murray

I understand your concern with respect to price as well as the overall length of the rod tube since you will be riding a bike to some spots. I have never cast any of the rods you mentioned but it really doesn't matter what I think of the various rods. It is of utmost importance how each of these rods perform for you. My suggestion is to take your time deciding and to take the time to cast each rod that you are interested in. I would make sure that I stayed within the same line weight for each demo. As far as which weight rod to buy, I personally use my 6 weight for the Bow River. It works well for me because I tend to throw double nymph rigs with a strike indicator. I have landed some 20" fish with my 4 weight as well but I find that the lighter weight line is affected by the all too frequent winds we get in the south part of the province. If you already have a reel loaded up with a specific line weight, that is the size of rod I would be targetting. Anyhow, whichever rod you decide on, I think it would be a mistake to buy anything based on someone elses opinion. I really feel that it has to work for your particular casting style. Good luck and have fun deciding. Sometimes the shopping can be a lot of fun. All of the shops that I have dealt with are excellant at helping to make the right choice. Besides, they may give you a few pointers to improve your casting stroke. Murray

Probably a little late in the day for this but all the best Greg. Murray

Boy this report was simply a pleasure to read. You do get to some beautifull and remote fishing spots. I cannot imagine how tough the hike in was, the pictures show me why you do it. I love those shots of the Caribou, not many people get to see them like that. Keep on hiking into those kinds of locations and dont ever forget your camera. I really enjoy your posts. Murray

I have a pair of William Joseph waders that I won in a magazine renewal draw a couple of years ago. I didn't need them at the time so they just lived in the box they came in for 2 years. I took them out to use on the river this year and after a couple of times on the river, I'm finding that they leak from almost every seam. They have not been abused and on the surface they look pretty much brand new. I sent a note to William Joseph asking how to go about getting them repaired. That was about 6 week ago and I have not heard back from them. In my opinion, I would choose another brand. Murray

Mark, I'd suggest Policemans Flats to Mckinnons Flats. That should be close to a 6 hour float if you dont take too much time stopping and wading. Let me know if you need directions to either spot. Murray

Jeremie, I have had the same problem with losing the big fish while drifting in my pontoon. Not every fish, some of them actually swim downstream but enough to know what your talking about. I'm not sure what the answer is, I always use my fins while floating but instead of trying to slow the boat down a bit, I use mine to try and get to shore. Generally when I float I try to stay about 30 or 40 ft off shore so you should be able to kick your way into shallower slower water without too much effort. That being said, the fish dont wait for you to get in to the bank and I still lose my share. As far as the anchor idea goes, I highly reccommend you DO NOT use it. Your world will turn very dangerous in a blink of an eye. Just imagine if your anchor gets stuck under a big rock. Your boat will stop moving but the river keeps pushing with lots of force. On top of that, the anchor will probably be 5 or 10 feet upstream of where you sit in the pontoon boat and it will be impossible to dislodge your anchor. You would probably have to cut the anchor rope. If you do another float sometime this summer on a Friday and want company, send me a note. Murray

For those of you who like the Norvise, I saw this one listed this morning, no bids on it yet. http://cgi.ebay.ca/Nor-vise-Rotary-vise-KI...=item1c12cab77e

I haven't specifically gone after the Glenmore pike but a couple of weeks ago a group from the Hook and Hackle club went after pike at a small resivoir east of town. You cant compare it to trout fishing but did I ever have a blast. Pike are a riot on the fly rod. I highly reccomend it for a fun day. I found that if you cast out with a floating line, and simply use 6 inch strip retrieve, the pike would follow it to within 10 ft of you and then the water would just explode. Use big assed hooks with a bit of colour and or flash in them. Have fun. The pike all seemed to be in the shallow water so you didn't have to cast a mile. Murray

I thought this would be an easy choice. When my magazine arrived in the mail I was very impressed with the cover shot. When I checked out the link with both cover shots side by each, I had to really think about which one I liked. I finally settled on the first one but I do understand how difficult it was to make a decision. Murray

Lynn, I bought one a few years ago from Sears. It's the type that has a vent hose you stick out the window. If you were interested, you could try it out. end me a note. Murray

It's worth your while to check out the prices at Costco. I was there last night and noticed some very good prices on trees. Murray

Rick, please put me down for $350.00 on the Float trip with Dutchie, number 29. Murray

Rick, please put me down for $20.00 on item # 40A (the letort hoppers) Murray

I have a spare dual action pump that you could borrow and try it before you buy anything. Send me a PM. Murray

