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

I'm in for Max's day on the river at $300.00. Murray

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

I just got back from 3 excellant hours of spey casting instruction from Courtney. It was the best lesson that I have taken. Although you couldn't call me proficient yet, I feel that I can at least make the rod work for me now. If it weren' for a previous commitment this afternoon, I would still be out there practising these new skills. Courtney, youre a hell of a teacher and I had fun playing on the water. Val, if you're reading this, how much do you want for that 13 ft. rod you lent to C. For the guys that couldn't make it out, too bad, you missed a great lesson. See you all on the river. Murray

Courtney, please sign me up for one of your casting lessons on Saturday morning. 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

There seem to be a lot of sage and loomis guys on here. A couple of years ago, i picked up an Orvis T3 8'6" 4 wt rod. I love it. I would like to echo what a couple of the other guys have already said, dont buy the rod untill you have had a chance to spend a couple of hours casting it. If you like, I could meet up with you and you could try my Orvis for a while. I'm busy for the next couple of weeks but after that I'd be happy to meet you on the river. 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

Courtney, if this would take place on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday sign me up for one of the private lessons. Preferably a morning time slot. 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

Courtney, I am interested in one of the last year demo units c/w reel and line. Let me know what kind of price range I'm looking at for a 6 0r 6 weight setup. 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

I know los of guys have already said it, but I started with the beginners couse at Country Pleasures. It helped in several different ways. First of all, there are lots of ways to do most of the tying procedeurs. The instructor showed us a couple of ways that seemed to simplify it for me. You dont have to fumble around and get frustrated trying new tecniques when there is an easier method. There are also a few other online resources that may be helpfull. Try www.troutflies.com. If you go to the tutorials section, they have lots of different patterns complete with step by step accompanied with pictures. I think there is a video of the whip finish as well. I'll tell you Hack, there is nothing quite like catching your first fish on a fly that you tied yourself. Murray

What a great game, did anyone else get the goosebumps when they played the national anthem? They played with a lot of heart and soul in this one. mURRAY

Gary, that is a great comment. The only thing that prevents you from learning new things is your attitude. You're never too old to learn. We have some really good fly fishers on this board with a ton of experience, some of them close to 30 years younger than me. The amount of time they spend on the water in one year will equal 3 or 4 years of fishing for me. One other thing I relearned this year, the fish can be very close to the shore. Do not ignore the water 1 or 2 feet from the banks. I've known this for a long time but simply forgot. I float the Bow frequently on my pontoon and constantly try to fish the current seams 30 ft. from shore. I do have limited success doing this but this past year, I tried to get as close as possible to the shore. the results were several fish over 20 inches that were hanging in that shallow water a foot off the banks. Happy New Year everyone Murray

I've been every year it has been here. I wont miss it. Where else can you get a personal demo on tying flies from the likes of Jack Dennis, Bob Clouser and Jim Teeny. If you want a hands on instruction and coaching sit in on some of the 2 hour clinics. There are three that I intend to take in this time around. The casting pool is a great place to try your hand at virtually any rod being sold, this is a pretty broad statement and may be exagerated a little but there sure are a lot of choices. I have gotten a couple of deals every year, from complete rod, reel and line outfits to tying equipment. I mark this one on my calender every year. Oh, and you'll probably meet up with a bunch of people from the board as well. Murray

Lynn, we have been on the Bell system for quite a long time. I just checked my recieve signal on the reciever and it shows 90 percent. I work with antennaes all the time at work and as far as I know, the most logical reasons for a weak recieve signal can be attributed to any one of the following, miss aligned antennae, obstructions between the antennae and the sattelite, trees, other houses and the sort. possibly snow covering the antennae surface, if the antennae is mounted under the roof line say on a wall for instance, it may not have a clear view of the sky faulty signal pickup thingy on the antennae (in the old days they were called LNB) or other faulty equipment. Heavy cloud cover can restrict the recieve signal as well My question for you is have you ever had a good strong recive signal and then it deteriorated? If so, that might point to a miss aligned antennae. Send me a message and maybe I can take a stab at realigning the antennae for you. I live in the south part of town, close to Fishtales. Murray

ey trout, I went looking for another site and found this one. Take a look http://www.theflybench.com/nymph/fly0323.htm Murray