darthwader

If anyone happened upon an iPhone at the parking area on a private piece of land on the oldman today, please PM. There was a grey Chrysler/dodge 300 style car there when we left. If you saw it, please let me know. Thanks.

Wow... I just coughed up my coffee. That is some funny stuff! On another note...IMHO BassPro is the worst store in town and I will be happy to visit the smaller, independent guys who seem to care, know what they are talking about, know the river and give you the time of day. ** No offense meant Colin!!

I will work with the golf side of things, as it has come up throughout this thread. A company like Taylor,Ping, Callaway etc. Yes, you pay for the name, and you pay for the warranty, and the advertising. But, and this is a biggy in golf. With those clubs, you get a ton of R&d to try to make the game easier. Those clubs are designed to take terrible shots and make them half decent. There is legitimate science involved behind todays clubs and you pay for a lot of different things when you buy them. They are designed to make you hit the ball BETTER. When you buy knock offs, you buy something that LOOKS LIKE something that is designed to hit the ball better. Big difference there. I have always felt that these companies lead the industry and evrone else simply follows. There is demand in the golf market for quality, craftsmanship and "prestige" factor with these clubs. I think fly fishing to a degree is like that. I am not certain how much the difference in R&D is between Sage and Temple Fork, but I know that I have had both and I have enjoyed both. When it comes to high end stuff, you always pay some for the name. I kind of figure 3 or 4 different people make a profit on your clubs,2 of which even before you see the gear. An example: Set of Irons Manufacture cost $250 Sell to distributor $350 Rep Price to retailer $400 Retail Price $575 There is a definite market for high end gear in all past times. If a manufacturer is able to cut a link out of the supply chain, then they can get their products to market cheaper. If they have to go through many distribution channels, there will be additional cost. Some people honestly believe they will be better with that gear and some don't. There are enough different channels out there to get good deals and buy used and get the rod you want. If you believe Sage will help you cast better and you do cast better when you use it and you can afford it, go for it. If you prefer to buy 4 Temple Forks for the price of one Sage, go for that. At the end of the day...who cares, you got what you wanted and could afford. Later,

Wow!! We stayed there too last November. My report would pretty much echo yours. The only thing that I would add is that if you are going to Maui...do the Blue Water Rafting Compnay trip. It was unbelievably cool...a little extreme, and snorkelling the BACK side of Molikini was worth the price of admission alone. The guides were great and they take you into the Lava caves down and past Big Beach. Here is the link ... http://bluewaterrafting.com/ Enjoy Maui...it is a pretty incredible place.

Andy... I don't mean to jump on you but...Flyfishing in Southern Alberta is about as mainstream as I would like to see it thank you very much. Furthermore, ask any retailer of fishing and outdoor gear in this area and they will clearly tell you that this market is competitive enough. You will have a very, very hard time convincing me that the opening of BSP is good for Frenchy's, Fish Tales, Jim'splace, Westwinds, the fising hole, russels, riptor, etc

You know... I had him nicely stretched out to his full 22 and I turn my back for one second.... LOL... I will try not to cut off his hand!! Thanks

This is the closest thing to 22 inches I have caught this year!! This, the newest fly fisher inCalgary, is Max, born Aug 12. If you see him on your water...let me know. You will know it is him by his rather shrill scream!!

I seem to get one a trip now on Triple Deckers, Hoppers or Stones. They have a pretty cool take on the dry. Shoulers.... then nothing. No splat, no flash...nothing. Good times

Found this cruising around...you may have seen it... if not, it's pretty cool http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDQ1GAZZk6E

oops

That site is great...the one with girl on the duck ride is too funny... but I can't get it to post here

Son of a ... That's my favorite, secret fishing spot!! That's the last time I post a pic that shows location

People are so uppity nowadays. Gone are the days when you could just walk over to someone's driveway and do a jobbie. What is this world coming to??

I was ou there this past weekend and we went up to Gold River for a drive. I watched three guys in a zodiac drift through some pretty fantastic looking water. Unfortunately, I was not fishing, just spectating. Beautiful spot though...wow.

I will second that. The first day we took a family tour and snorkeled the inner part of the crater. Very neat to see and a very worthwhile experience. The second day, we took an adventure tour , Blue Water Rafting, I think it was called and we snorkelled the back of Molikini. 300 foot straight drop coral wall. Very cool and very different. I would highly recommend both. BTW...that adventure tour goes way round the south tip of Maui and goes into blowholes and sea caves, all while you are sitting on a 30 foot zodiac pontoon. Really cool and definitely the best thing we did there. It is not for the faint of heart though, as it can get rough in the open water. DW

BBB... Go to Hi Ho Esso...x-large French Vanilla...

When was the pic taken? Where was it taken? Without knowing that, no chance of anything. But let's just keep an eye on this guy... he seems dumb enough to screw up again and when he does.... Can I have a motion to end the discussion on this guy?

Not fly fishing ... but taken from Maui out towards Molikini. It is scenery I guess

Weedy.... Nice work dude... that's priceless.

This is an important topic... particularliy with Easter round the corner. Easter celebrates the resurrection of christ and when he comes back and sees his shadow... that's 6 more weeks of winter and that will have a profound affect on the fly fishing season.

No doubt LS... I keep bumping into things now...

