Pipestoneflyguy

Thats great news - will attend now I don't have to go into the city core Lynn, I think CF stands for "Calgary fun" except Calgary is actually "Cluster" and fun is actually "fu**"

That is crazy Howgstoppah - you are most certainly a bow river ninja ! - your a steely-eyed-missle man in my books, You did exactly what you should do, reality is most folks don't have the courage to stand their ground - I wish I had your guts, in the same situation I don't know what I would do - everytime I see a bear all I can think of is how each time I encounter one my statistical odds of it not ending well increase dramatically. If peeing the pants was the only loss of control you had,...well thats nothing - half of Birchy's posts make me pee my pants LOL The reason I reccomend more than one can of bear spray is that people often "blow their load" way to early and empty their can before the bear is even in range. Also, there are some experts who believe the use of bear spray may actually provoke a more severe attack, or even elevate a bluff charge to a defensive attack. Using your can may make you the center of the bears attention so having a bud grab and use that second can may prevent a mauling or give you a defense option if your alone and a bluff charge is followed by actual aggression (assuming you dumped you can on the bluff) Avoidance through noise deterence really is the best method. (actually #3 on Rickr's list seems pretty foolproof LOL) heres a good link to more info (closures, warnings, guidelines, safety etc etc) Parks Bear Info - if your heading into the Nat parks this is well worth reviewing before you leave

Yep ! that is a great price Curious - is that walk and wade or float (I assume thats a half day)

I've run into 72 with her cubs on the Bow 3 times now without incident - scary part is the cubs are curious and mom is a little disattentive. Thats the type of scenario you never want to be in so be very cautious if you come across cub indicators. I have also run into 2 different Black bears as well this year - with our waters opening folks really have to assume they will run into a bear and plan with that mindset if your fording into this area. Follow the advice in the "griz" post Dave just re-posted in the "ask the experts" section - Bear spray is really a last resort - best advice ever, is to keep making noise (like singing in the shower at the top of your lungs noise, if your not completely embarrased, your probably not singing/yelling loud enough) and travelling in groups - do these things well and you should never have to use your spray. Couple other tips off the top of my head... 1) Replace your spray EVERY year (I keep the oldies in my pack as back ups - just in case) 2) If you smell a horrible smell like rotting meat - get out of the area for at least a week (there is likely a kill site nearby, we found one at Wolf Lk accidentally) 3) If possible fish opposite sides of the river with a friend (watching each other backs) 4) If you keep a fish, seal it in a freezer baggie (two for good measure) and be wind aware when moving. 5) Leave Poochie at home 6) Know what a bluff charge is and how to react to it. PS anyone hear about the Americans attacked in Romania, the woman killed was actually trying to help the first attack victim - there is a harsh lesson there.

Ditto that Lorance Starting to occasonally hit the sweetspot on my Brad Hanson - The shooting capacity is crazy, it rips out line like mad - I love it. Already saving pennies for a 10 wt ( dreams of N Thompson and fat Salmon dancing in my head LOL) Its funny, I have put in about 6-8 hours of practice still using nothing but a yarn indicator (the wife thinks I am full-on nuts, when I explain that I don't want a fish on the line as it would just mess up my concentration and rhythm)

Hills are brown again and the river is clearing up - the combo of alternating rain and hot days has melted most of the pack out - so I would expect things to get better downstream soon if not already. Missus and I thinking of our first weekend up in Nordegg this weekend (I went and checked the Sask this morning - its still pretty fuzzy) not sure if it'll be decent or not

