Pipestoneflyguy

Wow - is that ever a knee to the nads LOL - at least she didn't hook up a 30"er on that first cast !

My spey line is a dual colour - comes in pretty handy. I've heard its not that uncommon for folks to mark their line as well (with a marker) - Using a heavy fly may require a minor adjustment in line out. TM did you see Dino has a 450 gr skagit head for sale - think I'll pick it up for my Hanson if no one takes it by the weekend. Do you know ballpark what a running line would cost (I've already got a wallet full of tips)

Can't argue with you on that TM but I will admit to messing around alot like that this summer (after I am finished actually fishing the water I'm in though) - Its not to show-off or anything like that (No ones watching anyway), its just my way of trying to improve two aspects of my one handed spey casting - 1) one thing is getting the timing of the forward cast as tight as possible with the tag touch down - I find when I am looking down at the tag I tend to get sloppy on presentation and accuracy - I would like to practice until I can do this blind and get the timing perfect which ties into reason 2, which is getting rid of the habit of overloading which comes as a result of too much elapsed time between touch down and forward cast in my case. I suppose the actual placement of the tag is a distraction as well - although what he is doing may not catch fish It can hone skills which prove effective when isolated and cleaned up as a single cast - shooting line like that with a typical WF line is not that hard when all the components of the spey are performed perfectly. I think most of the members here would be surprised at how easy it is to look like that if you commit a couple hours to practicing those moves - the snake roll is a little tough to get right, but the rest of it is really quite simple. - it was after watching ( being mezmorized) by Dan doing this at the first spey class that I started devoting 10 to 15 minutes at the end of each session to practicing these techniques all linked together. maybe its all fluff but It sure seems like my casting has improved as a result.

Occaisonally contract a company called Crawford Adjusters - located in Calgary and in the book pm ladystrange - she is in the industry and may have a suggestion. Just curious - aluminum or steel casting ?, not that it really matters, I've seen animals that size cause more severe force damages than just a fractured case, especially when they go under.

It was great meeting everyone. Kudos to Rich who really did all the organizing and work - job well done, you'll be missed next year,.. all the best in Ottawa - looking forward to seeing pics of your first Ottawa river muskie on the fly ! We got lucky with the weather ! - that rain storm dumped on me all the way to Lake Louise from fish creek. Everyone can help with next years event by taking the time to thank our sponsors when you visit their shops in the next while - it important they know how appreciated their support was. Rob, I was looking forward to meeting you this year - hopefully things work out next year and you can make the trip

Great to have you here fellas ! Spent some time at St Andrews University - was constantly force fed a drink that was half beer, half cider, with a shot of vodka and a shot of raspberry syrop - true diesel I think they called it, you get enough of those in you and it didn't matter what language anyone was attempting to speak LOL - I think getting canadians drunk was a local entertainment sport of sorts that year LOL - I ended up borrowing a mountain bike and touring up the coast, the scenery was only matched by the hospitality of the people I met, I am always looking to return the kindness I experienced on that trip....anyway enough chatter - welcome aboard !

Hey TM - spey rod = cheatin ??? - tee-hee Rickr - my prescription polarized shades were about 300 bucks - worth every penny ten times over - the clip-ons just don't work anywhere near as well.

I wish I could weigh in on this one,...(without putting my ass in a sling) Good to see these signifigant decisions and their impacts being discussed. The importantance of truly understanding actions taken by all levels of government cannot be over emphasized. Leaving authorities to determine, monitor and police their own accountabilities is like leaving the fox to watch the hens. In the movie "Traffic" there is a great scene where a story is told.. A leader was taking office and he asked his predecessor, "what do I do when I get myself in a jam I can't get out of ?" - The predecessor says "I left you two envelopes in your desk, when you get into that jam open the first envelope" - sure enough the leader gets into a jam and opens the first envelope, it reads "Blame everything on me", so the leader blames the situation on his predecessor and then moves on, eventually he gets into another jam, so he opens the second letter. It reads "Sit down and write two letters" I love that little story because it clearly shows how governments systematically can use the application of personal accountability to avoid overall government accountability (pre-planned scapegoating), the result is that very little really ever changes. Our electoral process is such that accountability is retroactively applied. If you really want to impact whats happening in government, take a more active role by asking questions and demanding changes directly to the existing authorities while they are knee-deep in the business of governance - The idea of canadians keeping gov in line by saying "I'll vote for the other party if you piss me off" really does very little in terms of bringing about changes to immediate decisions. I guess what I'm saying is if an issue is worth writing about on an internet forum, it is also likely worth-while writing a letter or email to your MP and/or local paper. We as Canadians, myself included, need to take a more active role in our governance, especially regarding issues that really matter to us. If this does turn into one of those full scale debates please keep in mind their are two types of government worker, working or operational class, and executive class - they are not the same thing by a long shot

Gilmore girls, desperate housewives, nanny 911, all great fly tying motivators. I couldn't even guess how many extra flies I tied this year thanks to home renovations shows on TLC, I'm going into three years tying and I would hate to guess what I've spent, especially since I love using the fancy whiting hackle so much, figure 20 bucks a pack, about 5 colours, bout 10 sizes, adds up quick. I can tell you this - when I go to my shop, they always smile, they call me by name, and they always chuck in a few trinkets or flies courtesy of the shop, I think that says it all - hell, the business that sold me my truck doesn't treat me that well LOL - I just hope someone gets a college education out of it....

