dryfly

I watched some of the video. Enough to watch the guy almost fall over right at the start. Why is this discussion even taking place? This is patently a dangerous device for fishing on rivers or any of our lakes where howling winds can start without warning. At the risk of pissing people off, this is utterly insane ... X19. Just another yuppy "trinket of the week!" Go crazy and buy two or three.

Kinda funny how we ALL (me included) worry about the dear little fishies when (to quote others) C&R fishing is really a blood sport that involves fish being injured and dying intentionally or not. (I rant on about silly barbless laws and the use of bait where there are size limits. Others say "my" way is better than "your" way.) Yet we are all maiming and killing fish one way or another. (Yeah me and you.) Efforts to mitigate fish injury and mortality are welcome, but if our hearts were really in the best interests of fish, we'd not fish other than for sustenance. Right? Bastards all of us. Oh right, we are the environmental "hall monitors" who keep track of the fisheries because fish health is the indicator of environmental health. It is our duty and there are costs involved in this important work. Yeah, that's it. Is it spring yet?

Preface: I had debarbed all FF hooks larger than about #12 for years before the barbless regs. Lots of folks were doing this. It made little sense to debarb a #18 midge dry or pupa hook. It sitll makes little sense. We had all learned to live with barbless, but since the debate has been opened again why not discuss it? IMHO, it would be folly for ESRD to waste time re-implimenting the barbless reg that had no (or little) basis in the scientific literature anyway especialy compared to the effects of bait on fish nortality. That's why there has been a bait ban in a lot of mountain streams for decades. Our bios knew how destructive bait was to fish. Barbless makes little sense when we consider that Alberta allows the use of bait where there are size limits in effect. Lakes containing pike are the most obvious example here. But way back when walleye all of a sudden "collapsed," many lakes had zero limit on walleye but of cousre bait was still allowed. The walleye dudes said they only tight lined so walleye never took the hooks deeply when they were using leeches on the bottom bouncers. Yeah, whatever. Bait and zero limits or bait and size limits are a huge contradiction. But by God we had to debarb hooks. How many of you know you can legally still use bait on the Crowsnest River? Yup, tis so. From the 2013 regs: the river upstream of East Hillcrest Bridge ... l Aug. 16 to Oct. 31 – Trout limit 2; Cutthroat and Rainbow over 30 cm; Mountain Whitefish limit 5 over 30 cm; Maggots are the only bait allowed and only in the river. You could put six maggots in a barbed #12 treble hook and fish legally in the Crowsnest River (as described above.) And if you caught a 28-cm rainbow on this rig you would have to release it. (That no one does this is not the point: the point is that it is legal.) In Alberta, it is still legal to use bait (say) for pike when there are size limits which of course is utter nonsense and has always been since 1998 or so when the size limits for pike were put in place. I am not knocking the use of bait so much as knocking the fact that allowing bait in water where there are size limits is nonsense. Yet, until recently (and for many years) all hooks had to be debarbed. I made the photo below years ago when the regs were changed and it exemplifies the idiocy of some of Alberta's fishing regulations. (Don't get me going on the "spring closure." Why am I still bitching about his nonsense after 15 years? A big WTF.) This is a FF board, but the story below exemplifies some of the problems with fishing regs. And we can't blame ESRD/FMB staff. They are pressured by angling groups. Here's how the "slack line" fishing method works. (Years ago this is how most bait anglers fished from shore in the Brooks area. I cannot say how widely it is used today.) An angler impaled a 8-inch smelt on a huge treble hook and tossed it out and fed out extra line so the line was slack. The angler would watch the line for movement and sometimes would attached a piece of flagging tape to the line. If they detected a pike taking the bait, they watched the line and waited until several feet of line had been taken out thus indicating the pike had swallowed the bait. Then they set the hook. If the pike was under 63 cm it had to be released. (Ever tried to removed a treble hook from the gullet of a pike? Without blood?) All legal. Unless of course the 5/0 treble had barbs ... well not any more. The photo captions assumes that barbs are illegal.

There are two mentions in this year's regs. Legaly there is no barbless law in Alberta anymore. Minister's message Page 2 We have always valued the strong conservation ethic of Alberta’s anglers. This year, we are asking for your help by continuing to use barbless hooks while we evaluate options to address the barbless hook regulation. Important Changes and Notices for 2013 Page 4 In 2012, during an amendment of the Alberta Fishery Regulations, 1998, the Federal government inadvertently removed the provision prohibiting the use of barbed hooks. This rendered the barbless-only requirement when angling in Alberta unenforceable. The intent is to restore the legislation at the earliest opportunity. Until this occurs, anglers are asked to continue to voluntarily comply with the spirit and intent of the barbless-only regulation and refrain from the use of barbed hooks.

