Bow River Fishing Spots: Carseland

The Bow river at Carseland — The Bow river looking upstream from the highway 24 bridge.

The Carseland area is a great bow river fishing spot, it offers some exceptional fishing for both fly fishing and spin fishing. Whether you are looking for large pike or to land that personal best brown or rainbow trout this venue offers a light traffic fishing mecca.

This fishing hotspot is just a 45 minute drive East of Calgary. Where Hwy. 24 crosses over the bow at Wyndham-Carseland Provincial park. Approximately 20 KM south of Strathmore, AB and, the Trans-Canada highway.

Fish Species in the Bow River at Carseland

The fishing regulations list several species of trout ( Brook Trout, Brown Trout, Lake trout? , Rainbow trout) I have only come across rainbows and browns so far. Additionally Burbot, Mountain whitefish, Walleye and, Northern pike are listed for this stretch.

There are some very respectable sized pike along this stretch of the bow river. I have personally landed pike over 8 lbs. The northern pike I have seen here are very well fed and fight like stink! They take Rapalas very well , my best success was with 4 inch shadow raps with a yellowish/green tinge. I fished this across some of the deeper, slower pools.

My best brown trout from here to date has been 18-20 inches. The browns seem to really like woolly bugger patterns, I have done had very consistent success with olive colours. I haven’t used a spinning rod for brown trout here much but, the standard minnow imitations should do well enough. Beware there are a fair number of snags that may cost you your lure.

Plenty of Forage Leads to Strong Trout Populations

bow river trout fishing — Trout are plentiful all along the Bow river. These fish can be caught with a variety of flies or conventional spinning lures.

May fly, stone fly, caddis, minnows and, random other aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates provide ample food for bow river trout. Very fast moving shallow water high in oxygen is the perfect habitat for many larval (nymph ) stages of insects. The bow river has many of these fast moving highly aerated stretches providing “food conveyor belts” for the trout population. I have an article on the variety of things rainbow trout eat.

Lots of Structure for Fish Habitat

Carseland offers a range of habitats to fish. From fast moving shallow water riffles , back waters sharp bends, deep pools and islands. Most of the river bed is river stone with sporadic sunken wood and weed beds.

Plenty of Shore Fishing Access

Wyndham- Carseland provincial park offers walking trails and plenty of foot access. There is a lot of parking spaces here also for day use. This is just south of the weir.

River access for boats on north shore east of the bridge. Not very deep here seems to be smaller boats I have seen launching from there.

Wyndham-carseland provincial park offers over 100 camp sites for tenting and RVs. Amenities include washrooms, septic dump, fire pits, there are also a few play grounds to keep the kids occupied. These sites are very inexpensive ( $26 at time of writing). You can find more information about availability and reservations on the parks website

Bow River Fishing Regulations

The regulations for this stretch of the bow apply from Banff National Park all the way down stream to Bassano dam. This portion of the river is in watershed unit zone ES1 Eastern Slopes. There is a bait ban in effect, (artificial lures and flies only). There is ZERO retention along this stretch of the bow. Before you head out to fish always check out the latest version of the Alberta fishing regulations. This part of the Bow river is open year round. Alberta fishing regulations bow river.