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Fishing deep with leeches and bloodworms is the only way to go once the water gets cold

..

For somewhere warm and sandy

Costa Rica or Belize could be an option, just go with a reputable service, and travel with them while 'in country' ( more in Belize ). Fish Tales could maybe help you out. Yucatan...bit dicey right now, even in the resorts. Baja is slated as a no go. I've also heard that San Diego, of all places, can solve the beach, kids and fishing all in one go. Just my 2 cents!

Lacewing. Must have been a good year for them as they were getting into my house every night all summer long and I've never noticed them before. I'm thinking of an extended body using green para-post foam with a sparse antron wing and a few turns of grizzly hackle over green dubbing for the thorax

more likely government ineptitude.....

Ok my Friend, here you go. This one matches Matches the little 3" Bougle that I posted and came with it. as a pair.

Perhaps you would appreciate a 4" Hardy Perfect wide never lined in pristine condition.

Hi folks! Looks like the topic is open, so here we go!! I watched many of these insects over the past 2024 summer ( lacewing / green Sally? ) and would like to tie a version. Any tips would be appreciated!

I don't think I've ever jumped up from my tying chair for a fly fishing hookset. I've never wept watching a fly fishing video either. Wow. We have some Pro Staff already, folks! Just perfect. https://tinyurl.com/muc8ufsv

Reminds me of taking my boys down the crow years ago. They are 18 and 21 and made me proud often. The best is when Santa delivered some Cabelas boot foot waders so they could join dad in the flow. Awesome!!!! Now if I can get them on the oars more so dad can fish from the drifter. thanks for sharing

Candycane soft hackle in Sz8. Phosphor floss body, pheasant rump tail/wing with red guinea fowl and a Schlappen front hackle with a Rudolph red nose. Merry Fishmas!

Had one of the best summers for dries this year ('24) and one of the best patterns for the great days was a Comparadun...in pink, no less! Sz14 traditional wet fly hook, preeeeeeemo Comparadun hair and the body was 'Dirty Bug Yarn' by SemperFli in the "Shrimp" colour. The Rainbows smashed the pinkies all day, switched to olive or gray...nothing. Scruff it up a bit to make it extra buggy and Sz16 might have done it too.

I had run out of calf body hair, so I used white CDC for the gills on this chironomid. I'm sure there is an official name for this pattern, but I am calling it a Stoplight Chironomid. Sz 14 Klinkhammer hook, using three different colours of floss and a black tungsten slotted bead with a UV resin coating. .

Haven't tried a Green Lacewing pattern yet, too busy tying smaller and smaller midges! Had to stop squinting at Sz20 hooks, so went for a big salmon pattern. McKenna's Freestyle Fall Favourite, on a Sz4 Daiichi 2139 - Bob Veverka's 'Classic Salmon Hook'. Hard to tell from my photo, but the steel is blued. The original calls for a 2441, but I liked the shape of this hook. Time to break out the tripod and big camera methinks! Tim Flagler also has a great tying demo for this pattern on his YT channel. Red holo-tinsel for the butt, silver mylar body (UV resin optional) and small orange arctic UV chenille wrapped for the underwing. Red guinea fowl for the throat with a fire orange arctic fox wing. Top sparkle is Senyo's barred Predator Wrap in Fluorescent orange & black. This is a joy to tie, and one of my favourite patterns. I'm also trying a few different styles to adapt the pattern to a tube fly. Cheers!

Decided to take advantage of the weather today and spent the day down fishing the banks at Fish Creek Park. Awesome day, one of the best was taking OFF my clothing from being too hot! LOL! Had a couple nice tugs on the line but that was about it. Not the point though. I spoke with a great couple fellows who were down to enjoy the day as well and do some fly fishing themselves, and was nice to share some fish tales and talk spring. Met another fellow who said he had his best day on the Bow River ever! He caught a few nice Whitefish and was very happy to tell me about it. Sometimes, it is just so great, and i am so thankful to share these times and look forward to always meeting new fishing friends, and being thankful for this wonderful journey. Cheers.

did that today. was OK, I suspect that the upcoming cooler weather may put the chill on that. later in the afternoon today, the wind kinda got uncomfortable, although tolerable. Woulda been absolutely ok if the fish action was a bit better.

