trailhead

Think I'll try for pike in Carburn

Just a few points to clarify before I or anyone else for that matter, can give you some enlightenment. What species of fish are you going after? How far do you want to drive? What kind of vehicle are you driving? In case the road is rough you want a truck at the least. Are you fishing from shore or do you have a boat?

It seems to me that there has to be some type of directive where fishing has a low priority in the scheme of things as far as the government is concerned these days. I remember years ago fishing a lake west of Edmonton and the friend I was with forgot his license at home. The officer that came by confiscated all our equipment, mine too, and we had to go back to Stony Plain with his license to get our gear. Now it seems they are way slacker and the cost of a license has got to be the lowest in the country. I talked with an older gentleman from Sparwood on my last trip and he told me it's cheaper for him to fish in Alberta than BC. Pretty sad.

Thanks for the shots, it sure is beautiful country down that way.

I was in Mexico over the spring and I actually found it quite boring. Not like Costa Rica where some punk ass kid tried to mug me, or Barbados where the resort security pulled a gun on me and my girlfriend, or Hawaii where the airport security accused us of being terrorist-smugglers. From what I can see a lot of Canadians get themselves into trouble in Mexico. Like the 20-something guy on our flight who pounded the booze from the minute they started serving it on the plane, and then got a drink at the resort and because it was hot, dove headfirst into the pool. Only thing was that the pool was 3 feet deep. I also saw a older fellow who blew a gasket at the airport ticket clerk because of the long line at the terminal, he sure got some good service after that. I spoke with a former oilfield worker who now owns a bar in Mexico, and he told me over the years he has seen Canadians becoming increasingly obnoxious, and he told me Mexicans are not impressed by that attitude, and unfortunately when you are in a foreign country you are at in their world not yours. I think that the reputation that Canadians once had as a polite respectful group has been somewhat eroded in the past few years. Due in large part to an increase in our wealth, which causes some people to feel they are entitled to something they are not quite sure they are entitled to, but they demand it. So if you are in a foreign country don't be an drunken a--hole, don't flaunt your material possesions, and treat the place and the people there with respect. I think you will find that your experience will be lovely.

In most of Europe the regs are like that, as previously mentioned. The other part of the story is the catch limit is set by the water you fish, more in stocked lakes and less in rivers, and once you catch the limit you have to stop fishing. Some of the rivers have a limit on the number of anglers that are allowed to fish there, and you have to pay a premium to do so. Be glad we live and fish here.

Mine are tied on a size 4 hook

I thought this was also worth a chuckle An elderly, white haired man walked into a jewellery store one Friday evening with a beautiful young girl at his side. He told the jeweller he was looking for a special ring for his girlfriend. The jeweller looked through his stock and brought out a $5,000 ring. The old man said, “No. I’d like to see something more special.” With that the jeweller went to his special stock and brought another ring over. “Here is a stunning ring and it is only $40,000.” The jeweller said. The young lady’s eyes were sparkling and she was trembling all over with excitement. The old man, seeing this, said “We’ll take it. The jeweller asked how payment would be made and the old man stated, “By cheque. I know you need to make sure my cheque is good so I’ll write it now and you can call the bank on Monday to verify that the funds are there. I’ll pick the ring up on Monday afternoon.” Monday morning the jeweller phoned the old man. “There’s no money in that account”. “I know”, said the old man. “But let me tell you about my weekend!”

I got one to replace a Sage and I find it to be a little slower action, but a bit more precise.

That's a good idea, because the season is just about to start. I found a real good course to be the one that the City of Calgary runs through the recreation department. It's one day a week for about eight weeks, and runs from fall to before Christmas. The cost is real cheap and all the equipment and supplies are provided, my instructor was Mamo Takanaka, but I think he retired and his son-in-law was running it. I hope they still have it available, because there was no association with any flyshop and so no pressure to buy. In fact they had a ton of tips on how to save money on supplies and equipment. Not that I'm cheap, but I am fiscally responsible.

