dube

I'm going to say lynx. Tough call because it almost looks like it has a tail but on the other hand the head seems too round for a coyote. Would not be at all surprised if it were a lynx.

I know that last spot very well. The channel just after that run has changed from last year and there is two new pools!. I was there a few weeks ago and lucked out on an evening hatch. I got in to quite a few hogs from the bridge up and was surprised at the number of them in that short stretch. It was the least remote of the three stretches I fished that day and had the nicest fish. Great pics. I'm jealous.

Always an emotional time for any pet owner and for anyone else close to them. My condolences to your sis, I know a few times over how hard it can be.

I'm with you on the pil. Quality you can taste, says so right on the box. If I'm going to put fruit in my beer it's going to be tomato juice.

I'm a fan of the multicask finishes; Auchentoshan 3 wood is outstanding as is the 15 if you're into a more classic whiskey. I also love the Glenmorangie port finish. I would also second the Laphroaig quarter cask. There really are too many to pick from, it would be sad to be a bourbon drinker. I try to avoid buying the cheap stuff and make a point of enjoying every swill no matter if it comes from my glass or a flask. May have to have a pull right now.

Definitely stay on the strip.

wow sean you are a model of morality. It's pretty rich coming on here guns a blazing like you did; and on the topic of assholes opinions are just like them. I catch and release because I walk long distances along high country streams alone and would rather not have a piece of meat hanging from my shoulder in the hot summer sun. I'm also not going to drive for 4 hours to catch my two fish in the first hour and then turn around and go home. Were you not so new here you may have found out that most of us understand that this is a bloodsport and I personally have no delusions about how a fish may or may not feel about being caught and released. I accept that on some level I am torturing some fish for no other reason than to amuse myself but then again my fave river is strictly c&r and oddly I can count on catching the same fish every year. Anyway, congrats on catching fish and just putting them out of their godforsaken misery. On behalf of the eastslope trout population I would like to thank you for being such a kind and generous steward. sincerely, Royce.

I'm more of a wood guy but here's what I can tell you for what it's worth. There are some pretty great products around these days as far as high density toppings. Some are more traditional cement based products while others are more plastic resin type toppings. The major drawback to this type of stuff is cost because it is quite expensive but can produce some very good results. Most are designed to cover poorly finished flatwork or slabs that are just plain old and worn out. Most of it would be classified as decorative but is hard wearing stuff. I would certainly ask to see a portfolio or get addresses of past jobs to check out what kind of work they do as just like the original finishing that was done on your driveway this stuff could turn out just as bad. Concrete is a pain and you only get one shot so it's worth it to find a professional.

Southern Comfort for me as well. Was supposed to share with girlfriend at the time.....she was a slow drinker, me not so much. She drank enough to want to have a private party at the not so private party and I was subsequently wearing no clothes when the time came, turns out the jostling did me no good whatsoever. Made a dash for the bathroom only to find it occupied by an unconscious person who had the decency to lock the door before passing out so I made a deposit outside the bathroom door. They really need to change the name of that *hit to something more appropriate. Oh to be 17 again.

I love the first shot. The bank grass really seems to pop. How did that brown with the blue cheek get outta the bow?

I caught a really nice bull outta some pretty skinny water one afternoon and let out a massive "woooooohooooooo" right in it's face, not purposely, but once I had it in the net it just came out. I'm sure the fish was not impressed but I wondered after what their hearing is like and felt a little bad because had it been a person I did that to, like my girlfriend for example, she would really be not impressed and there would be some choice words. These days I just try to keep it to a fairly calm "niiiice fish" just in case, wouldn't want them to go deaf. True story. As far as flashes go, I couldn't speak about that. The sunglasses seem like a good idea .

I'm a lefty and am just old enough to have gone through people trying to make me use my right hand. My grandpa used to put the fork in my right hand and I would gladly hold onto that fork while I proceeded to eat with my left hand (mashed potatoes were tricky). My parents didn't care so I was ultimately "allowed" to be a lefty, although in school there were not a lot of us so it was always a fight for the very few pairs of green scissors. I cast left and reel right, although I will switch if I happen to have a tricky cast on the wrong side of the river. Having said that I swing a golf club or bat right. I'm a carpenter and can use both hands for most tasks including using a hammer, I guess I'm a bit of a weirdo .

8lbs, that's a sturdy lad! Congrats.

Maybe we'll hear of some stories where an otter chomps onto a hooked fish instead of a big bully. Good potential to take the fight on land adding a whole new dimension to landing a fish. .

