DonAndersen

Guys/Gals, Was all set to go - just gonna warm up my lunch when it happened again. Now I don't mind the first one and the second made me a tad testy, well the third really ticked me off and now four. Microwaves - the oven of champions. The first one last 15 years or so, the next about the length of the warranty, the next about the same and the last one - 12 hours. God is this Chinese crap getting to me. And the worst part, is their crap has put manufacturers of decent equipment out of business. You can't buy a "good" one any more - they apparently are all the same crap. So I spent the afternoon! Don

Clive, The picture of the biggun is likely one that found a cache of good grits + probably a 3N - not sure of the AF part. The K factor cannot be applied to a fish or 2 - to see the whole discussion on K Factors, see: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/dmanders...ty%20Trout.html Clearly what is demonstrated by the note on my site is the vitality of youth. The mid-sized teenagers grew better. The old over-mature oldies tended to be shorter and broader. [ just checked the mirror - yup - shorter and broader] And there is no way that any stream would produce the large fish consistently like a lake unless there are nutrient additions to the water. eg Bow & Crow. BC has used fertilizer additions to increase zoo-plankton for Kokanee. SRD has used the same idea here on Obstruction Lakes + I ran a 3 year project to increase nutrient loads in three small ponds using milled oats. [ [this lake produced a 6 lb. rainbow within 3 years.] What you see in the stuff from Australia is all I got. No discussion was held with the folks who generated the tables. I'd suspect that they have never seen a bull trout. I've heard of Bulls that tend to resemble you're posted picture when placed in a high quality feeding area. Size is about grits - lots of them. Athabasca rainbows are noted for being less <15" in their native enviromnoment but when George Sterling, Regional Bio. from Edson placed them into a lake - they grew to 5 lbs. +. And looks like the Cow folks in consulation with the anglers got it right - low kill or no kill>light stocking gets you larger fish. Damn but if that ain't rocket science. catch ya' Don

Guys, There is a measurement system that does determine the quality of the trout. They are described not longer as fat, footballs, toads or whatever the new word is for a decent fish. They are not measured only in inches which is a poor way to do it. A 22" fish can weight 2>8 lbs. depending on water/genetics/food resources. I have the measurement system on my web site. I purloined it from Australia. The SRD uses the same measurement system in Alberta. See: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/dmanders...on%20factor.pdf In any lake, the first food resources to disappear are the visible life forms. Scuds followed by damsels, dragons, mayflies, boatman/swimmers and finally chironomids. The tale of "where did the big ones go" has been the tale of nearly every public lake in Alberta. How come private ponds can raise large fish and the Public water seems to be incapable? Apparently just down the road there was a private pond that raised large fish all the time. It was managed by a cow guy. Maybe this is where the management system of lakes is going wrong. Leave it to the cow guys to figure out how to maintain growth rates. catch ya' Don

Bloom, A 28>30" rainbow is a larger trout - may weigh 50% of the Alberta record. It's only huge if compared to the minuscule trout available today. Don

Clive, Stopping stocking works well. I recall when the Province had no fish to stock for a couple of years due to Federal Govt regulation telling the Province that they must stock disease free fish. The fishing to larger trout for a year>2 after the no-stocking was great. Do recall that Police Outpost lake winter killed every now and then - a couple of years after - guess what 5 lb. fish. Dixon Trout Pond drained very now and then to remove the pike. Three years after draining - 4lb+. fish. Mitchell Lake winterkilled like Police Outpost and the same thing happened. There is a long and extensive history in Alberta of reduced stocking/fish removal which increased fish size for several years afterward. Then of course, the bios. increased stocking numbers and ruined a good thing. catch ya' Don

SanJuanWorm, All media ain't bad. Consider the guy from Red Deer who mailed me a free paper once a week. I finally meet him and thanked him for his paper. He wanted to know what I liked about it. I came clean and told the guy that it was somewhere to gut my fish. catch ya' Don PS - I really agree with your comment "The old adage "I'll believe it when I see it" are words I live by. Hell I bought my first TV at age 30." For me: I still think the world is flat.

Guys/Gals, Was @ the Provincial Fisheries Meeting where the survey results were presented by Dave Christiansen of the Rocky SRD office. One of more of the folks from SRD who spoke to the Quality Fishery policy told us that they would see the policy as a guideline and may not follow it in their areas. I took that to mean that there was some resistance within the SRD ranks to the Quality Policy and for some biologists, it would be business as usual. So as a follow up, I'd suggest that those of us that are interested in Quality Fisheries Policy contact the regional bio. in the areas you fish and ask him/her how soon we get more of them. catch ya' Don

beedhead, Don't think that fish get their jolly's looking into parked cars or watching folk dancing. catch ya' Don

