jasonvilly

Hey Was out on the bow in my wading sandles and shorts and damn near froze my keester off. I am going to go out to buy some waders this weekend and was wondering what I should look for as I have never used them before. Should I get the ones with built in boots, go neoprene or not, how do I tell a good pair vs a crappy pair, how big should they fit etc. Any kind of little hints that you have come across would be great. J

Hmmm 40 minute lunch, 10 minutes each way to bowness. 20 minutes of fishing, doable?

Pieroway is having a demo day on Sept 26th 11am-4pm at 2525B - 16 Street SE in Calgary

Fishfreak I certainly do.....the fact that they have a drift boat, live 30 minutes away, and love to fish probably won't hurt either. I didn't know them that well until I told them that I began fly fishing, now we have become quite a bit closer in the last couple of weeks. J

floated the Bow yesterday with my two Aunts from Mackinnon to Caresland. I had a great time, caught a ton of fish.... Up until this point I have only caught smaller fish, mostly ones you can just strip in. There were a couple that got me to my reel but I wasn't able to land them. Then it happened, I saw/felt a hit on my fly in the late evening, set the hook and bang my line was leaving my reel at lightning speed. Up until this point I don't think I have ever saw my backing. Anyways long story short, My aunt coached me and helped me to get my first bigger fish in. Caveat....I know he isn't huge but he was my biggest. I was smiling the entire time, heck I am still smiling right now. I got him into the boat for a quick second for a picture and then released him off back into the blue and our moment together was over. What a fantastic feeling it was...... I am definitely hooked.

Went out on the bow with a board member tonight. He helped me with my tangle problem when using hopper droppers. He did a fantastic job of giving me so much advice about Duncan Knot, casting, landing, fish habits etc.... It was truly an invaluable night. It was also my best night ever, landed 3, hooked another 3 and one of those was probably my biggest fish ever (too bad he got away). Now I know what a big fish feels like. Just wanted to say thank you again.... Tight Lines.... Jason

Should have brought a snowboard.....combing two seasons into one...

A new fishermans persepective: I truly appreciate all of the advice I have recieved in my 2 months of fly fishing. It all began with the course at Country Pleasures, and continued on from there. It seems I have run into many more people (on the river or in a shop) who are willing to take 5 minutes to help a guy out. I agree with the position that telling someone like me what fly you are using is helpful. But as I have learned it has more to do with presentation. Case in point I was trying my hand at nymphing with a copper john (who i was directed to use by a fellow across the river from me) He was consistently pulling fish while I only managed to hook and land 2. Did I impede his fish count, I don't think so, did I become an instantly better fisherman? Nope. Was I extremely excited to catch those two small rainbows. Hells yes. Now as for telling me your secret spot, I don't think you need to be so liberal with that (ie go around the corner look for the big tree sticking out and fish that hole). But telling me where to park, or which parts of the river are good and which are bad is helpful. But in some aspect getting out to new spots and finding my own holes is half the fun. I have had a few days where my fishing trip turned into a great hike because I couldn't catch a fish. In some regards this challange is what keeps me going out. But agian thank you to all of those who do offer advice. I never knew the ammount of stuff you have to learn when taking up this sport. There is a lot more to it than just going to a river with a rod. And it would have been 100% more daunting if all of the advice wasn't given. With that being said I found the course to be highly helpful with the beginning type stuff, but now tryin to learn the more specific things such as nymphing has added more challenges, which keeps me engaged in the sport.

Hey Just wanted to see if I met someone on this board today. I was on the bow this morning, gave you a wave across the water. Then I asked for some advice on how to properly nymph with an indicator. You gave me some awesome advice. Thank you so much. I am just learning the ropes and you helped a ton. Landed two little rainbows after that. I yelled tight lines to you before I went walking....and you replied broken reel. The one thing that I have noticed about this sport is the camaraderie. Whether it be in a fly shop or on the river most people are always willing to give advice or just shoot the *hit. I love this about the sport, most tell me it is a solitary sport, but outside of actual fishing I don't believe this is so. A couple of other questions that came about while I was fishing. When I was tossing my nymph rig I had a fish attack my pink indicator twice in 5 seconds (I know I know PINK, I can see this color the best). So I switched over hopper dropper in case they were deciding to rise. Was this the correct move? Second, the second rainbow, I caught him by the tail, yes the actual tail, why did this happen? Did he miss my copper john and then get hooked? It was funny to me anyhow. Before I switched over tot he hopper dropper, I had two fish get away from me pretty quickly. I think in my excitement I forget to set the hook. How hard should I be pulling when I set the hook in the future? Have a great day.

So I was fishing the Bow this morning and thought I would try a dropper for the first time. I had a Caddis up front and put a copper john about 6 inches behind it. I caught a little rainbow which was exciting. However after that it seems that my copper john would get tangled quite a bit. Is there a different casting technique used when using a dropper to avoid these tangles. I tried casting to the side a bit more and that seemed to help but I still got tangled up a few time. Advice?

Thank you for all the help. Sheep River and Cataract are two places that I have circled in my backroad mapbook. Love the Bow River spot advice as well. So far I find the hardest thing is to know where on a river to go. The Bow is huge and daunting when I was trying to pick a spot to go to. As for the Livingstone I went on Thursday. Beautiful country. Caught a small Brown I think (it was really gold colored) and a large Cutt got away when it tore my fly off (poor knot on my part I believe) . Anyhow thank you again for the advice.

Hello fellow fisherman (hahahaha I dont know if I can yet call myself that as i have only caught one small brookie) Anyway. I just took a course a month ago with country pleasures and have absolutely fallen in love with the sport. So far I have gone to the Elbow River by the 22x (no luck whatsoever) and to the jumping pound by cochrane (my 1 brookie) Any advice on rivers I should try that are good learning places. I think I will head to the Livingstone on Thursday to try my luck but other than that I am not sure where to go. Also are there any groups that get together or ways I can hook up with knowledgeable people to help me learn the ropes? Before this I have never fished before so I am an extreme newbie. I am a very good learner though and learn quickly. I also like to reward those who help with beer. So any info or tips would be helpful. J