reevesr1

Dates, and maybe some bull trout, available in September. I'm just sayin. And to stay topical, very few mosquitoes. There are some sheep though......

to add more confusion... I replaced my broken (my son's fault, not Olympus) 1050SW with a Canon D10. Like the Canon way more. A much bigger camera, but takes far better pictures in a non-fishing environment that the other water proof cameras I have used.

Nice pictures buddy, as always. And as always too many damn flower shots, but I understand you didn't really have that many fish to take pictures of.

While I know that some people fish the Bayou system through Houston, I've never done it. All my fishing is on the coast. Depending on where you are, anywhere from 45 minutes to 1.5 hrs from Houston. Mornings tend to be better. So you could go early in the morning, finish by 11 or so, then back downtown. If you wanted to go during the week, you could hire a guide. If during the weekend, I can probably hook you up.

Ryan, Never said it doesn't happen, it just happens FAR less than people think. If what Sun (the person) says is correct, the Sun (paper) did something pretty rare, they printed a clarification of the story. But the reality is a whole bunch of people now think Calgarians routinely drive past dying people and don't stop. Another urban legend begins. And to take this in another direction, I have a question: In the US every year now there are malls all over the country that sponsor Halloween events to keep people off the streets and safe from people giving out poisoned candy and apples with razor blades. Every major city will have several places where people can tick or treat safely. So my question is: How many cases of poisoned or tampered candy have there been in the US, where the victim was not a family member of the perpetrator? The answer? 0. It has never happened. There have been stories about poisoned candy, but they have all turned out to either be hoaxes by the child or a family member who did the poisoning. But it is almost common knowledge that children have been poisoned. Problem is that the common knowledge is based on total crap. The myth of the apathetic bystander is very close to the same thing. Far more myth than reality. My bet is, if there was a way to measure which there probably isn't, people really haven't changed in the last few decades as those of us living in these decades think they have. We all like to think our generation (or the ones just behind us) is somehow different, for good or bad. Pretty myopic when you think about it. We've been around for a long time. I'd imagine true changes in the morality of a society take quite a long time to take place. That's speaking as the hick Texan that I am.

Buck, If they broke at the seams like mine did, you can get a big ass needle and leather repair thread from Michaels or similar and sew them up. I did mine, took about an hour. They will get me through this season for sure (2nd one). I really do love them, but I don't know what I'm going to do for the next pair. For the money, I too would have expected more life. I think Santa could be bringing me some Simms (and I know someone reading this now who is chuckling to themselves, to him I say blah, blah, and when you gonna take me dry fly fishing the Bow youngster?)

Before everyone goes off the deep end, the most celebrated case of bystander apathy was in New York 30 or 40 yrs ago. An entire neighborhood heard a woman getting raped and did nothing. Books were written and everything. Cept it turned out to be pretty much total BS. Made for a great story, only problem was it wasn't true. Not saying the Calgary Sun isn't a totally credible source of information, but I think I'll wait for a bit more information before I'm ready to declare the end of western civilization. But what do I know, I'm from a big city and apparently we step over dying people all the time on our way to our important appointments. Please.

That's why we fish from 5 AM to about 10 or so. Summer fishing can be good, but you gotta want it. Next time you are down, let me know. My brother and cousin fish a lot and would love to show someone from up North around.

Now that made my day. Taco, I always knew you exaggerated how much you walked. The proof is in the fact you don't wear out your boots fast enough. I guess that day we fished together and walked, and walked, and walked must have been an aberration. Maybe if you manned up and fished the pussyass bow more often you would wear out your boots faster like a real man.

Thanks for the report. From all the trips I've taken in my life, fishing and otherwise, no memorable trip does not have problems. ALL the good stories have some sort of problem/conflict involved. Without getting dropped in the wrong place, years from now this would just be the nice heli trip to catch goldens. Now it is a story you can tell for the rest of your life and people will remember it. Perfect.

I need to replace one of my "laces" as well. Starting to fray after 1.5 yrs (and lord knows how many trips). I also did some at home shoe repair on a couple of the seams using a leather repair thread and a big ass needle. Figure I can milk them for another season or two.

I see some water in the background. How come you weren't fishing? Kidding Mike, glad you are ok!

I love this quote. Wish I could have put it so succinctly: "Fishing is an act of predation, no matter how pure your intentions, no matter how cosseted by clichés like “noble battle” and “worthy opponent.” A fish counts its tender release not as a gesture of interspecies solidarity but as a lucky escape from a terrifying and painful death."