beedhead, The fish SRD stocks last 4>6 years with most dying @ 5 years. This is what you saw. Normal stuff. Dryfly, There is a measurement system that exists that does determine fish growth rates. I purloined it from another site. It is the only way to determine is food resources are stretched. The link is: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/dmanders...on%20factor.pdf. It is what SRD uses to measure fish. I agree that most anglers really haven't a clue how large/small a fish is. Certainly when they are over 15". After all, with the current lake management system, there are very few lakes with fish over 15". Bloom, They did stock AF3N's up our way. Silver little buggers. From steelhead stock from Washington state. All, The food resources that disappear in a lake first due to over-stocking are the visible ones, scuds, they are followed by dragon>damsels>boatman>swimmers and finally chironomids. That is why in a lot of lakes in Alberta, nearly the only thing left are chironomids or very tiny life forms. Big stuff got eaten. This happens all over the place. Rainbows in some lakes in BC where stocking resulted in a sustaining population with good spawning areas, the rainbows soon overpopulated the lake and decimated the food resources. In this case, the travellers sedge was the first to go. Bloom, Each lake must me managed as a single one-off system. They are not created equally. I know it's tough for anglers to read and understand the regulations but consider hunters for a moment. They have to read the regulations, and when they draw down on a beast that is running, they have to determine it's sex & whether or not it has 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 points/side or a 7/8 curls or whatever. Doesn't that suggest if hunters can do it. Maybe, just maybe fishermen might be able to do it. The reason hunters are so careful is the weight of the fines. >$1,000/error makes you careful. regards, Don

Guys, Triploids may help - kinda. If they are AF3N, they are all female and will not hover along the shore line trying to find somewhere to spawn. Therefore the spring killing time will be reduced. The fish that were stocked in 2008 may have been of this genotype. 3N [but not AF3N] with have 1/2 of them as males and they will exhibit spawning colors and habits. I'd expect that they will hover along the shore lines and the killing will remain. But AF3N's tend to last longer - some upwards of 8>10 years. With the reduced spring kill, utilization of deeper water [below the cormorant/osprey/pelican attacks] + the longer live span, the amount of fish in the lake will actually increase thereby decreasing the growth rates as the food resources are spread over more fish. Like Rusty, I find the AF3N triploids normally used by BC do tend to use deeper water. catch ya' Don

Maxwell et al, Not trying to be hilarious - see this post and the response - it's sad See: http://flyfishcalgary.com/board/index.php?showtopic=6632 But the question remains - how to involve Calgarians. Some recent suggestions include: * have the meeting in Calgary * notification well in advance * a suggestion made @ the Roundtable was rent a bus What must be considered is the cost of all the meetings. SRD sponsors the meeting - most of their people are from Edmonton. It does drive the cost of the meeting up to have them elsewhere. regards, Don

Birchy, in my Opinion, you're on - every comment made @ the next Provincial Roundtable will be prefaced as you suggest - In My Opinion. In my Opinion, there will be some buses for the Calgarians. It will be a pleasure to meet all of you/any of you/ or in keeping with tradition - none of you. In my Opinion, what I clearly don't understand is why Calgarians don't make the effort to attend and focus on the things that matter to them, get resolution and effect change. And that make two of you - Loyal... wanted free beer, you want In My Opinion. In my Opinion, both are crap, catch ya' Don

I've got it or @ least some of it. To solicit some interest from Calgarians, I going to introduce the following resolutions @ the next Provincial Roundtable [more will be added as I think of them] * no fishing within 500 yards of any access point on flowing waters in Alberta. * raise the fishing license fees to FF types to $200/yr. * limit the access to popular streams to those that were born here * no guiding in Alberta - by anyone * Mac Boats are required to have large holes drilled in the bottom near the water line. Only by rowing rapidly downstream will the holes stay above the water line. * Bud beer will not longer be sold in Alberta - reduces my backpack weight hauling out the trash. * digital cameras will not be allowed within 200 yards of flowing water - the time saved by the picture police can be used for help on the item above. catch ya' Don

SilverDoctor, Am I going to build a greenheart - nope. Can it be done. Sure - I've heard that greenheart is used for ram rods for black powder rifles. Somebody has it. There is a book out now in how to build a round rod called "Making Strip-Built Fly Rods from Various Woods on a Lathe" by John Betts. See: http://www.rodbuildingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=14999 for a review. I have a 7'6" 5wt. greenheart by Sharpes. Casts well. As far as building Spey rods. You need a use for them. I won't be fishing steelhead anymore so I won't require one [ or more]. A friend Ron Grantham who builds a great spey rod see: http://members.shaw.ca/pisces45/ and Bob Clay of the Kispoix Valley also build spey cane rods. Bob has been @ the FF show in Calgary. See his site @ http://www.riverwatchrods.com/index.html catch ya' Don

