danhunt

I've owned Seatux and if you want neos I'd highly recommend them.

As has already been mentioned, you could have some bad tippet material. I had that happen when I bought some RIO material from a store that was blowing out some old stock, and it sounds like the same sort of thing you are describing. If it's only happening when you are nymphing and not fishing dries then it could also be simple abrasion. I use maxima for nymphing and SA or climax for dryfly and still water for that reason.

Great report, thanks!

As I read the article in Clive's original post, I don't believe that the intent is to say that a person can't make a hole in the ice. I think the intent is that you can't make a large hole that would be a siginficant hazard for other people on the ice without adequately warning them of the danger and taking reasonable precautions to prevent someone from accidentally falling through. I think something like a double log boom around the aerator with some of that bright orange snow fencing on it would be enough of a visual warning and barrier to cover the ACA's proverbial backside. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's my $0.02...

Perhaps this is obvious and I'm just thicker than two short planks, but what exactly is the issue here? What is in the material from the tailings and how is it going to affect the stream? I can see some dark sediment in the slower areas, but compared to some other waters I've fished it still looks pretty good on the surface.

I'm very sorry to hear it, BF my thoughts are with you and your family. Stay strong and keep the faith!

I get what you are saying BurningChrome, but you’re talking pollution and I think what most people are taking exception to is the habitat damage/disruption caused by tires churning up the river bottom. If pollution is the issue we should talk stormwater management.

Ranger, I’m not sure if this is what you mean, but you might consider a skagit or scandi style line with a head length that is about 3 times the length of the rod (give or take) as opposed to a more “traditional” spey line with a longer head. If you’re sharing a boat with guys using single handers then chances are the rower is going to position the boat accordingly, which means you’re probably going to have a hard time getting the entire head of a spey line out there to load the rod properly. Otherwise, it shouldn’t be too bad because the boat is moving at a speed that is similar to the water, which would be more like practice casting on a pond. The worst case scenario would be if the boat was stopped, which isn’t bad at all because it would be the same as standing on the bank.

Thanks for the info!

Nice fish! X2 on zipping the vest pockets, I lost a box full of nymphs on Michelle Creek that way. Serves me right for nymphing on a cuttie stream... lol

Is it too early to start fishing the Red Deer for goldeye? I read somewhere that they start to run May/June-ish, but I don't know if dependant on water levels, temperature, all of the above, none of the above...? I'm looking for a family friendly fishery to take my kids out in the near future, and I thought this might fit the bill. Thanks!

HOW DARE YOU! lol, just kidding - I think your logic is sound. I've heard arguments against doing so, but water temps are low, disolved O2 levels should be good and you're a knowledgable angler who knows how to play and handle fish. I don't see any issues. Have fun and good luck!

I bought a set last season at Wholesale Sports.

All things being equal, the action of the rod should be a moot point when it comes to presenting a dry fly because, ideally, your cast should completely unfurl above the surface of the water and the only disturbance should be caused when the fly, leader and line fall vertically. I think the reason that most of us favor a medium to medium/fast rod for dry fly fishing is because they are somewhat more forgiving than the uber fast models, which gives us a better chance of making a decent cast and getting the presentation you're looking for. So, to answer your question, go with the one that you feel best suits your style and casting stroke.

Welcome, lots of good small stream fishing all up and down the east slopes. Most smaller mountain streams are going to have cutthroat, whites and bulls. Some will have rainbows and/or browns as well, and there are some brookie streams like Cataract Creek, but in a lot of waters the brookies are more or less an invasive species. As Uber mentioned, there is a special license that allows unlimited harvest of brookies, but it is not something you can purchase online or from a retailer and it applies to specific waters only. If it's something that interests you search the forum and you can find some more info on it. Also, the Hook and Hackle club in Calgary has regular meetings and might be a good place to meet some other anglers and get the skinny on whats happening out there.

Kudos to ERSD for hearing what anglers in Alberta want and responding to it, I just hope the majority of lakes they stock with them are managed as quality fisheries.

You make an interesting point - I don't think the blank was mis-labled in the factory, but for shnitz and giggles I looked up the CCS ERN and it works out to 7.90. Makes me wonder if the line ratings aren't "deflated" some to market them as having that uber-fast action.

I think one side of the coin is the modern (last 25 years, or so) tendency towards fast action rods. I have one that I assembled on a blank that I partially share a name with, it's a 5wt but I use it as my streamer rod with a 200 gr sink-tip because I can actually feel the SOB cast. Concurrently, I think there has been an improvement in materials and/or tapers that makes current graphite rods much more versatile in terms of the range of lines and flies they can cast. For example, I have an old 9.5' 6wt IMX that I still love to fish, but if I try and cast a heavy nymph rig with it I can feel the rod start to "colapse" in the butt section, and performance suffers. In contrast, I have an Amundson Midge (moderate action 8' 4wt) that can honestly cast a size 6 3xl cone head streamer as long as I open my loop a bit and pay attention to the timing.

Heimdallr, I tried to get a repair/replacement tip through them a couple of years ago and I was SOL. I'm going by memory so take this with a grain of salt, but I was told at the time if you are the original purchaser of the rod then they would look at doing some sort of exchange for the most current comperable model, but other than that there was nothing they could do. For what it is worth, you might want to take a look at the Multi series. I had both, and the AEG was my favorite until it broke, then I went with the Multi as my backup. I found a replacement AEG this year, and now it plays second fiddle to the Multi. The action is more moderate but I find that the casting performance is similar and the Multi is better at protecting light tippets, for me anyway. YMMV. The Multi is discontined as well, but there was an outfit in the States that was selling their remaining stock and they had a 9' 5wt 4pc for about $150 the last time I looked.

X4

Post of the year...

What Mark and Gary said - Use 30lb gel spun and fill that sucker.

Hi Cody, If you can find this kit it's a pretty good place to start from. http://www.flexcoat.com/products/equipment/small-business-start-up-kit/ I'd recommend this over spending the money on a power wrapper because, until you get the hang of it, the power wrapper will just let you make bigger mistakes faster. If you later want to upgrade I think there is a bigger market for entry level equipment, too. For turning cork you'll need a cork press (easily made),d a mini-lathe (or full sized, if you have it) and mandrels (search for "Andy Dear Mandrel").

Antlerless mulie in 214, and I 999'd the rest.

If you're mostly fishing AB stillwaters then you can probably leave the deep 7 on the shelf. The faster sinking lines have their place, but in my humble experience that place seems to be somewhere on the western side of the divide. The aqualux and the camolux are the same line but with a different finish, I'd go with the camolux because, if it's like it's Cortland predecessor, it would disappear better in tannin stained waters. A dryline is a given, but I'd skip the RIO and look for something in an SA product. It pains me to say it, because for a long time I loved the RIO Grande and I had a hate on for "Scientific Tanglers", but over the last few years I've found they cast just as well as the RIO and they last twice as long. The wildcard in the deck is the hover - I don't have one, but I've bumped in to quite a few situations where I've wanted one.