rhuseby

As long as you die having spent your last dollar fishing, who cares. Let's have some fun. Looks like a great time, and Cuba is on my to do list.

Don I'm glad to hear you're able to find some testing possibilities. Another consideration, that may or may not relate to the chemical contamination issues is the flooding from the Clearwater last spring, and a few years before. Could this have been a source for contamination, if you find any? One small point for clarity, in your post #20, the drop from 2700 fish to 900 is a 67% drop, going the other way would be 300%. Also, Gopher boy, you may not be aware of the Quirk Creek project, but the initial population surveys that identified the brook trout invasion issue were done in 1947, 1975, 1987 and 1985. Those are actually frequent samplings for most streams in Alberta, and they are considered valid by fisheries biologists. I, and a number of other anglers who have been around a while, have also been asked to provide annectodotal evidence about changes in fish catch rates,etc over the years by fisheries biologists. In the absence of electrofishing and similar "scientific" counts, this information is considered to be highly useful. If you want to contribute to improving our fisheries, quite firing off uninformed criticism and get your butt involved. Back to you, Don. Great initiative and good luck on the project.

I used my Okuma Integrity in the salt for 3 weeks last fall, and have had no issues. I made a point of rinsing it after every fishing session. Unfortunately, I've never been to Hawaii. There was an article on flyrodding for bonefish there in the December 06/January 07 issue of Saltwater Flyfishing. If you can locate a copy it may be some help.

Only worm-drowners are using the nothing box while fishing, but otherwise he's nailed it. Drbulltrout, she didn't forget, she's just working you over. My ex was a master at it (note the word, ex.........)

I'm with Don. 444s last well, goin g to my 4th year with my current one so a three year claim doesn't do much for me. As for the shooting, seriously, how often do you need to get out more than 50 feet when fishing for trout, especially dries or nymphs. You start to run into serious line control and striking issues. If you love new gear and throwing casts all over, fill your boots. Sharkskin sounds perfect for you.

If you're budget constrained, try the Wardells from Springbrook. I've had two pairs and they stand up to a lot of use and abuse. Wading boots, I've had a couple of pairs of Chotas, and they're good except for a some shrinkage as they age. You just have to wet them in the sink before heading out if they've dried out between trips. If I had the cash, I'd love to try some Simms though.

Sadly, my favorite rod is no longer available, and it gave up the ghost 2 years ago. Golden West built rods and offered blanks for a number of years, and I had a 10' 7wt that was a dream to fish with. It finally got clousered one two many times. Since then, I've tried TFO, which I mainly use now, and Loomis which did nothing for me. If anyone has a Golden West they want to dump...........Call me.

I have used mostly Cortland lines over the years. I have had few problems with, and I abuse my lines badly, trying lay sneaky casts over rocks and gravel, snagging trees and willows and just fishing a lot. The 444SL is my prefered line, although I have used the 555 as well. The 444 is not as high tech, the first foot or so tends to sink a bit, and the shooting characteristics aren't all that great. However, how often will you actually need to fish more than 40-50 feet away? The 444 will fill your needs in 90% of situations at a modest cost compared to the latest and greatest lines and it's very durable.

Bigbowtrout is right when he points out that different species in different streams have varyin g levels of wariness. There are two main approachs to handle spooky fish. Stay well away and make long casts, or stay low and use cover to get into easy casting distance. I've participated in the brook trout removal project on Quirk Creek for almost 10 years now, and it's very interesting to observe success rates among various fisherfolk. Invariably, the most successful guys are good sneakers and hiders. I've seen a number of guys show up bragging about they slayed the cutts on the Livingstone or the Oldman last week, and at the end of the day they had 1 or 2 fish total, while others had 30-40 fish. If you're fishing a small stream, or a big one for that matter, if you're not having any luck, try being as stealthy as possible. It will often make a big difference.

Read Henry Cotton's chapter on flyfishing in the later editions of Walton's "Compleat Angler". There is still info of value there.

