ironfly

Gladly. I'd say they know almost nothing about fishing. Who would ever suggest using the same size hook for all species? Even the pickerel rig guys carry a few sizes.

No way man. Upstream dry flies to visibly rising fish, only. And 1/4 mile beats with time slots. I think it's great that we can fish with a variety of techniques. I generally fish single fly, but if the going gets tough I'll throw on a bobber and a second or third fly, gladly. It doesn't always work, but many times it saves the day. I don't want to get skunked. You?

That's how we keep away most of the lowlifes.

I get it just fine, thanks. No affiliation with FFC, wasn't paid for, and you have no control over it. I wonder how Northern Lights manage to do without it?

Let's be honest, isn't the best part about them that we made them ourselves? I gotta build a new jig.

I'd say the words on the package in bold black letters, "WON'T KILL THE FISH!" support Don's original premise. Did you notice the bit about barbless hooks just being for the anglers convenience? Ever gripped a fish too hard trying to get out a barbed hook, and heard/felt the old silent-but-deadly? Infections kill fish? I bet our hooks have a lot less microbes than an Osprey's talons. I've caught fish with some pretty impressive scars, and they're saying one little pinprick kills them? I'm kind of mad. Like, I want to call an ombudsman or something. I won't do anything if you tell me it'll harm FFC. I say give them their money back and take down the ad. On second thought, it's a doomed product anyway. I get too worked up.

No kidding, good thing that ice shelf didn't roll over. Hundreds of pounds? Try 3 metric tonnes.

That's what she said. I don't like casting really heavy flies, so I tye them sparsely with synthetics and bucktail, and use a fast sink tip.

Brilliant! Right up their alley. If they don't go for it, we should call Ryan Stock, the Guinea Pig. He's from Edmonton, and actually a friend of a friend.

So you caught a little blow back, and it incapacitated you, yet you doubt whether a full face shot would be effective? I'm sorry, I don't understand. I don't know if my word can put your fears to rest, but I can tell you from first hand experience that it is very, very effective.

Sorry to re-hash a locked thread, but... So we should thank a volunteer? He didn't bring the proper equipment to do his job, couldn't identify the species, and indicated intent to eat the fish "tuna tonight!". Even if he was joking, that's about as cool as yelling "bomb" in an airport, if you ask me. No, I'm afraid a pat on the back is not what comes to mind.

I totally agree that trout in general, and bow river trout specifically, are not leader shy, but rather drag shy. A guide once told me that he had a client who usually fished for bass. The client kept setting the hook way too hard and breaking off. Coaching was tried, unsuccessfully. He chopped back the clients leader and tied on the heaviest line he could thread through the eye of the hook, and secured it with a loop knot. I tried it and found it made a big difference. Much more than finer tippets. I don't purposefully use heavy leaders, but I now use a loop knot for 90% or more of my dry fly fishing. I do use longer leaders, though. Even fishing creeks with a 3wt, my leader is seldom less than 10ft. But this is to separate the fly from the noise of the fly line splashing down. When I say trout are drag shy, I don't mean the big obvious drag that we can actually see. I mean micro-drag. Watch a real bug on the water and you'll notice that it twists and turns, rotating like a wind sock on every little breath of wind. Sometimes you can see a mayfly affected by a tiny breeze you can't even feel on your skin. Flies tied on with a closed, tight knot can't do that. With a loop knot, they can wiggle a little bit more. And often enough, that's enough. This is the same reason that inverted patterns work so well for picky fish. It's not that the fish is refusing because it sees the hook, otherwise you couldn't catch those same fish another day on wet flies, which you can. It's that the hook acts as a keel, and stabilizes the fly in the water. Inverted flies are free to skate about on the surface tension. If you haven't, I highly recommend you try the two tactics together.

I just figured there'd be a market for them, if you made it a little more plain jane and affordable.

Come up with something a little more realistic, and you might just have a hit on your hands.

