dryfly

Not read all of the posts.... I don't like the oil sands, but it is all about perspective. See here...Just some comparisons to the world's largest cities....and the oil sands will be reclaimed before the cities. Better we screw up a few hundred square kilometers way up north than the bloody plague of wind turbines already blighting the south country and growing at an unacceptable pace while doing very little to reduce carbon emissions because they can't stand alone and need coal plants to back them up (and the coal plants have to run even when the wind is blowing.) Wind turbines kill bats and birds, are a terrible visual pollutant and reduce carbon very little compared to their high (and subsidized) cost. The money we pissed away on turbines would have been way better spent on conservation. They are freeloading parasites. But they are "green"... yeah sure. But I digress. Sorry. Can't have coal. Can't have dirty oil sands oil. Can't have dams. Can't have nuclear. Solar and wind (that do have a REAL place in the world .. sometimes) will never stop us from freezing our sorry asses off in a cold northern climate. None of it is pretty. But we'd have to kill off 90 percent of the world's population to have much affect on fossil fuel use, eh? Let's face it. We are all bastards including eco weenies who use dirty oil and dirty coal to power their pooters and hybrid Tahoes. Have a swell day.

I tied a few pike flies using large circle hooks. Someone said, "...they significantly cut down on foul hooking" I'd rephrase that and say, "... they significantly cut down on hooking." They may have a place for salmon and other species, but when I used them the pike would not get hooked. I tried setting hooking "normally." Tried waiting and setting. Tried lifting. Nothing worked. So as rickr noted, there are conditions in which they may not work. They did not seem to work for pike and smaller pike (where deep hooking is a problem) tend to hit from behind as rickr noted, "When moving towards you, much more of a challenge." Good luck.

Great pike ... well done... oink!! Fun huh?

Just a note about the "warnings". Each situation is different. I saw Jeff issue two last year. One was to a person who got one ticket (plus the warning); and the other was to a person walking off the Liv and happened to have a barbed fly...but was not seen fishing with it..even thought the fly was wet. (A ticket would not have held up in court anyway had the guy challenged it.) Both warnings were appropriate under the circumstances. The guy who also got a ticket actually thanked Jeff after the incident. Jeff could have given him two tickets and his two kids one ticket each for barbs. If Jeff had issued four tickets (which he could have done), then would have made life-long cop haters out of the two teens fishing with barbs. As it was, the two teens rec'd "info packages" and a free debarbed fishing lure ... it all made sense. The most important thing is that every warning, encounter and ticket is logged into the central database in Edmonton. The officers are in immediate radio contact with "control central" and call in for checks when they find a "perp." If a guy got a warning before then he will get nailed the second time. Sometimes tickets are issued the first time and sometimes not. It depends on the regulation or regs being broken. Warnings have a place. Tickets have a place--obviously. It is indeed a balance between education and enforcement. "fines for fishing a closed river or keeping an illegal fish" .. I tend to agree that fines should be automatic for some laws..no warnings ever. The value of the fines is not up to the officers. Those rates defined by politicians and senior bureaucrats. The fine for one bull trout is a mere $50. For an illegal sheep it is more like $5,000...and up to (waht?) $100K or something like that. Mammals are warm and fuzzy and fish are cold and slimy and covered up with water and even eco weenies can't see 'em. THAT makes a big difference. It should not, but it does. (In the oceans, net caught-salmon for example suffocate to death in the holds of fish ships...a slow death and no one cares or says anything..they are fish. Cute, fuzzy, baby seals are clobbered and most die instantly. Yet which case draws media and eco-weenie attention? The cute seals of course.) Clive PS: That's the first time I've heard of officers having a "chart" regarding barbs.

