Smitty

I've heard very mixed reviews for Pesca Maya. But I'll emphasize this is 2nd or 3rd hand information, no experience with them personally.

During late March early April? Mike

Well, for an Edmontonian like me, I look forward to the show every year. This year was no different, and I make it an entire weekend! The reason Murray didn't have time to go to many seminars is cause he let me go instead, lol (I promise to do more next Murray, promise!). It was great meeting people like RedBeard and Andy and renewing acquaintances like SilverDoc. We have no "real" flyshops here in Edmonton, so the show is a real treat for me. Sure, the same retailers and booths crop up, but that's fine by me. Got some smokin' deals on a rod (yay bonefish!) and wading boots, and ReelFlies had smokin' deals on flies as usual. I don't think there is any way I could have got the quantity of flies I did for my upcoming saltwater trip without their terrific pricing. So I thoroughly enjoyed myself, as usual. My only standing minor biffy beef is the price of the workshops; but that's because I am spoiled being from Edmonton; those guys at NFLT/TU know how to run a hell of a weekend seminar (next weekend! come on up) which gives you 2 days of seminar / mentorship for the price of one 2 hour workshop at the Expo. But that's the way it's been for years, so c'est la vie. Really enjoyed Tom R and Gary B; they both reminded me about the fun of the sport, and I have to say Gary in particular really stoked the fires of just challenging yourself - just for the sake of challenging yourself - to become a better caster. I'm thankful he spent 5 minutes with me to help me learn the puddle-mend cast. I'm really keen to become a better caster (especially if I am going to the salt). His knowledge of everything flyfishing - history, techniques, skills, etc, seems almost unparalleled, he's probably forgotten more than I'll ever know. And that's the best part - the people: here at FFC -thanks again Murray - , Jim M., the Yellowdog crew in Montana, all the flyshops are eager - eager I tell you - to help you out. So besides the presentations and workshops, I got A LOT of intel on where to go, and places to fish. And it's great just talking to people. It's a great community. And I'm thankful! Cheers, Smitty

Appreciate the suggestions, but I hear Florida has way more pressured fish and isn't necessarily kind to saltwater newbies. Doesn't the same hold for the Bahamas? I think Mexico and Belize are friendlier options, price and package wise. I'd love to go to Hawaii, but again, are there a lot of flats and options for the saltwater flyfisher? Both destinations have the major disadvantage of being US dollar places (yeah, I know Belize is too) and my feeling tells me that it would take a heck of a package to be price competitive on the flight+hotel+food+fishing to be competitive. And they generally don't do all-inclusives like Cuba and Mexico. Plus, no ruins... But the right priced Hawaii trip could be worth looking into... Cheers. Smitty

Thanks for the replies. I'm really interested in the salt, and somewhere warm, plus the Mayan ruins thing. Budget was trying to be around 5K CDN, but that's now pretty unrealistic for a trip like the hosted Fish Tales, or any lodge with daily guided fishing for 5 to 6 days. Cause you have to add a flight on top of that. So, more realistically, is to just find an all inclusive and meet my budget. SilverDoctor, sorry to hear. There's a lot of pain in Alberta right now. You know, you guys make a great point; as much as I desire to do the southern salt thing, this country has just so much to offer. It's just so vast, I don't have enough lifetimes to fish Canada, let alone do international fishing. Just gotta pick and choose. Now, let's not mistake ourselves, not much flyfishing to be had right now in the interior, and I'm getting familiar with the Island; does Terrace have good spring fishing late March? To be honest, I'm thinking of saving my great Canadian trip for the summer and do the Yukon thing. Anyways, I'm keen to try bonefish and tarpon. Permit too. So, gonna keep hammering away, maybe increase the budget, and figure out something. Thanks for the advice, keep it coming. Cheers, Mike

