Carlodabroads

I have always used G loomis rods, and still do. I have never used an XP or Zaxis and therefore cannot comment on them. I am just not a sage guy. I will tell you that I am very, very happy with my 4pc 5wt Scott S3 which i picked up two years ago. In fact it is an amazing casting rod, and as close to perfection that I have ever felt. See if you can head to a shop to cast one and get a feel for yourself. I dont think I have ever heard anything negative about them. Carlo Dabroads

Looks mighty to me? Cool lookin carp, Sweet bows too.

If you quickly walk down to the Bow underneath the community of Cranston and downstream slightly you might be able to ask the guy with 2 rainbows and one brown (so far), all well over 35 cms, sitting dead on the bank. Today at noon When I explained that what i saw on the bank of the river was illegal, when I explained the regs, and explained to him what would happen if he was caught, it didnt seem to matter as he kept fishing with a nice looking apex with 2 trebble hooks on it, clearly not interested in how to release fish. He even offered one of his fish to me to take home to the wife for dinner. I declined. Sadly, our river is overrun with individuals who either dont care to educate themselves to the rules, or play ignorant and purposley break the rules to feed the family. DUe to the fact that I seem to run into poachers 50% of the time I am out, I have now vowed to keep a laminated copy of the Bow River Regulation page in my vest so i can do my part to educate those who just dont know. The others, those who choose to play ignorant, I hope you get mercury poisening. Carlo Dabroads.

What a day, What a fall season, got to take advantage of this weather at the end of November and get out there fishin, lord knows there aint no snow so snowboarding hasnt kicked up yet. I drove south and east of town, parked. Two other cars in the lot. "Shoot, what time do I need to get here", but its really not bad. Took a nice 20-30 minute hike to find my solitude and sweet stretch of river. while walkin through the jungle, I smelt smoke. "Thats weird", I thought. Plus theres these creepy teepee's built out of dead wood everywhere, like a sasquatch shelter, but thats another story. To my dismay, when I approached the river, there were already two dudes (use that word loosely) at the head of the run. They had a fire going, had fold up chairs. Had their rods propped up using river rocks, "hmmmmm". I watched 'em from the jungle for a minute or two, they were clearly bait fishing and my day was not starting off well. I cant stand Poachers. "What do I do?" I had walked a long way, I couldnt let these guys wreck my day. So I walked out to the river bank about 100 yards downstream and started gearing up. I rigged up my two rods, all the while facing them, watching them. They saw me, glanced my way often, probably wonderin' why I kept staring at them. After the 15 minute rig up and staring session, I put my rods down, and walked a little bit away and up onto a higher grassy section in the sun, in plain view of the poachers. I reached into my vest, grabbed my wallet, held it down at my waist and dialed Report a Poacher (R.A.P.). I was making obvious dialing motions with my hands. Then I held my wallet to my ear and had a 5 minute conversation with myself. Nodding my head, looking around, pointing off into the direction of an access road, all the while imagining what it wouldve been like had I really been talking to R.A.P.. I knew those types of calls probably last while, So I stayed on the wallet awhile. It felt really strange at first having a full on, out loud, conversation with myself! I had to watch a nice sized fish on the rocks behind the guys that was flipping around every so often. "Nice of these gentlemen to let the fish suffocate and suffer for, well... the rest of its life, rather than to bonk it dead and end the suffering" I thought. My day was getting worse, watching this and feeling rather helpless. So, finally I hung up, put my wallet in my vest and went back to my fly rods. The guys would not have heard my actual conversation, but rather wouldve heard a drained out mumbling, as sound carries well down there. They had definately taken notice to the fact that I was on the phone, or rather, the wallet. Once back in the river, I could only muster 5 casts, as I was stewing inside, and couldn't take my eyes off of these creeps in order to watch my line and indicater. So I reeled in, and started walking over to them. They were nice guys, they sayed, "hey man, you'll do better with your fly in the water. ha ha", "come on and warm up by the fire", "do you wanna smoke?". Hands me a pack of Du Maurier. I said no thanks to the fag (pardon the pun), but said "I will warm my hands by the fire". We had a decent conversation about weather, fishing, and other things, the guy showed me his new olympus underwater digital camera. blah di blah, blah blah it went for a few good minutes. Again, they were nice enough guys. One of them reels his line in and I see the worms hangin off the sneld hooks, I said, "Whoa, you guys know you're not supposed to be using bait, right?" One looks at me guilty and says "yeah, we know". The other says "Yeah man, but we are catch and releasing". "and that stuff about fish takin it deep with bait is BS cause all the ones I catch are in the lip and release easy". "Alright cool, you dont need to explain to me" I said. I hung out for another minute or so, chatted abit more, and said "alright... well...Im gonna go get fishin, enjoy your day guys, Take care". Just before turning to leave I said "Oh hey, you might want to be careful with that Bait, because when the Conservation Officer shows up and finds it, I dont think hes going to be very happy..... see yah" and off I went, without looking back. Got back to my spot 100 yards down stream, and started fishin. after a few cast I looked over, and the guys were both hunched over working at something. Well, they were working at putting down fire, packing up their backpacks, chairs, I believe a stringer but cant confirm. And they left. YESSSSSSSS, REDEMPTION, YOU MF'S. Sorry to wreck your day. like I said, you were nice enough guys, but we all have to play by the same rules!!!!!!! next time rock a mepps, or Panther martin, we will share the run, have some good times. But today, you two derelicts were up to no good! I will be watching for you in the future. Next time I won't be leaving my phone behind, nor will I be giving you the courtesy of a warning that a CO will be on their way. Karma is great sometimes, and as cliche as it may sound, I hooked a beauty rainbow just as they were walking away. They hadnt even taken 20 steps, it was as if the Bow River wanted to thank me for doing the best I could givin the unfortunate situation down there. My day had just gotten much better, and turned out to be one of my more memorable days of the year. Thanks for listening.

