Smitty

A fine, balanced counter-argument. Completely agree. Smitty

That's my home region. They'll definitely be on terrestrials. Ants, beetles, Hoppers. Add Royal Wulffs, Tom Thumbs, EHC, and parachute Adams, and you're set. Smitty

Oh, I only wish. The gentleman from Howard's Hackle said in the paper it 'only' took him 25-30 years to get the breeding done right to get the desired quality for hackle. Though, I'm sure you could be collecting eggs sooner than that... Smitty

Hi Everyone: Just seeking some advice on cameras. After 10 years my Pentax Optio Wr-33 finally died. It was a great camera. Lucky me, my father has generously donated Air Miles to get a new camera for the both of us. He has points he never uses, so we figured what the heck. So my choices are limited to the following models, any opinions are gladly welcomed in helping me with my decision: (I do want a tough outdoors camera, hence the choices are models that are shock, water, freeze, and dust-proof…): 1. Sony DSCTX10 2. Fujifilm FinePix XP20 3. Canon D10 4. Olympus Stylus Tough 8010 I have searched the forums, but I thought I’d get some advice based on these models only. Thoughts? Comments? Cheers! Mike P.S. I know some of you have the Canon D10, but I was wondering how that model stacks up against the other 3...

I hear Dale Hawerchuk is available, and he's supposed to be awesome... Smitty

Well I disagree whatiniceguy. First, my point has nothing to do with who is officially being blamed. Its irrelevant to me what the police chief says. That's not my point at all. I do blame some fans, anarchists or not. My point is that I think similar stuff would happen in Edmonton and Calgary if our cities were comparable in size to Vancouver with the attendant diversity in population. Lets see what happens next time Toronto or Montreal loses a game 7...(could be waiting awhile!) Vancouver is a world class city that was clearly demonstrated during the Olympics, and, more specifically to this issue, to the thousands of people that showed up the next day to clean up and feel the shame of those idiots. Smitty

Guys: Vancouver does not have a monopoly in hooliganism. Edmonton had douchebags in 2006, Calgary in 2004 (don't get in a huff; I recognize that the Calgary fans didn't do the same extent of damage; but then again, Calgary is not the same size of city as Vancouver). I think every NHL city in Canada would have had a negative reaction. Vancouver, Montreal, and Toronto the most negative, because they have the highest populations. This is not a Vancouver sucks thing. Its a "there's a small minority of thugs in every city willing to cause s&*t" kinda thing. Smitty

Love the uni/duncan loop knot. But it is a slip knot. Unless...you threw in the overhand knot first...interesting how I just thought of that... Smitty

I too have started using the non-slip loop knot. I found two keys to keeping the loop small: 1) Have it small to begin with as you pass the line through the eye and back through the overhand knot. 2) Even more so, when tightening, try just pulling on the tag end. I find pulling on the standing line, increases loop size. Smitty P.S. Phil Rowley has said on a couple of occasions that he doesn't think a big loop size affects whether the fish will bite or not. So I probably wouldn't get overly concerned about it.

Sorry Jim, another question: How long does the "season" last for Quirk creek? Will you be having outings in September-October (when school starts up again?) Mike

Glad to get the discussion back on track, lol. To those of you are new to flyfishing and asking the same questions as Matt in regards to spring creeks, that sentence was written perfectly. The adjectives "delicate" and "unprotected" are exactly the point I was making. Thanks SilverDoctor! Cheers, Smitty

Short answer: yes. Qualified answer: Daughter gets to take highly trained and skilled attack doberman that only responds to her voice commands on said date. (Don't take offense Matt, same would go for all guys...) Smitty

MattH: Spring creeks, generally speaking, are few and far between in this province. Most streams are freestone, and/or rise out of muskeg bogs in the foothills via runoff, glaciers, snowmelt, etc. Point is, most guys guard their "secret" spring creek spots more closely than their firstborn. How about some books? -if you can find them-: 1. Trout Streams of Alberta, by Jim Mclennan 2. Due North of Montana, by Chris Dawson 3. Alberta's Trout Highway, by Barry Mitchell Also, did you try using the search feature in this forum. Why not give that a go? Finally, how about one of the most famous spring creeks in the entire province; Stauffer, aka North Raven river. Try that one. Not the most realistic question, in my opinion, when asking for spring creek spots, in terms of getting straight answers. Just sayin'... Cheers, Smitty

Jim: Any age restrictions? Years ago when I lived in Calgary, I took kids out to Quirk Creek - Dean Baeyens was helping coordinate this project. He remembers me and the kids well, he fell into the creek demonstrating the proven fish catching techniques! lol Anyways, its unlikely I can pull something this year with so little time left, but this fall and next spring something could be organized. But, its a bit of an undertaking now that I live in Edmonton, so I would need to know first if kids can (i) still participate in Quirk creek, and (ii) get one of these licenses - or would they have to wait until they are 16? The kids in the group I have here in Edmonton range from 11 to 15 (grade 6 to grade 9). This project has always proven to be an excellent, real-life example of the science curriculum when the kids study ecosystems, bio-diversity, etc. I look forward to your - or anyone else who is in the know - reply. Cheers, Smitty P.S. I am really more interested in the Quirk creek project. Almost all the kids would probably never use their licenses, but it never hurts to ask...

