reevesr1

Good luck in BC! No reason to fully drop out of the forum, the internet knows no boundaries.

Awesome Lynn. Thank you so much.

Are they going to let you leave it in the campground? I seem to remember there was an issue?

Is my butt always going to be sore? And I categorically refuse to buy lycra! I wore a ratty fishing t-shirt and some ancient shorts. A fashion diva I am not. I also almost fell down the stairs at work this morning when my knees utterly buckled just after the ride in! Already thought of that! I'd want it to get a bit warmer so I don't have to mess with waders, but plans are already hatching.......

Nice fish!! And there will be many more. Congrats!

About an extra 10 minutes! This morning, the distractions were much less. Saw one guy fishing.

I've decided that since I'm getting old, and would like to delay physically breaking down as long as possible, that I needed to do something about my physical fitness. So I decided to start biking to work. Since I live in Chaparral and work downtown, that's a pretty long haul. So I decided to drive to Southland Dog Park and bike in from there. Tonite was the test drive to see how long it would take. The route is pretty much along the Bow for the vast majority of the ride. I did see lots (ok, maybe 10-15) fisherman during the ride. But it was amazing to me how much fairly easy to get to, very nice looking water was completely ignored. What I saw was that if there was not a parking spot within 5 minutes of a run, nobody would be in it. Now, I will readily admit I haven't really fished much at all above the dog park, so I don't know how it fishes. It would however shock me if there was not lots of good fishing between the park and the weir because there sure seems to be a lot of pretty water. Unless there was a bridge or someplace where where people could easily park, then there would be people. And when I did see fishermen, they were generally in groups. I think I only saw one or two guys fishing where no one else was around, though there were many, many opportunities. And I did see 3 guys fishing Southland with a bunch of dogs around. On the off leash side, which I always find funny. People, no matter what you hear, this is NOT a crowded river. If you put 10 minutes into your feet, or better yet, into a bike, you can easily find fantastic water that you will have all to yourself. Hell, the city gave us bike paths to help us! Or you can go to all the popular places and wonder where all the people came from. I like easy to get to places as much as anyone. But I also have found it does not take much work to find solitude, even within the city limits.

I don't really mind the old extended arm shot, with a couple of reservations. I must say that on truly large fish, they are unfortunate since nobody can tell how big they are. But I guess really it does not matter very much. In the end, it's really just a memory for the fisherman. But when I break the 28" mark on the Bow, that sucker will be held close to the vest so to speak. As an aside, extended arm shots are pretty much outlawed on the saltwater sites I used to frequent.

Angus, Took awhile to mark paid on all the auctions you won. Thanks! Brian, Pay TroutUnlimited, I put the payment info in the first post of this thread.

No problem Marc. I understand what you are saying, I just have a different opinion. I think presentation is pretty independent of type of fly used frankly. I caught plenty of fish with dries last year, and was not faced with many situations that a particular cast would have helped me out (with the possible exception of one fish under a tree that BBT pulled out on me). It does happen, but really, not all that often. And I fished 10-15 different bodies of water last year? I would say that of the handful of picky fish that I did not catch that someone else did, the issue was drag, not cast. Again, came down to presentation. I also accept that many will not agree with me on this. I'm ok with that. Here is my philosophy: If you want to catch fish, then learn things in this order: Behaviour, presentation, food, casting (I know there are many other factors, just simplifying). If you want to impress your friends, put casting first. You might be prepared for more situations, but you won't catch as many fish.

Brian, Sorry, then I have to maintain the payment status in multiple locations. Far easier for me to track this way.

I'm going on my first Pike/Walleye fishing trip to Calling and Beaver Lake (I think) in June!

I would submit that casting technique when learning to fish a river is the least important aspect. Proper presentation is WAY more important in my opinion, and additionally, any walk and wade guide will also be able to help with casting. This is just my opinion, and could be influenced by the fact that I have never taken a casting class, and probably never will. I'd rather spend that time fishing........

