toolman

Birchy, a 6wt. rod that is balanced with a 6wt. line, will need at least 30' of the line out of the rod tip, to load the rod properly. Less than 30' of line out of the tip, without the added weight of streamers or a nymph rig, will be more difficult to cast as the rod will not load enough to get a good feel on the cast. High end rods like Sage, T&T, St. Croix etc., usually have wider grain windows than less expensive models, which means they are more responsive and give the angler a better feel when casting with varying amounts of line/weight out of the tip. I would suggest pulling a bit more line out untill the load feels right during the casts, like it did when you were casting a nymph rig. Then fish with this amount of line out for your dry flys. Dry fly success is often highly dependent on casting precision. Good Luck!

Don, Have you ever built or casted a split cane two hander? ps. How's your season going?

I would recommend Fish Creek Park or downstream on the Lower Bow. The city stretch (Mallard point upstream to the WHD wier) has had a very late return of the Rainbows and we're just starting to see them settle in a few summer runs, but not nearly in the numbers that Fish Creek and the lower Bow have of both Browns and Rainbows. The city trout can be a lot harder to fool some days due to the fishing pressure. They have seen every fly you can think of and often will only become active after dark. The Lower Bow is like a different river and offers better fishing, IMO. Good Luck!

I would say that they did mean to kill people, as they could have robbed them easily with just a threat and a show of the knives. Instead, they killed one woman and then continued to rob and stab more victims. These guys were out showing each other how tough they were, kind of an initiation ceremony. Evil, coward, scum bags who deserve the looped end of a short rope...

Thanks for the post & pics esleech. A great day for sure.

LK2, all you need to do is go fishing with it again. Lots of roll casting and single spey casts and it should come apart easily after an hour or two of use.

Ayone know why they are called "wisdom teeth" ? Lets hear your best BS story, as to how they got their name. Here's my take on it... You go to the dentist and he tells you that your wisdom teeth need to come out. You ask why and he says that they are impacted, compacted and coming in crooked, causing un-natural compression in your mouth that could lead to serious problems down the road. Possibly causing infection, inflamation, lengthy treatment with drugs, not to mention the lost time at work. You give him the go ahead and you have them all removed, but you get infection from the surgery, inflamation and go through a lengthy treatment with drugs and end up taking a month off of work before you are back to normal again. In the end, you get four missing teeth that you were born with and a $5,000 bill from your dentist. Then you become wiser... that's why they are called "wisdom teeth".

Welcome weedcatcher...Wetduck and company are great ambassadors to the Bow river. I often used to hear about Calgary and the Bow river flyfisherman bieng snobs and elitist etc., but that is a bunch of BS. I don't know of many flyfishing communities as helpfull and friendly as the one we have here at FFC. This is also true of the folks in the industry at the fly shops and the outfitters etc., in Calgary. I also used to hear alot of comments of how the Bow was polluted and dirty etc. Also a bunch of BS. Glad you found your first Bow river trout. See ya on the Bow...

For the calls that I have made this season, no convictions were made, no officers showed. So I think I will have to say, NO...RAP program is not working at all. Poaching is rampant and unchecked on the Bow river. I have not seen a F&W officer in over two years and I have been out on the river nearly 500 times during this period. If they are trying to be invisible, it's working. Edit... If the RAP program is underfunded, understaffed by a few good people trying their best, which is the case in my view, then the calls we make to RAP reporting violations, may still be of benefit in attaining proper funding and resources to improve the situation in the future. It's obvious that some of us are fustrated by the untimely responses, but we need to continue to provide F&W the information, as we are the eyes and ears they need on the water everyday. So keep calling RAP...It's all we have, so we need to try and make it work.

No...but bring your cell to call RAP. I busted 5 poachers down there in the past week, plus my buddy ran two more off last night. Not many fish left on that stretch, but the war continues.

Matt, the Brown trout have been slammin' the fly so hard on the swing this past week, it is unbeleivable. I had three snap offs on the grab on Sunday night using 10.7 lb nylon tippet/leader. Last night, MissinTheBow had a big brown snap his 10lb. tippet. Try to keep a couple of feet of line hanging out of the reel as a strike loop. When the fish grabs, slowly let go of the line to let the rod load more gradually and to allow the fish to turn back away from you. Don't set the hook on the initial grab as that will likely lead to a break off. Also, a light drag setting is recommended so that the rod does not load fully and instantly, when the trout takes the initial panic run. After the cast, down and across at a 45 degree angle, throw an upstream mend, then follow the fly with your rod tip held low to the water. Keep a tight, straight line, allowing the fly to swing all the way to the shoreline below you and hang for a few seconds on the dangle. Sweep/lift the rod tip towards the shore on the take. Nothing beats the feeling of the grab on the swing. Wham! You should try it in the dark...very intense.

