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 6, 2026

By Dan King · Lead Guide, King Trout Outfitters

Bow River fly fishing conditions in downtown Calgary on October 6, 2026: low, clear fall water below the skyline and Centre Street Bridge with yellow fall colour along the banks, where King Trout Outfitters runs guided Bow River trips. — The Bow running low and clear through downtown Calgary on the afternoon of Tuesday, October 6, 2026, with the banks in full fall yellow under a broken-cloud sky, 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 6, 2026 are good. Flow is 55 cubic meters per second and stable. Water temperature is 9°C. No angling restrictions are in effect. Active hatches include Blue-Winged Olive (BWO), Midges, October Caddis, Water Boatman, and Caddis.

Flow (m³/s) →

9°C

Water Temp →

good

Overall Conditions

None

Restrictions

iFlow context: The Bow read 55 cms this afternoon, about as low as it's run all fall and well under the 90 cms late-summer baseline. It got here the long way. Flow sat in the high 60s through late September, bumped up to about 85 cms around the 28th with no rain behind it, then dropped hard into the mid-50s by October 1. Since then the afternoons have parked between 55 and 59 cms. The catch is the mornings. On October 5 and 6 the gauge climbed from about 55 to 76-80 cms between 3 and 8 a.m., then fell back to the mid-50s by noon. That's water being released upstream, not weather. So expect a pushier river early and the lowest, clearest water after lunch. 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. Fall's in full swing on the Bow, and the river's running low. Flow's at 55 cms this afternoon, about as low as it's been all fall. But watch the mornings. Two days in a row the gauge jumped to about 80 cms before sunrise and fell back by lunch, with no rain behind it. So that's the dams upstream, not the weather. Low, clear water means spooky fish, so go down to 5X or 6X and make your first cast count. BWOs are the main hatch most afternoons, especially under cloud. Small nymphs do the heavy lifting the rest of the day, and a smaller streamer beats a big one in water this clear. The browns are starting to spawn, so learn what a redd looks like (a clean, pale patch of gravel) and stay off it. And here's the heads up. Wednesday through Friday look mild. Then Saturday flips, with highs near 2 degrees and maybe some snow into Thanksgiving weekend. Our season wraps at the end of October. If you want one more float before winter, this week is your window.

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, October Caddis, Water Boatman, and 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
October Caddis	#8-12	moderate
Water Boatman	#14-16	moderate
Caddis	#14-18	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 Parachute / Cripple

#18-20dry

Pheasant Tail (CDC Jig)

#16-18nymph

Zebra Midge

#18-22nymph

Boatman

#14-16nymph

October Caddis Pupa

#10-12nymph

Sparkle Minnow (small)

#6-8streamer

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 a small-fly game. The water's gin clear and the fish have seen a lot of flies by now. Midges early, then BWOs once the sun gets off the water or the cloud rolls in. Fish a #20 Zebra Midge or a small Pheasant Tail deep through the slow flats until you see noses, then switch to a #18-20 BWO parachute or cripple. Long leader, 6X, and stay low. Your first drift over a riser is the one that counts, so take a minute to set it up before you cast.

City Section

Bearspaw Dam to Policeman's Flats

Through town the pattern follows that morning bump. Early on the river runs higher and pushier, so be careful wading at Harvie Passage and the Carburn riffles before 10 a.m. By noon it's back down and clearing, and that's usually when the BWOs show. Nymph the riffles and pool heads through the middle of the day with a small Pheasant Tail or a Zebra Midge. Or swing a Boatman on a tight line through the runs and strip it back, that's started producing. October Caddis are thinning out, but a pupa still gets grabbed toward evening.

Lower Bow

Policeman's Flats to Carseland

McKinnon Flats down to Carseland is still where the biggest browns live, but the low, clear water has them nervous. Smaller streamers are out-fishing big ones right now. Think a #6-8 Sparkle Minnow or a small sculpin, stripped tight to the cutbanks and through the deeper buckets, and cloudy days help a lot. The browns are also starting to spawn, so watch for redds: clean, pale, oval patches in the gravel. Don't wade through them and don't cast to fish sitting on them. There are plenty of non-spawning fish in the deeper water, and that's the right way to fish this time of year.

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