firefrog

Hello Some good points, Sundance. We can make our voice heard to affect changes. I also agree that going baitless is good - the sooner the youngsters learn this, the better. Let's face it, in the future, most places will be baitless. I wish there was a better solution for the limits. A limit of 1 is an improvement, but considering the pressure at that place, there wouldn't be much difference between that and C & R. Either way, people will continue to fish for fun whether they keep their limit or not. I've seen the way many people handle fish. A lot of them would die anyways. True, the 5-fish limit is carnage. Are kids going to learn anything positive from this? I know this issue has been flogged to death, but further discussion and efforts may produce some creative solutions. Cheers

Hello Hey what's the worst drink you ever had? Did you get sick? Spill. Here's my yarn: While travelling, I try to take in the local goods for food, drink, clothing, etc. While in Japan, we were eating at a Chinese restaurant. On the drink menu was Chinese Sake. Now, the Japanese make great sake. But this stuff.............? If you took really bad scotch and mixed it with soy sauce, it would taste similar, but better, than this Chinese Sake. I had about 3 oz in my glass. I could not for the life of me finish it. I figured there was no sense in bringing up a perfectly good meal. Cheers

Hello I understand the frustration here. This way of camping applies to the majority of people, and it's going to tick some of them off. There is a silver lining, of sorts. I gave up on the long-weekend, popular-sites gongshow years ago. I do most of my camping back country. These campsites are rarely full. Camping this way gives one a different perspective and appreciation about heading out in the wilderness. It's not for everyone and I'm not saying my way is better - but it might be worth a try. Cheers

Hello I picked up the new regs guide. I see a photo of Ted Morton on page 2. See anything wrong with this picture? The guidelines go as far as to tell you to handle the fish as little as possible and keep it in the water. I can only hope this fish was dead - but we don't know. Assuming the worst, The Honourable Ted Morton is hoisting a live walleye out of the water, while hooked, by pulling on the line. He is beaming proudly about this right on front of his son. Can't say I'm impressed. Now, I've done some bad and stupid things, but I'm not an elected MLA.

Hello Dee Snider of Twisted Sister fame came up with a unique approach to issues like this. He would wear whatever new trends his kids were trying. This accomplished 2 things: 1 - Don't knock it until you've tried it. 2. When the kids see how stupid their parents look with piercings etc, they generally don't do it any more. This could backfire, though. Speaking of stupid, I once had a buddy who had just the right amount to drink in the bar and stuck a safety pin through the skin in his forehead. Lesson - booze and piercing are not a good mix. Cheers

Hi again I use an electronic tuner and by ear. Both work well. Yeah, the wolf notes happen with the acoustics. Sometimes they go away with different strings. I get sour notes on both electric and acoustic. I hear it in other guitars as well. Maybe I'm extra sensitive to those tones - dunno. It sure bugs me though.

Hey Thanks for the pointers, C. I did take one of them to a tech. Only helped a little. I was thinking more along the lines of changing to a thicker/thinner (tried this - not predictable) string or one made of a different material. What about those sour/wolf notes? Again, 9 out of 10 times, it's the damn B string. Playing technique? Possible, I suck. But I am aware of stretching and string tensions. Maybe I can convince my wife I need a $3000 guitar. Cheers

Hi Good for you to be concerned. But, look at the morons driving in this province. A test doesn't mean too much. Increase the fines severely. This administration system is already in place; it would not be much more costly. Nothing would make people smarter than loss of a week's wages. If one takes the approach that fishing is a privilege and not a right, it is the angler's responsibility to educate himself. This is an ideal approach as well. I doubt something like this would ever happen either. Cheers.

Hey I've owned 5 or 6 guitars in my life. Every damn one of them had a B string that was a problem child. Why is that? Even on electrics with tunable bridges - they just don't comform. Can someone enlighten me before I convert my latest guitar into a crossbow? Thanks so much.