Here is the list of the winners for the auctions this year. I'm having a tough time contacting the person handling payment at TU, so I don't have a list of who's paid yet. Some of you have sent me PMs, but I've likely deleted them as keeping my inbox manageable during all this is a challenge. Anyway, if you've paid and are not on the list, feel free to PM me again. I've just emptied my inbox pretty much. 1. Panorama Adventure $350 Loeber Paid 2. Lower Jet Boat Trip $400 Palemorningdunce Paid 3. Red Deer River Float $250 ruff Paid 4. 15 lb Lobster $165 fishpro Paid 5. Speycasting Lessons $125 ffconvert 6.Sundance Lake Hawg Hunt $175 cgyguy Paid 7.Taco's Trip into the Great Unknown $200 brndawg Paid 8. ADC's Police Lake $150 gustuphson Paid 9. Dune's Driftboat Slave for a Day $325 JerryN Paid 10. Caddisflies Book $110 PGK Paid 11. Uberfly's Backcountry Trip $100 golfman99 Paid 12. TFO BVK Fly Rod $230 PGK Paid 14, Stillwater Fishing School $200 ruff Paid, $125 Palemorningdunce Paid, $100 BiggyJ Paid 15. Springcreek Browns $300 FNG Paid 16. Barnaby Ridge Trip $50 hawgstoppah, $50 BiggJ, $50 gustuphson Paid 17. Max's Walk and Wade $225 GrnDrake Paid 18. 24 Lb Shrimp $150 troutsteaks 19. Bow River and SW Alberta Flies $70 brndawg Paid 20. Fly Fishing Boot Camp $200 Murray Paid 21. TFO Spey Rod and Case $175 BiggJ Paid 22. SW Alberta Walk and Wade $400 Cheeler Paid 23. Lake Summerside Hawg Hunt $50 BBT 24. Athabasca Rainbow Trip $225 Keith 25. Thomas the Train Engine at Heritage Park $40 SanJuanWorm Paid 26. Skeet and Snouts $60 dopctork Paid 27. Bow River Fishing MapBook $40 FNG Paid, $35 gustuphson Paid, $30 Keith 28. Dolly Varden Trip $75 foothills86 Paid 28. Troutlover's Backcountry Trip (two #28s. Sorry about that) $325 TheWorm Paid 29. Bow River Flies and Fly Box $75 Gustuphson Paid(amount matched by IckyFlyWorks!!) 30a. Chirnomid, Brassies, Soft Hackle Flies $40 cgyguy Paid 30b. Assorted Flies $30 tgo Paid 31. Amundson Top Fly and TCR Reel $175 troutlover Paid 32. Camping, Cavorting and Catching on the Castle $250 gustuphson Paid 33. Humblefisherman Wild Card Trip $300 gaffer If I do my math right, that is $6355 raised for Streamwatch this year. Thanks to all again. Payments can be made by cheque or credit card. Cheques should be made payable to "Trout Unlimited Canada." Send all cheques for donations and payment for auction items, to: Trout Unlimited Canada Ste. 160, 6712 Fisher St. S.E. Calgary, AB, T2H 2A7 Attn: Kimberly Davidson Memo note: Please mark all cheque payments "Alberta Stream Watch". Please indicate your Auction item # on your payment or mark Donation. T.U.C. does not use PayPal, but will accept all major Credit Cards. To pay for an auction item or make a donation with a Credit Card, contact Kimberly Davidson, Trout Unlimited Canada in Calgary, @ 403-221-8360. Make sure to mention that your payment is for a donation or for an Auction Item for Alberta Streamwatch and for an auction items be sure to give her the Auction Item # you are paying for.. If you have purchased an auction item and completed payment, we will notify the member who has donated the item/service. The buyer should then contact the member via pm or phone to make arrangements to receive their goods/services.

That's a wrap for this year. Thanks to everyone who donated, bid, won, etc. I'll do a tally tomorrow, but I think we are in the neighborhood of $7000! Thanks again!

Guys, all bids after 7:59 were too late. So the winner of humble's auction was the first $300 bid by gaffer. Congrats!

Hello all, I am closing all auctions Wed. at 8 PM. Any bid after 7:59:59 will not be accepted.

Hello all, I am closing all auctions Wed. at 8 PM. Any bid after 7:59:59 will not be accepted.

Closing notices put up for all auctions, Wednesday May 4 at 8 PM. These are the last one's for this year!

I've tubed quite a bit when I was younger, and in some pretty shallow water. I too am having a hard time seeing the similarity between tubing and a belly boat. On a tube, or at least the ones we used, one's legs were above the tube with your ass in the middle. Gravel might chap your ass, but not really any danger. With a belly boat, your legs are below the tube. In shallow water there is no way to get your legs out of the way. Not to say the danger of a belly boat in the lower Bow isn't being overstated, but it certainly seems more dangerous than a tube.

I'm thinking Wednesday.

Just started a "Wild Card" trip donated by The Humblefisherman, #33.

Just added another trip, this time from The Humblefisherman. Jay is offering a trip of the winner's choice. Float the bow, bushwhack or whatever the winner wants. I will pay the winner extra to bring my GPS along. Thanks Jay!

Have had a couple donations in the last couple of days, a Rod and Reel from Amundson and a trip on the Castle Drainage with DrBullTrout Check them out!

Just posted another trip, this time with DrBullTrout (Andrew) on the Castle drainage. Andrew has a habit of catching pretty damn big Bulls. And really, any excuse to get on one of the Castle or any of it's tribs is not to be missed!