OneMoreLastCast

I just noticed, other than Dave who is well over 80000 posts, that there are a few people getting close to breaking the 1000 post mark.... Is it true that the first to break 1000 posts wins a new "Sage Z-Axis" Fly Rod/reel combo?

Just thought I would throw in my 2 cents. I don't think everyone would ever agree with one logo design because of the vast differences in style, age, etc., so I think we all have to understand how hard it must be for the people trying to come up with the final design. I am also wondering what the purpose everyone has in mind for the "Fly Fish Calgary" gear? Personally, I just think it would be great to see others from this page out on the water, at the mall, etc., so for me, it doesn't necessarily have to be some great, new cutting edge design. Other than the folks that frequent this page, who else would really be all that interested in the merchandise? I've had shirts, hats, etc. made and it's not cheap once you start adding colors, better quality, pictures/Logos, not to mention copyright implications. So at the end of the day for me, I'm fine with anything that they come up with. I will also throw a quick idea out there that would be easy, get what I am looking for accomplished and would be a lot cheaper as well. Any logo will have some people that like it and some that don't. Whether it is an insect, fish or what ever, so I think maybe we should just forget the picture all together. Just a simple embroidered ball cap or beanie would be nice and a simple "FFC" on the chest of shirt or jacket would look good too IMO. I'm sure most will disagree with the idea, but I just thought I would throw it out there.

Hello all. I have some spare time up here in Fort McMurray, (Go figure), so I decided to put this little compilation together as a way to say thanks to all the people here that make this site possible, and those that contribute making this site a great place to hang out. I stole the pictures from posts here, so I hope nobody minds. If anyone does mind, let me know and I'll take it off of Youtube. Sorry to those I missed, but I did the best I could to get everyone. If I missed anyone, try to post some pictures of you holding big fish and you can star in the next one. Thanks everyone. Click here if the movie does not play.

For me, it would be nice to have 20 lakes that provided Anglers to opportunity to consistantly catch Trout in the 18" to 24" range, with decent numbers of bigger fish available thru a little time and effort rather than 3 or 4 lakes. Most of us here can name the waters in Alberta where this situation exists, therefore they recieve too much pressure. I believe with proper management this could easily be accomplished. The Provincial records were mentioned and that would be a good starting point for picking a percentage for size and numbers to go on. What should alarm us with the Provincial Records is the date that they were set. Alberta Angling & Fishing Records Arctic Grayling 2.938 Zanny McRee Unknown 1966 Brook Trout 14.875 D. Jenkins Wood Buffalo Park 1967 Brown Trout 17.563 Wesley Benson Swan Lake 1991 Bull Trout 17.938 B. Willis Lower Kananaskis Lake 1985 Burbot 17.731 Todd Cheal Marie Lake 1998 Cutthroat Trout 9.563 Ernest Brazzoni Castle River 1988 Golden Trout 4.406 G. Campbell Barnaby Ridge Lakes 1965 Goldeye 4.125 R. Weber Battle River Dam 1974 Lake Trout 52.500 Mrs. Erickson Cold Lake 1929 Lake Whitefish 11.631 Larry Johnson South Buck Lake 1998 Mooneye 1.156 R. Bourque North Sask. River 1992 Yellow Perch 2.969 Ron Hancheruk Island Lake 1982 Northern Pike 38.000 David Anderson Keho Lake 1983 Rainbow Trout 20.250 Ron Solomon Maligne Lake 1980 Rocky Mountain Whitefish 5.656 P. Zebroff Gap Lake 1991 Sauger 6.163 Dale Bosch Milk River 1992 Sturgeon 105.000 H. Muskovilch South Sask. River 1981 Walleye 15.500 Joe Smith Pembina River 2000 Yes people will say that a fish has to be killed to qualify, so these records might not be accurate, but trust me, if someone caught a Rainbow Trout that broke the 20.25 lb record, we'd all know about it whether it was released or not. So I'd say that if the fisheries had been managed properly over the last couple decades, the records for the Trout caught in this province wouldn't be 20 years old, or older. Although I love fishing Alberta's waters, it's a shame that I have to drive to BC where I can choose one lake out of a selection of 30 or 40 that contain bigger, healthier fish than any Public still water in Alberta holds. My two cents.

