Hawgstoppah

Amen. Once I slowed down and figured out what it means to really enjoy a day of fly fishing... I've never looked back. I used to count and keep stats religiously. Now I can't remember if I got 6 or 7 or 5 the last time I hit the river for an hour, but spending time with an old friend (a finned one) was priceless... Not that I caught it.. but I did spend some time with it.. it enjoyed my company for a short while before spitting the hook again.. must have been the 6th time I personally have hooked and lost this fish.. (damn that fish, it's still there this year, prob close to 30" for those who know which fish and which river I speak of).. but truth be told, I think I just really enjoy just getting out, and meeting new people, and being by a river rejuvenates me... now again when I get to the river I am giddy with anticipation of fishing it...

No comment ****runs to walmart to prepare for a mountain trip****

Haha legendary.... up to the part about peeing the pants LOL... I felt like such a jackarse after that but hey... better than a can of spray I'll tell ya that. If he was sniffin me up for dinner, and then smelled that... coulda saved my hide ya know!!

Was hiking a trail to Headwall Lakes. There is a headwall that once you get up it you can see the area you just came through very well. Looked back to see 3 bears (black bears). They were 10 feet from the trail. Noticed another group of hikers approaching the area and doing the right thing (making a lot of noise). The bears wandered off about 100ft, hunkered down a bit, waited for hikers to pass, and procedded back to 10ft from the trail to eat the berries. Make noise, and don't act scared or change your routine once one gets too close. Been good tactics for me through about 20 encounters of less than 200 feet between me and bear. I've been 500 feet from far too many to count, possibly over 100.... Never once have I fired a can of spray at one.... only to test it in a feild years ago to see the pattern / effective area coverage... Did you guys here my drunk bear story?I'm sure I posted this one before......

Well for those of u who want to hear the story... I was on the Livingstone... I had wandered ahead of the group by about a pool or two (heading downstream)... I had gone around the pool in the bushes to avoid the trout spooking, and gotten into a position to cast back up into the pool for some nice cutties that I had seen rising. No sooner do I start my casting in this pool, than from about 15ft away from the bushes on the other side of the pool a bear pokes his nose out, and comes through pretty much right there. At this point I don't have time to do anything but attempt to remain calm and not do anything stupid.. I'm hoping it goes away, I keep casting.. it walks around behind me so I transfer from casting over my right shoulder to casting over my left.... becuase hooking a griz in the arse is probably NOT a good idea... and then he sniffs my ear... then down the whole right side of me... and then kinda wanders over to the bank, and sorta sits down.. like he's watching me fish.. by this time I had peed my pants... It felt like an hour but it was probably only 30 seconds he watched what I was doing and then left. I guess he figured I was a crappy fisherman and wasn't gonna get him dinner that day... actually I didn't let my fly sit in the drift for more than a second... I was picking it up right away once it landed... I didn't want to hook one... probably the only time in my life where I desperately did NOT want to hook one!! The guys coming downstream did witness the bear sitting on the bank and leaving, but not the sniff job I got. I still get the hair on the back of my neck standing up when I think of that.

That's one heck of a great shot

WITHOUT SPILLING!!!

Where's the trailer? Maybe I can point you to an hour's fishing or something...

LOL.... I told my wife a story I never really told anyone before, becuase I didn't want her to be afraid every time I go into the woods. I got sniffed, yes SNIFFED by a griz once. Kept my cool, though.... however, you know how they say you can get so scared you pee your pants? 'Tis true

I got the book somewhere... NOT in alberta (bought it somewhere while I was trucking). At that point I had NO idea Clive was from Alberta, but once I started looking at the pictures in the book and seeing a lot on shots on my favorite river .... I'd highly reccomend the book as well... it's a great read.

ok man... look forward to it..

Lynn. You've never fished around Nipigon then. You should see the brookies up there. That's god's country for sure..... Though I do agree with you on the southern portion around toronto...

Will you have a car? The lower LOWER lower oldman (Lethbridge) ain't much good unless you like pike, walleye, and goldeye... You gotta hit the Pincher Creek area to start getting into any of the decent fishin..

Brad, what dates? I can make some time bro...

LOLOL uh huh

Possibly a lot of this week.. wanna do some Bull / cutty slammin down here?

Oh, and congrats on the bull, thats a hell of a bull from the ......... err............ river

I know where you are LOL...

............ and trapped or otherwise killed small animals for fly tying materials while there... Reminds me of 3 Texans I guided years ago. I think they drank $1000 worth of liquor alone in 4 days. They were an absolute riot though... I felt like I was in the middle of the blue collar comedy show...

I will be watching this very cloesly. I want to learn to play about as much as anything... so I am in the market for 1) a new or used beginner's guitar... hopefully a fairly nice one, and 2) someone or something to learn from... like a series of tapes, videos, books etc that will teach me the basics... PM me if you can help out..

Gratz on the win! Hope the luck carries over to your next fishing trips!

That is a nice cutty. Max you gotta quit taking pics of no background Just kiddin... lol

Try some small mountain streams if you don't have waders. In about a month, you'll be able to wet wade them without problems. cataract by the campground is a nice place to go if you don't care about the size of fish. Good presentations should be rewarded with fiesty little brookies....

I used to visit that site too.............. Now I refer to it as Bonk Alberta.......... If you say something on there in defense of ethics, or in support of maintaining quality fisheries, you get flamed..

That's a trip I've always wanted to do. Go up north and sight fish for hawg pike in the shallows ... can't wait for the pics!