Pipestoneflyguy

I worked in a sports store when I was a kid - a bunch of 15 year old kids figured out that they could just wear a new pair of shoes each night and not get caught by the usual inventory checks by leaving the empty boxes in the racks - the mgr would assume the empty boxes were out on display this worked for a while I wonder how it was done at wholesale - ya gotta question the competence of the manager - pretty idiotic thing to let happen

Lets be honest here, how come "I let the ladies walk off first so I can check out their caboose" isn't a poll option LOL I try to be polite to everyone I encounter, in my vehicle or on foot no matter their age or sex I was brought up this way. I'm sure true this will PO some of you because you generally are good people and you take pride in your city but I have some bad news, I travel alot and in the last couple years I have seen two surprising trends, The people in Toronto have become increasingly friendly and polite, I drove to Ontario last summer and spent a week at a friends in TO and was amazed how polite and generous the people have become, meanwhile the people in Calgary have gone the opposite direction, when I moved out here 15 years ago Calgary was an awesome city full of awesome people - I don't know what happened but man have alot of Calgarians have become A-holes now - people are rude and pushy you get honked at all the time now - it seems that Calgary has grown too fast and people always seem frustrated and angry everywhere you go. I was part of a discussion with travellers representing cities and regions from all across Canada the other day - A discussion was sparked by a Calgarian ranting about how f***ed Torontonians are - it took a matter of minutes for everyone in the room to point out that the exact opposite seems to be true, and this was a clear consensus that Calgary has become the place "not to go to" of late - I think maybe Calgarians should hold off on hacking on Southern Ontarions and take a good look in the mirror and maybe start worrying about what Calgary is going to have left to offer when the oil money is gone and their economy will have to rely, in some part on a friendly reputation. Of course almost everyone I have met face to face from Calgary have proven to be great outstanding people but as far as travellers go its the butt heads giving you the finger and honking at you between the airport and your hotel which are going to primarily make or break the cities reputation. I think Calgarians having dicussions about politeness and common coutesy is a pretty good idea - especially if the reputation as a friendly city is of any importance to them -

Hmmm according to the thumb test I should be a lefty but I am not Reel with right, cast with right strip with left - transition has never been a problem, left finger controls drag while I switch - I spey both ways - and will roll cast left once in a while.

Had to debate weighing in on this one, so to cover my backside let me clarify that at anytime I speak here about National Parks or the Agency I am speaking as a concerned citizen not a representitive of the agency. I really don't have any signifigant Great discussion, some of it is remarkably insightful, and some of it is well off the mark To further stimulate conversation I will add a few comments The mandate of the Parks Canada Agency made up of two basic components 1) To protect and preserve natural places in a natural state, and (or ecological Integrety) 2) To be available for the enjoyment of Canadians (Provide an educational and enjoyable visitor experience) In itself the Mandate allows the direction of Parks Canada to vary according to stakeholder interest by containing two somewhat contradictory principles. Stakeholders include the Canadian Public, businesses, government, interest groups, and of course the Agency itself has impact of direction just as legislative authority mandates other aspects of Parks Management. Ultimately Canadians, irregardless of which stakeholder catagory they fit in to have control over the direction of Parks Canada, and this control is manifested by sharing your opinion - attending public forums, round tables and speaking your mind, write letters when you agree or disagree with a new or existing policy, participate in surveys, share your thoughts on future direction with government officials (your MP) The demographics of our society are changing, and as such so is what constitiutes "normal" values and priorities - I saw a recent newspaper article that described Parks Canada as becoming "irrelevant" in the public eye, what has always been intrinsically Canadian may not be such a large component of a our cultural make-up today as it was 20 years ago. Think about this for a bit, the Agency is always seeking input from Canadians, and the fact that fewer citizens are showing interest means your little voice becomes a little louder and a little more important in the sea of public opinion. Ultimately the current existence of National Parks is because this is what Canadians wanted and supported. Just one last thought to ponder - why are barbed hooks still legal in National Parks ? - what does science say about this issue and how it relates to fish mortality - what pressure or feedback is suggesting this is a good policy - who is speaking to Parks Canada on behalf of fishing community, and does that voice represent how YOU feel ?

