echinopora

Tourism Calgary is looking developing some advertising focused on the fly fishing experience in Calgary. The media developer is looking for input from the fly fishing community regarding their experiences and concerns. If anyone is interested in the community consultation the media agency is Destination Think! They would be interested in hearing from local fly fishermen. The contact info is aman@destinationthink.com if you would like to be involved. RG

At age nine I think the biggest factor to keep them interested is numbers more so than size or species. Fall is a great time to learn to flyfish as there are many smaller creeks with an abundance of whitefish that will be more than willing to grab a nymph, even if there is a little drag (or even alot of drag, or an extreme amount of drag) Tie up a bunch of size 16 Pheasant tails with fine red ribbing, worms etc and have a ball. Try the sections of river with deep pools. There are some deeper pools on the Highwood downstream of Longview that get full of whitefish and lot's of casting room, same with much of the sheep. Let them have a few double digit days on wide gravel bars with no tree's to get snagged in and move to more technical streams if they get keen. Rob

WWJD- Widely believed that ignorant guides on the sea of Galilee were subjected to biblical bitch slappings after witnessing that indeed, this dude walks on water. I lack these abilites and resigned myself to walk and wade fishing the 4am-10am slot. The sunrises alone are worth it.

The dead ringer on caribou tracks are that the tip of the hoove curves inward, making each individual hoove look like a comma. I've seen them at Amethyst lake in Jasper, and in the shovel pass area, but not much south of there. Everything I've heard from my old research buddies paints a pretty grim picture for caribou south of the caribou mountains and hay river. I did some work on the Little smokey, Narraway and highway 40 herds in 2006 and even then it was a pretty poor outlook. I think oil and gas are going to win this battle. Rob

@ 2:38 Lego my Lean-to?

I should have added listen to hawgstoppah. Funny that you are from Oz as that's where I'm living right now. I've retired my flyrod for now and have been spending most of my time here tossing poppers for Giant Trevally, tailor and Australia Salmon. I fell in love the first time a Trevally blew up on a 110mm popper. There's heaps of economy size Sambo's around here right now, 3kg+. I've managed some Flathead and Bream on the fly, but Cunjevoi and oysters don't mix well with expensive flyline. I'll be in Calgary for a wedding at the end of August if someone hasn't shown you around by then. Rob

I remember how crappy my first few trips were, so here's my two cents -I'd start with a big SJ and size 16 nymph with a little flash. Nymphing has always been the most productive for me. -Get deep, the SJ will help -Be methodical. Lots of fish hold very close to shore, many guys wade right through where the fish are. -You'd be suprised how many fish hold in fast riffles on the bow. If you can find a riffle where the bottom looks like corduroy or you can see bathtub sized depressions, give them a go. If you are walk and wade these can be great since the drifters often leave them alone. Standing waves are a tip-off that the bottom has become rippled, potholes often have slick water right over top with a wedge wave behind. Then all the standard fly fishing stuff, seams and whatnot. But my fishing on the Bow changed alot when I started looking for and targeting rough ground in faster water. Moreso for the rainbows than browns. Rob

I've had the pleasure of fishing the spine of the divide in Wilmore Wilderness. These rivers should be the posterchild for low productivity, high elevation, high latitude freestone rivers, however the fishing pressure is very low. They have the same size and character as the highwood/sheep, and the density and size of fish is a pleasant suprise for anyone willing to make the hike. You could definitely reproduce one of those old-timey 200 fish stringers up there. You rarely see trout come blasting up from the bottom of a deep pool to grab a dry down south, but on these rivers they will literally race oneanother to the fly, often missing because they come so hard and fast. Now if I sit on a ledge above the highwood in the fall I can definitely see similar numbers (or more) fish than the northern rivers, but the fact that they literally fight oneanother to get on your hook make the northern river seem more productive. Same as comparing a high mountain cutty lake to say beaver/bullshead. Huge difference in productivity, but 50 fish later on the cutty lake you are still catching fish on a size 16 with a few wraps of tattered thread left on it. The big question for me would be whether the difference is due to a difference in nutrients, fishing pressure/mortality, or unseasoned fish/agressive feeding habits of the natives. The upper smokey and tribs are hella cold, gin clear and really short season/heavy run off. Another similar river is the Torrens, the deep canyon section see's very low pressure, so despite the marginal conditions, you only really ever fish 5-6 runs in a day, but the rest of the river gets nailed hard by oilfield workers and is a tough go. I would suspect it's more the low fishing pressure that makes these rivers really pop as opposed to nutrients. Just like when you're sitting on a central Ab brown stream that usually only gives up a half a dozen fish, a hatch starts and you get half a dozen without moving your feet. The fish were there all along, its just rare to be able to stick every fish in a run. Hell give me a Hills brothers can full of worms and I'll decimate a trout river just like the old timers. 3 hooks per line, 3 lines per angler, no wonder they had full stringers. This thing is a full blown river and you can see how close the the treeline I am. Low nutrient? Yup. Low Productivity? You bet. Sore wrist? Of course. That said, the upper Sheep/Junction creek could use a little help, how about you make that your pilot? Rob