Until they get the results, there is no way to put any accurate numbers of jobs at risk. The numbers they threw out were estimates based on anyone from the "Rig Pigs" to the "Big Wigs" and they came up with approx. 30000. Here's an example of some potential. Dependant on the review results, a Junior Oil Company that has a total employee count of 171 counting every person on the payroll, including the owners had a meeting with all 171. They threw out the numbers from the review they could continue doing business at, and they informed everyone in the room that if the review comes out even .01% above, they would be closing their doors and moving shop. They told all 171 that they are welcome to come and would continue doing what they were at the new location outside Alberta. The numbers were a lot lower than most would expect, but in order to make their business viable, they just could not operate otherwise. This meeting was one of quite a few in the last week and they were done behind closed doors. No media or anything, so anyone that thinks it was fear mongering or Big Oil making Idle Threats is mistaken. This is real. Luckily, I am basically a one man operation and I just use Sub-Contractors that also work as one person operations in a sense. Individually we'll have to fend for ourselves, but essentually if it doesn't go well, around 20 of us will be out of work in a round about way. There are too many people just like me that will be affected, but there is no way to put an exact number on it. I'm getting carpal tunnel syndrome from keeping my fingers crossed, and now they make me wait another day. If all goes well....Party on the Banks of the Bow and I'm Buyin'!

I'm all for Aeration in any lake that has the potential to winter kill. Plus, even if a lake doesn't have the potential, they can still get stagnant and plant/aquatic life is limited, so those lakes could use it as well. Believe it or not, I know of some lakes that are aerated and the local government often turns it off to save money. When I was discussing why a certain body of water keeps dying off, I was amazed when I found out that they only run the aerators for a short period thru-out the year. When I told them what the purpose of the aeration was, he argued that it had nothing to do with keeping fish from dying, but was installed to help move water around which would help attract birds to the water When there was no increase in the number of birds on the water, they decided to save money by turning the aeration off. He did how ever call me back awhile later to tell me I was correct, but they didn't change anything. That's when I asked if I could get a deal on their aeration system. As for licensing.... I agree partly with Rick. People from elsewhere spend a lot of money on things other than fishing that contribute to our economy. I will add that they should pay more though, but I also think that anyone from areas that neighbor our Province should pay the most because they are the ones that do day trips that don't involve much spending outside of fishing. If someone comes to Alberta from Overseas, they are going to spend a lot outside of fishing, so I don't think they should necessarily pay all that much more than us. People will say that they are already spending a couple thousand dollars, so what's it going to hurt to throw an extra $50 onto their license. My opinion is that if someone is coming from somewhere far away to fish our waters, it is most likely planned as a once in a lifetime trip, so why not give them a break so they might want to return. That way we get their contribution to our local economy twice instead of just the one time. As far as BC....I think anyone that lives in an area that has "Classified Waters" should pay at least what we pay for an 8 day license in BC. Even better, $50/day but if they by a 5 day license they get a deal of $300 for the 5 days.

I was standing in a hole! Actually, once I get established, the contracts I've looked at would be 35 days in/30 days out. So eventually I would probably be around more. Anyone else that has Oil Industry experience might want to check into it as well if it slows down here. They need people all over the world with experience and the money is actually better. If I get any information for the "Workers" out there, I'll pass it on.

No, I was talking about Eddy our Premiere. I am just really disappointed in what I just watched. Our Premiere didn't say anything at all about the results, numbers wise, from the Review and there are a lot of people from both sides that are very interested, (and dependant). Typical politician. That's one positive I guess. At least he is learning how to be one.

Thanks Premiere Eddy, Great report.....No information what so ever. I've gone numb to it now and have set up options for myself and my family just incase. It doesn't look good from what I'm hearing up here in Fort Mac and I hope I won't have to really earn my nickname "MissinTheBow", but everything is looking like I may be heading overseas. Oh well, whadda ya do. I won't get into it, but I did want to point out something that some might not know. Even though Oil is trading at aroung $90 dollars, that doesn't mean the Suncors, Syncrudes, etc. get anywhere close to that. They work on Contracts that are signed for a certain price just like anything else and are locked in at a certain price. Also, when I said they are affected by the price of Natural Gas, I was stating that it affects them in the sense that they use it in their process, they don't produce it. They actually pay for it just like us, so when Our bill goes up, so does theirs. Their's is just in the Million$, not the hundred$. If they are reasonable, everything will be fine, but please don't be fooled by a government that's main intention is to secure votes, which was very obvious in Stelmach's address just now. I guess I have to keep my fingers crossed for one more day....Thanks Ed.

