rhuseby

There actually over 200 off-leash areas in the city, and while most of them aren't on a the river, they are available. The only thing that cheese's me is the rudeness. Like I said earlier, I know I'm going to get visited by the pups and I'm cool with that part. Let's face it, you can only catch fish in the water.

I have used the TU pocket logs that they distributed for a while and now make up my own. By carrying it with you, you can fill it out as you go. I record date, location, time of day and hours fishing, species and size distribution, unusual water conditions, hatches, and successful flies. Other notes can be made as you see fit. Some of the info, mainly the species stuff, has been passed on to Fish and Wildlife biologists looking for data on waterbodies they don't survey regularly. Hatch dates are always useful in future trip planning, as are fly patterns. Best of all is just reading the thing when the weather is -40 and you can only dream about going out. A diary is just a great thing and I wish I would have started keeping on a long time ago.

Nothing scarier than almost losing your kid. I'm really glad everything turned out well. My daughter is starting to fish with me and it's hard to always remember that she can't wade a lot of places I can. One thing to remember is that if you want to cross in a dubious place, use the linked arms technique, with the strongest person on the upstream side. They break the current and provide an anchorage for the weaker one.

Is there any place here in Calgary where a guy could pick some up to try?

That really blows. I've only written off one vehicle (engine fire when the dealership forgot to tighten the fuel line to the carb) and the insurance company was pretty fast at telling me what the payout was. I think that when it's clearly not your fault, they are usually pretty fast in paying.

YES!!!!!!!! That first one on the dry is the greatest. Well done.

When I'm in the off-leash area I know that dogs are just part of the equation and you have to tolerate them running ahead and coming to visit. What's burns my butt is when the owner is throwing stuff over your shoulder and saying that this is their dog's favorite spot to play. I feel like backcasting right at them and going"Oh that's my favorite place to backcast". I've been restrained so far but.......

Dogs and cats together are crazy enough. Just add a parrot that laughs like Boris Karloff and stalks the other creatures from beneath furniture to the mix. Unfortunately all of those maniacs have died and I've gotten divorced, but holy crap it was funny to watch most of the time.

Artistic merit 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 6.0 from the russian judge, 0.0 Anyone producing video like that needs to flogged to death with a 3 wt and 6x tippet.

Mostly likely hook damage alright. To this point (everyone cross your fingers) whirling disease hasn't surfaced in Alberta. If you head down to the states, really clean your gear off well on your return. If you're wealthier than me, maybe a pair of waders just for use down there wouldn't be a bad idea.

Mostly I run into the stick or ball trhowers but every once in a while someone shows up like your guy. I was working a nice 21" brown at Southland a couple of years ago and saw a lady and her dog coming up. I thought "Oh great, here goes the risers". She calls up the dog, which responds right away and she comes up close enough to caht. I hook and land the brown and then she says she works for Mustad, distributing hooks in western Canada. So it just reinforced my using Mustad.

Only one self snagging so far, right below the nose with a 14 nymph. The best reason to fish barbless. I have to wear specs anyway, but now that the hair is gone, I've worries that the ricochets off of the head are going start sticking. Oh the pain.

Sad but true guys, you've got to remember the reason the dam was built. Irrigation, and it's that season to grow Taber corn. Personally, I'd sooner have the wild rivrs and less corn but we got outshouted by the farmers on that one.

An interesting note for you guys. In all my years of fishing, I've been checked by Fish and Wildlife officers once. On the other hand I've been checked by Park Rangers (now called Conservation Officers) at least half a dozen times. Places like K Lakes and Fish Creek that's very likely who's doing the checking. What that says, I'm not sure.

Just taking a quick side trip on the eyes pointing down thing. I made special note of the eyes of a lot of the fish I released yesterday. They were all brought in fast (4X leader) and were still lively to hand. All darted away immediately and needed no reivival. The eyes were about 50/50 down and centered. Could someone direct me to any scientific research on the eyes as an indicator of stress level.. I haven't found any but that doesn't mean anything.

At least you didn't wind up lying on the ground beside a parking meter in downtown Red Deer, passed out from pain and scaring the old ladies walking by. Getting those suckers out is the worst.

Great campground. If you have kids, a couple of the sites beside the creek have a nice pool for them to splah in right alongside. My daughter caught her very first fish out of that pool using a Doc Spratley on her spincast rod. She was six and Dutch is still her favorite campgound.

Great looking boat. Now if I only had a garage.

First ever flyrod fish. I was spending the summer on Great Bear Lake as a guide and had bought a fly outfit just before I went up. We had a half-day free so rowed one of the boats out just by the lodge and commenced flailing away. Had several rises but missed them all before I finally noticed the point and barb were gone off the fly. Low backcast had hit the gunwale on the boat. So I'm really peeved and try to make a mighty cast. As usual the line lands in an immense mess right beside the boat with the fly sitting in the exact middle of it. As I start to mutter, I see a grayling come up from near the bottom and slurp the fly. Incredibly, I managed to get tight and land a 17 incher. Ever since then I've known you might get a fish regardless of how bad you're doing at any time.

It's always worth a call, because if F+W get enough calls about a given stretch, they will eventually start paying some attention to it. Sadly, it often takes quite a few calls.

I had a 10' 7wt for 25 years and it was the best rod I've ever used. Unfortunately the rsins failed about 15" below the tip one day and the rod just folded over. Probably nailed it with a weigthed streamer of heavy nymph one time too many. It made a big difference in mending and throwing nymphing rigs easily. A 9' works well, but not as good as a 10.

Short muzzle, small nose, I'd guess a cat. I've had to drag a couple of bodies out of logjams in the Upper Bow. It does ruin fishing for a while.

Privacy, your own little piece of solitude, in South-western Alberta???? Thou dreamest. Especially in the summer.

Other than the weirs, there aren't a lot of hazards on the Bow. If the water is up in the trees there is more risk of strainers, etc. but for the most part flow level doesn't greatly affect the safety of the river. Just stay away from the weirs.

Forgot to add in the last note, if you have a BC license, there smallmouth bass in some of the little lakes in and around Kikomun Creek park. If nothing else, take some leech patterns like a wooly buggers and some streamers. Even from shore you can get fish, although casting space can be tough to find. Watch out for the turtles though. I damn near hooked one of them with my kids along a few years ago, and lord knows how exciting getting a p-oed turtle off the hook would have been.