EPIC shot of the mayfly on finger with sun spots behind, Totally EPIC! looks like a great, memorable fall season.

cool pics, Your guy known as "cute elbow brown" is indeed. What an interesting looking fish. big blue spot behind the eye, almost clear or white halos ' round the spots. Thanks for sharing those

Dont be afraid to check out olympus too. I just picked up an Olympus E-510 (last years model) at Fut. Shop for $499 with one of the better kit lenses out there (as per internet reviews). that sale might be done but its worth lookin around. Further the difference between last years E510 and this years E520 is de minimus and definately not worth the 30% difference. Zuiko(olympus) makes SICK lenses and since the image stabilization is in the camera body, the lenses are much cheaper as compared to Nikon or Canon for a high end lens.

157 That Friggen Rocks. Why? Why not! I love it.

SWEEEEEEEEET!

Thats great dude, Its a pretty cool feeling watching someone else get to enjoy and experience all that is Fly Fishing. I take my Beyonce (I dont like the term Fiance, so that is what I call her) fishing all the time, she likes the adventure, the hiking, the scenery, the unknown, taking pictures etc. This weekend in the kooteneys I told her it was her turn and dropped the rod in her hand . After all the watching she has done, she picked it up in no time with minimal instruction and ended up catching many Cutties including the biggest of our trip, or maybe it was just the fish looked bigger in her small hands . Again, it was so cool to see the sincere goofy smile and excitement that she was experiencing. good memories for sure.

I thought that said Fat on the umbrella right behind your head but i guess its Fiat. Nice work, looks like a great time!

Great pics, beautiful neck of the woods over there! Have a great summer.

I once saw two bears while fishing the Bow downstream of the Elbow confluence and on the zoo side of the river. It was two bear naked individuals making a baby. While this may sound like a lucky encounter, the hairy, white, pimpley, zitty butt was not a pleasant encounter and grossed me out enough that I SHOUTED my displeasure to the two Bears. Be carefule out there!

Livingstone - Two weekends ago we had a Griz watching us from a high bank across the river. there were other reports that a mom and cubs were seen in the area the next day, Plus I came across very fresh (<3hours) tracks on the river bank in some fine gravel on the third day. Tonnes O bears this year with the cool weather and all? Keep your wits about ya for sure

Great lookin Fish!

Love those Underwater pics. Provides a great "Trouts eye view" perspective. Thanks for sharing!

I have fished with a GL3 4 wt for over 10 years, and absolutely love it. Ive fished everything from tiny dries to streamers to full sink lines in stillwater. I feel it fishes dries very very well. I havent fished the 6 wt though, so I cant say if it will have too much backbone or not. Im sure there are better rods out there and I know there are worse rods out there. Bottom line, GL3's are great fly rods at a decent price point in my opinion. Go and Give it a shake, see what you think.

MEC sells hydrations bags/bladders that work well in virtually any backpack. I always use one.

Great responses guys, Thanks. I have been hearing lots of the Delicas lately. Reminds me of my travels through indonesia. every cabby was rockin one. Looks like they would be quite adaptable to my demands. Will have to do some research. I test drove a ford focus wagon last night. could sleep one, lots of cargo room, sporty to drive around town and great mileage. will probably get that for day trips, solo trips. and keep princess for wife and I, multi day camp trips only.

Sadly the time has come to replace Princess. With 270,000 kms, shes just starting to cost more than I care to continue paying to keep her runnin, that coupled with rising gas costs. Princess is a 1995 GMC Safari AWD with Dutch doors at the back. I removed all seats (obviously except for the driver and passenger) so the back is just one giant open space. Safaris and Astrovans are built on the GM/Chev Truck platform so they are tough and have great clearance. Theres a roof rack and I can even slide the pontoon boat right in through the rear hatch. I built a bed frame for the rear that allows for storage of Big Rubbermaid totes under as well as everything from waders, beer, gear, Of course the subwoofer box, blah, blah, you get the picture. If you dont get the picture, She's been all the way to Mexico and on Countless fishing/camping trips all over Alberta and BC. I really love the fact that with the bed system, you can semi-comfortably habitate in the vehicle should the weather turn. Plus No dirty, wet tents to take down. And the best part, Its really good for the Bearanoia when your sleeping inside a vehicle. zzzzzzzzzz peacefully. So Im struggling with down sizing, getting something different or replacing her with another and thats where I would like your offerings of testimonials on your favourite Fishing Camping Vehicles. I have been thinking about a Toyota Tacoma, Subaru Outback or Forester, and Ford Focus Wagon or just getting a newer one of the same. THanks in advance, Spencer

Cool Thread, Proofs in the puddin id say! Maxwell I like that you call them Pets. Most people have cats, dogs and keep them at home. Yours are pets in the true sense, just not quite as domesticated! Guess I have a few browns from last year that I may like to visit this august.

Disclaimer. I am in no way affiliated with said company, or product. Just a fly fisherman looking forward to some interesting discussion. Chimo

http://www.costco.ca/Browse/Product.aspx?P...topnav=&s=1 Maybe I am naive, but I have only ever seen these dudes in Costa Rica, Hawaii, Indonesia, Mexico. There is something wrong about introducing foreing insects into ecosystems. Hey, even aphids do their part in some unforseen way I would assume. These guys could possibly be one of the coolest creatures out there, super fun to watch. But the whole idea about buying your very own backyard full of praying mantis at Costco is kinda funny, but kinda not. Maybe I should start tying some new Terrestrial patterns for the bow!

Looks like a sweet month for ya. Love the pics of the "Twins"! Go UCLA!

That is a great winter photo!