toolman

Welcome Whistler...

Now Gordon, don't book that whole week up in April. We need to go fishin' for a couple of days too. See you at the hangar tommorow afternoon.

CN, There are many reasons why the fish may have been holding tight to the bank and sort of in a state of diapause and I too have seen this many times before. Water temps and sunshine rule a trouts metabolism, as they are cold blooded creatures. You mention the ice slush making fishing difficult for you. The water temps may have dropped quickly and the trout were seeking refuge in a warmer, shallower part of the river. During the colder winter months, when you see them just lying there sort of sleeping, it's usually a symptom of low body temps.

Al, is this an Airflo Delta, multi tip 6/7 or 7/8 ? If so, the tip length is included in the 52'. The tips for the 6/7 are 13' in length and the head is 39', for a total of 52'.

I love my Loop Blue 7116, but I just received my new Loop Blue 8116 and 9140 this evening. I'm itching to start swinging them both tommorow. I'm lining the little stick with an Elixir 380gr. @ 32' and I have a new Loop Quatro Multi Tip 9/10 for the big stick. I won't be able to sleep....

Tis true, the little sticks are temperamental. Forgot about that part The 12'6" -13' range is for sure the most versatile rod length.

Yes of course. We were using Scandinavian shooting heads, which are well suited for fishing in tight. Short heads require a shorter casting stroke/D loop, than long heads, which require a longer casting stroke and larger D loop.

Just realized that you were talking about our last outing Brian. I was talking about the Bulkley when I used my 8130. But yes, the last time we fished the Bow together, we both used 12'6" Spey rods.

That's correct Brian, you were using the 12'6", but we also did a bit of wading to get off the bank a little, so we could cast without getting hung up behind us. The 11'6" is easier if you need to maintain stealth and cast from the bank, within the tree branches, like that steep shoreline we last fished together.

The difference is how tight too the bank you can Spey cast. The 11'6" is great for the tough shorelines we often encounter and is a short enough stick to single hand overhead cast if the need arises. The 12'6" is nice as well and mends a little further, but not much. There is very little difference in casting range between an 8116 or 8126 of the same rod line, a bit, but not much. When fishing from the shoreline, I like the shorter rod. The extra foot of length of the 12'6", seems to put my rod tip and fly line in the trees when I am forming the D loop behind me, much more often than with the 11'6". If you plan on wading often, then the extra length is usefull to maintain casting distance and line control.

Tee, Somethings are a secret...but, I'll tell you this, he went for the worm....at the bottom of the bottle.

Hey Mykiss, good to hear from you again. Good advice about the strip and coil technique to manage the running lines. How's the winter fishing been for you? Any pics to share?

You may be right, Stoneflies do soften up prior to emergence....That might be an appealing feature as well, but they do strike first on visual cues.

It's the law of the underwater jungle at work. Territory's are defended against all alien invaders and a large, strange chunk of lead, spinning and buzzing through a school of fish, is a direct challenge to all, that is often met with an extremely violent reaction. Such a challenge creates tremendous stress for the fish and they react in two distinct ways. One has been described above, the other is that they will leave the immediate area and hide from the threat untill it has passed. The strike against the lure is not always about food, but the protection of territories which have the right living conditions for the fish and the securing the food that is in it. The first strike at an invader is often to stun/injure/kill the threat and then, sometimes a second strike to clean up the whole affair in one big gulp and the threat is gone for good. Fish that strike at floating indicators, likely do so because it is stressing them out and they associate these indicators as a threat. Probably because they had been hooked when one of these things showed up in the recent past. Often they will ignore certain fly patterns, that they have been over exposed too. Fish continually adapt to their environments, minute by minute and it all comes down to survival for them. When fish are feeding, they can become very territorial and aggressive.

An interesting theory that I have heard before, but, Stoneflys have exoskeltons that are fairly hard. So, I think the reason your fly works is because it has key visual features that trout want such as size, proportions, color, texture, profile etc. and a natural swim when it is fished. I had an opportunity to fish these Stones (thnks SJW) a few seasons ago and they do work well.

I caught him one time...I let him go though. Course, I did'nt have my camera with me, but yeah, I know him.

A little tying inspiration....Midge Larva from the Bow, in May.

Have a good one Max!

I went back to that same spot a couple times, to see if my Lucky Indy was gonna work it's charm again, but I did'nt catch another fish. I even tried getting one of the Ducks to eat it again, but no way, was'nt going to happen. Then I figured, maybe one of the geese might eat it, so I wandered off in search of a hungry goose. Did'nt take long to find a big Gander bobbin' along the tall grassy bank, so I stopped and threw my Lucky Indicator in the water, upstream of the Goose and watched it lazily flow along the bank, downstream to the target. The goose stops feeding as the Indi nears and I can't believe I'm doing this. The goose lowers his head and starts billing the water as the Fish Pimp approaches and is now only a foot away when suddenly, the big Broonie breaks the water and in a savage strike, that terrifies the goose, grabs the indie and turns back down.... to be continued....

One day, I was out fishing on the Bow and using a large Fish Pimp indicator in some slow, flat water. I was yarding out casts too 70'-80', but the high line speed and torque of the Spey casts, sent the Fish Pimp flying off the Fluro leader. I figured it would eventually drift back into shore and I would grab it before I left. A few minutes later, a duck swims over and eats my Fish Pimp! A couple of days later, I'm back at the same spot and find my indicator on the shoreline in a pile of you know what. I figured that was one Lucky Duck, so it became my new Lucky Indicator. I slipped it back on and slammed a two foot Broonie, the very next cast! And the moral of the story is... Who gives a Duck!

And you identified the line hanging from the passing Duck, as Fluro carbon?

A beauty tie. Here's a couple of Caddis larva from the Bow river in May.

The Loop Blue 8116, that Max has mentioned, is a very sweet rod for the uses you describe, Russ. The Loop Blueline series and in fact most of the Loop color series, has been renamed this year and there are only a few of these Blue 8116's left available in Canada. I have been using the Blue 7116 and I am picking up the 8116 very soon, as well. These 11'6" fast action rods, work very well with Scandianavian Shooting line systems and its moderate length allows you to cast tight up against the banks, without having the rod tip in the branches each cast. It is very capable of rocking a 90' footer out to the sweet spot. Your Islander 10wt. is a perfect match for the rod you seek and the fish you want to catch. The Beulahs speys, are very nice rods as well, but I have'nt cast the 12'6" 7/8. Look for a fast action rod, 11'6" too 12'6", in a 7/8 wt., as these rods/line systems allow you to work from the shorelines and in tight quarters most effectively, yet still give you big casts with a small casting stroke. If possible, come out for a couple of hours and cast a few Spey rods with Max and I on the weekend.

I know what you mean about sharp rocks being a problem, Islandguy. Each year during the spring ice out on the Bow river, many sections of the river get scoured heavily by the thick ice flowing downstream. It breaks and lifts the shale on the stream bottom, which creates a lot of sharp edges that will snag and slice any tippet that touches it. Tough to fish in this water when the fish are hugging the rocks, which they often still are, in late March. The sharp edges generally start to erode and silt in, during the high water run off period that follows in June. So, it's somewhat of a seasonal problem. ps. I have heard good things about Seagar FC and the Snowbee Magic line, but have not had an opportunity to try them yet.