Oh no - here we go again ! - German Big Macs are gonna be Bun-meat-meat-bun-bun just like Canmore !

Ditto MK - Nick is a great guy and I do appreciate that he always knows your name and is willing to chat. I try to shop in there as much as I can, by supporting him I hope to help ensure he is always there for my own convienence - I've bought a few rods and a ton of tying gear in there, I also buy many of my hunting supplies through Wapiti - All the staff there really know what good customer service means and they always deliver. I went in to the new BPS a couple weeks ago to check things out, the guys in the fly shop were pretty helpful but I was dissapointed with the selection of rods - I ended up buying a 3 wt TFO and one of their White River reels with it, I probably would have spent twice that if they had a little more selection in a mid range (my budget was 500 for a 4 wt). While I was there they handed me a flyer and suggested I check out all the deals, the prices seemed outstanding so I ended up at the till with waders, another belly boat and a whole bunch of other stuff only to find out all the prices in the flyer were american and my total was 3X what I had added up in my head - I wasn't to happy but was willing to shrug it off and send most of the stuff back except the rod package, The manager seemed annoyed which kinda upset me as I figure we are in Canada and if a staff member hands you a flyer it would seem common sense to mention the prices are in american - (how do waders advertised at 54.99 to 74.99 become 154.99 Canadian, that doesn't add up even with the $ difference and duty etc) - The other annoyance was that my SA flyline had a sticker saying you get a free hat, but when I asked for my hat I was told that you had to mail away and it was only for americans - I suggested to the manager that they should grab a a marker and cross off the hat deal so Canadian customers are not mis-lead - she didn't even respond and just walked away. Just goes to show the Value of a guy like Nick and a small shop atmosphere. As for the reel and rod I did take it out to give it a try, as with most TFO's it has a great cast. The reel is pretty nice, it was 145.00 with a large arbour, the only complaint is when retrieving you really have to manage the rewind or it gets to thick and catches the frame - I am going to remove some of the backing and see if that helps, that said though the drag adjustment is very easy to use and covers the needed range in half a turn - so far I really like it. The store is stunning to see, and the staff in the fly shop were knowledgefull and very helpfull, but I found the service from the manager was very poor and left me resigned not to shop there again, she could have at least apologized for me not being told the prices were in US, instead she actually embarrassed me in front of the other customers and spoke to me in a condesending manner suggesting I should have known better, she just stood there shaking her head as she took the stuff away I sent back - so there you go, box store attitude sucks, and they'll be lucky top see any opf my money again now.

Mmmmmm Mmmmmm just like a Tim Treadwell sandwich I LOVE that they gave her a ticket for trespassing

