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Bright lines do have their place...great story C

Val has her rod back,smiling,(and Thank you for the kind words) I made it back safely and you fly fishers in the Calgary area are in for a real treat with the new store...Mike and Dave will become very quickly terrific assets for knowledge and comittment to fly fishers. It is a rare time indeed when during casting clinics I get to see large Brown Trout roll as they did on Friday Afternoon on the Bow at policeman's...wonderful. Tight lines (constant tension)

Like so many things in life ,many answers may suit the moment...a better way of looking at this issue is to consider your fishery and it's variouis approaches. Nymphing in it's many art forms is a wonderful way to catch Trout and Steelhead,and of course other game fish. The whole idea is to manage your presentation the best way possible under the conditions and at the same time detect minute impacts on the line/rod. So. if you are going to use a Scandi head then you (for the Bow River and other Alberta systems) will want to have a Scandi' head in the 39-42' lenght, Floating,Intermediate or even a sink tip version. Using Polytips of various degrees of float and sink may also be an option. My personal favorite fishing line; Bar none, is Beulah's Elixir Line ...it opens the door to most of the fishing situations we encounter except when we have to use very heavy sink tips and monster flies.Then we might want to go to a Skagit head or even a condensed version such as a Compact head or Beulah's Tonic head. If you are using a head of some kind for nymphing then I might suggest to make sure that your shooting line or running line is floating ,possible intermediate...simply these are able to detect hits more efficientlyand are able to be mended. Snowbee has just introduced a complete new range of Scandanavian Shooting heads that are looped and come with a full range of Poly tips...we won't see these for a few weeks yet.Their current range is full ,but at 44' may ned to be cut down and then looped......Great lines. C

Having been using Tube flies for the past few years I have come to very much appreciate the diversity of designs available...a friend of mine actually ties serious dry flies with tubes...these wake as well as any I have seen. As far as weighted flies goes ,they get down NOW!...no fooling around NOW!..the advantage of this is keeping your presentation in the Zone longer and more naturally.. C

On Friday morning,evening(after 6) and on Saturday Afternoon after 2... we will be tying Tube flies at South Bow Fly and Tackle using Eumer Tube fly accessories and others. Intruders ,Leeches and Minnow patterns ...drop by...no charge of course C

Reg... Of course, New Casters are indeed what it is all about... Saturday Morning is open to 1 more at $150..... let em know C

last week I was casting a bit with Loop's proto type 10'7" Switch rod...if the new Orvis rod is as crisp as the single handers then these will be a good bet . I really like the Light inhand availability of a cast with Switch rods. C

Some very good points here especially with the increased tip tops and the tapered or smooth transition connections. However, a more important issue with bringing any line into the rod during an encounter with a fish of any size is to make sure you have at least the rod lengths line still outside the rod,in so doing you will save many rods from breaking and allow the fish to engage in a run without loosing the fish , or hopefully so. I have so many fishers have only a few feet of leader outside the rod and try to land the fish,break the rod and then lose the fish. Good question and great answers C This Dark fish was landed with a 6/7 weight 9'6" Snowbee Single hander...the young fellow ;from Denmark with his Dad,fought the fish very well and had to be coached into NOt bringing into the rod less that the rod's length of line/leader! Tippet strength is a real key issue we often overlook,heavy weight tippet can break rods in a hurray...

See you on Saturday morning... will also be there on Friday tying tube flies and talking everything Spey C

Hi Murray,... Have you signed up... there will be a group of 4 only...we will meet at the new store at 9AM... See you then C

There are several places available for Saturday mornings Spey casting Clinic...this is a great time to get the goods on Spey Casting in all it's forms. How it applies to you and how to get your casting down! I am looking froward to working with the many of you and associating with the new Store that will be there for your needs. Don't miss this opportunity Call the store or email me for confirmation C

I have been using the Snowbee Tube Fly Boxes for the past several weeks and really like the way they hold the flies..they are available in 2 sizes...therre will be a few boxes available at South Bow Fly and Tackle C

When Swinging flies there is typically a mend move initially in the cast. If you are able to Stack Mend you can also put extra line into the swing allowing the fly to creep along very naturally without too much influence from the moving water impact on the line. When fishing for Steelhead I am a firm believer in letting my fly stay in the ZONE for as long as possible...this is also true for Trout of kinds. Many times I will swing my fly well into the backing as I would if I were using gear. The change in fly speed encountered during the change of Direction at the end of the swing many times encourages a strike . This particularly holds true when using a larger minnow pattern... Something more important to a swing is the time it takes to get the fly down into the Zone,whatever that may be depending on Species. having worked with weighted Tube flies over the past 3 to 4 years has opened my eyes to the need to get the fly down "NOW"! More hook-ups C

Next week-end(April 3/4/5) if the weather is on our side I will have several Elixir Switch lines set-up for use on Single handed rods doing many Spey Casts. I will also have some of the Snowbee Scandanavian lines set up for Switch rods and small Spey rods... Many lines will fill the bill but IMO I have never fished such a versatile Fly Line as the Beulah Elixir Switch line on asingle handed rod. Hiowever,the rod needs to be at least a #7 and up. The grain weights are quite high for the Switch Lines. C