This has been brought up in previous posts and relates to a few other current threads but I would recommend reading the "black grizzly of whiskey creek" by Sid Marty. It's a good read and is really quite sad. As most of us know wildlife management is tricky business and I wonder sometimes how we ever came to the conclusion that is was necessary considering nature had a way of managing itself long before we came on board. Nonetheless we are inexplicably part of that equation now and there is a fine line between keeping the public happy and safe and protecting the very basis of what makes our National parks exist in the first place. Clearly there is a lot of bureaucracy and bullshit to wade through while maintaining a park like Banff and decisions made may not always be popular or even helpful but it is up to us to want to preserve the essence of what these parks are actually about: which in my mind is keeping pieces of this huge country as natural as they had always been. These parks may be set up for our citizens to enjoy in it's most natural state but the very nature of that idea is based on ensuring it remains that way for all generations to come. Like Uber says we are decades too late but I'm not sure if we can ride that train of thought forever. It might piss us off when one of our favorite trails gets closed but I feel we need to look at the bigger picture and trust that it is in the best interest of our parks and ultimately of ourselves. Of course as individuals most of us have only the best intentions and do our best to tread lightly but when you consider the sheer volume of people visiting Banff every year it's glaringly obvious how huge of an impact we have. Of course, I'm a total hypocrite as I like to get out there take advantage of our wilderness as much as most of you but I also feel that we are an arrogant, obnoxious species and it's really ourselves that needs the management. There are many places to enjoy back country pursuits, or fishing/hunting, biking, boating and ultimately a place like Banff may be the only place where you will not find access roads spreading like cancer and well heads or cut blocks around every corner so if they want to actually cut back usage over add more to let a bear pick berries in peace I'm all for it. my 2 cents.

That's neat. I've seen ravens do something similar but it seemed to me they tuck the leading wing in more so it looks more like a barrel roll, can't recall if they got quite as upside down as these geese. Couldn't say whether it was windy or not either. I just assumed they were joyriding as senseless as that seems. I wonder if the concept is the same.

I would caution against givin' her a test on a calm day. With no wind you will essentially be standing right in the cloud, had a buddy once who wanted to see how it worked. It was very calm, gave it a little squirt and I instantly got a little whiff and turned and ran while my buddy stood there like a fool sniffing and he most certainly got the scent. He spent the next 45 min whining about how his eyes and throat were burning. I carry spray and flare pen with bangers. Not toatlly confident in my ability to draw either in the event of a charge. I will second the air horn idea, I have heard they can be quite effective, plus it is smaller than a can of spray.

I'm not sure if if you need to worry about your age just yet. Flat light powder conditions are difficult no matter how old you are. I remember a day at Louise a few years ago and it had snowed a lot the night before and was still coming down when we got there and visibility was the pits. We got into one of the bowls and you really couldn't see anything.... I guess you could see everything but it was all white so it was nothing to look at reference wise. So I pointed down and let her rip, I started off a bit fast and widened my turns out to check my speed. All of a sudden I just stopped and lost my balance and fell over, a tad dizzy. I stood up and gave a little nudge to get going and fell again, turns out I was pointing uphill. On one of my turns I held on too long and next thing you know I had done a complete horse shoe. All I could do was laugh, this had never happened to me before but I did find it quite amusing. We spent the rest of the day in the trees where you could see something and it helped. Don't lose hope yet Rick. I know plenty of guys pushing 60 who can still out ski most people. Maybe not 16 year old whippersnappers but they are a breed of their own, also have not tasted their own mortality yet.

I couldn't speak for these boots in particular but I do know that vibram has really expanded the soles they produce. Used to be that the only difference was the tread design and the rubber density was the same across the board. More recently they have started making sole for light hikers and shoes and these seem to be made of softer rubber. I've had several pairs of hiking boots with vibram soles and the boots will wear out long before the sole will but having said that the rubber is hard and can make them slick on cold wet surfaces. I would assume the soles on these boots are of the softer rubber and the tread looks similar to the design on some of the light hikers I mentioned. I would be interested to hear first hand experience about them. I'm in the market for new boots and am considering moving away from the felt as I easily spend as much time on the dirt as in the water when I fish.

How do you get your rod to float in front of you like that?

DrBullet, I would say that the adventure you speak of is about as Canadian as it gets. It's all about being on that thin line of having an epic adventure and having an utter disaster. It's not exactly wise to fly by the seat of your pants in backcountry situations but no matter how prepared you think you are getting humbled by nature is only ever one step away. Good story. I prefer to fish while I hike. I can only see myself doing any serious hiking to fish if it were to get above a set of falls or into a canyon. I'm not sure alpine lakes are my thing, and really prefer moving water. I also usually fish by myself and am not completely comfortable hiking 10km into the bush alone to start fishing and end up another 3-4km further, just to have to slog back out in the dark. If it were a couple guys and a super ultra secret spot I can see doing a long weekend trip where you hike a day in and fish for a day and out third day.

