ironfly

I don't think of any aspect of fishing as a right, but rather a privilege. Personally, I see a sense of entitlement as a bit of a plague on our society. Yeah, all that exploration was a lot of fun, and I found a few spots on my own that way, but what I was really talking about was recruitment. Let's say a 30-something Dad makes a decision that I assume we'd all support- to take his kids fishing. But he doesn't know anything, has no free time or money to explore, and without help he'll have a few failed trips, everyone will be dissappointed, and they'll most likely give up. I'd rather be helpful, and create more "friends of the river". If you've become cynical about that sort of thing, that's understandable, but unfortunate. Let's not oversell ourselves, though; it's pretty fashionable to claim that we pick up litter when we go fishing, but honestly, how many of you have seen that happening? I figure if every person on this board picks up trash, as they all seem to claim, then you must see three or four guys doing just that pretty much every time you go fishing, right? If that's true, fabulous, but I've never seen it a single time. My point is that it's pretty tough to say who will be a steward, and who's going out pillaging. I have freely given away spots of my own, and returned to find them occupied. Sure, there's a twinge of dissappointment, but that is outweighed by the knowledge that a few others have found the way, the truth and the light. It sounds like some posters to this thread would actually prefer that there were no more, or even less anglers, because they don't want to share. To me, that seems elitist. And if you're willing to share info to certain people, under certain circumstances, but won't share that info freely...well, by definition that is elitist.

For me, it comes down to overall ethics and philosopy. If you want to be percieved as elitist, go ahead and keep your secrets. Not too many of us have the freedom and spare cash to go exploring enough to have any degree of success discovering our own repetiore of decent fishing spots. I know, because before I had marriage/mortage/children constraints I did find my share of dead ends, marginal fisheries, and wild goose chases. I really don't think poachers are looking to exert much effort. Those that live in Calgary will poach the Bow. Those that are poaching the East Slopes come in 2 types- locals, and those that are paid to be there. I highly doubt either of those groups pay the slightest attention to this website, and if they do, they probably laugh at what we don't know. They don't care what flies are working, because they're generally using bait. I doubt they care much about locations, because they know a heck of a lot more about that than most of us. Lastly, I'd like to reiterate the point that 99% of all fishers were MENTORED into the sport.

Not that nice for me actually. If they really cared, they would have the knowledge, don't you think?

I've tested a can of bear spray that sat in a shed all winter in Yellowknife and it worked like new, once it was thawed. In sub-zero temperatures the pressure goes down and the range drops. I didn't test enough to find out at what tempuature it becomes ineffective, but most of us don't spend much time in the backcountry in the winter, and those that do can take comfort that bears, at least, aren't much of a threat at that time. Not that they are at any other time. I'm not scared of sharks, and I'm not scared of bears. I am, however, scared of car accidents. Weird, eh? It sprays into a stiff headwind pretty good actually. I know, it sounds like a good way to get nominated for a Darwin award, but there was no way I was trusting my family's safety to an unknown. I had a friend stand back and observe how far it reached, while I closed my eyes, held my breath and ran at a right angle. The reason it still shoots out well is because the spray has terrible aerodynamics, but high propulsion. I'm no physics expert, but I can draw an analogy to archery. When hunting birds, some people use a Flu-flu arrow, which is fletched much more heavily than a standard arrow. They usually have 6 flights rather than 3, and the feathers are left full height, so there's at least 10 times as much drag. Out to about 25 yards there is no difference in tragectory or velocity that the human eye can see, then all of a sudden it's like someone put on the brakes; it's amazing how fast they drop off! I hope that makes sense.

Works pretty good on a charging bull moose, too. Simple math my friend- firing a pistol requires 5 steps; draw the weapon, chamber a round, take off the safety, aim, fire. Yeah, I know, you do it all in one smooth motion, fast as a blink, and can put out a candle at 20 paces. Now you just have to hit a moving target of a few inches, with an instrument that is less than half an inch. Firing bear spray can be done in 2 steps; leave it on your hip, just remove the safety and fire. Now the entire animal is the target, and the weapon is 3 times his size. Of course, there's also accidents to consider. I'm not much of a gambling man. Clearly, you are. Most bear experts say, go home, but what do they know? I always have one can on my hip, with a spare in my bag. They build up a resistance, eh? So it must be true what they say, Mexicans and East Indians are immune to pepper spray. NOT!

According to a 30 year study done by the US Forest Service, people who used firearms to defend themselves from a bear were injured or killed about 50% of the time, and all injuries required medical attention. People who used bear spray were completely uninjured about 95% of the time, and none of their injuries required medical attention. 'Nuff said.

AND being sold live in Vancouver, which places us nicely in the middle. Snakeheads are so bad that the word has become a pseudonym for the worst kind (most destructive) of invasive species. As in, "In some areas, Carragana has become a real Snakehead."

The flies at Reelflies.ca are actually tied by Canadians, in Canada. Can the same be said of Icky?

SD, do you buy the foam body like that, or cut it yourself?

Have you considered Goodwill?

Beefing up the tail a bit will also help.

Both, not necessarily in that order.

LOL! Get's my vote.

As others have mentioned, getting it thin enough can be challenging, and tying with the thick stuff even more so. Phil Rowley and Brian Chan have gone to the trouble of selecting the perfect grade of this material, and it is now available under the Stillwater Solutions brand, labeled as "Midge Body Material".

