Pipestoneflyguy

Hey TM - The left hand cast is finally starting to come together (finally fishing both banks effectively, which is nice.) I am finding I have to shorten up quite a bit with clousers or streamers on my 5/6 wt to get em over (although I still haven't fully figured out how and when to use the compensator line segment properly yet) for smaller stuff like nymphs and wets, well the set up is nothing short of awesome. I will be picking up a 7/8 wt, or heavier for pike fishing without a doubt. As for the dry-fly stuff, I am able to leave the float tube at home on a few lakes where the tube was mandatory with my 9' - of course now the limiting factor is my sight, not my cast LOL - I am liking the 11'6" length for overhead casting, doesn't feel so much like am trying to swing a telephone pole as it did with the longer rods. You may as well sign me up for Gordon's class again - I felt a little unprepared last time and now I've got some basics down I could really use the expert advice. LF - FYI, as you look at the options, if you go with a Rio line, the 7/8 comes with two more tips than the 5/6 in the multitip wincutter.

Maybe I'm spoiled cause I rarely see other fishers but when I do I like to be social and friendly and most of the time it is totally worth-while - last weekend I went out to Emerald one night and as I came in (on my toon) I saw an older fella fishing off the bridge so I though I'd go say hello and offer a suggestion or two if he wasn't getting any takes - as it turns out the guy is a total fly god and in our discussion he listed off over 20 countries all over the world he has fly fished in, he even offered some of these incredible looking split wing bugs which are all the rage in New Zeland right now. We also chatted for quite a while about his recent experiences fly fishing in China. I felt pretty sheepish after thinking I would be giving him some advice based soley on the fact he looked like Higgins off Magnum PI - LOL (ps the whole time he continually landed fish after fish without ever looking away from me even while setting hooks) - just goes to show you never really know who your fishing next to, especially if your unwilling to cast the first smile. I find that folks that crowd you, or are a-holes for whatever reason, are not worth arguing with - I prefer to move away (but within sight) so they can stand there and watch you land fish after fish. Even better if there is a newbie around that you can get help out - that really rubs it in without having to be confrontational.

Hey LF - did you hear about those idiots in a canoe two weeks ago, rode over Bow falls and by the grace of god, actually walked away uninjured, must of been a hell of a ride LOL - I would have bought tickets to see that one !!!! One of the Canmore guides asked me what I thought about drifting the bow through Redstreak - I had to laugh, a good way to turn your clack-a-craft into a million tooth-picks - anyway a number of guides do guided walk and wades within the Park. There is a small rainbow creek off of Johnson Lk which is within walking distance but I'm not sure if it will still be open in Sept or not, also ,.. supposededly hiking to the river at the canal outlet (below the power station on the TCH east of Banff) is a pretty nice section of river and it gets considerably less pressure than anywhere right in town. May be a bit to far to walk but the spot is close enough that a cab wouldn't be all that expensive. As LF says post again closer as I plan to hit this spot when the clarity improves and could give you an acurate report closer to his trip date. All that said I would suggest your bud would be getting the best possible experience if he saved up a few extra hundred bucks for a float on the bow outside the Park, most guides would be more than willing to pick up, and drop off your friend in Banff at no charge.

I've been hitting one of my fav lakes all last week, once I get 10 to 20 fish I like to experiment a little, for example if I was successful with a traditional EHC, I'll try a collar hackled EHC instead and see how the fish react to it, I'll also try different sizes to see their impact on effectiveness. If time and light permits I'll also try similar flies such as goddards or experimental flies (like split hairwing EHC's) to just see what happens - I view times like that as an opportunity to learn a little in somewhat of a controlled environment (you can answer questions like "does a fine gold ribbing actually improve the attractiveness of an EHC or is its only role is to keep the body hackle from breaking ?, does EHC body colour actually have any real impact, what works better, a skinny body or a fat one... etc etc) - The lake I am talking about is O2 rich and cold so the fish are strong and healthy (I am getting tons of huge jumps from the rainbows) and over the last two weeks I haven't spotted a single dead fish, I would honestly be surprised if there was any mortally injured fish based on my observations but maybe I'm not looking for the right signs ???? Hog that is some interesting math, real food for thought,.. and it makes sense. I agree that landing and handling are by far the most impacting factors. I like your idea of a code of conduct on the board - seems to be tidbits of conduct stuff in regs, magazines, books etc etc but something specific to this area would be usefull, especially to guys like me that rarely fish near others, as I explore and move into more of these popular areas I find just asking what is appropriate offends some people - not sure on some other stuff too. like how close is too close when I am on my pontoon and and guys are fishing from shore, given we are all targetting the same drop off areas.

