alan2

I signed it. And BTW, I brought this topic up and posted it about yr ago when word was first out about it being logged. And sent 2 letters (none of which helped apparently but still...)

I think I would have taken that one to court. Their is a huge difference between barbed and bumped. "Bumped" has a bump---- like when you flatten the barb so the sharp pointy barb no longer angles upwards and eliminates the hook being held in the fish, but there is still a smooth bump and not completely flat. Pictures would confirm the difference between barbed and no barb but has a bump. That guy was overzealous was all. I probably have several like that too.

Yay, I win. Good effort on your part going there. Those might be caribou tracks. I recently saw a Parks brochure encouraging people to watch for them, and it showed the difference between caribou, moose and elk. Moose are easy, but I think that between elk and caribou the main difference seemed to be the narrowness of the part in between the two halves of the hoof. Kinda like in your pictures, so maybe...

One particular photo on the way in seems to be showing the east side of Mt Alexandra, a Rockies 11,000 ft peak, so that must be Alexandra river. You must have started from Icefields Parkway and biked Alexandra River fire road. Further up on foot, would be Castleguard river, leading to either Watchman Lake or Cinema lake (which is a very small lake) so I'd say you fished at Watchman Lake and The Watchman peak is towering above it in one picture. Just a wild guess of course. That's a heck of a long ways if I am right!

My fav tie. Stimulators, size 8, 10 12 Yellow ones are foam.

I'd have to squint one eye and hold my breath at the same time. Harder for me than even walking and chewing gum at same time! LOL

I have the Olympus 8010 and if I had my druthers, I'd druther NOT have a camera that lacks a viewfinder. These stupid little LCD screens might be easy to see in a building, but in bright sun outside you can't see the damn screens half the time. Apparently they are designed by clueless engineers who design for the masses who are not photographers at all, but are just to point and shoot pics of people indoors (and then post em on facebook or whatever). And try taking a pic when you're skiing, or out in the snow somewhere---you can't make out the screen at all. Like being blindfolded. Pathetic. This passes for progress in the world of cameras. I got my Olympus 8010 with some aeroplan points, otherwise I'd try to return it and look for one with a viewfinder. Unfortunately, all the ones in Future shop that are compact also lack the viewfinder, you have to buy a larger camera to get that little feature. Being waterprrof doesn't compensate for being useles in bright light outside.

My mistake--it's the Streamtread sole by Vibram. Not Aquastealth. Aquastealth, made by Fiveten makes resole kits available with the sole and Barge cement. Simms should too. The same glue is sold at MEC. I think I'll try and contact Vibram directly to buy the soles next time.

FWIW, Barry White said to me that loop knots were overrated!

Getting vibram replacement soles is not very easy either. The only place in Western Canada who has the soles is Quick Cobbler in Vancouver and I spoke with them today, they won't sell just the soles, even though the Simms website claims they do. And there is no replacement vibram "kit" available from any flyfishing stores. These aqua soles are a real nuisance, I'll tell ya. Maybe if Simms gets enough complaints (eventually) they will make it simpler for Canadian consumers to buy the Vibram soles from the same shops that sell the boots in the first place. At this point, they certainly are not making it easy for Canadian customers. Anybody considering buying a pair of Simms aqua stealth rubber sole boots, be sure to thoroughly question the store staff about replacement soles, and don't let them try to tell you that they shouldn't wear out (like I was told!) or that you can just get them done locally (unless you have the vibram!). Knowing these details above, I suspect you will know more about the topic than the store staff might. And remember $162 to have them done in Vancouver---our only option right now. (Or order soles from the USA, not convenient).

