dryfly

LMAO!

For you IT Mac dudes... Mac v. PC ad spoof Takes a few seconds to load. More here... http://www.lauriemcguinness.com/

Toolman: Cosmic fish and picture. (Sort of a well-deserved, *hit-eating grin on your face.) Great "angler in the mist" picture too.

fisher26, Good post. Great to see concern. Some of us remain concerned about developments. Naturally people are free to develop their own land within certain guidelines. However, the MD of Pincher Creek has done some things which are of great concern. A municipality can do one o two things when a subdivision is developed. They can request that the owner send them 10 percent of the value in cash or request that 10 percent of the land be set aside for public use. Until recently the MD prevented new lots from running right to the river and left a public corridor along the river. However, I understand (and need to be corrected) that with recent subdivisions the MD has chosen to take the money and therefore are allowing lots to run to the river. This is a great concern to us as anglers as we can expect to have access to the river restricted. Oldman TU has discussed this with the MD. Not sure where it is at right now. Regarding angling pressure. I don't think there is any more angling pressure than as a few years back. Maybe. Maybe not. Regarding flows and temperatures. It goes around and come around. Water flows are all over the map and right now the flows are at the low for the year. Today the Crow is running at 2 cms compared to 2.5 for th long term average. It IS low. But in 1994 it was the lowest I've seen it to date and look what happened in 1995. So you never know. Yes, it was hot for a few weeks this summer. But it was summer and nothing terribly out of the ordinary. Contrary to what many people have been led to believe (i.e. it is getting warmer) Environment Canada weather data for southern Alberta show that the trend in the past twenty years (1986-2005) is toward cooling. (Their data for Lethbridge also show a slight increase in annual precipitation in the past 20 years--remember that the 80s were very dry.) So, whereas we had a warm summer, the long term trend in southern Alberta is not warming but cooling. (A lot of us think that winters are not as cold, if so, summers are considerably cooler than they were 20 or 30 years ago, to yield an overall temperature decline. Too much data to spend time analyzing. All available online.) So .. development should concern us all. As for water flows an temperature. They are what they are and I don't think there is anything alarming at all. "Another question is about the salmonfly populations in the river. Although I found lots of these big bugs in the river I never encountered the epic proportions I have read so much about. " I've fish the Crow for twenty years and only ONCE ever saw anything that would classed as "epic." They critters were thick. Thousands of them. The trout were so damned stuffed you couldn't buy a fish. We shook shoreline shrubs and knocked dozens of salmonflies into the water. Not one natural was eaten. Fish stuffed. We fished ahead and behind. Nada. Over the years I've seen salmonflies most years, but at least for the past 20 years they really are a bit of a myth and I think the writings a bit exaggerated. (Maybe 30 years ago it was so. Don??) Why they were high that one year--about 1991 or so--I've no idea. Anyone? A few of us believe that aquatic insects in general on the Crow are in decline BUT we attribute that to excessive sewage treatment that is removing all of the NPK from the sludge and effluent water that is dumped back in the river at Hillcrest. We are doing too good a job of cleaning the sewage. Maybe the subdivisions will help with long-term septic field seepage. Thanks for your great post. I wish more folks showed concern. Here's the Crow in the fall of '94 (I think the slide was taken in the fall of '94..slide not dated.)..BEFORE the deluge of '95. Very low. Cheers, Clive

From an old post. Net spinning caddis larva The black (lead) beads serve three purposes: 1) get the larvae to the bottom 2) look like the thorax/head, and 3) as Scotfly noted, maybe some o four fish have seem brass beads too often.

"what on earth are you guys going to do this winter" Well geez we are BIG doo then. LAST winter we had a spate of global warming and look at the fallout. What the hell will happen when we return to a colder winter or, God forbid, return to a mini ice age as we were warned of 30 years ago. Babies will be popping out all over when the next ice age hits. How old do I feel? You youngun's are having babies at blistering speed and we are done having grandkids already! Sheesh!

Regal "off shore" knock off with squeeze handle jaws. Works fine from 5/0 to #24. $30 (wholesale--long story) about 15 years ago. Also have a midge pedestal vice which I use now and then.

