billie

Maybe some can help me understand something. Last weekend, we floated the Bow. 3 of us, I brown to net, not another bite at all. Now feel free to comment on our fishing ability (we have ) but what has me puzzled is the stone fly and caddis hatch going on and the fish were not feeding on them. There were live, kicking and wiggling golden stones by the dozens over very "fishy" water and there was virtually no rises (We did see about 4 or 5 rises in a half mile of river). This was the busiest stone fly hatch I've ever seen. Visibility was a bit obscured but still at least 2-3 feet, the river is far from browned out. Also, the caddis hatch going on was pretty solid with large fat caddis all over. Any suggestions and/or theories? Fish not distributed after spawn? Feeding on emergers? Not hungry? or my personal opinion, "There are no friggin' fish in the Bow! . Tks for taking the time to comment, and help out a puzzled fisherman. Just trying to expand my understanding of this ecosystem.

Don't know about mortified, but I'm slightly amused . I've used a hand crank boat winch to hoist stuff in my garage since 1987, when I got my first one. I began with the winch and 4 pulleys for my truck cap so I could manage it by myself and use a similar arrangement for my 12' inflatable now. Just one point to remember if you use this method, is to ensure your pull point draws equal amounts on each leg. The easiest is to run all 4 cables (or rope depending on load) directly to the winch. If you want to use a collection point and connect all 4 to a single, you have to get far enough back to equal the drawn lengths. I use a platform that fits the boat and the utility trailer equally.

^^^ I don't remember it being THAT COLD in '67. Probably just the Americans complaining. Granted, we did have a fire and roast some hot dogs.

Tks for the info folks. Looks like I have some investigating to do. 6hrs is reasonable and the season should fit nicely with our typical spring "cabin-fever" symptoms. March can be a long month , but always glad to see February pass . This has been a good year to live in southern Alberta so far. I'm not usually one to take a guided float but it might be a good idea to get a trip tradition started. The local shops should be able to lead me around the sensitive spawning periods, not my interest to interfere with that in any way.

Just anytime that fishing here doesn't work. I have little interest in dodging ice and on a personal level, would prefer not to play out wintering fish. The Mo' sounds interesting. I'm usually busy in Jan-Feb anyway, but extending the season is the intent. How many hours to the Missouri? Any decent camping spots? Arizona is a bit far for a driving trip, unless it was for a longer stay. PS: Just had a look, about 5hrs to the Montana sections?

Naw, I'm a trout fisherman with a fly rod. And maybe a bit of Salmon if the opportunity presents itself. Never say never

So how far, and where, are some options south of us that would offer reasonable open water fly fishing when Alberta is frozen over? Flowing water is my preference but lake options are welcome. The intent would be a fifth wheel trip, but hotels for a shorter stay is not out of the question. A round of golf would be appreciated but not the focus. Any advice? Just thinking of next year.

And after a read, very true. There is no doubt that the economic engine must soldier on but oversight is paramount to sustainable co-existence. I do think we are doing better than the past and the struggle will never really end.