The legal requirement for PFD's, are that it is Dept. of Transportation approved, which will be marked on the vest. Without DOT approval, it is not a legal PFD in Canada. This was the standard for decades and I think it still is.

I posted the second nymph photo, at your request Sarah. I also have photo's of the adult males, but they stay on the shoreline after emergence and the fish rarely see them. If they fall in the water, they quickly skate back to safety. The Skid Bitches skate on the surface when laying eggs, but sometimes the fast current pulls them under the film. They can also skate for very long distances, downstream. Late one evening last week, Hawgstoppah and I watched dozens of them crawl to the water and skate down river through the flats, for as far as we could see. A few were met by hungry trout. These Skid Bitches had allready dropped their eggs and I wondered where they were going.

These are the Stoneflys that have been emerging on the Lower Bow River in big numbers this week, from Calgary to Carseland. This is what your nymphs and drys should look like. It is important to fish Stonefly nymphs with a lot of weight on your rig, which needs to be stalling on every drift. Also, it is a good idea to tie two sizes of nymphs on the rig at the same time, to represent both males and females and to get the extra weight needed. The larger nymph shown in the first photo, a female, is 42mm long, anterior to posterior and the smaller male is 32mm. The first few days of emergence of this species, are mostly the males, then, when the females emerge, the males are waiting at the waters edge. The females are barely out of their casing, before a male is copulating with her. The second photo shows the underside of the nymphs. The third photo shows two females that had just emerged. The fourth and fifth photo show the underside and top view, of a mature Skid Bitch, ready for an egg laying run. Claassenia Sabulosa (Short winged Stoneflys)

Great report. Nasty finger...Ouch! Nice photo's and trout.

I was out on the Bow today and caught over a dozen trout too 24". I did not need a net to quickly land and release any of them. The longest scrap was under two minutes and I even took a couple of photo's of a few trout in the water. All of the trout swam away after only 10- 15 seconds of recovery time. A fair fight is what I like, right to the bank. I win some, I lose some...I'm getting better at it.

Sad to hear this Lornce. That really sucks.

It's pretty early in the season to have a male that far up the river. The big rains you mentioned must have gotten the fish really moving. Good Luck with the rest of the trip and keep us updated with pics.

This fish was landed in 10 min. which is excellent and knowing Brownstone, handled/released by expert hands.

Oh Yeah, that's a sweet looking Hen. I planning on getting back to New Brunswick to fish for Atlantics on the Nipisiquit River, at the end of September. Please notice folks, no net either. That's how it's done proper Brownstone, a fair fight right to the bank. Thanks for the pic. What was the magic fly?

All I can say about the Calgary Fire Dept. and the Water Rescue Team is, "YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST" These folks will risk their life at the drop of a hat, to save your ass! Top of my hero's list! If they need to blast by me with the jetboat, I'll give them a big friendly wave everytime. I hope everyone else will do the same...There are some things in life more important than catching a couple cutts. Greg

Hi Rob, Here are a couple of the important insects that will be emerging on the Bow and in most southern rivers, during the time you will be visiting. Blue winged Olives: http://www.westfly.com/ento/mays/bwo.htm October Caddis: http://www.westfly.com/ento/caddis/october.htm Don't forget wire wrapped SJW's as well, because I know how much you enjoy worming with an indicator. Greg

Awesome story. Any photo's of your trip?

Well, what can I say...the boys got some grit to em eh....grin. I like that. It's unfortuneate things got heated to that degree, but I'm sure everyone learned a thing or two...Good on you for taking responsibility for your role and contacting the RCMP and F&W with the details of the incident. You have your head and heart in the right place. Bottle to the head...LOL

It is a Federal Waterway, as are all rivers in this country. They may own Riperean Rights, but cannot stop passage below the high water mark. IMO, which is by no means expert on the legalities of the subject. Big Congrats to Dank for his first on the fly.