OneMoreLastCast

So Rick and I hit the river the yesterday really early....5 am early! I was still half asleep and figured I would do some video taping and let Rick fish more since he couldn't stay long because he had to be at the office by 8:30. I got some decent footage, but as it turned out, most of it was not usable because I had the camera set wrong for the lighting and had it set on medium quality. What I did end up getting turned out to be a little fun, so I quickly cut it up and figured I would post it here for a little laugh....at Rick's expense of course. I apoligize for the shakiness. I was trying to keep up to Rick while giggling to myself a little as well. I have to give Rick credit. If a fish took off downstream like this on me, I know I am too lazy to go after it so it would win this battle against me, but not Rick. Enjoy. Hopefully this works. http://s159.photobucket.com/albums/t127/Mi...=Movie_0002.flv

Why did they bother repairing the sub? They could have just sold it to us up here in Canada. That's what Britain would have done. Cool story though....Oh, and Poker isn't gambling.

1. Bow River: Land, Snap the Picture and release a nice Trout that my Daughter(s) just cast a little emerger pattern to along the bank as the sun sets. 2. Cutthroat: Watch from a distance while my oldest Daughter helps land the nice 20" Cutty that she helped her younger sister catch. 3. Leave the rod in the truck, video tape and just help out while my kids take advantage of the great Chronnie fishing in the spring. Just the three of us out in the boat, staring at little corkies that keep disappearing and the sounds of giggling as they reel in fish after fish. 4. Seeing the look on Rick's face when he hooks into his first truely "Big" Bull Trout in September.

33 or so years. I'm a little backwards though. I just recently bought my first Spincasting rod to fish around home with the kids on occassion. I've found it to be way less work, so I think I'll put the fly rod away and start huckin' hardware full time.

Pretty good joke. The only thing is that up here in Canada, we really do have parasites that do as talked about in your buddy's joke. We just don't make it known that we wear condoms while fishing rivers like the Bow, Crowsnest, etc. and it's only for a short time thru the summer that they're necessary. The parasites are called Ichthyophthirius multifiliis. They are Protozoa and of the Ciliates order and can cause extreme discomfort if they make their way into the urethra, although the rash caused around the privates can be brutal too, Just ask Hawgstoppah. (Apparently feminine creams work miracles on the rash). They usually don't get bad until late August and into September and the streams in BC are especially bad about the second week in September. Unfortunately, BC implemented some new regulations that are even more ridiculous than some of the other recent ones and one of them is that no waders are allowed in Classified waters now. Something to do with transferring parasites, disease, etc. from other water systems. So now that you know the risk, don't forget your condoms in September buddy

Sounds good diggler. I look forward to hearing your report. As far as the people we dealt with when looking for information, they were all great. As we all know, it is usually just a few bad apples that spoil the bunch and I'm sure this was the case. I've never had a problem with respecting someone's space.

Thanks Rusty, and thanks Clive for the info and ideas. I couldn't take it, so I'm heading out to BC to see how they float this weekend. I talked my wife into taking the kids to BC for a little holiday and told her, "I might sneak out early each morning before anyone gets up if that's alright honey". I got the same old, "What ever". We'll see how the Cutties like the foam.

The sheets I found are about the same thickness as a quarter and are virtually tear proof. I also discovered a little trick to make the bodies look better when folding them over and crazy glueing. I cut the strips and leave the ends square, put a dab of crazy glue and then fold and pinch the end together. Then I round it off with the scissors, leaving less of a line visible. I used this little trick on the Stone Fly in the last picture.

I figured it would be a long trip, but I guess someone physically transported them. Either way, it was a little bit of a surprise to catch such an alien fish, but to catch a few was really strange.

They didn't come within 20 feet of my boat and the shots over head were quite a ways above us. They were just sending us a message. I later stopped in to ask if there was a way to get permission to float through so I wouldn't run into problems if I did it again, but the message was clear that they would prefer I didn't. The person I talked to said that even if they were to give us the go ahead, He couldn't promise He could control his people. He said they would prefer if I fished with someone from the Band. I respected their wishes and haven't been back. Also, take into consideration that this was around 12 or 13 years ago, so things may have changed.

That's awesome. I've never seen anyone seriously pose with a sucker before, good on ya. Besides, they're fish too right. I caught a few big Carp in the Bow a few years back and couldn't figure out how they got in. Later, I was golfing at the course I think in Claresholm and the ponds were loaded with the same Carp. I asked one of the maintenance guys if they could ever get into the creek that flows through the course and he said they get in all the time. They must have then made it down to the Bow. These fish fought like hell and one was pushing 7 or 8 pounds. I've heard they eat algae as well.

Thanks Clive, that's a pretty nice pattern that I will definitely try. I really like the rib effect with the hackle. I was getting kind of stale tying the same old patterns, with the odd variance thrown in, but tying with the foam has made it interesting again. I'm going to try some new stuff I have in mind, but would love any other suggestions too. It's really tough to get motivated to tie when you aren't going to be fishing any time soon. It's kind of like swinging the new golf clubs on Christmas morning....

Thanks Darren. You can't beat flies that take 3 or 4 minutes to tie and cost about 2 cents each. The only thing about tying new fly patterns when you are on the road is that I don't know when I'll get to test them out. Hopefully soon....I'm suffering from withdrawl.

