OneMoreLastCast

All I can say is Ouch.... Anyone else affected much?

Like I said, to each their own... I should have been smarter and taken fisher26's stand and not get into it. The merchandise issue is one of the smaller reasons I don't/won't shop at Wal-Mart. The "cheapness" is a good enough reason, but the moral, rights in the work place and the human factor, among many other things are why I don't shop there. I fully understand why people shop there, and Wal-Mart definitely knows why and they play on it. That is why they are the "Biggest". I will add to something I said before though....Are you really saving money by buying something for less money, when you end up buying it three times because it doesn't hold up. My example is socks. I buy my socks at Costco and they last forever thru hard wear. My wife decided to pick up a 12 pack of socks at Wal-Mart because she couldn't pass up the deal. I think I got three washes/wears out of the Wal-mart socks and they were done, so if I was to depend on Wal-Mart for my socks, I would end up spending a lot more in the end....Brilliant marketing strategy if you ask me. As far as the "Brand" name debate goes, it comes down to what the person selling the product is willing to offer as a warranty. Thus the "In store extended warranty" scams. They offer these on products that they are confident they won't often have to do any work on, so they do their best to sell products that won't have as many warranty issues. ie-the higher end models of selected brands. The manufacturers warranty is a totally different issue. Like I said, I should have stayed out of this one, (especially because the person that started it was just letting us know about something they found in their travels....sorry). I could liturally go on for days and days on why I don't shop at Wal-Mart, but to each their own in the end. I'm going to stay away from this thread from here on and I apologize for hi-jacking it and taking it off track. I'd rather talk about how much the Oilers suck anyways

Sure it might be a "Black and Decker", but it's not the same one that you will find at a store like say "Home Depot". Look at the product number....A lot of the models that Wal-Mart stocks aren't even available at real hardware stores. They are the cheaper models that the "Home Hardware's" won't carry because of warranty issues. Toshiba TV's are another example. You can buy Toshiba brand TV's at Wal-Mart and I guarantee they are not the same TVs you will find at Best Buy or Future Shop. I never said they are trying to trick anyone because in the end, you would be buying a "Brand" name, but it would be a low end model of that "Brand" that is low in quality, thus the lower prices. Lastly, just because a few people state that they would remain loyal to the local stores doesn't mean that the majority of people wouldn't eventually make the move to save money. It happens without any bad intentions. It starts with small purchases like Tippets, Hooks and the odd trinket because "What could that hurt....and look at how much Country Pleasures wants for the exact same thing...." To each his own in the end though.

Hawg, I understand that people shop there to save money and that some things are cheaper there for the same exact product, but don't be fooled by the majority of their merchandise. From their clothing lines to their electronics, etc., the quality is ridiculous. Even though it might say "Black and Decker" on it, it is not the same product as you'd get at an actual hardware store. It is a "Cheaper" version that looks the same, thus the lower price. This applies to most of their brand name merchandise. (ie- Bum Equiptment) In the end, you might save a few bucks on a 12 pack of socks from Wal-Mart, but when you have to go back to buy more because you bust thru the toe after 3 washes....(but you save a couple bucks each time). I would never suggest that someone not shop there. I would only suggest to get educated before doing so. There are better options out there like Zellers for instance. A good portion of their merchadise is purposely Canadian made and their prices are very competitive with Wal-Mart. The True Value example is perfect because they were the first victim out in Stettler where I live. They couldn't compete with Wal-Mart and had to close. If they start a fly fishing department in the stores in Calgary, the first victims will be the smaller, specialty fly shops around town....Like Fish Tales, West Winds, etc. and that would be a shame. And don't think it can't happen, because it will. People forget about loyalies really fast to save a few bucks.

Joseph will be great to have for the rest of the season and play-offs because of his experience. He will give the team more confidence when he gets the odd start compared to an untested rookie. I agree that if McElhinney had been given a chance to prove himself, the team might have stuck with him as back up and not bothered picking up Joseph, but they didn't. They see these players every day and obviously didn't feel confident that he could do the job, so they signed Joseph. As mentioned, now they have too many goalie prospects in the minors, so I'd look for one of them to be packaged up in a deal for another top D-man or Top 6 forward before the deadline. I'm sure there aren't too many young goalies that are too happy when they get drafted by teams like Calgary, New Jersey or Vancouver because they couldn't possibly think they are going to get much playing time. Who is Vancouver's back up anyway?...or New Jersey's for that matter? It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that Calgary signed an older veteran, proven goaltender that doesn't expect to get a lot of playing time. In my opinion, it's a perfect situation for both parties.

