Pipestoneflyguy

Interesting discussion for sure - I could go on for hours with practical pros and cons but for now its nice to see folks thinking through the angles anyway. I sent an email to the LLYK Chief Park Warden two years ago posing a difficult question - (considering the Parks mandate which is to preserve the "naturally" occuring environment) - At which point does something un-naturally introduced to the park environment become a park asset as a result of its historical and/or cultural value ? For example - it is illegal to remove artifacts (early CP stirling silver plates, forks etc etc) from the old buried dumpsite behind the Banff Springs hotel because those items existence is interpreted as being of cultural and historical value, irregardless of the fact there is nothing natural about how they were introduced to the Park. Can the same argument be posed regarding Brookies - what quantifyers would be applied to measure the fishes historical and cultural value to the Park ? At which point does it's cultural and historical signifigance outweigh the fact it was un-naturally introduced in terms of it's value assesment ? (is it a measure of potential impact on naturally existing elements that defines it's status ?) Why is a car driven by a Park Warden in the 30's that was left abandoned considered trash and subject to removal from the Park, meanwhile the cabin it is parked beside is protected from tampering or removal under threat of criminal prosecution, despite also being introduced (built) in the 30's Anyway it is questions like these that befuddle the "powers that be" which is likely why the keep two fish rule for brookies and other non-native is such a "middle of the road" wishy-washy position for the Park to take. The solution must be proceeded by the resolution of the cultural vs natural question which is very hard to define in an organization which has a mandate which is somewhat self contradictory. The mandate - "To protect the natural environment vs., for the enjoyment of Canadians" is in itself an enigma. makes for good fireside chat though. When you consider one of the Park's recent inititives, which is a system-wide eradication using poisoning to recreate a truly natural area for purposes like examining the effect of global warming and studying that water system in its truly natural state, lends itself to a more proactive approach, the debate continues, but with real consequences in the balance. Still haven't figured where I sit on this one, luckily I am nothing more than an interested observer, so the burden of these decisions rest with experts not us (luckily the Park is big into public forums and collecting imput so if I did have a formed opinion I know it would at minimum be heard by the powers that be)

PS first night ever in Calgary some scuzball punks stole my car with all my climbing ( I was guiding at the time so that is over 5k worth of gear alone) and skiing gear along with pretty well everything I owned as I was moving to Lake Louise from Ontariable at the time - insurance left me basically high and dry because I didn't document my $3000 turbo, stereo , all the gear, etc etc - pretty crappy welcome to Calgary eh !

Secret switch - I use one on my jeep cause its always open Just find the power wire to your fuel pump - wire it to a toggle switch you mount under your seat, voila, your thief will kill the batt before he ever gets it running. (great for leaving your truck unattended in remote areas) Also I have a wire scrambler plug-in chip- it is a small plastic plug in chip which scrambles the ignition wiring when removed (fits on a key chain) even an expert mechanic would take hours to hot wire it - basically towing is the only option for theives. Perfect ideas if you don't have insurance especially (get some help cause you will want a fuse in there somewhere)

I have the outcast 9' as well - handles great in rough water but you can get wet if waves get big enough - I got caught fairly good distance out on Minnewanka when a storm blew in and the wind picked up and the waves were so big (3 ft) I was rocking my prop out of the water every wave (and I had the shaft set deep) which is bad for the motor, so got stuck having to row in and got soaked to my chest (only time I ever got a little scared). I have also run some white water Lottsa 2's and a few class 3's - in class 2 you will get wet above the waist and in class 3 I get wet enough that I bought a wetsuit (or swim shorts) to use instead of waders. The motor has never made me too happy - it takes constant attention to stay in a straight line especially if its a center mount, trolling is a pain, especially when you get a fish on - if you go with a motor look for an offset mount, reaching right behind your back is a pain - I built my own rotating tiller extension myself to ease that problem. that said, the outcast felt unsinkable in class three rapids - sometimes I run a river without a rod just for the fun of it. it can be a real hoot in white water (and the WTF? looks on the whitewater raft guides faces as you fly by them are priceless) - buy comfy flippers - they are essential to controlling your direction when fishing with current or wind although I have gotton by when I forgot them once or twice by just rotating my lower right leg either clockwise or counterclockwise to orient the boat it works pretty good.... surprisingly, when I am on still water without wind I will often not bother with the fins and just use the rotating leg method. The boat stuffs right into the back of my Dakota nicely, I leave the tailgate open as I have a 6' box but the topper glass still closes fine. I wont hand bomb it more than a couple hundred meters - you'll want a belly for hiking areas. (ps will fit on topper roof if you have your camping gear too, I just roofed mine to cold lake and back) I bought the crappy tire inflation station - comes with high vol/low pres and a Highpre/low vol battery pumps - takes me about 3 minutes per side to go from emtpy to full and the pump is small enough to carry with on the water. (has a truck plug in if the batts die) My first anchor (a pyramid) didn't work with a poop so I am still looking for one that works well I haven't used my motor in 2 years so maybe carefully evaluate whether you will need it of not before rushing out and buying with the boat ahh what else - oh yeah, get a long handled net and make sure you get some kind of stripping apron - shooting line sucks when its wrapped around your feet LOL I absolutely love mine and I find I use it weekly at least (ps I never bother letting the air out anymore - I built a block and tackle set up so I can hang it in my car-port)

