jgib01

I just noticed this morning that the speech balloon thingy to the left of each forum is greyed out when there's no new posts. Not sure how I missed that earlier, but glad I'm not the only one

Overall, I think it looks great! Just one little piece of feedback... I'm having a hard time seeing the blue contrast of forums with unread posts on the main forum page. Maybe it's my monitor, or perhaps my middle aged eyes. Not sure if there is a fix for that, or if other's are experiencing the same thing.

+19C in Lethbridge again today Don. Go (south)west young man

That seems pretty darn reasonable for monitoring. I've talked to a few of my neighbors, and they all seem to be in long term contracts that are double to triple that for monthly monitoring costs. Lots of Vivint signs around Lethbridge, probably due to the connection with the LDS community; I've looked into them (they seem to have a pretty cool technology set) and ADT a couple times, but always scared away by steep monitoring charges.

Had someone ask what a coot was. I meant this: and not this:

Get yer fix and plan to come to the conclave in Lethbridge. Small but mighty. The last couple of years I've only been able to make it to the Friday night film event, but have heard great things about the Saturday. I assume the group down here is planning it again for early March'ish.

Day late and a dollar short on my reply... I was out at the lake area yesterday, figuring out some spots for our Scouts to camp this winter. It was 20C in Pincher, and not much cooler at Beaver Mines lake. Thinking we are some time away yet before there is any significant ice, as it is well into November before the forecast for any overnight lows are hitting on the minus side. The lake was covered in coots, and they weren't showing any interest in departing for places warmer and further south... maybe they are waiting to see the outcome of the election

$64 if you want to get credit. Free to audit.

Thanks Peter! I'm going to pass this along to my Scouts group as well. I will probably sign up, though not sure I can dedicate the kind of time to it that it probably deserves.

I keep the occasional fish from a stocked fishery, but even that is getting more and more rare. We kept several pinks and a couple of cohos last year fishing near Sooke on the Juan de Fuca, but can't really remember the last retained freshwater fish... maybe a few years ago at Reesor or Beaver Mines? A few of us from the church I attend have been going out on Sundays for the past few weeks. One of the ladies, who is brand new to fly fishing caught a very healthy, technically retainable rainbow 2 weekends ago. We had convinced her through our discussions prior to the outing that c&r was probably the best route to go for conservation sake on our southern rivers. She happily released it (and another smaller one that day) and said of the experience later on "I love the release... May never whack a fish on the head again."

Saw something on the Crow this year related (though on a much smaller scale). There was a spot that, for several weeks mid-summer, had several section of 5-6' tall movable steel tube fencing extending into the river probably 15 feet or better perpendicular to the bank. The cattle were able to come down to the river, and (although I never actually saw them) the footprints and cow dung left behind showed them coming well into the river to drink. It left me wondering about 2 things... the possible impact on the water and it's creatures, and whether it is kosher to put fencing into the water at all.

Nice! For us Lethbians, tis hard not to love the short hop out there. I've had some success with a little larger class of fish this year... don't know if that's because there are more around, or if I'm actually just getting a bit more proficient. Most surprising for me has been lots of hybrids and many that looked to me to be pretty heavy on the cutty and very light on the bow side of the gene pool as well.

If there was ever a shadow of doubt before watching this... Unfortunately, my ignorance led us to buy a lot of Atlantic salmon in the past, but it has been several years since it has touched our table. Many consumers haven't taken the time to watch a documentary of this length, or simply don't care one way or the other. Hopefully the proverbial tides are shifting on this, albeit too slowly.

Yes, I recall seeing some Pfleuger stuff in there a couple of weeks ago as well. On another note, pretty disappointed so far with their selection of fly reels/spools. There is stuff that has been sitting in the Lethbridge store for 5+ years at full retail prices, that I would love to see hit the 40% off cabinet in Pincher.

I keep thinking pmd and green drakes should be present, but so far my timing has been off on that. The last couple of times out on the Crow for me, it has been very challenging hatch-matching. I've seen little in the way of visible topwater insects. Some guarded success with small nymphs and tiny dries, and a few weeks ago on a very low-vis day I managed a few great takes on streamers (first time I have ever really tried exclusively fished streamers on the Crow). We have continued to get some good rains in the South (Sunday was an awesome thunder storm out there!), so water clarity may vary considerably from day to day, and even hour to hour. I'd say come prepared to try lots of different things in the course of a day of fishing.

The S Sask holds primarily pike, goldeye, the occasional walleye, and even less occasional sturgeon (though that would be a hoot catching a sturgeon on a fly rod!). There are some stocked lakes within a reasonable distance of there that will get you to some trout, and one QSF in that area.

I wonder how they would feel about you fishing out of the Davy Crockett canoes?

We really like Chinook Lake... Water is a little cold for my liking for swimming, but our kids never seemed to mind. There is a small swimming area that always kept our little ones entertained for hours. Our favourite camping spot when our kids were pre-school age was Kikomun Creek.

I thought the golden rule was that you could show someone a spot, but never tell them. Pretty subjective in terms of what one person might find "general" information versus what others would consider hotspotting. It certainly seems to me that fly fishers in general tend to lean more easily to the latter. I know I've taken some heat for even mentioning the name of a river on here, which I think is a little overzealous, but in some ways understandable. I still consider myself a newcomer to this game, and have greatly appreciated the times when I have been given some general information to get me going in the right direction these past couple of years.

Flow seemed maybe a little higher on the Upper Oldman Friday morning. That's just anecdotal, and the charts will tell a better/more accurate story. I didn't think to stop to get some water temps, as I was on a short timeline and was just excited to be out there (such a rookie move!). There certainly were some dramatic weather things happening over the weekend. We were camped at Chain Lakes (wow, that reservoir is low!) and got drenched several times, but nothing sustained. This morning's long-term forecast for us in Lethbridge looks as though it will perhaps not greatly exacerbate things, but won't solve them either. Highs in the low to mid-20's are decent for this time of year... could be far worse.

Sorry if I'm reading between the lines incorrectly here... I've read bits and pieces of the use of piscicides in US National Parks. Was this attempted in Clear Water? Google search revealed very little about the use of piscicides in Parks Canada or really anywhere in Canada for that matter.

Last fall I was heading north into Calgary, and as I cross the bridge, buddy in his shiny new Tundra pulls out onto the Deerfoot from the meridian "parking area", then proceeds to cut across both lanes over into the right parking lane where he accelerates and then pulls back out onto the road. There were several vehicles (5 or 6 of us if I remember correctly) "locking them up" in the vicinity cause of this brilliant move. Amazing no one panicked and didn't either swerve into or rear-end someone else. I'm always quite cautious as I approach that area, and find for the most part that the users are very respectful... only takes one though to mess things up.

Lornce, what sizes do you typically tie those in? I may give it a shot tonight tying a couple just in case the entomo-gods are smiling on me this weekend. I am looking forward to the first time I actually hit a full blown salmon fly hatch. The stuff of legends... or the very least some good drinkin' stories.

Kickstarter has become far more than just a revenue/investment generation tool. It really is a powerful social media tool in and of itself, and a pretty brilliant way to market a new product. Got us talking about it here

Another thought... with your current education and background, you likely could step into the adult education realm pretty easily. Not sure if you've considered that vs. primary/secondary education. Aren't college freshies these days essentially just high school students with a license to legally consume alcohol?