DonAndersen

Castuserraticus neglected to tell you that: 1] The Alberta Gov't, under Klien, sold it's interest in the Husky Upgrader for nickels 2] Klien also sold about a 15% interest in Syncrude. And then he cut royalties. Go figure!! Don

Guys, Four things to keep in mind: 1] Alberta Auditor General says we're getting screwed 2] Royalty review says were getting screwed 3] Dept. of Energy says were getting screwed 4] Oil Companies says we're not getting screwed. Now who would you believe? Don

Guys/Gals, A pattern should only acquire a name after it has been responsible for several thousand fish caught over a period of years. Otherwise it's just another wet dream involving feathers et al. To that end, I've only named 3. They are proven over and over. catch ya' Don

Flytyer, I used to polish out the stainless tips using a high speed die grinder c/w felt bob and jeweller's rouge. Took some time and you never really knew if it worked till it started to break thread. Kevlar and jeweller's rouge would be a great idea for those inclined. Kevlar by itself is quite abrasive. The wax carrier in the jeweller's rouge would cut down the abrasion a tad. I'd suspect that dental floss [not the Teflon stuff] would work as a jeweller's rouge carrier as well. catch ya' Don

What's curious about the result is that Calgary's PO4 and N04 additions to the Bow were a lot higher 30 years ago prior to the increased technology of water treatment. Whitefish were a major run in the Sheep and Highwood. What has increased in the Bow is things like latex paint, birth control pills, pesticides and on and on. Water treatment removes PO4 etc well, not the others. catch ya' Don

Guys, I use mostly Griffin Supreme Ceramic bobbins. The stainless style wears out readily. Works fine for wire though. See http://www.griffinenterprisesinc.com/bobbins.html for a good selection. catch ya' Don

Got a new truck - there must have been 30 pages of how to put on a seat belt. Now if takes that much instruction, maybe you shouldn't and the world IQ would jump a few points. Don

Boy is there a pile of BS going on here. Fish Beaver lake a lot - I'm now aware to 4 people who clean up after others. New seen anyone else ever do anything of the literally 100's of anglers fishing. Oh , I get it - you all only pick up along flowing water. Just took 3 garbage bags of bottles/cans to the recycle depot. That's one year from Beaver and Ironside. And I'd really like to catch the jerk that invented water containers. Ya just have to wonder about the intellect of the jerk who buys bottle water for his/her health and then throws the bottles everywhere. A$$holes!!! Don

Din, If I recall correctly, the older Model B Thompson vises had a truncated jaw. The newer ones are like the type you have. catch ya' Don

GuySmiley, Last number I heard quoted is about $ 20,000,000,000 behind. Now I just have to wonder how many hospitals/schools/roads you just might build with that. And the best part - nobody is blaming Ralph. catch ya' Don

Good video. Don

Guys, Machining TI is a real pain. And that is one machined reel. Plus it was probably 2 chunks of TI about 5"*5"*3". Expensive stuff about $30/lb. In comparison - prepeg graphite tape is about $40.00/ lb. A rod takes about 3 oz. catch ya' Don

Din, It's a Thompson model "B". One of the best vices ever sold. Cost was about $10.00 when I started tying. Other than a touch of lub on the vice jaw mouth and the tightening screw they last forever. I use a Barracuda Dyna King + a HMH. Retired the Thompson A, sold the Veniard rotary and wore out the Herter's Thompson A rip-off. regards, Don

Guys, Heavy oil is where it is @. No question BUT, it's located about 300>450 miles from Calgary. Do you guys really believe that your employer is going to have his workers commute that distance. In the longer term, you'd best pack your bags. The business is going north. Ft. Mac. + others with the heavy oil business will boom for all the reasons cited above but as conventional crude production drops, small town Alberta suffers. This is what I'm seeing all over Central Alberta. And for your interest - the maximum # of people required for any resource exploitation is 2 seconds before it is shut it down. Just to give your some comfort on gas prices. 1971 was $0.21/mmcf, process operator made $4.50/hr. A multiple of 21.4. Now gas price is $6.50/mmcf - same process operator makes $30/hr. A multiple of 4.6 Cost of most facilities is 60% labor. Tough to make a profit??? As far as resources, you bet - we got the tar sands left. Conventional gas is about gone. CBM is the only game left. Conventional crude is declining rapidly, southern Alberta is running outta water. But we got coal. Lots of it. All along the Eastern Slopes. And we're gonna do what we're gonna do it keep the good times rolling. catch ya' Don

