If you're into chasing Rainbows and not having much luck coming across that pot-o-gold, maybe you had better turn your attentions to Rainbow Trout chasing...at least they exist. And in Ontario today they exist in great "catchable" numbers.

Some anglers may not know it, but the Rainbow Trout is not native to Canada's Ontario. In North America it is native from southern Alaska to Mexico and as far inland as central Alberta. That's Rainbow country!

For us, the Rainbow or Bow has been extensively introduced throughout the province especially into the Great lakes and it's tributaries.

Bows are named for their coloration which incidentally can vary widely throughout its diverse habitat. When a Bow enters a river system to spawn in the spring, it changes to a darker color phase and a prominent rainbow becomes easily seen along its body from its cheek to its tail. On the other hand a Bow that is caught during the summer months in mid lake portrays the coat of a shimmering silver and its quite often hard for a novice angler to tell the difference say between a Bow and a small salmon.

If you are not sure if you have landed a bow ar not, one sure fire way that I rely upon is to open its mouth and peer inside. The mouth of a Bow is white and where the teeth enters the jaw is white as well.

The Bow is one of the most important Canadian sportfish as it made be angled in a number of ways including trolling in lakes or rivers, shore fishing faster flowing rivers, still fishing and fly fishing. Bows will readily rise to a drifted fly.

By the way if there are any avid "fly-fisherpeople" that are readers of the ANGLERS NOTEBOOK, I'd love to hear from you. I am totally ignorant when it comes to fly rods, fly lines etc. and would like to do a couple of future articles on fly-fishing.

Anyway, when you hook into a Rainbow, it will give you a battle as good as any other canadian gamefish. Its aerial leaps are frequent and its table fare is exceptional. Bows are actually farmed in ponds, harvested and sold to restaurants at a price that makes catching them even more enjoyable.

Although my year round angling efforts may be limited as far as bows are concerned, I did want to talk about the excellent spring fishery that Ontario boasts.

I have been running north (Georgian Bay, Lake Huron) for about 15 years now just to catch spring Bows. Its a time of the year that sees most rivers closed to fishing until the last Saturday of April because the fish enter the rivers in order to spawn and they are susceptible to illegal activities at that time.

Almost every river in Ontario maintains some portion open to angling though. The greatest stretch has to be the on the Saugeen River in Southhampton where you can fish several miles of the river mouth all year round. The other side of the coin sees the Beaver river in Thornbury where only a few hundred feet of river mouth is open all year.

We generally take our early April efforts to the Beaver or even the Bighead in Meaford. Depending on the weather, Bows can be found either tightly congregated around the river mouth or if cold weather has prevailed, somewhere in a couple mile vicinity of such.

If the Bows are wishing to enter the river, drift fishing with spawn bags consisting of either salmon or Trout spawn is the best. Light line is the key, as low as 2 pound test and long whippy noodle rods will help you battle those brawlers in to shore. By the way it is illegal to sell or buy Rainbow spawn (eggs). Be careful! Conservation officers are active in all areas that time of year.

If a cold front has recently passed, we take our efforts into the boat and head into Georgian bay. The first drop out from the mouth will hold fish that were forced back, waiting for warmer water flows. If you're fishing a river such as the Saugeen, you can try warm weather efforts in the riffles above the pools but after a cold front, concentrate on the pools themselves.

Fishing off shore in a boat for Bows can be done a couple of ways. The most productive method I have found is to anchor the boat and still fish with spawn bags. Use lead weight on your line about a foot above the spawn bag (dime sized bags work best). It will be necessary to put a couple small pieces of styrofoam in the spawn bag in order to float it up off bottom.

If the above two techniques do not work for us we will resort to trolling. Long lining body type lures such as rapalas, bagleys, AC's and bombers will help you find the fish. troll the areas within a mile of the rivermouths for best results.

We found it necessary to do just that this past spring off the Beaver. Despite dodging major icebergs, we managed to take a few bows, splake and a bonus 14 pound chinook salmon.

My choices for best Ontario rivers for spring Bows include the Saugeen, Beaver, Bighead, Sydenham in Owen sound, Nottawasaga in Wasaga Beach, St Clair River near Sarnia, Niagara River and the Credit, Bronte and Ganaraska off Lake Ontario.