OneMoreLastCast

How big were the bumps? It could be a variety of parasites, (I hope not). I've seen parasite bumps/lumps on Summer Steelhead fresh from the ocean, but not on our trout here in alberta. Hopefully someone has an answer. Either way, I'd be sticking the waders in some water and bleach just in case.

That is why boards like these are great. You get views, opinions and experience from a wide variety of people, and if you come in with an open mind, people might just learn something. BTW K, September looks like a go...I can't wait.

When using a pump, your are sampling the very last food a trout has ingested means extracting items from the esophagus or gullet area of the digestive system. The esophagus begins at the back of the throat. It is a short muscular section that expands to take in larger food items. Once the food item passes through the esophagus it enters the stomach where digestive enzymes quickly break down and discolor food items. So you are wrong. To each his own. Use one or don't use one, but this proves that not only are fly fishermen judgemental of anglers that don't fly fish, but of people that fly fish as well. I wish people would do some research before spouting off, or is this another one of your "Stir" things up posts you like to do? I could care less if someone agrees with the use of a pump or not. I have fished with some very reputable fishermen that use them, write about how to use them and use them in their videos and on TV, so if these people that are Biologists, etc. feel okay using them, I do too. Tim expressed his "Opinion" and that is great, but if you are going to start stating facts, know what you're talking about.

Browns can be aggressive in smaller creeks. I've had big browns come out from under the bank to chase the little Brookies on my line occassionally on Stauffer. But I agree with Toolman, it was most likely a Bull Trout because it came back a few times at different fish. I've seen Browns take a quick swipe at a fish on my line, but they never seem as persistant as the Bull Trout. Edited By MTB...Just because.

This goes without saying, and don't ge tme wrong, I don't mean to offend or be rude. So please don't take this wrong. You can't pump a fish if you haven't caught a fish right? When you pump a fish's throat, as you said, you already have an idea of what they are feeding on and are either hoping to back it up, see what else they are eating, see what stage of emergence the fish are taking the insect, etc. I won't go into how fish feed on Chironomids, but trust me, you want to be as close as possible to the actual insect. I agree that there are times when you would want to use a variation of the exact insect that fish are feeding on, ie-murky water you might want to use a larger, darker imitation. But for the most part, the idea of "Matching the Hatch" is to imitate as close as possible what the fish are feeding on. Fish are very habitual creatures that will refuse an imitation for the slightest difference from what they are expecting. This is why you would want your imitation to be as close as possible to the actual insect. I, along with others I've fished with on this board, spend as much time studying the insects in the water as I do fishing. If not more time. I do it to learn as much as I can not necessarily for that day, but for future days I will spend on the water. Trust me, learn as much as you can about the actual insects the fish feed on and when, rather than the patterns that others are using or patterns that should be working and a person will catch more fish, more consistently. In a river I can turn over rocks, etc. to find the insects where in a lake I can't. This is where a throat pump comes into play. The only time I ever used one on a river is when I catch an abnormally fat fish and want to see what it has been feeding on that the others haven't been, or when I haven't been on the water for awhile and want to give myself or the people with me a little help. Otherwise, I only pump on lakes. Again, don't take offense to this. I like the topic and I am actually surprised it hasn't come up before.

Have a good trip. It's too bad more people don't listen. I'm leaving it alone too. I've fought long enough. The points seem to get misunderstood anyways...

No offense, but this is one of the strangest ideas I've seen applied to a fish's feeding habits. If I pump a fish's throat and find 15 dark Chironomids, 1 scud and 1 Damsel fly, I can be pretty sure that it would be a pretty good idea to tie on a Chironomid pattern to imitate what most, if not all of the fish are feeding on. Insects hatch in cycles, usually at different times of the day, week, month or year, so if the insects that are hatching happen to be BWO's, I'm pretty sure if you pumped any of the fish you might catch, regardless of the imitation you used to catch it, you would end up with a vile of BWO's. I will say that some people pump fish in order to study the feeding habits of the fish, not purely to "Cheat" and see exactly what the fish are feeding on. This is coming from a person that will change a pattern that is working, in order to find others that work. I either pump fish when I want to back up something that I have theorized, or when the fishing is slow and I am with someone that I really want to get into some fish. Your theory is backwards I believe though. If you pump One fish's stomach and find it full of a particular insect, you will likely find 30 more that are the same and only one that might have decided to feed on something else. Thus, the term "School" of fish.