Link and copied article for you. http://www.hatchmag.com/articles/open-letter-americas-anglers/7712400 An open letter to America's anglers by Todd Tanner on Tue, 03/17/2015 - 10:58 We love to fish. We love it. Not in that juvenile, sloppy-wet-kiss way that so many of us remember from high school, but with an “I come alive with a fly rod in my hand” love that’s grounded in maturity, appreciation and respect for our angling traditions. We’ve been fishing for decades and there are very few other activities that bring us so much joy or help us connect to the natural world on such an elemental level. Unfortunately, those of us who love to fish, and who see the necessity for protecting our landscapes and waterways, are coming under attack. It turns out - and no, we’re not making this up - that we are “radicals.” As Ty Hansen pointed out in a recent Hatch Magazine piece, the energy and resource extraction industries are targeting hunters and anglers. Those of us who support conservation are being portrayed as extremists and radicals. So what is a radical? Seriously, what does it mean? Is protecting our favorite trout stream a radical act? What about defending an Alaskan salmon river from a mining company? Or how about passing on a healthy natural world to our kids and grandkids? Because those of us who want to share clean water, clean air and healthy landscapes with future generations are being ridiculed and marginalized. It’s almost as if our love for the great outdoors is standing in the way of “progress.” Here’s something you should know. Most people don’t give a damn whether we hold on to our fishing. They don’t care if there are trout in our streams, or bass in our ponds, or bonefish cruising our saltwater flats. We live in a culture where growth, both physical and economic, trumps everything else; where no tradition, no heritage, no single aspect of American life is deemed so sacrosanct that it can’t, and shouldn’t, be tied down and sacrificed on the fetid, blood-specked altar of progress. It’s grow or die; it’s balls to the wall; it’s greed is good. Nobody - not the President, not Congress, not Wall Street - is willing to consider that unfettered, unexamined growth might not be the best path forward, or that we should steer the good ship America toward a more sustainable, more balanced future. Sadly, if you agree with us you’re just another radical. You don’t want the Pebble Mine? You’re a radical. You don’t want corporate farms to dump pesticides and herbicides and fertilizers into our streams and rivers? You’re a radical. You don’t want suburban sprawl to trash the landscapes you loved when you were a kid? You’re a radical. You don’t want oil and gas rigs to despoil your favorite section of National Forest? You’re a radical. You want to keep our public lands in public hands? You, dear friend, are a dyed-in-the-wool, honest-to-goodness radical. Oh, and you say you’re concerned about climate change? Well, not only are you a radical, but you’re a communist. You should go back to Mother Russia, comrade, and take all your commie friends with you. And that, sadly, is what we’re up against - that kind of hostile, knee-jerk, reactionary crap, which paints sportsmen as radicals working to undermine everything good and decent and pure about America. Clean air is a luxury we can’t afford. Clean water is something we should get from the private sector - but only, of course, after we’ve paid for it. Public land should be sold off to stoke the engine of economic growth. Fishing … well, fishing is probably okay, as long as it doesn’t interfere with anything important, and as long as anglers don’t try to protect America’s natural resources from aggressive exploitation. That’s the playbook. That’s the meme coming from our opponents. But you know what? It’s bullshit. That’s right, we call bullshit. Because we aren’t radicals. And we’re getting tired of all these morally-bereft, intellectually-challenged, “greed is good” free market fundamentalists painting us as the exact opposite - the exact opposite - of what we really are. We’re patriots. We love America. Our sporting roots run deep, and we were raised to appreciate our outdoor heritage. We want - and this is the crux of it; this is vital - to hold on to the things that make our country great; to share them with our families, and our friends, and with generations still to come. We want our kids to have access to the same incredible fishing we’ve enjoyed, and if we’re lucky enough to have grandkids, we want them to grow up in a country that still revels in the outdoors and that still shares in the sweet, ripe fruits of freedom. America is the best country in the world for anglers because we’ve fought, time and again, for clean water and clean air and healthy landscapes. We’ve fought to give our kids and grandkids a shot at a decent future. What could be more noble, or more honest, or more ethical? The real radicals are the people who put profits above everything else, who can’t wait to carve muscle from bone as this great American experiment in self-governance slowly collapses under the weight of their greed and ignorance. The real radicals are the rapacious profiteers who hate public lands and public waters because our landscapes are protected, at least partially, from their insane “profit at all cost” mentality. They’re the folks who, without a second thought - hell, without an initial thought - are willing to sacrifice their children and grandchildren to the cannibalistic gods of free market fundamentalism. Enough. We have literally had enough. We’re sick of liars and sociopaths pointing at us and yelling “Radicals!” We’re tired of hired guns sitting down at their keyboards and smearing good organizations like Trout Unlimited and Backcountry Hunters & Anglers and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. We refuse to sit silently on the sidelines while America-haters wear our flag - while they literally wrap themselves in Old Glory - to camouflage their true intentions. So we have a message for all the haters who are attacking sportsmen. It’s a simple message, but it’s heartfelt. We love America. We love our landscapes, and our sporting traditions, and our rich outdoors culture, and our fisheries, and we’re willing to fight for it; for all of it, for every last inch, for every river and stream and forest and meadow, for every kid who dreams of trout or salmon or bass or bluegills or tarpon. Greed will not triumph. Flat-earth idiocy will not reign supreme. Our fisheries will not fall prey to snake oil salesmen and crooked politicians. Not on our watch. Signed, Todd Tanner Ted Williams Tom Davis Tim Romano Mike Sepelak Chris Hunt Steve Zakur Chad Shmukler

Beautiful waters. Maybe someday.........

Too early? Aww, never too early. Jensen's, looking upstream tonight. About 5' rise at the launch to hoist over.

