dube

This photo is old but I like the way you get a sense of the current with the line curling around the rock. On this particular day the fishing had been particularly good, I had just caught my biggest bull to date on this bushy dry from a ridiculously tiny pocket up against a rock ledge. I moved him once and missed him and on the third drift I nailed him with no more than 15' of line out. He came to 22" and was a real fathead. My arms were shaking and I needed to cool off after that so I snapped a few shots. Didn't manage any of the bully .

Nice. Here's another guy with some skillz.

I was thinking about this a little more and fishing the bow is a little like being on a surveillance camera. Lot's of us on this board, and with the posts of poaching and reg. infractions people are trying to be more vigilant in terms of "educating" everyone. Buddy, who is likely a member on this board and saw a spin fisher and his son and figured he'd "educate" them not stopping to consider maybe the dad did flyfish and frequent this board. Even the rest of us putting in our .02$ about what we would have said or done. Any of us could be fishing the next run to this guy at any given day but just because he's flyfishing he gets the benefit of the doubt or maybe even some friendly **** chat. I had never fished the lower bow until very recently. There are several reasons for this but the biggest being that it just seems like a *hit show. Of course as I suspected it is a very daunting river to fish if you haven't before and most of you will not be surprised to hear I got skunked. Part of me never wanted to fish it because of all the stories I hear on this board. People fishing it for years before ever catching anything. Others landing trophy specimens more times than not. Puts too many expectations into a guys head. Not to mention the fact that despite it being a big long river it seems it's getting hammered constantly so the chance of getting a section to myself seemed unlikely.My nymphing skills suck so as long as I fish certain rivers I rarely need to, which has been another reason to steer clear of the bow. Like I said lots of reasons I've never fished it. Here's why I finally did, and trust me thee is a point to this whole rant; I was heading into Canmore to visit my GF and was planning to fish the Highwood on closing day and made the mistake of going into Calgary to look at this Loop AEG rod. I had heard they were clearing out and read all the reviews and just wanted to have a look. I've been considering getting a new rod and last day of the season seemed like a good a time as any. So I call South Bow and asked about the rod and yes it was confirmed the had a good discount on the 5wt. So never having spent much time in Calgary I'm aimlessly driving around trying to find this ridiculous address, like what the hell is blah blah blah blah dewinton. WTF. I called directory assistance like three times not understanding what the hell I was hearing. I'm heading down Mcleod trail and decide to call the shop again, dude is super friendly and when he tells me the address I think he figured I was from out of town by my stunned silence not having any clue what blah blah blah Dewinton meant. "where you at?" he asked. "going south on McLeod", "keep on it, turn left on Dunbow, it's right there". So I'm driving and driving and driving out of town WTF. Finally Dunbow.....to late passed the turn off- " EFFIN' IDIOT" drove another how many clicks and turned around at the over pass. Make it into the shop and proclaim I am indeed the fool from Edmonton looking for the sweet rod on closing day. Dude was super, gave me some options as to where to fish the upcoming weekend and sent me off with a dynamite stick LOOOOOOVE IT. So off I go back towards the city and started thinking. I had originally bought the rod to take advantage of the sale and was going to sit on it until next season. Well obviously since I had gone ahead and bought it, it seemed crazy not to break it in the following day on the highwood. (closing day). God I'm a sucker. I started kicking myself for not buying a reel, probably would have been worth it to get rod reel line all in one shot. "EFFIN' IDIOT!!!!!". I had noticed Fish Tales on Mcleod on my way down and got the bright idea to stop in there and "have a look". Well long story short, after a bit of arm twisting I walked out of there with a very nice Ross reel. Bit of an upsell but the fellow who was