Hawgstoppah

Sweet Lord!!! that's one big fish... wow...

So did Lees Lake 69cm whoa! LOL... too bad they'll be ugly as sin if you catch 'em...

I am curious to see how you make out. Let me know. I am down in that area quite often delivering log homes and would like to hit that river one of these days Are you going with a guide or on your own?

Just as an add on to this.... it's fine and dandy to have bear spray, but TOTALLY USELESS if it's in a pack, in a bag, or otherwise not readily accessible... get a clip for your vest for it, or put it in the front pocket of your waders where your pop/water normally goes. I'd trade the time it takes to dig for my water each time I'm thirsty, over having to dig for my spray when it's too late.... Also, if you have NEVER fired a can of bear spray... spend the 20 bucks expelling the can you have now somewhere safe and away from people... so you KNOW the effective area it covers in case you ever have to use it... And... as stated above... you might want to check the wind direction before you do this Just my 2 cents...

I took stats of lost fish in my years of guiding. If your letting the fish get below you by more than a 45 degree angle downstream (as in, your upstream of the fish, it's downstream from you, and your applying a lot of presure to bring it back towards you against the current), your going to lose approx 90% of the fish you hook while nymphing. This does not apply to streamer fish, becuase there normally hooked below your feet and if they stay on for more than the first 10 seconds, there usually going to get landed... So for nymph fish, I always told guys as soon as you hook up, get your butt to shore, and be prepared to run down with your fish, keeping it right in front of you instead of letting it get downstream of you... if guys did that the lost fish percentage decreased substantially... like only 35% got off. I hope this helps. You'll use a lot of bank, sometimes 500 yards when fighting fish this way, BUT.... when your holding a 25 incher instead of cussing at the one that got away, it'll be worth every step back to the hole you were in when you hooked it

I'd sneak around in front of the fish by about 30 feet, stay low, cast down 45 degrees with a dry fly elk hair caddis covered in floatant, keep the rod tip high and skate it into the fish. If there grabbing egg layers, this is KILLER for me some nights when they wont take a dead drift no matter how good of a cast you make

here's my input on this. While the good ol' sjw is great... it's really much easier to use lighter flies.. as far as adjusting to the depth your in. Take this example. Many times I fish 2 small nymphs. I tie them on with 6lb tippet material. Off the back of the second nymph I tie about 12 inches of 4lb tippet and tie a knot or 2 in the end of it. Then I add whatever weight I need right there. It hardly ever snags up, and when it does, your going to lose some split shot and a small section of 4lb leader as opposed to losing 2 flies. It really does work, try it out

I think I fit into this category quite well, though as of yet I don't consider myself an old fart just yet

Hey.... I have thought this over and decided that instead of me trying out your lines, give 'em to someone who is going to have a bit more time to get them wet. My work schedule is insane this summer. Just found out that we do have an Alaska run in late August tho!!!

Gonna sneak out with toolamn in a few hours..... we'll let u know if we found anything worth trying it out. I know that personally some of my best successes have been when the water looked like this...

So, wow.... we pretty much missed it on tuesday down in cardston. I was BBQ'ing on the deck (covered deck lol) with a pretty good storm passing over, but NOTHING like you guys got it up there. I hope everyone's safe.... I assume the Bow is totally a write of for today eh? Was going to try and fish it while I'm up there this afternoon.

I got a stream that opens June 16 down here that will for sure be clear enough to fish, and I'll be on it I hope.... provided I'm not working.

I'd be glad to test it out on my 3wt St. Croix Legend Ultra. I fish it almost exclusively during the summer.

They were all over the place about a week ago at a house I delivered in california... it was right by a small creek... you should have seen the fish going after them .... it was pretty cool...

I hope that works... I can only upload one picture it seems did you guys all host your pics somewhere else and link them?

Both of my grandfathers took arms in WW2. My respect for them and all vets runs deep. My grandfather on my dad's side did not see the end of the war... sadly... I wish I could have had the chance to meet him and say thanks

Sad story. I guess if I had to write a script of how I'd want to go... it'd be when I am older and somewhere enjoying a day of fishing and feeling at peace with the world..... RIP buddy....

I've bugged him about it from time to time but I don't think he realizes how many people looked at it. Not to be critical, but I've quit looking at it myself becuase of how infrequently it's updated. (assuming that you are talking about the pictures of recent trips?)... I know John won't be doing the spring "specials" I did... he has a slower season in which he concentrates his efforts on the rodbuilding side of things. I only did those specials for the love of the river, and the joy of teaching a few of y'all how to fish it. I never made any money doing those ones... so I can understand John not wanting to run those, especially out of Pincher Creek..