Guys/Gals, It's a tough world out there. 1 US Oil Barrel = $80.00 US or $ 82.38 CDN 1 US bbl. = 159.96 liters 1 liter of car gas = $0.90 CDN & 1 US bbl. of gas costs $ 159.06 Cost of production of oil from tar sand = $ 12.00 CDN/bbl. So $ 12>82.38 = 694% increase & $82.38>159.06 = 193% increase and to really get your attention Cost of Production = $12/bbl or $0.075/liter and you buy it for $0.90/l resulting in a increase from producer > you of only $0.90/0.075 = 1200% And just so castus... doesn't blow a gasket - some of the 1200% increase is taxes. None of the price increase is royalties. Anybody catch Shell's CEO snivelling about the Royalty review? And if I was just a tad more cynical, what if the oil companies, knowing right well a royalty review as going to take place, decided to cut their investments in drilling etc. thereby forcing lay-offs with the resulting public outcry about job loss which forced the Govt to again give them all a royalty holiday. They wouldn't do that - would they? Just remember, oil companies have been known of over-throw Govts when things didn't suit them. regards, Don

Guys/Gals, Talked to 2 oil/gas field supply companies today - one does rig pad clean up - gone from 2/wk billings>1bill since January - the other is a small picker truck owner/operator who hasn't invoiced for 3 months. Talked to another last nite - he says he didn't have to lay off workers - they quit looking for higher paying jobs. After a month of searching, they were looking for their old jobs back. No such luck. The little guys are hurting. Don

Griz, Conventional Crude is about gone in Western Canada Basin. Eighty buck oil will only wind up the tar sands even more. Gas prices are stagnant. Most of the activity was related to gas. Gonna be an ugly!! Don

Guys/Gals, Well, sounds like here we go again. Lay-offs have started or are continuing in most of the oil centers in Alberta. Heard that Trican laid-off 100 guys and their trucks headed for the border [south one]. Repos of jacked up trucks and holiday trailers is going great guns in Red Deer. Folks in Grand Prairie are getting antsy. Work is slowing or stopped up there. Oil Week says 125,000 oil patch types to hit the bricks. We are seeing a lot less folks in our hotels/motels/restaurants/businesses in Rocky. How about you guys - seeing reality yet? Or is Calgary still in a frenzy? See: http://www.oilweek.com/articles.asp?ID=383 http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financi...b0e&k=33095 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...PStory/Business catch ya' Don

To all you lunkers, Why don't you post what pisses you off and Rick will push all your buttons for ya' Don

Folks, Please do not take your dog on private land especially if there is livestock around. Just what fisherman need is another pissed off landowner. Leave your dogs @ home. I recall a stunned outdoor newspaper reporters who let his Fing city dog run around and around a bunch of cows c/w fresh calves. Damn lucky it wasn't shot!! Don

BBB, See: http://www.tucanada.org/NP_FishRescue.shtml Takes place most every year. Don

You poll about years FF is a mite outta whack. Some guys fish 2 days/year, some a tad more. Ran into the same problem when people told me that there wading boots lasted 10 years but they fish 2>5 times/year. The real question should have been how many days/year do you fish + how many years fished + where. I generally run 110>130 days/year and been doing that for 30+ years. Before that maybe 50>70 days/year. Also, going to the same place and doing the same thing doesn't broaden the experience level a lot. Did a rough count and I come up with about 70 streams/rivers or creeks + 30 ponds/lakes. So your real question should have been of 3 parts: 1] How many years 2} How many days/year 3] How many flowing and stillwaters. This many provide a whole lot more information. catch ya' Don

Mikefronsundre - you're welcome - she got me the hottest yellow I've ever seen. Makes a real fine yarn indicator. The white is great for CFF's, the brown for down-winged stones, the grey for wings on this and that, the greens for hoppers, the pink & hot yellow for indicators. Flyslinger - been building rods since 1968 - first plastic - then cane. First cane rod built in 1980 or 81. Have made about 150 of them. They are scattered from England throughout N. America. catch ya' Don

Pipestoneflyguy, Got a Major spinning rod that I bought about 1954. If I recall correctly, it + a spin reel were $ 10.00. It's solid glass c/w all cork handle and slip rings. I've re-guided it once. Caught a sack of fish on it till I got my first cane fly rod 2 years later. Fish the rod. They are a whole lot tougher than the graphite of today. catch ya' Don

MrBotangles, Missed the Red Sea thing but was on the Bow when it was really sick. That's when the refineries used a "once through" cooling system and the oils/gasoline/etc in the Bow made for some interesting smells. Now the sweet smell of gas is gone replaced with the effluent smell of 1,000,000 people crapping in the river every day. Oh, for the good old days!! catch ya' Don