Yep I remember this discussion on FFA, (and who peed their pants too LOL) I think it was shortly after (or before) that discussion I got charged at Corral Creek - In that case I surprised the bear catching him in-between the river and the trail I was on, really I was lucky not to get a swat or worse, of course there was never time to pull out my bear spray or bangers, or for that matter to even remember having them, my only vivid recolection from the charge was the feel of gravel smacking my face as he pulled a 180 and bolted away from me. I have had a lot of bear encounters, many with cubs which is pretty normal if you spend any time in the backcountry in this area (LL). This charge was the only time I felt threatened and of course there was no time for any reaction and really there was no fear until after it all happened and the bear was gone (If it had lasted a few seconds later I'm sure pee would have been the least of my uncontrolled reactions I would have had to worry about). I have had other bears approach cautiously but it was apparent the interest in me was nothing but curiousity with restraint and shared wariness (or fear I suppose). Out of those many occasisions this is the advice I would offer; Don't bother with bangers, obvious reason is your as likely to send the scared bear your way. (and you've turned a wary or curious bear into a scared bear, thats bad for you !) Screamers, same deal, for them to be effective you would have to be far enough away that you could just avoid the problem altogether and go another way, or wait till the bear leaves if that is your only available route. 99% of these sold at retail locations get fired off by drunk campers which is probably safer than firing them at a bear anyway I carry spray. Its really more of a security blanket though, it will likely do nothing but make me FEEL safer, Those high-noon show downs with you and a bear on opposite side of a meadow measuring each other up while deciding to flee or charge rarely ever happen, in reality, if your in just about any situation that would allow time to draw your spray and get into a prescribed firing stance you could also likely put your arms up in the air and slowly back away and save yourself 30 bucks anyway. If a bear persisted or followed me, or became aggressive then I would start thinking about how I would use it. really though I make every possible effort never to get to this point because what control you had over the situation is likely gone and bear vs human rarely turns out well for either party (exception is the girl we had mauled in town here last year that walked out of the old 1A with minor injuries, out of 4 maulings that I have direct knowledge of, only one resulted in a death, and in that case the person involved ran and climbed a tree, in the other situations the injuries were bad) In my humble opinion, the best method is avoidance, know what bears eat, because that is all they care about, if there not eating, they are on there way to find something to eat. Making noise works, more times than I want to admit a sound I made caused a bear to pop its head up close enough for me to stop in my tracks, and nearly every time he took a sniff and a peek and then left the area no harm done. Be wary of blind corners, cubs and berries, these are three things I am always looking for. and one of the three was the root of every other close call I have had I bought a couple little air cans/boat horns. I know truck air horns sometimes send bears sprinting into the woods, other times they don't even raise their heads, It might worth trying as it might not garnish anger as spray occasionally does - I don't know, it seems the fear of loud noise only works so many times - I'm gonna stick with avoidance as a policy though. Lastly here's a fun trick in area where bears are constantly being hazed (here !) - last summer, I impressed my friends a few times by raising up my fly rod like I was cocking and aiming a rifle at a bear and he/she took off running LOL - I managed this three separate times last summer (once with an axe in my backyard). Bears get used to seeing the physical actions of a human in the moments before a rubber bullet slams their backside. replicating the action causes the bear to think he is about to get a rubber bullet and sends em running for the hills. good fun...just pray the bear hasn't reached the his limit for rubber bullets...

I prefer G strings (OK thats lame sorry) I bought what the wife calls an "adult" guitar last year, a 12 string ovation, has built in tuner, cost a cool grand second hand, but man, it even makes a talentless hack like me sound like I know what I'm doing. I just can't get over the difference how much better it sounds than any other axe I have ever had.

I'm suprised TU wasn't able to help you - I would be amazed they don't have that data You may have to tackle the problem in components (regions) - I know in the national park any draw is done by license so you should be able to determine this by contacting Parks Canada and using access to information, same thing for cities. I've come across this type of data in various studies etc etc, sorry I can't specifically remember where I saw it though.

That looks awesome - I vote you keep the chair though

For day-trips, 15K is my limit in one day. At least with my belly boat on my back. Considering I am in my forties, carrying a bit of a spare tire, and walking on a fake hip and knee I expect all the young wipper-snappers on here to be kickin my ass and hiking into fortress at least once a year. Walking out with a headlamp is no big deal, as long as you know the route and hazards - I do it often but I take the trouble to carry a GPS and I make sure someone knows where I am, what time I'll be back, and what to do if I don't show up (spend a day at an alpine lake and walk away from an evening hatch ! who does that ?) I like to pretend every noise I hear behind me is a bear or a cougar, keeps my ass in gear LOL

A buddy emailed me last night talking about hot and heavy dry fly action yesterday in Calgary - described as very good first day out this year Advice here is invaluable, but nothing beats the thrill of going out and experimenting and hooking up unexpectedly. I've hooked a lot of fish using techniques that fly in the face of proven and reccomended methods and hatch charts. Varying from the hatch charts will leave you with the occasional pleasure of having all the guys within sight standing on the bank behind you asking you what your using casue the "proven true" approaches just aren't working thast day - blaze your own trail once in a while, you'll be pleasantly surprised when things go well !!!

Try TUC, I suspect they could tell you.

Oh Yeah - Wilsons in Lake Louise also rents gear and keeps a list of "hot spots" behind the counter. sooo if your headed this way check their list and then don't go to any of those waters LOL

Monods has a decent selection in the summer, but yeah, mostly high end stuff. they do sell some great "local" area fly box's, if your into pimped flies Wapiti in Canmore is nice - great guys run the place, I am trying to convince them of the value of stocking soft hackle. Wilsons in Lake Louise has very little beyond a few essentials - they do stock a few TFO's that could save a weekend gone "snap".

