fishfreak

I've fished above the campground before. Pools are small, fish are sparse, but it's gorgeous out there and quiet too. You'll catch the odd bull trout here and there, which keeps things interesting, but the best fishing for that stretch is in September.

Dang, that's one strong hook to be catching those. What's it made of, titanium?

Not sure yet, but I'm leaning towards checking out the Upper Bow on Saturday with a friend of mine. If that doesn't work out, I may either hit the Liv or another stream down in that area. Too bad the weather forecast changed for Saturday (13C instead of 16C).

Sweet pics. Love those fall colours.

Those pellet sucking leeches are pretty deadly.

I got tired of sealing my crappy waders, as I've used 3 tubes and they're still leaking. I duct taped both sides, and guess what, dry feet! Well at least for a few days...

*drool* love that smoky goodness.

Sweet pics, thanks for sharing!

Not sure what format you're looking for, but here are some of my stats... Rivers/creeks fished this year: Bow Highwood - went here because the Liv and other streams were closed for most of the year Livingston Cataract unnamed trib - I finally fished it, and my curiosity has been satisfied Rivers I wished I fished this year: Crowsnest, Oldman and all of the other SW Alberta streams Ram Wapiti Types of fish caught this year (in descending order): Cutts Bows Whitefish Browns Range of sizes of fish landed this year: 3 - 20" Range of sizes of fish lost this year: 12 - 36" (okay, actually up to 22") Favourite stretch of river fished this year: The <bleep> river from <bleep> to <bleep>, just after the first <bleep> Location of most productive pool fished this year: The 4th pool upstream of the <bleep> <bleep> just around the first <bleep>, river left Super flies: Black foam ant (my creation) - deadly on the Liv Turk Tarantula - awesome everywhere Brown foam hopper (my creation) - biggest fish of the year was caught on this Copper john - consistent throughout the year Beadhead pheasant tail (my version) - my go-to nymph all year Bow River bugger - FINALLY caught something on a streamer! Griffiths gnat - when all else failed, this caught the picky ones Number of flies lost in trees, bushes, weeds, rocks, fish: no comment Fish caught: hundreds Fish kept: 7, all eaten at Elbow Lake... yum! It's been another great season. I'm hoping for a few more days before I pack it in and start thinking about skiing. I'm glad to have met a lot of people from FFC, and hope to spend some more days with fellow members next season.

As mentioned in my Highwood post, I tied a couple of these flies in brown and yellow foam. They're experimental, so I wanted to try them out and see how they sit on the water, float, hold a dropper, etc. Overall, I would say that it was a success, as I caught a 20" rainbow on my very first cast with this fly. There's not much to it, just some foam, crystal flash tail, shiny plastic for the wing, some deer hair on top, and some bright orange yarn to keep it visible, all on a size 12 hook. Let me know what you think, and let's see your foam creations!

I have a Stylus 300 series that has been accidentally dunked in the water on a regular basis. It's the price of having a camera strapped across my shoulder while I'm releasing fish, hehe. I was drooling over the Stylus 770 a few weeks ago. I would either get that or the Pentax if mine broke down. Thanks again for sharing those pics. Oh sweet, I'm a mayfly now!

There are rainbows in Michichi? Nice shots!

It was a great day to be out there for sure. The weather was quite cooperative, and it was awesome hanging out with other people who were as crazy about flyfishing as I was. Thanks to Osprey for all the fishing tips while we were eating, and Toolman & Speyghillie for the demos. I definitely learned a lot from everyone and enjoyed the fish stories. Rich, I'll send you what pics I have tonight.

Just remember to take off the goggles before taking a pic with the fish you catch or you'll go blind. Can you imagine a hold crew of people dressed like a SWAT team flyfishing the Bow in the middle of the night? hahaha.

Because of the strong Canadian dollar coinciding with my trip to Seattle in a couple of weeks, I'm going to be buying a nice pair of polarized Oakleys. I leave a cheapo pair of Walmart-special polarized glasses in my truck. The last guy who broke into it didn't even bother taking them, haha. The one I mainly use is a pair I got from the Richmond Night Market for $8. 1 year, no scratches, and still going strong! However, I can tell the difference in the quality between the Oakley lens and the cheapos...

2 headlamps I would recommend would be: Petzl Tikka Plus Headlamp ($33) - small LED light, 3 settings plus a blinker. excellent battery life on 2 AAA's. Petzl Tikka XP Headlamp ($45) - brighter than the Tikka Plus with a larger LED bulb. excellent battery life on 3 AAA's. Both are rated very high and are excellent for backpacking. Both are waterproof for those times when you accidentally drop them in the water and can be used in the rain and snow. They are quite handy for walking out of Fish Creek Park in the dark, which I've done a few times. I like waterproof/water resistant things. If you're looking for less frills, the one that MTB mentions sounds good. I might even try to swing over there to pick one up.

Wow! This is a trek I was hoping to do this summer, but didn't have a chance to. Ater seeing these pics, I'm definitely going to do it next year. Thanks for sharing again! Hey, how does the Upper Kananaskis River look on the way up to Three Isle Lake? I've always been curious about that one since There are several cutty lakes that feed into it. I've only seen where it dumps into the Upper Lake, and it looked like a decent sized stream. Plus, it's a far enough hike that few people would go to it, even if discussed here.

Nice fish! Once I learned how to nymph, I caught a lot more. Congrats!

Hey wongrs, This happened to me recently on the Highwood. We were fishing this one deep pool and there were a couple of risers at the tail that were constantly going up for something. Since they weren't going for my big hopper, I tried a caddis. I caught a different fish with it, but not the ones that kept coming up. I noticed some smaller mayflies out, so I tried a PMD but no luck. I switched to a size 18 parachute adams, which made them interested, but not enough to take the fly. Times like this, I tend to reach for a size 18 griffiths gnat, as it appears smaller than it actually is. I finally caught that fish, an 18" cutt. Sometimes a size 18 parachute adams doesn't work on the most selective of flies. It was the same case on a cutty lake I was at earlier this summer. I can't speak for anyone else, as all situations are different, but if this happened to me again, I would try the gnat as a last resort. If the fish doesn't go for the gnat, then I'd walk away and come back to it later.

Sounds like an awesome adventure... that I would never want to do. Thanks for sharing. My friends call me hardcore, but dude, you're completely on another level!

I'm thinking the same thing you guys are. I work for a producer, and the only projects we're getting approved for drilling are for oil. I'm just thankful I still have wells to drill this year otherwise I'd be worried about my job...

That's so cool! I've had that happen to me where 2 cutts go after the same dryfly at the same time. Awesome to see it captured in pictures.

I remember your rabbit-humping-the-balloon avatar, haha. Can't wait to see those pics!

Congrats man!

Sweet pics Max. I like the last one with the caddis in the foreground.