AH yes, these cursed vibram soles they use. They don't last worth a SH*T! Read on. Two summers ago, the toe area on my new ones wore out in just 21 days of walk n wading. Simms replaced the boots because of how poorly they lasted, and gave me spare Vibram soles. Last summer I wore the vibram soles off again and had Alpine Shoe put on the free soles Simms had supplied, and they too were worn out by mid summer. Simms then suggested I send them to "Quick Cobbler" in Vanc BC as they carry the proper Vibram soles. Well 3 weeks and $162.34 later I got them back. Can you believe that repair cost? You can buy entire wading boots for less. And just today, though the soles themselves are still in good shape, that expensive resole job is separating and will need repair. I am some ticked. :$*%&: I can't emphasize enough to avoid these types of boot soles if you do any amount of walk and wading. The things just don't last. Felt lasts longer, I have both. And avoid Quick Cobbler in Vancouver, too.

Dang, I wish this thread had started 3 wks ago. That would have been just before I bought a new Trend reel here at WSS in Calgary. So far (3 outings) mine is okay, but I would have steered clear had I known they gave you the run around. To think it takes something like this to get a decent warranty out of them, that is p*ss poor service and I will not buy another product of theirs, regardless of how this reel performs. That is the kind of corporate attitude you might expect when the consumer has no options and there is no competition. I hope they smarten up after this or word will get out. Nothing travels as fast as bad news.

You must have some weird shaped body dude. MEC has a wider selection of "house brand" items than most comparable stores have even when you include every single product line they sell. And MEC has a guarantee that nobody else can hold a candle to. Been shopping there for about 35+ years now, can't beat it for quality and affordability. I don't think they'll miss your business though.

I drove 95 kms from calgary one sunday to fish LRD, caught a few, drove home and when unloading, realized I was missing my Orvis T3 I won a few years ago and had been fishing with all day. So, at 9pm, off for another 95 km drive, some searching by headlamp right where I parked and there it was. Now I try NOT to lean my rod against the van upon returning from fishing, and instead I put it inside immediately! In fact, for a while I just left it at home as I was convinced I was too stupid to risk using (and losing!) expensive gear...

I have Simms with "Aquastealth" soles or whatever you want to call it---it is made by Vibram---and the rubber doesn't last if you do any amount of walking on anything but grass. It hasn't changed in the last 2 yrs and I'm on my 3rd set of soles already in two summers. (Discussed on another thread) As Uberfly said, any vibram hiking boots use a much harder rubber that will last longer but won't grip wet rocks, especially in cool temps. Studding those Aquastealth soles isn't like studding felts either, because the sole is all lumpy with small lugs. When they wear out you'd be better off getting them resoled in Calgary with felt and then stud them up. But hiking boots are no substitute for wading boots. What about this---buy a pair of cheap runners, grind the soles smooth yourself with a belt sander and glue on felt soles ? You can find more detail online about resoling wading boots, buy the soles at Wholesale Sports or wherever. Same resole process should work for runners. Rent a belt sander from Home depot--- I've thought of trying it myself.

What's the difference between a Hoover and a Harley? The location of the dirtbag.

Refelting boots works well if you take it to a good cobbler, they don't peel off prematurely. I wouldn't do it myself though. For years I've used Alpine shoe in Kensington for hiking boots, and now wading boot felts. I also used Conti up on Edmonton trail, both did a good job. I bought the felts myself and took them along to the shop. Some wading boots are noticeably wider, and not all felt replacements are wide enough (e.g.my older Simms). Take your boot along when you buy the felt soles to be sure they are wide enough. Any boot felt for sale commercially seems to all be the same grade. The one downside of sheetmetal screws (or commercial studs like Simms sells) in the soles is that once they wear a bit, when you're walking on smooth round boulders along streams, they can suddenly skate out from under you and you're down. Ouch. Otherwise they grip pretty much everything.

Yep, those are the wondrous vibram streamtread soles I'm wearing out. They are not even 1/4" thick even when they are brand new, unlike vibram hiking boot soles that are much thicker to start with. They are a softer rubber than hiking boot vibram too, so they grip the wet rock etc better. Sometimes they do grip well, but seldom any better than felt. And they cost a lot more to replace. Seems obvious that the folks at Simms really don't do any amount of walking when they fish with those boots or they would have beefed up the soles already. I suspect they are mostly a bunch of floaters.