Sitting at my desk trying to come up with things to do can be tedious. I stopped in at the Loonie store up here in Fort Mac to get nail clippers and discovered these nice thin pieces of foam they had, so I bought a couple for $0.10 a piece with the intention of trying to use them in fly tying. I sat at my desk and cut the foam into pieces and prepared them for the bench. I cut them into strips and then rounded one end with each piece being just over 1/8 of an inch wide and just over an inch long. I then put a dab of crazy glue on the rounded end and pinched it together. I thought these would work well for body sections with the pinched end being the rear end. Once back in my hotel room, I tried these new foam bodies for a few patterns and it seemed to work pretty well. Tell me what you think please because I am looking for input, advice, ideas, etc., because I am a very traditional tyer. I use mostly natural materials and this is my first try with foam. It was nice to do something different and it was kind of fun as well. Tying with foam sure is fast too. Each fly took a total of 5 minutes to tie and when tested in water, I could see what the big deal with foam is. Man do they sit up nice. I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks. Thanks in advance. This is the basic body I used for the different flies. With the Stones and Caddis, I cut the head section off. Grasshopper October Caddis Stone

I could watch casting like this all day, probably because I am not the prettiest caster out there. ...and Brent, I'm just giving you a hard time

Good to know, I might have to join you one day. I was going to say to be careful. In my ignorance, I floated through the reserve years ago. The fishing was amazing and we caught a lot of fish, until we got our "You're not welcome here" notification. I know they had no intentions, (I hope), but the shots over our heads and in the water not too near us, but not too far either, was enough for us to get the message. The fishing was so good that we almost talked ourselves into risking it not long after, but reconsidered and went elsewhere.

Yeah, these fished in the film are deadly too. I even gink them up some times and do well.

Cool story again Rick. Did your Dad always put the number of fish he caught on his shirt? I'm gonna start doin' that.

I think you better go to the "Youtube" site so you can make it full screen.... I have seen some of the best casters in the world and I'm sure they would be impressed with this. Did you watch Gretzky play and tell everyone, "He's not that good. I don't know why he keeps looping back to the blueline when he could.....I could do that"? I'm sure anyone that has spent anytime casting has used different techniques to get the line off the water in front of them, but to do it with such consistancy and control like in the video is very impressive. Plus the line that is going behind him is minimal.

Thanks Taco. That is some unreal casting and gives me an idea of how to kill some time while away from home for work. I wonder if they ever competed as "Rythmic Gymnasts" though, because that would be a definate advantage. Found another one from them.

I can't wait to get down there in September. I've already got my BC license, so I'll have to suck it up and only pay the classified fees. The St Mary can be a tough one if you don't know the right access points. It makes for a great float though, as well as the Elk. Good to hear you had a nice trip.

Here’s a very effective Caddis Pupa Pattern to try that is fairly simple to tie. Unfortunately, some of the pictures didn’t work out, but the ones that did, should be enough. I tie these in Gold and Green and have good success with both on most of the streams and lakes in Alberta and BC. Works very well when tied with no weight and fished in the surface film as well. Hook: Pupa Style size 12 -16 Ribbing: Larva lace, color of choice, transparent Under Ribbing: Pearl Flash-a-bou Beard and Collar: Dark Partridge White Collar: Fish Fur or equivalent Legs: Rubber Legs of choice. (Mine are strands from a bungee cord). Thorax: Course Dubbing, color of choice. 1. Weight Hook and tie on thread. 2. Tie in Ribbing with round side against the hook. 3. Tie in Flash 4. Wrap Flash over weight to cover and tie off. 5. Wrap Lace over Flash and tie off. 6. Tie in White Fish Fur on back, Tie in Partridge Beard on the under side and Wrap Partridge Collar. 7. Tie in Rubber legs and dub in Thorax. 8. Whip finish.

9. Dub heavy against the PT legs, tie Straw forward for first case and then tie it back again. 10. Before tying the Straw forward for the final case and head, tie on the eyes and Antenae. 11. Dub around eyes and bring thread back behind the eyes. 12. Tie down the last Wing case, move thread infront of the eyes and tie down the Straw over the eyes to form the head. 13. Cut off the Straw and Whip Finish. 14. Apply glue or Hard as nails to head and wing cases to strengthen. Finished Golden Stone with 3 wing Cases Finished Brown Stone with 2 wing Cases

Most of my Fly tying is done in a hotel room with a Travel Fly Tying kit, so I have to often get by with the materials available to me. I threw this pattern together because I was going to be fishing where the Stone Flies were the ticket and it turned out to work pretty well. It's not the fanciest, but it's turned out to be the most effective. I apologize for not being able to give the exact materials for the tie, all my dubbings are put into a holder for convenience of travel. Hook: Medium long shank size 6 - 12 Dubbing: What ever you think will work Ribbing: Stretch floss Legs: Pheasant Tail Tail/Antenae: Biots to match Wing Case: Swiss Straw to match Eyes: Mono Eyes, (Or eyes of your choosing), in Black. Size Small. 1. Wrap weight from just above the hook bend to 1/3 from the eye. 2. Wrap Thread over weight and make a small dubbing ball at the top of the bend. 3. Tie in Biots for tail using the dubbing ball to “Flare” them to the sides. 4. Tie in Stress Floss for rib 5. Dub to just past the ½ way mark of hook and bring ribbing to the same point. 6. Tie in Swiss Straw leaving enough length to be tied down 3 times for 3 wing cases, or tied down 2 times for 2 wing cases on smaller Stones. 7. Dub heavy up against Straw. 8. Tie in Pheasant tail on both sides, “Pheasant Tail” Style.

If I'm ever the person on My deathbed, not mobile anymore and near my end....I hope someone takes me to the River for one last time.