Lynn: HA HA HA ... Winter fissin' is simply grand. Bloom said it well, "Winter fly fishing is some of my most enjoyable time on the river"

After a gestation period of 46 months we brought home our new addition this week.... .

I have pixel envy.

Hey bloom. We plan to leave for the trailer at Cowley on TG Sunday and stay until Monday or Tuesday. All weather depending... I fished lower Racehorse and the OM above the C&R section for one hour (or less) last Saturday. Only landed 3 cutts...two on a BAW and one on an X-caddis. Only a couple of risers. Cutts were fat and healthy. One was 16½ inches--the one from Racehorse. Weather depending, there's a good bet you'll see afternoon olives on the Crow. Anyway .. drop me a PM and I'll send you my cell # we'll hook up for a fishing day. We plan to have a BBQ chicken for TG at the trailer on Sunday--you are welcome to join us. Clive PS: Please send me a weekend BH report as we may take a drive next Monday.

Great stuff Jeffro. Flying birds are difficult, eh? Good thing you got the D200. Good choice. Cheers! Clive PS: Well after a long wait there is a 12MP replacement for my 7D. Looking forward to getting one soon. Digital photography is the very best! These are good times for us all!

albannachxcuileag (what ever THAT means! ) Thanks for the tie. A great idea for legs on a beetle. Most worthwhile--will use that. Cheers! Clive

Good one F/A. =================================================== A guy walks into a drug store and asks the pharmacist, "Where's the Vaseline?" The pharmacists says, "Walk this way." Guy says, "If I could walk THAT way, I'd not need the Vaseline."

Welcome here chaps. Rather a harmless lot, although we have "interesting" discussions now and then--sometimes about fishing. Cheers, Clive PS: I was born in Surrey, lived on farm in Hants until 8 years, moved here in 1955. Our farm nr Fordingbridge had a chalk stream and now has pay-to-fish ponds. PPS: Here's one of our Alberta high-country trout streams--the Oldman River...last weekend.

Turkey draw info here ...

Jeffro and all. Nice pictures. And a swell opportunity for me to jump in with a shameless "promotion." During all October I am hanging 26 framed prints in the Coaldale Library gallery. I am donating the prints to the library and they are selling them at a silent auction and the library gets ALL of the income from the sale. (In return, I get a tax receipt.) See details here...Library fundraiser "Natural Wonders" photo show I'd be honored if some of you southern folks dropped by and had a look. Thanks and cheers! Clive

In a very large part, we have Al Gore and David Suzuki to blame for this. They've whipped the public into climate change frenzy and the public is demanding that something be done to combat climate change. The feds have wasted at least two billion dollars so far on their climate change policies and you and I know bloody well that the money should toward environmental protection, clean air and clean water. We cannot change climate change as it is driven by the sun and oceans. It is time for people to wake up and realize that REAL environmental (health and humanitarian) issues will go begging because we are wasting to much on a bogus issue--AGW. Millions of destitute souls don't have clean water to drink and health care in many countries is grossly lacking. And the rich developed world is pissing away billions--soon to be trillions--on bullshit climate change programs. It is a disgrace. This eco terrorism by Gore and Suzuki is the biggest crime to the environment and to humanity of all time. It is a disgrace and a crying shame. Don't blame the feds. Blame those bastards Gore and Suzuki. Ask me how I feel.

Might as well out your gear away until next June..it's over folks.

Beautiful lake...drove up in a survey crew truck in 1966...can't tell you anything else. It is worth the effort -- based on what I recall.

Here's my wife, Willie, about 15 years back on the Crowsnest. Not sure what fish species she looks like, but it is rather funny. BTW .. she thinks it is funny too and had a 5- by 7-inch print in her office for years. (The fish wriggled just as the picture was taken.)

I've yet to see a fish like CZ-J ... But I am working on it.

Clamp the split above a tippet knot... If you are only using a tapered leader (say a 4X) then add 2 feet of 4X tippet and add split above that knot. If you are not using some sort of tippet (i.e. only a leader), then you should be doing so as in: leader>>tippet>>tippet>>fly OR leader>>tippet>>fly. Many combos can be used.