NormanMcLean

If you purchase a membership in Trout Unlimited, you get a 1 year subscription to Canadian FlyFisher magazine. It's well worth giving to a good cause.

Where in Jasper are you headed? I was thinking of making a return trip this year.

In regards to permits, only professional palaeontologists are issued permits by the Alberta government for excavation. It basically works like this, if you are in a Provincial Park such as Dinosaur PP or Dry Island PP, you cannot keep any fossils you find. If you are outside the parks, you can keep a fossil if found on the surface and not still in its original matrix. This law is to discourage commercial fossil sellers like they have in Montana, Wyoming and Dakota. Personally I believe this rule is a bit severe and discourages amateur fossil collectors from finding new specimens. My collection is full of fossils I have dislodged from the ground, but I don't do any excavating and have given the Tyrell Museum the location of a skeleton of a duck-billed dinosaur I found a few years ago. They can do the grunt work. And just like fishing on private land you do need landowners permission. Most folks I have met have no problem with you staggering around their badlands. Cheers.

SanJuan, I am a member of the Alberta Paleontological Society and have a vast collection of dinosaur bones and fossils. It appears to be a dinosaur bone, but is tough to identify as it is quite weathered. If you have any more pictures please post them or send them to me if you wish. Thanks for the post, I don't get out to the badlands as much as I used to, since I spend most of my time fishing out west now.

I have a Lamson and think it's a very good light-weight reel. Does anyone have any thoughts on Islander or Loop reels?

Found this on Phil Rowley's website. SNAILS Some anglers swear by snails, while others swear at them. From my research, a snail pattern is one of the least reached for in many stillwater fly boxes. When most anglers discover trout feeding upon snails, they typically roll their eyes and prepare for a tough day's fishing. Other anglers such as Gary Borger use snail patterns all the time with good success. Gary Borger stated in his book Presentations, " Going to fish a lake without snails is like going bowling without a ball". Admittedly I have not had the same degree of success as Gary Borger, but being somewhat pattern paranoid, I always have a couple of snail patterns stashed in my box. Snails vary in importance from one lake to another. I know of some lakes where snails are an important food source for the fly-fisher to be aware of and imitate yet trout in other lakes don't seem to be aware of snails at all. However, with several hundred species, snails are present in just about every lake and lakes rich in calcium harbor particularly large populations. Calcium is an important requirement for shell development as it is for Gammarus scuds. Depending upon the species, the snail's shell can be either spiral or conical in design. Although snails come in a variety of sizes, trout dine only on the tinier species that are the size 10 and smaller. It's a simple matter of digestion, as trout cannot pass the shells of the larger snails. Snail colors vary from species to species and from lake to lake. Common colors include brown, black, mottled tan, dirty yellow and olive. Snails are tough, hardy creatures that prefer to reside in the shallow reaches of many lakes but are also capable of surviving in deeper water. Snails spend the majority of their life skulking along the bottom structure and debris foraging for algae and other minute food sources. Chara weeds are a favorite haunt and home to dense populations. At certain times snails find themselves free and clear of the bottom. Preferring the shallows, snails often fall victim to the sweeping action of heavy winds and rough water and as they drift about, trout feed on them at their leisure. At other times of the year, snails migrate in large numbers upwards to the surface. Here they use their muscular foot to cling to and slide along the underside of the surface film. This often happens during hot summers spells, fueling speculation that the snails might be at the surface trying to increase their oxygen intake.

Mudflap, what did you use for a snail fly?

Rainbow trout and garlic mashed potatoes for dinner tonite.

So I was fishing a local rainbow trout pond yesterday, and caught a real fatty. I took it home to please the wife and when cleaning it, I had a look at it's stomach. The stomach and intestines were the biggest I have ever seen on a trout this size (about 15"). When I opened it, out spilled dozens of little black hard shelled snails. I didn't know trout fed on snails. It looked like he had a tough time digesting them. Is there an imitation for snails out there? Anyone else encounter this before? I may be on to a new super-hatch!

Look no further than this very site. http://flyfishcalgary.com/hatch_chart.php

Seriously, is there anything we can do about the fake member spam? I think we would all like to know how many legitimate members we have.

I usually clean up Stauffer whenever I'm there. Beer cans, old nets, bobbers, old rusted beaver traps (Don?). And I picked up a whole tent on Prairie Creek once.

Why only 6'? I usually use a 9' leader to my dry.

I just got back from a weekend fishing the South Ram, and had 2 very different outings. The region experienced heavy rain on Friday night/ Saturday morning but had cleared up by Saturday afternoon. The water was now a bit higher and faster than usual, but still crystal clear. The problem was I couldn't find the cuts to 18" in the same spots as last week. No rises to speak of. I assumed the fish were weary of the faster flowing top water and had hunkered down. So I tried nymphing but without success. I forgot my streamer box in the truck, and wish I had brought it. Sunday was much better as the water slowed down on the surface. Any ideas on how to fish water right after a heavy rainfall?

I am more partial to the simple image of a solitary angler shooting line like some of the ones I posted earlier. I think any fly would have to be too detailed for a simple logo. And I agree, it would be nice to get away from a trout in the logo as well. Just my 2 cents.

A few more design ideas.

Here's a few ideas for a logo.

Thanks for the info on the Maligne River. I was up there in July when the river was closed, and I thought it was moving very fast with runoff. I vowed to return in August. But I'll try to get there in September. Maybe the flows will be a bit lower by then. Are there any campgrounds by the river?

Why no rod/reel prizes?

I hope some more prizes will be awarded when we hit 1000? That was fast.

Hoodie XXL if available (6'-8 230). And a window decal.

Can we get some window decals instead of bumper stickers?

1) Bow River fishing - to fish the Bow! Never have yet! 2) Cutthroat stream fishing - to heli-fish into the remotest canyon on the South Ram - also to try and use a 1 wt for 6" cuts 3) Stillwater - to try Don A's indicator system. 4) Spey casting- to swing a Spey for BC salmon/steelhead

I have had all my gear in my truck since April 1st. And I never lock it. Got to love rural Alberta.

If you enjoy life, don't bother.