trailhead

Is 5 billion in landsale revenues not a fair share? Again the glaring error that the "panel of experts" failed to adddress was the landsale dollars that the oil & gas companies pay for the 5 year window of drilling a well. Pretty big money for basically a spin at the roulette table. It is a royalty paid upfront.

Great report guys, I too hope to be able to try for steelhead some day.

Don't be fooled into thinking that the exploration companies won't invest their dollars elsewhere. I personally know of a few companies that decided two years ago that the oil industry in Alberta was not profitable enough. One operates in the far east, lower costs, no landsale costs and lower royalties. The price of their stock has quadrupled in two years. The other decided to try things in Northern Africa, they just sold to a European oil company and did extremely well financially. And at the prsent time the most lucrative area in Canada to operate is....Saskatchewan. The authors of the royalty review did not compare Alberta's royalty structure to Saskatchewan or BC. Maybe they just wanted to paint things in their own light, comparing Alberta to Venezuela oil wise is like comparing Alberta to Argentina flyfishing wise.

Good point, but only one of the four knows the economics of the oil industry.

Does your lifting cost include the F&D costs? Or are you basing that on proven reserves and the associated production costs?

A guy walks into a bar and see's a beuatiful woman sitting alone, he orders a drink and sits down beside her. He notices a huge diamond on her finger. So he says he has never seen a diamond like that before. The woman replies that it is the famous Mitchell diamond, but that it comes with an awful curse. The fellow asks "What's the curse?" The woman replies, "Mr Mitchell"

Yes it will be interesting to see how this all plays out. It was also interesting that the chairman for the commitee that authored the study was a forestry executive. I don't think that the oil & gas business will go bust, if the review goes through as written. But it will definitely contract, as for Calgary going bust that won't happen because the companies that operate in the neighboring provinces and states are all based there. The big hit will be in Ft McMurray and in Edmonton, that's where all the hottest action has been and where the biggest bubble to burst is located. Finally the one thing that still keeps not being addressed is the landsale dollars that the oil & gas industry pays twice a month into the provincial coffers, about 5 billion last year. If the business goes south even only moderately, that will contract too.

Lethfisher; Just a tip, if you haven't done it already, but there are some real nice grayling streams in the Slave Lake area and some trout streams in the Swan Hills. Congrats on the pike too.

There are some big fish in that lake, not all of them get caught after they are stocked. Try a slowly trolled leech off some of the inlets and you might get surprised by a five pounder.

So seeing as this is shaping up as probably the last real nice weekend of the season, where are you all heading? Livingstone, Oldman, Crowsnest, Stauffer, Elk, Highwood, Bow.....? No specifics, I am not able to get out and so am living vicareously.

Ah man, we were supposed to head down there on the weekend, and now we aren't going. It is so beautiful.

There are actually a lot of them in the Bow. And sometimes if you hook a real freight train it might be a burbot/ling. They are a very strong fish and they are excellent eating, from a clean lake or river. I wouldn't eat one out of the Bow because they are opportunistic feeders so, they eat everything in the river alive and dead, and it's usually on the bottom. A buddy of mine got one on a streamer that he was stripping in and he stopped becasue the line was fouled in his reel. When he got it straightened out he thought he was snagged on the bottom, then it took off. He finally landed it and it was a 35 inch ling.

Oh that's alright, I was just greenin you.

Need any help with that?

I think fish like other animals would have food preferences. I know my wife's cats are picky about the food they eat, so why not fish.

I am also a member and I find the activities they put on are great, it is very educational to watch a very talented tyer, and it is also interesting watching a few of them and listening to the tying tips they give each other. Plus they have put on rod building courses, brought in great guest speakers, and do the social event thing too. Well worth the $50.

With the weather we are having I was going through some shots, and this was so idyllic it brings it all back.

Try Forum.fishbc.com

Sweet, I need a new rod and reel. Seeing as one of mine is now at the bottom of the Bow. But that's a story for another day.

I will add a bit of insight as far as the Salmonflies go, they are still there, usually they hatch during runoff. That is a time when most people don't fish the Crow. I managed to hit the tailend of the hatch in 2004. There were bugs all over, the swallows were swooping to eat them and the trout were splashing all over the place. The fishing was dangerous because the river was high and very difficult to wade. Though I had a fish on almost every cast. It was epic and occurred on a Wednesday to boot.

Let's make sure that we are comparing apples to apples here. Alaska and Venezuala both do not have the twice monthly landsales that we have in Alberta. The term of an oil lease or license is two to five years. The oil companies pay hundreds of millions a year for the land with no guarantee of anything, and if they do not drill within the timeframe, the land reverts back to the crown for resale. If they drill and find oil or gas in one zone the rights to the remainder of potentially producing formations on the land reverts back to the crown for resale. In Alaska you buy the land it is yours, all of it. Oh and by the way where did those cheques that Ralph gave us come from?

You could try Cataract Creek, just south of Highwood Crossing on the Forestry Trunk Road. Upstream there are lots of small fiesty brookies with some cutts, and downstream there are bigger brookies and some bulls. Plus there are some creeks in the area that cannot be named that are good too. The access is at the Cataract campground.

Nice post , nice fish, nice grizz, hopefully not too close.

Thanks for the post and the info.

Nice post and it sure looks inviting, just wondering what the license fees are for that creek.