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Helpful Hints for Your Drift Boating Trip

Here is a list of suggestions that will help the angler to more fully understand the basics of fishing from a drift boat especially if it is their first opportunity to fish from a drift boat. Fishing from a drift boat is not like when you are wading along the river covering water with your feet planted in one spot. In this case, the line and fly are moving not the angler, the line and fly drift downstream towards you or away from you. When fishing from a drift boat the angler, fly line and the fly are moving at the same time. When you are fishing from the boat depending on current speed and how fast the oarsman is back stroking your line and fly could be drifting at the same speed as your rate of drift or faster or slower.

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Points to Think About

1. You will be casting in close quarters to another angler in the boat with you sometimes, so remember to cast out close to parallel away from the drift boat (this will avoid tangles).

(A) If the boat is in slower currents and the rower is holding the boat in one place when backstroking if you cast slightly upstream of the parallel line you will get longer drag free floats.

(B) If the boat is floating along in medium to fast stream flows and the oarsman is not stroking hard, try to cast slightly downstream of that parallel line between the boat and the stream bank. This will assure you of a much longer drag free float with your fly on the water for a longer period and allow you to catch a lot more fish. Not to mention it will save you a lot of energy because it will cut down on a lot of excess casting.

2. When the boat is drifting along always focus your attention on the water downstream ahead of the boat for rising fish or likely holding lies where the fish will be. This will allow you to prepare ahead of time to present the fly to the fish at an excellent angle when you are within effective casting range. Remember the boat is moving downstream sometimes at a fast pace so be prepared and look ahead so when the time comes you can get a good angle on the fish so the fly won’t drag. Attention to detail will allow you to cast effectively before the boat and angler drift by the primary target loosing your angle and chance for a good accurate presentation.

3. Remember to communicate with the your guide and fellow angler in the boat by vocally warning when you are going to move about in the boat. Also communicate wherever or whenever you are casting and in what direction your front and back cast will be directed at, especially if you perceive a problem developing at anytime. Remember any sudden physical movement that takes place in the boat that is directed away from the centerline of a drift boat can cause the guide or other angler to loose their balance and potentially injure them or even fall out of the boat. This little bit of extra communication will assuredly cut down on lines being crossed up or tangled and any injuries or soakings to other boat mates.

4. The angler in the back of the boat or (stern) should key off the movements of the angler casting up in the front of the boat and cast accordingly. Remember if you are the angler positioned in the back of the boat, you can easily observe every move the angler in the front of the boat makes. The angler in the front of the boat is looking downstream out over the front of the boat and obviously cannot see the movements of the angler in the back or (stern) of the boat. Therefore, the angler in the back of the boat can adjust his casting by always observing the anglers casting in the front of the boat and really cut down on the amount of line tangles between anglers. This will really allow the anglers to reduce frustration and really enjoy their trip again attention to small details.

5. When the angler goes to pick the fly line up off the water when their drift is done on the initial back cast remember keep the rod tip down close to the water surface and strip all the slack out of the line. Begin the back cast slowly, accelerate smoothly, speed up, and stop sharply at the end of the back cast. When your back cast is finished, make sure your thumb on the casting hand located on the rod grip is pointing straight up. This will keep the back cast elevated and away from the heads of the other people in the boat. Your back cast should therefore always be moving on an upward incline throughout the entire back cast.

6. If you are in the back or (stern) of the boat, remember the oarsman or rower uses a backstroke when rowing. This puts the oar blades in the general proximity of the anglers line in the back of the boat. So when the fly and line are out on the water the rear portion of the line out past the rod tip can at times drift under the oar and become tangled. Keep this in mind and adjust for it and you will not tangle with the oars and everyone will enjoy the day a lot more.

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Organizing Gear and Equipment for Your Trip
(List of important items)

The suggestions that appear here have been learned through practical experience, actual fishing trips, guided trips and late night recollections of past trips around many fires with fellow anglers after a long day out on the water. Our company hopes these suggestions will help take the frustration out of organizing properly for your next trip and help you more fully enjoy yourself. We are always very concerned with your safety, comfort, and the level of success you experience on your trip.

We feel that anglers should bring their own fishing equipment and fishing apparel if possible due to the fact that they will be more comfortable and familiar with tackle they own and use regularly. Instead of borrowing or renting tackle, waders or boots that aren’t practical or specifically sized to fit you properly. This is a safety, comfort, confidence, efficiency and success concern that cannot be underestimated or it will surely affect the customers enjoyment level over the period of a long day on the water.

Owning your own waders and boots that fit properly will ensure a comfortable fit and regular maintenance of waders will ensure they remain dry and warm throughout your trip. If you borrow or rent these items, you can never be sure if fit and maintenance can be guaranteed. Remember wading boots with worn felt soles on the bottoms and waders that leak or don’t fit properly are both a safety and comfort issue. Wading in streams that contain slippery wading conditions with worn or poorly maintained wading boots is a safety concern and on cold damp days, problem waders can be a real comfort problem.