working on me was making some sense and had an air of experience about him . Super friendly folks, need a bigger store btw. So off I went with a brand new rig and one lousy day to fish it. Headed down into K- country and had some luck on the upper highwood, nice day to end the season. Too nice even, great rod too! WOW. GF is bogged down with work so next day up to k- lakes....just to cast that baby some more.WOW. Next day, GF still needs to work for the day; off to grotto pond and snoop around the K river bow confluence and ended up fishing the bow above hwy 1 and managed a very nice brown hunkered down under a fallen tree on a steep cut bank. NICE ROD!!!!!!!! I fished that baby hard for three days and was only driving my appetite to cast it further and further. Screw it I have one more day off and I'm going back to Calgary and am going to fish this bloody river and be done with it. So I head back to Southbow and did a little begging for some insider lowdown on how to get started. Same guy working and also another dude who was also there on the previous friday- must be a regular. I rave about the rod and didn't mention the reel ( I'm from the chuck- we got dick for fishing shops, no offense wholesale posse) and he was kind enough to: send me off to a spot, picked out a few flies and gave me some tips on how to rig it and fish it. Sweet, I was so stoked and felt a little more at ease at tackling this river. Off I went and just like he said "probably no one there". Well actually there was some strange dude emptying out his car and had all this bizarre stuff that looked to me like it may have come form a house quite recently. I was a tad suspicious ( all my stuff was in my truck as I had been at the GF's) and reluctantly headed down to the river. It was quite isolated and I could not relax wondering about the shifty dude so I walked back up to check and passed a fellow heading down. Suspicious guy was gone and my truck still had all the windows so I turned a round and headed back. Caught up with the fellow and started to chat, standing by the river he gave me some good advice as to was to look for as far a current and what not and noted that lately he was finding them in closer to the bank than you might expect. Super friendly guy, and just like all the other Calgary folk I had met in the fishing community of the past couple days more than willing to help out. Good people. So I fished and although I did actually spot a few and may have had a few ticks I got nothing. They were in close no doubt. It was nice to be out and was excited to be exploring new waters especially when I've seen splattered all over this board the beauties that it can produce. Here's the moral of my story; at South Bow, Fishtales and the fellow streamside, this board came up. What was strange for me was that I suddenly had this moment where I was like oh *hit....can I give out my handle without getting sacked in the nuts? Now I haven't exactly been a thorn on here but I've had my moments and can be opinionated at times but some of us are really outspoken. I know full well the internet can provide a cloak of security in terms of running off your mouth but what if you come face to face? I have to hand it to you guys who do know eachother and fish with eachother and this board is actually a real community in a lot of regards. Most of the participants are local and that should be a good thing as long as we make a point of acting as though it were face to face. Calgary is a big city and the bow has plenty of room but sooner or later you're bound to run into one another. Do you have the confidence in how you've acted on here to come out and say it to a stranger? Strangely I did not. I had this fear of how I may be percieved on this board compared to how I may be perceived in real life. Again, I stand behind what I say and I'm not such a flake as to have this online persona but on the other hand I know there have been times when I might have bit my tongue if it were a real life situation. Anyway, for those of you who took the time to read this, thanks. My name is Royce and I hope I get to fish with some of you in the future. My new Loop rod will not wait until June so you can count on seeing me hopelessly flogging your river this winter. Next time I'll introduce both of myselfs. Buddy who made the little fisher cry and ruined a little bit of heaven for his dad- think about what I've just said. I'd tell it to your face too.

