Hawgstoppah

Sorry bud. My 8 cars wouldn't fit..... (holy crap that house is awesome!!!)

I'll admit to not having read the whole thread yet but this point bugs me a bit. What about the dedicated few who do continuously give back by way of donations to things like streamwatch, personal time at cleanups, taking a garbage bag out with them on trips to clean up rivers, weed pulls, stream work with T.U., etc. I know it may bother you to hear this but the vast majority of guides are some of the BEST stewards of the resource (if they are in it for the right reasons). I do agree with some of the points made though, about guys coming out of the wordwork, knowing very little and calling themselves guides (and doing nothing to help the fisheries). Those guys do need to be controlled in some way, wether it be an associated or gov't regulation. I don't really have any opinions on how to make that happen but I see that the thought process is well underway on this thread.

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sweet shots buddy. living the dream!!! man I miss fishing as much as you do (as much as I used to be able to!!!!!!!)

wow. great pics, awesome fish. maybe, just maybe, someday......

make sure your rod holders / tubes are long 10 footers as mentioned, but also make sure they cover areas where people normally step in/out of the boat. the only complaint I have about dutchie hyde I worked this year was those rod holders... too short for ten footers, and the tube was not long enough to cover the area where the person in the front used to step out of the boat a lot of the time, had to be really careful!!! so... not enough protection for the rods.

I predict the flames will be old and slow. I predict they will continue to trade away the real talent for what looks good on paper.

get a sense of stewardship for ALL fish then, not just your steelhead.

I guess my last question on this thread is, what is it about steelhead... or fishing for them in general, that turns good people into assholes?? I've witnessed it... happen to someone I know very well.... so I guess it's understandable... but I just don't get it. Fish are fish!!!!! Damn.... If it's ok to toss whatever you want at the fish in Alberta, Manitoba, or Montana, then go right the hell ahead in BC too (so long as your method is legal) and enjoy it! Don't let some snob tell you how you should be fishing. Be flexible and adapt, and have fun, and respect other users out there... For the rest of you people who think that just because I am defending the position of fishing the way you want because I fish that way (you guys must think I stalk the banks of the bulkley with a spey rod and indicator) ... pfft give your head a shake as well. I prefer trying dries for 'em.... and love 'em on the swing. Out of over 20 days fishing for steel I've tossed an egg pattern for roughly 8 hours. whoopty do. I bet 99% of steelheaders have done the same thing at the early stages of their careers too.

exactly

speak for yourself. I'll always defend everyone's right to fish how they damn well please.

Got a person looking for a partner for Crow trip. 22/23 or 29/30 weekends. Pretty fine fishing this time of year if you have never fished it. Rainbows are eating pretty hard in prep for winter. Brian

Well I do think this whole idea of nymphing versus dry versus swinging is silly. Who are you guys to tell anyone they don't "respect" a fish.... no REVERE a fish.... when they land it no matter what method they have used? I've got steel swinging, skating, and dead drifting... and I have revered and enjoyed and could tell you a story about each one of them. They are all so special. Each one has left me shaking, exhausted, and awestruck at it's beauty and size and fight. To say I enjoyed any of those moments any less because a few of them in my steel career were not on the swing is just plain ludicrous. And to say it's not about catching, WHAT???? sure it is! You mean to say I am going to go over to BC, pay hundreds of dollars of hotel money, a $60 steelhead stamp, a $60 yearly license, and over $200 in a week for day licenses, plus food, snacks, coffee and everythinhg else, and NOT WANT OR EXPECT FISH? I drop a thousand bucks easy for a week over there.... so hell no. I'm there for fish.... now having said that, if they are going to take a skating fly I'm all over that. If they want a swung fly, let's do it. If I am standing in a river full of eggs and can SEE them eating the eggs and ignoring my swung flies, by hell my egg pattern is going on. And do I treat each one with love & respect when caught, like heck I do. There's nothing better than a steelhead now back to your regularily scheduled programming.

I have video somewhere of one this year crossing the highwood river right at the Bow confluence. He looked like he was going to cross the bow, turned back, and then crossed the highwood instead.