Picked up a 2007 Tacoma last summer, similar to Andy's (4 door 6' box) gratuitous fake and pointless hood scoop LOL Seriously though best truck I have ever had, can't say enough good things about it - smokes like a rocket on the FSR - 9' toon stuffs in with the gate down. Also have a 93 YJ with 6 inches lift, 35" swampers - locked front and rear - more goodies than I can list - gets me to water in BC that very few others see. I also drive a chev 2500HD company vehicle, has an 8.2 litre gas engine, you can hear the sound of hippies crying whenever you punch it LOL If you got the cheddar buy a Taco !

Ha ha - Earth hour - isn't that kinda like wearing a condom with only 1 out of every 24 hookers

Discovered this technique by accident with my rod under my arm in the outlet of Hector Lake - turned that evening gentle little sips into a slam fest - just made sense to tie the next few through the eye and to the shaft. Works awesome with the spey rod.

Hey 420 - check your consumption reccomendations on those glacier fed waters - especially poor circulating or draining lakes - 100 years of polution is rapidly melting off glacial surfaces leaving some nasty stuff, especially in fairly still waters. Most locals up here won't eat much of anything out of Bow Lake these days - more and more stories and examples of mutated and lesioned fish coming out lately. Fish up here grow real slow and so what seems like a young fish can be pretty old, and thus be hauling around a good deal of heavy metals etc etc. fish make almost as good filters as they do meals. For guilt free eating nothing beats fly-in walleye fishing in Northern Ontario (arctic watershed) shore lunch walleye, so fresh it says ouch when you bite it, mmmmmmmm fried up with a pancake batter and cole slaw....ahhhhhh - this thread is killing me...

Save some cheddar and pass on leaders and tippet - el cheapo old mono is great as long as it has some strength left, stiffer stuff (stronger lbs) will allow a little more space in between fly line and fly without knotting up on the cast. I know some guys here go with as little as 3 feet but with some the old mono I used for pike I can get 5 or 6 feet on without messing up the cast (Other than on spey, I only over-head cast streamers a few times a year on an annual pike trip so casting these fat flies is not something I do without any skill or grace what-so-ever, but what I describe works for me) On spey I'll use alot more variation in set up - oh yeah, and on pike I do use a 8" metal leader between the fly and mono I would agree with harps, there are some real experts on streamer fishing here but you'll want to give a little more info if you want specifics in return. G'luck

This is a true story ! A month or so ago, on my way to Calgary I stopped for a Big Mac at the drive through in Canmore - not a word of a lie - I had to call my wife I was so stunned and amazed by this one,....As I opened my Big Mac I noticed that instead of the traditional Bun-meat-bun-meat-bun format I had the ever more creative Bun-meat-meat-bun-cheese-cheese-lettuce-bun variation - amongst the more hilarious McD experiences (face it, anyone who regularly has gone to the McD's in Banff or Canmore has stories like this...) This event clearly supports a theory I have championed for many years - A STRONG ECONOMY DESTROYS THE SERVICE INDUSTRY - Simply put, there is an element of society which has no business being any part of any work force (lets be carefull, I am not talking about the disabled or disadvantaged, this is the "I am capable but don't give a S**t" crowd I am refering too). I have noticed a direct coreleation between the unemployment rate and service industry standards. It seems when unemployment is less than 10% service at front-line retail businesses goes to hell. You ask for a battery at Canadian tire, and a kid with a face like a Xmas trree hands you a rad hose, you stop for a Big Mac, you get a bun-meat-meat-bun-bun format. I theorize a good healthy 10% unemployment rate keeps these jokers out of the mix - excuse the Darwinian reference but back in the real old days this segment of society was eliminated through natural process. Now-a-days our uber health & safety conscious society protects these folks from their true destiny of becoming a teenage meat-waffle - really !!! who invented the skateboarding helmet and what were they thinking, what nerve ! defying natural process !!!!! - Lets test my theory - anyone here currently living in Ontario ? - I bet the McDonald's in Ontario are running like a finely tuned assembly line right about now LOL (OK thats just mean and spitefull !!!) Anyway those fretting the economic decline rest assured, if you look hard enough, you can find the good in anything - and the good to be had here is that the dude making your Big Mac just might be capable of figuring out that whole bun-meat-bun-meat-bun thing, no such thing as "overqualified" in my book !!!!!! I say screw the economy - lets save the fast food industry !!!!!