Hey Birchy had a paypal mix up with my spey rod so for the last month I have been practising the things I leaned with my one-handers, the techniques are remarkably usefull - been using the snake-roll cast a bunch, and reverse one hand spey as well. I would reccomend Gordon's class even if you don't plan on buying a spey rod (ha ha ha, but you'll be hooked if you do...) Actually coming into town this aft for a spey line (my guys can't get rio) so I've decided on the airflow multi-tip spey line instead. plan to wet her on the way home.

Mud lake has fish Birchy - For a number of years a local guy was suspected of cleaning it out along with many other small area lakes (freezer stockin' poacher scum) - he has been gone for two years now so numbers should better this year than they have for quite a while - The on-going local debate is whether Herbert is devoid or not - some believe it is, and some believe that those guys are just not good anglers LOL. I haven't bothered fishing it in over ten years but a few of us yokels have decided to put the issue to rest this summer. (there was an alkaline rumour going around so I read the ph from a few spots and found nothing unusual) Its right next to the road so its kind of left to the the chuck and splash crowd. Birchy, if your gonna pick up a parks license let me know with a pm when your coming, you seem like a fun guy and there is definetly some options other than mud nearby (depending on when you come, sometimes a few xtra clicks are all that stands between a good day and a stellar day). You'll find many other small deep alpine lakes in the area that have cutty pops but the biggies never seem to break the 6 - 8 inch range, its because they are supporting Brookie pops that never really come up to the surface. They can be caught if your good at searching depths. Wardens hate the Brookies (invaisive non-native) and they encourage killing your limit so I occasionlly keep em for a dinner, always a treat after a long day out.

Hi All I think it would be a great idea to create a forum dedicated to the spey technique. I am brand new to it (Gordons Spey Class was my first exposure) and it would be nice to have a place where those with experience can share their knowledge with us newbies, obviously we would be creating a locally relevent reference for others looking at exploring the technique as well. The spey technique is quietly growing in popularity in this region, as folks experiment with the technique I am seeing its development customize itself to the unique features and characteristics of our watersheds. Other forums exist on other sites but I find they are geared to either steelhead or salmon angling - FFC is the perfect place to have a forum geared towards adapting those techniques to downstream brown and alpine lake variations - think of all those sweet little lakes in our guidebooks that say "not reccomended for flyfishing due to tree/brush choked shorelines" well with this technique you only need 3 ft behind you to cast remarkable distances away. I suspect as the versatility of the technique is explored the popularity of spey will grow. I have a whole list of previously unreachable bully holes that I expect to be hitting with my new set-up and having a forum to discuss successes and failures would be another great feature to this site ! Anyone who may think this is a good idea please post here in support and maybe we can convince Dave to set us up Thx

Harry Geez that user name is just a little to visual LOL

That is so sad.....and so preventable... I always wear my PFD on moving water but tend not to on still water. I find the bulkiness hinders my casting, I know thats not a valid excuse but none-the-less I do it anyway, those with Pontoons/tubes prolly know where I'm coming from...(and I never wear it in the motor boat either) - Anyway I discussed this with the wife (after she saw the fishing trip pictures) and decided instead of trying to change my stuborn behaviour I am buying one of those trick inflatables - I guess in the end we decided my life is worth more than what I spend on a typical reel. Crazy but it took two years before I honestly assessed what risk I was exposing to myself to. Its amazing what I've spent on toys like the new spey rod yet I've walked by those inflatable PFD's numerous times and thought "Hmm those are nice but right now I'd rather have...." I suppose a discussion of auto vs manual inflators would educational....

Great Thread ! My dad only took me fishing once as a child, it was at a trout farm in Ontario, and the fee included our can of corn LOL (same thing with camping and a number of other outdoor activities, my dad is an exec type so these things were likely fatherly obligations that had to be satisfied at some point from his point of few) - although dad is not an outdoorsman I consider myself lucky that he was willing to go out and give these things a shot either way so that us kids could experience them He has never taken to fishing as anything more than an occasional distraction, its just not what he is all about, none-the-less my fondest memories include him flying out for my cold lake trip last year, he had a great time and he even let me give him a few fly casting lessons. He had a 5 way bypass this last winter so he couldn't make this years trip so last years memories are all that much more important to me now. For some reason, that we never really determined, he kept landing perch while the rest of us caught pike, provided some great comic relief.....

It was painful to see how much junk is still up in the hills when I got home LOL

It may be overkill but a 12 wt would make life alot easier with some of those 6 - 12 inch flies, I would choose a 10 myself but that said I would rather be over powered than under.