The journalist makes no claim to being an expert in chemistry. However, the U of A geochemist who is quoted throughout the article, probably qualifies. And they're not talking only about shallow wells; some of the wells cited in the article were 8000 feet (almost 2500 meters) deep. There's no shortage of examples of science being able to "prove" both sides of an argument simultaneously. Consider the source.

The mine sites will be reclaimed? That's great news! Thanks Pollyanna! Want to buy a bridge? Comes with a great view of Brooklyn.

As far as the smell goes, it's most likely due to the tanning agents that were used. Some of the cheap ones smell pretty bad. Try sealing it in a container with an open dish of white vinegar. Vinegar has an amazing capacity to soak up odors, but the smell of the vinegar itself will dissipate off the hair in short order.

I recommend you bag it with a good amount of silica beads. If any bugs get into it, they'll die of dessication before they can do any damage. You can go through the freeze drying process if you want (2 days in the freezer, 2 days at room temperature, and repeat a few times), but that's no guarantee that bugs won't get into it in the future. The silica beads will kill anything that's present, and offers prevention. Refresh the beads once a year, as they'll pull moisture right out of the air and become saturated.

I can't wait to meet Tom. Is he as good a caster as his brother Tim?

They're called split-rings.

I've tried it with squirrel. Either the hair was too dense, or too stiff. In the water it had no movement, and looked like a puffball. I like muskrat, and I'm sure mink would work great. The thinner you can cut it the better.

PGK, I think we both started off as well intentioned, just sharing information and knowledge. But we clearly touched nerves, and it escalated. I try to not use the internet as my venting outlet, but slipped up a bit here. It's been a stressful month. For my part, I apologize. I had the same kind of reaction as when someone from Ontario tells me the fishing sucks in Alberta. I didn't do any research on lodges, my comments were based on 20 year old conversations with lodge owners/operators. Anecdotal evidence being what it is, I should've known better. I don't have bookshelves filled with reference material, and I don't have the time for posting a bunch of links, so the name dropping was my way of saying, "you don't have to take my word for it." Even if we do go on butting heads forever, I'd like you to know that I do have some degree of respect for you. Your passion for fisheries is pretty plain, and I have some limited knowledge of the good work you do. We're on the same side, really, and I'll try to remember that in the future.

2 whole years, eh? Wow. You're going to have to stay there for a long time to catch up with my knowledge and experience base, kid. I have ties to Aklavik that go back to when the world was new, if you catch my drift. The comment about a bad week of fishing was to give you the benefit of the doubt. Thanks for confirming my assumptions about your knowledge of the dehcho and sahtu, though. A lake trout trolling meat fishery? Sure, that's all they have to offer, don't bother going there or trying to learn more. Pay no attention to what Duane Radford or Mark Krupa have to say about it. And don't talk to me about land claims, local opposition and expenses, kid. It'll take you years to learn as much about that stuff as I've forgotten. All the same obstacles were in the way on the big lakes, but Plummers, Enodah, and others found a way. You think I seemed pissy? I'd say you're projecting, because you clearly have no idea how rough it can get.

Well, I have also fished the delta. With hyperbole like that, I'm going to have to conclude that you have very limited, if any, experience with the other regions. Or maybe it's like my trip to the Manitoba parklands this fall; supposedly some of the best stillwater fishing in North America, I just was there during a bad week. I will say this, though; there are some world-class lodges on and around Great Slave and Great Bear, but none that I'm aware of in the Mad Trapper neck of the woods.

PGK, I thought you were up on the coast. It's pretty well known amongst Northerners that the Dehcho has the best pike fishing. By the time you get up to the Sahtu region, lakers take the lead. Don't get me wrong, both regions have world class fishing for both species (and more), but they edge each other out for those fish. More to the point, I believe in big flies for big pike, and this belief has been reaffirmed many times by the fish. One time, early in my fly fishing experience, I was invited out by a very accomplished pike fly guy. As we were gearing up he asked to see my flies. He laughed at me, teased me, insulted me, and was all around pretty rude about the fact that smallest one was at least 6" long. He offered me a couple wooly buggers and clousers, around size 4, insisting that I would catch more fish on smaller flies, and that the bigger fish wouldn't care. After a couple hours I got tired of hammerhandles and switched to one of my "ridiculous monstrosities". As the day was getting on, I noticed he had been casting to the same spot for quite a while, and kept at it as I finned my way over to him. Here was a guy, who I had on good authority could teach me a lot, working a big, reluctant fish. I figured I'd watch a master in action and pick up a skill or two, but he got frustrated eventually, muttered about changing flies, and told me I might as well try a cast or two while he re-rigged. The look on his face was pretty good as I worked out some line and he saw the big fly whipping back and forth, but his expression became priceless when the water exploded 2 seconds after my fly landed. I couldn't help but rub it in a little, and that guy has never spoken to me again. Good riddance. Oh, and I've never had enough trouble with short strikes to notice. I tye some flies about 9" long on a short-shanked treble, which I had intended to be the rear of component tube flies, but never got around to tying the tubes and tried them anyway, and they worked like gangbusters. I've heard others claim that pike side-swipe a lot, and maybe the food base is the key; if they mostly eat spiny fishes (most lakes around here) they become head strikers, but if soft-rayed fish are the main (or only, like up north) entree, they change tactics. By the way, PGK, you claim pike prefer to not eat spiny fish, but list sticklebacks as a preferred food. Just seems a little contradictory to me.