There are too many reasons not to shop at Wal-Mart if you look into it. Good info Weedy. I will also throw in that Wal-Mart Considers Full time employment 28 Hours/week. The clip I posted is only 9 minutes of a 2 hour video. I highly suggest watching the film and also doing some "Googling" on Wal-Mart before spending your hard earned money at their store.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Walmart....If they have them priced at $350, it can't be worth more than $50. To each his own, but I don't shop at Walmart and really hope they don't bring their "Super" Walmarts North of the Border. Anyone interested in seeing the side of Walmart they don't want you to see, check out "Walmart: High Cost of Low Price". It might make you think twice about shopping there. Click here if the movie does not play. Click here if the movie does not play.

Thanks Rick....I had to try to convince the other people in the office that I somehow got something in both my eyes. Great story though. I don't know if he said it to you much, but I'd say if he was like most "Dads", he bragged about you to his friends tenfold, compared to you bragging to him. He sounds like a perfect example of how we all should try to make memories with our own kids, so they can tell stories to people about us after we're gone. He'd definitely be proud, (and jealous), to see you now walking the banks with your pretty yellow fly rod in hand.

Being down South and most likely fishing in the wind a lot, I'd say you would be better off with Flouro. It definitely holds up better in windy conditions and you'll get less wind knots as well. It's also better when using big flies IMO, so when using those big Bullie Streamers, it will not only be less visible, it will sink faster. If you are only going to be using a leader with no tippet, you might want to stick with plain old Mono though because Flouro leaders aren't cheap. If you go to Flouro leaders and start using tippet to extend the length of time you get out of the leaders, you should use Flouro tippets to match, which in turn adds to the overall cost of changing over to Flouro. In the end, I'd say if you are catching fish with what you are using now, just stay with it.

I'm jealous. One of my most memorable trips all time was when we were camped at that exact spot on Black Lake in '93. Did you catch any of the big Brookies that live in the deadfall in your picture? Beatiful Lake.

I had some great single day and multi-day trips in 2007, so it's hard to pick one. I had a great "Fish Every Cast" on Dries evening with Hawgstoppah and Toolman.... I had a great "Big Bulltrout and Cutthroat" trip to BC with Troutlover, Rickr and Swampdonkey.... I had a great week long trip for big Rainbows on Chironomids on a Semi-Secret Lake in BC.... As well as a few others worth mentioning, but I'd have to say my most "Memorable" trip was the day I'd arranged to go fishing with a member from this site for the first time down to Bullshead. We made arrangements the night before and I picked Rickr up really early the next morning. We did the obligatory "Nice to Meet you" hand shake, thru his gear in my vehicle and headed South. The weather in Calgary looked promising, so we anticipated a pretty good day. We got to know each other pretty well on the drive down and I was happy that I had met a new fishing buddy. As we got closer to Medicine Hat, the weather started to look like it might not cooperate, but we decided we'd gone far enough, we might as well give it a shot. As we parked, the heavy, (and damn cold), rain was blowing horizontally at about 70 km/hr....but we figured, we'd gone far enough, we might as well give it a shot. We walked around quite a ways to a spot that looked like it might be broken by the wind, we were half right. The wind and rain was only blowing around 50 km/hr. Three or Four casts later, we head back to the vehicle to avoid frostbite. Putting our heads together, we decide it might be better to drive back towards Calgary and try there since Rick's wife confirmed that the weather in Calgary was still nice. As we pull up to the Highway 24 bridge below Carsland, the weather is really nice. No wind and the sun is shining bright, so we get our hopes up again. We both re-rig up and start walking to the beautiful Bow River. I start telling Rick about some of the big Brutes that I've caught at this spot, etc. as we get to the edge of the bank where we could see the river..... I'm not sure how to describe what we saw, but I guess the closest comparison would be...Dark Chocolate milk with extra Chocolate! There were logs and other debris floating down beside our Corkies that went from the upstream cast to the end of the cast faster than you could blink your eyes. We figure that the conditions might be better further upstream, so that's where we headed. We were wrong.... By the end of this wonderful trip, we'd driven for about 8 hours and fished a total of about 20 mins. No complaints though because I made a good friend and as we know, fishing buddies are the best kind of friends right.