Many of my best spots were found this way - All those maps, google earth, etc etc are resourses everyone has access to so finding something trully untouched may be harder than one would think - for me the real thrill is finding some hidden monster in a place the no angler in his/her right mind would consider exploring. This leads to more than a few fishless days but if your into the hiking and angling for the pleasure of angling (not just catching fish) this is a rewarding way to go - It may seem hard to find secret little spots but trust me, its even harder to keep them secret once you do, LOL

Just got back from Wolf Lake - had a great time, I landed about 125 fish over the week but kept only a couple walleye (within the tag program) - no real trophies landed, seems the big fellas were still hanging out pretty deep. Here is a 7-1/5 lb'er I caught on my first cast, winning both the first fish and largest fish pools on the first cast of the trip.... Here is Tara sporting a truly wonderful "first fish ever" smile... If you wanna go catch fish non-stop this is a place worth checking out... Huge leech hatch this year - found lots of them on pretty well every fish landed, apparently same deal in Pigeon...

Saw a magazine (non-fishing) story about a rare platinum peacock (the whole thing was white,) would love to score some of those feathers/herl - anybody ever seen some for sale anywhere ?

Remember the rod is just a tool for adding flexibility and forgiveness (give) to the connection between you and the fish (essentially to keep the line from breaking from shock loading) with the lighter rod I just add the flexability with my elbows, arms and body. When a fish is on, keep your elbows bent and close to your shoulders, when shock loaded on a run and the rod is reaching its limit simply use your arms to absorb the load instead. It looks a little exagerated but its a better option than standing there with a busted rod LOL. I find by using this technique I can land the fish just as efficiently with the 5 as I do with the 7.

Thanks Ron - Figured it out....(so thats called an avatar, I'm not to savy the computer....)

Welcome aboard ! I fished The Ottawa River my last business trip out, was awesome fishing, landed a beauty Brown and lost a HUGE muskie or pike on a mad run, one of my best nights of fishing ever ! Can't remember the name but the spot was reccomended by a local fly shop, it is a bridge to Hull with three little islands (one is a park). Tons of nice riffles and runs plus a whack of pockets and deep runs all very close togther..... I love how you can be a KM from shore and still only be waist deep - can't wait for my next trip out. CYA

If you do hit wedge bring a variety of beadheaded chronies (black with glass and/or gold beads worked well my last time out) - slow retrieve and takes near the surface where what was working my last trip out, but from what I have read the pond can be pretty hit and miss though

Is it normal that I can't see my own profile picture ? - just wondering, as I can see everyone elses....I can see it on my profile page, just not the posts...

Caught a brookie out of the Horse with a full back I tied with my wife's cats backside under-hair (was outa black marabou) - also used fine brush (duster) hairs for antenea and tails for tricos and Baetis, not very classy but they also never crease or break like natural hair Ahhh yeah ...so what fly/pattern calls for wife's "curly hair", that is all kinds of nasty LOL

Pretty hot and sunny all day yesterday, revy mud started moving again by the end of the day, we expect the same weather today, luckily it is still close to zero at night so the water was clear this morning but by late day it will be dirty again and running high - chances are it will be dirty but from what I read that means you just need to change the way you approach your technique - see all the dirty water posts...

I caught a good 20-30 pike on my 7wt last year up at Ethel, mind you its an old Omni with blanks as thick as my fingers so it fairly tough but none-the-less I had no trouble landing a few decent sized fish with it - biggest issue was keeeping the bigger flies in the air long ebough to get a decent distance on my cast, get a stiff wind behind you and the fun starts (but put that hat on backwards covering the ears) - I did land a few with my 5wt (a softy too) no big problems landing them either, they just don't fight the way a trout does, once they are on their way to you just keep their head in the right direction and they'll swim right up, a long handled net will make a big difference. They will take one last attempt to run at seeing the boat / your legs / the net so be ready for it with extra tension on at that distance on retrieve and it will deter them from trying. Those toothy critter leaders are a great investment but if you are near reeds I reccomend picking up the toothy-critter tippet instead, once you hit a reed it coils the line which is nearly impossible to get out, with the tippet I run about 6 to 8 inches of it on a leader that will break before the rod giving me a fuse of sorts and if I hit a reed I have tons of the stuff in back-up (I still have a few feet from last years trip, I bought 1 pack of 15lb and 1 pack of 20lb) I found yellow / red clousers got me the most hits last year - and bring long handled forceps if you don't have a spreader - bring a few surface flies too - they don't always take them but when they do its a friggin hoot !

Hey Flytyer - didn't know you are a vet - one word: Thanks I've got a few in the family (and a great uncle lost in WW1) so my respect runs deep - I visited the new war museum in Ottawa this year, was an incredible day, great to see something in place which is truly comensurate with the sacrifices our veterans have made. One of my good friends served in Egypt in the 50's, his stories are fascinating and from him I learned that a country does not have to be in wartime for those sacrifices to be made.

Oops flytyer - I see you did the deed earlier today - my bad - Oh damn - was it Pacres - ahhh who cares - site looks great anyway!