Vagabond

Yikes!! For near 7 browns,I hope all that extra shiite includes 3x9 variable zoom and range compensating reticle,lol.

That is cool,love the compactness....dammit,I just bought another new net a few weeks ago or I'd be all over that.

Couple young lads I know back east(my buddy's kids actually) did just that a few years back. Turns out they come to find out that there's actually a worldwide "Moose Riding Club" on the internet....kind of an unofficial Mile High Club-ish kinda thing?

WOW!Very kind offer,thanks! Walker1....$680??!!! WTF?? That must be typo,yes??

Yea that's them,Franklins,thx!I guess it's my east coast roots,but when I hear the word "gulls" I think of goose-size herring gull dump ducks eating McDs French fries or hundreds of them chasing a lobster boat and shitn on my head......Franklins are nice and well behaved by comparison....I'm still gonna call them terns,just becuz.

What is the proper name of these tern-like(?) flocks of birds that pick off caddis all day long? Are they a species of gull or tern....I've heard them called both??

Thanks scel....I've actually done ALOT more reading of reviews since previous post,and they tend to concur with your experience.Amber may be best for "all around" use,smoke best for bright conditions,and these HT greens seem to be highly praised for low light/overcast conditions?Considering that my favorite and most successful outings are generally either overcast or the low light of dawn and dusk when I find amber lenses to be too dark,I think I've found the perfect excuse to justify getting a pair of MJ HTs? ......plus I think the green lenses just plain look cool,haha.

Interesting tidbit re:the Alexandra.....I'm not sure if it's still the case,but at one time at least on many waters in the UK,the Alexandra was considered such a lethal and effective pattern that it was actually BANNED!!

Anybody using these?How do you like them? I've always been partial to amber lenses vs. smoke for all around use,just thinking about giving the MJ green lens a try,but a bit leary to spend that kind of $$ on a lens that I might not like? I'm assuming (or giving the benefit of doubt?) that any lens by MJ is of proven high quality,and well suited to purpose(obviously fishing)......I guess I'm more interested if anybody here has a side by side comparison/review of amber vs. green in a variety of conditions?

I guess I don't really cast heavy rigs with my Zenith anyhow,again,swinging wets and skaters mostly.......but that said,based on your comment and outta curiosity,I looked up the specs for 10' vs. 9' 8wt Zenith. 8100......3.5 oz/102g 890........3.42oz/97g I'll take the extra foot thanks, .08oz/5g is hardly a deal breaker.

I'm a fan of longer sticks,esp for swinging wets and streamers for steel,Atlantics etc.Not much of a pike guy,but I can't think of any disadvantage,only positives inherent to a 10'er vs. a shorter rod? 10' rods generally cast farther with less effort and,as already mentioned,offer a slight mending advantage.They also pick up more line better/easier when reloading for your next cast,and if you find yourself wading belly deep,the extra length helps in aerializing more line for false casting......or from a pike fishn perspective....perhaps from a belly boat,'toon,canoe,small boat? 8100 Zenith is my goto SH salmon/steel rod for swinging wets,bombers,skaters etc.There's not many waters where I feel under gunned with that stick,and usually only break out the Spey if I feel like hucking half chicken dumbells half ways across the river or getting down'n dirty with tips.

Sallieus jaundisae,ha! Actually...serious question about these stoneflies....are the females much larger than the males,as in almost twice as large? Reason being,I was at FCP mid afternoon the other day,and the grass/bushes held loads of these Sallys.I noticed a small "Sally" (sz14ish?) mounted on the back of a much larger (sz 8-10?) Sally in what I assume was some mating ritual? Anyhow....the smaller ones (males?)seem much more common...just wondering which, if either,is more significant from an angler's perspective?

