jonny5

Heres a link to the murder that happened in 1999 of a BC couple. I remember it because I was passing through when it happened, and was shocked to hear how it ended with a couple of american kids being responsible. Again, a tragedy, and they sounded like a great pair of people, but don't think that everything bad that happens in mexico is because of the evil mexican bandido. BC local news On that note, if anyone is going on a road trip down the baja, get in touch with me, there were a few stops that I could recommend. For the most part, everyone I met there was awsome, even had some carollers come to my camper on christmas eve. haha.

Belize is a totally different situation. I would NEVER venture out of a hotel in belize city at night... thats just stooooopid... On the islands its way more relaxed but b.c. is a very racist (anti-whitie) violent city. As for the drug smugglers killed, well, thats just the business they are in.

A tragedy really. This could have been a troll, but....sundance fisher you should think before you write a racist post in a public forum... it speaks a lot of your attitude and understanding of people outside of suburban calgary. Anyways, there was a canadian couple killed in mexico (Baja) when I was there in 1999. Guess who did it? A couple of young americans. I guess that means that all americans have no respect for human life? As for the police there... well, they aren't great, but there are a lot of drugs passing though to the usa, so they have to be tough or risk getting slaughtered. Enjoy staying in calgary, I will keep going to mexico, its a paridise for bandidos and gringos alike. Jon

Hello fishers, just had a brilliant idea. Since I don't like fishing indicators, but like nymphing shallow water with light flies, anyone ever tie up a hopper on a tube fly? Never tied a tube fly, but I think it makes sense to use a hopper as an indicator, and if it gets hits, just put a hook on. anyhow, if someone has used it, or has pics I would like to hear your thoughts. Cheers, Jonny

Just came back from a bike ride, and am was please to see people cleaning up the city section of the bow, the nose creek, and the canal almost the whole way to chestermere! HUGE amount of cleaning getting done, don't know who they were, but they had logos from www.pitch-in.ca Good work to those hundreds of volunteers, whoever you are! Its nice that that stuff is off the banks before runoff. Jonny5

Its a true story, I was there.

Yep, 2 inches of sewage in the meat and fish department sounds pretty fawking gross! Not feeling so terribly great right now actually... must have been my lunch.

Excellent! Was expecting some one to say "FCP" haha, but probly will try TnT or the one on 16th

Hi fellow fishers, do any of you know a source of dried seaweed in calgary? Preferably pre-mixed but if not a few different varieties? mmm seaweed salad! Thanks J

I was thinking elbow river in the city... its an absolute mess some times. Should clean up nice with runnoff though, and then dirty up again with the rafters droping their empties in the river. Never found much trash on the mountain streams... at least where I have been. Tonnes of Sh!t on the elbow and bow... Or on second thought, fish creek itself? But I never fished it. I heard there aren't any fish in there And probably pretty clean considering a lot of it is in a park. Nose creek? Pulled a few weird items out of there a while back... Might be a nice project stream?

Is this going to coincide with rivers day? I have always done clean up in the city section on that day... But as mentioned another river might benefit from some clean up...

Is there no City fido plan in this city? 40$ a month unlimited use? I had that before I left vancovuer, and it was pretty sweet as I didn't bother having a land line. Check if it is still offered.

Rickr, your welcome? haha, not directing my comment at anyone in particular. My point is that most people I meet fishing are pretty much stand up people... sales or not... Cheers, El cinco roboto.

I tend to take the opinions of strangers with a grain of salt... But if someone has a product they REALLY endorse, it could be worth a look, ask around with trusted people that have experience ect... So if people are really marketing on the forum, let them. Disclose if they want to, and if they are sneaky or underhanded, reputation will eventually catch up with them. So far most of the big talkers here seem to be pretty upfront as far as I can tell... It ain't rocket surgery, it's just fishing! El cinco Here's a good question for you fishers stuck at home cause of the weather: What do you think of people selling rods off for a chunk of profit, that they get on guide discounts ect?

