SilverDoctor

Carried the cheap ones for years. They seemed to dull quickly, sure lost a few of those. I think the best pair I have are a set of SIMMs that was a xmas ift. Very sharp and handy. You can also buy replacement blades for them which is nice but I often sharpened the cheap ones after a season. The ones the OP described also are nice but bulkier. I have a pair on my tying desk that I use for general cutting. They would be really nice for cutting heavier tippets.

Most of the Fly Vests I have bought in the past have had a drying patch where you could pin your fly to dry, add a fly as you are changing patterns or just hold you existing fly as you are fumbling through your box. This last vest didn't have one. I've always used a fleece patch but flies do tend to fall off as the fleece gets matted. I've also had foam ripple ones that hold better and last quite a while. Some of the store bought ones are great but thought I would build my own. Here is an idea and I'm sure you can do one up if you need to. Start with a chunk of closed cell foam cut to size and a Safety pin, I'm using a piece of 1" thick foam here. Make a slot in the foam big enough to run the head of the safety pin through, I used an eXacto Knife. Of course taking care not to plunge the blade through yourself. We don't want the foam to change color. Put the knife away so you don't sit on it. Push the head of the Safety Pin through the slot in the foam. Oooo the suspense. Pin it to your favourite vest. Nice thing is you can make a few for vests, bags straps etc. Sometimes during hot summer days for a quick trip I just wander small waters with a couple of patches pinned to my shirt filled with flies. Hope this gives someone some Ideas.

For years I tied these quite large in the 4 to 6 + range. But after doing a few custom orders for guys fishing the Henry's Fork in 12 to 14 I found that although they are smaller than the real bugs, the trout cue into them without any problem. Plus that size is easier to cast.

Another thing I wonder is how the past 2 years of low water will effect our small stream fisheries. I know that Brookies can stand more fluctuations and warm water occurrences than Cutties. Our streams are again low the bit of rain has helped but they are far from average rates. I have to agree also with Jim. The size of Cuts have increased. Perhaps a factor with less competition of food sources. Size may equal more robusque spawners in the long run. It should be interesting to see what happens to the target streams over the next few years and how the balance will pan out.

I think we can see it as an experiment that showed what removing Brookies by anglers would do. I was chatting with Lindley the Provincial Biologist involved and he said basically although the Brookies were reduced Cutties and Bulls didn't move back in in bigger numbers. Too many other factors in play. The biggest positive that came out of the program is public awareness and the angler involvement with proper fish ID. I enjoyed the program while it lasted and am grateful to have been a part of it. I have to say I have always loved Brook Trout because of their beauty. And the opportunity got me out to some streams I might have missed. Along with that met some great people Except for Taco, who topped my totals every year.

Yep, been in the Bow for many years (I first saw it in the Bow in the 90's). Seems to "Bloom" more heavily in low water years. Chunks break off and float down and make it hard in some shallower areas to fish. Remember to rinse you wader's if you fish the Bwo and then other bodis of water. It is an invasive species.

They only send the Regulations to stores that sell licences.

By the way, you can also order them online and they will be mailed to our home.

I picked up 3 at the Beacon Hill CT with no problems. In the Geezer boat also. Maybe change CT's

I've processed a great many skins. Clean and trim as much fat off the flesh as you can. This is where a good small skinning knife shines. Pat down the inside with a paper towel to remove moisture Like albertatrout I give em a quick wash in dish soap to remove blood and dirt then rinse (you can forgo this step if it has been frozen, it will kill any bug eggs) although I do like to wash and clean skins and feathers. Makes them shine. Bow dry a bit and then air dry overnight Rub the inside of the skin with Borax (use lots) heap it on, salt also works but Borax works better Prop the skin open or as I like to do pin it flat on a board with thumbtacks, open it as much as possible, including pinning open tail and wings Add a bit more the next day, look for greasy patches to add to, keep an eye on it and add more as needed I sprinkle a bit of Borax on the fur or feathers also, keeps the critters away Leave it in a well air circulated area, in a garage is great, this is where pinning to a board is nice as you can lean it against a wall If grease or damp spots appear it means that you didn't clean enough fat from the skin. Give it another scrape in those areas I usually give it a couple of months, you can tell after that if you scrape a bit off and it is dry. When dry put the skin in a plastic bag on its own, keep it opened not zip locked for the first year. Avoid using Mothballs or the like. The smell never comes out and it can loosen fur Ceder chips or just pieces of Ceder wood does a great job of keeping pests away With small animal skins (not hoofed critters) I like to shampoo (a shampoo with lanolin) the skin and rinse, makes the fur really nice to work with. There was a time when the only real source of fur and feathers for our fly tying family was hunting in the fall. The wife still cringes when I stop to have a peek at a road kill. She hasn't quite housebroken me yet. Give me a shout if you have any questions on prepping.

They look like they would certainly stir interest in some bruisers.

Mac

Have a Gloomis Roaring River 11 foot Switch in 7 wt. that is nice. Have used it for Cutties & Salmon in the Salt, and lakers in Miniwanka. But most of the time I'll use my Meiser 2 handed Spey rods. Much smoother presentation.

