rhuseby

Young and dumb and gonna live forever.

Could you hear any crunching during the dinner? I've watched dragonflies eating a couple of times and it's amazing how loud the crunching sound is. Wonderful shots.

I don't know about the guides, being well down on the broke end of life, but Grice bay will give you a decent chance at sea run cutts and coho. Without a boat, you will only be able to fish from the boat launch area, but you will stand a good chance of fish every time. Fish the ebb tide, especially the bottom half, and use pink flies ( I say again, use PINK flies). Spent 5 days in Tofino last September and got fish at Grice every day. Also try fishing from rocks where they butt onto sand beaches. Use a fast sinking head and smallish flies (2-3 inches long) in red or chartreuse to get some surf perch. Hard fighters and cooperative. Have a hoot. It's a great area.

Excellent eating. Better than trout in my opinion. Blackened with cajun spice or chili powder is another option.

Why do you want 4 piece rods? Unless you're planning on flying to some destination, and who doesn't want to, a 2 piece no disadvantage. Maybe if you drive a mini car? I've found that I always get some rotation in the joint between the butt and second sections of a 4 piece while casting. You just have to move it every so often, but it never happens on a 2 piece. A minor peeve of mine.

One treble hook, with three points, is one hook. A lure can have 3 hooks, treble or single, on it. You will never get busted in Alberta fishing a plug with three trebles on it. The other discussions about hook damage, tangling, etc. are all valid. Check your regs carefully in BC though, because trebles are prohibited on many waters.

Be cautious with flares. It's not as bad thhis year, but they have started a few fires when they land in the bush! Besides, how much stuff can you carry and get into action in 5 seconds or less.

Westwinds is where I spend the most time. I've been in most of the others except for Hanson's and have found all of them helpful and good service. I stay out of downtown so I've never been in Hanson's.

I was up there on Wedndesday and Thursday. The North Saskatchewan was not really high but very dirty, and all of the tributaries to it and the Red Deer that I fished or looked at were high and coloured, including Stauffer, Raven, Shunda,etc. However, a lot of the stream flow guages on Alberta Environments web site have dropped considerably the last couple of days. You can probably get into some fish somewhere, and there are always some of the lakes as last resort.

Good first job. I simplify my tying life by using gold or silver sparkle braid for the body. It doesn't look as nice as a well executed traditional body, but the fish don't care.

For a creek that is usually bone dry at the mouth, it's roaring and dirty. Somebody actually kayaked it a little while ago. By the time it clears, it will probably be dry at the mouth again.

Vest. An Orvis shorty that my girlfriend got me for Christmas a few years ago. Holds all my stuff, and I change the fly boxes around as needed. The other stuff like forceps, nippers, sharpener, toilet paper, etc I need pretty well on every trip so why move it all around. That said , I've been thinking about a chest pack for saltwater since you sometimes have wade almost chest deep to reach cohos from the beach. Nets I gave up on a long time ago. Useful for larger fish but a larger pain in the butt than I think they're worth. Strictly my opinion.

I've driven out to the coast a number of times but always from Calgary. I don't imagine the rivers will be in good shape next week, but try some of the lakes , especially around the Kamloops-Merritt area. A float tube would be handy for this. Around Chilliwack, the Fraser is very dangerous due to spring run off,and no anadromous fish are running in any numbers. The Chilliwack-Vedder river is closed all of June. Once again , lakes are your best bet.

Signs can be useful if access to a waterbody is limited to a few points, eg. most lakes. However, on a waterbody with many access points, if you are relying on sings, people use the ole "I didn't see any sign" defense. Plain and simple, anyone who fishes in this province KNOWS there are regulations and it's their responsibility to know what is pertinent to where they are fishing. If people choose to break the law, then they had better be prepared to take the consequences. What discourages the lawbreakers is people other than police or fish and wildlife turning them in. If they know a lot of people are watching for their misdeeds, they will quit performing them, at least where there are other people. People know they shouldn't be committing robbery and murder and so on, and it still happens.

You don't have to have a tube or pontoon to do well on the high alpine lakes. If the fish are feeding they are usually reachable from shore. If you want to take one anyway, it won't hurt. The final approach to the lake is up a steep rock band and getting the boat up could be tricky. Carnarvon Lake is in the next valley south, Loomis Lake 2 valleys north. All three lakes have cutts stocked and are usually good fishing. The long approachs keep pressure down. The entire Highwood is a beautiful area, enjoy your trip.

The river at Innisfail is the Red Deer. The Little Red Deer joins the main river about 20 miles west of Innisfail, about 6 miles below the Dickson dam. If it's not blown out when you come, there are some big browns, although not a lot of them in the Red Deer, as well as lots of goldeye, pike and walleye. The lower stretchs of the Little Red Deer are mostly pike with the trout being in the middle and upper reaches. There is lots of other good trout water west of Innisfail. Barry Mitchell covers most of them in "The Trout Highway". Have fun.

It's a hard time when you have to get a pet put to sleep, I extend my sympathy to you. When my ex and I had to get our Norwegian Elkhound put it down it was a terrible time, even though I'd cursed her for her habit of trying to kill porkies repeatedly. 20 visits to vets for quills, and I still miss her. You'll always remember him.

I've tried both ways and settled on using an improved clinch tied on the bend of the lead hook. Never had a loss of the second fly, whether to a fish,snag or just casting. Hookup rates appeared to be similar to me for both methods. I did notice that the eye to eye method seemed to cause a lot more twisting in the tippet. Maybe some of the other guys have diferent experiences in that regard.

Depending what you want to fish for, Beauvais Lake and Little Bow Provincial Parks are both really nice. Little Bow is on Travers Resevoir and has pike, perch, whitefish and walleye, while Beauvais is a foothills trout lake not too far from the Crowsnest.

One point that I think is being missed a bit here is that the first 30 feet aren't identical between WF and DT. They do weigh the same, but the actual tapers are different in most cases. There are some significant differences in casting characteristics, even in that first 30 feet. I just bought a WF for my 7 wt because I couldn't find a DT on short notice, ie after 6 pm. I have fished DT for my floaters for the most part, and I was turning the air blue trying to reprogram my casting stroke and mend. This was with a double nymph and indicator rig. Personally, due to the way I cast, DT is for me. As soon as I get to another payday, there will probably be a slightly used SA GRX line on the auction block.

I got an Okuma Integrity 8/9 for use in the salt on Vancouver Island last fall. I had no problems handling coho up to 15 lbs with it, although I didn't get any that I would call really hot. Large arbour, good drag, inexpensive. I'll be getting another spool or two and taking it down to Baja next year.

Just to stir the pot, what are you all proposing as the standards to be implemented for guide skills. Would you have to have a bunch of certifications and where would you get them. Who should be the licensing body.

City master keys won't work. Provincial park, and it takes a lot of booze to get a CO drunk enough!!!!!!!

My brother and I stayed at the Sleep Inn in Coleman this week. The beds were okay and it was pretty quiet, although you could hear the guys in the next room when we were awake in the morning. $89 for two guys.

Taco, just remember that cowboys love fat calves.