grannyknot

It's the bow river in calgary! i can hike all day, bushwacking and climbing over hills and banks, and i will never find a spot that some idiot hasn't left an empty six-pack of bud and a jar of minnows. If a friend shows me a small meadow creek with no trace of humans, and asks me not to share it, then I will keep it a secret. No stretch of water between bearspaw dam and carseland weir is going to benefit from our secrecy, it's far too late.

Golden trout all the way! I'll be doing a certain hike-in as soon as it's open. Then I have a two week vacation on Vancouver Island this October, so once I find out what's running where, I'll say either salmon or steelies.

I love the feel of my TFO, love the warranty, love everything about it. It's a huge upgrade from my old St. Croix, IMHO. That being said, if my budget was a tad higher, I'd probably be loving my Orvis right now.

Monday. And I'll have the river all to myself. Not being anti-social, just the only day I can make it down.

Thanks Dustin, I had heard about that one too, somewhere, the Barry Mitchell guide I think. Sounded so cool, but now I'm not so eager to try it out. There are many places in Alberta where spring water flows into glacial melt streams, keeping things ice-free all year, but not too many actual spring creeks big enough to hold trout. Also, if I knew of one that hadn't already been listed on this thread, I probably wouldn't share.

I like! If I were your boss, I would consider that time well spent.

I fish almost exclusively with adams, parachute adams, and bastard adams through the summer, so I'm sure that will be worth it. I'm sure though, that half the fun of tying is learning new patterns, that's what will rack up the bills. Also, it's already obvious that I need to upgrade my vise, maybe a table just for tying, storage for my materials, maybe just turn the den into a tying room... The girlfriend is gonna be pissed soon!

Absolutely man, looking forward to it. As for tying vs. buying, anyone who uses worms should tie their own at least, and I am saving money on nymphs. I'm just going to have to tie a whole lot of dries before it's worth it (economically).

Where did you get it in canary? I like my TFO, but I don't like having the same rod as all my fishing buddies. Just gotta be different.

Adams is done! Parachute adams still looks like a dog chewed some hackle onto a hook, but it'll come. On a side note, holy goddamn is hackle expensive!

My 5wt 4pc Signature broke first time out, as I was walking down to the river. I waved it in the air a bit, and the tip broke. Clearly something happened to it at the store, or something, but it was replaced without a fee, and the new one has been great so far. I'm a klutz, so I expect to break rods, so I will be going with TFO again, probably a Finesse in a 3 for my next one.

Stopping by the fly shop at lunch to get Adams materials... that should keep me busy for a while. Think the Dave's Hoppers might have to wait though. Bought a bunch of foam bodies, looked closely at my recipe, and decided I'll wait until I'm a bit more experienced. Edit; As for the head-crowding, you should see my first scud. More head than body, it's truly a freak of nature!

Thanks everyone! I was hoping my chironomids would shine ice fishing this weekend, but no dice. Can hardly wait to hit the bow and try them out.

Thanks SJW. Guess that shoud be a pretty easy fix.

I picked up a fly-tying kit a week ago, and I'm hooked. Having just moved to Cochrane, I figure I should be good to go when the river FINALLY opens in April. Please feel free to offer constructive criticism or suggestions. This really is cheaper than buying all my flies. Thanks to all for the knowledge I have already aquired from lurking on this board.

Hoodie and a toque would be great.

They'd better not be more than 8" long, either.

I'm pretty sure I saw Fifty Places... at Chapters. Trout Highway you'll have to go to a tackle shop. It went out of print this year, but most places still have some copies. (Fingers crossed for a new revision soon!)

Looks good! I'm gonna stick one on every bow river trout I release.

Wow. Those flies are stunning. I'm still hacking away at my first tie, trying to get the body and the whip finish right on one, so these are pretty awe-inspiring. Great ties guys.

Trout Highway doesn't leave my truck during the summer, absolutely essential (though I'm sure most every Albertan flyfisher has a copy). I picked up the Fly Tying Bible yesterday, I'm just starting to tie and I think it will be helpful. The fly shops will all probably have a better selection than Chapters does.

I've been by a few times since ice-up, can't see any open water, but I don't know where the aerator is located.

Played it at my buddy's this weekend. Phenomemal. Can't wait to get it.

The girlfriend and I are getting ourselves an xbox 360 and Guitar Hero. Hell yeah. Maybe santy claus will bring me the 3 wt I'm itchin' for.

I use Vaseline, and like Flyslinger said, try to keep wet line off your guides, keeping your tip high helps with this. I'll sometimes dip my tip in the water, breaks up the ice and then make a few false casts to get rid of the water. Winter is hell on your line. I just accept that I'll need to replace it every spring.