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lethfisher

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Posts posted by lethfisher

  1. This might be of some help, I just finished a materials course at the university that talked a lot about concrete and we covered some durability issues. This is right from our lecture slides.

     

    concrete.png

     

    Early Stage Cracking

    A, B, C —due to differential settlement of plastic concrete. Form before initial set (10 min. to 3 hours)

     

    D, E, F —plastic shrinkage cracks. Form due to excessive evaporation (30 min. to 6 hours)

     

    G, H —thermal contraction cracks. Cooling after excessive heat generation or high thermal gradients. Form after 1 day to 2 to 3 weeks

     

    J, K —Crazing cracks. Inadequate curing and finishing combined with a surface rich in paste

     

    Later Age Cracks

    I —due to long term drying shrinkage. Form several several weeks or months after casting

     

    L —due to corrosion of reinforcement. Accompanied by brownish extrusions (rust) from cracks. Form two years or more after casting

     

    M, N —due to alkali-aggregate reaction. Form 5 or more years after casting, often accompanied by white silica-gel extrusion

     

    I am guessing 'I' maybe? It is really dry in Calgary (especially in the winter) and can effect fresh concrete a lot if proper curing regiments aren't followed. Ideally the concrete should be kept moist while curing to keep from this type of thing from happening. If the concrete dries out while curing it can shrink, which causes these types of cracks. You can get different types of cement for different situations that can help combat different weather situations during curing, but that comes a higher cost. As for freeze thaw, it is possible to entrain tiny air pockets into the concrete to allow water to expand and contract in the concrete throughout the winter cycles preventing some cracking. Coming back to a common theme of this type of cement requires more money! It can happen that because of these extra costs, driveways and basic house foundations kind of get the 'bottom of the barrel' cement mixes which could lead to problems. Not always but it is possible! Hope that helps...

    PS There is no such thing as a cement truck, it's a concrete truck :)

     

  2. I am sure its logistically impossible but it would be awesome to make the casting pond larger so you could really test out some of the spey rods. Kinda sucks standing on the side beaning people doing single hand casting haha You can get the basic feel for the rods but it would be sweet if you could really let it go! I tried out the Sage 5119 and 7119, Amundson 1134, Loop Switch style and the Pieroway Metal Detector. All really excellent rods!!

     

  3. I see from the line post that mykiss has picked up the 7119 and jdangler has the 5119. Are these actually switch rods that you would ever cast overhead with? Isn't the idea that you could potentially do both? The Decho 4119 is the same length and is definitely a spey rod, not a switch. Most switches seem to be around the 10' - 10'5" range. Why not call these TCX x119 a spey rather than a switch because the length is definitely there (not saying that just because a rod is long it is a spey). Especially because Sage's other switch, the Z-Axis model, is 10 ft. There must be a special switch taper in the blank or something magical.

     

    I've cast my DH 4119 single handed and it sucks haha but I also have a loop 7112 switch and I don't like casting that thing overhand either... Also I'm not complaining about the TCX or anything, just curious and don't want to study for my finals haha Can't wait for the next spey-o-rama in the spring!!

  4. At this time of year, the only thing I am hoping for is open water. I usually start swinging at the top of pools and fish down over the ledge into the pit of the lie, working all of the water down to the tail spill. I'm finding most fish down low, in the back of the pools and into the tail.

    The water is deceiving fast when the flows are up and having a sink tip of sufficient mass/sink rate, is critical to get the fly to swing deep and slow. Some of the water that I hooked fish in today was not that deep, but faster than you might expect.

    I usually use 10'-12' of T-14 or full sink heads at the pools that I fished today. The fish wanted a very slow pace to the swing this afternoon, as they most often do in cold water.

     

    Do you find yourself hooking bottom with the T-14 and a Conehead bugger? Do you change up the sinking head during the day depending on what part of the river you are fishing? ie a deep pool would need to T-14 to get down but if you are fishing the tail where it isn't as deep do you switch up the rig?

  5. I was wondering if you have used the red chenille/purple hackle, like the last pic.

     

    Ya the bow buggers I used all this year had some purple in them and they seem to work good. Was definitely my most productive streamer, I am pretty confident with that pattern though so I don't swing much else. If I caught more fish then I would probably be able to answer your question better lol

     

    Andy, your Burla Bugger or whatever you call them work good on the Bow to. I had to toss my last one because I was fishing in the cold and when I took a break and put my rod down the fly froze to a rock and the tail ripped off when I pulled on it lol Tie me more and send them to me as a christmas present, thanks! You're such a nice guy :)

  6. Usually I stick with a brown chenille or a dark ice dub, except for that white one which has white ice dub. Aren't Bow Buggers representing sculpins or leeches maybe? What other colours are you thinking of?

     

    Do you think trimming the deer hair into a sloped front would force the fly down further when it is swinging, like an upside airplane wing? Would be interesting to see the difference the shape of the deer hair would do to the fly's movement.

  7. I tied up some bow buggers with various collar lengths, and was wondering how long is it supposed to be?

     

    This one looks a little long, but I like my trimming on it!

    collar3.JPG

     

    This one looks pretty good all around for proportions

    collar2.JPG

     

    I enhanced this one in iPhoto, that's why it looks so bright. Like the colours but the collar looks a little silly haha

    collar1.JPG

     

    What do you guys think?

  8. Just made one with some 20 pound mono in about 5 minutes. Pretty sweet! One thing though that they said wrong is that your leader is only as strong as the original mono. Your chain is only as strong as the weakest link... It would break at the single strand loop that you tie your tippet onto. But I am sure your tippet would break before then anyways... He is definitely right about the length though, I started with about 2.5m and ended with 1m. (8 ft to 3 ft)

     

  9. Last time I went out, a few weekends ago, and it was around -5. I had just bought new woolie socks to test out so I layered up with my waders and everything on. Drove down south and got to Fish Creek. Setup the rod and tied on a fly then realized I had forgot my winter coat! I didn't last to long with just a sweater on but my legs were nice and warm, I will definitely be double checking I have my coat before I leave! Here is a pic from that day, no fish either.coldfishing.JPG

  10. excellent response Toolman and everyone else! I like the look of traditional spey flies and they are smaller as well, might have to tie some of that type up. Looks like the weather isn't going to improve much by the weekend either :(

     

    Edit: Tungsten, just watched all that guys videos and they are hilarious!

  11. Maybe this should be in fly tying category, but what are you guys planning on tying/using for the spey rod on the Bow in its winter conditions? The forecast looks good for next weekend so I might try to head out. Is it time for the big flies and skagit heads? In winter is it "bigger is better" for swinging? Does it change at all for you guys who swing streamers all year through? Fish are more lethargic in the cold correct? So they should only want to move for a big fly if they think it is worth the swim?

  12. I have the fishpond waterdance one, same as maxwell I think, and it is great. It has the should strap on it that I use if I have a bulky coat on and use it like a satchel (lol hangover!) and in the summer I clip it around the waist. It never gets in the way because it stays in the back both ways. The fly holder at the front kinda squishes the flies sometimes but I mostly keep hooks for tube flies in there and the odd streamer.

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