Haha--that's a laugh and an indication of how far you must actually walk, too. I have a pair of those expensive $300 Simms guideboots with the streamtread rubber soles. Those soles wore out in just 23 days of fishing (because I actually walk a fair bit, never fish from a boat). With shipping costs to and from Vancouver (where they have to be sent) it cost me $180 for resoling. What a rip! Might as well just buy some other cheapie boots new each time instead of resoling those Simms. I have gone through 3 sets of soles now since June of last year. Those 23 days on the soles works out to $8/day in boot wear costs. There's probably no other footwear that can match that, including whatever the astronauts wear. I'm sure the soles last much longer if you stay on grassy river banks like along the Bow, but if you're actually out there exploring and fishing along Livingston, Oldman, Wigwam, Castle etc those rubber soles simply don't last. They are way too thin to begin with, but so far Simms doesn't seem to care one bit about the life expectancy.

If you just go up early in the morn as a day trip your pack will be light and it shouldn't be a very tough day. I went up one day last summer just to figure out where the trail actually was and I got to the lake in 1 hr 10mins. I'm not in that great shape. With it being that accessible, it really makes it unneccessary to spend a night there, which is probably a good decision. The place where people camp is all dirt because it has wiped out that fragile vegetation that can't handle people camping on it. It would probably take 50 yrs or more to ever recover, if it did at all. A better idea would be to go early in the morn, fish all day and come down by headlamp if necessary--it's a very good trail-- and you should still have many hours to fish without further trashing the vegetation by camping. my 2 cents.

Go for it, solo. I've spent much of the last 40 yrs going solo in the mtns, hiking, fishing, climbing etc and if you know what you're doing it is not all that dangerous really. Typically the people who are quickest to recommend that you not go alone are also the least experienced. They think the trip out by vehicle is the safest part LOL .You just have to keep your wits about you when by yourself and start with shorter trips that are less committing. The more you do it, the better you become at it. I'd hike solo through bear country and feel much safer than wandering alone down some seedy Calgary streets at night. Now, going with a dog into bear country is just plain dumb, unless your dog happens to be a Karelian bear dog, no matter how special and talented poochie is to you. (I can hear the howls of derision already!) To a bear, your dog is just another wolf and that yapping does not scare him, it pisses him off. Bears and wolves have competed for food and territory for thousands of years and are natural enemies from way back then. Ask a biologist if you don't believe me, or read Stephen Herrero's books about bears. BTW I always find it amusing when I see total novices and tourists on a busy trail and are armed with a can of bear spray. These folks probably wouldn't have the presence of mind to use it properly even they did see a bear. I guess it keeps them deluded and happy overall, though. And sells a product...

Having spent a fair bit of time looking at tying material in various fly shops, I don't think I've ever seen that micro tubing or the rubber legs that thin anywhere. If the stuff was available here I could just tie it myself but I doubt it is. It isn't sili legs, they are way thicker. It might be worth taking it to a fly shop to hear them say they haven't seen anything like that. Or maybe I'll luck out.

It's the particular legs that make it work better than a standard chernobyl. So far, it would seem this exact fly is not available locally, besides, I can tie a chernobyl with standard legs no problem and I do, but they don't work as well as this one did. I know I can order this from a fly shop near Yakima, but was hoping to find it locally.

Overall it looks that way, the big difference is the legs. Instead of plain old round rubber legs on this fly, it instead has a short length of flexible micro tubing with 2 extremely fine ( almost hairlike-diameter) rubber feet coming out of each tube and because they are so fine, and there are 16 of them in total, those delicate little "feet" move very easily on the water. Much better than traditional rubber legs on Chernobyls. Out fishes them too.

A guy gave me one last summer and it really worked---is it available anywhere around Calgary? Thanks