murray

AJ, first off, I would like to congratulate you on your self control. With some people,that jerk may well have ended up in the drink. I dont condone or suggest violence was the right response but this guy is such an ass. I hope with some persuation, you are able to talk your son into joining you on the river again. I know its been said before but we're not all elitest,insensitive jerks. I know how sensitve young children are as I have a 4 year old granddaughter that would just fold if someone was talking to her as this idiot did to you and your son. My granddaughter has just started asking if I can take her fishing with me. Just for the record, I would also remove the hook from her lure and I would most likely use a spinng outfit myself. I can't see a single thing wrong with that. Murray

Peter, I bought one a couple of years ago. Mine isn't the self inflating kind but the kind where you have to pull the cord also. The reason I stayed away from the hydrostatic type was a thought that it may inflate if you got splashed and soaked the PFD. I have since heard that the hydrostatic style will not inflate unless it is activated by a certain amount of water pressure ie:submerged in 4" of water. As far as practicality goes, its great for floating the Bow or other water. It's compact enough to wear comfortably underneath my fishing vest. The hydrostatic type was more expensive as well. Murray

Back in late September, I had the misfortune to break the tip section of my Orvis Zero Gravity rod. A couple of weeks after we returned home, I took the rod in to Country Pleasures to see what my options were. The staff at Country Pleasures were courteous and helpfull beyond belief. I was told that a shipping charge of 55.00 and little bit of waiting on my part was all that was required. They took my broken tip section and told me that because of production runs it might take 2 or 3 months to get it back. Well this past week I got a call from the shop that my rod was in. I was quite pleased at the quick turn around. When I stopped in this morning I was totally surprised to see that Orvis had replaced my Zero Gravity with a brand new Helios rod. To say I was pleased is a major understatement, I am thrilled. Way to go Orvis. To the Country Pleasures staff, I truly enjoy shopping at your store. The staff are all very helpfull and friendly. Sincerely Murray Aberdeen

I find this discussion very interesting. I know this topic has been talked about before but I sit here wondering why it is an issue at all. If it's all about protecting the Alberta Guiding community, ensuring that guides from outside of Alberta do not work here, then I think this is a topic to be discussed between the guides themselves. If this movement resulted in higher sportfishing liscence fees for me, I wouldn't be all that pleased. If the liscencing of guides resulted in safer, better trained(first aid CPR that sort of thing, I'm all for it. Would the end result be fewer numbers of guides on the river, I dont think so. For me personly, I cant see too many benefits and possibly a couple of downside points. I would not like to see my cost increase in order to liscence a bunch of guides. Murray

I've bought lots from Thorne's Manufacturing in the past and been quite happy with them. The prices are good, and they have an excellant selection. I started buying from their postings on E Bay as well as going directly to their on line store. Murray

I like the Fly Fusion magazine as well. In my opinion, it is a first rate magazine with top notch stories,pictures and an excellant fly tieing section as well. My only complaint is it only comes out 4 times a year. The other magazine I subscribe to is The Canadian Fly Fisher. When I first started my subscription, it had stories on alot of the water I fish here in Alberta. Over the years it has tried to pretty much cover all of Canada so there seems to be less stories from around here. It's still a good read though. It also has a small section about fly tying. Murray

Terry,my wife and I spent 4 or 5 days at Whiteswan in early September. We saw the same moose on the east end of the lake as well. She wasn't too worried about a couple of curious people in a zodiak and just kept on doing her own walk and wade. I got a couple of shots of her but they didn't turn out as nice as yours. We also spotted a grizzly on the north side, a couple of miles west of the campground. As far as the fishing goes, I did manage a couple of nice 20 inchers as well but I foud they were pretty spooky. I caught both of mine in the shallows on the east end of the lake. One was on a red Doc Sprately and one on my own version of an olive coloured Damsel nymph. I found the best way for me was to spot a fish, the water is crystal clear, and cast well out in front of it and slowly retrieve it back on a sink tip line. Murray

That was one of the funniest posts ever on this forum. I almost couldn't stop laughing. You made my day, thanks Murray

Try the Wyndham/Carsland campground. It's right on the river just past the town of Carsland. Lots of big trees and if your into birdwatching,you'll love it. Murray :$*%&:

Lynn, a few years ago, we had a wasp nest in the foam insulation of our hot tub. Our solution was to call an exterminator to deal with it. This was after lots of unsuccessfull attempts ourselves. The reason for my message isd to suggest what the exterminator guy told us. He said that the spray, foam oven cleaner is made from similar stuff they sell under the name of wasp killer. The good thing is that it;s cheaper too. Good luck on the Bees Lynn. Murray

The last deep cycle battery I bought (last Sept.) was from Interstate Batteries over on Barlow Tr. and about 61 ave. I paid $40.00 for a large capacity one. The deal is the ones that do not sell in their retail outlets in a certain amount of time, I think it's a year all get brought back and sold as out dated at a reduced cost. The selection varies depending on several factors but it's worth a trip or phone call anyway. When I was there last I asked if there really is a reason to use the RV type of battery or was it just a scam. I got a very good answer from the the guy at the counter explaining just what the difference is between a standard car battery and a deep cycle type. I can't relate it here but the explanation madse a lot of sense. The long and the short of it was, for things like a trollng motor, the deep cycle is the best option by far. Murray

I'd be up for another cleanup this year. Maybe we could convince Bass Pro to kick in a donation this year. Just as a SIDE note, the hook and hackle club did a cleanup last weekend from policeman's upstream to the bridge as well as downstream. We didn't get a huge amount of garbage but still managed 15 or 20 bags. I had heard that another group did a cleanup within the city limits on the same day. Because of these two cleanups, I wonder if maybe later in the year might make more sense? Murray

