ironfly

Well, I don't live in Calgary so I can't see for myself, but I've phoned a heck of a lot of fly shops (all over the country), and was told they have little or none. Maybe they thought I sounded like a hairdresser. If it's true that necks are available, I suggest you get them while you can, because this fad isn't dying anytime soon. Some fashionistas are willing to resort to strung hackle at this point.

I was a writer and editor once upon a time, so I can't help but pick it apart. I'm glad you found the article helpful. First rule of writing is "know your audience".

I've had Mustad's bend part way out on me, but I still landed the fish, so I can't complain.

Goes to show just how much opinions can vary; the 2487 is one of my favorite hooks.

True enough, but I don't think the article was written 20 years ago, when "Indian" was an acceptable (sort of) term for First Nations. Besides, those earrings are made, sold, and worn by little neo-hippie girls. Natives use feathers to make headdresses, bustles and ceremonial garb. They make their earrings primarily out of beads. These aren't my only problems with the article. He claims that a novice can tye a dozen or more foam beetles in an hour; after teaching many beginners, I don't think there's a pattern simple enough for that. Occasionally you come across a "natural" who might do a half-dozen in an hour. Tyers like that are about one in twenty. To me, the biggest issue is that it's an article on alternatives to hackle, but of all the featured patterns, the only alternative material used is foam. Sure some have antron in them, but still use hackle or foam for floatation. He mentions deer hair a few times, but doesn't provide an example. And he doesn't even mention CDC or Snowshoe Hare. I just think when you call an article "awesome", that sets the bar pretty high, and this one falls short.

Even the highest quality hooks in the world will occassionally get a bad one. I really don't think switching brands is the answer. Tiemco is a pretty tried and true brand, with plenty of fans around here.

Except for the fact that he erroneously claims that there's plenty of capes still available, and that a few of the featured patterns still use hackle. I'm especially fond of his use of the term "Indian-style earrings".

Tried that. Problem not solved. Maybe the flies I got were worse than yours, but the whole flies were tyed so poorly that even with a secure head, there was so much slack in the rest of it that one by one, parts worked themselves loose. Once one part falls off there's more slack and it just gets worse. The hooks were terrible, too. I think it'd be a shame to detract from a child's early flyfishing experience by giving him/her inferior gear. They're just going to lose any fish that bites, through no fault of their own. Why set them up for disappointment?

x2. Been there, done that. Total waste of money. Half of them will literally fall apart with a few false casts.

Laura MacPherson's name is familiar, but as far as I know she's not part of this one. We (TU-Edmonton) are partnering with Golder Associates to assess health and distribution of Arctic Grayling and their habitat. We've installed a baker's dozen of Hobotemps, and have 15 teams of anglers spread throughout the Pembina watershed. It'll be a multi-year study; I'm hoping we do the McLeod system next year.

Oh, and now that I think about it, most Grayling I've caught have fought with their dorsal fin up. Some switch (up and down) during the fight. Now I'm wondering if those that vary their tactics are the better fighters. More field research, I guess. Darn.

And I think you sound a little condescending. Dennis59 is participating in a Grayling survey right now, taking measurements and DNA samples. So far we've been getting a lot of good news; finding fish in water that had been written off anecdotally, better numbers and sizes than last year in waters we frequent. Besides, Dennis is a pretty darned experienced fly fisher, not some chest thumping kid who needs to one-up everyone around him. If he says 15", I believe him.

Alberta record Lake Sturgeon was 105 lbs, caught in the SSR in 1981. Anecdotally, they can be up to 120 lbs.

I'll second the comments from FlyfishingEMT. I haven't actually caught one myself, but I have a few friends involved with the sturgeon tagging program on the NSR; they all use jumbo dew worms predominantly, and tell me that most of the really successful guys do the same.

Sun, in all of the links you provided, I see no real reference to the cause of the oscillation, other than some vague mention of "natural variability". More importantly, your links state that a + trend since the seventies will cause colder conditions in North America, yet we've been experiencing the opposite. Maybe I just don't have the educational background to understand. Could you please explain? Also, I'd like to point out that Wiki clearly states that there are no references or citations to a fairly prominent section of that entry.

