reevesr1

You should see his father! Oh, and did I mention that the above picture was taken on Tungsten's Jet Boat? Intrestingly enough, you could purchase a trip on that boat on the Streamwatch Auction, item #2 I believe. That's what we in the on line auction biz like to call a segue.

Jacket matching waders? Hell, I'm lucky if my shoes match. And earthy colors? Pashaw. The ladies don't like their men looking like they are wearing cowflop. This is what I call proper fishing attire (modeled by my 18 yr old son) Note the festive green color of the shirt. A perfect complement for the off white "wading" pants. Which double as regular off white shorts. It also serves as a nice backdrop for big rainbow trout, as can plainly be seen. The $10.00 store bought sunglasses add a touch of class. And topped off by a Gulf Coast Conservation Association Hat from a heathen fishing tournament in Texas. That's what we call fishing clothes where I come from!

I put up closing notices on the first batch of auctions for Friday, April 15 . There are more auctions to follow. PLEASE support this auction with bids or donations!! Donations are certainly still being accepted.

A few new items added!

Epiphany is a pretty big word for a redneck isn't it? And not quite in context.........

I am in no way a geneticist, but I do know that I have seen a couple of documentaries on breeding for domestication. You can selectively breed desired traits in to a population in far less than 20 generations. There was a really cool documentary where they bred foxes in Russia I think and in just a few generations they looked, barked, and acted more like domestic dogs than foxes. Don't know how that would apply to hatchery fish, but to say that the fish could not be significantly different that a wild fish in 10 or 20 generations may not be correct.

Auction has started! If anyone is looking for something to do to help our mountain streams, this is it! Bid, or donate, or both. Anything people can do to help would be great. Here is the link to this year's auction: http://flyfishcalgary.com/board/index.php?showtopic=14972

You could support the Streamwatch program. And as luck would have it, I'm kicking off the auction today!

I have red on one of my reels. It's purty.

Happy Birthday Brian!

Another meter of snow at Castle the last few days. Made for great (if a tad heavy) skiing, but a lot more snow to melt.

The first fish I caught in the surf with a fly rod was a 3 or 5 lb spanish mackerel. He ripped up some bait about 20 feet in front of me. I had just made a cast, so I ripped in line as fast as I could, threw quickly in the direction of the bait, and the smack hit it almost as soon as it hit the water. I had 30 or 40 feet of slack line that went ripping out and just smoked and cut my ring finger. Nice long fight on that fish. They are so fun to catch on the fly rod! Good luck tomorrow Jeremie!

Nice specks! Top fish is a spanish mackerel (smack). If you get into some bigger ones, you are in for a blast. They are greased lightning! Bottom fish is a Mangrove Snapper I think.

I found a couple as well. I brought one outside and the little loops just seem to accumulate ice. My wife offered to throw them away for me, but I talked her into giving me until summer to figure out what they are for. She seemed very disappointed. I also found some plastic coated string of some kind on these really nice storage spools. Like these little garden hose holders. Baffling.

Probably is futile for some. But hopefully not for everyone. Great stories guys. My dad died of cancer as well, and was my best fishing friend. He introduced me to the sport (obviously) at a very young age and instilled his love for fishing in all his sons. I will tell one quick story about him (that has been on this forum before I think). On the DVD that was made for the funeral, there were lots of fishing pictures. There were several fishing pictures with people I did not recognize. I asked my mom who the people were and she explained: Back in the 80s, my dad's shrimp boat was docked at a big marina. He supplied the bait shrimp to the marina, among other things. The marina had a big triple boat launch. Sometimes he would meet families (usually a father and son or sons) who were pulling out their boats and in talking to them he would learn of their frustration in trying to catch fish. So if he had time, he would ask if they wanted to go back out. If they did, he would take them out and show them some well known locations and help them with techniques. More often than not he would put them on fish. But even if they didn't catch any that day, he gave them the skills necessary to be able to come back to the dock with fish on their next trip. Sort of a random act of fishing kindness. That is the legacy I have to live up to.

I went to a Memorial Service for a friend today. He was a good man, he died too young, and it was very touching to see all the people who turned out for the service. During the service, one of his family members was talking about his favorite things. One of them was fly fishing. About 2 or 3 years ago I took my friend fly fishing. If it was not the first time he tried it, it was certainly one of the first. I took him to some water I used to frequent back then, and tried my best to impart my meager knowledge of the sport. I seem to remember him catching a nice rainbow, but that could be wishful thinking. We fished together another time or two, and I did see him on the river a couple of times after that. Like most things he did, he got into fly fishing with a single minded focus. I remember being afraid to talk to his wife because my friend was a notorious workaholic, and here I introduced him to another thing that was sucking up his time. I sorta lost track of him over the next year or so. I did hear he was sick, and always meant to call. I never did, which is really too bad. I am totally floored that fly fishing was mentioned as one of his favorite activities. I spoke to his wife and she said he fly fished all the time for several months before he got sick. And that he would come home and tell of how he "almost got one." He was addicted to it and loved it. I had no idea. I wish we had got to fish together more. I will regret that for a long time. But what I will truly take from this is how important it is to share our passion with others. It did not matter that he was not catching many, if any, fish. He loved being out on the water. How great is it that I got to help him get started in something that brought him so much pleasure? There are those who will say that one should hoard their knowledge and that introducing new people to fishing just leads to overcrowding, and that people should just figure it out on their own. I think they completely miss the point. We should never fall into the trap of selfishly guarding our knowledge and passion. I know this sounds all touchy feely and crap, but it so much better to share our love of the sport with others and infect them with the same passion we feel. I hope to infect as many people as I can. If that means more people on the water, so be it. I am perfectly ok with that. If I want solitude when I fish, I know many, many places to find it. I'm probably not eloquent enough to explain how important I think this is. I hope someone who reads this and introduces a buddy to fishing.