Heres a list from 2000 present. As follows: Date. Organization, Province, Amount, Type of grant. So of interest, yes they funded $10,000 to the grizzly bear society in 2002 and again in 2005, but also bow riverkeepers $10,000 in 2007, a population study for eastern slope bulls trout 2004 for $6429, Friends of fish creek $4000. If you miss eating grizzly steaks, then maybe MEC needs to butt out, if you like fishing, they are contributing quite a bit. Speaking of which, if Don Anderson is interested, he could apply to MEC for a grant to get that population studying and water quality monitoring equipment (since the federalez have not mann'd up for the bill)... You never know it might fly. Cheers, Jon -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2007 David Lavallee, Alan Bibby White Water, Black Gold AB 10000 2 2007 Miistakis Institute for the Rockies Road Watch in the Pass AB 10000 4 2007 Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley Sustainable Fundraising Development AB 23700 5 2007 Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative Strategic Communications for Public Engagement AB 25000 5 2007 Alberta Lake Management Society Alberta Water Quality Awareness Day AB 7500 2 2007 Greater Bragg Creek Trails Association Ski Trails Grooming and Refurbishment AB 9925 3 2007 Girl Guides of Canada - Calgary Area Summer Prgram in Careers in Environment AB 670 2 2007 Bow RiverKeeper A roadmap for Protecting Alberta's River Ecosystems AB 10000 2 2007 Castle-Crown Wilderness Coalition Castle Wilderness Stewardship, on the ground and on the web AB 10000 2 2007 Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society - Edmonton Alberta Parks: Let's keep them wild AB 10000 2 2007 Alberta Conservation Association Alberta Pipping Plover Predator Exclosure and Population Monitoring Program AB 12000 4 2007 Alberta Wilderness Association Bighorn Wildland Campaign AB 10000 2 2007 Canadian Network for Environmental Education and Communication Trails to Sustainability AB 8000 2 2007 Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society - Edmonton Evaluating the effectiveness of a wolf cull as a management strategy for the endangered Little Smoky Caribou Herd AB 20000 4 2007 Beaverhill Bird Observatory Shoreline Habitat improvement at Beaverhill Lake AB 5200 3 2007 Michael J Suitor Pronghorn antelope migration ecology and connectivity on the Northern Sage Steppe AB 15145 4 2007 Sierra Club of Canada - Prairie Land Protectors - Training Academy AB 29325 5 2007 Nature Canada Save Suffield National Wildlife Area AB 10000 2 2007 Evergreen Bowmont Natural Environment Park AB 10000 2 2006 The Association for Mountain Parks Protection and Enjoyment Backcountry garbage Bag initiative AB 2500 2 2006 Banff Mountain Adventure Program (MAP) A program of BanffLIFE (formerly Banff Service Industry Network) Creating Tomorrow's Ethical Adventurer AB 5760 3 2006 Banff Mountain Adventure Program (MAP) Creating Tomorrow's Ethical Adventurer AB 5760 3 2005 The Alpine Club of Canada Fay Hut Outhouse Project AB 10000 3 2005 Constance Browne Habitat Use of Western (Bufo boreas) and Canadian (B. himiophrys) Toads AB 6210 4 2005 Grizzly Bear Alliance Recovering Alberta's Threatened Grizzly AB 10000 2 2005 Alpine Club of Canada Sustainable energy water and waste management systems in alpine huts AB 5000 3 2005 Legacy Lands Conservation Society (LLCS) The Aboriginal Heritage Trail AB 8000 3 2005 Edmonton Bike Sharing Co-operative Edmonton Bike Sharing Co-operative AB 5000 2 2004 Sierra Club of Canada, Alberta Chapter Mountain Wildland Park - Regional Advocacy and Public Education Project