Fwiw,this winter I watched an interesting Kelly Galloup video that advocates using dull flies and beads vs. bright beads and flashy patterns on dark,overcast days,the theory being that bright beads imitate the gaseous bubbles created by nymphs which reflect sunlight on bright days.He claims that bright beads on dark days appear unnatural to the fish,and better success using dark beads in such conditions?I haven't had the chance to test his claims in a side by side comparison....say,using two identical nymphs on a dark day aside from the beads being the only difference.....but who am I to argue with KG? It makes sense to me in theory at least.....and maybe gives some validity to an old Atlantic Salmon adage..."dark day/dark fly,bright day/bright fly"? So that said....my offer to take those flies off yer hands still stands,haha.

Dull beads can't be shined up and won't catch fish,especially if they are already tied into a fly pattern,you need to discard all of them immediately.Just so happens I'm making a dump run this weekend and will properly dispose of them for you. Address?

By chance is BBT and Halfsack from SoA one in the same? Sorry they killed you off man....that was sad.

I don't nymph much neither,but I've used them swinging tandem wet rigs,or a bugger and wet etc.?I just tie the ring to end of leader/tippet as per usual,then about 2' of tippet to the (heavier)point fly,and 6" of tippet to the dropper.I use perfection loops to attach the flies to the ring,and snug them up real tight on the ring at 90degrees to each other.

IF4 2016 nominee!

Thx for the road report,but I'm back in Rocky for a few days,then home in CGY for 7 off starting Sunday.

Hmmm,I wasn't on the Elk at all,just round and round between Lovett and #2 mine entrance staging out of Edson .....but the Trunk was nice from Elk-Nordegg travelling to and fro Rocky a few times this month.

Tri-drive quad wagon.....Jerkn dirt n pushn pebbles. I tell the ladies I make the earth move....40 tonnes at a time. ......and no,they're usually not impressed.

It only makes sense that black bear attacks are more common then grizzly with close to 1 million black bears inhabiting the entire 4 corners of the continent vs <20,000(?) grizzlies confined to mostly remote areas in a handful of Rocky Mt states and provinces. At least 50x more blacks than grizzlies in North America,but nowheres near 50x more attacks from blacks.Id think grizzlies are far more aggressive,there's just not as many of them.Not even sure if "aggressive" is the proper term,but they are simply an apex predator that doesn't need to flee nor take any crap from anybody nor anything? Just be thankful there's not a million grizzlies roaming the continent?

Theres a poster/sign at the 22X boat launch parking lot that gives the approximate times for the popular floats...Glenmore-22X-Police-Mckinnons-Caresland. I "had it" saved to my previous phone pics,but lost that phone without backup.along with almost 1000 pics and 400 mostly irreplaceable contacts ....arrrrggggggg!!! Anyhow,if you live nearby,have a look.Sorry,I can't spit out the times off the top of my head,but I'm sure most experienced floaters can. Fwiw.....I would think late June would be pretty fast floating as well as potentially the most dangerous time of year for a bunch of inexperienced kids in canoes of all things....I'd reconsider your timing.

Just a heads up for anybody fishing south of Robb.....Embarrass River to Pembina Forks/Elk R. Rd area,Lovett R.,the pit lakes etc.....ripn up and down the trunk road 10x/day for the last 2 weeks,I've had over a dozen sightings and identified at least 7 different grizzlies. ....so that said,I would recommend wet wading in sneakers,and bringing along your fat lil fishn buddy in his neoprene chest waders for insurance,haha.

.

I "had" a kayak,and if I was to do-over,it would DEFINATELY be a sit-on fishing/hunting style vs. the traditional sit-in cockpit like my previous boat. It was fine for what it was,that being a touring model with fore and aft watertight bulkheads with loads of storage room for overnighters(OldTown Heron 14')......but I just found it very difficult to get in and out of safely on anything other than a relatively flat beach,shoreline,or extreme shallow water where you could ground it out. I "thought" it was gonna be the catsazz for fishing and warerfowling,but on a river like Bow for instance,it's tricky to get out of in most places if you want to wade,or on smaller streams if you need to walk it down thru some rough stretches,and on an icy cold November duck marsh in knee deep water.....good luck not taking a cold dunk. Sit-on tops are far better suited for hunting/fishing applications.