Gary

most likely was eating snails

The dog was obviously chasing rabbits. Whined and yelped all her life when she was chasing rabbits. With out a doubt the air coming out of that nose was warm!

young ruffed grouse taken at the beginning of July

Thanks Dank.....yes that one was taken just on the outskirts of Coleman. We have quite a good population here in the Pass with more in the Lee Lake area and the largest huntable population would be in the Porcupine hills. I have never gotten a draw for a hunt here but hope to oneday

The most interesting, and scary, happened on my first excursion to explore those storied, magnificent, bountiful trout streams in the scenic, surroundings of West Central Alberta. After testing the Raven (where I camped) and of course Stauffer, my young springer and I took off in search of the type of stream I was more familiar with. The Clearwater had to fit the bill. So off we went late in the afternoon full of hope and the promise of exciting new places to fish. Way up on the Clearwater we went, back into some of the most beautiful wild country I had ever fished in. The fishing was exactly what I expected with lots of nice brookies and small bulls eager to take most flies offered. In the thrill of fishing I had ignored my year old springer, then realized she was gone. I called. No dog. I called again. No dog. Now I started searching up the river calling as I went. No dog. Soon I heard her howling and whining in a horrible fashion. The hair on the back of my neck was rigid and I was sick to my stomach with fear for her and myself. The beautiful mountains that looked so friendly and inviting just a short time ago now intimidated me with their forbidding and menacing stature. The tall pines were now dark and threatening. The howling and whimpering continued to fill me with fear. What do I do? I am torn between helping my dog, who is obviously stressed and in pain, or hightailing it back to the truck. I am really regretting coming this far by myself. Like all those stupid people in horror movies I act against my best interests and continue to search for my dog. Calling, calling. I can hear her still howling and whining. The sound of her anguish and pain constantly changing in volume and direction. I call again and again. Finally! She comes running to me her tongue hanging out and her stubby tail wagging a hundred miles an hour as happy as can be. Petting her I notice there is not a scratch on her let alone the bite marks from a cat or grizzly I was expecting. Well I have had enough for one day and we head back to the truck bypassing all those deep blue holes and fishy looking runs to head back to the campground, the friendlier Raven River and its hungry browns. Next morning while having breakfast I grab my bible (Alberta Fishing Guide) and search for somewhere else to go. Obviously the upper Clearwater is out of the question. There it is it jumps out at me the Tay River. Drove over it going up to the Clearwater the day before. There is a little campground or day use area beside the bridge and downstream aways the magazine says it dumps into a lake which should also be good fishing. Sounds like a winner. So off we go. Armed with my brand new seven and half foot browning 5 weight (can’t fish storied waters with anything cruder than that) I picked up at Russels downtown Calgary on my way up to the Raven, Checkers and I head down the creek. For those that don’t know the Tay it is far from being a river. What a jungle it is. The creek is choked with willows. The stream is full of trees that have fallen or blown over. It is all but impossible to navigate the banks and harder to fish with a fly rod. So I decide we will just fight our way down to the lake. It was a struggle fighting the brush. In one of the thinner pieces of brush Checkers flushes a rabbit. Off she goes howling and whining like a banshee. So that all that’s was happening on the Clearwater she was chasing rabbits. She had a blast the area was full of them hares and I could hear her chasing rabbits this way and that but never did see her much. She would check in with me once in awhile just to ensure I was still in the neighborhood. If it is possible we got into some even thicker bush and now Checkers is at my feet and I am constantly tripping on her. She won’t leave me. Course now I am wondering what the hell I am doing here, the willows are getting thicker the dog is being a real nuisance underfoot. This is not fun. In all this struggling we are probably 20 to 30 minutes from the truck when I get almost stuck in the willows. Struggling and wiggling with my dog wrapped around my legs I stick my head through an opening in the willows. Turn my head and my nose touches something very warm and my eyes are locked in the gaze of some very big brown eyes! I am nose to nose, eyeball to eyeball with a big brown bear! I still do not know to this day what that bear did but somehow I ended up back in my truck in half the time it took me to get down to that bears home. Funny thing I haven’t tried to fish the Tay since.

Over the years I have learned high pressure areas are the best for consistent fishing. As the barometer rises the fishing gets progressively better. The longer the high pressure stays the better the fishing gets. Feeding frenzies can be spurred under other conditions of course but they are generally the result of a specific hatches.

The puppy is a timber wolf. Probably a year old and not quite full grown. The bull trout is quite a story. Earlier in the day Doug, guy with the pictured bull, hooked a small cutty and out comes a bull after it chasing it around the hole. Doug lands the cutt and I put on a streamer and catch the bull. A nice one over 26 inches. Same hole 3 hours later Doug hooks another small cutty and out comes the bull pictured chasing the cutt around the hole. Quickly I change to a streamer when Doug hollers the bull has the cutt and a major battle ensues. Doug is really horsing the two fish around trying to reclaim his trout. Bull does not give an inch he wants that little cutt badly. The bull has the cutt firmly in his big mouth sideways and wont give up. Pretty soon the bull is giving poor Doug a battle he wasn't bargaining for. (Course I am chastising him for bait fishing while the battle rages.) He gets the bull close again after a few minutes and we can no longer see the cutt in his mouth. Naturally we think the bull had to of swallowed the poor little guy. Shortly Doug lands the bull, his size 14 caddis hooked neatly in the bulls upper lip. We spot the cutty up higher in the hole dead on the bottom. Go figure!

Met a guy from Toronto on the weekend and we went fishing today with another gentleman from Millarville, met this on the way to the river At the river he is quite happy with this

Been fishing with dogs for over 30 years and have had fun with all 3 of them. Each dog was different to fish with but all of them made the day more enjoyable. My first dog, a springer, hated cows and I had to watch her when we were around them but she was well behaved and didn't chase. Ran into a bear with her on the Tay river (told that story on the old alberta forum) and once she flushed a mature Golden Eagle into me. My Brittany was content to sit and watch me fish and was always pleasant to be with. My current dog (chocolate lab) was nuts when he was young but now is lots of fun to have around when I am alone. When others are with me he tends to bark wanting to play fetch. He believes all humans were put on earth to throw things for him to retrieve. I really can't imagine going out without my dog. They definately add to the day...not to mention it breaks their hearts if they know you are going fishing and you leave them.

You came down to our area and never called? I would of been happy to get out with you. The behaviour is understandable in areas with lots of human traffic...the fish get used to seeing people on their turf and are therefore not alarmed by our presence. You will also find this on the livingstone, Michel Creek, and other heavily fished streams.

My fishing friend Gus

Pflueger medalist, still the best value for the money out there....have been using one for going on 30 years and doubt that I will have to replace it any time soon. Any of the middle to upper end Hardy's. Currently I have been using 2 Hardy reels since about 1979. A Hardy Golden Prince and a Hardy Zenith. Both have been worth every penny spent on them. The Golden Prince is the reel I use well over 90% of the time.

The only thing I would do now is go fish it

There is a campground out at Crowsnest Mountain Resort but I believe they have it completely booked, but call anyway. Lost Lemon is quite a nice campground with a pool and other nicities.

Barnaby 1978 or 79

Hmmm looks like they should be addressing safety issues there. Hell of a spot to park a pickup!!