AB 6570 2 2004 Pembina Institute for Appropriate Developement Energy and the Environment in the North Educational Video Project AB 10000 2 2004 Alpine Club of Canada Wates-Gibson Memorial Hut Outhouse Project AB 10000 3 2004 Ryan Popowich Bull Trout (Salvelinus confluentus) Population Viability in Eastern Slope Rivers AB 6429 4 2004 Evergreen Theatre Company "On the Brink - The Endangered Species of Alberta Show" AB 7500 2 2003 Mark Hebblewhite Ecology and conservation of a transboundary predator-prey system in the eastern slopes of Alberta AB 9200 4 2003 Friends of Jasper National Park The "Mountain Parks Junior Naturalist Club" Activity Booklet AB 6179 2 2003 Wayne Hallstrom Effect of Habitat loss and invasion by Scotch Broom on rare butterflies of Garry Oak meadows. AB 6098 4 2002 Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society- Calgary/Banff Chapter Castle Wilderness Book AB 3330 2 2002 Alpine Club of Canada Abbot Hut National Historic Site. AB 5000 3 2002 Cameron Stevens Role of beaverin the ecology of amphibians in the Rocky Mountain Foothills AB 4700 4 2002 Cori Lausen Assessment of critical riparian habitat and behavioural patterns of western small-footed bats AB 10000 4 2002 Bow Valley Grizzly Bear Alliance Living with Grizzlies AB 10000 2 2002 Bird Studies Canada Volunteer Nocturnal Owl Survey AB 4730 4 2002 Sierra Club of Canada, Prairie Chapter Castle Wilderness Public Awareness and Education Project AB 9950 2 2002 Wildcanada.net Canada: Land of Rivers. A celebration of the 2003 UN International Year of Fresh Water AB 10000 2 2001 Calgary Zoological Society Decreasing Racoon Predation of Mountain Bluebirds AB 5000 4 2001 Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley On-line Community Access to Ecosystem Information AB 6000 2 2001 North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance Society State of the North Saskatchewan Watershed Report AB 7000 4 2001 Wildcanada.net Ontario Network Development Project AB 8000 2 2001 Foothills Model Forest Grizzly Bear Research Project AB 5000 4 2001 Evergreen Theatre Society Going Wild About Spaces Interpretive Edu-kit AB 3000 2 2001 Lindsay Sachro Habitat Evaluation for keystone large herbivores in the interface between Banff National Park and Alberta AB 7000 4 2001 Paul Venturelli The Response of Littoral Fauna to Changes in Fish Abundance Resulting from large scale disturbances AB 4173 4 2001 Robyn Irvine Detecting Disturbances at the Ecosystem Level AB 5000 4 2001 Miistakis Institute for the Rockies An Interactive Display AB 5000 2 2000 Marco Musiani University of Calgary Research: Wolf population structure management and conservation in Northern Canada AB 5000 4 2000 Carl Savignac Develop and Test Habitat Suitability Index Models for the Cap May Warbler and the Bay Breasted Warbler in the Muskwa-Kechika Area AB 1000 4 2000 Albertans for Wild Chinchaga Protecting Alberta's Boreal: Chinchaga Cache Creek-Wolverine & other Northern Alberta sites AB 5000 2 2000 Friends of Fish Creek Provincial Park Society Taking it Outside Environmental Education Workshops AB 4000 2 2000 University of Alberta Studentship: wolf movement behaviour AB 6360 4 2000 Maria Sotiropoulos Studentship: Whooping Crane nesting areas AB 3990 4 2000 Cardinal Divide Reclamation Committee & Alberta Native Plant Council Cardinal Divide Reclamation Weekend Project AB 5000 3 2000 Global Environmental and Outdoor Education Council 2001: An Earth Odyssey AB 5000 2 2000 Castle Crown Wilderness Coalition (CCWC) Castle Wilderness 2000 Brochure AB 4500 2 2000 EcoCity Society of Edmonton Ecotopia 2000 Enviro youth camps AB 2500 2