Had Lasik 1.5 yrs ago. All good. Great to not have to wear glasses anymore (except for reading glasses--they can only correct near or farsightedness, not both). Surgery was a snap. It is an assembly line however. Did not bother me, lots of people to practice on. One thing was funny to me though. When I was in the chair, the assistant says "when the gas laser is running, it makes a smell like burnt hair." I said "huh, you don't think that could be burning eyeball?" The doctor looks up from his computer and says "are you an engineer?" I say yeah, to which he replies "we don't like telling people that." I always wondered what people thought was happening when they are using a laser to cut and reshape your eye. That the magic laser eye fairy was making your eyes all better?

I hate this time of year. It's been too damn cold for too damn long. I try to go fishing, but I get disgusted with frozen guides and cold damn wind in my face. But I love it because I start thinking about the year to come. Late March is when I always begin to dream about trips in the late spring and into the summer. Where do I go, old reliables or something completely different? How soon do I make the long drive to the Hat to see how big the trips got this year? I always go too soon because I can't help myself. Sluggish fish and freezing temps, but the allure is too much to resist. I drive back home every year saying "I'm not going next year until May". But I'll be there again in April this year! What about the summer cuttie adventures? Do I play it safe with tried and true rivers, or just throw a dart at SW AB or SE BC and the first time it lands somewhere I haven't fish, just say "let's try there!" I always intend to try the new water, but seem to have lots of difficulty driving past tried and true, particularly when no cars are there! I always have 3 or 4 camping trips in mind, but I can never seem to pull off more than one. My wife seems to think I'm supposed to spend time with her (whatever), and for some reason does not like it when we camp by a river. Something about me never being around. This year will be different though. Or not. Is this the year I finally make the FTR trip I've been dreaming about since I read Mitchell's Trout Highway book? Please, honey? It's like this big, wide open slate waiting to be filled. I know I will fill it, but have no idea where to start or where it is going. I can hardly wait to find out.

Don't you mean "grab his 5X tippet and attempt to steer fish into net?"

Tip #47 Never let Troutlover net your fish. Tip #62 When fishing with a friend who is shorter, you should always cross the river first. No matter how close the water comes to the top of your waders, you should state "it's not that deep".

If you can just remind me what your position is. I'll be the opposite. Funner that way.

I don't understand how people can think the small stores are gouging anyone. If you cannot buy in bulk like the big box stores, you have to spend more. I know some of the small shop owners pretty well. Trust me, nobody is getting rich on the backs of the fly fisherman, at least not here in Calgary. Big box stores, IMHO, run a fine line. In many cases they are keeping their costs low by buying in bulk, and by minimizing staff, both in numbers and knowledge level. So you are typically stuck with smaller # of staff per customer, and certainly less knowledgeable staff overall, than at a smaller shop. So it is incumbent on the customer to seek out the knowledge in the store. Not defending it, just pointing it out. If you do not want to "bother" the staff, then don't go. By the way, that is my response. I don't go to the big stores, except very rarely. I'd rather spend more and support the shop (or in my case shops!) to retain that level of service and local knowledge . I don't in any way think that this is the decision everyone will make, nor should they. Everyone has different needs and opinions. There are room for both types of shops, again IMHO. But as someone wisely said above "profit is not a dirty word". Or something like that.

So someone explain this to me: Isn't didymo in the Oldman pretty bad? If that is so, then it's proximity to SA waters would almost guarantee it's introduction into those waters by other vectors than just fishermen. Birds being the most obvious example. I have no problem understanding trying to keep organisms from one country getting to another country, as fishermen are the only possible (or at least the only one I can think of) carrier. But even with widespread didymo in the Oldman, one does not see it in the Castle system, at least where I am fishing. Hell, those systems are connected to the Oldman aren't they? Anyway, people can tell me how responsible I am supposed to be. Have at 'er. But for systems that are close to each other, and even connected, then fisherman washing their boots will have no impact. That is my opinion. And the fact that there is didymo in the Bow and Oldman, and fishermen in the Bow and Oldman does not necessarily mean it was introduced by the fishermen. I'm all for protecting the waterways, in fact I think my participation in several cleaning, conservation, and enforcement organizations and charities illustrate this fact. But I truly do not think that me cleaning my boots before I fish the Castle do anything whatsoever.

That's about right. Either that, or I think that the issue is more than a little overblown.

I'll give the answer that most will give if they are honest. Never. Nor will I. Call it lazy, call it irresponsible, call it whatever. Life is too busy to wash waders and boots. And if you are truly worried about this, ask the exact same question about the Crow.