Good Lord ... "First off I need to apologize for all the negative thoughts I used to have ... Well now I see the light ..." Sounds like a confession. :lol: Sorry, but I could not resist. I owed you one from last fall when I posted a shot of test net fishing. I am not convinced .. yet. Good on you for taking it up. Clive

Great fish Paula and a nice photo. Thanks for posting. Please excuse the crap IQ on the old scanned prints below. Firedog. In one way I agree with you in that there is a ton o' BS regarding fish sizes in this board and in streams and lakes. Paula's fish looks about right to me. But unless a fish is taped (as Paula's was), then sizes are usually out by 10+%. 20-inch trout are instantly 22 inches unless taped. (In the case of Paula's fish it might seem larger than 19 inches.) But it is also not a good idea to question photos. (Well okay these days maybe every photo should be questioned! ) Sure they can be manipulated, but even unadjusted they can also be deceiving. Years ago, I showed the photo on the left to an old-time salmon angler who placed the size at close to 20 pounds...remember it is a coho. Well it was not 20 pounds by far. But my question to you Firedog is what is the size of the two fish in these photos? (Both the man and woman are about the same height.) Clive

HA HA HA...took me a while cowboy! Actually, I do GAF if it makes hunters and anglers look like rednecks or tacky folks. I realy do not like the slogan. Clive

I think it is tacky! Maybe has attention-getting shock value, but there must be better ways. Thumbs down. Hijack. At least the ad below is funny.

Fun story Rick....reminded me of something... We spent Feb 2011 in Arizona and many days hiking in the Sedona area. I was inspired to write a caption for one photo of Willie after one of our hikes. The arch was well worth the climb. Thanks again for the sun story. Glad not to hear about it on the 6 PM news. Clive

Survey here regarding futures regs at Beaver. The survey is a tad tricky and could have been written better .. you'll figure it out. Mods: If this is already posted, delete this. Clive

Bunch o' wusses ... the Tacoman included. Let me tell ya about the time I was dicing Scotch Bonnet peppers (HOT! 100X hotter than jalapeno) to make some hot sauce. Then I took a leak BEFORE WASHING MY HANDS! Not too 'mart on my part. Fortunately, we already had children by then.

Attention Anglers NOTE: I am just forwarding this note from Matthew Coombs. Please do not PM or email me. See below for contacts and more information. Thanks. Clive Message from Alberta Fish & Wildlife - Crowsnest Pass A Mountain Whitefish spawning survey will occur on the Crowsnest River in late September/early October 2012, and Alberta Fisheries Staff are looking for volunteer anglers to assist with the project. Mountain Whitefish use to support a subsistence fishery in southwestern Alberta. However, regulations limiting Mountain Whitefish harvest have become increasingly restrictive. Mountain Whitefish are a key player in the limited diversity of native fish in eastern slope streams. They are an important prey species for Bull Trout and share similar habitat requirements as fluvial Westslope Cutthroat Trout. There is some concern that the Mountain Whitefish population on the Crowsnest River may have declined in recent decades. While they constituted 90% of the total catch in an electrofishing survey in 1985 (1), a more recent survey in 2010 estimated the Mountain Whitefish population at just 20% of the Rainbow Trout population (2). However, Mountain Whitefish are not always captured consistently with electrofishing, making surveys difficult to compare. A Mountain Whitefish spawning survey will occur on the Crowsnest River in late September/early October 2012. Electrofishing surveys are expensive and result in poor survival of Mountain Whitefish, so the 2012 survey will be conducted by snorkelling. Snorkelling will be done by two biologists with extensive experience doing these surveys in the Bow River watershed from TERA Environmental and Golder Associates. While swimming down the river with mask and snorkel, these biologists will count the number of Mountain Whitefish congregating at spawning locations. By repeating surveys over a number of years, trends in the relative numbers of spawning Mountain Whitefish can be determined. The survey will cover the entire river from Crowsnest Lake to the Oldman Reservoir, with the focus being on reaches with high numbers of Mountain Whitefish. Timing of spawning is expected to be near the end of September or beginning of October, and volunteer anglers are needed starting September 15th. Volunteers should have a high level of expereince fishing for Mountain Whitefish on the Crowsnest River and be familiar with areas where this species can be targetted. Anglers will fish during the period of time leading up to spawning and report on their catch to Alberta Fisheries Staff to assist identify where Mountain Whitefish are congregating to spawn. The number of "ripe" fish caught by anglers will be used to time the snorkelling survey to coincide with the peak of spawning activity. A special Fisheries Research Licence (FRL) will be issued to volunteers participating in the study. It will allow them to temporarily hold and/or transport fish and collect the necessary biological information required for the study. This FRL will also allow volunteers to fish with maggots as bait for research purposes along the entire length of the river, if they choose to, but all other angling regulations will remain the same. Captured fish will be measured to determine the length at which Mountain Whitefish mature and spawn, so snorkellers can then specifically count the mature fish seperately from the juveniles. Some Mountain Whitefish may also be lethally sampled to extract otoliths for age determination. Anglers will not be required to fish with Alberta Fisheries Staff, unless fish are being lethally sampled to determine age, sex, and maturity, in which case Staff will be present and provide volunteers with an opportunity to learn how this is done. If you would like to participate in this study please, or know someone who would, please contact: Matthew Coombs Acting Senior Fisheries Biologist Fish and Wildlife Division Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development Second Floor, Provincial Building 12501 - 20 Avenue Blairmore, Alberta T0K 0E0 Phone: (403) 562-3293 Cell: (403) 563-8847 Email: matthew.coombs@gov.ab.ca This study is being conducted together with: Michael Bryski Aquatic Biologist Water Management Operations Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development Lethbridge, Alberta