Today's trout populations are under increasing pressure due to low flows, increased angler numbers and the significantly large losses which happen yearly with the unscreened removal of irrigation water from a variety of southern Alberta rivers. Amongst the trout losses, we are seeing both SARA listed species of Bull trout and Cutthroat trout being siphoned out of southern rivers. This loss of these threatened species should be ringing Federal alarm bells and have a response from the DFO. The Alberta government has identified this ENTRAINMENT of fish in irrigation systems as a major factor in the decline of trout in the Bow river. It would make sense that this concern should be applied to all the southern rivers where irrigation water is drawn off. The problem is that the irrigation districts are not adequately screening (if at all) the water they are removing from the rivers. When water licences are issued, there would be a requirement to limit fish loss through some type of sceening/deflection system. I believe it is up to the AER to monitor and inspect these screening systems to ensure they are performing adequately to decrease fish losses from the river. At present, there seems to be little, if any, enforcement in this regard. As we continue to see river trout populations struggle, it will be up to the voice of concerned citizens to get the government's attention. The irrigation districts have a very strong voice with the AB government which allows them to receive many favors, especially lots of funding, for the ongoing expansion and modernization the growing irrigation network. Many believe it is time for citizens who are concerned about fish populations being detrimentally impacted by irrigation entrainment to speak up. Anglers of all types are impacted by the loss of fish being siphoned out of the river. A strong, organized voice is required to get the government's attention to take some action. This issue was identified more than 100 years ago when the first irrigation systems were put in place. It is far past time the government start to act to decrease the losses of fish populations down a ditch. A collection of folks has started a group to raise a concentrated voice to the government. If you are concerned or interested about trout populations, seek out The Trout Trust https://www.thetrouttrust.com/ It will take a number of voices to make some noise to get the government to act.

Why such a focus on reducing angler catch rates? If we are trying to reduce the amount of times each fish is caught per year, shouldn't we be trying to increase fish numbers rather than reducing angler hours and catch rates. Their data, and most angler's personal experience is the bow river has a good percentage of big fish. However, their slide on Recycle Rates claims a ratio >2 will result in fewer big fish seems to contradict that statement. With the Bow river currently over 5 on recycle ratio, are we as anglers willing to catch 5x less fish, to get to their numbers? Shouldn't their be further look at increasing numbers via habitat improvements? Rip-Rapping banks, widely fluctuating water levels, and apparently less consistent and prolific hatches all seem like they should be considered just as much or more than angler success.

Snow shoe wulff

Did you say Fart?

Another guy on the Ancient Geezer Fishing Team. You old guys go get 'em

Northern Saskatchewan is a nice place to fish or hunt for sure. I would just like to fish lakes that have less pressure than Slims cabins. Not interested in any places that do have roads into them and the ones i am interested in have little to no traffic. Was thinking of flying in and using the cabins, that is why i was interested in pics of cabins. No way to get to the lakes in the summer other than walking or flying.

Easy, its an Alexandra wet fly. Lots of slight variations of this one depending on location. Tied a lot of these for shops in BC in the 60's and 70's, named in honour of the Princess Alexandra. Basic pattern Typical sizes 6–10 Thread Black 6/0 nylon Tail Red ibis, swan or goose wing feather (this one is blue and natural dunn) Body Yellow Dubbing (often tie it with a double tinsel body) Wing Six or more strands of peacock herl over red duck, swan or goose wing feather Ribbing Fine oval silver tinsel Hackle Black or brown tied wet Head Black thread

Soft hackles

I came across a double sleeping bag draped over a large flat boulder along a river once. Contents of the sleeping bag were stacked 2 deep, moanin' and groanin' and doin' the inchworm. I don't believe they ever heard me when I scrambled by in that narrow assed canyon although I did consider tossin' rocks at them for a bit.

@WayneMYour fly looks just fine! Brush out the Hare's Ear fibres a bit and it'll look really buggy. With dubbing, less is more. Start with a smaller pinch, a lot less than you might think, and get used to how long the noodle has to be to reach the thorax or bead. Then, if one has to add some more to gain the taper needed, spin a little bit more on. It's always much easier to add dubbing compared to taking it off! Also, dubbing wax can help in some situations, especially with slippery silk or waxed threads. However, dubbing wax can gum-up the natural fibres, such as hare's ear or squirrel, and is easier to use with synthetic dubbing. If one is right-handed, spin the dubbing on the thread in a clockwise fashion, that way when one starts wrapping away from one's self, the twist is covered over and over with each wrap. Spinning the dubbing on counter-clockwise opens the noodle before wrapping and makes the dubbing loose and prone to unravelling. Good luck!

BWO

ha ya, they weren't overly politically correct when naming flies

That's if you assume that it was introduced into Alberta waters immediately after the last test in 2003. But yeah, let's focus on whether or not 14 years is quick because that's the real issue here.

I don't know if I would call 14yrs a quick process at all.

In the spring all the mallards hanging around lakes and ponds at the city parks in the Lower Mainland (Vancouver area) molt all over. 4-5 years ago I grabbed a couple of large zip lock bags and filled them with primo mallard flank feathers. Put them in the freezer for about a month and them tossed a mothball in each bag for another month. I have a life-time supply of mallard flank in a number of useful colours (tan, brown, olive, green, pink, blue and natural). Took me about 1/2 an hour on beautiful sunny may day to do it.