We don't want to get into this again do we....eh Harps? There's enough information on the internet on the positives and negatives rather than do it here again. Like mentioned, the storm drainage does a lot of harm and people doing what Mark did needs to be done more often.

Brunsie is correct. You do not pump the stomach, you pump the throat of the fish. If you pumped the stomach, the fish would die. I do it all the time and have never felt it hurts the fish what so ever if done correctly. It is done when the fish is in the water and 90% of the insects sampled are still alive, and the other 10% have recently died. So it shows that you are definitely not going very deep with the pump. I wouldn't recommend doing it without someone that knows how showing you, or at least watch a video or read some good instruction on how to do it. I do it mostly on lakes, but will also do it on a river now and then. I will also never pump a fish that I don't think can handle it, or when the conditions might be hard on the fish...ie-warm temperatures, Stressed fish, smaller or bigger fish. I use the slot size rule. I try to take samples from nice healthy 16" or so fish because they seem to handle it the best. It might be considered cheating by some, but I believe in using advantages available. Most of the techniques, materials, etc. would be considered cheating by some of the old timers if you asked them.

Can't say there is too many out there that made as much this spring as I did while fishing....or playing poker in Vegas. Good luck and I can't wait to see the pics, and take some of my own soon. Even if it is September, I know those ones will be worth the wait. It really sucks to be sitting here in Fort Mac getting paid to basically do nothing. I could be getting paid to be gettin' some sun on the water somewhere.

Wow, great picture Reg. Would you mind if I keep a copy for myself. Strictly for me, I won't post it or share it. I might use it for a background or screensaver, but that's it.

A hybrid Brookie and Laker. There's a lake in Alberta where they were stocked. I don't know if they are still there and I never fished for them. If I remember correctly, it was a 19 KM hike in. I don't have my AFG to check, so I could be wrong on the distance.

Rick....That's just mean Great pictures, can't wait to use mine. You may have just cost me some money when I cut my shift short in order to try out my new camera. Who am I kidding, you know me, I'd charge out anyways.....

I'm a little bored, so why not..... Technically, there are Rainbow, Brown and Cutthroat Trout. Brookies, Bullies and Lakers are called trout, but are actually char, which is a different species all together. Although they are all part of the Salmonidae family, so are chinook, Koho, etc. and we wouldn't call them Trout, would we. So, technically, I'd say there are only three species of "Trout" in the Bow. Seriously though. A few years ago, a few strange species made their way into the Bow, but haven't been seen for awhile, so I assume they didn't thrive. They were Splake and Actual Dolly Varden that somehow ended up in the river. Either by illegal transport, or natural migration. I know everybody knows this, but the Rainbows in the Bow have been confirmed as True Steelhead that were accidently stocked years ago....Thank goodness for that train wreck.

Oh, and I vote for Clive's avatar picture, (if he hasn't changed it)....Or most likely anything he puts up if he decides to participate.

These are really old pictures I scanned. I think I have a soft spot for them because they are from a time when I could literally fish every day....ah, the memories. Hey Brownstone, nice bully picture. Who's the talented photographer that took that one? Big beautiful BC Gerard Beautiful Lundbreck Cutty...24". Only a few leaks in the old neoprenes. Little Cutty from a used to be secret creek Vidcap of a nice BC Cutty A new fishing friend releasing his catch, (This is Brownstone's release of the fish above)

Wow, are you going to be busy... This is only another of our get aways, that is being taken away from the people that have kept it without the need for these types of regulations for so long, because of the Jack-asses out there. I've lost some great spots over the years because of these people and believe, (and Hope), they are being proactive so we don't lose these spots now. Have to look at the positive I always say. There are spots that I used to camp and fish that You can't even access anymore because of the destruction, so let's hope the bans deter these people. Unfortunately, they will just find somewhere else to destroy.

More people have to start doing what you did. Well done. Water from the storm drainage into the rivers do more harm than the Treatment plants. Of course it couldn't possibly policed properly, unless concerned citizens start doing as you did. I sure hope they are fining people for wasting water as you mention Lynn.

