reevesr1

Sorry about that, don't know why I thought Shaw. Whatever the case, I hope I get up to his neck of the woods someday and do me some BC lake fishin'! Got the rod out today on the Bow for a morning session. Very, very happy with it. I did quite a bit of roll casting with it, and was very pleased with the results. I also landed around 10 trout, so was pretty happy about that as well. Sure was nice having the extra foot to mend with. I'll have some photos later.

Appropriate on a couple of levels. A 10 ft for czech nymphing- and a Wind Warrior for the Crow. Perfec

Lets see: 3 wt TFO Finesse 5 wt TFO Sig series (big yellow) 5 wt 10 ft Amundson Wind Warrior 6 wt Traveler from Wayne Hanson (his store rod, love it by the way-it is my go to rod for the bow) 8 wt TFO TiCr (I think) I've also test driven a couple of Guidelines and had a 10 ft 6 wt Bow River Special from G&L Flycraft for a couple of weeks (an absolutely fabulous rod-same rod hawgstoppah uses-for anyone looking for a custom fly rod, I couldn't recommend it more). How many reels is another question entirely!

A workmate just handed me my new Amundson 10 ft 4 pc 5 wt Wind Warrior he assembled. Looks absolutely fantastic. Can't wait to see what it looks like all bowed up tomorrow!! Thanks to Jack Shaw for supplying the blank so quickly! Fabulous customer service.

Not denying that "women in waders" is a beautiful phrase, but when I looked at the contest it does look like they are looking for someone who is not that experienced aren't they? I've heard second hand of your fishing skills, and from what I understand they are formidable!

Landed a 25" redfish on a 5 wt, no problem (and trust me, redfish pull way harder than any pike). Problem with the 5 wt, as tungsten said, was the wind, not fighting the fish.

Thanks for the laugh Paul!

Is it bitching and complaining when you bitch and complain about the bitchers and complainers? Seems we have more than one or two on this site (bitchers and complainers I mean). I call them "Black Holes of Fun," you know, whenever they see fun they are compelled to suck it in and not let it back out.

Spent the last couple of days fishing the Guideline ACT 4 piece 6 wt. This is the newest rod (I think) in their line, so I couldn't find any description on-line, but I should have something in a couple of days, and I'll post pics later. Here is what I thought after a dozen fish or so.... This rod is a definite step up from the explorer. It certainly seems a bit faster. I was fishing some seams a bit further out than I usually do and was having no trouble hitting them with this rod. My trouble with it seemed to be underestimating how far the cast would go and getting a big bounce back at the end of the cast because I hadn't stripped enough line! Also, when nymphing I had to slow my casting a bit because the loops were too tight and I was crashing on the line. But after I opened the loops up a bit, everything was great. I did get a chance to toss dries with it as well and really liked the action, but both times the wind was blowing pretty hard in my face. I wish I had brought another rod to compare it with as the wind was making testing the rod difficult. As to fish fighting, like the Explorer the rod has plenty of backbone so turning fish is no problem. I also like the deep bend when fighting fish! I'll post price information as I get it. Next up-ACT 4wt and cutties!

Does it matter? If it is fun (and all fishing is fun), give it a whirl.

Better a drill in the bush....... better stop now.

I thought maybe you were trying to take the water temperature rectally........

19-20? Was the water flowing?? We've only had a few days over 25 here, so it is very surprising to hear of that high a water temp.

Dustin, I believe you fished with Troutlover (jared) once-at BH? He said you were an excellent fisherman. Unfortunately, you do not look as good in waders. Sorry. Oh, what the hell, I'll vote for you too I guess.

Awesome Chris! Might have to make a trip together up there in August when I get back from Pano and Texas!

4 pc. Can't find a wt. Feels pretty light though. Judging by there other rods, I'd say just over 100 gm. The reel is 164 gm.

