toolman

I love the Cortland site with its "old school" ambiance. These folks are some of the most knowledgeable people in the flyfishing world and the company has been around since 1916. Another of my favorites is the "Red Shed". This shop has character, with one of the friendliest and most knowledgeable owner/operators in the Spey Casting world. His name is Poppy and he works out of his shed/shop. Check it out: http://www.redshedflyshop.com/ Check out the vid link of Poppy talking about his shop, he's the real deal.

What brand/type of spey line are you using for your spey rig? Did you go with a multi tip system?

I own and use a couple of these reels that have a couple of hundred days of use on them without any problems. Very good value for about $60.

grin...You also might want to slow down the casting stroke and let the rod do the work.

I would try a smaller size and/or maybe change the presentation from dead drift to a swing etc. Sometimes a different pattern is needed as well. Also, I sometimes put weight on the leader 10" up from the fly to sink the hopper below the film and then swing it or drift it. Hoppers usually sink when they get blown on to the water.

I'm looking forward to attending your Spey School again, Gordon. I continue to work on developing my casting skills and need you to evalutate my casting stroke. I'm having difficulty casting my XLT long belly line as consistently as I would like. I would suggest that students sign up for the Spey School on this thread. I would also recommend to anyone interested in learning how to spey cast with single or double hand rods, to take the opportunity and sign up for Gordons' School. He will have you throwing single Spey casts a hundred feet or more by the end of the day. It's a lot of fun and you don't even need to own a Spey rod, as there will be plenty to use at the school.

The park closes at 10:00pm. each night, but if you walk in to fish they usually won't give you a problem if you are quiet and respectfull. They are more concerned with teens making fires and partying etc.

I thought they found the second missing rafter from Quebec, a month or so ago.

I have not heard any news yet. I spoke to Birchy Thursday via email and he told me that his doctors were not expecting any issues and predicted a quick recovery. I also sent a pm to Cdock on Saturday, but I'm not sure if he has received it yet, as he has not been on the site this past weekend.

Thanks for posting it Rob, that's a great vid.

Congrats flyangler, that is a reputable rod by St. Croix and I have heard good things about its performance. I would recommend a multi tip line to cover all of the fishing conditions you will encounter. I have not casted this particular rod, so any line recommendations will be based on product name and reputation, rather than first hand casting experience. Also, I would recommend that you ask the folks who sold you the St. Croix, what the grain window is for the rod, so that a balanced line system, that matches the grain load required to cast the rod properly can be deterimined. Most lines in a 7/8wt. should be fine. That said, the CND, GPS multi tip line seems to work for just about everyone and is highly rated. I own and use a few different Airflow Spey lines that all perform well and would recommend them. Silver Doctor owns the Airflow 7/8 Multi tip system and he may be able to comment on his experience casting/fishing with it. Now get that rig lined up with 30 lb. backing, a new line and start swinging. Welcome to the wonderfull world of Spey! You're gonna love it... ps. Are you certain it is a 14' 7/8wt.? I looked at the company's site and St. Croix lists the Legend Ultra 7/8wt. as a 13' rod and the 14' as an 8/9wt. Click on Rod Specifications at the bottom of the page at the St. Croix site link below. http://www.stcroixrods.com/rods/default2.a...amp;section=fly http://cndspeyusa.com/Pages/gpslines.html http://www.flylines.com/Flylines_AirfloFly...ey_MultiTip.cfm

Watch how this prank turns out...WOW! http://www.youtube.com/user/andyme21

The story I have heard is that they were a hybrid of Oregon Steelhead, with Mcleod river Rainbows, from a hatchery in Northern California.

Very nice healthy Cutts...No Bulls interested or did you just fish dry?

My first experience with a fly rod was in 1975 when I was 14. My buddy, borrowed his dad's flyrod and a few drys for us to fish at a small lake for brookies in the evenings. We did not know much about flyfishing but we would row out 30' off shore and cast to the bank where the risers were feeding. We did pretty good that summer, but we mostly used our spin rods. The next time I picked up a fly rod was in 1987 when I started learning to fish for Atlantics. You needed to know how to cast 60' or more, routinely for this type of fishing, so the first couple of years were all about learning to cast, swinging, mending, deep wading and crossing large rivers, reading water and looking for the Salmon. I started fly fishing for trout on the Bow River, four years ago.

5 down and 790 more to go...I would suggest you just multiply the number of members, 795, times, say an average of 3 years expereience for each member and come up with a good guess...say 2385 years of experience. Or are you looking for something to do for the next 6 weeks?

Hi Dick, There are good video's that are available to start learning the basic single hand spey casts. A regular WF line should be fine on the DC rod. For the demo Spey rod, ask to try the TFO Deer Creek 12'6" 5/6wt. They can set it up with an Airflow Delta Spey line and reel. You could contact DanJ (Dan Jackson) for some single hand casting instruction. Also, Speyghille is giving another Spey school in September and it would be a good opportunity to learn on a two hander. Send him a pm if your interested.

Welcome Ben...Photo's are always welcomed here. Thanks for posting.

Sorry if I cut to the bone Rick...grin. Just that I listened to a lot of BS growing up in a region that allowed Pulp and Paper, Mining, Foresty, Hydro, to environmentally destroy a beautifull bay on the Atlantic where I grew up (Bay of Chaleur) and most of the rivers that drained into it. I have heard all the excuses used to justify this for decades. As usual, it was all about meeting shareholder expectations in Norway, LA, Montreal or wherever the new ownership was from. The Yanks were probably the best corporate citizens over the decades, willing to invest in decent wages, pension plans, community centers, hockey rinks etc., but all of them were there for the money, with little concern for the problems they caused. The Europeans, well they preached environmental stewardship on their side of the Atlantic, but did things much differently this side of the water.

How the hell did I get dragged into this discussion...(planet raper) LOL. Here's my take on it... If you run a business exploiting our provinces resources and things go wrong, then you are responsible for your mistake and should be held accountable (economically/criminally). There is no need in this modern world for these catastrophic errors to occur in the first place, but they do because of greed. If I make a little mistake in my small business operation, I will be tarred and feathered by the government. If a big corporation makes a giant mistake, that has a huge impact on our environment, health, wildlife, they are left off the hook with a stern look and a warning. That and every excuse that follows, whether philisophical or economic is just plain old fashion BS....BS boys, that's exactly what it is, even though those fancy Havard guys, sure got nice shovels.

Neil, There are a lot of good angling opportunities in South/Central, AB to explore and the fishing has been sensational this season on most waters. The heat wave has let up temporarily this week with some much needed rain and things are looking good for continued bliss on the rivers. You should spend at least a couple of days on the Bow river if big hard fighting trout are of interest to you. You won't regret it this season. Enjoy your trip. ps. What part of NB are you from? I was b&r in Dalhousie.

Evenings are my favorite and more productive, especailly for big trout.

You were visited by a small black bear. If you look closely you can see claw markings on the edge of the print. Rickr and I saw fresh cougar tracks on the lower Bow this evening where we were fishing. Just a young cat maybe 85lbs.-90lbs. or so.

G.B. Heron for sure.

Bonjour lamponius, Bienvenue au Fly Fish Calgary. Au reponse a tes question, le riviere Bow est tres dificile pour pecher. Je suggere que tu prend un course de fly fishing a un magasin de pecher. Un bon ecole est "McLennan Flyfishing School". Ou tu peux poster dans le fishing "Get togethers", section, a FFC. Mon fils de quatorze ans a fait le translation, parce que je ne suis pas le meilleur au francais. Salute, Greg Allard