BurningChrome

Post up on the fishing get togethers and see if someone more experienced will fish with you and give you some pointers. I used to fish a lot with this guy named Max and he had lots of tips and tricks for the Bow.

Are you looking at a switch to spey cast it or overhead cast? I've had a few switch rods ranging from mediocre to great (Method 6119 is my current favourite) and I'd never use any of them overhead unless I was surf casting. I also have a 9' 8wt rod with a 5wt Rio Scandi Short on it. Works great for single hand spey casts so that could be another option to throw in the mix.

This. You can be in the perfect stretch of water, but unless you're putting your fly where the fish are most likely to be you won't catch many. Head to a fly shop and see if they have a copy of Prospecting for Trout by Tom Rosenbauer.

I actually randomly found those along the Bow while walking my dog one day and had to take a pic of them. That's Edworthy park in the background on the left.

How about this one? Might look familiar...

Thought I'd drop some of these here. I mostly do landscapes and fish alone, so no fish pics. This is a view of the Elbow in Kananaskis. Pretty amazing how much damage that one little river caused. And a couple of fishing-related pics.

Do you mean the Switch Chucker or the Skagit Max Short? I have both for a Method 6119 and what it comes down to is there are fewer grain weights to choose from on the Switch Chucker. I've got the 420gr Chucker but I prefer the 400gr Max Short on the rod. It's not that there's anything wrong with the Chucker, it's just that it's a little heavier and longer than what I prefer on that rod.

https://umpqua.com/products/accessories/boxes/myran-box I've had mine for around 20 years. Metal pins in the hinges make the difference.

Yup, totally agree with you 100%. Move designated trails to rocky areas that are sustainable. Want to keep a trail that crosses a bull trout or cutt stream? Build a bridge over it. We've offered to build our own bridges over stream crossings but ESRD won't let us for legal reasons - it's considered a "gift" and they aren't allowed to accept it. Yes, that's how our wonderful provincial government works. They won't build a bridge themselves because they don't have the money to do it and won't implement a trail user fee system (like fishing/hunting licenses) to pay for improvements and enforcement.

We're in complete agreement on this. My point was that this is not a black and white issue as some people try to paint it with very broad strokes. In my time on the trails I've seen idiots on all sorts of motorized vehicles, and I've also seen fly fishermen casting over redds (go down to the ball diamonds in Douglasdale in the fall) or fishing barbed hooks. I won't even get into what we've all seen in some "hero" pics on this forum and others. There are bad apples in every bunch, but the thing is you don't see the responsible trail users because they're on the designated trails and not leaving a path of destruction in their wake. Just go to http://trails4tomorrow.ca and look at the 5Es to see what our group is after. And in the interest of full disclosure - I do not own a quad, nor have I ever ridden on one.

I've seen irresponsible fishermen poaching. Not sure the poachers can be separated out from the respectful fishermen in this circumstance unfortunately... (see what I did there?) Nothing wrong with regulating where people can and can't go quadding, just the same as there are regulations as to when and where you can fish. However, if you seek outright bans you will only affect the responsible quadders as the irresponsible ones will find ways to "make their own trails" and they will probably do it even deeper into the back country to decrease their chances of getting caught.

Just saw this posted to Facebook from AESRD: http://esrd.alberta.ca/focus/esrd-2013-flood-recovery-programs/documents/GhostLakeOpenHouse-Jun12-2014.pdf There's no info at all that I can find, but anything that changes at the Ghost dam will likely also have downstream impacts on the Bow.

Do you have to take a trail in 4wd to get there? I know I've seen Tiana and RickR mention it on Facebook but that's the extent of my knowledge. If it's just off gravel roads I think an AT tire would be overkill for you. Is it more traction or a better ride you're looking for on the 40 or something? Another option would be to buy 15" wheels and put a 225/65/15 tire on. They're roughly the same size and might open up your options, though having to buy wheels would make it a little more expensive. What kind of roads are you driving to the fishing spots? If it's just off the 40 you should be ok with most tires. I wouldn't go with bigger tires unless you're ready to cut, heat gun, and hammer stuff in your wheel wells. You'd probably also have to do a body mount chop to avoid rubbing at full lock if you go up to something like a 285/70/17. Unless you do a suspension lift you'll probably also rub your fender liners when you hit bumps at higher speeds. If you guys want some better traction and a smoother ride on gravel roads like the 40, just let some air out of your tires. Don't go below 25 psi and don't drive above 70 km/h if you do this though. You'll also want to buy a reliable compressor to get back up to your stock psi before you hit blacktop again though.