I think I would have sat sonny i the truck and gone back and turned buddies 9'0 into a 4'6. Pretty disappointing, I don't think kids forget things like this quite so easily. I'm almost positive none of us were born with a fly rod in our hands. I was taught to fish from a boat with lures, bait, pickerel rigs, jigs....whatever was working. And also through the ice, always with bait, maggots on wire worm. As a teenager me and a buddy started to hit up mountain streams while camping with little spinners and it was during this time I started thinking about flyfishing. I'll admit since I started with flies I haven't touched my spin rod but for me I fish mostly dries and it's the act of casting a fly line and focusing intently on a dry floating down a river that really does it for me. It's like meditation really. I don't get the same feeling from a spin rod....although I was chucking huge bait into the fraser for sturgeon and let me tell you each set up has it's advantages. Good luck catching an 8 foot fish on dries. Anyway get your boy up into the hills for some cutts and some privacy next summer and he'll get over it.

Interesting topic. Had it been me I suppose I would leave it. On the other hand my old man is a land surveyor and spends a great deal of time on the road and I have seen him pull over and finish off animals that have been hit by cars. I worked with him for quite a few years after highschool and I've got to admit it was always a bit unnerving to watch but it made good sense to me. It never helped that it was usually an axe that did the job, but a decisive tool really. I'll never forget this story....the old man is cooking along somewhere up by slave lake and spots a small dark critter humping across the highway a bit too late. So being the guilty terminator he stops to get out and see if there's any business to take care of and he realizes it's a mink. I'm not sure if it died from the hit or not but at any rate he felt so bad he wrapped it in newspaper and brought it home. The thing wasn't mangled, just a bump on the head, so he decided he'd have it mounted. It was around this time of year and so he started hinting to my mom that he had gotten her a mink for x-mas. I was the only one in on the joke and it was quite good, mom kept gushing you did not. (for the record I don't think she would actually wear a fur). Finally the jig was up and I went running out to the shed to grab this stiff wad of newspaper, she was not as amused surprisingly. He did have it mounted and it was a fine specimen really until one of their little bastard dogs decided to have a go at it. He's since picked up a lynx he spotted dead in a ditch and had it done too. This mount is tremendous, taxidermist did a great job, and it is kept up where dogs can't get it. I know it's a little off topic but it raises an interesting question. Hitting or coming across a critter that has been hit on the road is a little different than finding one in nature dying but if it is at your own hands that the critter is suffering what do you do. By the rules if it's a no kill zone or out of season you let it die, seems cruel in a way. If I hit a deer or something I'm not sure if I could just leave it to suffer in the ditch, obviously you don't want to go walking up to a wounded animal and most people don't have the means to deliver a fatal blow to a large animal but it actually makes me sad to think of how often this happens. It ties in with the coyote thread, it took them how long to actually check the front of your car? Nuts. Recently I spotted an RCMP on the side of the highway pulled in behind a vehicle and as I got closer I noticed that there was a really nice moose about 100yrds behind them still steaming in the ditch, buddies car was a mess and him and the officer were standing there talking and the cop had a shot gun under his arm. Seems pretty clear what happened. Usually I think they call F&W but I suppose if it's considered a hazard on the highway it needs to be taken care of. Anyway, not always cut and dry to me.

Saw this kid at the Edmonton folk fest a few years back, really talented. Nice find.

I don't imagine you'll be seeing him around any highways in the future.

Right on Rick, always enjoy your posts. Cheers.

McDonalds is just as bad if not worse. From there you see the entire bags filled with debris in the ditches. I don't do fast food or drive through as a rule. On the rare occasion I do it's never Mc's, I'll admit I've eaten my fair share of it in the past and I'm just over it. As far as Timmies coffee I've never liked it. Really, and I'm not trying to offend anyone, but frequenting these types of places breed laziness and waste. I think Tim Hurtens is the perfect model for what is going horribly wrong in our society. I know it's the tip of the ice berg but I would expect more from a beloved Canadian company. On the other hand they seem to be doing some good by only hiring the slow and dim. Underprivileged people need jobs too. Sorry I know that was uncalled for but my position against Tim Hurtens is pretty firm, if for no other reason than it takes something a lot more than bad coffee and oil byproducts to make me wait in line.

Yep at timmies you can count on the coffee consistently being burnt, and also as hot as molten lava. I think they actually melt down tires to make their brew so they may actually be helping the environment. I would not drink tims coffee if it were served to me in bed by scantily clad women. It's McTimmies as far as I'm concerned although rottens has better coffee no doubt. For the record I don't do starbucks either, I'm the kind of coffee snob who grinds and brews in a press to very precise standards. I will drink other coffee to be polite or show gratitude but that's it. As far as the litter, well take your pick from the long list of crap timmies is contributing to. The drive through line ups with 50 000 vehicles idling away at any given time. Think of how many cars there are at any given moment waiting in a tims drive through at every location across Canada. A lot and a lot of cups and little donut boxes and the little paper that covers the little donuts. I refuse to support them.

Sweet avatar. Didn't Dedalus have a cat? Maybe I'm thinking Gargamel. I may be slightly biased, not exactly a cat lover myself, my ex had one and I doubt I would ever let a cat in my house again. I think they smell quite badly and am not down with mining for cat turd in the least. As far as the shifty landlord I would take it as a sign not to rent from her plain and simple. In that situation if something fishy comes up right off the hop run. She'll take your 1500$ deposit just fine, but getting it back may be tough no matter how clean you leave the place.

