murray

Lornce, that is a really good idea. I wouldn't cost all that much more to make and might increase sales. Murray

I tried to get her to sit on my lap, but she knows what happens next. She said no.

That was a very exciting game! It was pretty intense for the third period. My wife couldn't sit down for the last20 minutes.

The owl picture is my favorite. All very nice shots though.

Hey Vagabond, your right, that is an excellent tutorial. I'm going to use it myself. Murray

Relk, check into The Hook and Hackle club. They have a beginner tying type of class. You would have to join the club. They have a booklet on their web site that should be a help to you.

Nice ties Conor. Murray

A Newfoundland painter by the name of Skipper Drover,while not a brilliant scholar, was a gifted portrait artist. Over a number of years, his fame grew and soon people fromall over the country were coming to him in Long Harbour for his paintings. One day, a very attractive young woman pulled up to his housein a stretch limo and askedSkipper if he would paint her in the nude. This was the first time anyone had made this request and it hadSkipper a bit perturbed. The beautiful lady told him that money was no object. In fact, she was willing to pay him up to $5,000 cash. Not wanting to get into trouble with his wife, Skipper asked the lady to wait while he went in the house andconferred with Rose, his missus. In a few minutes he returned and said to the lady, "T'would be me pleasure to paint yer portrait, missus. The wife says it's okay. I'll paint ya in da nude, but I have ta leave me socks on so I have someplace to wipe me brushes.

Nice to see this thread return.

Drafting Guys Over 50. This is funny & obviously written by a Former Soldier... New Direction for any war: Send Service Vets over 50! I am over 50 and the Armed Forces thinks I'm too old to track down terrorists. You can't be older than 42 to join the military. They've got the whole thing ass-backwards. Instead of sending 18-year olds off to fight, they ought to take us old guys. You shouldn't be able to join a military unit until you're at least 35. For starters, researchers say 18-year-olds think about sex every 10 seconds. Old guys only think about sex a couple of times a month, leaving us more than 280,000 additional seconds per day to concentrate on the enemy. Young guys haven't lived long enough to be cranky, and a cranky soldier is a dangerous soldier. 'My back hurts! I can't sleep, I'm tired and hungry.' We are bad-tempered and impatient, and maybe letting us kill some ***hole that desperately deserves it will make us feel better and shut us up for a while. An 18-year-old doesn't even like to get up before 10am. Old guys always get up early to pee, so what the hell. Besides, like I said, I'm tired and can't sleep and since I'm already up, I may as well be up killing some fanatical son-of-a-bitch. If captured we couldn't spill the beans because we'd forget where we put them. In fact, name, rank, and serial number would be a real brainteaser. Boot camp would be easier for old guys.. We're used to getting screamed and yelled at and we're used to soft food. We've also developed an appreciation for guns. We've been using them for years as an excuse to get out of the house, away from the screaming and yelling. They could lighten up on the obstacle course however... I've been in combat and never saw a single 20-foot wall with rope hanging over the side, nor did I ever do any pushups after completing basic training. Actually, the running part is kind of a waste of energy, too... I've never seen anyone outrun a bullet. An 18-year-old has the whole world ahead of him. He's still learning to shave, to start a conversation with a pretty girl. He still hasn't figured out that a baseball cap has a brim to shade his eyes, not the back of his head. These are all great reasons to keep our kids at home to learn a little more about life before sending them off into harm's way. Let us old guys track down those terrorists. The last thing an enemy would want to see is a couple million pissed off old farts with bad attitudes and automatic weapons, who know that their best years are already behind them. HEY!! How about recruiting Women over 50...in menopause!!! You think MEN have attitudes?? Ohhhhhhhhhhhh my God!!! If nothing else, put them on border patrol. They'll have it secured the first night! Send this to all of your senior friends...it's in big type so they can read it.

A successful rancher died and left everything to his devoted wife She was a very good-looking woman and determined to keep the ranch, but knew very little about ranching, so she decided to place an ad in the newspaper for a ranch hand.. Two cowboys applied for the job. One was gay and the other a drunk. She thought long and hard about it, and when no one else applied she decided to hire the gay guy, figuring it would be safer to have him around the house than the drunk. He proved to be a hard worker who put in long hours every day and knew a lot about ranching. For weeks, the two of them worked, and the ranch was doing very well. Then one day, the rancher's widow said to the hired hand, "You have done a really good job, and the ranch looks great. You should go into town and kick up your heels." The hired hand readily agreed and went into town one Saturday night. One o'clock came, however, and he didn't return. Two o'clock and no hired hand. Finally he returned a round two-thirty, and upon entering the room, he found the rancher's widow sitting by the fireplace with a glass of wine, waiting for him. She quietly called him over to her.. "Unbutton my blouse and take it off," she said. Trembling, he did as she directed. "Now take off my boots." He did as she asked, ever so slowly. "Now take off my socks." He removed each gently and placed them neatly by her boots. "Now take off my skirt." He slowly unbuttoned it, constantly watching her eyes in the fire light. "Now take off my bra.." Again, with trembling hands, he did as he was told and dropped it to the floor. Then she looked at him and said, "If you ever wear my clothes into town again, you're fired

Those are great. I might try it myself.

