fishfreak

awesome pics! love those colours on the brookies!

I was able to get to everywhere I wanted to in my little Mazda 323 before I upgraded to my SUV. You should be good to go!

I would be tying the line from the leading fly to the eye of the hook rather than the shank, as I have straightened several hooks before.

I was wondering if anyone has tried putting a smaller dry such as an Adams on top, then a hopper, and then a dropper? This seems like a big setup, but I've been torn lots of times with whether to go with a smaller dryfly or a nymph. If everything works out, you would have a fly that matches the hatch, an attractor/terrestrial, and a nymph for those fish that like to eat the underwater stuff. To me, this would solve the issue. However, I'm not sure how feasible it would be on a smaller rod. Would love to hear your thoughts!

I can picture it now... "Hey everyone! I'm taking over the airplane, and if you try and mess with me, I'll tie you up with 6X tippet and go Wolverine on your ass with my size 18 Adams claws!" Sorry to hear about your unfortunate incident. I think Calgary's airport security is the strictest I've seen anywhere, even more than the frisking I got in Manilla.

There's some decent water on the Elbow right in Calgary, and the fishing can be pretty good before the raft/tube armada appears. There are some juicy looking spots that I've wanted to hit this year but haven't had the chance. Great job on catching some fish!

I have the following: - dry fly box grouped by species, then size - nymph box (attached to chest pack) grouped by species then size - streamer/big nymph box - film can full of SJW's - never leave home without it - several miscellaneous boxes/cans of flies from Icky/Wholesale that I haven't put in my other fly boxes yet I also carry a small piece of cardboard with a few triple nymph rigs wrapped around it (thanks Toolman for the time-saving tip!) I now have a hiking box (mainly dries and small nymphs), which I also use for fishing downtown during lunch hours, and a spare box of assorted flies for friends who might need it. On the topic of where I get my flies, I get them from Icky, Wholesale, or I tie them myself. I prefer to spend up to a buck a fly, as I tend to lose lots to trees, bushes, weeds, rocks, and fish. I would cry if I lost 10 flies that were $3 each.... ouch!

If I caught something like that, I would have it mounted in a heartbeat, and show it off to anyone and everyone I can possibly find, and then fire off the pics to all of the fishing magazines out there. I could imagine just how excited this guy must have been when he landed it. Unfortunately, I haven't caught a bow or brown over 22" yet.

nice pics!

happy birthday guys!

you can do what some others do - use ms paint and colour out the background to hide your location. we just want to see your big fish.

beasts!

rickr, your stories are entertaining as usual. exploration rocks!

nice work!

The Elbow has been hit and miss for me, but I've generally had success there either from 9am-noon or in the evenings. Just cover a lot of water with a hopper/dropper, hitting the best spots first, and you maybe surprised at what you may encounter. Another option would be to hit up some high mountain lakes like Elbow Lake, Picklejar, or Rawson for casting practice.

yeah!!! glad you got to catch a brown from the bow, and hope you get another chance to do that sometime soon!

It's pretty easy to tell whether a trout is larger than 35cm or not. When I read this, I assumed he would call RAP if it was clearly larger than 35cm (~14"), as stated in the regs for the most popular stretch of the Bow.

nice feesh!

Useful foods: - instant mashed potatoes (Idahoan brand) - goes great with any meat - Uncle Ben's quick rice packages - just heat and eat - Lipton's cup-a-soup - an old classic - bannock - the easy way is adding water to Bisquick, and make a dough ball on a stick, and cook SLOWLY over the fire If you want gourmet, and a lot of envious onlookers: - slice potatoes, onions, and carrots - add butter, garlic, and seasoning salt - wrap well in tin foil - place on coals (or grill) for 1 hr, flipping occasionally - low heat is key Dang, now I'm hungry. Hope you have fun this weekend!

Little (size 18) white flies were working well for me and the small risers at a pond in the Calgary area. I couldn't catch anything after they stopped rising though. I got skunked at Allen Bill Pond, but that was because I only fished (casted?) for about 5 minutes before the thundershowers rolled through.

When I'm with my buddies, we sometimes do what's called "combat fishing." We're standing shoulder to shoulder aiming for the same fish. With people I don't normally fish with, I use some etiquette, except if it's Rickr, then I just jump into his water and catch as many as I can.

bull trout ain't got nothin' on them!

Last year, I hooked a person in the cheek... well, I hooked myself on the cheek. I'm sure the fish found some irony in that. Thankfully it was barbless. A couple of years before that when I was fishing the Bow just below Blackfoot bridge, I hooked into something big.... really big. It wasn't a rock because it was moving so slow, and just felt really heavy. At first I thought it could have been a big pike or a big bully, so I got really excited. 5 minutes of "fighting" later, I brought it up to the surface and saw a big heavy jacket. By then I was crapping my pants thinking "please don't let there be a body in the jacket..." It turned out a landed a 4 foot, ~50 lb, sopping wet parka, with no body in it. *phew*

greetings from n'awlins, the weather is hot and sticky, but the oysters are still good and fresh (well, at least at the acme oyster bar). nobody has served me any with a mysterious crude brown sauce yet, but the word on the street right now is that the seafood supply is tightening up as it's being brought in from further up north. people here are "thanking" (sarcasm intended) bp for the price of crawfish and shrimp going up, and there's an underlying sense of worry as it will continue to affect tourism here. all i see are pictures of pelicans and their eggs coated in oil on the news. clean-up and recovery may take up to 10 years, as seen in other major spills. let's hope all the people out of work here will get compensated by those responsible.

awesome!