Mine would be a cutt on the Blackstone. There is a dynamite hole I found a few years ago, it is just after a mellow corner and along a good cliff bank. The water gets narrow through a boulder garden and has carved a really nice slot at the top of the pool where the big guys like to hang out. If you cast from the inside it's tough to get a good drift down the lane so I usually hobble along a rock ledge and fish the outside, you can cast straight up parallel with the current and dangle it by you and finish the drift to the tail of pool. I had caught 2 average cutts and was feeling pretty lucky because despite what some people might say the fishing on that river sucks don't ever go there . Anyway, I cast right at the top of the pool and got a good drift from top to bottom and nothing. More or less deciding to move on I cast again sort of carelessly letting it drift and had a bit of drag and instantly I got the most aggressive strike on a dry I've ever had. It scared the crap out of me and to be honest had it not hit the hook so hard I would of missed it for sure. So fish on an I actually recall cheering out loud a massive woohoo! Problem was that I was out on a rocky ledge 3 feet off the water and had to get back to the tail of the pool and into the water if I was to have any hope of landing this bugger. Doing so requires the use of at least one hand and making some brief visual contact as to where you are going. So I brought it in close to the rock and pulled the rod up pretty hard and went for the last step which was to be in the water and as I did the change in elevation put enough slack in the line that he spit the hook. I was shaking quite badly and cannot quite recall what I yelled out at that point but it was equally massive. If I had to wager a guess I'd say it was in the low 20's, very nice fish and really deep bodied, the kind you can barely get your mitt around. It was shame but I did have the moment of feeling like the fish got the best of me and was o.k with that. Again it was a "lucky day" and so rare on that river. There are virtually no fish there and plus the access is crap and the only way to get up to the gap is to hoof it from the camp ground. It's a really loooooooong hike for such poor fishing. Lot's of grizzlies too and no cell coverage. It sucks. The Ram system is much better, closer to Calgary too!

Rick, as for the yellow lights. I'm not so sure about Calgary but in Edmonton most of the major intersections have pedestrians timers so you can actually see precisely when it's going to turn. As I'm approaching I glance at the cross light and have on many occasions started braking before it goes yellow. I agree with the point about speeding not being the only way to cause an accident and I hate to start *hit but parents with a vehicle full of kids are some of the top offenders. Classic baby on board scenario and the person driving has got one hand on the wheel and is reaching into the back fussing with kids or unwrapping food. I love the women putting on make-up while in morning rush hour. I saw a kid today texting for about 30 blocks. I have seen people reading books on hwy 2 while driving. I'm not proud of some of my reckless behavior while driving and it's suddenly starting to don on me of the potential consequences of dangerous driving. It's an important time in a mans life when he starts to understand he may not be invincible or know everything. My main objective while driving is to create space for my self both in front and behind if possible. I would say the leading cause of accidents is following too close. My experimenting has led me to this conclusion. On hwy 2 specifically, there are 4 main categories of drivers. The clueless scared shitless ones. The do the speed limit no matter what group. The moderate speeders (who in most cases don't really consider themselves speeders) and the ridiculous speeders. The majority of traffic is doing around 115-120. If you drive too fast, say 130, you are constantly coming up on people and having to brake constantly. If you are doing the speed limit you are almost a hazard because people are piling up behind you getting frustrated and making reckless decisions. My theory is to do about 122, I'm staying ahead of the average traffic and out of the big packs of vehicles but am not moving between packs as often so I can nearly always make big open space for myself and can maintain a steady speed for longer periods. When I do go to pass someone I speed up so that I can pass quickly and avoid being in someones blind spot which is something I despise. At that speed the cops will not even look at me, I get passed by someone doing at least 150 every time I drive on that highway. Going back to my last post, my point being was that after trying different things such as excessive speeding and dickhead moves like the multi car pass on long swooping curves in B.C I have finally realized that driving like that will end up in me killing someone and when it really comes down to it is getting me where I'm going no sooner in any event. Pointless and dangerous. I have to call the girlfriend before I leave now and she gives me *hit if I show up too fast, in a lot of cases it takes having a kid to understand how precious life is so I'm fortunate to be getting it before I make a decisions I'm not ready to pay the consequences for. Whether it be from losing control and causing an accident or getting shot for giving someone the finger. Last time I drove back from Canmore the roads were crap and I drove between 80 -100 the entire way and did not take as long as I expected. I had tried different things with speeding but never with going below average as a reference. It got me to thinking. And like I said, driving in a relaxed moderate manner is so much easier on the nerves. I drive a lot and have taken years off my life getting stressed in traffic and am getting quite tired of it. I have been really lucky so far and don't wish to push my luck any further.