I knew it wasn't out of the Bow, it was just mentioned to let people know what could be out there. Every time I see that fish it takes my breath away.

Bringing attention to the river is a good thing. I don't think that some 80 cm lit balls are going to do any damage. A short analogy: In Texas, the biggest saltwater conservation association is called the CCA (Coastal Conservation Organization). Every year they hold a huge tournament as their fundraiser. It is a kill tournament (remember that saltwater species can maintain numbers without full c&r). Many, many people complain that a conservation association should not use a kill tournament as their fundraiser. CCA's reply is that as long as fish are kept within legal limits, the huge sums of money that come in via this tournament and the good it does to fund operations and raise awareness far offset a few extra fish that go into freezers. I totally agree with their stance. This seems like a similar thing to me. A few balls on the water are not going to do anything. People paying attention to this special waterway can only help. Pretty good trade.

As I stated above, I've now caught 4 fish over 26" in my 4 short years of fly fishing. It is impossible for me to believe that there are not fish 10% bigger than that in the Bow, even if you discount Bulls. It doesn't make sense, I would go so far as to say it is statistically impossible. There is one fish I have hooked twice in the last couple of years in the same spot. I don't know how big he is, but his tail is freaking immense and was way too much fish for my 6 wt and 2x to stop on both occasions. A fisherman who used to frequent this board, whose word I take as gold, has caught a 36" rainbow on the Bow (albeit a LONG time ago). Just because there are no pictures does not mean anything. The longer I fish this river, the less I take my camera. If my buddy had not been with me last week, there would have been no pic of the 27.5" fish. Doesn't make him any less real. Anyway, doesn't matter I guess. I have no trouble believing there are massive trout on the Bow. Anyone seen the picture of the Bull Humble caught this year? There are some true beasts around. Just cuz people haven't seen pictures does not make them so.

BBQ is one thing. But yesterday I saw a picture of some relatives in Louisiana eating Jambalaya. That was sheer torture. I like the fact you said "flush". When a trout or red hits a topwater lure, the 3 main terms are "slapped at it", for a quiet strike, "blow up" for a regular strike, and a really big one is a "toilet flush." Topwater fishing is about as good as it gets to me. I wouldn't say better than fly fishing, but it is damn close!

Sorry about the whole North Texas thing, but it could be worse, you could be in Oklahoma! Just kidding of course, great people up there. Maybe not the most liberal spot on the planet. And it's been fun becoming a fly fishing convert! You get any bass fishing in up there?

Second time this has happened isn't it? Same thing happened to that lady from overseas last year if memory serves? That's brutal Clinton. Where do you live in Texas? If it's near the coast, maybe I can put you on some salt water trout next time I'm in town. Not worth $300 in flies, but better than nothing!

Just eyeballing it, it looks a bit Mae West-ish if you drop the top and bottom results (which skew it because their range is bigger.) I was thinking about this thread the other day, specifically about how many people refused to believe the number of people who have caught truly big (30"+) fish on the Bow. I've only fished it for 4 yrs, and have 3 over 26 so far. Biggest over 27. Why would I not believe there are bigger fish to be had? And why would I be surprised when someone catches one?

Clive, I've been around Pelicans my whole life as well. We used them as fish locators, because they would fly around searching and when they saw fish they would dive down to eat. But they didn't eat the game fish, they ate the same bait fish the game fish were eating. In flats fishing, find the bait you find the fish. We used the pelicans, and seagulls, and to a much lesser extent comorants to help us find bait. I personally have never heard any saltwater angler complain about pelicans eating game fish. Now, I fully understand that the ecology on a flat is night and day to a river. But it's not like big fish were not there, its just that pelicans never ate them. Maybe because they are harder to find on flats? Don't know, but I find myself siding with Paul (and that could be a first, at least publicly) and say that I just don't see Pelicans as a big problem. And I say that with no authority whatsoever!

Cormorants have been on the Gulf Coast my whole life. Tons of them. Fishing is pretty good there. Correlation does not always infer causation. Lots of cormorants and declining fish populations (if they are truly declining) may be correlated, but that in no way means fish pops are declining because of cormorants. That said, I've never really liked cormorants. They are ugly and you can't eat them.

Happy belated boys!

Exactly. Anyone who fishes the dog park should know how to stay away from the dogs. It isn't really hard at all. Though I would have paid money to watch what you said Lynn!

My largest bow river trout was caught this morning. I went to measure him on my net, but he was too long. The net is 26.5". So I measured him against my rod and checked when I got home. It was easy to do because he came to a ferrule. 27.5" of fat ass brown. I love dirty water. Picture to follow.