professori

I live in the lower mainland. I am far from an environmental fanatic but unlike the mayor of Ft St John, I live in one of the 2 ports that are going to be impacted most by increased pipeline (and hence tanker) activity. She is dead correct that 1487 of 197,000 vessels using west coast ports currently are tankers. What isn't stated is that if the pipelines get built and used to capacity, that number of tankers would increase to 35+ a day-almost a 10 fold increase in tanker traffic. We have already experienced a pipeline rupture in the Kinder Morgan pipeline in a Burnaby neighbourhood that spewed crude oil for a 1/2 hour that impacted 3 neighbourhoods homes and spilled over 50,000 barrels before it was turned off. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/cleanup-continues-on-b-c-oil-spill-1.676094 I realize that many Albertans think this is nothing, but this isn't oil spilling into your wheat fields, or piney woods, but crude landing on people's homes. It also is crude (bad enough) not dilbit. I doubt many Albertans understand the impact a major spill would have on the harbour, nor do most understand just how busy this waterway is. There are many more vessels in the Vancouver harbour than tankers. There are all manner of cargo ships, cruise ships, a seaplane airport, ferries, not to mention hundreds of pleasure craft, from large yachts to 12' aluminum boats with fly anglers chasing salmon and sea run cutts. Every day! I wonder how many of you would accept the kind of risk of environmental damage to the Bow or Oldman rivers you ask us to quietly accept? I fully understand the need for jobs in the province (and in BC's own oil patch) but why would building refining capacity closer to the source be such a bad idea. Then you would have a much easier sell when it comes to transporting the product by pipeline. I know the argument is that refineries are just too damn expensive to build but too expensive for who? Of course the oil companies make the most money by extracting goods and selling them to someone else to process (at nice, low, Asian labour costs). However would the Canadian economy gain greater benefit from Canadian workers extracting the goods (crude, bitumen, natural gas, whatever) and then more Canadian workers processing the materials and then selling the finished product? Before multinational companies should be allowed to extract our resources, they should be made to invest in the growth of our economy. I just don't understand how the oil patch supporters think that they can pee in their end of the pool and that those of us at the other end should just shut-up and not complain that the water tastes bad. But then again I'm just an environmental fanatic from the lower mainland.

Material costs for 2 15 lb anchors is the same as a 30 lb.

If you are in the water for more than a few minutes, your waders will fill with water with or without a belt. A belt slows, it won't prevent water entry.

It won't do a bit of damage to your gas vehicle. worn rings will put more oil into the gas than dropping some 50:1 mix into your car/truck tank. If you are worried that much about it, put a 1/2 gallon in every fill up until you've disposed of it all.

Sorry you haven't. I have seen it on two separate occasions, once last August and also in July 2014. But then again I have only fished it for the past 10-11 years.

Actually the way a fly is tied is not only a matter of aesthetics, it also affects the way a fly casts and fishes. A dry fly with uneven wings will spin and twist when being cast and that will kink and furl a leader in short order. A wet fly with incorrect proportions will often do the same under retrieve. That spinning can put fish down. And (IMHO) it never is a bad idea to improve your fly tying abilities. Regardless the old trope, "the rattier they get the better they fish", for almost every flyfisher I have ever met, the better looking the fly, the greater the chance it will get tied on the tippet. Not a single fish has ever been caught by the poorly tied, ratty-looking fly that was always in the box , not the water.

As well as pinching the tail shorter, you could move your tie in point for the body a bit further down the hook to just above the barb rather than the point of the hook. Continue the hackle wrap and the wire right up to the base of the bead (I like to finish behing the bead with 2-3 tight wraps of hackle just to give it a denser look at the head). Over all though, a very good first attempt. Tie up another dozen in succession and you will be amazed at how your speed improves and how much better the twelfth fly looks compared to the first.

And following any heavy rain, the creek is covered in a noxious yellow foam and the fish won/t move to a fly for days following. Not only Michel, but the entire Elk system is suffering from selenium contamination.

Maybe Dave should reach out to the forum and pass the message himself rather through "not one of Dave's besties".

My first 2 hander 12 years ago, was a 13'9" Loop Blue spey rod. I was at the time suffering from tendonitis in my right elbow ("tennis elbow"). It had become an excursion into new territories of pain every time I went fishing and more so when I tried to cast an 8 wt. for coho. The tempo and easy motion of a 2 hander was the perfect solution. Since that time, I have sold my Loop and the reel and line. In its place, I have added 3 switch rods, a 10'9" Redington Dually 4wt, an 11' Amundson Wind Warrior 6wt and an 11'9" Sage Method 7wt. These 3 rods can cover any of the big water situations I find myself in. One of the things I have found with these rods, the line weights don't correspond to the same lone weights in a shorter single hander. I wouldn't hesitate to use my 4 wt switch any place I would normally use a 5 or 6 wt single, including on the Bow, the 6 wt switch on any fish I would target with a 7 or even 8 wt single and the 7wt, the only fish I would hesitate to use it to target would be a spring salmon or perhaps winter run steel. I use a Rio Switchchuker on all of them and have no complaints with any. The lines match up equally well with appropriate Mow tips or polytips. I still fish my single handers (my tendonitis finally succumbed to a single shot of Cortisone, after i spent 3 years suffering), as none of these switches are very comfortable bush whacking the rivers and I still can't bring myself to give up my chironomid set-up. While I can bomb casts of over 100' with any of them, the real advantage of these rods lies in the ease of casting, I can fish all day with no fatigue (and at my age, that is an important consideration) and have the the fly in the water most of the time. They can all handle much larger flies, including streamers, that an equally rated single hander and I have the option of much longer casts in my quiver, if I should need it.

