BurningChrome

Years ago I took a course with Jim McLennan called Listening to the Bow. Really helpful course and would likely cover everything you're looking for.

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/discovering-didymo-distribution-tickets-25775442041?aff=erellivmlt#tickets

Looking at that group's Facebook page their membership seems to be primarily made up of commercial users or groups. Seems like the conversation will be heavily skewed in their favour. I'd hate to see us get to a place where you need to be a member of some group just to get your voice heard or get access to a launch after they gate and lock them all.

Guessing this means guides, rafting companies, etc. but what about public consultations? We have as much right to access as they do and it would be unfortunate if they dictate the conversation for the rest of us.

I'm the opposite. Having used the Ekich I won't go back to the Norvise ones. I hated having to spool the Norvise ones, label them, etc. and I also find the Ekich is more ergonomic in my hand. The only thing you have to remember to do with the Ekich is between flies move the spool off the peg so the spring can reload.

I'm just waiting for the day someone gets to Mac and can't take out or put in because there's no room. Maybe this highlights the need for some sort of public "beach" on the river separate from the launch.

You can find some pretty decent used spey rods out there. It can be tough to try them before you buy so lots of guys sell lightly used rods that they discover they don't really like after a few months.

But why use your own money when you can use other peoples' money with zero risk?

Selling fishing licenses, not copies of the regs...

There are bridges over Quirk on all the designated trails so anyone with wheels in water out there deserves a hefty fine. There was one bridge over it that got wiped out in 2013, but hopefully it was replaced last year through BTFR. I couldn't say for sure though since I haven't been to McLean in a couple years now.

Yes, and from what I've heard fewer shops are selling them since more people are buying online. You can always download the PDF and keep it on your phone: http://albertaregulations.ca/2016-Alberta-Fishing-Regs.pdf

I'm not a biologist but I'd guess that the water temps are probably higher along the downtown stretch and that promotes the didymo growth.

That also seemed like an overly-complicated cast to accomplish something quite simple.

Seems like this is something that Fish & Wildlife or whoever prints the regs should know about. I'm pretty sure that when I walk into any fly shop that sells licenses I can grab a copy of the regs even if I purchased my license online.

Same as any streamer I'd use with a single hand rod - clousers, leeches, sculpins... If you're asking which rate sink tip on a skagit, I mainly use a Rio type 3 and adjust my depth by changing casting angle, mending, and walking it down.

My advice to you is to learn to spey cast (taking lessons from a qualified instructor is the best way to do this) and pick up a short spey or switch rod. They're tons of fun for swinging streamers in the fall when the wind is howling. Once you have a handle on spey casting with a two-handed rod, you can start to apply the casts to a single-hand rod. It's just one more tool in the arsenal and you can even use spey casts with your single hander for small dries when you don't have room to back cast. And eventually when you decide to chase anadromous fish you'll be ready to go... Most importantly, remember that spey casting is not so much about distance, but about efficiency and keeping the fly in the water. When you're casting a big streamer on a single hander you usually have to make a few false casts and some double hauls to get it out there. Not so with a spey cast, so you're expending less effort on your casts and keeping the fly fishing longer. But, also remember that even though you can bomb line out there, there can still be fish next to the bank so make sure to flip your streamer in close before stepping into the water.

Fish usually aren't so far out that I feel I need that kind of distance when nymphing. The good guides out there are usually getting their clients to cast back towards the bank, not to the middle of the river. I just find that for nymphing a single-handed rod gives me more versatility since I can easily switch up to a dry fly if fish start rising with a quick leader change. You can swing stones and caddis with a switch, but good luck if they're taking anything dead drifted.

I have a Method switch but ever since I put an OPST Commando head on my 9'6" Radian I've been using that on the Bow instead.