To heck with the skin, tie on the whole rabbit. Just think of the realistic kicking action to draw in the bulls. You might have problems dying the skin though.

I have bought a couple of capes from him at the show the last two years. The quality is good, on the #2 capes I've bought, and my only concern is that the feather count is relatively low, compared to a Metz or Whiting. However, work in the price difference and things are pretty reasonable. I'll be buying more this year.

When working with peacock herl, always counter-wrap the ribbing. It greatly reduces the breaking and unraveling of the herl when nicked by a trout tooth. To help keep the head small, remember that it doesn't take a lot of wraps to secure most materials. 3 wraps will secure almost any body material and 4 will lock in hackles. To secure wire is a bit trickier. Angle it forward as you take 2-3 wraps, then bring back at a sharp angle to the rear and take 2 more wraps behind the first ones. Cut the wire and you're done. Good choices of first flies, simple and effective, and nice job on the tying.

Very nice looking fly. A good basic test for sparse is to lay it on top of a newspaper. If you can read the print through the hair, you're probably good. There are some occasions where a fuller fly dressing will be advantageous, so don't get too worried about it at the start.

31 years. Started tying in the fall of the year I started flyrodding. I had already figured out that I couldn't afford to buy the flies at the rate I decorated trees.

Use your fingers, but keep a handwarmer in a pocket. It reduces the pain when your hands are warmer. Also try to do less retrieving through the guides to keep the ice formation down. Lots of mends and use a water haul to load the rod.

That is a dandy looking first fly, you'll definitely get fish with it. Bead sizes can vary for the same hook and pattern, depending how much flash effect you want and how fast you want the fly to sink. That bead looks fine to me. The first guy that ever watched me tie went home and tied up what he called the "pheasant feather fly". He used shoe stitching thread to lash down a chunk of pheasant tail at the eye and bend of the hook. I accepted the gift and caught a brown on it the next time I was out. Just experiment with materials and techniques and fish with the results. That's how great discoveries in tying are made. Welcome to the world of the only slightly demented.

To the best of my knowledge, including talking with various fisheries biologists, there is no serious spawning outside of the normal ranges on the Bow. However, rainbows have been found spawning all the way from early April to very early July, and browns can spawn between September and December. In both cases there are distinct peaks of activity, and looking at closed seasons in the fishing regulations will give you pretty good ideas when those are for all species of fishes and waterbodies. Even with fish like steelhead and atlantic salmon, the summer run fish enter the rivers in the late summer and early fall months, but they don't actually spawn until the next spring with the winter run fish. That just totally blows me away, thinking of the energy reserves required to think of surviving that long with only minimal freshwater feeding going on. I have caught rainbows in the Bow in May that were clearly recently spawned out, beat to hell and very lean and poor fighters, and a very few browns in similar condition in early to mid October. By the time the Highwood system opens in mid-June, most of the spawners are returning to the Bow, and the earlier fish are rapidly regaining the stregnth and condition. If you look at a lot of the recently posted pictures of browns from the Bow, most of the bigger fish are fairly slim and are recovering from spawning, and more of those fish will continue to show up over the next month or so.

