fishpro

Thank you for your input on both the rods and reels. In terms of the rods, I was looking at going heavier in order to cast large flies long distances. Do you think there would be much of a difference between the 8 and 10 for this? I am planning to fish for pike quite a bit next summer, including a trip up north, so I would like something suitable for large pike.

Hey all, I'm looking to pick up a new pike set-up and have essentially decided on which rod I want, probably the Redington Predator 10wt, or perhaps the Ross Flystik. I'm now looking for a reel to pick up. I really like the Sage 3800 CF series, does anyone have any other recommendations? I know pike don't take long runs, but they're powerful so a good drag is definitely necessary. I'm looking in the $250-$300 range, what does everyone here use for pike? Are there any lower priced reels that people think are solidly built and will hold up to numerous large pike?

That's what I was interested in. It seemed to me that perhaps people were singling out this site and not considering other potential causes for increased pressure. I wasn't looking to start a fight in any way. Thank you for clarifying.

How about other forums? How about all the magazines talking about the Bow River and promoting it throughout North America? Why do you think it's just this forum? And how do you know, you've only been registered here for two months.

I've personally seen a picture of a 34 inch brown out of the bow. I didn't see the tape measure, but this fish was huge, definitely over 30.

Try Maxima fluorocarbon, it's incredibly strong and I've never had any issues with it. Get the 200 yard spool and it's way better priced per yard than any of the high end tippet spools.

By far the fattest rainbow I've ever caught

Anyone have any suggestions on a good line for my 5wt Loop AEG rod? I'm currently just using a Rio mainstream on it and sometimes it's good, but other times it's difficult to cast into the wind. What are you all using?

For most of the day I was getting the most hits on a fly, white woolly bugger was all I tried and I managed to have a few come after it. I set up with a floating line since I started fishing some fairly shallow water. Later in the day I was fishing some really deep water, I'd guess 20'-50' depending on the spot, so I just used a heavy spoon there, which is where I caught 4 of the 5 fish. Overall I think about 2/3 of the fish I moved were with the spoon, most of which were in the last hour and a half. Funny story though, I was walking along a trail to go back and fish where I started when I thought a small deep bay looked promising. The trail was on a steep scree slope about 30 feet above the water, but I decided to take a cast with the spoon. Turns out this was the cast where I hooked into the second brookie, so I had to navigate my way down the slope as quick as possible and still play the fish in. After releasing the fish I managed to get the next three without even moving from that spot.

So last week I hiked into a lake for a day after hearing rumours of big brookies and splake. I had been once earlier this year and didn't catch any, but decided to go again and give it a shot. This time it paid off. Since it was a fairly large lake I decided to start with the spinning gear to search for the fish then put a streamer on once I knew there were fish in the area. Right away I had a couple nice fish follow, so I tried rigging up the fly rod to see if they'd be more likely to take. On the third cast I managed to hook and land about a 16 inch brook trout. I had a few more hits as the day went on, but wasn't able to hook anything for a while. As I worked my way around the lake I found a deep spot and the fish were concentrated here and very aggresive. In the next 15 minutes I managed to land 4 nice fish. The first was a brookie around 13-14 inches, followed by a fish about 18 inches long. As I brought it in it looked like a brookie, but didn't look as much like one once I got it in. I think it may have been a splake, although the pink spots (not too visible in photo) made me wonder if it was a dolly varden. Anyone here know much about the history of fish stocking in Banff Park? Next I caught 2 lakers around 19-20 inches. I lost a couple more after this, but didn't manage to hook into anymore. The Brookie The Splake? One of the Lakers

Took the hike into Barnaby yesterday hoping to catch my first Golden Trout and I wasn't disappointed. I had about a 50lb pack on and the hike took 3 hours. It definitely wasn't an easy hike, but I wouldn't consider it a brutal hike that would kill you either. Let's just say it was difficult enough to make it rewarding when I finally got to land a few of these incredible fish. A view of the trail: A few Goldens: My grandfather had the expression "something's always going to go wrong" when it came to fishing trips. This trip was no exception - a squirrel found my hiking boots and decided to eat away at the laces. Here's what I wore to get back down the trail:

That would be a Rainbow Trout. There are a lot of rainbows in BC that get heavy parr marks and often resemble Golden Trout. I found a stream with them in it and I swore they were Goldens, but had it confirmed later that they were rainbows. Either way they're really nice fish.

Hey thanks so much for the offer, but I actually have a similar device made by ACR. It doesn't have the "I'm OK" feature, but it's a very good emergency beacon.

What does everyone think about hiking into a lake and staying for a few days on their own? I've spent lots of time alone in the woods fishing and once in a rustic campground, is it a bad idea to go on your own? Has anyone here done it? I'm thinking of going in for Golden Trout for a few days and was thinking of going alone if I can't find anyone to go with.

Heard from a couple people who had fished it once or twice before haha definitely a nice little stream! I'm using the Sage line made for it - defnitely takes some getting used to with such a light line but it's nice to cast.

Drove out to a small creek yesterday to try some new water after hearing good things about it. I got set up and hit the water around 12:15. In no time I was into a few cutts, including a few around 12-13 inches that were still fairly skinny. After about an hour the weather started to turn as clouds came in and eventually there was some thunder overheard. Caught a few more then had to go into the trees and wait out the storm. It started to clear, so I began fishing again, then on my way upstream I saw this: From what I researched, that is an extremely large cougar track, so needless to say I was a little nervous continuing. I fish for a while longer, pulled two 12 inch cutts out of a hole when the sun came out for 5 minutes, but other than that the fishing remained quite slow. Around 3:45 I decided to get up to higher ground and head back (bad weather, slow fishing, and the threat of a cougar all helped me decide this). By the time I got back to where I started the weather had gotten slightly nicer so I hit the creek once more and went downstream from where I started. Found a nice pool and worked it thoroughly, and after a few casts saw my dry go down near the end of drift. Assuming it was drowned I went to recast again and felt weight on the end from a fish on the dropper, which got off after a couple seconds. Next cast, same place, dry goes down and I set the hook into a beautiful cutthroat. After a short fight on my new Sage TXL 000wt I had it in the net, largest fish of the day. The pool: The fish: All fish were taken on either a size 14 yellow humpy or a size 16 BH pheasant tail.

That would be nice, just watch out for when a computer doesn't log you in. The longer you've gone without using it the harder it will be to remember. Your plan could totally come back and kick you in the ass!

Just the small grey ones for dumbbells.

Anyone know of a good place to get metal plate weights for adjustable barbels at a good price. The best I've found is Go Mango Fitness Equipment which sells them at a rate of 89cents/lb. Has anyone seen them cheaper?

It will likely take some time to train him not to run into the holes you are fishing. I had a husky for years and nothing got her more excited than saying "let's go fishing!". Your dog will want to run through the woods and explore, just make sure he knows when to come back to you. It would be great for him, he will tire himself out with a day in the woods for sure.

Well they do have a full warranty service which would cover it. I'm thinking you may want to have someone fix it (if possible) simply for the fact that through the warranty service they would most likely just send you a new rod which is normally good, but I'm guessing you would want to keep the original rod for sentimental purposes.

I've heard that bear bells are less effective than they used to be since bears have learned that they signify people and hence food nearby, so they can actually attract the bears to you.

I bought a pack of five for a fishing trip up to northern Alberta. I used one each day and can say I was quite impressed. I did have a couple land on me, but I did come home with about half a dozen bites on my head and neck. I will definitely continue to use them.

Have fun in the chocolate milk! I'm gonna be 300km north of Fort Mac on a fly in trip for pike!

I have duct tape and crazy glue, plus a backcountry spot to exchange!