I was told MJ's are price protected by the dealer I got mine from, so I'm inclined to agree with Uber. Still a good deal. All of them are polarized. I really like mine, so I bought a spare pair .

Paddy O'Shea always went to the pub on Thursdays and ordered 3 pints.at a time. The bartender asked one night, "Paddy, why 3, if you order one at a time the beer will stay colder". Paddy replied (inert accent here) "Well, me brudders 'n me always had a pint togedder on tursdays, but they're away and this makes me miss them a bit less". Paddy comes in this Thursday and orders only 2 pints. The bartender solemnly delivers the beers fearing the worst. "I hope everything is OK Paddy, has something happened to one of your brothers? "Hell no!" replies Paddy, I just quit drinkin'".

He-He! well played Mtn bike for me, hope to drag a rod along a few times this summer.

@Toolman I'm not sure if your comments are relative to my posts or if you are simply commenting independently. If the latter, ignore my rambling references . I accepted Dave's commentary as information only, granted, it supports my thought process. I hesitated to post given the lead in to "ethics", but I posted anyway, and I will take ownership of that decision. I tried to relay my own personal choices without invoking an ethical dilemma to others. In truth, I believe every fisherperson (and hunter) should impose some personal limits above and beyond the regulations. Maybe you have a minimum size that you follow where none is regulated, keep less than the maximum limit, or leave sensitive areas alone and secret or limit your pressure on them in that spot. If everyone does their small part, in one way or another, its simply a good thing, IHMO. I also don't believe that is invoking your personal ethics on others. Just because I don't fish in winter doesn't mean I don't want anyone else to, and it definitely wasn't my intended point. Chastising others would cross the line and I don't believe I did. I have noticed the odd skinny fish here and there, but haven't noticed it as a common trend in any particular place that I've fished. I will look closer now given your observations of different pools in the same water course. Thanks for another educational head's up. The more you know........... Anyway, I'm not overly emotional but I am better educated. Cheers

I guess I'm not too far off base with my choice to not fish the winter. I will pay pretty close attention to the spring catches also. I do fish prior to run-off as much as I can but it is in May for me (only so much self imposed "closed" season a guy can take ). If I see stressed fish, I'll back off then too. Thanks again for the info Dave. I always try to respect the quarry, whatever it is (and I have to say I'm very fond of trout) and information is good to have.

8' - 3 wt 9' - 6wt 9' - 8wt Primary rod and a back-up in the truck or boat. Bow, 6wt with a 3wt in the boat (or the 8 on windy days) 3 and 8 in the truck when wading Streams, 3wt with the 6 in the truck Lakes and pike, 8wt with the 6 in the boat Works for me.

Thank you for the additional perspective Dave. I have a question relative to your terms "energy deficiency/neutral". I don't winter fish on the Bow since I believe that the fish are working hard enough to survive the winter. I just can't see past the appearance of feeding them some fur & feathers with no nutritional benefit, only energy expense. The regulations have the river open so it must not be that detrimental, and I have no issue with others doing so, I just don't go there. So my question is simple, do the fish get enough food during the winter to reasonably offset the stress of being fished? Or is this an energy deficient situation? Significant, or minimal? On a different but related topic, since closing a section may (or likely) move anglers to the non-closed waters, should closures be broader and include the whole watershed rather than a section? Or is this just chasing your tail and pushing anglers to the next watercourse available? Should a species be closed province wide for a specified period to be most effective? Or is the impact of mobile anglers not as much of a factor to worry about? Naïve, no doubt, but I am curious. Thanks to anyone that offers a view.

Bragging, or complaining?

The pipe insulation can be cut to fit tackle box slots too.

Here's another small one. 3/4" pipe insulation.

Then obviously, not a pervert

I think it depends on what you do when you have it in your hands . Wait a minute..............

I can't take credit for this one, Don A or Lornce offered it up to me (sorry, don't remember which, but tks either way). Use a guitar string (smallest) to make a bobbin threader. For my part, I added a loop and dipped it in "liquid electrical tape" several times for a handle. The liquid tape is handy for lots of things. Princess Auto carries it.

Interesting. I respect the fly to rod relationship, but I guess I focus on the fish I expect to catch when I select rod weight. My 6 gets me all over the Bow and I would like to use my 3 for dries but I hesitate considering what I might hook. I still take the 3 out and use it sometimes but most times I'll just work harder on the presentation with the 6.