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 Reportfair

Bow River Fishing Report Week of October 27, 2026

By Dan King · Lead Guide, King Trout Outfitters

Bow River fly fishing conditions in downtown Calgary on October 27, 2026: low, clear late-fall water under grey skies with bare trees 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 early on the afternoon of Tuesday, October 27, 2026, under flat grey skies, with the trees bare and the leaves long gone, 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 27, 2026 are fair. Flow is 57 cubic meters per second and rising. Water temperature is 5°C. No angling restrictions are in effect. Active hatches include Midges, Water Boatman, and Blue-Winged Olive (BWO).

Flow (m³/s) ↑

5°C

Water Temp ↓

fair

Overall Conditions

None

Restrictions

iFlow context: The Bow read 57 cms this afternoon at the Calgary gauge, still well under the 90 cms late-summer baseline. It's been a jumpy week. Flows slid from the high 40s on October 20 into the 30s, and early Thursday morning, October 22, they dropped to about 28 cms around 4 a.m., the lowest reading in the past month, then climbed back near 39 by mid-morning. No rain was behind that swing. It was water management at the dams upstream. The river sat in the high 30s through the cold, snowy weekend, bumped to about 50 overnight into Monday, and rose again early this morning, from about 40 cms at 9 p.m. Monday to near 59 by 5 a.m., where it held into the afternoon. With a hard cold snap mid-week, expect low, clear water, but the dams can change things fast. Source: Environment Canada

What Are Conditions Like on the Bow River This Week?

“

Dan King

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

Dan here. Rough week on the Bow, and it wasn't the fish. Early Thursday the river dropped to about 28 cms, the lowest it's read in a month, then came right back up by mid-morning. That's the dams upstream, and it left gravel high and dry that's normally underwater. Not great with the browns spawning. So stay off clean, pale gravel and don't cast to fish sitting on it. Today the flow's back near 57 cms after an overnight bump, but it's still low and gin clear. The fish are wary. Go 6X, long leaders, small flies. Nymphing does most of the work, and Water Boatmen are everywhere, so let your drift swing up at the end. BWOs and midges still come off on grey afternoons. And here's the heads up. Wednesday and Thursday look bitter, with highs below zero and lows near minus 9. Expect ice in your guides and slow fish. It warms back to about 6 by Saturday. Our season wraps at the end of October, so Friday and Saturday are the last window for a fall float.

End of the Season

This is our last Bow River fishing report of the 2026 season. Guided trips wrap at the end of October, and the reports pick back up in April 2027 when the guided season opens again. You can send a trip request for 2027 anytime.

Request a trip for next season →

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 Midges, Water Boatman, and Blue-Winged Olive (BWO), which is why the patterns below are producing.

What Hatches Are Active on the Bow River?

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

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

UV Zebra Midge

#18-22nymph

Boatman

#14-16nymph

Pheasant Tail (CDC Jig)

#16-18nymph

BWO Comparadun / Cripple

#18-20dry

Sparkle Minnow (small)

#6-8streamer

Articulated 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 the river's low, clear and cold. Midges are the steady bug now, so fish a #20-22 Zebra Midge or a small Pheasant Tail jig through the slow flats on 6X. BWOs still pop on grey afternoons, so carry a #18-20 Comparadun or cripple for the noses. But the mid-week cold snap will shut most of that down for a couple of days. If you go Wednesday or Thursday, fish the middle of the day and slow way down. Trout don't chase in near-freezing water.

City Section

Bearspaw Dam to Policeman's Flats

Through town the river's been bouncing with the dams. Early Thursday it fell to about 28 cms, and today it's back near 57 after an overnight rise. The extra water helps a little, but it's still clear, so the fish sit in the pool heads, the deeper seams and the walking-pace runs at Harvie Passage and Carburn. Nymph deep under a light indicator with a Pheasant Tail jig or a Zebra Midge, and let the flies finish the drift so they swing up at the end. That's often when they eat. Water Boatmen are thick right now, and a #14-16 Boatman swung through the riffles gets grabbed. Wade carefully while the flow keeps jumping.

Lower Bow

Policeman's Flats to Carseland

McKinnon Flats down to Carseland is still the big-brown water, but the browns are on their redds. 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. Thursday's sudden drop left shallow gravel high and dry, which is hard on spawning fish, so give them extra room. Target the non-spawning browns in the deeper buckets and along the cutbanks. A #6-8 Sparkle Minnow still works best in water this clear, though a bigger articulated sculpin can move a good fish in low light. From the boat you can cover all of it.

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 57 cms this week, when more of the river is wadeable, a boat still reaches far more fish than you can on foot.