Yeah, an interesting point about MEC, but I don't really care what one person thinks about MEC. They (MEC) do provide a lot of leadership in conservation related activities, and that is worth a lot more to the fishing and hunting community than one guy pointing out that they donate money to conservation groups. Without some degree of concern about conservation (and a whole lot of money) you would have polluted, fishless rivers running as ditches through parking lots.

I find the elbow a lot tougher to fish than the bow as there are not many fish in there, but it can be OK later in the year (as in a couple of fish in an evening is great). Never thought to try it in the winter.

Good points here Gopherboy... I agree that it is unacceptable to fudge the numbers or find "convenient" data sets. But this still leaves the question of who and how to get a reasonably accurate estimate of population from year to year. Having these data could be of immense value to fisheries managment types, but data from every 10 years is not enough (especially with huge error bars), but they don't seem to have the resources to do the study every year, so the question remains: Who and how? I would love to hear some practical suggestions from anyone listening. Cheers, Jon

Snipped from a report posted yesterday on fishbc. Not me as I am no where near 70 years young. ----snipity snip---- It's been a long time since I contributed to this forum, but I want to relate the tale of my most recent, and perhaps, most exciting fishing experience ever. And in doing so, help readers to realize that a fishing trip to the tropics doesn't mean you have to re-finance your house. I'd read about it for years, seen videos and done research and finally, in my 70th year, found out why people rave about fishing for tarpon. My son and I just returned from 12 days in Rio Lagartos at the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula and I'm ready to go back. Our fishing was done primarily in the mangroves and what a challenge! We got off to a great start as my son landed the first tarpon he hooked and I subdued my second one, but it didn't pay to get cocky. At the end of the 2nd day my score was 2 for 18. Yet, I was elated just to have hooked so many baby tarpon. We were fishing in very daunting locations, pools about as large as your living room, bordered by overhanging trees and filled with snags. At times there wasn't even room for a back cast. Oh, yeah, the occasional croc added to the hazards. One time I had to cast over one of the saurians and then flick my fly off its back on two consecutive retrieves. But the biggest challenge was trying to tame a fish that thought it could fly, considering the time spent in the air and trees. They bounced off the trunks, smashed into the bushes and managed to get under any convenient barnacle- encrusted log available. I knew what I was supposed to do, but the timing was off. About the time I was jerking on the line to set the hook, the crazy fish would jump and have no slack. I'd lost about 2 dozen, before things finally came together. One day I started 4 for 4 and had a total of 9 before we went in. These weren't big fish--the big ones were left hanging from the trees--but I was very happy. Our trip started at the end of February and it proved to be an excellent time. There was little competition--we saw 3 other fishermen, who only stuck around for a couple of days--and we never suffered from excessive heat. On the contrary, it was so cool at times that there was no need to even use the fan in our room. Probably the major drawback was the wind. We did look for tarpon in open water most mornings, but the wind quickly came up, making it too hard to see fish. We also lost a couple of days when cold fronts moved in. But that gave us time for bird-watching--for instance, 30,000 flamingos frequent this International Biosphere Reserve--or exploring Mayan ruins. Our guides, Carlos and Ismael, came from Rio Lagartos Expeditions (www.riolagartosexpeditions.com) and they did a great job of finding fish for us. In addition, Ismael is a professional bird guide and excellent naturalist so we had the added bonus of a running commentary about the local flora and fauna. However, guiding for fly fishers is relatively new for them so a person might get more advice elsewhere. We didn't have any problem with that at all despite being complete novices in dealing with these "silver princes." They don't have all-inclusive packages, but that didn't prove to be a problem either. It's a family run business which includes a cafe, Isla Contoy, and posada. Everything is close enough that it's like staying at a lodge, but the price is much better. Rooms are very basic, but clean, and the food is excellent. Our total expenditure for 12 days board and room was $700! Expect to pay about $250 for boat, guide and a day of fishing which is supposed to run from about 6AM to 1PM, but we never got in before 3PM. From all I've read, this place can't be be beat for a combination of great fishing (we caught snook and barracuda also) at an extremely reasonable cost. And the people are wonderful. It's just what a penny-pinching old pensioner like me has dreamed about for years, but never thought it would be affordable. Check it out. I'd be happy to furnish more info upon request.

