trailhead

I have to go with the Colts, Manning only got better as the game went on. He relishes playing under pressure, gets that look in his eye and it's real hard to stop him. Brees on the other hand wilts under pressure, a few good hits and he disappears. It's great that the Saints are in the Super Bowl, but unless something real unexpected happens all they will get to do is play in the game.

Good job, nice double header.

Harry your heart is in the right place, thanks for doing this. I'll see you at the show.

And Global Warming is to blame, same for H1N1, SARS, Mad Cow and all the volcanoes erupting. It's prophesized by Nostradamus, the Mayans, Revelations and the Book of the Dead.

Yeah well what about the earthquake in Haiti?

I keep my drag set for the weight of the tippet, I'm like Maxwell if the fish is going to run then it has to work hard. That's why i rarely get into the backing on the reel. So if I have a fish that hits and then runs I know it's big. When I started flyfishing decades ago I was told that the rod is what fights the fish, not the reel.

Another nice vid, and that bear shot at the end is pretty sweet. Thanks again

Yes kind of like the world in general.

Thanks for the late Christmas present, and have a great 2010.

Kind of quiet here these days. Must be the holidays.

Happy Christmas, Merry New Year, Joyful Hanukah, and Peace on the Solstice.

I don't remember a lot of them, my first one was a Shakespeare, then I had a yellow one, then a Berkeley three piece. Then a black one. Then I got a Daiwa 8 wt, which I still have. Temple fork 6 wt, Redington 4 wt (my favorite rod), Redington Wayfarer 5 wt, Sage 5 wt (which is a the bottom of the Bow River now) Redington 5 wt, Lefty Kreh 2 wt, and a Wright & McGill 10 wt. I know I missing some too.

Nice vid, part of it was shot at where my avatar is located, if I'm not mistaken. Thanks for the warm greetings.

what kind of fish is that? Congratulations it is an impressive specimen. By the way what general area is that?

I like Fish and Tell and Go to Hell. It's a nice collection of fact, fishing tales and fiction, so funny parts too. Plus it is local.

I'm with Lynn on this one, support a charity that actually helps who it claims to help. I also don't believe in the alarmist global warmong theories, but I do believe in minimizing my own global footprint. My family composts, recycles, uses mass transit, walks or bikes whenever possible, and we live a very modest lifestyle. If some of what is proposed at Copenhagen comes to pass, there will be a shift of wealth, but I unfortunately don't believe that it will benefit the under developed countries. I get the feeling that a new "business model" will evolve and that will ultimately benefit those with the power to implement it. A banana republic type of scenario with a pseudo-enviromentalist twist. I can see it now........Gore Environmental Inc. or The Suzuki Foundation Ltd. what a minute.

Well the production time on lots of those shows is pretty long, from the time it is written to the time it hits the air. Maybe he was still with the Rangers when they put that show together. My nephew is in the business and he has told me it can take up to 5 years.

Mining was not an acceptable activity after the creation of the Parks..and was always to be phased out however wouldn't be surprised if someday..100 years or more from now it occurs again..nothing should surprise us..who knows what is in some those rocks. The mines in Banff were in place before the area that encompassed them became a park. There is a mineable lead-zinc-silver deposit in Waterton, but it won't be touched in the forseeable future. The interesting thing about it is that Parks Canada wants to preserve the natural rock and that many geological field trips are conducted there, due to the unique nature of the deposit. The unique part being that any other ore body of that type can't be studied because it's usually mined out after discovery. Oh and the original mandate of the National Parks was; for the enjoyment of people.

Is this post still going? Well with the weather we are having I can see why, and with the climate changed winter we're in for I can see it getting worse. As far as value goes, it is an arbitrary concept that has no meaning to nature, it is manmade. So fishing in National Parks or anywhere for that matter is worth diddly squat to the birds, insects, wild mammals, amphibians, reptiles, fish, single celled organisms and worms. None of them recognize a monetary or reward based system. Everything either is or isn't. IE for bears there either is garbage to eat or isn't. If there is they go and eat it, if there isn't they find another food source. The only value in that is for humans, because the bears are either a nuisance or they are not. As a nuisance they have to be controlled by trapping and relocation. Which costs money, hence has a value. So the only value in fishing is in the enjoyment that humans get out of it, which is why there is a charge for a license and so has a monetary value. As humans can rationalize, there is also an intrinsic value based on the altruistic esperience of fishing, the sky, wind, sound of rushing water etc. It is true that animals also experience these things but they do this in the course of their existence. The primary value a wild organism assigns to anything is based on its survival. A river is water which is for drinking, food is required for sustenance, threats are handled by fight of flight. That's about all the value nature recognizes.

So I was down in Coleman for the weekend and my wife and I decide to go for a hike along the river. We walked on a trail by Bushtown and came out on a gravel bar. There must have been 6 or 7 big piles of bear sh*t, mostly full of chokecherry pits. I was always under the impression that bears moved up into the high country in late fall to prepare for denning up for the winter. I guess I was wrong, the scary part was we had no bear spray and I know that a grizzly has been hanging around for most of the summer. These were huge piles of poo!

Flyfishing ranks third behind cooking and gardening, and is followed by hiking, cycling, fitness, travelling, cross-country and downhill skiing, birdwatching, music, home renos, coin and stamp collecting, wine appreciation, reading and star gazing. It seems that like many of you, I wouldn't have any trouble finding something to do if I retired. The only hold back seems to be the lack of revenue.

No I have never had a 100 fish day. I was up in the arctic on a tiny grayling creek, and after about 30 I got bored and left. Once when I was fishing a cutt stream I caught 8 or ten in the same amount of casts and left that hole because I felt weird. I guess I am.

I don't think there is one for the beaver, but I believe there is the year of the "cat"

It's not just that they have no fear, there actually people who feed them. That was the case with the pair that were shot by the police in the Stanley Park area a couple of years ago. I had a pair stalk me when I was fishing the summer before last, that too was by the Douglasdale Golf Course. I think a slingshot is a good idea, because they do at least somewhat thin the deer population, more city vermin.

Oh I think he knew it was illegal, that's probably why he left. I don't even approach bait fishers anymore, I had two occasions where it turned confrontational, but they just told us to FO. So we phoned RAP and in both cases they were busted. Who knows maybe that guy was one of them. Anyway good on you for righting a wrong.