BBBrownie

Thanks for the entertainment guys, I made myself a bowl of popcorn and settled down for this one! Ah semantics...

Sweet! Looks like fun, perhaps I will have to try the mexican salt this winter. Guerro Negro hey, I spent a few days drinking beer there 7 years ago, crazy town, if I remember it was actually relatively cold and desolate there!

The Loop is a 9130, my rod is an 8129. If I have the chance I will try something heavier, I will probably load another reel up with a 600 grain Skagit and see how that feels, i've heard that the 8129 likes to be loaded heavy. I think the skagit setup will be closer to what I would likely fish most of the time anyhow as I think so far I personally prefer the skagit style of casting.

Nicely done! Now none of us have any excuse not to write, I am glad that you were able to throw your beliefs behind something you don't even intending on using. If more of us could follow your lead (those of us who have a problem with this heirarchy of priority) we may actually be heard.

Hi, I have a 8129 z axis and am a relative beginner to the world of 2 hand rods. I have been out a few times the past week trying to get the rod figured and get some casts down, but have been having a bit of trouble loading the rod up. I have it lined with a delta spey 8/9 as the sage site recommends this, but it sure feels very close to being underlined. I have only been able to get about 15 feet past the head out on a cast, and can't throw anything heavy any real distance. I realize that it can be a bit tougher to learn on a fairly fast rod, but it just doesn't feel like it is loading up even. I've casted a bit on a Loop Yellow of my friends and find it seems to throw much easier, when casting (with the same line) much of the time, it feels like it could throw as much line as I want to feed it, never have that feeling yet with the z/delta combo i've been working. Any suggestions? I will certainly have other lines, Skagit, etc for next year, I'm really just working on getting some casts down for the winter and this doesn't seem to have the correct line weighting? Perhaps I just need to work on gettin some skill!

Wow. Harsh AND misguided. Taking personal shots won't get your arguement any respect. Although every angler has his/her own approach and philosophy, I don't believe that ego figures in any way into my angling philosophy and if you feel otherwise then you don't know me. I catch steelhead (sometimes, more often than not I fish for steelhead without catching anything) because I am intrigued by their inherent and individual beauty. Never have caught two that look the same. While playing and releasing a steelhead I like to dream about where the fish has been - Perhaps coastal Japan, Kamchatka, Aleutian Islands? I wonder what it has seen in the ocean, what it has eaten on its journeys, what it has escaped and surpassed in order to get into the systems I frequent... Although it is easy to say it is just a rainbow when you've never interacted with one of these beauts (I assume), and genetically is a rainbow trout, it is the huge difference in life history that separates these from a rainbow. I often catch rainbows in the same systems as steelhead and can tell you there is a world of difference, and never any question as to whether you have caught a 'bow or a steelhead. Phart, I don't "squable " to fish, I stand up for my right to be treated as a Canadian. It really isn't much of an inconvenience or energy drain for me to right a letter and send it to a few people, I believe it is my duty and something I do for any casue I am passionate about. I don't "pound" overpressured fish; numbers are stable in many river systems relative to avialable historic data, take a look at the Tyee test fishery data, last year was one of the best for the Skeena on record. I agree that there are issues in most rivers with depressed stocks, catch and release fishing is not the culprit, development and industry and commercial netting, climate change are the real issues. I am proud to say that I am confident that every steelehad I have ever released likely survived to further its race. Bigger rods and better hooks are not the problem facing steelhead, defeatest attitudes and conflicting values are. By the way, did you know that westslope cutthroat are now threatened in Alberta, perhaps you should consider stopping your practice of pounding these over pressured jems? Or head to BC where they are plentiful...just saying...

Hell yeah, I agree, I've sent some letters, everyone else that cares about the right as a canadian to fish steel should write in. I'm not sure about the latest version of the AMP, but past versions had a hierarchy of angler rights to classified waters, in this hierarchy, as a guided canadian we fall in front of non-resident aliens, but as an unguided canadian, a non-resident alien has more rights to the fishery than I do. WTF? So, if an NRA has the money, he/she can buy the right to use a resource that I, as a middle class Canadian, could be excluded from if I don't pay what I deem exclusive? Obvious slant towards a certain industry here...In the future the fever may be a tough deal for those of us who are more interested in fishing than working (unless I move to BC). As an Albertan, I want more than 8 days of steel per year, and I don't need a guide all the time. Letters are easy, if you want input, then write.

Is that a used condom at the top right? haha.

The fish up there in the skeena system sure are amazing, hopefully they stay that way!

and a nice rosey hen...I hope you all enjoy.

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well, I know we are all getting inundated with steelheadin pictures this fall, and I wasn't going to post any pics, but, what the hell. I know I appreciate the pictures all of you have been posting this year, so I'll add a few of my shots to the stack...Hope you like them, I had an amazing and humbling time fishing and interacting with these beauts.