seanp wrote, I'm not jumping to any conclusions. YOU are the one having a spazz on a guy about how he is holding a fish in a video, for crying out loud. Please go back and read my original posts. I commented on how well the fish were held. ("Glad to see they fish were not hoisted vertically") I merely said that netting was inappropriate for airing on a public video. ("A net is not for these larger pike...a cradle is warranted. But there is a proper and safe way to handle these fish ... with a finger under the jaw." AND "The handling is poor for a public video (that is the key ... a public video) ... small net on big pike when they could have been grabbed by the back or under the jaw.") seanp wrote, or just call him names on a whim. Yeah like "C&R Nazi." Good one man. Clive

seanp You have made one or two false assumptions. Where did you get the idea I support C&R fishing exclusively? You imply that. I said no such thing and you are making uncalled for statements in your post. You may not agree with my original post but please don't jump to idiotic conclusions, make assumptions about people that are incorrect and call people C&R Nazis. WTF? Exclusive C&R is a slippery slope and there are few places where 100% C&R can be justified or supported. "Without concern for fish populations and stringent regs (including size and daily limits) we'd have no fisheries at all in Alberta. So some may complain about C&R fishing, but without some control our waters simply cannot support large kills." Was there something here that led you to conclude that I support 100% C&R. All I said was that we need regulations with size and bag limits. C&R as you and I both practice is part of that plan and those regs. What makes me any different than you? You might think I am an ***hole for my strong opinion of a public display of fish handling and I am fine with that. But please don't make stupid, offensive and inaccurate statements because you jumped to silly conclusions. Thanks. Clive

Hey Terry .. .awesome... you could drive right over those pesky Toyota Pious hybrids with that baby ... ooops, I meant Prius. (Ref: South Park Episode 1002 - Smug Alert! ) 420FLYFISHIN nailed it. Dodge Caravan! New or used. Inexpensive. Good mileage. Oodles of room to spare. You can sleep in it. A 8-foot PT fits inside if you slack off the pressure and fold up the tips a few inches ... or can lash the PT to the roof racks. 9-ft rods fit inside assembled. You just have to get over the "minivan family" syndrome and suck it up. BTW ... I have one. Geezer mobile.

Tsk tsk. Andrew you never said one thing about license fees for BC residents.

Great fish and pictures. Clive

Sweet fish all.. That is a hawg brown..nice! Thanks for the pix. Clive

There is no scientific basis for "extreme and unusual weather/temps". Such misconceptions are a function of instant communications, cells phone cameras, extreme focus on the unusual and society's need to "prove" something that does not exist and our need to scare the bejeebers out of ourselves. Good news is no news. And bad news is good news. The earth's "global temperature" has declined for several years in spite of ever increasing CO2 emissions. Dave Spence offers some interesting thoughts on Calgary CTV Weather Notebook: http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTV...mp;s_name=graph A COLD SPRING HERE. AND THERE. AND EVERYWHERE. - MAY 26 The cold winter and cool spring has had a lot of people asking...what happened to Global Warming? Let's find out. We'll check the data. First, take a look at a graph comparing temperatures to carbon dioxide emissions here. It seems since 2002, while carbon dioxide emssions have been rising, temperatures have been falling. Now, let's look at sea ice levels around the world. Look at the red line at the bottom of the graph, when you click here. Seems sea ice levels are now above normal. And finally, despite the theory that global warming will lead to more tropical storms, this graph from Florida State University shows the tropics are quieter now than in the past 30 years. What remains to be seen is whether this is a lasting trend. Many scientists believe its due to the fact we're in the negative phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. If that's true, prepare for plenty of cool weather ahead. The PDO goes in 30 year phases. It could be a while before its back into its warm phase. Of course, looking at short term trends and current conditions can neither prove nor disprove a climate theory, but it's data that cannot be ignored. Naturally the eco-weenies are quick to point that 7 or 8 years is not a significant time line. Well neither is a mere twenty or so years that the earth warmed since the last ice-age scare of the early 70s. The MOST interesting part of this cooling trend is that none of the IPCC's climate models saw it coming. That is because they made their assumptions based mainly on CO2 which is a non player in climate. "It's the sun stupid," as someone said. There is nothing global about climate..never has been and never will be. And the climate has always changed...so it is business as usual. We should be well worried if the climate was not changing. It is arrogant for man to think we have power over the sun and oceans that the primary drivers of climate in ways more complex than we can comprehend. Consider that for every person on earth there are 250,000,000 tonnes of ocean water. If anyone thinks they can control what happens to their personal 250,000,000 tonnes compared to the sun ... they are dreaming.

