monger

Very cool ancient fish

https://www.thestar.com/calgary/2019/10/14/albertas-official-fish-is-listed-as-threatened-heres-why-the-rest-of-the-bull-trouts-ecosystem-is-in-jeopardy.html This has now become a Federal issue. I imagine soon there will no longer be any angling for these cool predators in the southern streams as seen in Montana. Since people can't seem to stop/limit themselves, the government will have to set some regulation boundaries. They have dragged their feet long enough with protection....let's see some new regs!

Walton, I absolutely have wax on the ferrules....only way to keep them together (maybe tape is next like a spey rod). No other rods I own are as loose as the BVKs

I have a BVK 6 and 8wt. I like the action of the rods, but the ferrules don't stay together very well. The components are pretty light weight, but acceptable. There is a reason the rods are cheaper than the high end rods

eotr I am glad to hear you had a good year. As I only fished dries 95% of the time after the first week of July, my sampling technique is from a pretty narrow set of fish. I think with the increase in angler numbers the fish are getting more educated and perhaps they will be selecting smaller, sub-surface flies more in the future. The hopper fishing this year was great fun and think a lot of people enjoyed that. I am curious about your catch rates. Do you think on average you caught over 20 fish per day that were over 15 inches?

My observations for the year: Numbers of fish is probably at an all time low. I saw very few small fish this year upstream of the Highwood. The condition factor of the rainbows was improved from last year when they were extremely thin. Many of the rainbows are still not as heavy as they should be. The amount of good, clean gravel/cobble that provides quality invertebrate habitat has been vastly decreased due to the amount of sediment added to the river from bank destabilization post-flood. There is a huge amount of sediment that is continually been added from disturbed banks and we are presently 6 years after the big flood. The amount of hooking injuries and fish with no maxillae is getting very significant. A single hook rule should be added. The spinning rod crowd can still get fish with single hooks like the folks in BC I think it is time for a limit to be set for "guide days". The amount of "professional" boats on the river is huge and the fish are not an unlimited resource. The "professionals", with their continuous presence and higher skill sets are probably facilitating the greatest amount of fish handling (acceptable or poor depending on the boat). The amount of pharmaceuticals and run-off chemicals entering the river continues to grow with the population of the cities along the river. These chemicals are not removed by the sewage plants. The foreign chemicals are adding significant stressors to a system that is already under pressure. The populations of pelicans and cormorants continues to grow. I don't think this will ever be addressed, but they are a factor.

Perhaps Point Zero for Prussian Carp.....fish farm beside an irrigation ditch (water comes from Chestermere, then to weed lake....) just east of this intersection: Range Road 274A and 48 Ave NE (Township rd 250)

Get on Google Earth and you can see the roads. Fish should be making test redds already, be gentle

https://www.afga.org/public-release-of-third-party-science-review-of-ncntrp/?mc_cid=598aef4887&mc_eid=cdca993b67

That sounds awful and painful. Hope you recover to a level where the pain is manageable

Probably need some kind of inspection before entering the food chain....unless you are on the "colony"

Fish consuming folks are killing lots at Blood Indian Reservoir. Ignorant people will surely be moving them more. What a mess. There needs to be some HUGE fines imposed on folks who transport live fish

great fish!

Looks like they are lighter soon after molting. I guess you would have to see how they are joined together to ID sex. Sorry for the bad info

It's a complex world. At least he still likes fishing. God forbid he learns about bobbers and whitefish

Having one less boat flying by and mudding up the shoreline with a big wake sure wouldn't hurt my feelings

I have had good luck with Marine GOOP for attaching new felts. You can also drive in a couple off screws

Blue ones are the males

Flying up/down a small sidestream on plane, with the chance of running into an oncoming boat/tuber/pontoon/wader in close quarters is acceptable???? I am afraid we will have to disagree on that one. The chance for something to go really wrong is too great. Just because we CAN do some things doesn't mean we SHOULD

Jet boats in side streams better be ducking from incoming rocks

Caught them on damsels too. Pike fishing is all about being delicate

Pike on dryflies....stonefly. A whole new game

Good points. Sorry for loss. Hopefully another buddy will join you soon