scel

This is an undeniably a severely unfortunate experience. I have worked in Department of Neurology/Neuroscience. The neurologists and facilities at Childrens/Foothills are world-class. Your son is in good hands.

It sounds like you are justified. Vets are inherently expensive. My cat has a bad goopy eye. Today cost me $155 for the assessment and medicine. $150-$200 for a single problem seems to be average. While vets (and human doctors, for that matter) are all very smart and all meet minimum standards, 50% are necessarily below average. It is hard to find a good one.

Out of curiousity, what do you feel 'a lot' is? Landing Animal Clinic in Glenmore Landing is my recommendation. Any of the vets are fine. They have 3 main vets. 2 of the 3 vets also work as specialists at the CARE Animal Hospital.

I have these sunglasses. I also have a pair of Amber polarized Oakleys. If I were to choose a single set of sunglasses, I would go with the Amber Oakleys. The MJ green lenses performs well in lower light conditions, but does not have the contrast of the amber in bright conditions. They are worth the money if you like having choices.

I am still a little perplexed on the rationale to call an election in the first place. I still have not received/read a good explanation. Given that both Edmonton and Calgary have voted for young, left-leaning mayors, calling an election after raising taxes, but without raising corporate taxes, seems like political seppuku.

It casts really well, but it only lasted a season before it cracked and would no longer float.

I am trying to determine if it would be better to purchase a pontoon boat or a Watermaster for floating the Bow. I have not seen anyone use a Watermaster yet. They are also much more expensive than a pontoon. However, the interwebs resoundingly say the Waterwaster is the best fly fishing watercraft. Once again, FFC. Do you have any insight?

Hank is awesome. I also have a deep hipster respect for his weirdy-beardy sidekick. I hope Reese is OK.

Good points. I punted around on the kayaks last summer for a month, but only realized that I could fish from it on the second last day. Sure enough, Googling 'fly fish kayak' clearly showed other people have thought of most of the issues. The spinning rod allowed proof of concept, but there were 2 clear issues. First, I needed a better, proper fitting PFD. It only took 20 minutes to start chaffing. Fly casting is much more involved than a crank bait. Like you said, the second issue is storage. I had included the rod holder in the issue. I have already purchased the rod holders and paddle clips. The kayaks have enough storage space for a days worth of fishing, but certainly not the capacity of the canoe. One kayak is a sit-on-top, the other is a sit in. Both can store a great deal, but storage is not easy to access. This is why I would kinda like PFD/vest combo, but I know the bulkiness in the vest is a bad idea. I have until summer solstice to figure it out. 'Fishing' canoes tend to be rigged like a catamaran. Did you make any adjustments to your canoe for fishing?

Fortunate has smiled upon me. I will spend 6weeks this summer kayak fly-fishing. Over 80% will be on stillwater where I will be fishing directly from the kayak. The other 20% will be using the kayak to transport down easy rivers. I am not sure what I am looking for or how much to spend. I will assume that I will want some storage on the vest, enough for nippers, forceps, etc. I have read that bulkiness in the front of the vest is undesirable because the body rotation and paddle needed to propel a kayak efficiently. While a kayak is a little diferent, I assume there will be some functional crossover from a bellyboat or pontoon. Can FFC please give me some advice?

I was about to suggest the same thing. If you want a break from the pike, you can hunt trophy grayling.

A red squirrel!? I have lived in Calgary for 8 years. I have never seen one here---only the big eastern grey squirrels. In Edmonton, I had a 'pet' red squirrel. It used to come into the lab at the UofA to steal kimwipes and to stash peanuts (that I had left out for it) in the lab technicians boots. They have since had to put screens on those windows because of squirrel 'problems'. Their loss.

