JMasson

I wanna know what the pewb looks like!!

This thread was past hijacked before I posted now there's no hope at all. Pacres is talking about sasquatch playing hockey....what's next?

Is there such a thing as too much hockey?

Where can I send some money to? Beattie Homes is building in Edmonton as well...maybe their office would have some info. for me? James

Ahhh, would those be fresh grapefruit or the 3 week old, store bought variety? I'd pay good money for some fresh grapefruit....I miss Florida.....sometimes. James

I don't believe in "heaven" as you're referring to it. I do admit that it's scary to me too. Not the prospect of dying...that is the one certainty that no one on this planet can escape. "Killing infidels"? I would've thought that from my original post you would've ruled that one out. How many people throughout history have been killed because they believed in the "wrong" God (or gods, spirits, deities, listened to the "wrong" man preach about God, etc...)? So, I guess to answer your question, I'm not sure how people get into "heaven". An even better answer would be that I'm not sure what happens to you after you die. James

I have the "Escape" pack and I really do like it. It carries all the gear I need and has room to spare. I also have their older style that looks like the Confluence and I've been thinking about picking up either one of their fanny packs (Catalyst) or possibly their Satchel. I think their gear is excellent and very well made. James

I'm sure I'll irritate some of the people on here when I say that organized religion is the biggest sham in history. I mean "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven"? What's that all about!? So you can commit all seven of the deadly sins and then go to church and confess your sins to Jesus and you'll go to heaven!?! Give me a break. I just don't buy into it at all. I was baptised as a Catholic and haven't practiced in about 15 years. I apologize in advance if anyone took offense to the above. "Religion is the opiate of the people."- Karl Marx James

The Orvis Zero-Gravity series are beautiful rods! I've cast the 5 and 4 wt. models and would love to own one.....maybe in the future. Anyways, they're awesome and I'm sure the Helios is a great rod, as well! Put some kind of sweet bling on it for a reel. James

Next week!

I gotta say, Brent, they look better than mine. I think mine will still catch some fish though....hopefully. Edmonton needs a decent fly shop...wholesale and fishin' hole are sucking it up. I can't find nice long hackles. James

I'm using a slightly different pattern than you are. They look good man!

Its definitely not going to be pretty. It's a scary thing for a young guy like me to think about. I own a small business...I'm a carpenter. Started doing carpentry when I was in university as a part-time thing over the summers cause it paid well. I finally realized that I could make more money as a full time carpenter or framing (especially framing) than I could with my degree, so I left university. What's the only reason I can get paid as well as I do? O&G. Now that I've been out of university for a couple years I'm doing everything I can to pay my student loans off faster so I can go back to university before O&G goes bust....it's a vicious cycle haha. There are a lot of people that are dependent on O&G and if it goes bust you're going to see a lot tradesmen without jobs. Some people may think that's a big deal but not everybody is debt free. Most of the people I hear talk about how good it would be if O&G goes bust have no idea what it's like to not be able to pay your bills or your mortgage or feed your kids. I don't know what I would do if I was out of a job right now, I don't know how I would pay my bills. It's that simple for me. I absolutely love the environment. I've donated time and money to many conservation organizations in the past and will continue to do so. But I also need to pay my bills and feed myself and right now O&G is helping to pay the bills. James

Yeah, that's a pretty good strike. Too bad the fish didn't jump so you could actually see how big it was. Yeah, an 8wt is a little light and would probably end up in more pieces than the manufacturer originally intended. Although, I knew a guy in Florida that would go after tarpon with an 8wt. Crazy if you ask me but this guy was GOOD and never broke a rod...at least that I saw. I wouldn't go out after big tarpon with less than a 10wt.

Baby tarpon are fun to catch...all the jumping and action with only 1/4 of the battle and a much higher chance of actually landing one. EDIT: This is what I'm talking about! James

Where are you going to be fishing in Florida? Gulf or Atlantic coast? April, that's a good time to go....try for a Tarpon, man, they'll be around!! Take a 10/11 weight and a reel with at least 200 yards of 30 lb. backing and see if you can hold on to a silver monster for more than 5 seconds. I guarantee it'll be the most exciting 5 seconds of your life. James

"Got to truck, got part dry. Stripped off shirt and pants, tied em to the truck box to dry out. Got pulled over in a roadcheck on the way home (Strike Nine). Try explaining why you're driving in boxer shorts and no shoes in the first week of May to a female (Strike Ten, if you're keeping track) RCMP officer. Ain't no way to do that without blowing the alcohol tester." Was she at least a good looking cop? That would've made it ok, at least in my books. James

About the only stream, with decent bulls, that'll be open in April will be the Clearwater. That's usually blown out until mid to late April at the earliest. Not much off trunk road opens up until June and they're blown out and not fishing well until the end of June. Tried to fish Prairie Creek one week after opening and it was a no-go. Chocolate milk and a good two feet higher than usual. The Clearwater was worse. James