Once again, (as shown above by Skiff), the Government has targeted the "Big Boys" which take up about 3% and the most affected are the "Little Guys". Guess who provides the most jobs? The studies that the advocates are publishing are too old to be relevant because they were done when the dollar was $0.75 and the price of Natural Gas was low. I won't get into this too much because it has already directly affected me and I'm afraid of what I might say. People everywhere are stating their opinions without knowing all the information needed as well, so they are simply speaking out of the traditional Hate for people with money. I will say how ever, that the people targeted for support, are the people with the frame of mind that the rich Oil Companies and its Executives should pay. Like Rick said, they're not the ones that will pay, again, it'll be the little people that pay for it. It's the same people that got jealous in school because someone in class got bonus marks they didn't, or resent someone for getting a promotion or raise and the didn't. Do some research on Alberta's history. We were the most in Debt Province in the country at one time to the point not long ago, that most could not see ever getting even close to even. Since the "Boom" in the Oil Industry with the Royalties as they are, we've not only gotten out of debt, but built a huge Surplus as well. Not to mention that Alberta is directly responsible for any gains Canada as a whole has at the present. I have been in the Fort McMurray area working for the last 8 years and I am actually typing this right now in Fort McMurray. Anyone that has the opinion that there is nothing to fear for what ever reason just doesn't have all the information. As for more Refineries in Alberta. That would be just Grand, but it's not going to happen. Yes there are some Refineries that are planned for construction in the near future in the Edmonton/Red Water area, but the originally number of planned and approved Refineries have been cut in half in the last couple of years because our brilliant Government approved the U.S. to build Pipelines over the border. Why buy our Refined product and let us do the work and have the jobs when our spineless Leaders will allow them to pipe the raw product down to them and they can pay their thousands of people to do the job. The majority of Albertans don't realize that the so called "Oil" we have here is not what they think it is. Take some Molasses out of the cupboard and pour it into the kids sandbox and that still isn't as bad as what comes out of the ground. Also, a lot of the Tar sands that are shallow enough to be mined will be used up not long from now and they will have to use other means to get the raw product out of the ground that involves an entirely different process because the product is too deep to be mined. So now you have to build completely new plants, (which they are already doing), making some of the existing plants obsolete. If it is not financially feasible to operate as is, do you think they will bother building a whole new plant? They say that Alberta has enough Oil to supply the whole world for 20+ years, so someone will make sure it gets mined people always say to me. Guess what, Saskatchewan has more, it's just deeper and up until recently we didn't have the technology to extract it. So if Alberta could have, so could Saskatchewan and I guarantee if Alberta screws a good thing up, Saskatchewan won't. I said I wouldn't get into this too much and I ended up writing all this, but believe it or not, I could write a book if I was afraid I'd get ulcers and lose all my hair. All that being said, I am confident that they will not do anything drastic because the trickle effect would be devastating to our Province and they couldn't possibly be that stupid.

Lynn.... ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ Pull my finger.

If it goes thru as some think it might, I will most likely be forced to work oversees. I work on Contracts in the Fort McMurray area and just the review alone, without anything else, has already scared a lot of money from the area. The fact that the threat, whether it goes thru or not, is there has caused investors to take their money elsewhere because if they don't do it now, then might one day is the frame of thought it seems. People don't realize that the money put into getting the Oil out of the ground comes from investors and they will very easily invest their money in something else. The Premiere of Saskatchewan is limbering up for if it happens, because he will be doing back flips. My 5 year old could figure out that changing something to get $2 Billion will cost upwards of $25 Billion is not good business, so hopefully our brutally underqualified Premiere and His Board can do the simple math as well. So, as for the question....Yes, I am optimistic because it would take the World's least intelligent human being to do what they are threatening. If they get their 20% Royalties, Fort McMurray will be a Ghost town. Calgary and Edmonton will take a big hit as well. Anyone that knows me will agree that I am a very positive person with just about anything and everything, but anyone that sees any positive coming out of this doesn't have all of the information. I've heard the jobs lost will be around 30000, and that is just in the Oil Patch which doesn't necessarily include the Fort McMurray area. The only upside is that I would be able to pick up a really nice house for cheap and move back to Calgary.