I had a pair. Leaked inside the right knee right away. I walk a fair bit and the fabric wore through inside both knees within a few weeks of wear. Ended up patching the hell out of them and re-inforcing the seams on the insides of both legs. Fine since then, but a pain in the ass being wet half the time for the first month. On a side note, caught a 3' wobbegong off the beach here in Australia yesterday, not used to catching things that bite back. Rob

At least you aren't the fool who waited 5 minutes for a picture to load (Damn this internet is slow today! Better be a nice Brown)

As an Albertan Dentist who has actually just cancelled thier license to move overseas (just so you know I'm not suckering you into my shop), there are a few things to look for: -There is a whole range of dentistry in Mexico, from terrible to really great. There are lots of dentists in mexico originally trained in the US, Germany, Scandinavia. Some of the Carribean schools are not too bad. I don't want to trash mexican dental schools, but just due to lack of equipment in the schools the education can be pretty basic. - If you need root canals, just make sure that they are using gutta percha (GP for short) to fill the canals. Formaldehyde pastes are pretty popular because they remove the pain ASAP as well as being fast and cheap, but having a tooth full of embalming fluid is bad in the long run. Ive seen a number of these from Mexico, India/Thailand, Russia and they are not fun when the bone around the tooth starts to react to the formaldehyde. -Implants- Make sure they give you the original packages the implants came in, or at least the brand, serial and lot #'s. This can be important if you ever need replacement parts. The implants are designed so that the top part has an engineered weakness (a gold screw in most cases) that will fail before you damage the actual body of the implant. The replacement parts are extremely specific, and those numbers will be needed. Also, ask if they are using one of the major brands (Straumann, Nobel-Biocare, Sterioss, Bio-oss). Sometimes the small companies go out under and then parts become unavailable. Also make sure you get a copy of the pre and post op x-ray. -The biggest offenses I've seen are from crown and bridge work (followed by composite (white) fillings). The Labs that make the crowns/bridges also differ in quality alot, and no matter how good the dentist is, poor labwork will always fail early. Any gaps in the margin of the crown, or overhangs and that baby is toast. -You have no legal recourse if there is a screwup, but major screwups only really come with major dental work. Here are a couple of films, I think the problems are pretty clear. No complaints from these patients, but all 3 molars are gone on the first film and fenceposts don't stand up too long with 6" postholes. The dentist has drilled through the tooth and perforated into the bone on the back root of the first molar, and you can see a pretty big gap between the crown and the tooth. The second molar is nearly perforated, the crown must have had a huge gap in the back which has been filled (not very well) with some unknown material. Root canals are incompletely cleaned, but it won't hurt because the formaldehyde has fried the nerve. Food packing in around the temporary filling on the 2nd molar and the open margin on the first molar has caused periodontal disease, so you can see the bone has been eaten away between the molars resulting in some loose teeth (mostly the wisdom). In anycase, I'm at about 50/50 between total f-ups and stuff that would be acceptable for mexican work that I've come across. I won't try to scare you away, but it is essential you do your homework and get documentation of the work, films if possible. If it helps at all dental work in the michigan area is of modern standards and about 60-70% of the cost of Calgary. Avoid Eastern Block countries and India like the plague. If things go pear shaped it is unlikley a general dentist will touch it unless they really like you, so you will likely end up in a specialist office (and if you think regular dentists are expensive). As an aside, I wouldn't be suprised if Calgary/Vancouver had some of the highest fees in the Western hemisphere. Like they say, your mileage may vary Rob

I don't see how the arguement that changing the regs will upset the system holds any water at all. The lakes survived with no/little harvest for thousands of years prior to us whities getting here. If anything reducing harvest would return the lakes back to a more natural state with a more natural trout age distribution. I think anyone who has fished any of the larger hike in lakes nearby like Owl and Marvel, or even the more pot hole lakes like SE or Lehman would agree that the area has the potential to produce some great fishing. It would be nice to let people enjoy some great fishing without the half day walk. What the K lakes area does lack is an easily accessable quality stillwater fishery. There would be no better way to get a kid hooked on fishing than 20" cutties. I remember when I was a kid at Peppers lake and a huge school of brookies swam by, I nearly wet myself with excitement. K lakes also have great accessability. Access has become a problem with my Grandfather, and increasingly so with my own Dad. They can't walk too far, and wading is iffy for the one and outright dangerous for the other. Still I'd like somewhere near town that I could wet a line with them. Rob

Hell, I fished the crow with Brian (Hawgstoppah) and I'll tell you, I don't care how many years you've been fishing, some people are just gifted. I got outfished at least 6:1, he was practically catching fish from under my feet. I hit the bow this morning for a few hours, nothing great. 3 bows at 22, 17, 12 and 2 Browns at 19 and 13 plus maybe 5 microbows. Last Monday morning was a completely different story. I had at least 10 fish over 15" by the time the first ray of sunshine hit my back, and they kept coming till I went home just before noon. I don't think a 20-30 fish day is unreasonable if you've fished the river alot, the trout are on that day and especially if you have a boat. If you take the 6:1 beating I took from Brian, and apply it to my last 2 mondays, well.... thats alot of fish even on a slow morning like today. Rob

And then the sun came over the hill, fishing slowed a bit but landed a quite a few more. No giants, but lots of spunk. Home before the other guys were even gearing up. Rob

Went down to the Bow this morning, fish were very active before and around sunrise. Today was a testament to catch and release fishing, as almost every fish had signs of being caught one or more times before.