Keith

I tied them in 12s and 14s.

I have just about the same story. I caught some nice rainbows when I was living in New Zealand, the biggest probably being about 8 pounds, and I also lost many as well. The fish that always bother me are the ones that you don't see and just seem to have a ridiculous amount of power. One morning, just at sunrise, on the Tongariro I was fishing a pool that I had had success on earlier in the week. After ten or 15 minutes I got a solid take on my nymph and set the hook. My drag was set fairly firm and I had my palm slapped to the reel, but in no more than a couple seconds the fish drug my line diagonal across and upsteam and into an over hanging tree. I had been catching large bows all week with a few above 5 pounds and this one just seemed to have unmatched power. The thing I hate about not seeing it is that we've all had that 16" fish that fights like a 22" fish. Was this a 5 pounder that fought like a 10 pounder or an honest hog. I hate not knowing. I have had a similar experience on the Bow as well. You can tell when you've got into that rare 'oh *hit' fish, because it has no problem taking you upstream or across stream. Most fish will bend under the pressure pretty quick and turn and go with the current. The problem with those monster fish is that they're pretty rare and you're never quite ready for em. If you were on the ball and put serious side pressure on right off the bat then you're ok, but give them little lee-way and it's over. That's why you got fight every hook-up like it's ten pounds until you're sure it's not.

That's a cool idea Toolman. I might tie a few that way. It would be interesting to see how it works/looks.

Check out Oliver Edwards' Essential Techniques series. He ties some amazing patterns, which is where I got these patterns aside from a few small mods. The fishing part of the DVDs aren't that great, although they aren't bad, but the tying parts, which are literally a couple hours worth per DVD, are really worth it. As was discussed in this section a couple days ago, these patterns might be overkill as far as being more realistic than needed, but I find them fun to tie and I don't think they'll hurt your hook up rate any.

That's a good point. I tend to crowd the bend of the hook sometimes. Although on this fly there is quite a bit more room than there looks in the picture. Down around the bend it's mostly ostrich herl that I tied in the for the gills and that stuff wont get in the way of the hook doing it's business.

That's an awesome fish. Getting one of those has been on my list for a while.

Rhyac

There's been quite a few mentions of Edwards' caddis larvae in this section as well as the entomology section. I've been working a few different patterns as they are fun to tie and seem like they'll be fairly effective. I thought I'd share what I've come up with. What do you guys think? Hydro

I think a little bit of column A and a little bit of column B. I think realistic flies will probably help you out with pressured fish or on tough days, but are probably overkill 9 times out of 10. I like to have a supply for that 1 time out of 10, but I'm pretty OCD. But overall, I think that's the benefit of tying your own. You can test your theory out this season. I tied a couple dozen Ollie Edwards patterns this winter and I will definitely be testing them out to see if they are worth doing again. That said, a lot of reaslistic flies don't really take that much more time to tie. I can tie one of Edwards' Rhyacophila patterns in about the same time it takes me to tie more basic caddis larvae, so I don't really feel like I'm losing a lot of time for the more detailed patters. Whether that pattern will yield more fish remains to be seen. I imagine they'll both catch me plenty of fish this year.

It depends on where I'm going as well, and what sort of fishing I'm planning on. If I'm hiking a long ways and I know what's hatching then probably just one for dries and one for nymphs. If I'm fishing on accessible water, close to my vehicle, then I might have five boxes.

Is the store still closed?

Thanks for the info fellas

Thanks for the reminder. I could see myself forgetting that.

I'm probably hoping for too much, but is there a book similar/on-par-with Barry Mitchell's Trout Highway book but for BC or parts of BC?

Cool post Rickr. Lots of good ideas in there. I do think that braggability comes into play quite a bit. But I'll tell you why I dont like whitefish. 1) UUUUUUUUUUgly. 2) They don't fight well. I know you say they pull like a log, but who wants to fight a log. If I wanted that I could tie my leader to a piece of driftwood and kick it down stream. It's all about running and jumping. That's why bows are the tops for me.

Pheasant hunting used to be better in S. Alberta. But as I said, Montana pays to protect some habitat for them. Alberta does not. As farmers have increasingly utilized all of their land in recent years there is very little left for the birds. There are more guns and shooters in Montana b/c it's better. I can't say that I know the status of pheasants throughout Alberta. I have heard there are some good spots to be found. But I can say that were I used to hunt them in Alberta has gone downhill and that where I do hunt them in Montana is far better. Also, I still see this whole issue as more related to hunting that fishing. As I hunter I might be a little concerned, as I fly fisherman it doesn't really bother me. For land owners to get control of charging for riparian rights would require a battle that I don't see them winning. The lucky few that own land on lakes and rivers will always be a small minority in comparison to the urban hordes that head out on the weekend to use those resources. As a hunter, I'm still not that worried. Some times you get what you 'pay' for. If farmers got some money to protect habitat I would glady fork up extra. Also, you can call game a 'public resource' but the land is private. It doesn't matter how good the pheasant hunting is on some guys ranch if he'll never let you on it. If paying a little extra means I get on then that's fine with me. But as people have said it depends on how it's done and regulated. It would be sad if all the good hunting and fishing went to the rich (Americans) but if the system was controlled by the province and price increase was controlled to a reasonable amount then I'd be all for it.

I don't think this will ever happen. Percentage of people who utilize riparian land for recreation >>>>>>> percentage of people who own river front land. People who own river/lake front land will always be in drastic minority to the amount of people who use rivers and lakes.

This might not be such a bad thing. You only have to pay if you use their land, so if you use public access points then it's still free. If you want to pay there will be new places opening up. There is a simlar system in Montana where they pay farmers to leave some pheasant habitat on their land and to let people hunt on it. That system is why Montana's pheasant population and hunting is not far superior to Alberta's. Personally I see this as more of a hunting issue rather than fishing. Stream beds are public land and you will be able to use them for free. Hunting requires land.

With all the money I spent on FF gear and gas, hooks barely make a dent. That's why I go for the higher end. Losing even one trophy fish would not be worth it to me.

That HD is looking awesome.

Where is lost lemon country?

Bat for the cycle: Rainbow Brown Brook Cutty Bully Golden Grayling I've got them all but never in the same seaon.

Sweet page. Thanks

Love the videos.

I agree. I intend to make a run down to Montana one of these years just for a change of scenery, but there's nothing in that video that can't be done on the great streams we have here in Alberta. Lots of good dry fly fishing on the Bow if you don't automatically go to the indicator, and some times people seem to forget that the Bow isn't the only river around. I know plenty of streams in this province where browns (just as big as those in the video) will rise to dry flies.