SamIam

I agree with raising the fishing license fees, especially for non-residents & aliens. But I still have not seen any good reasons for licensing guides. This idea that it will weed out bad guides is silly. As Winston pointed out, this will take care of itself. And as Don pointed out earlier, the admin costs are higher than what you would bring in. So it just doesn't make any sense. I know it doesn't make any sense for the admin costs to be so high, but we have to remember we are talking about government and bureaucracy, EVERYTHING seems to cost more than what makes sense.

If what Don says is true, where would the money come from that is reinvested in the resources? They would actually be taking money from the "general fund" just to administer the licensing program. So since money is not to be gained, and actually lost, what other reasons are there for licensing fishing guides?

That's cause he is American.......

Doesn't seem like he had much of an option to me. The article makes it sound like the bear came up behind him and was almost on top of him before he knew it was there. Pretty hard to bring preventive measures into play in this instance. Im sure he couldn't imagine fighting a bear either before this happened.

Thanks Don, that is an awesome site.

I didn't think Don was around much anymore.

Does anyone else think there should be a rod-building section in the forum?

I like the bruiser mug or the ceramic travel mug better. Cheaper, and I like a handle. $40.00 is alot for a mug that I just end up losing or breaking anyway. my $0.02

I had Angling Outfitters Association of Alberta bookmarked but the link is no good anymore....and I can't seem to google them up. Are they still around or does anyone know what happened to them?

Not sure...hadn't thought about it. Dustin....you know how to row a driftboat?....lol

And the answer is..........36 lbs.....

She is 5'2 if that helps

Awesome. Nothing much better than a tailwalkin native steelie.

Came across this picture the other day and thought it would be a good one for the weight guessing game. This was one of my wife's first salmon from a few years back. Anyone have a guess?

I would have to agree with drewflyfish.....pretty tough to wrap your hand around the wrist of a 30# fish. But definitely a nice fish. Wonder where the 18 minutes came from? And what are you supposed to do when your 18 minutes are up? Leave the fly in the fish's mouth?

Smitty, I will agree with you, even thought I don't agree with what the little miscreant usually says. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

http://www.myeyewitnessnews.com/news/local...95-fd0f7f034f04

I always changed the factory trebles to single hooks when I used to pull plugs for steelhead. The same reasoning may apply here for anyone using plugs. For one, factory trebles are usually cheap cheap cheap. Secondly, the a single hook shaft is much thicker and stronger than a treble hook of the same comparable size. Nothing worse than a big fish straightening the hook on you. Third, I sometimes felt that if two or possibly three of the "hooks" on a single treble were embedded in the fishes mouth, say one in the lower jaw and one in the upper jaw, the fish had leverage to work the hooks out. I would just say from feel, without keeping any stats on it, that my hooking ratio stayed the same going to single hooks, and my landing percentage went up.

I have had similiar situations on different waters in different places. I always got the feeling that it was a landowner who would just rather not see me fishing next to his property. It is amazing how many people I have ran into that own land on the riverbank and think they own all the way to the water's edge. This was more steelheading on the coast though. Have never had that happen here.

This thread is going all over the place.....but I don't think Sun was saying that the kid deserved to be tazed for doing drugs. He was saying that the kid deserved to be tazed for not dropping his weapon. And yes....i think you can blame the parents somewhat. They didn't teach the kid to respect authority....and that is one of the responsibilites of raising kids. And anyone that thinks they could disarm a 17 year old boy with a knife without being cut, really doesn't have a clue. No police officer should have to try and do that.

DONT DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My neighbor signed up a few years ago. Made out very well. We signed up about a year after he did. Has been killng us ever since. Gas prices went down instead of up as I had envisioned. We have looked into getting out of it, but the only way to do it is to pay them out for the remainder of the contract based on what they think you would be paying anyways. The other way out of it is to sell your house and move somewhere that they (or one of their affiliates) don't serve. She sure was a smooth talking saleswoman.

Of course if you don't fish from a boat, you wouldn't mind no fishing from a boat regulations. The Bow is plenty big enough for boats and bankfisherman. Lets not use BC as a model to follow for sportfishing regulations.

Well...i do miss grizzly steaks....but I would support most of those causes too.

To me, there is a bit of a difference between conservation groups, ie, Ducks Unlimited, Trout Unlimited, The Nature Conservancy, and environmentalist groups, ie, PETA, PAWS, Greenpeace, etc. Which groups does MEC actually support? I would like to know, because I might take my measly dollars that I spend there on cycling equipment, climbing gear, and backpacking stuff elsewhere if I don't like what they are doing with their money.

Its not a matter of a boater being different than a wading angler. You are both the same, you are both fishing. You don't fish in another person's water. Where I learned to row a boat on the steelhead rivers on the coast, if the river is not really wide, you typically try and drift behind the bank fisherman if they are waded out far enough to give you room. Now, this would mean that a flyfisher might not have room to backcast for a few seconds, but it is better than disturbing the fish, although i think steelhead are more particular about boats than trout. I have done this a few times on the Bow, but I usually get weird looks, or the guide boat behind me takes the faster current right in front of the bank angler, and then I am directly behind him as I move back into the current. So now I just usually pass on the farthest side. A funny one you run into here on the Bow sometimes is when bank anglers are on both sides. The river is just wide enough that you could consider the water to halfway in the river being the water the bank angler is fishing. In this case, the best thing to do is just pass down the middle of the river as best as possible. And pull your lines. A boat drifts along pretty fast and you are out of the bank anglers water pretty fast. Another thing. An angler with a fish on the line has the right of way over any other fisherman, whether in a boat or on a bank. You can complain that they should know how to control the fish better to keep it out of your water, yadda yadda, but regardless, that person has right of way. Maybe someday when they have handled more fish, then they will be able to, but until then, you should just smile and wave and say good fish.