I know its a #firstworldproblem, but man, trying to get away for some sun, salt, and bonefish et al just sucks right now. The exchange is just super duper craptacular. Having to re-think my whole spring break trip, costs just keep piling up. I have guys at Slipstream Angling, YellowDog, and Fish Tales help me price out trips. Just keeps going up. And it sucks, I tell you it sucks, to be a travelling solo angler!!! Anyways, just ranting aloud at the rotten state of Denmark. May have to just go with a Redtag vacation or Escapes all inlcusive flight+hotel+food, and then just on the side do my best at a DIY self-guided fishing option. Or hire a guide for just one or 2 days. Do you guys like Pesca Maya? I think between Cuba, Belize, and Mexico, Mexico is far and away the best bet for bang for your buck. Oh, and trying to get to Cuba from Edmonton or Belize is...trying, lol. Any thoughts or advice? Cheers in advance Smitty P.S. Hell maybe I should just go to the Island again; I am already set up for Steelhead from last year. And no exchange rate problems. I could also just drive to Montana; still a bad exchange rate, but lots of early spring specials for lodges, and no flying costs.

How the hell do you get to Cuba? Aside from practice, practice, practice? I am NOT paying Air Canada $1800! Looking at WestJet of course, but what the heck? Takes 2 days to get to Cuba? Not looking good in terms of matching the trip dates with my spring break with the available flights. Appreciate any suggestions... Should I just fly to Miami or Houston and take a flight from there? But the US doesn't fly to Cuba, right? Or did Obama's "let's normalize relations with Cuba" decree open things up? Should I fly to Mexico? Or just stick with Canadian Airlines... Cheers, Smitty

I have the Amundson, it's been ok. I find it difficult to pull apart after a day's fishing. Any suggestions? Smitty

Hey guys: I notice that Fish Tales is offering trips to Cuba, and one of the dates works perfect for spring break. So I'm considering the trip, anyone have any comments about this hosted trip with Terry? Naturally, one of the things giving me pause is our weak dollar, not much I can do about that though. Also, after doing a fair amount of research, I have decided upon an 8 and 10 weight outfit for my saltwater fishing (bones, permit, baby tarpon, snook etc). Does anyone want to convince me to change that? Say a 7 weight and 10? 8 and 11? Any advice is muchly appreciated! Mike

Just got back from a ski trip to Revelstoke BC. Is there, generally speaking, decent fishing near Revelstoke, or along hwy 1 (Revelstoke Park, Glacier Park, Field etc) worth exploring. Goes without saying that I'm not trying to phish your best spots. Just wondering if it's worth the effort. My impression is that it would be typical high alpine, relatively infertile, coldwater habitat. Fish can be found, but they aren't terribly numerous or big. That impression formed by Backroads Mapbooks publication. The Columbia looks interesting; it actually resembles a river for a few km's between massively long lakes. Anyways, just kicking some tires here.

Next time just buy duck breasts with the fat cap left on and try this: http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipe/seared-duck-breast-with-roasted-plums-and-celeriac/8480/ I didn't like duck till I did that recipe. The plums are nice, you can swap the celeriac for another starch or tuber if you like. The real key to this is don't overcook duck!

Thanks so much everyone! Based on recommendations here and elsewhere, I have decided to purchase Nokian Hakkapeliittas R2's...(non-studded) Cheers!

Got a new Chevy Colorado this past July. Would like to buy some winter tires. Anyone got recommendations of brand and model? How about places to buy (Costco vs a Kal Tire vs a Fountain Tire). Does anyone like studded tires. One friends sings their praises. I'm located in Edmonton, if you're recommending a tire shop. Thanks! Mike

Winston, permit me an aside; You ask who Taco is? And yet, I've asked you the same question a couple of times, yet you choose to remain anonymous. Interesting. Mike

Not about "not getting baseball", its about not getting the whole "epicness" of that inning. Emotions ran high, simple as that. I can't know for certain, but I'm willing to bet all the change in my pocket against anyone else's that that inning was one of the most emotional innings of baseball ever played in the MLB, in terms of pendulum swings. I would not expect those players from either sides to react like pulse-less zombies. Oh, and I call BS on the Rangers. I'm sure if the positions were reversed, one of their batters / players would have celebrated...exuberantly.