I thought this thread would have spurred on a little more conversation abouty equality for all Canadians. I decided to go looking for my copy of the BC fishing regulations I got with my liscence last year. They are still in effect untill 2011. Now I dont normally sit down and read this thing cover to cover but usually just target the regs for the area that I'm fishing in. Last year a good friend of mine who happens to walk with the aid of crutches and is permanently paralyzed from the wais down as well as being over 65( I think that qualifys him for being a senior citizen) had to pay the full, non resident liscence fee of $55.00 even though he is a property owner in B.C. Please see below for the licensing requirements in the province of B.C. Licence type Resident Non Resident Non resident Alien (resident of another country Basic Licence $36.00 $55.00 $80.00 Annual disabled $1.00 $55.00 $80.00 65 years plus $5.00 $55.00 $80.00 Now take a look at Albertas price schedule Basic licence Resident Non resident Non resident alien (resident of another country) age 16 to 64 $25.66 $25.66 $70.90 age 65 plus $0.00 $25.66 $70.90 I looked to see if there was any licence requirements or exemptions for disabled people but I couldn't find anything on it at all. Just for argument sake, the term Resident is defined as " A resident is a person who has his or her primary resident in Canada and is a Canadian citizen or is admitted to permanent residence in Canada or has lived in Canada for the imediately preceding 12 month period. The definition of resident in the B.C guide is as follows Resident means your primary residence is in British Columbia and you are a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant and have been physically present in BC for the greater portion of each of 6 calendar months out of the immediately preceeding 12 calendar months or you are not a Canadian citizen or Landed immigrant but have been physically present in BC for the greater portion of each of the immediately preceeding 12 calendar months Any how, this is not intended to slam the good people of BC but simply an attempt to show that all things being equal, Alberta's fee structure is more that fair in my opinion. Just food for thought. Murray

I just bought 2 dozen at Wholesale Sports for 15.00, that was for 24 flies. It's hard to beat that price. Murray

Late last year I was also looking for a reel to match up with the same rod. After asking around , I stopped in at Country Pleasures to talk with Mike. His suggestion was to take a look at the Lamson Litespeed. I checked around a bit more and finally settled on the Litespeed. It's very lightweight and matches up with the rod very nicely. It has a good drag on it and smooth operation. Take a look, I dont think you'll be disapointed. Murray

OK Rick, time for me to step up. Please place my bids on the following items #18 $300.00 #19 $350.00 #20 $150.00 #21 $150.00 #22 $60.00 Murray

Its been a long time since I was last up in that area but if memory serves me correctly, there are some smaller creeks that you cross over on the way to Red Earth. I have pulled arctic greyling from some of them but believe me you have a long drive to get to these creeks. For the most part, any of the lakes will have northern pike in them as well as walleye and perch. Lesser Slave Lake is a big lake that you would need a boat for. If you brought an 8 weight and a bunch of big streamers you could do OK. As for any of the greyling streams I think you would have to get a decent map and just go exploring. Murray

Thanks for the replies guys. I need to get a couple of quotes so I'll add these two companies to the list. Murray

Hey all, it looks like I have to redo my roof this year. I was wondering if anyone on the Board has any positive or negative feedback with respect to roofing contractors. In the interest of not publicly trashing a companies reputation, I would appreciate negative comments be sent via personal message. Positive comments would be welcome either way, replies or private message. Thanks for the input. Murray

I also have a 6 wt, tip flex. In my opinion, it is the nicest rod in my arsenal. Its already been mentioned before but talk about lightweight. I matched it up with a Lamson Lightspeed reel and I love it. If you can look past the price without having a heart attack, i promise you wont be dissapointed. Mine doesn't live in the car but if you sent me a note you would be more than welcome to take her down to the river for a day. All I need is the request. Murray

I've had an 11 ft Zodiac for a couple of years now. I haven't done anything special in the way of rigging it up for fishing so no help there. Just after I got it, I picked up a 50 lb. thrust electric motor and thought that would do. If your just going to be trolling and putting around smaller lakes, that works fine but I wanted something a little bigger in case I needede to get off the lake in a storm situation. It didn't take too long before I found a used Honda 7'5 horse motor. I haven't used it very much but I did give it a good test last fall at Whiteswan lake in BC. I clocked my speed with a GPS and found that my top speed was in that 17/18/19 km range. It took quite a while to get up to that speed simply because all of the weight was at the back of the boat and it wouldn't plane right away. By that I mean the bow was riding up in the air, once the bow came down, you could actually feel the speed pick up. With my wife in the boat, to even out the weight a little better, it would reach similar speed much quicker. I also compared the speed with a friend of mine who has a 15 horse Honda. His is faster as you might expect but not that much. He gets about 22 or 23 KM/H. One thing I would highly reccomend is a 12 volt pump to inflate the boat. I got mine at Auto Marine here in town and it is great. It pumps a high volume at low pressure for the first while, to fill the tubes and then automatically switches over to high pressure/low volume to bring the pressure up to full pressure. To power it I use one of those battery boosters from Canadian tire. The only thing extra I use is a portable fish finder off the transom. The boat works great on the Bow. Two people can very comfortably fly fish at the same time. When I get to the far end I simply deflate it, roll it up and put it in my car or truck. Murray

Rick, it was darn good of you to host a bunch of no goodniks. |I enjoyed meeting all you guys. Thanks again Rick Murray

Rick, would you please send me your address. I've got all these paper plates and cups and I dont know where. Murray