These points may not seem important when your relaxing at home prior to your trip but they will increase your safety, comfort, efficiency and success on your hard earned vacation. Properly balancing your rod, reel and line combination to fit the type of fishing conditions you will encounter on your trip is crucial to success. Most guests visiting this region prefer to use an 8½’ or 9’ fly rod that is a five or six weight to properly deal with the various fishing situations they will experience in this region.

Another consideration to think about when borrowing or renting a reel for any trip is confirming that the reel will be set to your specific hand wind direction. If the reel isn’t setup for your dominant hand, you will have to reel or retrieve line in backwards, which is inefficient and very awkward. Having the proper hand wind on a reel so you wind line in with a forward hand motion is critical when using fine tippets and small flies.

Having a reel setup properly is crucial during the give and take situations that occur when fighting big strong fish off the reel during long hard runs. Especially those long hard fast runs that can peel off every bit of fly line off the reel and eventually end up taking the angler way into the backing. Why take the chance of having to take time out on the morning of your float trip to correct this oversight. When you can own your own reel that is properly set to the hand you feel the most competent and comfortable using.

Large trout should always be fought off the reel in combination with the fly rod by applying smooth even pressure on the fish. This is accomplished by lightly palming the fly reel to control slack or backlash and smoothly lowering the rod tip when a fish makes a long hard run. When the fish stops running and is willing to give some ground lift the rod up and wind in on the reel to gain line back. This technique will allow the angler to tire the fish quickly and efficiently to the landing net with out harming it. This type of finesse and smoothness is only achieved through the familiarity of owning your own equipment. These are all critical reasons for owning your own equipment and wading gear versus renting or borrowing these items for guided trips.

There are a few terminal tackle items that are not included in your guided package that you will require so please ensure you have them with you for your trip. These items include tapered leaders, tippet material; fly floatant, flies, sunscreen and insect repellent.

We have also included a list of essential items for you to look through that will help you to ensure you pack properly for your day on the water. We hope this list is helpful to you especially if you have never been on a float trip.

1. For the Crowsnest River please bring along a three or four weight fly rod if you have one and if not a five weight rod will work especially in windy conditions. This area is known for its windy conditions during midday so if you own both a three or four weight and a five weight bring all these rods along.

2. For the North and South Ram Rivers, four or five weight outfits with a fast action are suggested because these two watersheds are fast flowing and the fish hold tight to log cover and stream banks. This sets up a very narrow band of slow water right up next to cover so casting accuracy and line control are essential for drag free floats. These types of rods will allow crisp casts that will ensure accuracy and better line control.

3. For the Bow River and all other tailwater or freestone streams in this region, most anglers prefer a five or six-weight system for dry fly and nymph fishing. If you enjoy streamer fishing, most anglers utilize a seven or 8-weight system.

4. A reel with a smooth drag and rim control with room for at least fifty yards of backing is a minimum requirement for the Bow and Red Deer Rivers.

5. For fly lines we suggest:

A) Dry lines in suggested weights.
B) Sink tips 15’ in length in a seven or eight weight, type five or six sink rate.
C) Shooting heads 20’ in length in either a seven or eight weight, type six sink rate.
D) Or a Jim Teeny T-200 fly line.

6. If you plan to visit in the early spring or late fall bring 3mm or 5mm neoprene waders or breathable waders if you have some warm capilene moisture wicking long underwear. Wet wading can be comfortable on those warm sunny midsummer days but not when it gets nasty and weather can change quickly up here. During damp rainy days breathable waders really come into their own because they take up very little room when stored in the boat and they can be quickly and efficiently put on. They will also keep the angler dry, warm and comfortable allowing them to concentrate on fishing.

7. Also, bring along warm dry clothing for changing environmental conditions good choices would be a warm coat or sweater and a rain jacket or two. Having two rain jackets is nice if you are staying on for a few days and the weather is wet.

8. A hat with a good brim on it and a good pair of polarized/photocromatic sunglasses are a necessity.

9. In midsummer when weather conditions permit and you are going to be wet wading on your trip we suggest you either start your trip wearing a long sleeve shirt and long pants that are of the quick dry variety. However if you are determined to wear a short-sleeved shirt and shorts on a sunny warm day to start the trip. May we suggest you bring along an extra quick dry long sleeve shirt and quick dry long pants. So we can place them right in the drift boat so they can be accessed quickly when required. These precautions will prevent horrible sunburns especially if your fair skinned and are prone to burning. This system of clothing will also serve double duty when we stalk rising trout along streamside eddies and shorelines in the late evening.

10. Insect repellant and sun block S.P.F. 45 or better is necessary for this area.

11. Bring along a camera to record the special memories of your trip.

12. Finally, make sure you don’t forget your medication, allergy medicine, sunglasses, fishing hat, fishing license, leaders and tippet material, or your flies overlooking these items can affect your trip in a very dramatic way.