I've had the Kreh knot, or whatever you want to call it, snap on me way too many times. On average I'd say for every fly that got wet connected with that knot, I had to tie it twice. Hard to say how many fish I've lost because of it. Like Crogg, I recommend the UNI knot. That one is a true 99% knot. I also agree with Dave Whitlock; the UNI knot is the only knot you need in flyfishing.

Tye lots of them. Contrary to what I read, I found cdc soaked up water pretty quick. I mean like ten casts or less. It didn't seem to make much difference whether I used cdc oil, Aquel, or left them natural. Also, get a larger fly patch, because once they're wet they don't shed the water with false casts, and even an Amadou pad won't make them fishable. They have to air-dry 100%. After a couple years, I gave all my cdc away.

Ask your buddy if he's up for a longer boat ride. Depending on your horsepower, maybe an hour and a half north. There's a reason Trout Rock Lodge is so far up the North Arm. But don't go there for lake trout; there's a few, but very few and small, compared to the East Arm. Trout Rock Island was so named because the Dene used to set up their summer camps there and net the lake. Hence, not much for lakers these days. Big, big Pike though. I don't have the picture, I'll have to ask my sister if she still has it, where we're standing around the tailgate of the truck, and the fish's head and tail are hanging over the edges. That fish was over 5 feet long. It literally could've fit your head in it's mouth.

Props don't do anywhere near the kind of damage jets do. The jets set up a much faster, more powerful vortex in the water that continues spinning for a long time. So I've been told.

Whereabouts ya fishin'? If you can, head up the North Arm; there's some real monsters near Behchoko (Rae-Edzo), with a slight chance of Inconnu.

Yeah Matt, you'll hear lots of talk about "more stewards to protect our resource" right up until you ask a question like that. I've been searching for spring creeks for a few years myself. No-one's ever helped me out. Then again, I don't exactly go out of my way to make friends on this board. Give Stauffer a go, for sure. I usually fish it half a dozen times a year, and I love it.

Dhx, have you ever heard of the 20/20 Club? To get in, you have to catch a 20" trout on a #20 hook. Not sure if it has to be a dry. Point being, very large fish can be landed on very small hooks, but it's not easy and takes a lot of practice to get that good at playing fish. Ultimately, with hooks you choose between bending and breaking. If a hook is tempered hard enough it won't bend, but will break. I did a bunch of bench tests a few years back, and Mustad ended up at the top of the list. Comparing equivalent sizes, styles and guages of hooks from various companies, I found that a Mustad takes more pressure to straighten out than is required to break most other brands. So not only is a Mustad hook one of the strongest out there, but if the hook that got straightened happens to be the last of it's kind in your flybox, you can bend it back and catch another fish. That's saved my day a few times. I had a foam beetle that I bent back and caught about 20 more fish on. I had to close the bend after every fish, and I kept expecting the hook to break. Mind you, these were Grayling, and weren't truly straightening the hook; instead of a "J" it was more of an "L". After sunset, when I was heading back to the car I straightened the hook by hand and it took almost no pressure to break, but I still wonder if I could have caught another fish with it.

So when you learn to canoe, you practice a wet exit right? Same with kayaking. Just makes sense. Anybody done that with a belly boat, float tube, or pontoon boat? Or do you figure you should be able to handle it when the time comes? Or better yet, "It'll never happen to me."

Gee, I'm just shocked to encounter hostility, derision, and condescension on this board. I'm pretty familiar with belly boats, ruff; I sold them for a few years and have owned three different models. SamIam, maybe your experience with tubing is different, but most people spend plenty of time sitting up on the tube, with their feet in the hole. To me, this is actually more dangerous than float tubes; if your feet were to somehow get trapped, the little plastic tabs that connect the apron to the float tube would snap off easily. An inner tube has no such built in safety feature. Or have you never wondered why one of those tabs is always "broken" right out of the box? Besides, in order to get your feet trapped, realistically, you'd have to be wearing boots that resemble the ones Needles Tannin wore in Back to the Future. The bigger danger that I see (sorry if this counts as a hijacked thread), is the number of guys fishing out of drift boats with no PFD.

I'm a budget-minded man with a proud scottish heritage, so my vote is for Redington. Very affordable, good drag system, saltwater rated.