jgib01

First, it is hard for me to believe that there have only been <2000 responses to the Castle survey (#incredulous #incensed) There should be almost that many from FFC doing the darn thing! #5 & #6 points times a thousand.... the key is enforcement... without that, AEP may as well walk away from the Castle. This isn't just a southern Alberta issue; zero tolerance for OHV anywhere in the province in our waterways, and increased patrols of high OHV use areas needs to continue/be upped. I do like the proposition of association run trails; nothing quite so effective as a group monitoring their own. Works well in little ole Nova Scotia (some would say arguably), where my father-in-law is an enthusiast and part of ATVANS.

Thanks... I see a couple on the Calgary site. Unfortunately my truck is under the weather (about $8k damage being fixed from a rear-ender), so not sure I can transport an assembled one down to the Bridge in the rental car I have at present. Edit: Where there's a will... changed my rental to a jeep for the long weekend and zipped up to the big city. Got the IKEA HEMNES secretary off of Kijiji. Lots of room in this thing (for now), and am slowly "moving in" to it. I'll post a couple pics when I get it set up.

Are you a dad, cause that was a perfect dad joke right there... dye-arrhea Our dog is short and rather well-behaved. I leave my stuff out now on the floor often in our office, and he has yet to touch anything. Better to be safe than sorry though, so good point. I do like the notion of being able to close things up, hence my original search for a roll-top. Showed my wife a pic of the Ikea secretary at lunch, and it seems to have a fairly high acceptance factor. My kids are too old to worry about their little hands, and too young (God willing) for me to start worrying about grandkids.

Not a bad idea, but maybe I could do both... a permanent setup for storage and tying the winter months away, and also keep my current totes for some portability, if I ever get to that level of expertise in my tying. I did take a look at that. I think that would be awesome for a coffee table or table top setup, but don't think it is quite what I'm looking for. Going to be tucked away in either an upstairs bonus room, or in a basement family room area. Not too concerned about cosmetics, but moreso functionality and something with a good amount of storage. The Cabelas one would mean another unit for material storage for sure. I don't mind the Ikea Hemnes, especially the one with the add-on top part, and then am almost double the price of the craft desks (but with much more storage, and guessing more appeal to my better half).

Have seen a few pictures of various benches/desks on here and other places, and think I am finally going to move my tying materials off my computer desk and onto a dedicated unit. I have been keeping my eyes open on local kijiji sales for desks (especially roll tops), but without much success. The other night, I came across a series of "craft" desks. Several different models available, but here's a couple that look interesting... South Shore Crea Sewing Table South Shore Crea Craft Table Any thoughts on these? I'd love to hear from some folks who have been tying for a while, in chase of that perfect setup. Or maybe you are like me and are new to the tying game, but think you have found the perfect setup-- I'd welcome your insight too. I am torn... holding out a little longer to see if I might be able to find a good used roll top that is reasonably priced (some folks want ridiculous sums of cash for them) vs. impatience pushing me toward buying something new.

I also read this last night, and likewise found it a little depressing. Read this article too shortly before that, so was in a pretty miserable mood before turning in for the evening.

...and it's hard to imagine it not being in the Oldman and Red Deer systems before long. I hate to be fatalistic, but if those waters escape unscathed it will be nothing short of a small miracle.

Quick ask of the google machine points out that this is likely research being supported through NSERC grants. A more balanced overview of what Dr. Goss is looking at is likely presented in the Edmonton Sun (don't often find me using "Edmonton Sun" and "balanced" in the same sentence). It's a big leap to suggest the research is pro-Saudi oil oriented or driven. A couple of The Sun article quotes frames it for me... "Everybody knows it’s not honey water, it’s an industrial effluent." Then he says "I’m a big believer that you can have industrial activity that’s good environmental management and that the trade offs are being adequately managed."

Stage 1 is reclaiming unauthorized trails. Plan is to phase them out entirely, as it states in the Castle Management Plan on the bottom of page 102... "Alberta Parks will develop a transition strategy to phase out recreational OHV use in Castle Provincial Park and Castle Wildland Provincial Park." I thought I heard the timeframe of 3-5 years mentioned as the phase out period. That's what has the OHV users of that area so upset; the transition plan appears a little fuzzy at this stage. I would tend to agree that if it is not done very thoughtfully and with replacement opportunities, that it will simply drive the destructive effects into other areas (e.g., the Crowsnest Pass), which could have significant impact on other parts of the watershed. Not an OHV user myself, but I'd say that lots of careful planning needs to be done here. As for bullies eating caddis... my understanding is that aquatics are their mainstay when younger/smaller. It's not until they become quite large that they shift to almost an exclusively predatory diet.

And apparently not only do I not know how to embed Youtube videos properly, but also can't spell roosters

Cool video from Whiting Farms... <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nAPI2esNNz4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Looking for a simple way to get live video up onto a big screen for tying demos. A buddy is going to be leading a few of us through some ties over the next little while, and I thought it would be nice if we could see what he's doing without us all being huddled around his vice. I was thinking perhaps a peripheral webcam connected to a laptop, but not sure how regular webcams typically do on closeup stuff. I haven't figured out how to get either of my digital cameras (Canon G15 and Olympus TG-4) to output their screens... seems to be some online stuff related to doing it with DSLRs but not so much with p&s cameras.