Wolfie, I studied at NAIT and then at University of Alberta. I don't actually know many of the BC guys.

Gills are very sensitive, the operculum, or gill plate is there to protect this sensitive organ. The gills are composed of a gill arch, gill filaments, and lamellae. The gill arch is the bony structure that supports the gill filaments, the lamellae is a single cell thick outer membrane of the gill filaments. The gill filaments are to increase surface and carry oxygen poor blood vessels. The lamellae is a membrane that aids in diffusion of oxygen from the water to the blood stream, the lamellae is very folded or undulating to greatly increase surface area of the interface. The way it works is- if the fish is facing upstream, water is coming down toward it, the fish opens its mouth, water comes in across the gills, in which the blood is flowing an opposite direction- upstream. Oxygen particles are in higher concentration in the water than the oxygen poor pulmonary arteries. Through diffusion, the oxygen will be forced from high concentration water, across the lamellae, into oxygen poor blood vessels, saturating the blood vessels, much like capillaries work in our lungs. Then the gill plate opens, and releases the deoxygenated water. Long story short, if you damage the sensitive blood rich, gill filaments, or the single cellular lamellae, the fish will suffocate. Same idea as sticking your fingers into someones lungs...and you can tell him that I am educated and employed as a fisheries biologist and that handling fish by the gills is not a proper or humane handling procedure for live fish which you intend to release.

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Although I own a couple of Sage rods (and love em), I don't feel in any way limited to Sage, or pressured to buy Sage. There are many shops I would argue are quite viable which don't carry Sage, and I'm sure really don't suffer for it. Perhaps the Sage machine is the big boy these days, so call the non-sage shops niche markets if you want, they all still seem busy to me. If consumers don't want Sage, then the machine will shift, and Sage will fall out of vogue. If they keep supplying superior quality product with a righteous warranty, then I will keep buying em, why wouldn't I? I think it is as simple as supply and demand. If the model keeps building steam, it will keep rolling over competitors and converting the anglers, if the model breaks, there will be a shift in the market and another brand will begin building the steam that Sage lost. As often as I see Sage(including the lower mainland)I also see Loop and I see G Loomis, perhaps to an equal extent. That seems like a decent variety to me?

For the chunky bow pic, I was heading down for a couple hours of fishing after work on a wednesday afternoon in August to my usual spot. I figured I'd stop in at my favorite shop for a quick BS session and maybe a few flies, when I somehow got convinced to demo out a new Loop Multi 7 weight 2 hand rod. No idea how to even cast one, I was floundering around, launching epic 35 foot casts (sarcasm) right in front of me with a bow river bugger on the end. After messing around (windy as anything which wasn't helping me) for around an hour I noticed a persistant riser inside a seem around 75 yards downstream of me. Not sue of how to react to this with the spey, but a window licker when it comes to risers, I immediately exited the water for a better look. I noticed that the fish was large and non-discriminantly inhaling size 14 caddis. Not sure how to present anything subtle with the tool at hand in the wind, I tied on the floatinest caddis I had (a 14 goddard). I cast slightly upstream and just beyond the 'bow at a 70 degree angle, threw a big old mend and let 'er swing. Right at the heart of the swing this beauty smacked that goddard and took me for a ride. Never fished the spey before, but that sucker got broken in. Perhaps not the largest, but certainly the most beautiful rainbow of the season for me.

Babine river.

I second the royal coachmen. Grayling are attracted to red, so fish dries with red on them, royal humpies can also be productive.

Love your first pic of the boat and the foggy lake, great shot. Those are some chunky brookies, looks like a stellar weekend!

Early July was amazing on the dry for me, then things got downright terrible from mid july until late august. In my mind, dry fly or occasional streamers are the only way I enjoy cutties, by last week I was begining to wonder if I should be changing my ways. Then yesterday happened and the dry action was amazing on my favorite little secret cutt stream. Fish taking asolutely everything that floated over them in the middle of a great BWO hatch, and a minor green drake hatch. Reaffirmed my faith in cutties!

Mark O Meara (sp?) was in Smithers steelheading last september. He was in the same motel/lodge I was, although only his "security" came down to the fire for drinks, hilariously enough I had no idea who he was, I figured he was a race car driver, his heavy found that hilarious.

Well, for the price range you are talking about the Loops would be a great choice, but, for a bit more money I really dig my Loomis GLX, so there. Max I will step up and say that although I have casted some great Loops, that I would be fully behind, I fish with an XP for my main Bow stick and love it. As far as a heavier rod goes, there is nothing i'd rather cast than an 8 weight 10 foot 2 peice Loomis GLX. She's a beaut. I suppose this is a bit outside of the range of what Tungsten is looking for, but if we're looking for someone to vouch for Sage and Loomis, I will. I think these are rods that can speak for themselves...