rhuseby

If you get a permit from Fish and Wildlife, absolutely get it mounted like Don said. They are spectacular when well done. Unfortunately, the one I hit with my vehicle wound up staying with my ex.

Lost Lemon is south of Highwood Pass, so you should be good for Elbow Lake. The size is a little better in Elbow Lake, but numbers in Bragg Creek can be pretty amazing on nymphs. Your choice. Many of the small streams that have browns north of the Bow also have the odd brookie, but you can't count on one any given day. I have caught three brookies in the Bow here in Calgary too, obviously not a high percentage. Unless you have a management license you can only keep what the regulations say, two in most streams.

I'll try again.

What the heck? I never win stuff but I'm in.

I was fishing in Fish Creek yesterday and lost my complete set up, worm, weevil and split shot on the last cast. I was fishing the same hole again today, and snagged the entire rig and brought it in. Maybe I should have bought a lottery ticket on the way home! Has anyone else ever pulled off something like that? What are the odds after all?

I'm almost 100% certain you need to sharpen your hooks. Do them in the vise before you tie the fly, and carry a sharpener on the stream to keep them sharp. If they don't dig into your thumbnail on the slightest pressure they're no good. If I miss 2 fish in a row, I always check the hook, and many times it's dulled slightly. Touch it up and away you go.

Phone the K-Country office in Canmore. Phone number used to be 678-5508.

About how much being caught affects a fish. I was down on the Oldman on the weekend, and caught a 13" cutt out of a little pocket (say 3 feet across) under a stump. He took a Stimmie and put up the usual sort of cuttie fight and then went back in the water. I put a few more casts through the hole with no reaction and moved on. About an hour later, on my way back upstream, I ran a nymph through the pocket just for the hell of it, and got a 13" cutt. Without having definite markings or a close examination to go on, I am pretty damn sure this was the same fish. In a pocket that small, with no other bites either time, and fish of the same size??????? At any rate, I guess that being caught once didn't bother him. It makes me wonder how many fish, of all species, go pout for a minutes after we put them back and then carry on with their regular activities. Anybody else have similar stories?

I use Helly Hansen fleece socks year-round and Helly Hansen fleece pants in the winter. I stay warm longer than my hands last when the weather's cold. Both socks and pants are over 30 years old, bought them for ski-mountaineering in the 70s. Obviously the quality and durability are great.

If you can't find it any where Don, send me a pm. I have four packages that I bought down in the US and haven't found a use for yet. All different colours.

I have a Marquis #6 that an uncle found in the basement of a house he bought. Unfortunately the reel foot is curved and will cost about $150 to replace, according to Hardy. I wonder if that says anything about the value of it ? Probably not. However, I am wondering if your reel also has a curved foot? If so, maybe it was a design to match specific rods.

There's nothing like fishing the salt. Nice fish all of them. I agree with Rickr, the bottom one is a mangrove snapper.

I use a 7 wt almost all the time. If I'm going to be fishing the evening caddis or another guaranteed to appear hatch I will sometimes use a 5 wt. In any given day I'll use heavy nymph rigs or streamers a lot, and the 7 just makes life a lot easier, especially if the wind is getting up.

I bought a pair of the boot foots specifically for fishing in the salt last fall. 14 days of saltwater, plus 2 in the pontoon later. No problems. I've always bought inexpensive breathable waders (Wardells) and the first two pairs lasted at least 4 years each (80+ days a year). I'm on my third set now, but Springbrook is not making them anymore, otherwise, I'd say get them.

Woolly Buggers and clouser minnows are both easy to tie and great on many species of fish. You can tie them in a variety of colours to suit different needs. For dry flies elk hair caddis are easy and very useful.

While I don't own a Native Run, I did try it in comparison to the Crosscurrent when I was shopping for a saltwater rod. If yu don't plan on doing a lot of casting over about 60 feet it is a sweet casting rod that is very smooth and accurate. If you plan on a lot of long distance casting, it begins to struggle beyond the aforementioned 60 feet.

I went for a walk down in Fish Creek this morning, since it's still too cold for an old fart like me to actual fish. I noticed that there is a lot more anchor ice in the river than I remember in the past. It made me wonder about potential impacts on next years fishery. Streams that regularly form anchor ice are usually not productive due to the coating of the bottom habitats of invertebrates and hence killing off the bulk of the trout food. I guess we'll just have to watch what happens. Does anyone else feel the anchor ice is more extensive than usual this winter?

Not quite a story of forgetting stuff. I was working as a guide on Great Bear Lake in 1976 and had bought my first flyrod the week before heading up. After about 5 days setting up for the season we had an afternoon off. We couldn't use fuel, but I rowed out into the bay in front of the lodge, and after many tribulations I landed two grayling around 17". I was carrying them back to the cleaning shack and made the classic mistake of going through a screen door with a full length rod. Chopped!!!! One plane 1 week, so by the time I wrote to my momn and she got another rod and mailed it up, almost half the season was gone. So a very mixed day, my first ever flyrod fish and my first broken rod, all in one afternoon.

Good year all round. Hours on the water were up slightly, numbers of fish down, 9 new waters fished, finally got outfished by one of my kids one day. Highlight was probably 2 days in July where I got 8 fish in two trips, with every fish over 20".

I agree with the comments about 8 wt rods being big enough. You can get a bit carried away with the big fly thing (even with a 10 wt). So far I have never had a pike get anywhere near the backing, in fact they rarely go beyond the line that's already stripped off for casting. A simple click drag on a reel you can palm for more pressure will do. If you want to use the rod for other fishing, say saltwater, then get a reel that will handle that fishing, and it will be fine for your pike. I use an Okuma Integrity I8-9 for all my 8 wt work and it does fine.

My Old Faithful has sadly passed on. A Golden West 10' 7 wt that I built from a kit. For anyone who hasn't heard of them Golden West was run by Mike and Denise Maxwell, using J. Kennedy Fisher blanks. Thant was an incredible, smooth casting rod that was the only stick I owned for over 20 years. 20" browns on Stauffer, nymph rigs and big streamers on the Bow, you name it, it did it. The top section finally folded over one day, obviously hit by split shot or weighted streamers one two many times. Unfortunately, the Maxwells had gotten out of the rod business, and although I talked to several custom builders about possible repair it doesn't like it will ever be useable again. It still sits in its tube downstairs, though, hoping against hope.

Nearly all saltwater fly hooks have straight eyes, and holding power is really important there. I suspect that it really doesn't make much difference except in appearance. Has anyone seen any sort of scientific study on this?

Thanks for the suggestions. It looks like I'll have to take close looks at both the Canon and Panasonic. Tough may be the deciding quality because I do use gear pretty hard. Thanks again for all the advice.

I've just gotten back from BC and had a total brain faet that resulted in my camera disappearing into the rocks of a breakwater out at Tofino, finishing with a faint splash. only about 140 photos went with it. At any rate, for you camera gurus, what would you recommend for a replacement? I am not a full-on photo guy, so I want a pocket type that will take good photos within it's limitation, as well as video. Te video does not have to be high quality. Just the sort of thing that will record kids screaming as they fight a big fish, etc. I'm hoping to keep costs under $300-350. Any suggestions.

Medium to meium fast action rods like the Signature require a slower stroke than the very powerful fast action rods. I have a signature 5 wt and casting it is very different from casting my Crosscurrent GLX saltwater rods. A good basic line that works fine on the Signature is the Cortland 444SL. It's less expensive than many lines, casts well and is durable. It will not reach as far as many other lines, but for most applications, distance is less important than control and the 444 will cetrtainly let you do that.