yak

IMO, they definitely gouge the consumer. sage rods are like taylor made golf clubs. every 3-5 years they change their latest and greatest line of rods and then sell the previous line for a fraction of the price. I wanted an XP when it was sages top of the line rod but couldnt justify spending $700-$800 . as soon as the z axis came out the xps were being sold for $350(bought a 6 weight and a 3 weight for $350 and $325 respectively). If you really want the z axis wait for sage to introduce their next "must have rod" and then the z axis will be available for 50-60 percent of what they are charging now. they prey on the guy who has to have the top of the line rod regardless of price.

looks more like the richard prior fly

have to have a few stimmies in the box. love using an orange bodied stimmy with a red ant follower for the crow. red bodied stimmys are another go to fly ( for me) for the liv and oldman (not sure why but orange seems best for the crow and red for the other two rivers). not my first fly on the bow but have good success with them in the evening there as well (can be deadly skidding them across the water at the end of a drift)

ty, I was in the same boat about 5 years ago. saved myself a ton of aggravation and reduced the learning curve big time by hiring Bowcrow ( Hawgstoppah) for a day. not sure what him or max charge now but its the best $125 i have spent (fishing wise ) since i took up the sport. I too was close as far as technique,set up etc, but a few subtle changes (still remember bowcrows advice"you can cast like #@**, as long as you mend like a pro") made all the difference.

aaahh, a NW renter on a low budget. if you moved to dover you could save a few bucks and quit smokin dirt weed .

very good point max. clive is endorsing using the gill plate lift these fish out of the water without going on to mention this may not(is not) be appropriate for other species. that in itself could also be construed as irresponsible as a lesser angler without the 50 years of experience may think that the way to handle other species as well. while a valid point, perhaps it could have been better presented(good fish handling skills dont always equate into good people handling skills l)

you give up 48 shots at home and are happy with this? agree lou stole the show. the restof the team looked shaky. coupled with losses to the oil and colorado last week I dont think i would be planning any parades if i were you (van will lose in colorado to end the season on a high note)

numbers dont lie? I guess bobby lous no dam good either lol. oiler fans crack me up

big fan of GSP but he beat a guy that he outwighed by 15 pounds ( they both wieghed 170 at weigh in but at fight time GSP was closer to 185). He has one more hurdle to climb. he needs to beat the spider ( this time it will be GSP giving up 10-15 lbs at fight time). that will be the single biggest UFC draw of all time if/when that fight happens. atta boy georges. a great fighter who wins with class ( no trash talk or BS from GSP)

I added my 2 cents long after the post became anti quads. u obviuosly dont have a problem with the ongoing destruction caused by these off road enthusiasts so theres little point debating this with you.

you can compare apples to oranges all you want but head out to the liv. valley after a may long weekend and tell me if the actual percentages really matter. agree with hawgstoppah. they have already destroyed waiprous so why not designate this area and this area only for future destruction/"fun". if they ever petition for a ban on these bloody things in the liv. valley I will run to add my signature. guys bitch about poachers and jet boats all the time, but they are a drop in the bucket compared to the damage done to alberta fisheries by the majority of offroaders. definitley not trying to paint all quadders with the same brush but have seen enough in my lifetime to aquire a real distaste for them

used to be no quadding and excellent fishing. coincidence? still remember one day at the liv. I headed downstream from the campground and came a cross a woman standing in the middle of the river trying to keep her kids atv from washing downstream. dummy was riding right up the middle and got stuck. She was damn near blue as she was only wearing shorts and sandals and had been standing there for quite some time. i waded in and helped her pull it out. She then told me she was surprised it happened as the entire family rode up and down the middle of the river all the time. Wanted to toss it and her back in but didnt want to litter. 90 % of quaders/off roaders destroy habitat in pursuit of "fun" . doesnt really matter how responsible the other 10 % are

does walking across a set in Noth Hollywood count. moon walk never happenend

was that the red green quartet?

fished friday the 2nd. six fish landed and 6 lost ( in approx 3 1/2) hours fishing all on size 8 woven golden stone pattern. tried some others but got into it fairly quickly with the stones and saw no reason to switch. this is always the fly I use as my large,weighted fly (some guys like to use to the old standby san juan) and usually try other patterns beneath it. copper johns also produce years round and some days all you need is bead head princes. Ive never had to get really fancy on that river when nymphing. Start with a size 8 bead head golden stone about 6 feet down from the indicator,a size 16 prince 18 inches underneath, and perhaps a size 18 copper john under that if you have no wind and can toss a three fly rig ( i opersonally dont like fishing more than 2 nymphs at a time). One of those will produce fish. If not keep the stone and change your droppers. ps. Ive never really had much success with the worm on the crow. Likley its because i dont pull it out unless the stones are not working but its never produced for me like it does on the bow

have to agree about iron mike. when they signed iron mike i thought he will either take us all the way to the promised land or cause problems in our locker room. very poor coaching decison to pull kipper compounded by calling out his play after the game to the media.he should have taken his time out, let the boys regroup and go back at it with kipper in net and only down 4-2. may have been a totally different result. ps. getting rid of sutter would be a very poor move. hes managed to sign a corps of players most teams would kill for (dion,iggy,kipper,regher) to long term contracts at reduced salaries ( no mystery that these players would have made a bunch more if they tested the open market). the only way I want sutter moved is if its back behind the bench

thanks ADC.with only one professional hockey team in the province that participates in the post season its a good thing we have so many good alberta junior teams to pull for.

beats bookin tee times in february like the coilers .they discussed putting a "next year country" crest on their jerseys

dont want to stir the pot but if we were talking about a guide or a flyshop in a negative ( albeit truthful) commentary we would get our willies slapped. is it ok as long as the business isnt fishing related? TM?

I find that "cleaning " my fly boxes and equipment is a great way to alleviate the winter blues. often times it is just moving flies from one box to another or messin around with reel components or organizing my vest. just having the gear and flies in your hands makes a guy think of spring. once i get to spring and actually start fishing all my boxes and vests resort back to their "lucky" state

as opposed to knowing our livestock to well

Don, you may need to get out more. may also want to cancel your subscription to "men in waders" as your view on southern alberta and calgary is getting more skewed every day ( fishing analogies aside)

cost is much reduced if you buy 100 or 300 foot spools of Vanish line (for spincasters) rather than little spools of specialized flyfishing flourocarbon tippet I carry a 4 and 6 lb 100 foot spool.as rusty mentioned, using a barrell swivel eliminates the biggest problem ( flouro to monofil knots). buy vanish line, use barrell swivels and there are no downsides( other than biodegradability) to flouro when nymphing/streamer fishing . as max mentioned it sinks more than flouro so it can drag small dries under but a little floatant along the final 8 inches of flouro tippet seems to minimize/eliminate this problem. definitely a product that works. tested a theory one day on pigeon lake while spin casting in late august . had two rods set up .one with monfil and one with vanish. same lures.same angler/techniques. flouro outfished mono at least 2 to 1.

calgary is extremely fortunate to have a guy like iginla. top 3 or 4 ( forwards) year in a year out and a class act at all times. The quality of iginla is probably the only thing all alberta hockey fans agree on. ironic he is a product of the edmonton minor hockey system, but no one is perfect