Well I'm a carpenter and while it's not exactly a hobby for me most of the time I have been finding ways of tying it all together. I enjoy timber framing and other assorted heavy carpentry projects which mostly occur in quite the same places as flyfishing or snowboarding or hiking. I have been gaining the ability of doing working adventures, subsidizing my fun time so to speak. I'm into outdoor backcountry pursuits and cabins play into this really nicely. I know some folks with a fly in ski lodge and they have annual work retreats in exchange for some powder later in the season. I know a fellow with a lot of land and a great cabin up settlers road on the kootenay which is a perpetual project and always allows for some top notch bush time. It's kind of a neat life being able to take my work with me on adventures, good thing too because at this rate I'll still be givin'er when I'm 70 . Sometimes the balance leans heavy to one side, but who could resist midweek fishing? Or powder on Wed? I also love to eat.

all my flies are hookless, I'm only in it for the strike.

paint ball, and everyone has got to sport their handle on both front and back in bright letters.

Funniest post in a while and also you misspelled forward and else s. woohoooooo it's only Nov.

yeah.

Save a cow, eat a vegetarian.

This is most certainly a question for wolfie, being that he is clearly enlightened beyond anything us mere mortals can comprehend. As far as harnessing the "energy" ourselves.....we do -that's how we are alive. When we die it moves on or maybe not.........very very scary moooohahahaha. (remember count flloyd)

Weedy, unscientific; You both pose some very good points and as I mentioned before there are some solid points here to suggest getting the shot is the right thing to do or rather not getting it is selfish. However I don't think either of you can deny that due to the recent media hayday a large portion of the population will be running for the hospital at the first sign of a sore throat which is a big no no. Right? Fact is that the majority of folks who come down with this will recover on their own. With that in mind if I do become ill and stay home to recover then I don't see how that makes me irresponsible. I understand how to you it makes no sense to take the risk and see it as being selfish. I seriously have very little contact with people, literally 10 or so people a day tops. I realize that I could potentially pick it up on a shopping cart handle or gas pump but lets not get too paranoid here. I'm careful what I touch especially my face and wash my hands a lot. I haven't said I'm against the shot outright, so far I just decided not to get it. At least not until the panic has subsided and there is no longer day long line ups. However after going through this thread again I may have a change of heart. My girlfriend lives in Canmore and works in Banff and has been struggling with the same dilemma. She works at the Banff center and it's a 50/50 split there. It may be tipping to the yes side as it has recently come out that there has been a few reported cases in the valley- smaller pop. higher odds. Having said that I'm headed down there today until wed. and if there is a clinic set up there we may go down and be done with it, line ups are sure to be a little less daunting. For the time being I am adamantly against waiting in line with hundreds of potentially sick people to get my shot so I don't get the flu....it doesn't add up to me. Again once the panic subsides and I can just walk in and get the shot it will be much easier for me to stomach. I appreciate everyone offering their comment and information, I hope this thread has done some good as far as making people look at the cost their decisions may have. I'm not trying to be naive or ignorant or even rebbelious but have just been looking at the facts and made my choices based on that. I don't intend to piss anyone off or be flippant about the whole thing as I understant this is potentially very serious but mass hysteria is not going to solve anything and in fact in my mind may only make matters worse. Unscientific- I mean this as a light hearted joke but considering the threads this summer concerning over crowding on our rivers would it not be for the best if we got thinned out a little? No one here is going to argue that point.

Well some irresponsible morons have done some research and some of the studies have shown that there may be acute severe side effects from the vaccine immediately. A previous post lists a few of the toxic ingredients of these vaccinations and that is in the short term.....long term, well I guess we'll find out down the road. Cancer is pretty popular these days, no real good explanation for that I suppose. Something in the air I guess. I'm not pregnant, or a small child, no chronic conditions,not a senior, not a healthcare provider, don't really work in "public", no kids. I think (couldn't really call it a "feeling") that repeated vaccinations are more harmful than a moderate risk of a moderate flu from time to time. Not everyone who comes down with this flu is dropping dead but there is this perceived danger because the media is having a bloody field day with this. A person who gets the flu and feels like *hit so took a week off work to get better is not exactly good news now is it? When healthcare professionals are refusing to have the shot themselves it makes me question whether it is something I want to do. Again, I may eat my words and then I'll have gotten what I bargained for but so be it. If I get sick I will stay home, I can, I'm my own boss. Besides telling me more about this notion that the shot will make me and the rest of my community "safe",lay down some facts why I should get it.