After posting that warning about bears and cougars - At about 7pm that evening I was headed out the old pit 69 road to McNair Pond, despite yelling my "yo-bears" and having bells on my bag I must have surprised a grizzly hidden away between the river and the road. He charged me head-on stopping about 5 feet short of me, then immediatly hooked a left and booked er into the woods. She actually sprayed my face with bits of gravel as she ran away and her stink stayed in my nose even after I got home. There was no reaction on my part what-so-ever - I simply froze where I stood, in utter shock ! its a whole different ball of wax when one of em is running at you. The fear didn't really set in till I headed home, the area is a bit of terrain trap so there was no friggin way I was going to the pond fishing and coming back through that spot again after that one, not that fishing with quivering arms would have been pretty anyway LOL. It occured to me that the missus wouldn't report me missing until midnight, and that griz could have mowed me down like a I wasn't even there if she wanted, the whole thing added up to me not paying enough attention to my own advice Knowing the risk I did choose to leave the dog at home, which in hindsight, was a very smart thing to do, but I failed to take a partner with me. For the next few weeks at least it looks like all those local noobs who have been asking to go out get their chance LOL. Anyway gotta get back on the horse so I am headed out to McNair again tonight, but approaching from the north this time

Just a heads up to anyone headed into the mountains - Buffalo berries are out early this year so watch for bears at the lower el's. Even found a black bear at the end of my driveway as I left for work this morning. There was a couple close calls with bears this past weekend, couple illegal campers in Yoho were lucky to be out of their tent while a bear ripped their junk to shreds (left food in the tent durrr...) - also in Kootenay, a couple folks were stalked by a cougar - check with the info centre if your plans include fishing in the area of KNP, the Kindersley-Sinclair loop has been closed as a result. The river is like chocolate milk and even the lakes are pretty chalky so a friend and I ended up gorging ourselves with wild strawberries instead of fishing this weekend anyway - I can see why the bears love this time of year...One of those if you can't beat em, join em things

Congrats ! - cute little guy you got there !

Weedy WTF Over !!!! The lake is Ross lake off the old 1A - holds plenty of Brookies McLeod and I went there for opening day - I got blanked, he got one. we were a bit early me thinks, one of the wardens skated on it at freeze-up this winter and reported seeing Brookies he estimated at close to 24" although the local crowd rarely lands anything bigger that 12 -18 inches - word is it only fishes well after sunset

I believe mine is reccomended at 3 psi - but whatever.... I push firmly with my thumb - should deflect about 1 inch - thats about perfect My inflation-station batts are starting to die too - I carry the batts on big lakes but for the most part I only use the car adapter now. Bobr - I considered taking them apart and replacing the batteries but the car adapter seems good enough for me anyway - you should be able to do with a screwdriver, super glue and a soldering iron if you were so inclined - an electrician here told me I could put in better quality batts that should last for years and hold way more charge - just some thoughts...

Has "watching and listening" signed up here ? The net is a component of our law enforcement activities within federal parks without a doubt.

PS anyone besides Mcleod recognize the Lake ?

We've had some good dog related discussions, might as well see what they look like... I just shaved my dog (Oreo) for the first time - can't believe how different she looks here's before; And of course here she is after the groom,.. actually took me three years of contemplating before doing this - I was afraid it would permanently change her colours but amazingly her natural colour is already starting to fill back in. It is phenominal, she has been acting like a puppy all over again, hard to believe she is 9 years old now. (PS I am loving the redneck "faux-hawk" on her back, as the wife calls it LOL)

If were flashin our junk,.. here's a few more toys ...