Well on behalf of my girlfriend that is just mean Dave. However, WTF? is right. Hopefully that is not a members girlfriend or wife. I mean, shes keeping real you know. Fricken representin' housewives yo!

I've been doing some unofficial research on speeding and the results have been surprising. Obviously speeding in the city will get you no further ahead whatsoever, you may make it through the extra green light or 2 by whipping through traffic but you will only be stopped at the next one. I have noted very few instances where I have made up any time by racing around the city, plus like birchy noted you are only increasing your risk of a collision. On the highway it can be tricky. I live in Edmonton and am dating a girl in Canmore so I am on the highway quite a bit and my findings are somewhat mixed. There is obviously a ratio of kms driven to speed, simply the farther you drive the more time you can make up by speeding. I can tell you that on highway 2 between Edmonton and Calgary you literally have to maintain a speed of at least 130km to make up any substantial amount of time. Otherwise the time gained is negligible, I would go as far to say that the the time you save by going 130 is taken off your actual life expectancy by ten times just by trying to get around the people doing 115kms. I went on a roadtrip with a buddy to the coast a few years back and we both drove as our itineraries differed slightly. He had his wife and made a fair dash for it with one break for lunch, I was howling and stopped only for gas. We left in tandem and in the end I beat him to Chiliwack (our first stop) by a solid hour. Our driving experience was drastically different though, I was beat and frazzled by all the tailgating, single lane passing and just all around stress from trying to get around all the RV's and trucks. In addition to that besides speeding I also broke many other traffic laws such as passing on a solid line as well as stupidity laws like passing 6 cars at a time at 150km/hr or taking chances on blind corners. Ultimately I'm not sure the hour I made was worth it, especially if you consider the added risk. They showed up relaxed and easy with a smile on their faces, I believe I was having a nap. So, due to my findings here is how I drive now. In the city I rarely speed, it's better for fuel economy and because of the army of cameras out there it's better for wallet economy as well. I find when I just go with the flow I get road rage far less often and arrive at my destination more or less at the same time. On the highway I do what I like to call dynamic driving (my girlfriend is not overly fond of this term or practice) but it involves speeding for certain instances. I find the big stress builder and time killer is being involved in the big peleton. When traffic is bunched up and you are driving behind a line of vehicles, even if they are going the same speed as you, will only slow you down. Inevitably the pack will reach slower moving traffic and then everyone has to cue up to pass which will always involve the use of brakes, especially if cruise control guy refuses to hit the gas to pass and does the leisurely take over at 112kms. So I will drive whatever speed necessary to get myself some space in between packs and then maintain a speed that will keep me out of traffic, when I get to slower traffic I give some gas and make quick work of the take over and then resume to my cruising speed of about 121kms. If someone comes past me at 140 I will sometimes pull out behind the and let them take me along past a pack or 2 before easing back. I have yet to get a radar ticket despite burning past a cruiser at 125, which I figure on highway 2 is the threshold. Door to door from downtown Edmonton to Canmore is 4 hours no matter how you slice it and even on the redeye trips where I really push it I've only ever been able to shave off 20 mins. which you could attribute to many other factors besides speeding. So there are my unofficial useless findings on speeding. I would say pound for pound it's not worth it. On an unrelated note I had always taken the detour through Airdrie and Cochrane based on hearsay that it saved up to 15 min. I am going on record to say it's utter caca. It should be said that I rarely am passing through Calgary at peak times but I go right up 16th and the time is exactly the same. 45 minutes from Airdrie to highway 1 via Cochrane and exactly the same to go into Calgary and through the 50 lights on 16th. Now if there were a pile up on the deerfoot I would likely eat my words but in the past 6 months that I've been doing this experiment the results have been the same every time. I weigh out the possibility of hitting an accident in Calgary against the slow ass sunday drivers, single lane mayhem of the "shortcut go around" and it's a no brainer for me. Not to mention the fact that the odds of there being radar somewhere around Cochrane at about 98% and those cops are not friendly folks from what I understand. The Calgary route also cuts down on the odds that you'll have the lovely 180km/hr headwind on the weird little weather belt between Airdrie and Cochrane. Anyone have any evidence to support or refute my findings?