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I was biking with my daughter this morning along the Bow in Inglewood and noticed a dude with 2 rods, one on the ground pointing upwards with a bell attached to the tip while he was rigging up another. It was obviously someone who was fishing with bait. I called it in, and a conservation officer was there in 15 minutes. He watched from afar with binoculars to make sure he had enough evidence, just in case the guy snipped his line. I just received a follow-up call and he said that this guy was caught last week by another conservation officer in Strathmore... 4 illegal walleye. The conservation officer said this is a perfect example of why we should ALWAYS call in poachers and bait fishers. If it's a father-son out fishing and making an honest mistake, then the officers deal with them differently with a warning. However, with a repeat offender like this guy, they will definitely be a bit more harsh. It was great to see these guys at work and how much they care for the river. This officer is an avid flyfisher so he's quite passionate about protecting rivers like the Bow. One less bad guy on the water!

Just playing around with a Dragon fly.

Some of you folks tie alot of flies. Way to many to comment on them all. But wow this dragon fly got me. I can imagine a selection of blue,yellow and the green ones. Just awesome looking fly. Always personally liked Dragon Flies even when i was a kid. Grew up in Dragon Fly country. Used to catch them in a liitle net then let them go after studying them some with magnifying glass. Just a Beautiful tie Mr. SilverDoctor.

For little guys I just grab em accross back of head and retrieve fly. next size up to about 12-14 lbs I’ve used a grey glove , some kind of light chain mail. Grips those slippery buggers well. Past that size glove doesn’t work as my hands not big enough and fish are too strong. Next is cradle , get them in and orient them the right way that it’s reasonable to work on. Big ones easily crunch down jaw spreaders and dwarf your baker hook outs making getting fly out a challenge and hard on the fish. I will slide my hand under gill up to end of jaw getting no more than first 2 knuckles in. Any more and you will be a bleeder for sure after momma does a head shake or 2 as there are many teeth. Anyhow , hand under gill, head up, fish in control, hook quickly out and ready for a quick pic. Back in cradle for revival and off she goes.

Longhorn Caddis adult, size 14 Knapek competition midge hook.

I love tying Soft Hackles, gets you concentrated on the body more. Soft Hackle here is actually grey but a bit of yellow marker makes the color tick.

I ended up going out and I learned one thing. I suck at catching big pike but I can catch walleye on a fly rod pretty good! I think we might have been a few weeks late for the big pike action , we did get several easily handled smaller ones and one around 10-12lbs that my buddy Paul got. Nice day to be out. I'll still be interested in finding a cradle for next season, I think I am kind of smitten by the pike fishing, they hit so hard and fight so hard too. The big one we got tore up the lake!