ÜberFly

Don is a true craftsman and conservationist! I have had the honour of fishing with him a few times and I hope to again in the near future! Thank you Don for all your volunteerism! Peter

Paul, Spirit West in Calgary does a great job. P

Kevin, Not everyone is on Facebook!

Colin, Let's go out for my usual B-day trip in May to Lower K and give those bad boys a try!!

What size are you?

In Mexico (north of PV (Punta de Mita/Sayulita) I can give the name of an AMAZING guide (search for my post on this). Roosters specifically, depend on time of year (for the best chance). I had 1 chance at a Rooster but didn't hook-up. But we caught a lot of other fish that made for the best guided trip EVER!! Nicaragua (I will post my report as soon as I get back to reality) was a bust - On the Pacific, we found only one charter that even knew what fly fishing was (two twin brothers from California - have only taken one person out before - they were SOOOOOOOOO expensive it wasn't worth it). We hired a panga for the day ($120) but it was so rough I couldn't stand to cast. The guys that took us out, looked at me as if I was from another planet... That being said, even trolling with bait they didn't catch anything (I guess the water has been abnormally warm recently). Nonetheless, depending on the time of year you plan on traveling, and your budget will dictate where you want to go.

Where is "south"?

I love my Yeti Tundra 50! Amazing ice retention!

There is always a lot of chatter on the redneck board (and I'm sure similar sites) about this exact thing... Too much regulation, too much government involvement, blah, blah blah... How to garner support is the challenge?

Marc, how do "we" control for those certain members? Obviously education isn't working? Enforcement would be AWESOME but unlikely? Having designated trails doesn't seem to be working? The few "asshats" ruin it for others (not only within the offloading community, but other groups as well)... I applaud groups like yours, but here lies the problem... Or is my perspective still skewed?!

Mike, 8 for bones, 10 for all other salt (inshore) species! P

Make sure you ask these exact things (as well as insurance and 1st aid cert, permits, etc.) of the fishing guide from your Facebook prize!!! I'd be curious as to what you find out?!

Don't forget the sledders doing a buck 50 pulling 2 sleds and/or with sleds on their decks!!

Yup, you definitely get what you pay for on both accounts!

But Jay... Seeing that you are a realtivley new father, would you choose a neighbourhood kid that has a babysitting course certificate or one without to look after your child? Or a daycare/day home that was licensed and had employees that required 1st aid and a specific level of training & experience or one without?!

As you are all aware I'm pretty passionate about this subject. All good questions to ask (and have answered by a guide and/or shop). Another one to ask is if they have the proper permits (where necessary)! At MINIMUM a guide should have a basic (current) First Aid certification (if not something more substantial - like wilderness 1st Aid), liability insurance, business license (where applicable) and many many many years of experience fishing in a particular area (eg. the Bow). And be willing to prove this to you as a potential client/customer. I always find it interesting when this subject comes up... You NEVER hear from any guides/former guides (expect from a few of us), or any of the shops about this subject!! They are obvious members of this site!. Hmmmm

Murray, As you probably know right now anyone and their dog can call themselves a fishing guide in Alberta as there is NO licensing (minimum standards) or "industry" requirements (other then a business licence and even with that, a lot of guides don't even get those, let alone, proper permits - where required or liability insurance, first aid, swift water rescue, etc). The other aspect is that there are guides from out of province (from Montana and BC) that fish our waters and DO NOT contribute to the tax base (pay taxes in AB). If an out of province hunting outfitter/guide came into AB to guide clients you would see the *hit fly - Hunting guides have an "association" (not commenting on any recent issues within) and would not tolerate anything like that...

Murray, What do you mean? That you don't understand why they don't license guides or why some are in favour of licensing guides?

They should make it classified 22 to Mac and south of carsland as well as license the guides.

Only feedback I would have would be if the lean bar is removable... Doesn't look like it which is unfortunate. http://midcurrent.com/2015/11/17/video-outcast-sporting-gear-osg-striker-inflatable-frameless-raft/

So as I have previously posted, Deb and I are going to Nicaragua in January for 2 weeks and are planning to fish both Lake Nicaragua (fresh water - Tarpon, Gar, Snook, Rainbow Bass, etc.) and Salt (Inshore - roosters, etc.). The dilemma is we are limited with how much gear we can travel with as we are the "backpacks & chicken bus" style of travellers. So where I'm at thus far is I have decided that we will take 8 wt & 10 wt rods/reels (fresh/salt lines??) and I need to streamline flies (with the caveat as we've only fished for inshore salt species previously). Can anyone please provide me with some specifics as to what cross over flies to cover as many species as possible). It might not be possible so we might have to limit our outlook. For the most part we will be trying DYI on Lake Nicaragua but might have to consider hiring a guide and are open to that... If anyone has any info on DYI that would be appreciated as well. Any other fishing info would be appreciated as well Thanks, P

Contact Gil! He had it done last year and it was well worth it! P

Fishpond has a couple.

Kevin, seeing you are are guide in the region you are probably have a certain amount of bias in your perspective, as well... ;-)

That was my point!! And I think Jason's as well!