Vagabond

19 lbs....pffft,I've seen plenty of 20+ lbers from Bay of Fundy/Gulf of Maine,biggest we guesstimated at 35ish?

Found myself rooting for SWE to score just one in 3rd,if only so Sid could lay claim to back to back gold medal game winners,haha.

Far be it for me to be giving any kind of 2H casting advice,but Airflo's line chart reccomends a 450gr Compact Skagit for that particular rod.Again,I am far from being any kind of authority,being somewhat of a Spey newb myself,,jest sayin?? Assuming you are in/near CGY,if I'm not mistaken FishTales offers a "loaner line" program wherein you can try out a few different lines with a deposit for the day to dial in your rod?Personally speaking,I've yet to take advantage of this,mainly because I don't feel I have enough 2H experience yet to make an educated choice,but it is an option that's available to you.That,and I'm already running Airflo's chart reccomended line on my rig and assume the chart was compiled by those with far more knowledge and experience than myself,lol. Airflo chart: http://www.rajeffsports.com/spey_chart.pdf

I'm not "afraid" of cold neither,but slushy river,iced up guides,cold feet,numb fingers aren't what I consider an enjoyable day on the river.Looks like coyote huntn weather this week,I need +3C and sunny to get inspired for winter fishn.

Nice stretches of Bow right there/walking distance from Douglasdale.unfortunately the weather doesn't look very co-operative next week,back to winter temps,and this my week off also.

X2,been using PB for years.One issue I do have with PB however if you do not logout after posting a pic to a website/forum etc.,sometimes others can tap or click on your photo,and access your entire PB library.

Great,just what I need,yet another Safety Sally course.

I'd agree with George,I don't beleive jets contribute significantly at all to erosion on Bow or any other river for that matter.I would think erosion from boat wakes is more of a lake/stillwater issue? Aside from that,most of the Bow for most of the year the water level is below any soil that might erode and contained within the riverbed/beach rocks. ....and no,I don't own a jet neither,and I still don't think motors in the city is a good idea only because I think it would be a gong show.

As the title says,1st "I'll take it" can have it.

Why all the hassle with brokerage,customs and all that BS?? I ordered a clearance Sage FLi from Red Truck in CA a few years ago and picked it up at PO maybe a week later?30ish bucks shipping iirc?No hassle/no duty....easy peasy and almost half price what my local Sage dealer wanted(told me he would get full retail regardless for discontinued rod/told him to pound sand)

Actually met a fella camping on the Bulkley last fall that uses a PWC to scoot up and down the river.Seemed like a pretty cool idea really?Got me thinkn for Bow $2-3K for old SeaDoo is a lot cheaper then a jet powered drifter,just not very drift friendly?

Speaking of Fish Creek Park,if the city were to repeal the no motor by-law,could not the province just simply say no motors within Fish Creek Provincial Park?Kinda makes the city by-law moot,no?

Well that settles it,if CFD can run THREE rescue boats on the Bow,it only makes sense that any and all that can afford a snowmobile should be able to deek boulders with PWCs at 55mph all summer long....with PLPD insurance of course,no insurance would be just stupid.

Well ya don't see many party rafters or bikinis(unfortunately) below 22x neither,but if you open the city to motors,the potential for a significant increase in boat traffic exists. I just think it's fine the way it is,although I would love to be able to launch from 22 and motor back up at end of day,I'm willing to sacrifice that convenience rather then turn the "relatively quiet" city stretch into a drunken aquatic racetrack for PWCs. One compromise that "might" work would be to have a max HP restriction in the city,for instance 9.9hp for prop engines....but admittedly I don't know enuf about jet outboards or PWCs to even begin to suggest what might be a reasonable max HP for them?

Haha....surplus of people aside,that is in fact the reason I agree with the motor ban within the city.Given the population of CGY being what it is,allowing motorcraft imho would create an absolute gong show,because it's not just anglers that would take advantage of the recreation opportunity,you're opening the city to jet skis/PWCs,water skiers,sports boats,and on and on.....aside from being simply annoying,there is a very real potential for the Bow to become a downright dangerous place to wade or float with every yahoo in CGY with a lil expendable income ripping up and down the river all summer long.I see plenty enuf bitchn here over quadders,dirt bikers,and even jet drifters below Police "ruining" angler's peace and solitude....I don't think speed boats in the city is a can'o worms anybody needs to be opening.

Against the popular consensus,personally speaking,I found Scandi the easier of the two styles when I made the 2-hander leap. I bought a pre-owned Beulah 6/7 outfit 2yrs ago complete with both Scandi and Skagit lines.The Scandi was the first that I tried and found it an easy transition from 25yrs SH casting.By the end of the first 8hr self taught day on Bow,I was matching and/or exceeding the distance I've ever achieved with an 8wt SH rod,and while I'm far from being the greatest distance caster on the river,on a good mojo day I can cast a SH 8wt pretty much to the backing.(90-100'?)I was having so much fun driving long bombs with the Scandi that it was probly a few months before I even spooled on the Skagit and had to learn completely different mechanics.

I've yet to catch a single mythical RMW in almost 3years and 300+/- angling days on Bow and a cpl dozen other ES streams since moving to AB .....I'll likely photograph a samsquanch before I ever catch a bottom dweller whitey,being as I rarely ever nymph?

This^^I work all over west-central/NW AB....it is Telus land. I dropped Bell 2.5 years ago and never looked back after my first 3weeks working in the patch earned me an $800+ phone bill!! I was getting nailed with roaming plus long distance charges every time I called co-workers that were in a vehicle 50ft away from me.....grrrrrrrrrrr!!! With Telus I have no roaming charges ever,unlimited Canada-wide LD,1200 daytime minutes,unlimited evening/weekends,unlimited text(I think?) and 3gigs data/mth(I normally use around 1G/mth) for $80/mth.Also had unlimited USA LD for an extra $5/mth when the GF was in TX for a few months.....dropped that(and her lol)recently as I rarely ever call USA for anything.

Curious as to how many non-native landowners along SE Stony Trail were offered 5x land swap PLUS 5x market value when their land was expropriated?

So will this deal make TT Nation the wealthiest reserve in Canada?? In exchange for "swapping" just over 1000 acres,in return they get 5300+ acres,+$275M cash,+ another $65M for relocation of a few buildings,plus construction/gravel contracts. Sounds like a fair trade to me . Wow,they've come a long way from trading beaver pelts for beads,yes?

Nonsense....gimme a 22' square stern canoe and a short shaft 7.5 and I'll show ya Police to Glenmore no problem.

I wear 11-12 footwear depending on brand,sz12 Simms is very good fit over neo wader bootys.Also quite impressed with how easily they slip on/slip off,the tongue opens up nice and wide so your not struggling in/out of them like I have in the past with other brands.

Freestones are well named. My first day wearing them in Jumping Pound 14 mths ago I was really Impressed,crossing heavy "freestone" water running hard in June up to my thighs with more confidence than ever before(Vibram sole),I was anchored to streambed,no worries........got 50-60 days on them since then,just like new....solid boot,really grabs the gravel good.

I won't dispute the effects of clearcutting,I've seen how it dramatically alters salmon and trout watersheds back east far too many times,but this flood was a significant and historical weather event of near biblical proportions,a freak "perfect storm" if you will where 20' of snow cover and 200mm+ of rain came down the hills in 72hrs.......I don't think you can blame logging.

Agreed.I'm using a 6/7 Beulah but it's the only DH I own.Great for huckn Dungeons,dumbells,coneheads and stuff halfway across the river,but its overkill for any trout that swims the Bow IMHO.