Pipestone R - there is a decent pool by the old pump house - beyond that might be more hiking than you want. (bears up there too in July) I would pass on Herbert and go with Bow Lake - try from shore close to the small stream were all the bus folks walk out to the lake - do not wade, puts em down real quick in that area (even though wading looks tempting, you can reach the shelf easy from shore and fish will often follow into the shallow water before taking a fly or lure) - if your up to a hike take the trail to the outlet - can be decent down there as well. Consider Emerald Lk - very good for kids - trolling with a canoe almost garantees a fish and lots of shore opportunities. The Bow can be pretty demoralizing up here but if you give it a go, try starting at Castle Jct (Youll see an awesome osprey nest in the area) and head upstream - there is a bunch of swampy areas feeding the river which attracts fish so you may have better luck in there. The river has fish in many areas but they are few and far between and the Bow has been hit alot as it has been the only water open up here for the last couple months. For a more intimate experience go to any of the easy small but close lakes (Altrude, Smith, Vista, Copper, Mcnair) they all have fish in good numbers and most are a short hike in and will have seen little pressure for the first week or two of July (in my experience most kids prefer a ton of small fish to one or two biggies) - G- luck Flyslinger - R U in town here (LL)- haven't met to many folks with the resolve to do that Morraine Crk hike.

I see topless canoeists quite often up here - great for identifying caddis hatches - just ask them to flap their arms up and down, if hundreds of caddis fly out of their pit fuzzies tie on a EHC and have at er. caution though - the fuzzy black bikini aint no bikini - Must be something with the granola crowd - grooming and nudity never seem to go together LOL - man I miss city girlz

No she was lake all the way - but a surprisingly small lake for the size of it

'Kay Birchy, my good man - heres my biggest whitey ! Please excuse the stringers - This is a very remote lake (Fly in and the boat was hauled with a sled in the winter) and very full of fish and, of course completely legal at the time, I believe she came in at 25-1/4 inches. PS she was pretty fat too, can't remember the girth though !

ahhhh $175 My Wardells were only 179 bucks, I'm in the second year and I have em on more than once a week - no probs yet - buy the cheaper ones, pick up a tube of Loon wader repair, blow the rest on banana modifying surgery

I had a few at Wolf chomp their way right up my forceps just as I removed a clouser/streamer - also had one take a lure that was hanging over the side of our boat - cost me a spincast rod and reel (and my father-in-law got whapped in the back of the head as the rod dragged over the side LOL)

I quit smoking this year - it looks like I have a floaty tube under my waders this spring...although I make a great bully pocket

Nice pics SJW Your consistency never fails to impress That timmies pic is all that is Zen

AMEN ! - RAOTFLMFAO - I almost coffee'd the keyboard again ! I've got a pic of me holding a whitefish that makes Birchy's look like a minnow (no BS), but I have never posted it due to the 6 walleye also on the same stringer (I'm a reformed heathen, shame shame shame, on thee - can I get a hisssss) - at the time everything about that pic was legal and acceptable but regs and philosophy's change, so I didn't want to "seemingly" send the wrong message by posting such a horrible pic by our evolving standards. Birchy don't hack on yourself - what is important here is that 1) You noticed what they were doing, 2) you cared enough to bring it to the attention of others, 3) You are willing to take action to fix the issue. It is prefectly OK for you to contact these guys and suggest how they could do things better - doesn't matter how long you've been fishing - a persons level of experience does not alter right and wrong ! as a matter of fact you'll find the newest anglers are often the most informed on best practices. For many "experienced" anglers their learning began and ended with learning how to catch fish - end of story. If someone (or yourself) educated these fellas a little as a result of your post - every fish they handle properly and don't kill as a result will be thanks to your caring and effort - same goes for every habit their internet viewers learn from them as well - kudos to ya - you have nothing to regret !

Sorry for the off-topic question but does "BobLoblaw" come from "Arrested Development" ? - GOB kills me LOL

Gonna give some a shot this weekend (in Rainbow water - prolly stick with egg sucking leech made with some salmonoid egg coloured dubbing I picked up last year, as opposed to a yarn ball alone) - drove to Johnson yesterday to try this but they closed muskrat bay so no-go for that water. The got stopped by a police roadblock right before gap and grotto area (as my alternate to Johnson) due to a bad accident so the force was not with me yesterday at all LOL Will post a comment if they work !