For the line, take a look at the Rio Switch Chucker. It's like a skagit head only it has an integrated running line so you can mend it. Just throw on a sink tip of your choice when you want to swing streamers. The thing to keep in mind is that you might get extra distance out of your cast, but when that indicator moves will you have time to pick up all that line that's on the water and set the hook before the fish spits your fly? For the rod it's such a personal choice that I would take a lesson first then show up to one of the spey-o-rama days to try different ones and decide from there. Everyone will suggest a rod that works for them, but it might not work for you.

Good point. When someone is caught poaching they don't have to determine the effects of someone fishing closed water, keeping more than the limit, or keeping a fish over/under the size limit. All the officer has to do is say you were doing something you weren't supposed to and issue a summons.

Upgrades are always buggy compared to fresh install. Always find it funny that all the Apple folks have to chime in whenever Windows is mentioned. Apple used to be good when they were a computer company but not so much now that they make fashion accessories

Definitely not. Look, I think Kevin does some good work and brings some issues to light that would otherwise go unnoticed. I also know that he is an ATV rider but wants to see irresponsible use stop and for that I applaud him. BUT, the point you made before about talk and no action I think can also be applied to the Crowsnest Journal page. If you look at the post that I suspect spawned the letter that started this thread, it's nothing but back and forth circular arguments that I doubt have swayed anyone's opinions and instead have further polarized (or pulverized to borrow from Hank Patterson) them. This is where I think the OWC project is superior because they're actually getting people to go out and interact with other backcountry users in more meaningful ways. I know from experience out on the trails that when we saw a couple of side-by-sides driving up and down the Elbow just above the falls and one of our group yelled at them, they just flipped us the bird in response. When we saw others driving through Meadow creek even though there was a bridge right there and talked to them reasonably it resulted in a discussion about fish and how silt can smother eggs and all that. I'm pretty sure in the first instance the interaction didn't cause those users to change their behaviour at all, but in the second instance there's a much higher chance - though not a guarantee - that they did.

Yeah I think it's still fairly new and small so it would be nice to see the program expand and more groups in other watersheds adopt it. I already know that the head of the Ghost Watershed Alliance has seen the article and I'd love to see them and Elbow River Watershed Partnership explore something similar for Waiparous and McLean since those are two other heavily trafficked offroad areas.

I don't think the OHV community is angry with him, I think that some of the irresponsible OHV users are angry with him. Lumping those folks in with all OHV users is equivalent to lumping poachers in with the fishing community as a whole. The advocates for responsible OHV use have been asking the province to implement user fees that would go back into education, enforcement, sustainable trails, bridges, etc. for a number of years but the province (both the previous political party and the current one) have ignored this. The current access management plan only allows for the use of existing linear disturbances (ie. decommissioned logging and mining roads and seismic lines) regardless of how poorly planned they are/were with no allowance for the creation of new trails. The access management plan needs to be changed to allow AEP to create new trails that are sustainable and in less sensitive areas - if you build it, they will come. Where the OHV community gets worried is that the access management plan only allows AEP to say that a trail is open or closed - it is purely binary. They are worried that trails will simply be closed with no new trails to take their place. If you push people into a corner they tend to get very defensive or go on the offensive. A Facebook page, internet forum, etc. are terrible places to have valuable discussion because people become keyboard commandos (aka internet tough guys) and often say things they'd never say to someone's face (this goes for both sides of a debate). Again, when people see nothing but one article after another about how they are the most terrible people in the world even the responsible ones will start to feel backed into a corner and lash out. I would say that what the Oldman Watershed Council has been doing is the best approach I've seen to date: http://oldmanwatershed.ca/blog-posts/2016/5/25/may-long-weekend-outreach-activities Talk to people like they're fellow human beings and bring them around to your point of view. Stop polarizing people on both sides of the issue as this will help no one (see current US election news for an excellent example of the ill effects of polarizing issues). Often (no, not always) when you talk to people in person (not on the interwebs) in a reasonable way you will realize that they too are reasonable.

Whose twitter feed? Do you by any chance have a link to the website it's posted on? Edit: Never mind, found it. http://aep.alberta.ca/about-us/public-engagement/events-and-info-sessions.aspx