Winter fishing the Bow 2 years ago. Temperature was hovering just around 0C. I had always payed attention to the water. I snagged up. I ventured a little way into the water to try to jerk the line free. The river had been clear...no slush or floaters. I was in the water up to my mid-thigh paying attention to the river bottom. A huge ice chunk took me out. I fell back onto the ice. It floated me downstream for about 15 m. The drag of my lags spun the ice chunk around. Once I was facing the bank, I hopped off in about waist deep water and almost fell completely in. I struggled out of the river deciding fishing was over for the day. Other than a being extremely cold, I was unscathed, but things could have gone much worse.

I have sent Chris 2 emails, but with no response. I am not blaming Chris since my name has profanity, so my emails are often caught by spam filters. Is there another option to get in touch with a key web administrator? Could a forum moderator please help me out?

I have caught many brown trout near the city over the last couple weeks---including one big girl (super fat, 22"). I know they are definitely making their move. I only think that I have ever seen a single redd. It was pretty obvious with the bow river bottom colour change at this time of year. After the flood, there seem to be fewer good spots. My concern (which is hopefully inappropriate) is that the redds may be close together, and therefore, there may not be enough contrast to differentiate. So, how close will a brown tolerate another spawning brown? I would like to learn what to look for. I have looked at a lot of pictures, but they are not super obvious to me. I would really appreciate if someone would take a picture of a Bow River redd and PM it to me. I triple promise that I would never be a mega-douche and fish for the brown on the redd.

I am not 100% sure. My spouse is the botanist---I will ask her when she returns. I think that you are right though. It doubt that it would be incorrect to call them huckleberries. I'd wager they have multiple names.

I would double check if they are blueberries. Bilberries and blueberries are very similar in shape and taste (bilberries are a little smaller). You can tell the difference by the fruiting pattern. Blueberries fruit in clumps. Bilberries fruit in singles or pairs. Bilberries are amazingly tasty and grow wild almost everywhere above the 45th parallel. Unfortunately, they do not easily domesticate. Unless you were an expert horticulturist, they would not be worth your time. Blueberries are hardy, and they are easily domesticated, but they are not common in the west. It is certainly possible though. Bilberry: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Bieszczady_Flora.jpg Blueberry: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O70AhKPBOys/UhjYpBdHbxI/AAAAAAAAEMo/TqROy9zmPF8/s640/afin_planta_ornamentala_vaccinium_arbust_fructifer_3.jpg

I think I run a very similar set up. IN-------------------------------SSx----------F1---------F2 Indicator--(1-1.5 water depth)---SplitShot-(Surgeons knot)--(30cm 2x-3x tippet)--FirstFly--(30 cm 3x-4x tippet)--SecondFly I usually use a 2x tapered leader. I will use 2x tippet for big stone nymphs, but usually 3x for most of the year. Putting the split shot above the knot prevents the weight from dropping down. I usually tie on the second nymph with 1 size smaller tippet for 2 reasons. First, it turns over nicely. Secondly, the second fly is the break point. If the lower hook hangs up, you reduce the chances of losing both hooks. I personally like to use a slightly lighter rig. I find that I catch more fish and it is easier to get a good float. The consequence is you need to make a longer cast---and we all know that longer casts do not catch more fish.. With a big stonefly nymph, I will often not use the split shot. From indicator to bottom hook, it will be about 2x the depth of the water.

Unfortunately, I found the same thing. All the other equivalents that I drove had nicer interiors and better sound systems. I did my test driving in December. None of the other vehicles I drove compare to the power and control of the manual transmission AWD system of the Subaru. I did not testdrive the Pathfinder or the CRV I find the payload sufficient enough to haul a couple of bikes with wheels. I have the Touring version, so it was super easy to add a Thule when I needed the extra capacity. I was in the Subaru dealership getting my 60000km service. I noticed they have certainly amped up some of the extras in the Outback, but I am sure the competitors have done the same thing.

+1 Subaru I own a Subaru Outback 2012. I test drove the other options like the CRV and Rav4. I found the Subaru to be much nicer to drive. I was already leaning towards it, but it was the only AWD vehicle that came with a manual transmission. Put a set of good winter tires on it and it becomes a hinterland machine. Unless I manage to come into a large amount of money and can afford the upgrades to Audi or BMW, I doubt that I will ever own a different brand of vehicle.

