cbcanderson

Thanks for sharing. Incredible pictures. You made my day a little brighter dreaming of past and future trips.

I have chased bass here in North Texas some, and I have to admit that having a big ol' bucketmouth flush a topwater lure is a real adrenalin rush. I don't love it like I do flyfishing for trout, but at the end of the day, its all good. If you ever pass through DFW, give me a shout, I'll buy you some BBQ. I imagine living in Calgary you must be going crazy for some real BBQ and Tex-Mex.

It was a strange morning -- we showed up almost 2 hours before departure. It has never taken that long before to get through immigration and security. Well, no terrorist attacks today using bead head pheasant tails, or my favorite, the deadly size 18 elk-hair caddis I visit this site daily for a vicarious fill of fly fishing, but I never did see that post from the lady who lost her flies -- my bad, I guess. rickr, it has been fun watching you become a convert to the fly fishing life in Alberta. Thanks for the offer to go fishing for specs. I live in North Texas, so it is quite a haul down to the coast. I can't complain, Texas and her people have been truly great to me and my family, but I sure do miss Alberta trout streams. I admit that my first post was a bit of a rant to let off steam, but the main purpose was to get the word out to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else traveling with their fly boxes in carry-on bags.

I had a lousy day at the Calgary airport. As context, I come home to Alberta each year to visit family and flyfish, and on my way back to Texas I had a sad experience with the security screeners at YYC. The security line was very long and for whatever reason they were hand checking every bag in extreme detail. Well, I made it through the metal detector and two airport employees started screening my bags and going through every pocket, nook and cranny of my backpack. I had tossed my flyfishing bag inside my pack, and when they opened it they inspected every split shot, leader, spool of tippet, strike indicator and when they got to my flies they nearly had a fit. They told me I can't take fishing hooks on the plane (it turns out they are right, but I have done this dozens of times and nobody ever said anything). I showed them how small the hooks are (mostly size 16-22) and suggested they were no risk to anyone. That didn't work, so I explained that there are over 300 flies in my boxes with a value of $400-$500, but to no avail. They said they would throw them away for me. I said this is ridiculous, I fly with flies as carry-on all the time and I have had security screeners see my flies and wish me luck on my fishing trip. One of the screeners looked at me, starts shaking her head and said "listen, I will not risk losing my job for your fishing hooks." I replied "OK, but please don't throw them away, give them to someone because these flies are worth a lot of money and someone you know who fishes will appreciate receiving them." She then says, well you can always mail them to yourself. I respond saying "because it took me almost 90 minutes to get through your security line, my flight leaves in 5 minutes, my wife and four children are on the plane, and I can't miss my flight." Her reply "well, that isn't my fault, is it?" The irony should have been comical, but at this point I felt like I was in another reality and getting dizzy at the thought of losing every fly I own. They also took my three fly boxes and the fishing bag they were in. So, the moral of the story is -- WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T FORGET TO PUT YOUR FLY BOXES IN YOUR CHECKED LUGGAGE!!!!! I can' tell you how painful it was watching them throw every flybox I own in the garbage and sweep the flies I had tried to pull out of the foam in an effort to save the boxes into the trash. Ouch!!