alan2

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.

An update to this: Here is a link to a map of Castle River area showing where they plan to log in phase 1. And it isn't way back somewhere outta sight either... http://stopcastlelogging.wordpress.com/

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

This pic from the Glenbow that I stumbled on is worth a look. Some technique he has...and he calls it fishing? Looks like daydreaming to me. http://ww2.glenbow.org/search/archivesPhot...;OEH=ISO-8859-1

If water levels are not too high, there is some decent fishing in Slocan River just a few kms south of Winlaw, close to Passmore where the Little Slocan Rvr runs in. I spent a few days there one Sept and that was the best spot I fished. Caught quite a few rainbows on stimulators. Drive across the Passmore Upper Rd bridge by Passmore, turn rt and follow Kickwillie Rd, park by Little slocan river bridge and walk a ways downstream to where it meets SLocan river.

I just heard on another outdoors forum that they have now started painting various trees to mark where they will log in Castle area this summer. It's not too late to send an email to Greg Weadick MLA Lethbridge westmailto:lethbridge.west@assembly.ab.ca Rob Renner Minister of Environment mailto:medicine.hat@assembly.ab.ca Mel Knight Minister of sustainable resource development mailto:grandeprairie.smoky@assembly.ab.ca Cindy Ady Minister Tourism Parks, Recreation mailto:calgary.shaw@assembly.ab.ca If enough people complained about them logging in there, they just might rethink it. Or else go unpaint the trees... That would be work though.

I think it's a shirt with sleeves.

You'd sure need a long extension cord for out there on a lake. And an outlet.

A few years ago BP tried to put on a new face with their "Beyond Petroleum" campaign. I think that must have been scrapped, haven't seen it for years.

Well according to the forecast Calgary and south is in for a few days of rain so that will help in the immediate future anyway. This is currently the tail end of El Nino which if it continued into summer would spell more hot dry periods ahead. Time will tell. Last summer my 4 weeks of fishing vacation around southern Ab had way too many cool showery days and overnight downpours. A half decent summer would be kinda nice.

I tie a #18 Griffiths gnat tied with a post of orange wool in the hackle so it's easier to find on the water.

24" brown. No pics, I fish alone and as fast as I get'em in I release them. Not one fish has complained yet.

No, but I would have if I'd seen it coming. From what I read this is a done deal and is beyond any point of soliciting public input. Just the way Ab Gov't likes it to be.

Yep, word has it Spray Lks sawmills are going in to collect more of the toothpicks they continue to harvest from the eastern slopes and pass off as timber, to the detriment of the Castle area this time. I spend a good part of vacation in that area and I am saddened to think of what this means. This "Special status" designation it has is a real joke. Nothing more than window dressing to appease the crowds yet allow ATV use, logging, drilling etc the same as anywhere else. Last July there was an all night downpour and it turned the south castle into mud, but I drove up past the ski area to a lovely green meadow and the West Castle was still just as clear and fishable as ever. However, once they chew up the hillsides and clearcut them that will put an end to that. I think it might have been Klein and that hypocritical Minister of Environment he had (yeah, Kowalski I believe) that set that all up. Or was it Getty? After awhile they all seem to be cut from the same cloth anyway. I suppose they are doing it with the justification of curtailing pine beetle. Too bad it doesn't even work that effectively though, you only have to go to areas west of Prince George to see that and they were logging the hell out if it a few years ago. And the lumber market hasn't yet recovered from the downturn anyway. What a shame. Castle wilderness special places R.I.P.

I wouldn't have been nearly as polite if the guy stepped into the immediate territory where I was already fishing. I would have said that maybe he didn't see a problem with 3 fishing in that spot, but I see a problem and I am already here. There are 15km or more of water now piss off---what are you clueless? Do you not know the meaning of the word etiquette? I have used a similar line once before when this kinda thing happened and the guy seemed a bit flabbergasted and left. So he thinks I'm a jerk; big deal so is he. I don't go fishing to meet people--- I could go to the mall to do that. I generally make a point of not going where I see others fishing, or getting ready to fish and I often end up walking a long ways. Maybe I don't catch fish then, but I would rather be by myself not catching fish than be too close to other fisherman and actually catch fish. You can see where my priorities lie. It's not about the fish. And it's not about getting too cozy with someone else showing up to fish by me either, but then I'm more anti-social than most people anyway. My wife always reminds me of that if I forget.

I wish I could remeber which publication I read it in, but it stated that selenium from the coal mining increased the plant growth and therefore the insect life in Michel creek. It may have been in Beautiful BC magazine a few yrs back, but not sure. One of those things where you read an article and find it quite interesting but not earth shattering enough for you to cut it out and start a scrapbook. Then you wish you did. In any event, it certainly seems the coal operations upstream of Michel creek have not hurt the fishery. For its size, that creek produces darn good sized fish, and abundant, too.

That is also why the fishing in Michel creek is so good. Elk valley's Coal mountain mine is upstream of it.

I suspect that if the American politicians had not been so opposed to mining along the Flathead, Campbell wouldn't have preserved it. Pressure from south of the border can influence Canadian decisions in untold ways--- even positive ways, sometimes, like this. You can bet it wouldn't be preserved just because some Canadian fishermen or hikers wanted it that way.