Quillyrabbit

My last TFO break was about an inch from the end. I was feeling especially cheap that day and purchased a $5.00 tip and glued it on. Still fishes fine. This could be an option for you if you only want to replace one section, that is assuming the second break was close to the end.

I had a few incidents last year that really tested my patience. I addressed one as politely as I could which was met with an "unsatisfactory" response. This year, there have been no issues and I am hoping that it will continue. Powered boats muddying my water brings on my inner hulk however.

Was out yesterday and hooked a sock. To add insult to injury I got skunked as well. Have also hooked my hat but no one was around to wintess that one so it never really happened, right?

My first rod was a TFO signature. I have broken two tips. If anyone had been around to see what I was doing with my rod when the tip broke, they would have cringed. I certainly did not fault TFO. The rod has been good to me and the warranty allowed me to fish the next day. It certainly provides a nice safety net for the newbies and the vets who still treat their gear like crap.

Can't we find a middle ground here? I am personally on the fence regarding this issue....Q

You could be right. This area is hit hard all the time. That being said I am averaging one of these stories per year and I have met a whole buch of nice, courteous anglers who I am more than happy to share the water I am fishing with. In some cases I have taken turns pulling fish in from the same water. These are people I have just met. Someone has to hold the camera! Manners go a long way.

I made this post about a year ago and I suspect that I have done some maturing as a Bow River Angler in that time. This was demonstrated in my response to a Dorkwad yesterday. Let me begin by stating that I was fishing a Honey Hole. Yes, I know it is a Honey Hole. Anyone who fishes in this area knows of it and wants to fish it. I got up disgustingly early (for a day off) so that I could fish it. I had a few people come by during the course of a couple hours. They said "hi", asked to fish a portion of the stretch, I said, "no problem", they fished for a bit and moved on. I had just landed a 19" brown who was beind difficult by showing me his face and dorsal fin, but not taking dries. I caught him by skittering an emerger pattern accross his nose and was feeling very proud of myself. Then this gentleman shows up. He did not initially say, "hi" and just sort of slid himself into the water below me, close enough to make me feel a little uncomfortable. He then started to ask me questions about my day. I was aware that as we were talking he would take a step closer to me and keep casting. He came to rest at the spot that I suspect he wanted to fish as he was so close that he was casting over my skittering line. I decided to stop casting for a moment. Then things got really entertaining. He caught and landed two in front of me (I am hoping that Karma will be kicking in later). In that time he managed to inform me that he did not believe that I caught a brown on a dry, in the shallow riffles. His expert opinion was that browns are holed up this time of the year. I had just caught one in that little stretch and yes, it was at the time a little spooked. I new they would turn on again. Then as he landed his second fish he made a crack about how lucky I was that I he was giving me this clinic on how to fish (classy). I stopped talking to him at that point, but that did not stop him from talking to me. He managed to tell me about his aversion to Asian fisherman. "WTF"??? He chatted about etiquette and how people had come up to spots he was fishing and just started fishing. Obviously etiquette does not apply to him. Then the browns resumed their action in the riffles, right in front of where I was standing. This guy moved to the other side of me, assuring me of course that he was just taking a look and would not cast at them. He then began to re-rig as I was re-rigging to dries. I will hand it to the guy, he can tie on a dry in a remarkably short period of time. Of course he began casting in front of me as I was tying my double dry rig on and of course he caught a nice looking brown. Then he left without a word. No "thanks", "later", or "bye. I felt so used (joke). Of course there are several things that I had wished I had done or said to let him know that I thought his actions were not appropriate. I treated him the same way I treat an encounter with a skunk. Put your head down, don't make any sudden actions and hope that it leaves before it gets its stench all over you. I am sure that if this had happened last year, my actions would have been differnt, far less PC. I like to think that I have matured. I am also sharing this with the hopes that the person I am writing about will read this and possibly adjust his actions in the future. Good story huh? You can't make this kind of stuff up!

I have a 3wt 9ft Sage Launch and I really enjoy casting it. I understand that the Launch line is being discontinued so if you can find one around town you can probably pick it up for a nice price (~$150, possibly less). Shop around! I have also seen some TFO packages for cheeeeeaaaaaap lately. It is a great starter rod. My first rod was a TFO five wt. I treated it like crap, broke a few tips, replaced them, and was back on the river the next day. For me this makes the TFO and obvious pick for newbie anglers. Phone around, one of the big fly fishing stores is bound to have a package on sale. P.S. I have never been a fan of the low end TFO reels and you may want to immediately upgrade the line. (My two cents)

Yep, that was me...

Yep, 11 steps ( I counted because I knew I was going to post this ). We ended up just leaving and finding some different water. I agree, sharing wasn't the issue for me, it was the imposition without discussion.

There was an incident on the river today that put a bit of a damper on my fishing experience. I have been stewing about it and wanted to put the subject to the community to see whether or not my actions were out of line. A buddy and I were fishing a very popular section of the Bow, just below Carburn Park. There had been someone fishing the hole all morning and when they left my buddy and I decided to try our luck. We were about twenty feet away from each other, close enough that we occasionally tangled our lines together when we were not paying attention. I would consider this distance to be "close", even on the Bow. I happened to look back at shore and noticed someone gearing up. He was friendly enough and we had a bit of a chat about how the day was going. I was definitely curious as to where he was planning on fishing and whether or not he would discuss his plans with us. He did not discuss his plans, placed himself between my buddy and I and proceeded to cast. He set himself eleven steps from where I was fishing. I was shocked that he decided to fish so close to us and called him on it. I suggested that this was a little too close and I think that the term "etiquette" came up. He simply stated that he has fished this section with three people before and did not see a problem with his actions. I understand that the Bow is a busy river, especially in the city. The stretch we were fishing is hit hard every day. I also understand that during this time of the year many of the fish are congregated in certain key areas. My buddy and I would have been more than happy to share the stretch with this guy. I felt that his actions were out of line as they made both myself and my buddy quite uncomfortable. Are my expectations out of line? I don't fish the Bow much and thought it would be wise to get a second or third opinion. I would appreciate anyones input on this matter.

There are two ponds out in the Sibbald area. I think they are Sibbald Lake (which is really a small pond) and Sibbald Pond. I believe both are stocked regularily. Sibbald Lake winter killed last year and was re-stocked with a wack of little rainbows just before the May long weekend. I was out there last year and had a blast catching these little hungry rainbows. They were very small and my buddy and I were catching with small chironomids, gnats and the occasional caddis. The people spin casting were not having any luck. I suspect that the fish were too small to take what was being offered to them. Sibbald pond last year had more variety in both species and size (brookies, rainbows mostly). At least if you head out this way you have a couple of options that are quite close together............Good Luck...Q