If Alberta had salmon, I suspect the kill rate would be just as high as it is in BC. If I have the opportunity to harvest a coho or spring from fresh water, not only will I do so, but I feel an obligation to do so. Quickly dispatching and carefully cleaning one's catch and then enjoying the meal it provides, makes an angler more mindful in how he views all his/her meals and the ethics involved in how they are brought to the table. I will often eat trout I catch from lakes and streams where it is legal. I love fish and the trout I keep and dispatch have a much better life (up to that point) than the fresh or frozen tank and net raised "rainbow trout" one can purchase in Safeway, and they taste so much better. All that said, I release hundreds of fish yearly as I only keep what my family will eat. To hell with neighbours who want me to kill one for them!

One other point of note: Redds are composed of freshly turned and loosened gravel. As such, they feel quite unstable if you accidentally step onto one. In one step you can go from good firm footing to very soft footing that you will sink a few inches into. We should always be looking for spawn redds, but if you fail to notice one in time, pay attention to the surface under foot.

Now that was fun!

Acetone. Use in in a well ventilated area (outdoors is best) and use rubber gloves.

When trimming and shaping deer hair, nothing does the job like a razor blade. Best deal I have come across is:https://www.amazon.ca/Derby-Professional-Single-Razor-Blades/dp/B00DIW3VHG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1471902564&sr=8-2&keywords=derby+razor+blades 100 half blades (no need to cut yours in half) for only $8.00

For my dubbing, I just peel the labels from the original packaging and apply it to the lid of the container (I trim it with a razor blade). Beads, I get labels from staples, print the bead size and type (tungsten, brass, glass, etc) either by hand or in the printer and apply. Trim if necessary.

Maybe you wouldn't resort to violence but I doubt that the same could be assured about your targets. Leave close surveillance and confrontation to those trained and equiped for it.

A variation on SilverDoctor's pill bottle. These single bead boxes are found at Michael's for about $4 if I remember. Drill a hole and you're set. I have 15 of these sitting on my shelf sorted by colour and material. I use a double-sided set to keep my beads all sorted.

Thanks for the kudos Silver, but I'm only a very outstanding mortal.

You bet! I've had my current ones 3 years and they are as good as my bi-focal everyday glasses. If all you need is reading glasses for close-up work, putting these on the inside of whatever sunglasses you use will do away with the need for a spare pair of glasses, clip on magnifiers, brim lenses, whatever. I would recommend getting a spare set, as i did once have a lens detach while I was in the middle of a stream and that was the end of that one. Took me about a week to get a replacement ordered and shipped to me. Now I have a spare set in my trailer.

Just a quick reply here. IMO a 9 wt is only necessary if you are targeting Chinooks (springs) pinks and sockeye are easily handled with a 6 wt, coho and steel can be handled with a 7 wt. I have landed lots of 10-15lb chum on a 7 as well, and have seen more than one spring taken on a 7 or 8. Never having fished for pike, i have no thoughts there.

I believe these are by far the best option for aging eyes:https://www.amazon.ca/Hydrotac-Reusable-Stick--Bifocal-Diopter/dp/B00GHR8YWQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1471532496&sr=8-1&keywords=stick+on+lenses These lenses stick to the inside of your glasses and provide a bifocal setup. I have a pair of prescription Maui Jims. M. J. offer straight prescriptions for about $600 or progressives (which are the Devil's own torment) for $900. They do not offer bi-focals. For $20-$30 dollars you can convert your own M.J.to bifocals in 15 minutes.

And where is it if you don't believe where they show it??

Just got back from a trip to the BC interior. I had tied up a dozen Tom Thumbs and dipped them all in Flyagra, set them aside to dry for a week and then packed them up. I didn't notice any smell and no visible "oil slick" that I have observed at times using recently dipped flies. I did notice whoever, that the flies kept floating, without any added floatant, even after having been taken by as many as 9 trout in succession (the record) and being reduced to a handful of straggly fibers.

I carry a collapsible wading staff at all times. It collapses and slips into a holster that hangs from my wading belt. It is out of the way and often doesn't get used, but when I do need it, it is right there. I have a few companions who go with the "If I need one, I'll just grab a stick off the shoreline" philosophy. The big problem is, when you discover you need one, you are often in the middle of the stream and the shore, and the "wading stick" you need are at some, often treacherous, distance from you. A non-collapsing staff ties up one hand and tends to get in the way in a number of other ways. As I get older, I find that I use it more and more, not only in the water, but often on trails and when scrambling over riprap, etc. Get one, it is a small price to pay for an increase in enjoyment of our passion. This is the one I have: http://www.cabelas.com/product/collapsible-wading-staff/727494.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dwading%252Bstaff%26x%3D10%26y%3D6%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%252BProducts&Ntt=wading+staff