Sure made for an exciting last couple of minutes for sure. I couldn't sit down. Great game, enjoyed every minute of it.

I also use a Renzetti Traveler vise. It is a smooth operating piece of equipment. Last year at the Fly Fishing show in January, I bought a Snowbee vise. It is not so smooth and as a result, I seldom use it. Murray

I know several of our FFC members have served time in our Canadian Armed Forces. I just wanted to say a personal thank you for all you have done. Sincerely. Murray

Already completed this survey.

I agree Lornce, you should wright a book, but that would take you away from the streams for a while. Murray

I agree about the MORE POWER statement but two big factors made the decision for me. The single stage units, no matter what brand, clean right down to the pavement. That and the smaller units, ie: single stage take up significantly less room in the garage when put away. That was a big factor for me.

Al, I went through this last year. After asking around and checking out KIJIJI, I finally settled on a single stage Honda. My considerations were as follows. Single stage unit is smaller in size and easier to store away when not in use. Single stage will clean down to the concrete where a dual stage leaves a thin (1/2") layer of snow over. Honda reliability. Ease of starting. I settled on a 7 HP unit and in retrospect, I think a 5 HP unit would be adequate. I would have been happy to buy used but could not find one. Murray

Not to worry guys, I talked to him the other day. Murray

I have always thought there were interesting people with interesting stories out there. Keep them coming, it makes for some interesting reading for sure.. Murray

Braden, I totally agree with Mr. Botangles, don't look at the brand name and cast as many different rods as you can get your hands on. A top end, expensive rod may not suit your casting style. Settle on the rod that feels best to you. Now, having said that, I have a 4 wt Orvis that you are welcome to try out. It's not for sale so I'm not trying to unload a rod on you but if you want to cast it, send me a note and we can work something out. Murray

leading up to my actual retirement date, I found I was very uneasy about how to fill in my days. I thought fishing would account for about half of the days while the odd project might account for the rest of my time. Boy, was that ever wrong. I think I've had the rod out about 10 times since the end of April. Filling in the rest of the time has been very easy. That snow storm took about 3 weeks of cleaning up and hauling away branches from my neighbours and friends that I hadn't really counted on. I guess you could call me an apprentice retiree. I think you have to learn how to slow down and do things for yourself. Quite a change from thinking about everyone else for the last 46 years. I bought my first fly rod in 1969 in Edmonton Sporting Goods, a fibreglass rod, reel and line combo for $20.00 all in. I had no clue as to how to fish it so for the next 40 years it just collected dust downstairs. I took it out a couple of years ago and compared it to my newer graphite rods. Man, what a difference. It felt like I was waving around a 9 ft. Frozen rope. The thing flexed from the Handel all the way to the tip. Rod technology has come a long way in the last 40 years. One benefit to being retired is that now I can go fishing on weekdays and leave the weekends to the crowds. It is a nice change. Murray

I've been a member of this Forum for several years now and have been curious about, Who you are, What do you do for a living and How did you come to be fishing the Bow or other waters around here. I'll start off by saying I recently retired from a 46 year career of working on communication towers. That career took me to every part of Canada except the Maritime provinces. The shortest tower was a 15 ft. Tower on top of a mountain and the tallest was over 1100 ft in Manitoba. I came to Calgary from Edmonton 35 years ago to work for Calgary Power( now Altalink). I started fly fishing the Bow 12 years ago through a program at work called the Wellness fund. That program paid for my lessons and a few rods.

Most of the lakes have good access from shore. I guess it depends on the species of fish you're after. For trout, try chain lake, Dewits pond by Airdrie, kanasakis Lake. For pike, any of the irrigation lakeshave good fishing from shore. Try the Glenmore Reservoir, Chestermere lake,gull lake, Sylvan lake, lake Newell, Pine Coulee. Really, there is no end to the pike lakes around here. If you are financially challenged and can't afford a boat, check ot some used pontoon boats. You can pick one up for a fairly reasonable price and it will open up a lot of options. Good luck Murray