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I use a adjustable ski pole too - works great. I share the fear that a shock corded unit that doesn't lock could bind and pop too easily. Last year a local shop gave me a couple adjustable poles (Leki) to product test and they work excellent, they come with rubber tips for stealth mode and also have built in shock absorbers (I also bought winter baskets for snowshoeing and X country skiing) - the shock absorbers make a real difference on long downhills.- they adjust pretty short so once you hike to where you want to fish you can put them both, or just one on the pack instead. (and you can turn the shock absorber part off too) After we all ooed and awed at the weighted version (which is awesome) I tried filling the lower section of a adj ski pole with sand (sealed in with a bit of epoxy poured in) but it wasn't heavy enough to work properly so I tried stuffing a piece of round stock (steel bar) in the lower section, that worked great but in the end I decided I do too much hiking and being light for the hike was more important than the benefit of a weighted staff in my case anyway. My creativity and ingenuity aside (ha ha ha - who am I kidding, I am cheap and I steal other peoples good ideas if it saves me a buck LOL) I would buy the same staff as Silver Doctor in a second !

Kootenay R. will be pretty dirty - Simpson R. is partialy spring fed so it may be your only flowing water worth trying this time of year. Many lakes in the area are fishing well right now.

Scary ! glad it worked out safely - glad you posted the occurance too, a great reminder for everyone here to stay diligent with safety measures.

Beauty rainbow Birchy - That is an awesome fish for a first on dry !

One thing with crocs is sharp sticks will stab right through them.

Its stampede week- if you ever needed an excuse to wear a cowboy hat there it is LOL- they do work great for protecting the melon and neck. Had to plier out a nymph with a barb out of a buddies bum last year. The look on my face when he walked up the bank (at Hector) and asked if I could pull something out of his ass ! Does anyone else suffer from pike-fly-paranoia-syndrome - it when I am pike fishing and I randomly (seemingly to those around anyway) dive for cover right after a forward haul in a crosswind - everyone is like,.. WTF Rob ? - yeah - thought that one was gonna get me, sorry- LOL

Not much I could add but be sure your letting that line roll all the way out on backcast - timing/feeling the forward cast can be much harder without that big tug you get from streamers and nymphs -= listen for whipping sound behind you, a definate indicator of starting the forward cast to early (something I am learning all about again with overhead casts on the spey rod) - sorry if what I offered is completely obvious and already considered..

I would hold a grudge to the point that 4 sequels have to be made. Even if I have to chase those Brodies to the Bahamas Mrs. Brodie must die !!!!!

Never fails to amaze me how many people veiw a river as nothing but a "free" grocery store to be emptied

I use a canadian tire inflation station - was about 40 bucks, comes with two handheld pumps plus all the adaptors (high vol / low pres + high pres / low vol) comes with 2 batteries. I've had mine for 3 years and the batts are starting to get tired but 1 will still fill the tube. (also comes with a DC adapter for the car/truck) - for your tube use the low pres / high volume pump, it gets you 90% there - I usually bring it up to full pressure with a few puffs but with your auto type valve you will have to carry both pumps (but you could prolly get by with one batt which keeps your pack light) or - use just the high pres pump only, takes longer but less to carry. The CO2 cartridge sounds like a good idea.... I find that myself, and a few buds arounds here all got sick of blowing up our tubes and we all just haul them full now - a little creativity and you can rig it up to fit perfectly as a big U over your backpack - it is surprisingly nimble if you get it right - I don't bother de-airing for anything less than 5 km Also - I have seen some mountain bike pumps that are pretty tiny - that might be a way to go too

Learning to love my crocs - got the offroad model so they are wider and very stable - they also have the loops for your heel - wear em with wool socks and your feet stay warm even when wet (although I have been going barefoot even up here) - last year when the wife and I sank our canoe in Louise rapids my wife lost one of her 150.00 keens (supposed river shoes) meanwhile I got ragdolled holding on to my hydrolocked boat for 5 minutes and still crawled up the bank with both crocs still on my feet. PS whats the deal with cats in the river - where do they come from (Do I really want to know ?) PSS anyone ever finds my wifes keen I'll buy you a $20 gift certificate at your fav shop as a reward !