I missed the "ayr" affair so know nothing about what happened. "yet this particular thread has several pictures of just that and instructions on how to hold a fish that are contrary to the rule being applied." Diff species are diff structures AND generally pike are much larger than most trout..generally. You can indeed hold pike as show and not be in contact with the actual gills. My original "complaint" here was about a public airing of fish handling. Fine. (Or not, depending on you views. ) There are instances when I mistreat pike simply by fishing for them. Now we are back to TimD's comments, "Fishing is a a blood sport." What he meant was that fish get injured on occasion. It is something with which one has to be comfortable. The Germans (and some Brits) are not happy about C&R fishing because they consider it to be cruel. So you fish and whack everything until you reach your (what?) 2-fish limit. Done. Without concern for fish populations and stringent regs (including size and daily limits) we'd have no fisheries at all in Alberta. So some may complain about C&R fishing, but without some control our waters simply cannot support large kills. We fish with controls, or we ban fishing or radically change sregs and impose rules like the Germans. Catch one or two fish and go home. Sheesh. Some pike (and let's face it, streamer-hooked trout) get hooked deeply. Small pike tend (tend) to hit streamers from behind (thus a slack line strike...a negative strike) and on occasion take the large hooks very deeply...sometimes well down in between the gills and they will sometimes bleed. (A streamer-caught trout will do the same thing, right?) Point being is that this type of hooking does more damage than holding pike as shown when the gills are not touched. So we C&R fish (handling fish as best as we can) and accept damage or we quit fishing. Please let us be mindful of what gets shown on the public airways. Showing off pictures of fish here is totally acceptable within reason. Showing a trout (say) with blood running down and telling us it was released. Well ... best not to post a picture. Stay warm. Clive

Okay...we've gone around and come back. Yes, Jay has the main message correct, "This video being aired "Public" IS the issue." Sorry for being heavy-handed, but this ... well ... anyway. We all screw up now and then. As TimD used to say on the FFA board, "Fishing is a blood sport." (And I don't mean our blood like jksnijders has shown. Man THAT happens a lot. BTW, jksnijders, we like the regular hand sanitizer for cleaning the pike tooth wounds....seems to work well.) Anyway, as TimD said, some of our game will get hurt and die..that is a fact. Our role is to minimize that as much as possible. Okay ... this is a bit of a hijack and if you wish, these can be posted in a new thread. Please advise. Here are a series of images that are in my power Point show on pike...pretty basic stuff ... added a few comments too. Cradles are great, but impossible in a PT when alone--unless you have three arms. They are well suited to a couple of guys in a boat. Clive Jaw spreaders unfortunately are sometimes required to hold jaws open if hooks are deep. This is the ideal situation...the pike is lip hooked and the hook removed with long forceps or needle-nose pliers...and the fish never leaves the water. This method works okay on smaller pike but not so with large pike...they simply weight too much. However, the neck grab can steady a large pike for lip-hook removal. It is also more applicable when wading vs. in a boat, tube or PT. The pictures below show the finger-under-the-jaw method. It is something which simply has to be practiced. Slide the index or middle finger into the gill slit and up toward the front of the jaw...not sure how to describe it. Try this on a small pike that is under control. Investigate the territory to see what parts are where. Obviously, you need to steer clear of the gills. As noted, the rakers are sharp as hell and cause hand wounds. Depending on fish size, you might get two or even three fingers under the jaw. The primary objective is to get a solid grip without getting near the gills. Jeff has all four fingers inside this monster pike's gill plate. Held like this (still mainly in the water) reduces gravity stress and makes for easy hook removal. For some reason pike usually (usually) hold still when held like this. It is not a good idea to hold large pike vertically for pictures. Apparently it is not good on their innards so hold them more horizontally for pictures. (And, yes, I've held 'em vertically for pix.)