Guy Lafleur used to have a butt in between periods when he played. And then there were the rumours about the Oilers, and what they used to do between periods....next thing you know they all got traded.

I don't think it will increase the amount of pressure on the river, most of the fishermen are tourists that are staying in Fernie, or locals, or Albertans that have bought a vacation home there, and I have heard lately there are more from Edmonton than Calgary. Most tourists aren't fishermen, look at the Bow not an exponential increase in fishermen since Canmore got built up. I have run into fishermen on the Crow from Maryland, Oklahoma, Ontario, Texas and Switzerland. Oh and the resort across from the golf course isn't being built on a marshland, it's an old site for the slag heap that facilitated the mine which is in ruins just east of the golf course. If you build it they will come. My biggest concern is the road volumes and traffic problems it will cause.

On a lake no doubt.

I have all my rods marked at 5 inch intervals for length, so if its over 20" I know it and if its between 10" and 15" etc. I did this because I was out with a buddy of mine and caught a tagged fish we both estimated it to be 19'. When I reported it, the fisheries person replied our measurement must have been wrong, because the fish was tagged the previous fall and would have to have grown 4 inches in 5 winter months . All the fish I lose are way bigger than the ones I land too.

They have been stocked with Brookies in the past, but I don't think that they have done so since the big floods.

It's not snowing in K-country or Banff or the Crowsnest, pretty much only here in Cowtown and north and east.

Last year the snow pack in the Castle was average and Oldman a bit above. The Bow and Highwood were way above, and the Red Deer below. This year the Castle is way above and the Oldman and Highwood about average and the Bow and Red Deer below. It all comes down to the summer and spring though, my wife and I hiked up to the Ironstone Fire Lookout Tower in July and the fire tower observer told us that there had been no appreciable rain since April. We know what happened later in the summer with the ban and all. So periods of rain at regular intervals is the ideal, and lets all hope we get that this summer.

Nice Pileated

Lots of pike and lakers in there. If you want to flyfish for something smaller find a small creek and try dark flies for grayling. Oh and make sure to have lots of insect repellant the blackflies and mosquitos can be unbelievable.

You guys do know that this happened in Regina right? And that it is a Saskatchewan provincial member of the legislature, which means Stephen Harper has nothing to do with it. And that it happened at a drunken office party. I sure hope that people out there have forgiven me my past indiscretions from 16 years ago. Oh and check out the Tom Hanks film Philadelphia for a perspective on societal views from that time period.

You'd want a 3 wt, a 2 is too small for the Liv and the Oldman, the lower part anyway. I use a 2 wt for the tiny creeks and it's great.

My thoughts are that there aren't any secret spots on the Bow anyway, there are some really hard ones to get to though. Look at the latest Humblefisherman vid, I think just about everyone on this board fishes there. I found it while fishing on the other side of the river and saw a fellow there hauling out a hawg. So I made a mental note and hit it later. Good spot, but there are plenty of others and I know that there are some spots that I haven't fished and that I have not seen mentioned here that have plenty of fish, because there are a lot of fish in the Bow. Now as far as the little creeks and rivers go, I will report that I fished the Legendary River or Frenchmans Creek and what my results were and even the flies I used. I won't give locations, and on the real fragile creeks I won't even give the name. Those waters don't hold a lot of fish and I have seen lots of fish that have obviously been caught repeatedly. I did my research via map and bushwhacking and anyone is welcome to fish there if they find it on their own. Besides that is one of the rewards of flyfishing, finding a spot and catching fish there, that's what makes it "your spot". Even if everyone else here has fished it too.

Nthis year though, by the looks of things.

There's a really great shop on 82nd Street about 130th Ave, in the Delton Shopping Center, on the west side of 82 Street. Small shop great guys, always good for advice and tips.

I know exactly how you feel...I tried cheering for the Oilers in their run from a couple of years ago for the same reason. But...