Bandee, I dont often reply to photo post, I just like to view them. I really enjoyed your pictures. The colour on the little Brown trout was beautifull, and I really liked the shot of the red building through the trees. The river looks like a great fishing stream. Keep posting pictures, I enjoyed them. Murray

Thanks for the "heads up". I occasionally launch my pontoon from there. Murray

I'm heading out there within the hour. Anybody want to tag along? My cell number is 650 7403, I can drive by and pick you up. Murray

How much were they asking for the mid-arbour reels? In late February I was on a course in Nashville and stopped in at the Bass Pro store there. They were right in the middle of a big sale and had those reels on special for 99.00 US. The regular price was 129.00. I thought long and hard before I walked away. As with all of the Orvis reels, I thought it was a real nice piece of equipment. Murray

As Everyone else has said, those flies are great, I would sure be interested to see how they were tied. As Teck said, could you be talked into giving us the recipie? Murray Edit, I just viewed the two video links that Pacres posted. They are a great step by step of the second caddis. It's a real simple tie so now I need some small green wool.

Gary, I'm sorry to hear about your loss. Think of all the good times you had . That picture tells a good story. Murray

We've been doing a little house cleaning here lately. One of the things I came across ths a copy of the fishing regs from 1981. I thought I would thumb through them to see what has changede over the years. The first thing I noticed was simply the size of the regs. I guess there wern't as many rules back then, the regs fold up to the same size as a provincial road map. Inside I saw that it cost a whole 5.00 for a yearly liscence for a resident,12.00 for a non resident who was not a canadian. Rick, you would have been OK, a resident was defined as someone who makes his home and is ordinarily present in Alberta. when I got to the various regions, I noticed that all of the tributaries to the right downstream bank of the Crowsnest River were closed from April 1 1981 to March 31 1982. Hey wait a minute, isn't that a whole year? From April 1/81 to May 31/81 the Bow river was closed from bearspaw Dam downstream to Bassano. I started to look at some of the Alberta Angling Records and wondering if any of these records still stand today. A 12 lb 14 oz Brookie was caught in 1967. 12 lb 5 oz Brown trout caught in 1939' 8 lb 15 oz Cuttie caught in 1950 25 lb 13 oz Dolly Varden ( I know, Bull trout now but identified as a Dolly varden in the guide) caught in 19474 lb 7 oz Golden trout in 1965 16lb 7.4 oz Rainbow caught bin 1975 52 lb 8 oz Lake trout in 1929 there are lots more but I'm running out of steam. Another interesting thing was the possetion limits. You could keep up to 5 Dolly Varden,5 Arctic greyling,30 perch,10 Pike,5 Walleye2 Sturgeon/year10 trout in lakes and 5 in streams with a few exceptions at certain locations. All in all, it was an interesting read. Murray

I agree with the other comments about the Fly Fishing section being smaller and tucked away in the corner. I've been in two of their stores, one in Nashville and the other in Las Vegas. Both stores were set up very similar. That being said, they did have a pretty good selection of rods and such. The prices were O.K. but not blow your mind cheap. They both had a fairly decent selection of tying material but not better than any of the dedicated shops already here. My impression of both stores that I was in was lots of clothing, shirts,outer wear, rain wear etc. lots of electronics, fish finders and the like and lots of other fishing gear(spinning,spin cast and big fish tackle. They also had a pretty big selection of big ticket items like boats,motors and trailer packages. These(the boats) were the only things I looked at that seemed like a great deal. When it's all said and done, you bet, I'll certainly stop in to check it out but it will never replace the stores that I already shop in. Fish Tales, Country Pleasures, Russells, Wholesale Sports and The Fishing Hole. These fine stores have always treated me well and I will continue to support them. Murray

I also recommend the Force fins. I have 2 sets of fins, the first set were not Force fins and they didn't perform nearly as well as the Force fins. I know the others have already mentioned it but the leg straps are a must have. Murray

I've been using a #14 olive soft hackle with good success for the last couple of summers. Try using it as a dropper tied to a bigger San Juan Worm to get it along the bottom. I imagine a tan colour would work well also. Murray

So, it seems like everyone really enjoyed the show, I know I did. I've been to the show every year it has been held. The Fly Fusion group do a great job putting this together and for that I thank you. I know it's a trade show and geared to sell stuff, but I like it for several reasons, some of which have already been spoken about. So what did everybody do except wander around and meet old friends? How many sat in on any of the 2 hour seminars? It's not often a guy like me can listen to the likes of Brian Chan and Phil Rowley. They were both excellant seminars and I feel like I gained some valuable insight on fishing lakes for all manner of fish. I also couldn't turn down the excellant deal on my brand new Snowbee 12 ft. rod and reel. Why the heck is it too cold out to be learning a new casting style. Toolman, can we move up the next spey clinic? I've got the itch now. If you see an old guy flailing away like a mad man in the comming weeks, stop by and give me some pointers. Murray

I have several anti static bags that can be had for the asking. Just send me a message. 1 bag should build about a million or so of these bugs. Murray

Birchy, a number of years ago, a friend of mine had a Datsun,280Z for sale. A couple of guys phoned up to take a look at it. They asked to take it for a test drive down to the end of the block. This is a 2 seater so Bill just let the two of them take it. They looked like they could be trusted. It turns out that they couldn't. Bill didn't gert the car back for about a week, fortunately it wasn't trashed. He called it a lesson and doesn't do that anymore. Anyway, in answer to your question, I would discuss the issue with the owner and either have him join you for the trip to the mechanic or see what worked for him. I doubt if he will sell the vehicle without a mechanical inspection so he might just want to go with you and make sure the mechanic isn't your brother or something like that. Those are my thoughts anyway. Murray