Everyone has their "Favorite" spots, but there truely aren't many "Secret" spots out there left. I totally understand how it feels to see one of your "Favorite" locations posted because we all like to think we are one of the few that know about it. Chances are, if someone is posting specifics on how to get to one location, they are most likely trying to send people to places other than the spots they want to keep to themselves. Unfortunately, those spots are probably someone else's favorite spot. Anyone that has fished for a long time remembers the "Good 'Ol Days" when you'd rarely have to share the banks with others. I remember fishing the Crowsnest River for days where I'd only see one or two people....and I'd know them by name. They'd be in "Their" hole, I'd stop for a quick hello and move past, leaving them to their water. I've accepted that times have changed and know that when I go fishing, I'm going to see people where I want to fish. I agree that some locations should be kept hush, hush for reasons other than our selfishness. Some rivers and Lakes can't handle the pressure if they get too well known. I also think people should respect the local Anglers as well. It'd be easy for me, (Or others here), to post the exact locations to a beautiful little stream or lake that was passed on to us that we may or may not ever visit again, but I think out of respect for the locals, we shouldn't. If we do, as Reg said, do it via PM.... As Reg said, I've been here for quite a long time and have never seen any unknown locations posted in any great detail. I will add that the people on this site have proven to be very respectful as far as inquiring as to the location of somewhere shown in a photo, or mentioned in a post. If asked respectfully in a PM, I've had no problem giving out the odd secret in the past, but out of respect for people, I try not to get into detail in public posts even though most of the time everyone knows the location.....(ie-Our Wigwam Bulltrout Video. Errr, I mean, Secret Elk Trib Video).

No Kidding. That was one hell of a fish and he had to land it himself because I was on the video camera. Made for an entertaining fight. BTW, If you fish the Lynx, Carb, Crow, etc. as often as you do, I'm pretty sure you've shared the rivers with this fella more than once.

Now for some Nostalgia.... Alaskan Steel... Wiggy Cutthroat 1994 My First Fly Rod came back to me, (Too old to date) World Fly Fishing Championships, Kamloops BC 1993 I could go on forever....but I'll finish with one that gives me hope for future memories. "I want to look forward to looking back"

Great Pictures all, Thanks. I too had a great year, but most of my pics are from way back, (Mostly Scans), because of the great memories associated and a few more recent thrown in as well. I love the theme that started this thread, "Most Memorable...." Hawgstoppah with Max's fish... New Fishin' Buddy from a great day on the Bow... Tyin' on the Wiggy....Seemed to work. Thanks to Rickr, Troutlover and Swampdonkey for a great trip... To Be Cont....

Great looking tie. Thanks for sharing. I love tying Woven and/or Braided Floss Flies, but haven't done so for awhile. Now You've motivated me and given me something to peak my interest thru the Snowy months

Done....I'll let you know when I'm going and you do the same, those poor "Cross Breeds" won't know what hit them. Definitely hitting the Kamloops Lakes starting in April and the others I'll be hitting in May can't be posted.

Get back on track as far as the things I usually do annually.... 1. Steelheading 2. More Kamloops area lake fishing in the Spring/Early Summer 3. Tie more over the Winter months....(So far, not so good) Also going to work on getting my two Daughters out more now that they are less dependant and actually want to come along. One last one might be a long shot, but I'd like to try to get published again since it's been quite awhile. Outside of Fishing....Work less so I can fish more.

Back at ya Glen. Looking forward to hearing about your adventure in person on the Banks of the Bow.

Happy Holidays to everyone and thanks to everyone, whether I've met you or not, for: 1. Many Laughs 2. Great conversation 3. Great, Heated debates. (I love a good debate) 4. ....letting me live vicariously thru your reports since I don't often have the time to make my own. Winter is a busy time for me, so I haven't been around too much lately, but I plan on being more active here in the New Year. While I'm at it....Have a great New Year as well. Brett

So if Dave only ordered 10, that should leave 8 for the rest of us to fight over.... (Sorry, but if you lob them up there for me, I'm gonna knock 'em out there!)

Looks good. A couple tips for you if you want. Crazy clue works, but if you are taking the time anyways to tie the Bunny, try using a needle and mono to make a quick stitch to hold the two together. Crazy glue lets go after awhile, but the stitch holds until you snap the hook off. Also, even though the standard is to have the two strips the same length, I would suggest leaving one strip an inch or two longer. This will give it a bit more action that seems to induce more strikes.

I like this one if it is possible. Not only does it look great, it would definitely be "Ours". I also like the idea because I, (along with others I'm sure), have to live vicariously thru the likes of Max and our younger Anglers here on this page, so it has deeper meaning to the people that frequent this site. Regardless of whether it gets used or not, nice work Weedy.

Love it.... In all seriousness, the "F.F.C" running off the tail of a Mayfly looks awesome. I think rather than the old standard Stonefly or Trout jumping, the Mayfly would look great in the final logo.

We should also find out where we can get the ball caps pictured below and use them. With so many hardcore anglers here that don't let darkness end our fishing for the day, these would be awesome. I took these pictures of my cousin's hat he got from some outfitter.