I'm sure many of you have noticed the Guideline banner on the website lately. I had the pleasure of fishing with their Explorer package this morning which consists of their EXP3 rod and Reelmaster reel, which is their "entry" level equipment. I was fishing with the 6 wt. Fortunately for me, I found some fish that wanted to play, so I got to give the rod and reel a pretty good workout. First off it is a very nice looking rod, as you can see in the pictures below with a very nice looking reel seat and smooth finish on the cork. I was fishing with a pretty heavy nymph rig this morning and the rod handled the weight no problem. The longest cast I made today was around 50 ft, but I cannot imagine it would have any trouble really stepping out (not that I think that is a big deal on the bow!) I'm probably not the best judge of castability, cuz I fairly well suck. But it performed as well as any rod I've used to date. Most importantly to me, it handled fish very, very well. I caught 5 fish between 17 and 20", with lost of feistiness, and I had no trouble turning their heads when I needed to. The rod has nice power! The reel is made of aluminum and has a nice easy drag control. I purposely adjusted the drag many times during the fights and the drag responded very nicely, with a satisfying scream to boot. I'm not sure of what the retail will be individually, but I think the package will sell for around $250. Hanson's will be getting some of these, and you can contact them for price. I wish these had been around when I was just starting out. It will be an absolutely outstanding bang for the buck. Next up will be one of their more advanced rods. Goody, goody!! By the way, I have no vested interest in these rods. I'm just an unpaid, but happy, tester!

I saw kungfool catch his first cuttie in years last week. I wouldn't have been proper bait for the rainbow he's holding!!

One more vote. My wife is a nurse at Rocky View, in the cardiac unit. And I lost my teacher as well pretty recently. If I hadn't voted for you, I fear I may have been smited from above. Plus I'm a sucker for a girl holding a fish!

Well, that 370 was just a bit wind aided! Maybe they'll make me hit off the big boy tees next year, instead of off the whites with the rest of the old guys. How was the fishing?

Can't help wit the boat, but I have a portable depth finder if you need it.

I played in a charity scramble today in the bloody hurricane. I used my new Cleveland HiBore XLS Pro (which means a 3 degree open face, 9.5 degree loft, stiff shaft, lower ball flight). I can describe my first impression in one word: Boom. Has that ugly big driver sound and look, but my lord does it hit the ball long and straight. I found that with the open face I could really attack the ball, ripping my hands through the hitting zone with little fear of the big hook. I might have missed 2 or 3 fairways in all that wind, and 2 of those just barely. My brother in law has one, picked it up at Golf Town for $200 (which is stupid cheap). I got mine on eBay for the same price. This is the driver Vijay uses. Highly, highly recommended. Big shot of the day? 550 yd par 5, down wind. Drove it in the water at 180 yds (that's 370 yds if you're counting).

Steve, Are you gay? I guess we can still fish together, but keep your damn distance. Snake, There are fish in the Elbow? I'll be there tomorrow!! Nice pictures boys.

Not picking on you Mike, just using your quote!! My dad was the best fisherman I've ever met. There was a group that literally used to follow him around back in the 60s (back when boats were slow). They were called "Richard's Army". He had to use diversion tactics to fish his favorite places without being followed. (I know many people are saying "whatever" right now. I don't particularly care if you believe me or not!). But as he aged, he learned that it really didn't matter if people knew the good places. He would just figure out more of them, or go back to old ones that had fallen out of favor. Before he died, we went through a bunch of photos together. I found several pictures of him in his 40s to 60s, after my brothers and I had moved away, with people I did not know. There was usually with a kid or two in tow, always with some fish in a cooler. When I asked about it he said "oh, that's just some guys who I met at the ramp who had a hard time catching fish, so I took them out and showed them a couple of spots and how to fish them." So as he aged, he learned that for him it was more important to pass his knowledge on than to try to keep it all for himself. Figured it's the least I could do to try to do the same, though I'm not a fraction of the fisherman he was. My theory is that the fishing gene skips every other generation (my grandpa wasn't all that great either, but my son is pretty stinking good). But I have just as much passion for it as he did and if I can help someone just starting out, I'll do so. I couldn't possibly care less if they are a member of the site, guest, lurker, spin fisherman, whatever. The more people fishing, the better. If that pisses some people off, so be it. I can live with that. Oh, and Taco and FFFairx-I promise I'll never bring anyone to any of your spots if you show them to me. Double pinky swear!!

I still don't get most of the concern here. I fish a not unknown body of water near here. In 3 years of going there, I've had someone parked there exactly once, ran into people twice. I haven't had anyone in my favorite Bow spot, here in the city, in at least 10 trips. I went down south last week, on opening day. I stopped at 4 or 5 different locations. Saw one car, no people. I did have to drive past some random campers though. Anyway, seems like a tempest in a teapot to me.