In the wild

I taught for about 4 years, really enjoyed it, but when I last interviewed for another position they told me my Masters was too old and that I now needed Teaching certification also.

Excellent!!!

I assume you are talking about the Stonfo Kaiman Vice. Newer on the market than some of the other brands. Looks interesting and solid but I would really tie on one before I made a decision. It looks like a take off of the Regal, which has been around for years and it's easy to get parts or accessories if needed. Tied on a Regal for many years till someone "borrowed" the base after a fly tying demo, found it a comfy vice to tie on. That is part of what you have to look at. Tying comfort for your size of hands and style of tying. Lots of good brands out there on the market, I think part of it is what kind of use you think you will get out of it and what budget you have. How often you want to tie, an occasional hobbyist, frequent tier or commercial volumes and what you want to tie. Tiny dries or big streamers. All are factors and important to things to think about. There is no law that says you can't buy several brands. I have owned and tie on quite a few since the eary 60's. We're at a time when there is a great variety of product out there. You can spend a lot of money on them so a bunch of research is always good. But something I have seen is that there is no one vice that is the best for everyone. A brand that one person loves will be another person's hell. So take some time looking at a variety of them. Talk to a bunch of tiers and see what they use and get out to your local tying club and chat with tiers. I know this isn't an answer to your question but just an opinion.

Officers to step up enforcement over May long weekend Posted: May 20, 2016 9:04 AM MT Last Updated: May 20, 2016 10:02 AM MT Here The province says it will step up its enforcement of careless ATV users in high-use areas this summer on public lands and in provincial parks. The goal is to keep riders from going off marked trails and tearing up and down streams, says Alberta Parks spokesman Tim Chamberlin. Alberta fire and OHV ban lifted for areas south of Lac La Biche Kananaskis bear sightings have official urging caution "We'll have fish and wildlife officers, our conservation officers in concert with some other law enforcement groups that will be making a concentrated effort to not only promote awareness but to enforce the rules and regulations," he said. Gary Clark, president of the Quad Squad — a recreational club in the Crowsnest Pass — says while more officers are welcome, the way offences are prosecuted needs to change. The province should first set specified penalties and then allow conservation officers to issue them like traffic tickets, he said. "Once that happened a few times it wouldn't take long for everybody to realize they shouldn't be going through the water," he said.

A slough of Salmonflies (Doc's Salmonflies)

CO's are stretched pretty thin, reported a guy churning up the Burnt Timber, It took more than a few follow-up calls to find out there where charges pending.

I grew up in a small town in BC in the 60's. The fruit industry was the mainstay of the economy. When the fruit ripened there where hoards of Starlings that descended on the cherries, peaches etc. At that time (it has changed) there was a bounty on these birds. You could get 5 cents for the legs, most of us kids had BB and Pellet guns and earned a pretty penny thinning out flocks. Along with wandering around orchards looking for birds, shooting in one’s yard was a normal thing. It kept our Mum’s working in the Packing houses processing fruit. We also had massive amounts of songbirds as they weren’t threatened by those predators. The problem with damaged fruit to the massive fruit industry was much lessened by little kids with their Red Ryders. I saw very few Magpies back then, just the very odd one that you couldn’t get anywhere near. Last year when I visited home to work around the Grandparents home, the number of Starlings was huge and there where lots of news stories about severe damage to the industry from ever increasing flocks of Magpies plus the starlings. Researchers were pouring Millions of dollars into future solutions. How times have changed. In those days us kids bicycled around with our fly rods and air guns. Kid things. Nobody I ever knew or heard about got hurt. Mind you most of the parents hunted and fished so we grew up in an environment of gun safety from a young age. Got my first BB gun at 8 and my 30-30 at 10. Firearms where not considered the horrific evil things the press seems to have turned them into. They where just tools just like a hammer, used to fill the freezer in the fall & keep household costs down. Now we could most likely never go back to those times as most Canadians have moved away from the land and our fish and game heritage. But just some of my experiences about life for you guys.

Thanks nice of you to say. Yes I mix all of my own dubbing, mostly from, Rabbit, Muskrat, Opossum, Squirrel etc. skins, with a small bit of synthetic added for sparkle. I use an old coffee grinder to do the mixing and control the density and color batches. In my family hunting in the fall was not only for food in the fridge but to restore the tying larder. These days I have to look for Buddies that hunt to get hides.

Very effective, the dubbing mix has a translucent look in the water the photo pushes the color a bit.

We had a real bad Sapro a few years back. Its a very nasty mold that attacks stressed or damaged fish. Lots of big Browns were lost. You could see a lot of them in the shallows, Like it was said mortality is high. Brown Trout were infected at higher rates in older males and the infections were more common in larger fish. It happens when males fight among each other for females or territory, by decreasing the protective mucous on the skin. Poor fish handling can also play a factor. I saw quite a number of fish that show hand and finger areas of mold. Avoid using cloth-mesh nets to land fish and minimize all handling if you care about the Trout. This warm weather and low water I believe will add to the outbreak this year. You can read a report here.