Guys, This was posted on a forum that deals with non-plastic rods. Thought you all might be interested. Don My personal opinion, which many of the older authorities shared, is that greenheart is the best rod material for Spey casting. It's true that greenheart rods are a bit heavier than split cane, but greenheart is far more limber and has a significantly greater capacity to store energy. A greenheart rod can put more oomph into the Spey cast, and it can cope easily with the changes of direction without being unduly stressed. A 14' greenheart rod typically uses a 7 wt. line. The rod I most commonly use for Spey casting is a 14' Grant Vibration made by Playfair of Aberdeen. It can pick up and lay out an entire 7 wt. line, and the forward cast will pull backing from the reel. My wife can Spey cast just about an entire fly line with that rod. I have some photos somewhere of Karen throwing a line right across the Madeleine, standing in the river with trees and bank right behind her. It is advisable to use spliced joints on greenheart rods. Greenheart is a strong, water-resistant wood, but I understand that it tends to break a ferrule joints. Greenheart rods were simply turned on a lathe. I understand that the wood dust is toxic to breathe, and one needs to wear a mask when working with it. The best split cane rods for Spey casting were generally believed to be those made by Jim Payne. Payne double-built his larger two-handed rods specifically to take the stress of Spey casting, which is hard on cane rods. My own experience persuades me that Payne rods really are better for Spey casting than other split cane models. An exception is probably those spliced split cane models made by Sharpe and/or Farlow a few decades ago. They were obviously made for it. I suppose the old steel-centered Hardy's were as well, but the actions of older British split cane rods are not typically much admired today. Yet, it's true. Greenheart rods wobble in the hand. They flex, a little, at least, on the slightest provocation like a whip. But, they do store more energy, too. I suppose they have more ultimate flexibility than cane. Perhaps modulus is the measure of ability to store energy? I'd have to look it up. I tried the newfangled graphite rods out in SF at the Golden Gate Club. There are people who can cast well with them, but I can tell you that they aren't all that much lighter than cane or even greenheart, and they are a lot more work to cast. One lightly loads one's greenheart rod by comparison. When I first tried casting the graphite rod, the line wouldn't straighten out. I found you really needed to muscle those things. Of course, like all plastic rods, they have no feel, no life. David Zincavage

tallieho, Info on the Provincial Fisheries Roundtable is found here. http://www.srd.alberta.ca/fishwildlife/fis...roundtable.aspx The Provincial body is composed of SRD staff & executives or representatives of fishing organizations throughout Alberta. The meetings are held in April & October usually. They have been held in both Red Deer and Edmonton. There is no admission and lunch is supplied. I'm positive that the Provincial Roundtable would like someone from Calgary - anyone - just a single soul. So far, the Provincial Roundtable has been unsuccessful in soliciting people from Calgary. catch ya' Don

rehsifylf, Clearly you have no idea of the market. Only 3 rods of the 150 I've built have gone to the wealthy, 3 others to the very well off. Others have been bought by tradesmen, writers, Govt employees, small business owners and on and on. I'd suspect that none of them earn greater than $100,00/yr. And they use them. The rods are not wall hangers. Don And AndyW is right - it's just another pointless web poll. But the results are interesting. Questions like: 1] Why Obama 2] Which countries are voting 3] Computer use within that country. Don

rehsifylf, Yupe, a cane rod takes about 70 hours and $250 of parts. Guess I'll get rich right quick. Don

rehsifyl, Doesn't have a thing to do with hockey. Hockey is a game - played by kids. The US election gets people killed. And a friend said the same thing. He says "Maybe the whole world is controlled by the left wing media". I countered that the right wing may not be able to type or maybe they really doesn't give a flying f... what the world thinks. Don

Folks, Vote for the US candidate: http://www.iftheworldcouldvote.com/ Don

Folks, For the past several years I've attended the Fisheries Provincial Roundtable as a TU representative from Central Alberta. So far, there has been one representative from Calgary and he's an paid employee of TUC. There are folks from the Crowsnest Pass, Lethbridge, Edmonton and all point north but not Calgary. There are representatives from Northern Lites Fly Tying, Edmonton TU, Edmonton Old Timers, Fish and Game [a bunch of them], Walleye Trail, Red Deer TU, Lethbrdige TU and on and on but no Calgary. What do you suggest that could be done to get them involved? catch ya' Don

firefrog, My thanks for your help. Guess I'll have to run some TDS samples of my own. regards, Don

Clive, You might like to try the guys over @ Clarks Forum. There are a bunch of knowledge folks about old equipment that hang out there. Don See: http://clarksclassicflyrodforum.yuku.com/

Hi, The Sheep has changed a lot since I was raised there in the late '40's>60's. The number of rainbows are down, the river got scoured out during the 2005 flood. Lessor holding water and the access I enjoyed as a kid is gone. But on a brighter note, some bulls are back. Got 7 in one afternoon. One of 24" or so. Saw another that may have exceeded 8 lbs. Would have posted picture but am unsure whether or not the picture police are around. Don

Me and my little or is that big brother are going fishing for Govt trout. See ya' Don