Ummm....I hate to break this to you Glen, but you kind of do.

Thanks Dave for starting this site and the Crew that helps you run it. I think this site is likely responsible for making the people on the Waters in the area act more responsible as well. It's also nice to see that people seem to know and appreciate what a great resource and advantage a site like this is. Keep up the great work.

Stainless....Until my kids get a little older. Went back to Stainless shortly after my 8 year old took and interest in Tying last year. The Ceramics will stay in storage for awhile with only one casualty before putting them away. Took some getting used to again and have had some frustrating break offs, so I personally see the benefit of using Ceramic.

Gonna Smoke that one?

Sorry to the local retailers, but I order my tippets and most of my leaders online. I'm in a small town, so that's my excuse, unless I want big shiny lures for Pike, I'm SOL....Otherwise I do 98% of my shopping at Westwinds simply 'cause I like to give Gord my business. That being said, I buy from Cabela's and I usually order enough that I can save quite a bit. Check out Frog Hair's web page for info on their products. http://www.froghairfishing.com/ Rio also makes great tippets BTW and they are a lot easier to find usually. I usually use Flouro for Bigger Nymphs, Streamers and big Dries usually because it sinks faster and holds up better in the wind, or wind resistance from big bushy flies. I use Mono for Smaller Nymphs, Emergers and little dries where I am using lighter line because Mono absorbs shock better and allows me to get a better hook set with smaller flies. Mono is more visible than Flouro, but doesn't sink as fast, so it is much better than Flouro for dries. The one disadvantage I've found is that Mono tends to fray and break down faster, so check your tippet often for abrasions and change it if necessary. Mono is easier to get good knots though. I always recommend that newer Fly Anglers stick with Mono because when it comes down to it, it really doesn't make that much of a difference IMO. For the average, or majority of the Anglers on the Bow that dredge the bottom with a BAW, I'd say to stick with Mono. It's also a good idea to match your tippet brand to your leader brand to get better knots.

I'd suggest going thru this thread. http://flyfishcalgary.com/board/index.php?...post&p=8539

I'm a big fan of Frog Hair. Used it for a day on the Bow last week, ran out and was forced to use the Umpqua in my vest that I had bought as back up. I was using very small flies and had to use very light tippet. The Frog Hair outperformed the Umpqua ten fold, so I'll be sticking with it until I find something that beats it. With the Frog Hair, I was landing >20" fish on 3 lb test. The next day I was getting snapped off on the Umpqua on 3.75 lb by fish that were in the 16" range. There's nothing more frustrating than bad tippet IMO, so I have no problem spending the extra money.

Oh, as for flies Rick. I'm heading back up North on Monday, so I'll be tying to kill time. I should have some available for Christmas. You'll have to buy them from GlenBow though. I think I'll put together a "MTB Bow River Set" for him to peddle. As long as you don't take them into any of the fly shops in town again!

Tough hook sets indeed. Aside from the few I landed, (Little guys I tried to shake off but couldn't), the fish would either shake the little size 22 or snap the light tippet I had to use with the little hooks. Still a day on the Bow with a new fishin' buddy is better than a lot of other options out there. Looks like I'm going to have to spend the extra cash on better quality tippets. The "Frog Hair" I used and ran out of the day before held up much better than the tippet I used yesterday for sure. Now there's quite a few of my flies being advertised as what "Not to eat" swimming around the Fish Creek area.

Rick, you caught some that day with Max, your buddy and me way downstream.... Oh yeah, I added what you guys were saying that day with Max and the boys. I think this picture is way better than the one with You, Max and me pointing.

PM sent

Not sure...you going tomorrow?

Great report Clive. Noone tells a story with pictures better than you do. ....Did you say, "No wind"?