As you said, the fish will take your imitation differently each time, so you basically have to set the hook at any movement what so ever. Also, fish will take the fly differently at different depths as well. When they are feeding on Chironomids right at the bottom, the hit will be very subtle and will barely move the indicator. This is because the Larva, (Bloodworm), or Pupa is just sitting suspended waiting to build up some gases in their skin so they can then rise to the surface. They can sit suspended for fairly long periods of time and the fish know this, so they will slowly sip them up at their leisure. In this case, you will want to use a fairly hard hook set at any twitch or movement at all for the best chance at getting a good set. Once the Pupa start to rise to the surface, the fish start to Gulp them up while cruising in circles at the fish's selected depth. As you said, once you find this depth, you will be into fish. Because the fish are now moving more when feeding, the indicator is more likely to be pulled down more. If you watch, you will be able to see which way the fish was moving when it took the fly by the direction the indicator moves. It will be very slight sometimes, but will become very obvious over time after getting a number of strikes. When the indicator goes down now, you can set the hook hard in the opposite direction. A lot of times I see fishermen set the hook by lifting the rod straight up and back, which very likely could be pulling the fly in the opposite direction, thus either not getting a good set, or even pulling the hook out of the fish's mouth. The closer to the surface you get, the more aggressive the fish will become. Towards the end of the emergence, the fish become more aggressive because they know dinner is almost over, so they will swim faster and take the fly harder. Now the hook set should be less of a problem. The problem now becomes setting it too hard where you risk snapping off immediately after setting the hook, so lighten up the hook set and again, look for the direction the fish took the fly and set in the opposite direction. You should also learn the cycle of the Chironomids so that you will know better what depth to fish. The prime times to fish Chironomids is between 10 am and 3 pm. Before and after that will be sketchy at best, but right before the end of the emergence/hatch is usually great action. Then it's time to switch to scuds, leeches, etc. Another tip for you that might help. There is a misconception that the Chironomid pattern must be perfectly verticle. I've read it in articles and even read it here, but after studying Chironomids for awhile and also talking to some of the experts, I've found this to be wrong. Chironomids actually rise to the surface at about a 45 degree angle because the gases they collected be able to rise put them in this position. This is why it is recommended to use a loop knot to attch the fly. This allows the fly to move naturally and the materials used to tie the fly will usually cause it to sit at about 45 degrees. Also, if using more than one fly, tie them eye to eye, rather than off of the shank of the top hook. This will cause the middle fly or flies to sit more horizontal. Not only will you get more strikes, but the more horizontal position of the hook will allow you to get a better hook set. Sorry to make this so long, but I love my Chironomids and I'm kind of bored right now. Good luck.

Nice pics Rick.....Don't worry about it, every one of us has dropped fish. Great sequence of the drop IMO. In those pristine, cold waters, that fish is more than likely just fine....but that wasn't the point of this post. I see you're still dry....Must have been early in the day.

I couldn't find any pictures of mine, until Shredneck posted his picture.... Thanks Dave. ....and yes, it rained all week The fish didn't seem to mind.

In that area, I'd have to say Sasquatch for sure.

Nice Cutty Shredneck..... Hey, aren't you that guy in my Bull Trout Video with that great big one? Welcome buddy, glad to see you finally found your way here.

That's not what's left of the guy you hit with the Jar-O-Salmon Eggs is it?

I went down years ago while fighting a fish on the Clearwater River. The waders filled instantly and Luckily, the river was shallow enough for the most part that I could bounce up to the surface for air. I did have my belt on, but obviously, it wasn't tight enough. As I was getting swept downstream, I would push off the bottom to get some air and I could see my fishing partner running down the bank trying to figure out what to do. The section we were fishing was pretty fast and had high banks, so he couldn't just wade in and grab me. I could see him pointing frantically downstream at something that eventually saved me, but could just as easily have drown me. I got swept into a log jam and was lucky enough to get a hold of one of the first branches and ended up okay. If I wasn't able to hold on, I know that I would have ended up under the logs and wouldn't be writing this right now. Oblivious to everything, I somehow held onto my rod. Since then, I have approached the water differently. I always look for my "Outs", and if I am fishing alone, (which is at least 60% of the time), I will not take even the slightest chances. What I mean by "Outs" is that if I do happen to fall, I want to have a plan for what to do before hand. I look for things like gravel bars downstream, fallen trees downstream, etc. that I can use to save myself. I often skip sections of water because of the risk to myself and usually see that even if I hook the fish, I am not likely to land it anyways, so why bother. I just move on. I will also say that if your fishing buddy, girlfriend, son/daughter, etc. gets into a situation, don't panic. Make a quick plan and execute it. You hear or read so often where someone that tried to save another person dies as well because they panicked and put themselves into the same situation. If someone is in a situation, they are not thinking straight, so you might actually make it worse by trying to help. It's hard to stomach, but there might be a situation where a person has to use their judgement and not go into help. It would be hard, but it would be better to tell one family they lost a loved one, rather than two families.