No offense and I may just be naive but is the shot not supposed to prevent you from getting sick? So no I don't get it, but on that note yes, if I get the flu I will stay home instead of waiting in line with the herd at the hospital and if my decision turns out to be a bad one then I guess I got what I bargained for. I've seriously considered the pros and cons of getting this vacc. and I've decided not to get it at this point. I don't normally get seasonal flu shots and normally don't get the flu. I had all the vacc. in school when I was a kid and never got polio or small pox, I never got bird flu either despite never having been vaccinated for that. Personally I feel I am at low risk, I work outside primarily and work directly with only one other person, so I feel my low level of human contact puts me at lower risk. I'm healthy for the most part and have a regular vitamin routine as well as regular chiro. and for the most part I get only occasional cold symptoms usually more to do with my sinuses (dust is my greatest enemy). I tend not to frequent places with large crowds of people and have very little exposure to kids. These factors and the fact that there is a great percentage of the population who needs this shot more than me is what I've based my decision on. Add to the list that there is not currently enough doses to go around and my decision gets that much easier. Even had I decided to get the shot I sure as hell wouldn't be hanging out with hundreds of people at the peak of flu season for hours on end this week.... it's nuts. There is lots of good information in this thread but there is not one shred of info to suggest that vaccines are actually good for you or even non harmful. Fact is there is some nasty *hit in these vaccines and I feel getting them year after year is really bad for us in the long run and that ultimately when the time comes where this is for real people who have continuously pounded their bodies with these series of shots will be worse off. Less receptive to vaccines if you will. The flus will continue to mutate and change and there will always be some danger of things getting out of hand but I think when that time comes there will be noting we can do. H1N1 as a flu goes is not exactly severe, it's serious but most people who contract it are recovering on their own by following the common steps to beating a flu- rest. STAYING HOME. 12 confirmed H1N1 deaths in AB so far, I may be cold but the number hardly seems extreme to me. I'm pretty sure my girlfriend had it and she did go see her doctor because she was showing some solid symptoms in my opinion, harsh relentless cough, trouble breathing, sore and achy, dizzy and out of it. Doc says no swine flu just a respiratory infection/chest cold, gives her steroid puffer and sends her home and to come back if it doesn't help to go ahead with a more aggressive antibiotic. She's fine now. Any chance she could have been misdiagnosed? I'm no expert or a scientist or know any health professionals personally or even any secondary health personnel or even a good hypochondriac and moreover may just be irresponsible and stupid but I'm going to wait it out and see what happens. And with all due respect to those of you who are so caught up in the media hype and studies done and research carried out- don't worry if I ever run into you on the river I won't expect you to shake my hand. Bring on the broccoli flu. OOOOhhhhh maybe west nile or hanta will make a big comeback, throw in some avian and we got a real pandemic party. I'm not trying to make light of this but honestly there has not been sufficient evidence provided that tells me this is something I really must do.

This is what makes me laugh, amid all the hysteria and panic everyone rushes to go hang out with a thousand people coughing and breathing on you. #1 place to contract the virus is in the lineup for the vacc. in my opinion. Dummies.

I'm no pro plumber although I have a good amount of toilet experience, don't cheap out. That is all there is to say about it, a good value priced toilet is an oxymoron. How well it works depends on shape and design as much as the flow. There are some very good low flow toilets out there, most of them have a small or big flush option but again spend the money. Or you can just keep the ole brush handy, you'll need it.

Did anyone else get the phone survey pertaining to this? I normally don't do phone surveys and not sure what convinced me to do this one but it was basically a feeler for who would get vaccinated and why. A lot of questions pertaining to family income and age, as well as reasons one may or may not get the shot. I found it a tad odd.

I think you summed it up Taco, not to condone speeding or even try to justify it but there is a time and a place. The majority of the streets here would be 60kmh and people regularly drive70-75 going from light to light keeping pace with every one driving with the flow. It's out of hand. They nailed on average 50 people an hour, say they had 10 traps set up around the city that means each one got 5 speeders an hour. The numbers start to seem modest when you look at it that way. This is a huge problem.