rhuseby

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.

Another good fly for both pike and Walleye is a 4" orange and yellow clouser. Don't forget to use wire for the tippet. Tyger wire and Cortland Toothy Critter can both be tied with regular knots. Have fun and hold on tight.

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!!!!!!!

Most of what you need to start getting some fish has been mentioned already. When you are fishing make sure you try diferent parts of the river until you locate fish. As an example, I was fishing with my brother last week on the Bow, and got into some really good nymphing in a run. Almost all of the fish were located in about 30 yards of water, below there nothing and nearer the riffle only a few. On any given day the fish may be located in diffent areas, but for now try spots where a broad shallow riffle feeds into a narrower, moderate depth and speed run. This concentrates the food and the fish. Also, sharpen your hooks. They must catch ona thumbnail when you drag them across. This way they will catch in the skin of a fish's mouth briefly before he ejects the hook and give you a little more time to react and set the hook.

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.

Email, this time, but you know how it is with gay midgets.

Wonderful pics guys, thanks for sharing them. I've watched geese doing the twisting thing but never noticed one completely upside down.

Variations in colour in trout and some other fish are very common. In every stream in Alberta that I've fished there have been variations in colour, spotting patterns, etc. All of the factors mentioned above enter into the variations. I just enjoy the many variations. One that I love is the browns from the dogpound that have almost blood red fins and tail. Less than one in 20 have this colour, and I've never seen it anywhere else. Cause? Your guess is as good as mine.

Playdoh, sounds like you're on the right track with the flies. Try a longer leader (just add some extra tippet to the end of your 9 footer) and a smaller shot to change the angle your leader is at in the water. It may make a difference. Also, make sure you're mending the line to ensure a drag free drift with the nymphs. I usually mend at least three times during the length of a drift and often several more. Streamers, like Maxwell suggested are also excellent. In a couple of weeks, start looking for the bwos to start hatching, and when you see a few, look for shallow flat eddies beside pool tailouts. Those have been the absolute best spots for early springs risers for me. For some reason the spring bwo hatch doesn't turn fish on like the fall hatch, but when you find some working, it's a blast.

Small streams, but now I'm loving the salt. Actually I'd probably fish in a mud puddle on Mcleod Trail if there was a fish in it.

If you're on line and a screen pops up with an ad for Virus Heat software, you just inherited a really nasty virus that will allow a malicious user to take over your computer. Unplug from the phone line and call for help. My computer was gone for a week while Tech Squad tried to get rid of it. Luckily they were able to save my photos but everything else went. Apparently this is a new strain of a known virus and none of their software fixes worked. Hope nobody else has any encounters with it.