Do you really want local? Do you have a green thumb? How much time are you willing to spend to perfect your saskatoon patch? I bet you could grow the perfect patch in 7 years. My partner is a botanist. She is hardcore---there is not much that she does not grow from seed. When she finds a particularly tasty tomato, she extracts a few seeds and grows them for the next year. Results vary because tomatoes are not native---saskatoons, however, are native. The soil on your land is probably ideal for saskatoons, especially if you have the wherewithal to properly prepare and sanitize the growing area. The seeds from an apple tree will produce wildly different tasting fruit from the parent. In fact, it is rare that the offspring fruit of an apple tree is tasty like the parent, which is why there are so few apple types. Some plants, like raspberries and saskatoons *TEND* to be much like the parent. (AHEM...read the addendum) This makes reproducing from seed a very feasible option. Find your favourite saskatoon patch; one that you know produces large volumes of tasty fruit. This is hard science. You will have to eat a lot of saskatoons from various locations close to home. You know...for science. Collect a bowl-full (500-750 ml) of saskatoon berries. Take half---freeze them (you will probably make a few errors in the first year). Take the other half, clean and prepare the seeds (link below will explain how to prepare the seeds). Keep the seeds in a cool, dry environment. Germinate the seeds in February for transplantation to permanent environment on May-long-weekend. Plant into half the growing area (the other half is for next year). It may take a couple of years for the plants to start fruiting. There will be some genetic variation, and you might have to cull a few plants because the fruit is not to par. Unlikely though. Have you ever eaten a saskatoon that you did not like? I haven't. So, if you cull, it is in search of perfection. If you eat all the fruit from a plant, the primary plant will eventually sucker to propagate (like raspberries) If you make mistakes, you can prepare the seeds from frozen berries, but they will not have the same germination success, but you will be better at the plant science. There will diminishing return rates with your knowledge, so the fresh berries will eventually become more viable. Here is exactly what you need to do: http://www.prairie-elements.ca/saskatoon/3.1-propagation.pdf It is very sciency, but Dr. St. Pierre does a good job explaining the germination and growing process of saskatoon bushes on the prairies/parkland. Of course, there is bounty of skills that you will have to develop. Germination, soil chemistry, and horticulture are not simple skill sets to acquire, but they are logical and repeatable, so time and experience will pay dividends. And these skills are certainly easier than fly fishing. Or, you could just buy some bushes. ADDENDUM: The apple trees that produced fruit that was too bitter to eat fresh were commonly used to create apple cider. Since then, however, apples have become somewhat a monoculture, so the table fruit also becomes cider. Saskatoon cider sounds delicious. Just sayin'.

Awesome. Thank you.

I am engaging in a project for work. I have looked through the site but I cannot find a webmaster contact or email address. My project is the analysis of web-based learning experiences and web-based community sustainability. There is a huge diversity of people on this site and it has a good community. Having no friends to help me, I had to learn about fly fishing by myself. This web site was, and continues to be, my primary resource. In particular, I rely heavily on the experience of those people who have been fly fishing for as long as I have been alive. If someone would please help me, I would be greatly appreciative. All my work is non-profit. Any assistance would be acknowledged in publications and in my germinating web-community (that has NOTHING to do with fly fishing). Thanks.

That sounds incredibly awesome, to go fishing with your Dad and Grandpa. I lost my Grandpa when I was young 7 years old, and my father before I had children of my own. It is unlikely that I will ever get to share even a portion of that experience. Heaven indeed.

Over the last couple weeks, I have been away from trout fishing. For all other forms of fly fishing (including top-water), the 'trout-set' is a bad habit. I began to learn how bad the reflex was bonefishing (is 'bonefishing' even a word?). Is there any good reason why someone should not add a small strip set to all trout hook setting?