Laker ....

Hey gang I've posted a notice under special events here. We really could use a few people. Please email me .. schaupmeyer AT gmail.com Thanks Clive

Thanks rickr. Gosh, my own squad. Nice. Jeff, thanks for the presentation and response. Regards, Clive

Here Pretty well explained. Can't speak for TUC specifically in this case, i.e. what they were thinking when this was presented. It might have been influenced by the laws governing charitable groups. But claiming this presentation was "weak" was unwarranted IMHO. Damned if ya do and damned if ya don't.

If TUC tried lobbying for whatever changes are deemed necessary they could loose their charitable status. So when you make you donation to TU (you do make donations to TUC, eh NamasteMushroom?) then you would no longer get a tax receipt. The laws regarding lobbying by charitable groups were recently (and rightly) tightened. The response was reasonable. Thanks to pepper for sharing this.

TerryH will know better then me. IMHO the Dacron (even 110#) could cut the ghost bags and you'd be better off with a flat cord like the Tejas. It is about 3mm wide and 1 mm thick and very strong. Clive

Tejas Ultra lace is what you want. Strong and durable. This lace will outlast the wood frame when installed properly. Michaels sells this stuff but unfortunately only in large (read, expensive) rolls. A small craft shop here in Lethbridge (The Craft Store) sells it by the foot. You need 3X the circumference of the net hoop...that's a bit generous (and a PITA when starting to lace the net in), but you must have enough and only 2X is not enough. You can read about installing net bags into a frame in this book here. Clive

... AND YOU COULD HEAR A PIN DROP.

Wow! Just "Wow!" Thanks! Clive

Great looking flies! Thanks. But geez guys, it's a glue and a lot of adhesives have nasty stuff in them. Remember, it is the dose that matters. MSDS sheets are to be used with a grain of table salt ... also highly toxic. Here is the MSDS for caffiene. Sure it is lab grade, but this just emphasizes the point: it is all about dosage. Some notable quotes: Caffiene ... May be fatal if inhaled, swallowed or absorbed thru the skin Avoid all contact. ... Overexposure by ingestion may result in nervousness, tremors, and insomnia, headache, dizziness, drowsiness, incoordination, slowed reaction time, slurred speech, giddiness, and unconsciousness. That might explain difficulties hooking fish some days, eh?

Language warning in this video. Can you imagine if the WRP made ad? It would headline news on those..well, you know...those left wing, pinko radio and TV stations. (Sort of a joke... ) Good grief. Endorsed by Allison? One doubts that. Monday will be interesting.

This ought to be good. Who's making the popcorn?

Make your own from gardening "kneeling pads" or colorful (or black) flip flop soles. Easy to whittle down or cut with a 'coring" tool made from ½-inch copper tube. You can make dozens of popper or slider heads from a few dollars worth of foam. The slider heads shown here are all home made...some look rough...the fish don't care too much.