Hawgstoppah

I agree Rick, it's going to be a tough go on rivers. Change your expectations a bit. Expect to do more hike-ins, or fish a few favorite spots by being really early. Lakes are still pretty decent and if you know what to do on them you can really get into fish, even in spots others leave alone I can't count how many times I was alone and doing well on fish at a certain southern lake this spring when there was 30-40 boats on it in other spots.

Everyone leave Calgary for the weekend so I can come up and fish the Bow in peace

I need a waterproof vid camera that can zoom in from across a river on a rising fish. Need 4k quality and the ability to put it on a stand. No digital zoom, must be optical. Looking to make some high quality videos. I want to try to capture things like some rising fish slurping bugs (zoomed right in on it) or wildlife like bears , sheep etc seen from a distance also! I also want not be afraid to cross the river with it in a pack, or be worried about rainy days. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!!

I ended up going out and I learned one thing. I suck at catching big pike but I can catch walleye on a fly rod pretty good! I think we might have been a few weeks late for the big pike action , we did get several easily handled smaller ones and one around 10-12lbs that my buddy Paul got. Nice day to be out. I'll still be interested in finding a cradle for next season, I think I am kind of smitten by the pike fishing, they hit so hard and fight so hard too. The big one we got tore up the lake!

So would Bass Pro or Cabela's up in Calgary be my best bet to locate one? I can't really even find one on amazon. Thanks

I went to look at some bigger nets, all are either too small, or the ones that were big enough were made out of material I personally would never let a fishes scales ever touch. What do you guys use when fishing for big pike? I'm hoping to find some in the 20lb range (40-50" or better) if I get lucky. Thanks in advance for any advice! I'm also willing to build some sort of cradle if that worked best for any of you. I just want to know before I spend all the time making one if there is a better alternative. For context, this would be while fishing from a pontoon boat. Cheers,

That may well be one of the best posts of large browns I've ever seen. Awesome fish !!!

Wish they would open gates but restrict to one person per watercraft. That lets us go fishing but takes care of the concern two people from different places would be sharing a boat.

Welcome to Bettman's NHL. He's now finally got it pretty much where he wants it. Don't believe me? Try this: Find out the percentage of Canadian teams to win the cup in all the years before Bettman became commish. THEN find out the percentage of Canadian teams to win the cup since. I stopped giving a crap about hockey a while ago.

Amazing pictures on this thread, I enjoyed it a lot. Missing all the time and freedom I had for fishing just a few short years ago ..

sensational

loving this thread!!!

Right on guys. I was there with a couple buds and as soon as I saw that life vest going downstream followed by some unidentified gear / debris I had a gut feeling there had been a boating mishap. I am so glad you all are safe and maybe a huge lesson to be learned from everyone else... be careful out there and if you got someone new on the oars the launch is probably not the spot to let them have a crack at it, show them the ropes yourself for a good while first... that Police area has always been so tricky and since the floods it's even worse now.

that's funny right there I don't care who ya are!

Another thing to do is just try and try and try again until you find that magic combination. Study the river. Sit down for fifteen minutes at a time and just watch and see what's going on. Study the birds, what are they doing? If they are hovering over the water picking bugs off the fish are likely to be eating dries farther down the flats... or feasting on the nymph stage of the hatch up in the riffle. Study, read books (blue ribbon bow is a must) and if you are so inclined, hire a guide for the day to take you for a walk and wade on it who can show you exactly what to do.

95% of all of Alberta's trout are probably non natives. I'd rather enjoy a unique fishing opportunity than fret about things that cannot be changed. Save the pure strains where you can, but put some variety where it would be safe to do so. I'm all for it

I just saw this now and I am deeply saddened. I got to know Jeff just a little bit over the last several years, and, as most, the connection was at Bullshead. Last year I was able to meet up with Jeff and show him around a bit on a very special day on my home stream and we fished into the darkness hooking many fish on caddis into a moonlit night. I think we finally wrapped it up around 2AM. Jeff will be missed. I am at a loss of words really.

awesome pics and fish dutchie!

sweet!

awesome

as I look outside and dream......................

wow

That last pic is really, really awesome. Sounds like an awesome season! year two and you bought a drifter... now that's called commitment!

haha amen bcube... amen... he's always around when I get outta line too