CDone

Inended up with that beat for one session, did manage 1 fish though, the beat above produced 17 for that session and 12 fish from the beat below. Oh well that's fishing. Colin

Fishing without a license is illegal, and fishing illegally is poaching is it not? Colin

South Bow is a sponsor, so feel free to mention them, oh wait I already did Colin

Nice looking pup there wolfie my mutts oh, and the handle, CD (my initials) and one. Colin

Its very cool except for the sound effects. When I first set up my reef tank I was pretty sure I had a Pistol Shrimp hitch hike in on my rock but I haven't heard any clicking for a while so either it died and got gobbled by a crab (bad crab that I can't catch that has a taste for fish) or it was just my imagination. Colin

Jack, in regards to your comment on 'Dealer Margin' I have a pretty good idea of what mark-up is on these rods (and most other manufactures) but just how much is the average angler willing/expected to absorb. And yes I know, inventory, wages, rents, advertising, licensing and the like all cost money. Look at a store like Whole Sale that carries 8 or 10 different manufactures as well as each manufactures whole line-up and ask yourself how can they afford to have so many selections? well that's mark-up, now look at a smaller store trying to compete with the big boys (because we've pretty much forced them to with our shopping habits) and they have to mark-up even more to allow them to bring in the selection we want. I sometimes wonder, is pricing set at what we are perceived as willing to pay and not necessarily what we need to pay to allow the manufactures/shop owners to break even (not sure how profitable one expects to be in this industry)? I think in the end we can only look at ourselves as to the reason for these prices. I had a conversation the other day with a couple guys after looking at a rack of rods (high end to low) you could find flaws in almost every rod, guides, components, finish, wraps, cork, ect. Although some of the less expensive, off-shore built rods looked a lot better than the supposed American made rods. Colin

Just another suggestion to look at. Snowbee has a couple rods in the 6/7 and 7/8 weight ratings, ranging in length from 9', 9'6' & 10'. Not sure which ones SouthBow has in stock, but may be worth a stop to check them out. Colin

I've got a fair amount here Rob, I've just been going through it pretty fast so will probably need to pick some up in the next couple of months. Thanks Colin

Whats the size on the stuff from the golf shops? I use a lot for nymphs and would love to see a consistent supply. And as Max mentioned both Wholesale and Fishtales is where I've gotten mine, think I saw some at Russels a while back as well. Colin

A lot of reels now a days have a rubber O-ring on the counter balance that acts as a tippet catcher. Yes Peter, your rod is coming, as long as I don't get any more repairs Colin

Hate to say it but you may want to pick up a spare rod for your trip. Hardy is not the fastest at warranty replacements, 2 weeks is tight for any manufacture other than maybe TFO. Where did it break? Close to a ferrule, middle of a section, tip? With these faster, lighter rods the manufactures are going to a much higher modulus graphite which tends to be a lot more thinner and brittle than say IM6 or 7. The slightest nick from a hook point can cause a clean break. Colin

Well Jack if you need a test pilot for the 'Trout Spey' let me know. Are there going to be blanks available? Colin

I have a custom built 8'6 4wt 4pc on the trading post if you're interested. http://flyfishcalgary.com/board/index.php?showtopic=8701 Colin

Check out Beulah's new line of trout Speys, nice and light, very crisp little rods. South Bow has a couple of them. Colin

SE, Mackenzie Towne, can't remember if he fishes or not, but I'm 5 minutes from the river. Housing prices are very low (down about 60-80 Grand from when we bought 2 years ago ), every house has a dog and 2 kids, very family friendly area (just planning for you gramps). I've always lived in this end of the city (since 1969) and just find it so convenient, if I need to get out of town 22X is a quick run to K Country, with Deerfoot the airport and downtown are 15 to 20 minutes away (on a good day). With all the new development going on soon you won't even need to venture to any other part of Calgary as everything is being built out here. Colin

Yup, fun rods, well put together, definitely a lot of research and planning went into these rods. Would have like to of had a chance to try out one of the bigger rod but they were getting passed around and I was too busy chatting with everyone. Colin

I cast right/reel left except- when fishing the Switch or Two-Hander I reel with my right hand. I found it amazing how many times my line would hook the reel handle when I was shooting line with a spey cast, it was suggested to me to turn my reel around (Thanks C.) and now no more problems. As well having the lower handle of the spey/switch rod allows you to tuck it into your gut and it takes a lot less strength of the non-dominant arm to fight/land a fish, even a monster Spring. Colin

Jim, would Blue Ribbon Bow be a hard cover version? I had you sign a copy for myself and my brother when it first came out and mine has gone missing over the years. As well Iron Blue Flyfishing was mentioned above, do you know if the series is available on DVD anywhere? Colin

Check out the new Beulah Trout Speys, I think Courtney left a couple at South Bow Fly Shop, had a chance to play around with the 6wt (lined with a Hardy Mach 1 Trout 8wt line) very crisp and light in the hands. Colin

Positive Stop at the 2 and 10 o'clock position, and the lower your rod tip to the water. Should lay the line out nice and softly. With all the Spey gatherings that get held throughout the season, I wonder if someone shouldn't try to put together a single hand get together, a great opportunity to work out some of the bad habits we've acquired in the off/slow season. Just a thought. Colin

okay, so let me get this straight, my being on the team has nothing to do with my ability to scare off every fish in a 5 mile radius, but more to do with my ability to cook? ......hmmm, guess I'm okay with that Colin

Yup, need to have a couple local boys competing. Now I just need an excuse to actually get out and do some fishing. Colin

I build all my rods with large loop tip tops to eliminate the leader knot grabbing on the way through. Colin

somehow 'Korkers Whore' sounded wrong Colin

Clean or dry? Nope, just usually chuck them in the back of the truck and drive away. Contact Jack on the board as he's a bit of a Korkers guru and might be able to figure out whats going on. Colin