Hi Teck Had a few experiences with used vehicles. Watch out where you take it to get it inspected. Example: I took a vehicle to a place that specialized in brakes and tires. The tires were fine, but not new. The brake pads and shoes had many months left on them. They failed the inspection based on 1 tire having some kind of blemish and they measured the rear shoes in the wrong place - again, finding a spot where it was the most worn and saying they were all worn. Along with the inspection form they provided a estimate for the 'necessary' work. They would also re-issue the inspection for free. They didn't say squat about small cracks in the windshield. Contacted the insurance company for some documentation on what constituted a pass or fail. Had some whiney-voiced prune tell me that brakes and tires were very important safety features on a vehicles. It was entirely up to the mechanic. Advice - buy or get new tires and put them on for the inspection. Also put in new brake shoes and pads. If the mechanic sees these things, he's less likely to be so critical of other things. I'm not saying you're trying to get him to overlook things, but he may be less tempted to rip you off. Cheers

Hi My name's Firefrog and I ... uh.......... well, I used to listen to Dr. Lara. I thought she was SO-together. Then I saw her porno pictures on the internet (she said she did it for the money - sl*t). Then I found out she was a doctor of physiotherapy or something like that - totally unrelated to her 'specialty'. They also used to screen all the calls to the show to make it appear like nobody criticized or disliked her. Then I heard about some more of her shenanigans and realized that there was no hope to clean up the trainwreck inside her head. Now I want to kill her. Cheers

*** FLUIDS FOR DRUIDS! *** Please Your Trees Cheers

Hello Rickr you are mostly correct. It's a balancing act - too much nutrients are toxic to the fish and will cause vegetation to choke off a waterway. Too little and it will be sterile. Combine this with ideal water temperatures, cleanliness, spawning and holding features, etc, and you get a stretch of river that is ideal for trout. Aren't we lucky? At any rate, the main objective of the wastewater treatment is to remove the pathenogenic microbes. Alberta Environment dictates allowable concentrations of nutrients and pathenogens the treatment plant can release. They are more concerned with wildlife and people dying than the ideal balance for the fish. The Pine Creek plant will (at least this is the plan) operate many times 'cleaner' than Bonnybrook or Fish Creek. It will be interesting to see just how this impacts the river. Cheers

Hello Knowing what to do and actually doing what you should know are two different things. Sure if you can see them from a distance, you have time to figure out what to do. I've only come right up on a bear once and I froze. As luck had it, it didn't see me. If it had, those seconds would have dictated my fate. I couldn't think fast enough - human nature, I guess. So what's my point? Prevention. Can't be emphasized enough. I have a suggestion to share. Wear a cow bell; not the cute little jingle bells - a big honking cow bell. I tied it to my daypack. I get teased about it, but I have NEVER came across a bear while I was wearing it. Play safe. Cheers.

Hello Many months ago, I discovered this great sweetener called stevia. It has very few calories and does not trigger the insulin response. (I detest sugar. I wish more people would see it for what it is - a manufactured, purified chemical that the body doesn't handle too well. But I digress.) I like to use the ground leaves, not the purified crystals (There they go again, processing a perfectly good food :derby racer: .) Problem is that stevia has a unique taste. There's not many foods it tastes good with. So far I've found that it makes a great tea and sweetens cranberry juice OK. Has anyone else found a good use/recipe? Do tell. Thanks. Cheers

Hello We never see bones, or hair, or anything because sasquatch is a hologram created by the aliens. These little buggers have a great sense of humour. They sit around dreaming up these 'alter egos' - they have a complex, you know. Oogoopoogoo, sasquatch, ghosts......... just imagine them pissing themselves watching us poor humans freak out over these things. If I ever get abducted, I'm gonna ask real nice if I can download some of their programs. Seriously(?), we are always going to have myths and legends. Ya gotta love 'em. Cheers

Hello I used to use Telus. Then they charged me $5 'administration fee' for long distance . Ferchristsakes, sometimes that was more than the long distance fees. We often call all over the world, and other times we rarely use long distance I found Dial n Save. They were good for a while. Then their connections didn't work and the sound quality was poor. Every time I called their customer service, their reply was 'try again later'. What a waste of a good mouth. I turfed them. Now I'm looking around. The calling cards are OK, but I don't want to bother buying and carrying them. Not interested in cell phone service, just landline. Any suggestions? Much appreciated, thanks. Cheers