Just like when Fleury scored on the Messier turnover in game 6 years ago, and slid on his knees halfway down Rexall. Passionate, or bush league arrogance? Oh, fun fact; Tikkanen scored 3 in game 7 at the Saddledome to win the series. I was fine with with the bat flip; anyone who has a problem with it clearly doesn't "get" the tension, the drama, and the high running emotions of a 53 minute inning. Oh, and I think the baseball Gods were fine with it; why else would have there have been a staggering 3 consecutive errors by Ranger fielders?

Lot's of guys work in the oil and gas industry here. I'd like to know what I'm talking about (or at least pretend to) when it comes to something like royalty revenue in this province. So I've copied and pasted this -yes, from Facebook, of all places- and just looking for comments. Essentially, the post is divided into 2 parts; (1) a factual description of royalties work and (2) commentary on pipelines and ethical oil. So, commentary aside - just for the moment, cause I know how fun commentary is - are the facts in the 1st half of the post correct? I'm just trying to vet what he's saying. It sounds right to me, but I can't claim any expertise in this area. Feedback welcome. I'd really like to learn how the actual, factual nuts and bolts of this works. Here is the text: "I am writing this post in an attempt to inform & educate anyone who wants to understand the basics of how the Alberta government receives royalty money from Oil and Gas production in our province. I will also explain how Alberta has lost BILLIONS of dollars in royalties over the last 5 or so years (remember this is money that could have paid for new schools, healthcare, social programs, or “insert government funded program of your choice”). Lastly I will touch base on the impact this discussion has for all of Canada, and what we can ALL do about it. I will try to keep this high level, but provide enough detail to help understand the basics. So first – The Oil and Gas industry is divided into 3 main sectors: 1. UPSTREAM -Raw production from wells or open-pit mining. (this is the only area where Alberta gets paid a royalty) 2. MIDSTREAM -Transporting raw production or refined products – pipelines/trains/trucks/barge/storage tanks, etc.. 3. DOWNSTREAM -Refining of hydrocarbons (Oil and Gas) in to end-use-products– gasoline, jet fuel, heating oil, lubricants, this list goes on and on. In regards to royalties – Alberta only receives a royalty on raw production that takes place in the Upstream Sector. This is because the majority of Oil and Gas reserves in Alberta (80%) are located on Crown-Land (the government and people of Alberta own the surface/mineral rights). We allow companies to invest money (billions) and establish their operations here to extract that Oil and Gas. We do however set a specific percentage (royalty) that companies must pay to us for every barrel of oil that is produced (I’m really just going to focus on Oilsands because that is where the majority of our Oil and Gas royalty money is generated from. We also receive royalties from natural gas, crude oil and liquids ). There are two basic formulas for Oilsands royalties: PRE PAYOUT - this is when a company has not yet recovered their initial investment. While the company is still working to make their money back on their startup costs, we charge a royalty between 1-9% of their gross revenue. This percentage is dependent on the price of oil (the higher the price of oil, the higher the percentage we take). POST PAYOUT – at this point the company has recovered their initial investment, so now we (Alberta) take between 25-40% of the company’s net profits. Again – this percentage is dependent on the price of oil. The higher the price of oil, the higher the royalty percentage we take. This is a VERY HIGH LEVEL explanation of royalties, but I hope it at least helps you to understand the basics about how we make money as a province from our Oil. To give you an idea – in 2014 and early 2015, Alberta was paid approx. 8.3 BILLION in royalty money (see link in comments for breakdown). That pays for a lot government funded services. Now – I mentioned that I would also explain how Alberta has lost BILLIONS in royalty revenue over the last 5 or so years. I think many of you will be very shocked to hear the following facts: Alberta oil production has been growing quite fast over the past 15 years. In the year 2000 we were producing approx. 600K barrels/day. Now in 2015 we are producing around 2.3 Million barrels /day. That’s almost a 400% increase in production! Unfortunately, while we have increased production, we have NOT built the infrastructure (pipelines) to help transport this increased production to end markets. I’ll try to provide an analogy to make my point: you know how at the end of the year when a clothing store has excess inventory, they throw a massive clear-out sale to get rid of their excess inventory? (They have too much inventory, so they sell it at a discount to get rid of it). This is essentially what is happening to Alberta Oil! We have more product than we can fit into pipelines, so we sell it at a significant discount to help get rid of it. The price discount applied is anywhere from 10-40%! Remember, we get paid a royalty based on gross revenue (pre-payout), or net profit (post payout). ALBERTA IS LOSING ROYALTY DOLLARS BECAUSE OUR OIL IS LANDLOCKED, CAUSING A DRAMATIC DISCOUNTED WHEN WE SELL IT! That 8.3 Billion in royalty revenue I quoted should have been substantially greater, but we sold our oil at a discount because we don’t have the infrastructure to ship it to end markets. I hope this makes sense how we have truly taken away money from ourselves by challenging pipelines (the safest method of transporting oil, a product we ALL use every single day). I don’t think that many people understand this. This discussion of royalties and pipelines has implications for ALL of Canada as well. If what I have mentioned above does not move you, I hope the following facts will: Canada has the 3rd largest oil reserves in the world, yet we DO NOT provide our entire Country with oil!! EASTERN CANADA IMPORTS MILLIONS OF BARRELS of Oil every year from countries like SAUDI ARABIA, NIGERIA, IRAQ, VENEZUELA, and ALGERIA. People claim to fight pipelines in Canada because they are protecting human rights and the environment. Yet we’re completely okay with importing oil from overseas countries that have atrocious human rights violations, and next to no environmental regulations compared to Canada……this is mind boggling and completely illogical. Again – I don’t think that many people understand this. By protesting pipelines (specifically Energy East), Canadians are saying they would rather import oil from countries with atrocious human rights violations, and little to no environmental regulations compared to Canada (taking away jobs from Canadians and losing additional income tax). And back to royalties – by protesting pipelines we are losing BILLIONS in royalty dollars, because we can’t ship our products to end markets, so we sell it at a discount (which lowers the royalty we receive). If you’re a true environmentalist and humanitarian, you would push to buy ONLY CANADIAN OIL! Canada’s Oil industry has some of the tightest environmental regulations in the world! We’re also a world leader in renewable energy (which many people don’t realize). Please support Canada today and tell our governments (Federally and Provincially) to approve pipelines…..OR.... YOU COULD CONTINUE TO SUPPORT FOREIGN OIL INTERESTS…..the choice is yours! Thanks for listening. Please like and share this post to help others understand the basics about this conversation. This topic has implications for all of Canada, regardless whether you work in the industry or not."