No change at my end. The handling is poor for a public video (that is the key ... a public video) ... small net on big pike when they could have been grabbed by the back or under the jaw. We all do what we have to do and we learn as we go, but as I wrote to Jay, "animals rights folks give anglers a bad enough time as it is .. we don't need to give them fodder." I still ask that the netting parts be edited out. Show the playing. Show off the pike..they ARE great pike. Just get rid of the difficulties netting. It is not amusing. It is not educational. The response is pretty amazing from a group that comes unglued when they see a brown trout laying on the grass for a picture. Lordy .. if someone showed that sort of display with a trophy Raven brown or giant Bow River rainbow ... OMG, eh? (Say trying to land a 26-inch brown with a 10-inch 'crik' net.) Good Lord, such a thread would outdo the "jet boat" thread and you guys know it. A double standard is evident. But they are just pike, eh? Clive

Thanks for the post. Great fish. I am shocked at the poor fish handling shown in the video ... I am actually appalled ... made worse because it it being aired in public. A net is not for these larger pike...a cradle is warranted. But there is a proper and safe way to handle these fish ... with a finger under the jaw. Glad to see they fish were not hoisted vertically ... something we've all erred on. I will not apologize for the negative comments ... I actually hate rants about how people are taking pictures of fish out of water blah blah blah. My rant is well justified ... this is simply not a good demonstration of proper fish landing and handling. Shocked! Clive

CKUA 24/7 ... except on the water.

"I'm convinced that you have a picture for every thread" "Google images" is the answer to everything. ... a few keywords...30 seconds later, bingo... two minutes in Photoshop...easy peasy. Sooooooooooo .... when does it start? Kidding.

What time does it start?

Attaching nylon-coated steel leaders to flies. Never had a failure.

I guess we are off topic .. sorry Brian... but this thread has a following so I thought I'd throw in some thoughts having been pikin' with flies since 1990. Made a few mistakes along the way, but like cuttbow have figured out a few things. This is a bit shameless but what the hell? I started pike web pages a few years ago and they are a bit out of date....but you newbies might find some useful info about pike and tackle HERE The "pike fillet" page is broken. Not sure what that is about. Hummm.. cuttbow makes some good points as does adc. Pike are a to o' fun and fortunately close to home for us southern folk. There is a small lake ten minutes N of my house and it is full of small pike but they love "dry flies." And that is another whole story. Pike in dries is unreal. Anyway ... cuttbow said something about "hits." When they are wired they indeed "slam" flies. But there are times (especially in summer and late fall even) when they "chew" on flies and the take can be hard to detect ... but if it is half calm you can see the line "chatter" ... then you give 'em a bassmasters' hook set. The "slack line" hit is caused when a pike (usually small) takes run at the fly from behind and keeps moving toward you when it hits. The line goes slack and you think "WTF?" Hit it! I think the MOST important thing when starting pike fishing is BE PREPARED! Assuming you will be releasing most pike landed, you need to have the proper gear to handle it and get the hook out with no harm to the fish. If you are lucky it will be lip hooked. Easy peasy. But if the hooked is deeper you MUST have a pair of jaw spreaders and a pair of long nosed pliers..I prefer a pair of 10-inch curved forceps. Have the pliers and jaw spreaders tethered to your craft or waders and they should be readily accessible. I've seen guys haul pike up on land, rummage around in the truck for pliers...and well you get the picture. Be prepared for fast hook removal and release. cuttbow sez the water is warm for the annual spring pike frenzy. Hope so. We are going to investigate tomorrow. MUST HAVE GEAR That surgical hose is handy on spreaders...pike teeth catch in the soft rubber and the rubber also protects the pike jaw if the spreader has sharp points ... the sidecutters are hardly a "must" item. One of those "Now WTF?" moments.

Last year summer was on a Thursday.

Gary said "think of the stories you have to tell for the rest of time " Brian said ... "which aint that much.." Will deal with you later. :lol:

We burned a lot of propane ... vast sums of scotch were consumed one evening ... we hung out ... I took some pictures ... fish were caught ... This is my fave shot of the week ... a Chinook arch over Chief ... a composite of ten photographs stitched together.

Way cool Brian...nice effort and great fish. I'll have to try that one day. Cheers! Clive

Words fail to describe the sheer joy ....