid-50s to about 80 cms before breakfast and fell back by noon. It ran a steadier 66-72 cms over Thanksgiving weekend, dropped back into the 50s on October 14, and held there all week with only small daily swings. Then early this morning it stepped down again, from about 54 cms at 4 a.m. to 41 by 2 p.m., with no rain behind it. That's less water coming through the dams upstream. With a mostly dry week ahead, expect it to stay low and clear unless the dams change things. Source: Environment Canada

What Are Conditions Like on the Bow River This Week?

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Dan King

Lead guide at King Trout Outfitters · 15+ years on the Bow River

Dan here. The Bow dropped again this morning. Flow's at 42 cms this afternoon, the lowest it's read in a month, and it lost about 12 cms since 4 a.m. with no rain behind it. That's the dams upstream holding back water. The good news is the early-morning surges from two weeks ago are gone, so no more pushy river before breakfast. The tough news is the fish can see everything. Low, clear water and bright sun make them spooky, so go long on the leader, drop to 6X, and keep your shadow off the water. BWOs are still the main hatch, best on cloudy afternoons, and Water Boatmen are showing up more. Small nymphs do most of the work. The browns are spawning now, so stay off the redds (clean, pale patches of gravel) and fish the deeper water instead. And here's the heads up. Monday through Thursday look mild and dry, with highs up to 17. Then Friday turns colder, with a little snow possible into Saturday. Our season wraps at the end of October, so this is about the last good window for a fall float.

Close-up of a wild brown trout held gently in hand showing distinctive spotted markings

What They're Eating

What Do Trout Eat in the Bow River?

Bow River trout do most of their feeding underwater, on mayfly and stonefly nymphs, caddis, leeches, and aquatic worms. Through summer they also look up for caddis and terrestrials like hoppers. This week they are keyed on Blue-Winged Olive (BWO), Midges, Water Boatman, and October Caddis, which is why the patterns below are producing.

What Hatches Are Active on the Bow River?

Insect	Hook Size	Activity
Blue-Winged Olive (BWO)	#18-22	heavy
Midges	#18-24	heavy
Water Boatman	#14-16	moderate
October Caddis	#8-12	light

See the full month-by-month Bow River Hatch Chart →

What Flies Are Working This Week?

Close-up of a hand selecting a fly from a well-stocked fly box

BWO Cripple / Parachute

#18-20dry

UV Zebra Midge

#18-22nymph

Pheasant Tail (CDC Jig)

#16-18nymph

Boatman

#14-16nymph

Sparkle Minnow (small)

#6-8streamer

Sculpin

#4-6streamer

Pro Tip

No restrictions this week. There's no need for a dawn start. The best window is late morning through late afternoon, once the water has warmed a few degrees and the bugs start moving.

Where Should You Fish the Bow River This Week?

Here's how each reach is fishing this week, from above Bearspaw down to Carseland. Planning a trip? Our guide to Bow River fishing in Calgary covers where, when, and how to fish it.

Upper Bow

Above Bearspaw Dam

Above Bearspaw it's tiny flies and long leaders. The water's gin clear and the fish have seen just about every pattern by now. Midges early, then BWOs once the cloud rolls in or the sun gets low. Fish a #20-22 Zebra Midge or a #18 Pheasant Tail jig through the slow flats, and switch to a #18-20 BWO cripple when you see noses. Go 6X on a long leader and slow way down. On bright, bluebird days the risers can be few and far between, so don't burn the whole afternoon waiting on them.

City Section

Bearspaw Dam to Policeman's Flats

Through town the river's skinny. At 42 cms you can see the rocks in most of the riffles, so the fish are tucked into the pool heads, the deeper seams and the slots along the bank. Wading is easy right now, but that cuts both ways. Move slow and fish ahead of yourself. Nymph the deeper water at Harvie Passage and the Carburn runs with a small Pheasant Tail or Zebra Midge under a light indicator. Or strip a Boatman through the slower edges, they've been getting eaten. BWOs come off midday when it clouds over.

Lower Bow

Policeman's Flats to Carseland

McKinnon Flats down to Carseland is still big-brown water, and fall is when they get aggressive. But they're spawning now. Learn what a redd looks like (a clean, pale, oval patch of gravel), don't wade through them, and don't cast to fish sitting on them. Plenty of non-spawning browns hold in the deeper buckets and along the cutbanks, and that's where your streamer goes. A #6-8 Sparkle Minnow is still the safe bet in water this clear, though bigger sculpins have started moving fish in low light. At 42 cms you'll pick your lines through a few shallow riffles in the boat, but it still covers far more water than you can on foot.

More on the Lower Bow's trophy water →

A red FLYPOD drift boat with two anglers on the Bow River near Calgary, ready to launch for a guided fly fishing trip

On the Water

Do You Need a Boat to Fish the Bow River?

You can wade the Bow in spots, but most of the best water sits along banks and seams you can only reach by drift boat. That is why guided trips here run from a boat. It covers miles of productive water in a day. Even at a low 42 cms this week, when more of the river is wadeable, a boat still reaches far more fish than you can on foot.