On April 3,4,5 I'll be at the new Store in Calgary. On Friday and Saturday I'll be doing some fly tying(Tubes/Stingers/Intruders/Salt Water Flies) as well in conversation about Spey Casting and on Saturday will hold Private lessons from 9am-1pm. On Sunday Morning we will have an open casting demonstration and interactive sessions for all during the morning ... SIngle Handed,Switch and Two Handed...please notify me here if you want the private lessons or contact the store ... Cost of $150 for the private instruction only C

April 3,4,5 I am going to be in Calgary at the new fly shop...South Bow fly and Tackle,I will be doing Fly tying with Tubes,Stingers and intruder patterns. Also will be doing some instore discussion on Spey Casting on the Friday. Saturday will hold some private casting instruction in the Morning from 9-1 on the Bow and back at the store after that for some warm coffee and fish talk. On the Sunday we will have a casting demo open to all,bring your rods and set-ups for some evaluation and tune-up...have some fun and cast . Please notify me here if you plan to have private lessons C

AS a fly fisher for years many of us had to rely on STH or the BFR cartridge reel systems. Either reel has a drag worth a damn but that is what we had. Several years ago Snowbee took the bull by the horn and developed their XSD cartridge reel system...not using bearings because of the inherent issues with Bearings!,but rather a series of Stainless and "teflon type" discs. The result was a sensational reel that performs as needed when needed. My fisrt experiences with this reel were during the Salt Water Beach fishery for Salmon here on Vancouver Island...the reels worked splendidly,no issues,although still needing to be rinsed after use ,a good thing. Next came the Large Chinook Salmon(up to 40 lbs) cruising up area rivers,during some days we were hooking into more that 20 fish and agian these reels worked as stated. However,the first size reels were the "780 (7/8)"...now Snowbee does this reel system in a 460(Trout) and 1112(Spey)... You must understand that the needs of a reel in these parts are quite different than most,but if that reel can withstand this abuse then it will certainly fill the bill. The bodies are cast aluminum and powder coated and the cartridges are a lexan composite needing no support because of design... As a note here the "780" is also available in the High End CNC machined version retailing at near $350.00...the Die Cast versions all retail for less than $180.00 And these will be available at the new fly shop on the River C

Good to see you guys playing with the "ladies rods"... Gordo? And not so surprisingly we now see all the "big" manufacturers putting effort into the Switch Rod market . had a chance to play with many new Switch rods over the past few months and really like what I see. Since Meiser and Beulah began this revolution fly fishers have been able to adapt many styles with Switch rods. The real bonus for we fly fishers is that lines have had to really change to meet the demanding requirements needed. Thus we have the Elixir lines,the Outbound lines , small Skagit lines and so on. I will be at the new fly shop in early April(3 and 4) and will have a full range of rods and lines available to be played with. There are 3 rods that stand out more than any these days and they are the new Beulah Surf Rods...called a "SURF' rod but anything but....at 11' and especially well designed are going to change the face of Switch rods.. C

Love that smile and FYI can still hear the rain drops from that day...wow But here's a better Pic of Jocko...and of course One of his friends C

My Apologies Macleod...being of Scot blood myself I should have known..Highlander..thats a good thing laddie!!?? To answer one of the comments there is no retention for Cutthroat Trout unless it happens to be a clipped fish , there are a few,most people simply enloy their beauty ...but wee cutties can sure be tasty. BTW..is this what you mean Gordo...C

Beulah will be here..not sure with who yet...Love their new Trout Speys....! C

Nice coloured water...congrats! C

Yeah...I think so too...this system has some very large Sea Runs in June... and also in September...to watch Cutties bang the sides of 40 lb. Chinook to loosen the eggs is something else...when this occurs Male Chinook will leave the redd and chase the offending fish only to leave the female behind to be abused by TROUT..if ever you get a chance to witness good size runs of Chinook Salmon entering the fresh water you will see them gather in large groups and create a circle in perpetual motion...sometimes as many as 500 fish..Cutthroat trout join the circle only to single out the ripest female and begin their nonesense...a disruption occurs for a brief moment and then the mesmorizing circling continues and so on it goes. C

here's the Cutthroat...note the fly...the same fly I was using for the big Cutties in a lake...Eumer tube,Matuka Style Barred Rabbit...this fish took the fly from a Steelhead's mouth on the Swing...interesting relationship C

Several months ago I was asked by a fellow in Ontario if I had ever fished the 13' Snowbee Two Hander...I have cast it hundreds of times but never fished it...So on this Tuesday past I decided to fish this rod ,the last person to actually fish this particular rod was a guy named McLeod, on the Nitinat...anyway, since I have too many 13' rods I rarely fish One. Anyway, We went Steelhead fishing on One of the Islands Remote Rivers and I wanted to fish this rod lined with a Beulah Elixir 8/9 Spey line...fast sink Polytip and so on...what a blast...super light rod with spectacular Power and agility...not soft at all nor heavy..it may not be a great Bow River Rod but man it can handle BIG. Landed 3 Steelhead and a wonderful Sea Run Cutthroat...If you want to cast Scandi Style then this is the stick! BTW...it was -6 degrees...this winter really sucks. C