Hello Sorry to rain on the parade but this is another example of creative interpretation of data. We've all seen studies that 'indicate' this or that. Another 'expert' will come along and use the same data and come to a different conclusion. As far as plants needing CO2 to grow - yes, of course. Problem is at night and when they die, they give off almost all of that CO2 back to the atmosphere. Having more plants is part of the solution, but they don't contribute enough to solve a global increase in CO2. Also, to suggest burning fuels yields CO2, which increases plant growth, and is therefore not so harmful, is quite a stretch. Combustion is simply not a good source of CO2 because of the other byproducts - CO and NOx just to name a couple. Obtaining those fuels is not a harmless process, either. Before you cry foul, I'm not a supporter of the global warming scare and the CO2 control scheme. I DO, however, support efforts and thinking that aim to reduce the destruction of our environment - that includes reducing all air pollution. We do our part when fishing to reduce our footprint on nature. We should certainly do so in our everyday lives as well. This is going to be expensive. There are some good plans and some hairbrained, money-wasting fiascos as well. Which ones are which? I don't have all the wisdom or information to know and even if I did, would I be able to convince others that I'm right? The problem with beliefs is that they are almost impossible to change. It's pretty much a given that governments efforts will be inefficient and be taken advantage of by opportunists. It's also obvious that indivduals, even collectively, have only made a small dent. We all have to keep plugging away at this. Cheers

An old couple are sitting at the kitchen table. The old boy is reading a fishing magazine. 'Do you like Grayling?' he asks. Without much thought she replies, 'Don't know. I've never grayled before.'

Most of the time I've bumped into a CO, they were alone. Unlike police, they are unarmed and hardly experts in hand-to-hand combat. Now, are these poachers, losers, and clowns that break the law likely to be well behaved? Put yourself in their shoes. Would you be willing to lose a few teeth over some fish? Is it wise to play Clint Eastwood when you're outnumbered? I'll be the first one to agree that these violators need to be taught a lesson. But for that to happen, the COs are going to need some clout - and they should have it. On their own, sometimes all they can do is issue warnings. I applaud the good work they have done. Cheers

Hello I've been using K-way for years. They're very light and fold up to the size of a grapefruit. Very waterproof up to a point, then they are quite clingy. Not too expensive. Cheers

Hello A few years ago, I picked up an allergy. It's from poplar trees. I can handle the sniffles and sneezes, but the itchy eyes almost drives me over a cliff. Needless to say it makes it difficult to enjoy this time of year. Of course, the real solution is to go somewhere where there are less poplars - like the mountains. ( And seeing as I'm going, I might as well take along my fishing stuff. That's what I tell my wife, anyways .) So, the last few years I've been trying to find some remedies. I absolutely loathe taking drugs of any kind for anything, so I concentrate on natural or food sources. This year, I have found something that works quite well. I take 1 Cold FX and one 500mg vitamin C (timed release) two times a day. I have practically no sneezing and only minor itching. What are some other remedies? It would be great kick this thing out of the way for good. Do tell. Thanks. Cheers

This isn't the only incident. The present attitude is to sit on it and try to contain it. There are holding cells at Swan Hills that are leaking into the groundwater. Slave Lake is downstream and the residents have been fuming for years. The treatment plant has failed most of their burns - which means when toxic chemicals were to be completely oxidized by burning, they weren't. As a result, the dioxan and furan(for example) fallout around the plant has coated everything, prompting the ban on hunting and fishing around the plant. Closer to home, there is the beloved Canada Creosite Site recovery plant on the Bow. They estimate there is a few million litres of creosote still underground. They choose the place where the bedrock is lowest and began pumping water out from there. The groundwater flow in the area is altered so there is a net migration to this particular bedrock pool. Now, everybody knows creosote is not water soluble. So they will NEVER recover most of it. They have contained it for the time being with concrete walls along the Bow. How long will the concrete hold? It would literally cost billions to dig it all up and process it properly, not to mention the disruption to business and traffic in the area. So, here we sit with this present attitude for these problems. Will we ever learn? You would think so, but it ain't happening. A few more examples? The railway yards in Ogden. They are still in operation. The entire site is rife with toxins. Again, the solution is containment. Why don't we get after CP now to clean it up while they're still in business? Politics. Not far from there is the IKO asphalt shingle plant. Their employee safety record is atrocious. Drive by and read the sign that says 'We have worked _______ days without an accident'. Were it not so sad it would be a joke. The smell is gross. Now, with a record like that, do you really think they are responsible environmental stewards? Again, they're not going to clean up the area while the plant is still operating. Catch 22 - when the plant is no longer operating it will be because they went bankrupt. Who cleans up the mess? Well this has got me in a good mood. Have a nice day. Cheers

I'll keep looking for some Canadian boots. Thanks for the tips, guys. That should help. May your fly never come undone! Cheers

Hello A pet trout. Give it a high roof or it might bonk its head when it jumps . Seriously (?), they have a pet trout in the Canadian Tire on Macleod and Southland. The thing is been alive for a few years - unless they keep switching it. I'm wondering if someone there can help you - which is as likely as getting help for anything else there. Good luck. Cheers