Wonder if Calgary Expo will invite Nile Creek back? Grapevine tell me there's another side to this story.

I'm going. Driving down from Edmonton on the 28th, coming home on the 29th. Anyone needing a ride from Edmonton, Red Deer, Calgary can pm me. You'll have to arrange your own accommodations.

I'm actually considering going. Long drive for me, but perhaps worth sending a message. I think just the mere presence of a dozen to 2 or 3 dozen concerned anglers would say something. Not there to start s**t of course, just a silent, watchful, pissed off group of guys just showing up would be a pretty strong message. Smitty

Well GLoomis offered me the same thing Orvis did on their rods. Offered me an upgrade to a better line of rods for cheap. So I did it. However, unlike Orvis, which let me switch line class and model, GLoomis offered me only one choice. So I'm going to try out the new GLX Streamdance rod, I'll see if I like it. I'm not terribly inclined to go with GLoomis again, I'll see how this goes. Meanwhile, I await a response from Orvis and Redington (yes, aside from an awesome summer of travelling and fishing, I have had rotten luck with rods the past 2 months). Mike

Jayhad, all due respect, but there's a significant difference between more access points on the Bow versus a multi-billion dollar project. I can't say for sure, but I would guess your council is similar to ours when I say, councillors did listen to very loud public concerns about the Edmonton deal, because it was a huge deal, one way or another. The public perceptions and views were taken into account. Politicians generally do respond when the volume of public input is pretty significant, as it was in our case on this issue.