BBB... I have to admit bud, I can see how he would jump on that. There are definitie hints of sarcasm in your tone and from what I can tell of this guy, it's all he needs to get riled up. Sack muncher... haven't heard that in a while. You have to realize that with people like that, getting a reaction from people is their thing. Why else would he show "No River Access" and announce to Calgary Fly Fishers that he is back. OOOhhh wow... like Maxwell said, he's back. I have always found the great people in this world don't have to announce how good they are or that they are back. I guess that's the difference between Tom Brady and Chad Johnson. You are Tom... this idiot is Chad. The best thing we can do is not get caught up in his little world of trash talking. Take him for what he is, a moron who likes to get in peoples face, and hope to catch him doing something illegal and go about our own business. This guy just isn't worth it. later Added on- BTW, I went to his blog and checked it out. He appears to be a bit of a Jekyl and Hyde kind of guy 'cause his site is actually better than I thought it would be. Anyway...

That doesn't concern me as much Kevin... people are way "tougher" behind a key board than they are in person. You are right though RESPECT is the key word. Do unto others... I guess I will wade into this discussion, beacuse it is interesting and it is important. We are fly fishing in Calgary. By that I mean everyone who is on this board represents Fly Fishing in Calgary. If you run into someone on the river, there is a very good chance they at least visit this board if they are not a full blown member. We, as a community, can not do much about what has been done in the past, but we can do lots to influence the future. It is our responsibility to educate and guide new fly fishers as they enter the sport with regards to conservation and etiquette with as much vigor as we show them techniques and great rivers. We are fly fishing in the Calgary area and we owe it to the trout and those who taught us to make sure the incoming generation has the tools to keep the sport both alive and civil. Secondly, with so many people trying to make a living off of the river, it is impossible to stop the growth we have seen in anglers. These peoples livelyhoods depend on this river and they will promote it to get people out and fishing. You can now buy your fly gear at wal mart, can tire and then how many different fishing stores... fly fishing specific and not. That's not including guides. So the fact of the matter is... people who depend on the Bow and new fly fishers will promote the river and will continue to try to introduce new anglers to the sport, as their business depends on it. It's what we teach this army of newbies that will determine the future of fly fishing in Calgary. Thirdly, if we could somehow create more pothole fisheries that were put and take that could keep those who are more interested in beating and eating fish out of the Bow and Crow and Oldman etc ... we might have a better chance of keeping down the numbers of people fishing. I think there is a kind of fishermen who likes to get out with the boys, pound a few beers and whack a few fish and the Bow probably is the place for him/her. But, I guess we are talking about the growth of fly fishing on the river so this topic is moot. I have wondered about the possibility of the Bow going fly fishing only...but I shudder to consider what that could mean and I realize that it is probably a selfish thought. Finally, we have to realize that fly fishing is lots of things to lots of people. This forum is a tremendous resource for so many people and it is dissapointing to see idiots take good threads and show the rest of the world just how stupid they really are. I have seen other web sites like this go down... you all know what I am talking about... and I would hate to see this one encounter the same fate. I guess, if we can say anything, it's that everyone on this website is very passionate about flyfishing and flyfishing as a whole is better off for it. Now if we could just channel that passion to something constructive instead of some of the garbage that goes on...we will all be that much better for it. Is it June 16th yet...can't wait to try a diferent river. Later

Lynn, I thought CS were pretty good... but it was a very late night. I too thought that first band was really loud but I thought there version of Edge of Seventeen was pretty good. My only knock was we were way back by the main bar and it was tough seeing through all of those heads. Good thing I am 6'4...bad thing my wife isn't. One of these days I will learn that doors open at 8 means main act starts at 10:30... DW

I finally got the chance to fish Loch Leven in Scotland, as I have been to Scotland countless times but never got to fish. Anyway, we drive from Glasgow to Loch Leven...about 2 hours from where we were to find the loch battered by 40 mile an hour winds...temp about +5. Anyway, it is a fishing club and there are no motor boats allowed. the guy at the club says if you can get to the top end of the loch in a row boat, the wind will be pretty much non-existent. So the three of us jump in a row boat and start paddling. We take 10 minute shifts and 2 hours later, get to the top of the loch. Freezing would be an understatement. There is this small bay and we decide to start chucking. We are all using three nymph rigs and had to take turns 'cause the boat was too small. We fished for about 20 minutes and caught nothing. My uncle, having fished there before, says, lets try that little island about half way back, figuring we could get to the side not battered by wind. So we pack up and start rowing, covering much more ground as we are going downwind. As we get close to the island, the third guy in our party starts casting, downwind. The problem being when he cast back, his line would collapse. On his third cast I hear what cold only be described as a blood curdling scream. He has wrapped his line around his head, catching his lip, cheek and ear with each fly. My uncle and I jump to attention and try to ease his pain and take out the hooks. Not easy, as they are all barbed and the line is wrapped tight. In our haste to help buddy, we don't see the island coming and slam into some rocks at about 15 miles an hour. We now find ourselves pinned against wind battered rocks with a screaming, bloody scotsman now beginning to freak out. I jump out... and pull the boat around the island, then we head for home base. We pull in and quickly got the guy to the doctor where he removed all three hooks. To this day, although the ear and lip healed up pretty good, the guy still has a nice little chunk out of his cheek where the fly lodged. We got back to Glasgow at about 2:30 in the afternoon. Having rowed for 3 hours, driven for 4 hours and fished for 20 minutes, I would have to say it was my worst day ever of fishing. They say a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work.... I sometimes beg to differ.