Timberline Outfitters (Paul Peyto's outfit) in Lake Louise will do this in areas where horses are permitted. I also use a local kid as a porter, If you pm some specifics I might be able to find you someone - also,... most climber's will work for bits of food and shiny trinkets. LOL

Lady - the reason they were moving was to get closer to helicopter traffic which they could hear going by in the distance. They best thing a person can do is leave a trip itinerary with someone you trust. This must include your timelines, route and destination, who is in your party, and where you are parking with vehicle details, - plus you obviously should set a specific time at which your trusted friend will approach authorities if you have not returned as scheduled. Many area's offer a free registration service, for example in the Lake Louise area you can register your plans with the local visitor reception centre, if you fail to check in as scheduled, Parks will initiate steps to find you. Last year I had to threaten breaking a relationship with a fishing partner because he would constantly say we were going one place when we were actually going somewhere else, his idea was that our wives wouldn't inadvertantly give away our spots (Geez its not like we were fishing the fountain of youth or something) anyway for obvious reasons this was a foolish practice I wanted no part of - if something happened all efforts would be in the wrong place. I saw this happen first hand - some of you probably remember 14 years ago three teenage kids went missing out of bounds at Ski Louise for 3 days - 2 of the kids were first year who made the typical mistake of trusting someone who had been in the mountains for a couple years but in reality had no skills what-so-ever. The 2 newbies were roommates of mine and further to trusting the wrong guy (who took them down pumpkin bowl instead of purple bowl which is 180 deg in the wrong direction) they also told all their friends they were going one place when they actually went somewhere else so the first two days of searching were focused in the wrong area. Only by the grace of god were these lucky enough to stumble across the Baker Creek cross country trail and find their way out - hours before this happened, after three days of searching in heavy weather the Wardens had just cancelled the search (assuming they must have been buried in an avalanche or some othe fate) so these kids were very lucky despite some remarkably bad decisions. I think the proliferation of electronoc devices is a wonderful thing for improving ovewall safety but the trend to depend on these things is really scary. Heavy snow fall or even heavy cloud cover can render GPS based devices completly useless - I carry a Sat phone and a GPS, problem is that huge areas behind mountain shadows recieve no reception, what if I break a leg in one of these spots, I would be hooped ! It is stunning to me that folks don't ALWAYS posses some basic orienteering skils and carry both map and compass and clearly understand how to use them. Even Park radios have limitation and are subject to failure at repeater stations, and of course cell phones are marginal at the best of times. There is no better approach than leaving good details with someone you trust. (PS also make sure your trusted person knows who to actually contact if you don't return as scheduled as well) PS be realistic with your return/response deadline - for example My wife knows not to call for help unless I am 12 hours late returning, as I am capable of surviving a night out and would not want a search initiated given I might decide to bunker-down rather travel during an unexpected storm, for example. This is a personal judgement R~

Thanks for all the comments - I've learned alot in the last week (The photos have gotten ALOT of attention in this area, its been an onslaught of giving permissions for various uses) - I guess they are truly a docile animal - I am told that hisotically aboriginals used to hunt them by just walking up to them and bonking them in the head with a stick - a trapper also told me he occaisonally catches them in his hare snares, funny thing is the Lynx can easily snap the brass wire in a rabbit snare but often they will not bother and just lay down and wait for the trapper to set them loose. Sounds like a few have seen that trait up close. I can't believe anyone would want to hunt these, about as much challenge as hunting a house cat. A warden I know went to the site the next day and spotted two lynx hanging out there, so even a bigger thrill for him I don't mind sharing so if anyone wants an original res copy via email PM me with an email big enough for a 7.2p PS camera is a pretty afordable 7.2 fugi with a fixed , but large, lense. I'll get the actual model number if anyone wants it.