If we were all "traditional" everywhere, you'd be doing nothing but down and across with a wet fly. That's how this world of fly fishing started. And a lot of people who revere steelhead try to fish that exact way. Traditional spey flies, down and across. The world of fly fishing has evolved though, or you'd never cast a dry, or a nymph (gasp)... So do what floats your boat..... if it's high sticking an egg fly through a run do it. If it's skating a dry for 'em do it. Just have fun ...

sweet pics. sorry about the hat (I'm a sox fan too, so just teasin') that one trout kissin' pic is so funny.... looks like he and that trout oughta get a room. LOL

epic angle on the 2nd to last picture as mentioned already but worth saying again, those are simply brilliant... worthy of publication for sure.

Due to the great response for the first 3 weekends of Oct we are going to open this up to the last 2 weekends. Drop us a PM and we can try to find you a partner. Available dates are in the first post. Crowsnest & Oldman trips can also be arranged and fishing can be extremely good right now. Tight Lines Brian

the "window" in which fish will look up gets shorter and shorter as the season is cooling off. the fish are eating the more easily available nymphs, and eating them with gusto I might add. For mountain streams you can go wrong with a prince nymph & copper john / bwo kiler / lighting bug / type pattern... under and indicator and set depth to match stream size accordingly. As far as dries go, pretty tough going now I'd imagine.. lots of cool nights lately... if you insist on hppers or dries, make sure you have a dropper prince or copper john tied under it about 2 to 3 feet, you'll double or triple your fish per day right now. Cheers

This is a funny post now becuase on my way home today I got something out of a place nothing should be that no one would ever believe, just by exploring or scouting. Biggest rainbow of my life, somewhere within 0 to 10 minutes from lethbridge. Even having said that, and risking giving up this spot by giving approx location, I am totally comfortable with it... I am sure no one would even try it. It's just that dumb of a spot... "who in their right mind would think fish are in that?" kind of spot. Gotta love 'em. Hope they overwinter ... lol

SHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! lol

actually come to think of it , no one really ever asks for those secret spots. they call us to fish the Bow, the crow, maybe the oldman area ..., they've heard of it, world famous rainbows and browns, and great scenery and cutts/bulls!! what more can you want, right? I guess no one really asks much. People that do ask get responses from me like, "there's lots of good fishing everywhere you are wlling to put the time into discovering", or something like that. I've shared the name of a few places with some close friends, some of them clients I consider to be friends, but as far as an actual "go here, take 14 paces to the right through that thick brush, you'll fall off a small cliff into a raging river, slide down it till you go flying over a waterfall of 25ft, once you come up from the pool gasping for air, face back towards the waterfall and cast on the left by the moss covered rock with the current going back up against it and you'll get a 27 inch cutty"... it aint gonna happen!

wow great fish! I've always wanted to try that.

The thing is, there is awesome fishing wherever you live, so long as you are willing to go out and find it. There are 30 inch fish not too far from Calgary that get very little fishing pressure... there are places in the Crowsnest Pass that would make some people that have lived there all their lives sick if they knew about them and had never tried. Every area in Alberta probably has amazing fishing within a 30 minute drive... I refer to a good article by a friend of mine often... "Walter is in my backyard" CLICK TO GO TO ARTICLE

There are streams around my area that I will never mention to anyone, even friends have tried to pry a few from me, and I would not guide on for sure. There are streams I would only take certain people who are closed lipped and wouldn't tell anyone else (multiple repeat customers, etc). Discretion is a good thing when it comes to these rivers. Most people probably assume I only fish certain locations down here and that's fine. All the better for me and my secret places with the internet, google maps, and everything else it's only a matter of time before some of them get discovered, but it's also a lot of gas to drive somewhere you do not know and explore, just hoping to find something fishy, when you can go to spots known to hold fish. not a lot of people just take a drive to "unknown waters" anymore. There are dozens of streams within 30 minutes of my home and for the last 5 years I have spent a lot of free time exploring most of them. Some of them totally suck... except for certain times of year. Some of them suck all year. Some of them have big fish. Some don't. The best place I have found I have never heard it's name ever mentioned on this board, or heard it called "that" river, or referred to in any other way, even amongst fisherman around home here. It seems no one fishes it at all, and if they do they are all like me and not willing to talk at all. PERFECT!