Stonefly nymph imitations - been working real well for the last month or so, blk and brn - haven't had a need to switch up much so I don't know what else is working up here right now anyway. It is nice to go out for a few hours and not have to switch flies once the whole time, also caught a few nice bullies on that patches d stickleback and a few variations of that which I have been messing around with once in a while. During the warmer weather skating caddis drys and stimies was working real well too, once it cools down this time of year I typically see better luck with drifting on the surface again. Starting to get really chilly up here in the mornings - frost on the truck windoes the last couple days - man ! summer went by fast this year !!!

If any of you fellas are on the fence about signing up please consider.... Since taking Gordons class I am up over 150 more fish landed this year, than last year, at this time with less days out - the only change I made is using spey techniques with both my spey rod and one hander in both moving and still waters. The primary result of what I leaned is most simply described as: I spend much more time with my fly in or on the water instead of in the air and that means more hook-ups. That day was one of my best investments yet.

Despite not seeing a single hopper up this way all year, I have still swung/drifted a number of muddler head hoppers, spey and reg, with moderate success. Hoppers are rare in this climate and altitiude (although with the right conditions they can appear in massive numbers) but on whole, I think they are seen by fish as stoneflies (which are all over the place right now). I think the fact that most of us have had a fish attempt to take an indicator says alot about this debate. We should have a contest to see who catches a fish on the most riduculous "looks like nothing ever seen on this planet" fly. I imagine fish are like babies and puppies, they'll try putting anything in their mouth if you offer it to them.

Cheers to happy endings !!! Congrats

I try to everytime out - its proabably easier up here as you can really see the difference most of the time - I started fishing Corral Creek this year and got so disgusted with all the trash from the picnic are I ditched all my gear in the truck and went on litter pick mission one day - filled my bag and had to make two other trips in over horrible terrain to get the rest of the piles I made out. Its interesting to consider the effect of human usage, above the Hwy 1A the creek is pristine and almost perfect, from the 1A to the picnic area it has typical Hwy trash like coffee cups and beer/pop cans from the picnic area to the hydro clearings it is all dog and kid toys, and then the hydro-line cleared area is all sandwich wrappers and general "to go" lunch trash - anglers are not innocent, as a matter of fact old lures, leaders, tippet, line, wollybuggers etc etc are the one thing I find consistently over most lengths of water. That and I could write a book on the 100 best illegal campsites, and 25 really crappy ones LOL A bud found a kayak and paddle floating in the Bow below the canyons this summer - gotta wonder what happened there - so far I am up to two canoe carcasses this year - no guns or bodies yet though.....

Wow thats pretty crappy considering all your planning, cost of travel etc etc I can't help with your question but you should tell your boss he is about to upset a bunch of Canadians - That's not a good thing, we may go as far as writing a letter, or stomping our feet. obscenities may be uttered ! Seriously though, I hope it works out, I know you have been looking forward to this trip for quite a while. If you were anywhere near my neck of the woods I would offer to set you up.

Also - if you get pics and plates post em on the 4x4 sites - alot of those folks (the responsible ones) are looking to do anything possible to protect their own access rights, sometimes a few corrective measures from within their own ranks is what is needed. (and members of those sites recognize the dire need to squish the bad apples per se) With their recent loss of access to many previously accessable areas a number of these guys are taking matters into their own hands - without being any more blatant, the repercussions within their own ranks are often a better motivator than the threat of a CO catching them or an insurance bump.

All gussied up for the forbidden dance I know its tiny but colours are worth sharing - someday I'll bring my net and take some pics of bigger examples.

I really wanted to get up to Michele this year but just haven't gotten organized. I think planning well in advance for next year is the way to go, I would be interested forsure but I think I would want to spend 3 days instead of 2 so we would get two full mornings and evenings. (I would want to do a little scrambling/hiking while up there too) I can possibly swing some kind of break on the cost - what were you thinking date wise for next year ? - would it by just yourself or would you bring someone. Sandy will want to come forsure and I can fill a third seat if need be.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEE Horrifying.....

Great video fellas - that was fun to watch, although the tunes leave ya a little worried about how it ends LOL Great point on the whole watching and patience thing - I've been hitting a great little pond all week with mega-colourful brookies in it, key to catching fish there is sitting and watching, pond has two working beavers living in it which completely affect the feeding/movement pattern of the fish. because the pond is shallow,clear, and the fish are very line shy predicting their pattern of movement relative to the movements of the beavers allows me to have a fly waiting for them when they arrive - using the spey technique is really proving usefull here as I am presenting the fly in front of the fish twice as often as I would if I was backcasting and redirecting. (with my 5wt 1 hander). It has taken me years to really appreciate that it takes more than 30-60 seconds to properly read whats going on

I'll commit to one of each (I'm an XL for size) I love the patch idea too

I would buy some shirts - hoodies - hats - stuff like that (I'll buy anything that doesn't have a Lake Louise or Banff logo on it - LOL) Maybe have a contest to generate designs / logos etc

Congrats Birchy ! Was there a big sigh of relief when you saw he has normal sized hands All the best for all of you, hope the missus and young sports fan have a speedy recovery !

40 - Which is the new 30 so that means I am younger than Dave - Nah Hah !

Nice photos LK Really shows how close to invisible a leader is under water - you can make out the line in the reflection but barely see it in the direct - I wonder if that how it looks to a fish ?