Keith

Always a pleasure to watch.

Can you get a 6wt line and plenty of backing on a 3+? That would probably suit my needs for the Bow, as I agree that that 5+ might be a bit overkill for trout.

That thing is looking wicked. Can't wait to see it finished.

Any opinions on these reels out there? I have been considering getting a hatch 5+ for the Bow or maybe a 7+ for steelhead. I really like the idea of their disc drag system, but you never know until you used it a few times. I think they are nice looking reels too. I'd be interested in knowing what expereince folks have had. Thanks for any info. Keith.

I second the tribute. Quarrington was one of my favourites. A real Canadian, through and through. The world is poorer without guys like him.

I'd be in. Sounds like a hoot.

Your life is better than mine.

I've had jetti TDIs for years and while it does have some shortcomings when it comes to the rough stuff. It's untouchable for road trips.

That's intense.

That is a BEAST!

In general I think the small fly shops are better for customer and warranty service than the big box stores. However, the big boxes are generally better for price. So there is a bit of a trade off. If you fish a lot and and fish hard then all rods will be broken at some point (hopefully not on day 1). Therefore, having ease of warranty service is worth a little extra dough.

A couple of years ago I made it a life goal of mine to catch and photograph, in their native waters, all of the different sub-species and strains of trout and salmon. This year I headed to Wyoming to add a couple more to my list. This picture is of a small Snake River Fine-spotted Cutthroat, caught in a tributary of the Snake, the Hoback River. It's only about 9", but its a great specimen of species, showing the fine pepper spotting, bright pink fins and ghostly pink parr markings. Of course, I'll never complete my goal. Not even close. But that's half the point. It'll give me a reason to keeping on fishing and traveling through all of my days. It's my way of paying homage to the infinite variety nature can imbue in her creatures and the beautiful places she keeps them.

OMG. I'm not sure I could handle that.

It's a really interesting looking fish that's for sure. Wolfie, that's a cool illustration you found to match.

This line of discussion will probably head nowhere fast, but I'll take the bait. There are several reasons for removing brookies and bows from some watershed. I'll try to break down a couple of them. 1) The Moral Answer - Cutthroat are native here. They evolved here. Humans have undertaken fisheries policies that have pushed them to extinction in many area (some strains of cutt in the US have gone extinct). Since humans have pushed the Cutthroat to this outcome we have a moral obligation to pull them back. I think it's also important to note that these eco-systems don't necessary find a balance. As you questioned, how long does it take for a "supposed natural species to adapt to an introduced species?" In the case of the cutthroat trout the answer is often NEVER. Studies in Alberta, such as Bragg creek, have shown that Brookies increase in percentage until cutties are gone (IE the balance is 100 : 0). When studies initially started on Quirk it was about 50:50, a few years later it was 75:25 and eventually it was something like 95:5. Without the Quirk program it would likely be 100:0 today. It is the same with rainbows except through genetics. The rainbows breed with the cutts until there are no real cutts left. Personally, I think we found this species here and we have an obligation to preserve it for future generations. I'm not advocating the wholesale removal of non-native species, but I think that where there are still pure cutt populations left (and there aren't that many) we should be protecting them 2) The Sportsmans Answer - I know people like brookies. However, it is generally accepted that in Alberta waters cutts grow bigger. It is also generally accepted that they are easier to catch. Therefore, would you rather catch lots of big fish or less, smaller fish? I don't use this argument myself, but it is out there. Personally I would rather fish for cutts any day, but I wouldn't advocate fisheries policy based on that. It's a complicated issue and I could go on all day, but those are the two most common answers.

Part of your wish has come true Taco. SRD has recently initiated a special licensing program for some rivers in the Elbow drainage. Off the top of my head the list includes Quirk, Prairie (not the well known prairie near RMH), Powderface, The Elbow above the falls, and Waiporous. This license is available to anglers who can pass a species ID test, and have been on at least two (I think) supervised visits to Quirk. This license provides unlimited brookie harvest from the listed waters. I believe this is a pilot project that will hopefully see expansion. I've been part of the Quirk program for a number of years now, so if any one is interested in the program or this special license send me a PM and I can try to point you in the right direction.

Amen to that. I know that more research has been done on the Athabasca bows in recent years and there is now a joint federal/provincial panel getting together for westslope cutt conservation. We can only hope that these research studies and panel meetings will evolve into some kind of meaningful conservation initiatives. At the risk of stirring up some sh1t, I recently heard rumour that Banff National Park sent a biologist down to the states to take the course on stream poisoning. There may be a movement to restore pure bulls and cutts to the park. However, this is only a rumour as far as I know.

I think Behnke only groups the Atha bows with the Columbia red band, because he doesn't know where else to group them. If you re-read his section on them he seems to consider them a pretty strange little strain that is quite different from any other rainbow or red band.

How am I supposed to make it through the rest of the day in my box after seeing that?

That fish is really something. I've never seen that spotting pattern. I would imagine it's pretty rare.

Yeah, although this trip had a very high driving to fishing ratio. Next time I will just pick one of the favourite spots from this trip and just go straight there. But I guess you don't know the fav spots until you do the scouting trip.

The trico hatch

We also had a stop by Silver Creek in Idaho, but we didn't have the time to spend there that we would have liked. The trico hatch that came off is one of the thickest hatches I've witnessed.

Yellowstone Cutt Slough Creek in Yellowstone Park

Down into Wyoming we began hunting for their native Cutts. Like our Westslopes they aren't shy and they are generally looking up. I think the the Snake River Fine-spotted is the finest looking fish I've ever landed. The Yellowstone cutt looks a lot like a Westslope except for darker honey tones and spots below the lateral line.