duanec

sorry...on friday afternoon it was a big river with lots of open space...lots of prime water and great runs open with no one around, etc. and no, i don't own any of it. but i do take some ownership of it, and treat the resource as if it i were a steward, and treat my fellow anglers and other users with some degree of care and courtesy and try to 'do unto others'. there was no myth at work...i have no idyllic fantasies where the bow river is mine alone...i considered it fortunate that i had the spot to myself. i believe fundamentally we can all share and co-exist. there is a 'community' out there & on this board and i have found other reasonable and like minded people [and some haters, but that's life, and esp. life on the internests] with whom i share some core beliefs and values, and so there exists some level norms and expectations. seriously, i have had several loaner offers from people i have never met or really interacted with before [awesome btw]. they don't know me from jack at all but will lend me some quality gear. explain? in the great natural order, it's dog eat dog. bigger and tougher and meaner you get to stay and eat and survive. i am generally a reasonable and easy going person that will avoid conflict [and therefore generally prone to going away with my tail btwn my legs and whine about it later ] however i got pushed to my 'snapping point' by some discourteous experienced anglers who actually know better but conciously or not determined that was thier spot regardless of any other considerations but thier own. for a change, i decided not to roll over and play dead this time, and i shared in the continued hopes that we or a small sampling of the 300k fishers out there are all able to review our own behaviours...and ocassionally rise above the natural order and take into consideration others and the environment and the resource when we are out there.

love the western skies...you can't see epic dawn & dusk like these anywhere else.

some great pix there. love the western sunsets & sunrises. tnx for sharing.

well to his partial credit he offered his spare 4 wt up. but which would've been of little use chuckin heavy gear into the teeth of the wind today. but not the kit they were using. huh yeah that woulda been an inconvenience i guess... tanx all for the offers of a loaner...very much appreciated. speaking of which, after getting back to my sled and about to leave...a fellow board member showed up and had a spare rod to lend me, so we went out for a while and after heading back to 'the spot' i managed to land a few. so not a complete loss for the day [tnx again timj].

so, get up really early to get to work and get some *hit done so you can get out on the water and enjoy what could very likely be the last balmy day for while. get geared up, drive to the parking spot by @ noonish. it's empty...perfect. walk for 40 mins to that good run with the stuff and the things...also empty...perfect. a drift boat comes by, pulls in. huh. k whatever, they are having lunch. cool...no problems. but wait. totally unannounced, dude is now standing 20 ft downstream of me...while the other 2 walk thru the upstream portion of the channel run i am fishing...towards the prime spot. not a word to me. remember...they have a drift boat. i am the only angler within sight fishing from shore anywhere. and now my great spot is being poached by boaters. so...i'm generally a reasonable guy. seriously takes a lot to get me worked up...but i thought, screw it i'm gonna go fish right beside this guy. i don't care if i piss him off. i did not come out for a day on the river to have is fracked up by some floater noobs who seem to believe they have first dibs on every run in the entire river. i cross the channel to the gravel bar and proceed with a fly change. at this point, the oarsman realizes hey maybe they shoulda asked, and then does, and offers to let me take the first run thru the spot. wow. ok, well that's something i guess. so the other guys walking around yappin on his cell, and walks up beside me and steps on my fly rod. snap i really lost my sense of humour by that point. in less than 35 minutes upon arriving my relaxing quiet day on the river is over. so, dude offered to cover the shipping for my rod warranty...[hey, if you are a board member...that's great], but i'm without a stick. MY DAY IS OVER. I GET TO WALK 40 MINS BACK TO MY CAR AND GO HOME. DID YOU HAVE A GOOD REST OF YOUR DAY??? did you catch lots of fish??? did you enjoy the fantastic weather????

i hear that...but there will be no cure for my fever this season...sigh...

me too. case in point yesterday. i threw up a classic full fledged 5 alarm birds nest, and was able to recover and proceeded to catch a 'whole bunch' [which is like almost double digits in minutes but no one believes that kind of talk really] with said rig instead of spending 15 minutes retying because of my mad skillz. certainly years does matter. i find it helps if yer smart too. and really good looking. and have lotsa money. everythings just better then. oh, and spending more that 3 hrs a year in waders [and i don't mean wearing them around the house] helps too.

the polarization that is occuring within the american political scene [and the media] between sanity/reason/debate and the parroting of bizarre talking points and histrionics displayed of late is reflective of the outward face that the rest of the global community is seeing and is playing right into the hands of the extremeists on the other side. america the wise, the great defender of the free world is becoming america the stupid dullard thug with a lynch mob mentality. i pray that sanity prevails for their and everyone else's sake, cuz they have nukes. but if you are a semi-famous actor you can always come to canada and claim refugee status from the u.s. claiming your life is being threatened by fox news or some other fictional shadow groups...

on that note: sorry, had to.

yep, thats global warming and the oilsands mother nature for ya...

this interviewer [mccourt] fails on a regular basis...however this was an absolutely embarassing attempt at 'confrontational interviewing'. agree barb did well for sticking it out. don't think she gets the big chair tomorrow though.

i've decided to throw my name into the ring along with the other 458 candidates...so i'm voting for me.

glad to see a wider variety of emoticons being used finally...this thread was gettin' lame...

true dat. 'hey we fished the bow for 17 1/5 hours yeaterday and caught absolutely nothing, and here's the pictures to prove it' i have total skunkage days and days of [comparitively to others] seemingly redonkulous numbers/size. i have been on both sides of the coin, as compared to the rest of the boats at the launch at days end. i know which one is more fun. i've also learned to keep my mouth shut. and i'm just a tourist, not a guide. if i fish with someone else, i'm usually outclassed.

fantastic pix. makes me want to throw away my camera. tnx for posting.

the light thru the maple tree...very nice

awesome. looks like it was a solid trip!

fortunately i dodged this bullet. sorry bout yer luck. introducing my kids very early to 'ugly singer music' has given them somewhat more discerning tatse.

modz: like to report this photo for showing incorrect handling of fish... jk. nice shots man!

schweeeeet!

yep, pretty good double. good day for larger fish today.