I couldn't say for sure what a tarpon fights like but the jacks are a fast moving fish when hooked. Unlike any trout or salmon for sure. I got an 8 pounder on a spinning rod and saw the thing heading for the mangroves increadibly fast before he turned and headed for the boat... the trick is getting them while feeding and not spooking them.. They are not shy when there is food around, as in when you are snorkeling with a bag of shrimp, but they tend to stay way off when your fishing... so like I said, chum and fly might work well. You'll be surprised at how hard they fight, and how big they can get. check this website, nice info and I have definately seen some in the 30+ range in mexico where you're going. http://www.flyfishingameliaisland.com/Gian...da_Fishing.html

Punta Allen, thats what I meant. My bad. Anyways, you could try out there. That bridge is worth a visit for sure. Tonnes of fish around there and nice scenery. Make sure you stop at the park entry and pay the 8$ or end up getting chased by the "police" on a motorbike. Or you could chum and fly off one of the rocky beaches near the resorts... lots of jacks that would give you a real run for your money.

The city of tulum is north(?) of a wildlife preserve. This preserve contains punta edwards, which I did not see but is popular with fishers. A 30 minute taxi ride will take you into the reserve and at the bridge you can find a trail and walk into the lagoon. Bring bug spray and watch out for crocs. (I am not kidding). In the lagon you will find huge schools of bonefish (small bonefish though). The occasional cuda eating the bone fish, and of course a few crocs. Its a really cool place, and a canoe or flats boat would make it better if you can find one... I had a great time in that lagoon, but I only found out about the crocs when I was leaving. Heres the lagoon. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&...&iwloc=addr I walked up the north most chanel of the cut near the parking lot (you can see the trail if you zoom in). Oh and tulum is a cool town. There is a beach side area, and a central town. If I went again, I would stay in the town, rent a jeep, and explore more of the wildlife preserve.

Makes me miss the island big time! Those are some really nice pics that bring back the memories. I used to hike, camp and fish all over the place out there. Steelhead are really tough to catch in the winter, especially on the fly, but thats part of the game (like 99% of the game really ). Summer runs are the way to go, they'll actually move to hit something. J5 Only 170 sleeps left till I'm off to Terrace for another crack at it.

Here are my thoughts on the paper you posted. 1. I couldn't find info on the stats, but it looks like median values with +/- standard error. Is this true? 2. There appears to be no decrease in abundance or biomass of brook trout when comparing 1985 and 2005. 3. Brown trout are also pretty consistent between 1985 and 2005 for biomass but not total numbers (except for section 4) which would suggest that the fish are relatively stunted as opposed to decreasing. 4. Section 4 seems to have decreased numbers and biomass which means there really are fewer fish. I known nothing about what section 4 looks like, but perhaps you could elaborate. Is it the poorest habitat, or approximately the same. Is there good cover? Do cows get into the water there? Is there a factory farm near by? etc... Given that section 4 is the furthest downstream then you may have a point that fish are being killed off, but they may simply be moving out of poor habitat. Either way a potentially interesting observation. As for livers... The question is what would you test for. I know nothing about livers, but I have a friend who might be interested.. but how to get a fish as the stauffer is one mean ass river... I will get in touch with this guy as I know he will be here mid july and I promised him some fishing...

Thats a very good suggestion. If there is a chemical affecting the fish, look directly at the fish. There are many examples where toxins are "amplified" or concentrated as they make their way up the foodchain as they are often fat soluble and get stuck in the fat stores of the animal.