What are the dimensions of the sheets?

Might be able to do it the next month for ya - I'll let you know. What a great offer! Thanks! Stay tuned, Smitty P.S. So how come you can't get this stuff from Cowtown?

Twins better get their act together. Don't think they can beat either Boston or Tampa Bay without them stepping up their game about 4 notches. And that's a big assumption on my part - that they would even beat the Sharks or Red Wings... Smitty

Well, cross my fingers yes. I used to take kids horseback riding up in the Ram range. Now I hope I can just get them on the community lake and do some overnight car camping trips. So the answer is maybe...I spoke to someone downtown, very helpful, she pointed me in the right direction in terms of paperwork. One set of paperwork for activities deemed "low risk" versus "high risk". Until I mentioned the lake and boat, they were fine with me filling out the stream fishing and sliding it under low risk. But I mentioned the word boat and now its high risk (= more extensive paperwork). I don't care how much paperwork is involved. Some of the best times I ever had as a teacher - or flyfishing - was showing jr high kids how to catch cutts/grayling/athabows out of the small creeks. Smitty

Well I have considered that Tungsten, in fact, I mulled that over in my head a few times. The reason I wanted to stick with the standard leader length is that I wanted to closely mimic actual casting conditions. Perhaps it really doesn't make that much of a difference...I have taught kids before using a regualr 9' leader. Would still appreciate comments on leader formula, because when I actually take the kids out fishing, I was thinking of just using my own pre-tied leaders. The waters I fish near Hinton are not that algae stained, and the fish aren't that fussy, so I'm definitely not worried about any of the standard concerns regarding knotted leaders. Any further thoughts on the questions I posed? Smitty P.S. The tarp idea is great; thanks for the idea!

That's great everyone. I appreciate it. For most of you in Calgary, you don't have to bear the shipping costs; I'm in Calgary often enough to come and pick stuff up. Or, if Rickr is coming to Edmonchuk later this month, we may arrange for stuff to be dropped off at his house. Mike

Hi Everyone: Further to my last post, I would gladly accept any donations of used flyfishing equipment, namely rods, reels, lines, waders and boots (especially smaller/ladies/kids sizes) etc. This equipment would go a long way in assisting me to teach the kids in the flyfishing club. Now that is a lot to ask, so I could pay for these items if you're willing to give a kid-friendly discount. I am trying to get some fund-raising going, including setting something up formally on a non-profit entity type of organization. Thanks with deep gratitude in advance, Smitty

HI Everyone: So since returning to the teaching profession a year ago, I have decided to revive something I used to do with great passion. I have re-started my flyfishing club. First meeting was this past Wed. lunch. Had about 12 kids show up. So I am going to teach them to cast out on the field at lunch recess. And it occurred to me - finally!- that an easy solution to save burning up (with snaps, whips, and wind knots) good, expensive, knotless leaders, well heck! I should just tie my own knotted leaders for grass practice. So I have read that a standard formula would be 60%butt - 20% taper - 20% tippet. So questions: 1) Is the 60-20-20 formula about right? 2) Would you adjust it for beginners? 3) What would that translate in term of pound test? Something like - using a 10 foot leader - about 6 feet of, say, 30lb test, 2 feet of 12 lb test, 2 feet of 6lb test? I will google this...but there are lots of smart people here in the know probably with practical experience as opposed to just theory. Thoughts? Smitty

And I predicted to my buddies Luongo would get a shutout. Darn near! Way to pull it out Vancouver. Its not unusual for strong teams that survive a first round scare to actually go on and win the whole shebang...just sayin'. Smitty

Going to throw my support for Vancouver, but I'd really like any Canadian team to bring back the Cup to Canada. If its the Habs, I'll just hold my nose and shut my eyes... So far, good start. Is this Luongo's year? Smitty

Hey PGK, pull your own head out of your ass. Or read the posts. I already volunteered to help. Plus, I already agree with you about funding first. You're in favor of volunteering to be taxed/and/or "fee-ed" to death. I think the gov't needs to understand they need to cough up more dough in the first place. Then I'll happily vounteer to be charged more. Or maybe accomplish more at the same time. Whatever. But funding is the bottom line. Don't want this to turn ugly, but I already do alot; just don't trumpet it on the boards. Smitty P.S. And the more correct statement would be, we keep missing each others points. Fair enough.