Hi Peter, I'm not sure how you feel that we're the minority and that the majority are complacent and disrespectful. Our group actually represents somewhere in the neighbourhood of 1000 4x4 drivers from southern Alberta. Whenever we see guys on the trail who are bogging, driving through closed/sensitive areas, or driving through rivers we stop and let them know what they're doing is illegal and why. Some didn't know any better and to be honest, others knew and didn't care. That's why our plan includes enforcement and education. We are engaging with the irresponsible and/or uninformed off road enthusiasts, but we also want to let other backcountry users know that we are on the same side. Most of us bought our trucks to get us to other self-propelled activities like fishing, backcountry skiing, mountain biking, climbing, and camping. Because of that, we also have an interest in keeping the backcountry clean and beautiful. Some of our members already engaged members of the local climbing communities and I felt it would be a good thing to reach out to the fly fishing community. We're all backcountry users so let's work together to improve things so we can all enjoy it legally and respectfully in our own ways without stepping on each other. Like I said, I'll be at the expo on Saturday if anyone wants to discuss this face to face or you're welcome to attend one of our meetings as some of the climbers did. Send me a pm and we can arrange something.

That's equivalent to someone seeing a few fishermen on closed water or keeping fish over their limit and saying that responsible fishermen are a minority. The reason you don't encounter us is that we are all off roading where it's permitted and not blasting all around hell's half acre. What we're hoping to do with our input to the SSRP is to convert others into responsible off roaders through education and funding better enforcement for those who refuse. User fees along those lines are exactly what we're pushing for along with courses. A guy going out and buying a quad then just heading out there is similar to someone buying a rod and reel at Canadian Tire along with a container of worms then heading down to Fish Creek Park. How many times have we as fly fishers wished that there was some education component to prevent this sort of thing? Agree with this 100%. There are already some restrictions in place, for example there are trails in Waiparous that are closed in the fall because of Bull Trout spawning streams in the area and McLean Creek is closed from Dec. 1 to May 1. The group I belong to pretty much does not go on the trails in May and June because they're too saturated. Knowledgeable off roaders know that mud and water cause tons of damage to vehicles therefore avoid them whenever possible without going off the designated trail. They are well funded because Suzuki, Yamaha, etc. give them money. Without trails to ride on those companies stand to lose money. What we all need is positive, well-managed change. Outright bans don't work as we've already seen with so many other things in the past. We need to stop people from riding illegally by giving them more appealing legal alternatives. We hope that those who fill out the workbooks will realize this is the better way. Just look at places like Moab, the Rubicon, and even the snowmobile trails in Ontario. That's the sort of thing we need here. The people I've spoken to at ESRD and the Land Use Secretariat have agreed that this would be a good idea. Sadly I think this is the new attitude about a lot of things in Alberta. Not saying it's right, but it isn't just quad riders. I agree a lot of trails should be reclaimed and hopefully the reclaimed trails will be replaced by better trails designed with sustainability in mind - rocky trails rather than dirt trails that turn into mud bogs every year. The problem is that right now the "designated" trails are what's called an "existing linear disturbance" ie. roads that were put in by logging and O&G then decommissioned. Those weren't designed with any sustainability in mind and often run through or near sensitive land. That's all that we're allowed to use under the current access management plans and they don't have the ability to open any new trails, only close existing ones. Thanks! Hopefully we can help dispel some of the stereotypes people have and get some fly fishers to come out the next time we're building a bridge to help protect the cutts and bulls. The creek we're working on is also part of the stewardship program for brookie bonking.

The deadline for the workbooks was actually extended to February 28th. https://www.landuse.alberta.ca/Pages/default.aspx

The off road lobby are actually the people you want to work with, not against. What we're lobbying for is responsible trail use in designated areas. If the SSRP bans all motorized off road use the guys that are out there doing illegal things aren't going to change their behaviour. I'm not an ATV rider or dirt biker, but I do have a 4x4 that I originally bought as a fishing vehicle that I also take off road. I'm not a mud bogger, I don't drive up and down rivers, and neither do other responsible off roaders. I subscribe to Tread Lightly! principles and pick up garbage on the trail when I'm out and leave nothing of my own behind. I'm part of a group of off roaders trying to get some feedback into the SSRP so that all off roaders can enjoy the backcountry responsibly by having to pay for courses and tags with the money going into a DAO (like fishing licenses do) that will fund better enforcement. We are already working with groups like the Ghost Watershed Alliance Society to build bridges over cutthroat creeks in Waiparous so nobody drives through them. Here's a high level of the 5 E's approach we're proposing: Experience – Master trail planning that incorporates ecological, social and trail sustainability while providing the Experience Albertan’s desire. Engineering – Budget and Implementation capability to create sustainable trails, not just re-use unsustainable existing linear disturbances. Education – Ensure users know what to expect, what to do, and their responsibilities on the trails. Enforcement – Use enforcement to ensure user compliance with the plan. Evaluation – Continuously improve the plan. I'm both a fly fisher and an off roader and I don't think the two things have to be at odds. Some people on this site like maxwell, rickr, jdangler, bhurt, dhurst, bcube, harps, and all the staff at Fish Tales know me (but maybe not this username) and most have fished with me and know I'm passionate about the future of our fisheries. Internet forums don't lend themselves to rational discussions (just go look at some of the locked threads around here) but I'll be at the Fly Fishing Expo on Saturday if anyone wants more info or to discuss this in person. Shoot me a pm and we can arrange to meet up at the show.