Trout and other fish all respond to varying conditions in consistent ways. For example, during the winter, trout will do almost all of their feeding during a couple of hours each day. That period is usually centered on the warmest hours of the day, ie sometime between 1200 and 1600. Conversely, during the summer, fish in the Bow will do less feeding during bright sunlight. Fishing deeper runs, shaded areas, or ,best of all, on cloudy days will greatly increase your success rate. Another great example of this is the evening and night fishing during July and August. Make use of the resources that others have already noted, talk to people on the water, and observe what's going on on the water while you're out there. One of the best ways to learn how to predict where fish will be feeding and when on your regular waters is keep a detailed fishing diary. Include notes on weather and water conditions, what sort of places you found fish and the successful flies, hatches you saw, and numbers and sizes of fish. The reason that I say numbers and sizes isn't for bragging purposes, but because large and small fish often feed in different areas and ways at the same time. You will notice that a number of posts mention catching a certain large fish, and often losing him, at the same location on successive days. Although trout do move around in a stream, they tend to use certain holds for long periods of time. If they are the dominant fish in a stretch, they don't get chased out by others and will then stay there. That means that a large fish will usually be at the same location you found him for a period of time until conditions change and make him move. You may not catch him but he's probably there. There was one 22" brown at Southland that I caught 3 times in two years, out of the same run. He was there most of the other times I fished there, but I didn't find him feeding, or he was wise to my tricks. He had a deformed snout that was very distinctive, and made identification easy. Much easier was a bull at Lower K I caught on two successive days at the same spot, on the same fly. Those tags make ID certain. Learn the patterns of fish in the waters that you fish and your success will increase steadily. There is so much to learn if you want to, that it will be a lifetime of enjoyment. Fish in the Bow do migrate in consistent patterns. Most spawning size rainbows will move up into the Highwood system and spawn sometime between late March and early June, hence fishing near the Highwood confluence around that ime is generally good for rainbows. Browns between the Bearspaw dam and the WID weir mostly spawn in the Elbow within the city, hence the closure of that stretch in the fall. Same thing, fishing near the confluence will bring a high likelihood of success for browns at that time of year.

Looks like the Vedder near Chilliwack, and, sad but true, that's were my girlfriend lives, and where I'll probably retire. I think I'll be doing some driving to the fishing instead.

Head out to the Sheep River Sanctuary west of Turner Valley. The rams will be butting heads right beside the road starting in about 2-3 weeks. Later November will see the peak of the rut. Great photo ops as long as you have any kind of telephoto lens. Decent shots on occasion even with a regular 50mm or equivalent. You may also get good shots of deer and elk. The road closes at Sandy McNabb campground on 1 Dec.

The only stupid questions are the ones you don't ask. It's fascinating to see how patient some tiers are in making the sort of patterns I see on here. Me, if it takes over 10 minutes per fly, I'm raging. Do you crush the beers cans on your head full or empty?

Pound test tippet, which are pretty well all that we use, are rated on their minimum breaking straining when new. This is a straight steady pull, not using knots which weaken the material. You can occasionally get a bad batch which breaks belos test, but that is often material that has been on the shelf awhile. Class rated material, which you would want to use when fishing for records, is rated on maximum strength and is basically guaranteed to break just below the rated level. Obviously you have a lot more leeway with test rated material. Knots, age, exposure to chemicals, etc will all weaken leader materials to varying extents. Learn to tie good knots and lubricate them well when pulling tight, because they represent weak points. Also, pick out any wind knots in your leader because they can reduce the leader strength by over 50%. The only thing I know about the split shot thing is that smaller numbers represent bigger shot, and larger letters (ie. B is larger than A) also represent bigger shot. All letters are larger than numbers in weighing shot. Some of the other guys may have a better grrasp on the origins of the shot sizing system. Esoteric info, not much.

It's not chumming if it's tiny bait.

Just an interesting note on Encana here. One of the guys I work with has a brother who was drilling holes for Encana. Encaba was paying $1500 a hand per day bonus for each day holes came in early this year. They were NOT increasing the number of holes they planned to drill, but simply trying to get them done as early as possible. Now Encana is claiming they have stopped drilling because of the royalty review and its consequences. Even I can smell something wrong here. As well, my brother, who has his own small business (pilot truck and truck push for rig moves) says business is pretty much normal for the time of year, and he works mainly gas drilling rigs. Where else are big companies going to go? Places that have much higher exploration and recovery costs (Arctic), politically unstable areas with hostile governments(Middle East, Venezuala)? And let's remember that, as already pointed out, the increase would barely put us into the middle of the world wide range for royalties.