Don't knock it guys - my theory..... No Brains = No headaches LOL

Beavers (LOL - sorry it had to be said) Rainbows. forsure ! - below 8" I find the cutties will surprise you with their energy and fight though. Never hooked a steelhead, but, I didn't start spey casting just to impress the ladies........

Hey Guys Do what you will, but I will mention that the one big lesson on learned on the FFA site was attacking them (or calling them out) on the internet will probably just cause them to dig in their heels. It seem these guys just might respond to a little diplomacy and/or tact - they are putting themselves out there on the net, I would assume they wouldn't be doing this if they were aware their actions would bring them under harsh critisism within the fishing community. Reality is, for the most part, our previous generations handled fish with about as much respect as a rubber chicken, maybe these guys are doing what they were taught. For a surprising amount of anglers, fish handling skills are viewed as nothing more than "government BS" stuck on the regs to appease the granola crowd. Peer pressure can be a powerful tool if used properly. Anyway just a suggestion, could be a waste of time, but could be worth a shot - don't know... As for the slit open fish - I can't speak to their intent If I am keeping a fish, which I do a couple times a year, I kill it right away, - letting it die slowly allows lactic acid to accumulate in its system taking away from the taste. (and anything we can do to reduce critism from the ever growing Peta crowd is prolly not a bad thing, either, tastiness aside LOL)

Not sure if this has been posted on the new site so here it is again. This is the fish identification test provided on the sustainable resources web site - even the Park Wardens use this as a learning resource. I try to do it a couple times a year just to keep up to speed on those species I never catch - good review even for the pros http://www.srd.gov.ab.ca/fishwildlife/fish...quizcentre.aspx

Thanks - I try not to ramble too much anyway LOL - 30th you bet, thats fly fisher xmas morning in these parts ! 30th sounds great - tradition for me to hit Emerald in the evening but we can discuss - the back beach can be a little crowded so I bring my pontoon - I have a belly boat if you want to use it, or I also have a canoe if Birchy or anyone else wants to come along. If you want to overnight usually some awesome small alpine lake action the following morning (Sun) but a belly boat is pretty well mandatory for the one I am thinking of (We code named Sushi Log) usually an decent morning hatch happening that time of year. we'll chat when we get closer.

On that note TM my rio line came with a "delicate dry presenting tip" Will pick up one of these for sure too - hope that price survives the border crossing

I did find the 67(8) wt Rio multitip in a dusty back corner that Brad Hanson, the rod builder reccomended (my rod is 11'6" 67 wt) - and TM, I did end up with the Flueger 12wt reel for about $160 - the line was $150 and I went with 250 yds of 30 lbs gelspun backing (funny when you consider the rod cost me less than $200 eh) - still tons of room for disattentive reel-in if need be. Got out on the bow for a few hours and sent a few nice casts - the water was a bit to fast and I ended up skating lot so I am heading to Wapta one night to try a little more manageable water. So far I am loving it - still can't determine if I should use the weight compensator sub tip or not - will have to mess around a bit I guess (I think it would be better to figure it out myself instead of asking the builder) What backing to line knots are you guys using - salesman told me the albright would slip with a big fish - so as a temp I have an albright but I loon UV knotted it for extra strength - I plan to change it to an albright on a bimini twist - just wondering what you guys are doing for this one ? Also leader-wise I cut the toothy critter portion off one of my Pike leaders and added 3' of 2x tippet (10lbs) - it seemed to lift and roll a clouser no problem at all this weekend - just curious what you guys are running for a leader recipe ?

Mcleod - anytime just PM well in advance PS - hey Birchy - Emerald Lake Opening night - you'll hear the occaisonal zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz z zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz z zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz z zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. . ..that means a brookie is on the line LOL Last couple years have had great surface hatch on opening evening....biggest hook-ups usually feature the mottled dorsal you seek...