Looking for a simple way to get live video up onto a big screen for tying demos. A buddy is going to be leading a few of us through some ties over the next little while, and I thought it would be nice if we could see what he's doing without us all being huddled around his vice. I was thinking perhaps a peripheral webcam connected to a laptop, but not sure how regular webcams typically do on closeup stuff. I haven't figured out how to get either of my digital cameras (Canon G15 and Olympus TG-4) to output their screens... seems to be some online stuff related to doing it with DSLRs but not so much with p&s cameras.

Fishpond bag looks awesome, but not sure I can justify another purchase at the moment, else I might be needin Über's basement suite. I might have to settle on the Renzetti case for my vice and a rubbermaid for material.

I got an LED one, that it is little smaller than the CFL one Lornce linked above. LED version seems plenty bright enough for me, though light is a little cool on the spectrum; it was $50. I think the CFL 13 watt one is closer to $100 as tallieho mentioned. They did have a few other models in addition to these 2 as well; some smaller battery operated ones that may be good for tying on the road with no power, though not sure how bright they'd be. This was at the Lethbridge store, but betting Calgary locations will have the same products. This one at Staples is pretty decent too. We have one for another location in the house, and next to the Ottlite one the colour is a bit warmer. It stands a few inches taller and has a built-in magnifier. Hard to tell if there is any difference in brightness.

Yer datin' yourself there Doc Picked up an LED Ottlite from Michaels yesterday. I tried to use the 40% off coupon, but was told that the lights are considered "everyday value" items, so couldn't use it. :$*%&: Guess I didn't take the time to read the fine print, or perhaps it wasn't visible by candlelight.

Having done some online learning through a uni and plenty of webinars through work, I can definitely state my preference for face-to-face stuff over webinar/online/virtual sessions. That said, it may be a function of what you've been exposed to, what you "grew up" with, your learning style, etc. I think Danhunt's point about access virtually in addition to face-to-face sessions is valid though; I don't think he was suggesting getting rid of the sessions in favour of pure virtual. Not everyone can hit the city on those given days and times, so a live stream option would just make them that much more accessible to folks. I would have liked to get to a session or two from Jim McLennan last year, but as an out-of-towner myself just couldn't fit it all in. I chose the Borger and Rosenbauer sessions, and took Jim's intermediate course on the water last summer instead.

I'd like to get something a little more portable than what I have at home at present. I've not noticed the OttLite at Costco before, but will keep my eyes open for sure. Costco.ca doesn't have any listed... the .com site has one with a bluetooth speaker and usb port; with it I could charge my tablet, listen to tunes, and see my my vice all in one go!

Maybe it was too bloody cold for them. I sure wouldn't venture out in these god-forsaken temps if I didn't have to. We did a short trip in Waterton over the holiday, on a reasonably warmer day, and even then noticed much fewer signs of wildlife than in years past. A few rabbit tracks, and that was it. There weren't even any of the resident jays at Cameron Lake begging for food like they normally are.

Confirmed dates of March 17 & 18th

Anywhere you can buy the vests, you should be able to buy the cartridges as well. I found they are a little pricey locally, so have tended to look when I'm up in the "big city". Never thought of looking at the Fishing Hole, so will check the next time I'm there.

Was in a house once shortly after a pepper spray discharge, and that was bad enough. Can't imagine your experience was all that pleasant... my apologies for chuckling just a little when I read it. X2 on using the safety container; I have one in my truck that I picked up at my local Wholesale. I know it would probably make better sense to not store bear spray in my truck, but I found in so doing I typically arrived at my fishing destination with the bear spray still sitting in my garage at home. Think I will pick up another for my wife's vehicle, and while I'm at it may get one of these... looks like they might make for a decent wading belt.

One CO2 cartridge, one chamber.

I have the Bass Pro A/M 24, that I use when on my float tube. First thing I did after purchasing was visited a buddy who has a backyard pool. Tested it out, made sure I was able to deploy "under pressure" and to see what it would feel like. Those little cartridges pack a surprising amount of air into the bladder, and it is every bit as buoyant as a foamy. Probably not a bad idea to test it annually... I will take that sage advice and manually inflate it this spring when I check the expiry dates on my CO2 cartridge(s). Maybe this year I'll practice having to manually inflate it while in the water, all while wearing my waders. My wife will love capturing it all on video, I'm sure.

Whether the decision was fueled by complacency, disinterest, or something else, hindsight would probably tell us that stopping the testing outright was a mistake. I would suggest though, that we not confuse the curiosity expressed by some folks here as complacency or lack of concern for stewardship. I think in this day and age, we often use the term complacency interchangeably with disinterest, probably incorrectly so (you could say a lot of things about a lot of people here, but disinterest ain't one of 'em!). In the short couple of years I've spent on this forum, I've been very impressed with the vast majority of members here who are genuinely and adamantly interested in stewardship. I have learned much from the information, opinions and passion you all provide... thanks for that!