Well I love John Oliver, he feeds my fix as Colbert and Stewart move on., Every single one of his main story editorials have been b.r.i.l.l.i.a.n.t. Having said that, it would seem unquestionably I am in the minority here. I haven't really looked at Calgary's funding model, so my official stance as far as the Calgary deal goes is ignorance. But I will admit - and have no problem doing so - my unabashed support of the Edmonton revitalization model. While, from the outset, a cursory, shallow analysis would make it seem Katz has made off with the taxpayer golden goose, I supported Edmonton's project for 2 basic reasons. One, the entire public good is served by the overall entirety of the whole project. This would include several office buildings and a new entertainment district. I think the everyone benefits from a revitalized, vibrant downtown. Secondly, I think taxpayers will (a prediction here) end up awash in black ink as tax revenues pour in over the coming decades. So my support is based on every John Q citizen benefiting, not just Oiler fans, millionaire players, and a billionaire owner. My position is one that certainly entails more risk; it would have been easier just to say a knee jerk no and stumble our way through a relatively bleak downtown with little vision or planning. So it's a roll of the dice; if the generated tax revenues don't pan out than it could blow up in our faces. I decided to separate - long ago - the emotion of the "rich guy getting richer" jealousy type argument. He's a businessman whose mandate is make profits and negotiate favorable business deals. As long as the taxpayer has some skin and the game and has a better than good chance (my analytical opinion) of doing well tax revenue wise, I really don't care if Katz's net worth goes from1 to 2 billion. It's about the future of our city (I'm talking Edmonton) and having leaders that have guts and vision. I'll also point out that as a (former) fine arts teacher that I had no problem with tax payer dollars building new museums and art galleries too (and new sports field and recreational complexes), despite the fact that not every citizen enjoys these buildings. Yes, I know that there is a significant difference in that museums and galleries are not privately owned, my point being if tax dollars simply plow roads, fix potholes and remove snow, at what point do you say, I want a livable city and the people who run it should have a sense of vision of the city's future. That's also why I voted for Mandel 3 to 4 times. If Edmonton was run by the likes of say, Sun columnist Lorne Gunter, we would have nice roads, some police and fire halls, little public transportation, and whole lot of bleak, concrete grayness, and no place to gather for people to have a night out for some entertainment and fun. So, I say all that without being entirely cognizant of the minute, nitty gritty details of the Calgary deal as outlined now. I guess I am gently encouraging Calgarians to identify the negative pitbulls on their city council and use them to be the skeptical hardball negotiators to squeeze everything they can out of the Flames ownership. I think - despite Oliver's excellent editorial - Edmonton and Calgary could be exceptions to the generalized rule of stadium deals, as long as their elected representatives do an excellent job of advocating for taxpayer interests. Despite my support of the deal in principle, during negotiations I was cheering on the most negative "nellys" of Edmonton city council because I knew ultimately they were the ones that could help get the best deal for everyone. You don't want cheerleaders during negotiations. No go ahead, "flame" away, if you'll pardon the pun. Smitty

I spoke to Doc, there's been an issue with the Web service / IT-forum provider and it appears the forum is gone and there's no backup to restore. Stay tuned.

I was just there. I only caught cutts. Doesn't the poison affect all fauna, including aquatic insects and plants? Not surprised by this move though. Lamar watershed has "must kill" regs on it for non-native fish.