You're right. I don't think many people want to know what is actually swimming (sometimes less than 5 feet) from them while they either swim or fish. My mom absolutely refuses to go more than ankle deep in the ocean. I remember when my family was living on Tobacco Key (Belize) as a kid...I was young, probably 4 or 5 but I still remember...My mom would wade out into the ocean and look for sharks before she would let me and my sister come in. She is absolutely paranoid. Another vivid memory of mine is sitting on the dock, on the same key, and watching a dolphin go by...well, my mom quickly picked her dangling feet out of the water and tucked them under herself. She thought the dolphin was a shark and that it was going to go out of its way to come and nibble on her toes. She's the same way with snakes. I put a rubber snake under the blankets on her bed as a kid once and I thought she was going to murder me. My dad actually had to restrain her until I could go lock myself in my room. Needless to say I ran out the door without breakfast the next morning to catch the bus before my mom could get ahold of me. I'm amazed I didn't drive her to insanity...I was a real bastard sometimes. James

That bull shark certainly did get the blood pumping. ANY shark will get your heart pounding when you're in the water...you're in their element. Once you see a couple and get used to the idea of them being out there and not being able to see them, you start to relax a little. No matter how many times I got in the water I always thought about whether I was going to turn around and see a shark. Actually, it's not the turning around and seeing one that bothered me...looking up from 40-50 ft. and seeing that dark shadow block out the sun for a second. That will get anybody's blood moving. Especially since you're only down there on one breath and you have to come up sooner, rather than later. You never hear of anyone getting hit by a shark when they're 50 feet down...it's always as they're coming up, usually when they're within 5-10 feet of the surface. They're always out there. I've caught decent sized sharks about 30 feet off the swim line at South Beach (Miami). Really funny to catch a shark and see the look on the swimmer's faces....releasing the shark was always the best part. I may have to post the story about the 66+ pound barracuda we "caught" one day. James

I can honestly say I have NEVER caught a red that big....48 inches. That's a monster! I dont think I've even seen one that big. I haven't caught anything over 30 inches. Probably not too many big fish like that left, these days. Sharks aren't too bad. I've had a few run-ins with them. I used to spearfish as well, so I know all about them. Always remember the first encounter I had. Spearing in about 10 feet of water out of Homosassa, FL. I'm looking around and I see my dive buddy flagging me down. He's pointing at the float that had our stringer attached....I look over towards the stringer and there's a 8-9 ft. Bull Shark looking to have a go at our fish. The bad part was the stringer was only about 6 feet from me. Gave the shark a quick jab in the nose with my spear...shark darted off into the murk and we slowly made our way back to the boat. Good times. Loved the story Rick!!! Brought back some fond memories! James

Always nice to see people invite themselves to a party....HAHAHAHA...just teasing. James

I mean....there's only minnows up here...nothing worth spending time to catch. Teck, you're in Red Deer, right? Let's hook up sometime this summer and fish the Ram(s). I don't know if you've ever been into the canyon on the S. Ram but I think you would like it. Beautiful scenery and some nice cutties, whites and even bulls to go along with it. Getting down is easy enough, getting out is a bit strenuous. James PS. Sorry for the complete hijack! I think the streamwatch program is a great one. I plan on donating to both S. Alberta and C. Alberta. There definitely needs to be more enforcement, spread throughout the entire province!

The only reason I even posted in the Calgary thread was because I got tired of Fishead posting about how great he is. I'm as relaxed and mellow as they come (usually). I just want to talk about fishing, damnit (and other assorted and unrelated/ "irrelevant" nonsense), maybe make a few contacts and fish with some new people! I don't want to hear a guy spout off about how great he is and how he loves his jetboat. Maybe that's just me though? As for stories...I'm sure RickR has better stories than me. FYI Fishead I have never taken a picture of ANY fish I have ever caught. I've always spent my money on rods and gear....still don't have a camera...might get one this year but I need a new computer first. Anyways, I'm done with this topic. I've said my piece and that's that, as far as I'm concerned. James

Fishead, I've been fly fishing for 17 years, since I was 5 and strong enough to cast a rod. Personally, I think you're delusional! You sure sound like a purist to me....you drive a JETBOAT for Christ sake! I was born in Edmonton, spent the first ten years of my life in Grand Cache, fishing and exploring the Smoky and Little Smoky. Then my family moved to Florida and I spent the next 11 years exploring every tidal creek along the Gulf Coast I could find. If there were fish swimming then I wanted to find them! I also spent a lot of my off time in the summer backpacking up the Appalachian Trail hunting down native brookies at 2,000+ feet above sea level. I've caught trout in 14 states. I've caught tarpon, barracuda, jacks, sailfish, mahi-mahi, snook, redfish, sea trout and even sharks on a fly rod. When I'm not working, I spend my summer days with my backpack on and my 3 wt in my hand, trekking in some remote area of Alberta. I rarely post on this forum just because I prefer to just read. You spout off at every opprotunity and tell everyone about how much better than them you are. Mind you I've done all of this before I even turn 23 (22 right now, 23 in April). I'm more of a trout bum than you could ever hope to be. James