I've repeatedly heard otherwise. Anyone have experience getting sprayed with both varieties? Guys hit directly in the face with bear spray typically require a trip to the ER. Percentages look convincing, but you're really comparing apples to oranges- "Determining the strength of different manufactures of pepper sprays can be confusing. The best and possibly the only reliable method is using the CRC of the product. The federal government of the United States has determined that Bear Attack Deterrent Sprays must contain at least 1.0% Capsaicin and Related Capsaicinoids. CRC does not measure the amount of Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) within the formulation. Instead, CRC is the heat bearing and pain producing components of the OC. The federal government of the United States makes no mention of SHU (Scoville heat units)or OC in their requirements, only CRC. Some manufactures may show a very high percentage of OC (Oleoresin Capsicum) and though OC is the active ingredient within the formulation it does not indicate pepper spray strength. The OC percentage only measures the amount of peppers contained in the defense spray, not the strength, pungency or effectiveness of the product. Other companies may show a high SHU, but again this is deceiving. The SHU is measured at the base resin and not by what comes out of the aerosol. The rated high heat of the resin can is diluted down depending on how much of it is put in the can."

When your elbow is bent 90 degrees, your strength and stability are significantly reduced, compared to a 60 degree angle. When your elbow is lower than your hand you can kind of tuck in your elbow and lock your shoulder. I don't have a degree in biomechanics, but anyone can try it and see. I like the top of the handle to be close to even with the top of my waders. It then works nicely as a hand held wading "sounder", which helps prevent stepping into holes that are deeper than you expected.

When your elbow is bent 90 degrees, your strength and stability are significantly reduced, compared to a 60 degree angle. I don't have a dgree in biomechanics, but anyone can try it and see. I like the top of the handle to be close to even with the top of my waders. It then works nicely as a hand held wading "sounder", which helps prevent stepping into holes that are deeper than you expected.

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Airflo has switched to a new supple coating. Honestly, their new lines are the most memory-free that I've ever used. Pay attention to the taper you choose though; the Impact taper has a 50' head, and is really only suitable for very fast rods.

Yeah, a guy named Chuck Harvey. Last I heard he worked Thursday nights at The Fishin Hole-North. Did you try Trevor, at The Reel Doctor?

According to the website FOTRDR has lots of support from the private sector. I think Bob's group should just secure their funding by campaigning for charitable donations. That would be far more constructive than a petition to the government, don't you think? Especially the present gov't, which is going very much the other way. I would make a donation, but I'm not signing.

I'm pretty sure most of our rivers need help. I've been fishing Alberta waters, including the RDR, for quite a while. I've seen hundreds, if not thousands of other anglers, in that time. I can count the number of times I've encountered true poachers without using my toes. I truly don't believe that Rampant Illegal Retention is the source of the decline in fishing quality. I worked in a tackle shop for a few years, and I can't tell you how many times I've heard a similar story, "Fishing used to be great there, you could catch them by the bucket-load, day after day. Stupid government/poachers/mismanagement ruined the fishery!" Laughable, if weren't so sad.

Isn't this all a moot point? From what I've heard, enforcement of any kind will soon be a thing of the past, so who's going to issue these steeper fines? No revenue from fines means no funding for the Red Deer River Pilot Project. I'm usually a pretty law-abiding guy, but I'm starting to think if we want better enforcement, we'll have to do it ourselves. Old school. Honestly though, how many people really believe that nearly half of all anglers are poaching? Or have I misunderstood the website?

Mid arbor reels give you more leeway between the flyline and the crossbar of the reel, so if the flyline piles up in one place while you're reeling it's less likely to jam. When the line jams against the crossbar it can interrupt the fight with the fish, sometimes causing an LDR, and can damage the flyline. I think the advantages of large arbor reels are mostly marketing hype. So your LA reel turns slower while a fish is running. So what? Let 'er sing! Lee Wulff, and every other salmon angler of his day, wasn't hampered by small arbor reels. And they had click and pawl "drag" to boot! A decent quality reel isn't going to explode. Cheap ones do, regardless of arbor design. Coils in your flyline coming off the reel? I haven't tried every flyline made, but I can safely say this happens with most of the best lines out there, even on LA reels. The coils are just bigger. They tangle less, but they still tangle. A good line has little to no memory after one solid stretch. The tension you apply when reeling up at the end of the day is a bigger factor than arbor size. The big one for many anglers is the LA's ability to pick up line faster. Here's the thing- I can strip line twice as fast as I can reel it with a large arbor. I know others who say it's three times faster. If it actually matters, if a fish charges straight at you, you're better off stripping in line for all you're worth. For me, from now on, mid arbor all the way.

I'm not sure I understand the question. My "too bad there's none of those" comment was a sarcastic referral to the supposedly non-existent natural predators of otters.