maxwell

well the last two months of the year treated me pretty good! got out on a few trips to hunt bulls pike and lake whites and spent a ton of time on the bow!!! bring on 2012! looking forward to this years travels! wish all of yall the best of luck this year! hope yall enjoy the pics...

dope photos dude! call me crazy but it almost looks like u ahve a brooky bull hybrid in that last couple photos.. did u notice any halos or worm ish marking on that one !?

the alst thread has some good info im on board. we need regulations. we halfto cut down the number of barely halftime guides so the guides like myself who has committed to this job has the work to stat employed. not many industries support occasional work when a little extra money is around and it bugs me exspecially on the days when i know good guides are not working but weekend or shift work guides are out there making someone elses money. get in or get out IMHO i wish i could play a few games a year for the flames n make some extra cash but thats not gonna happen so lets kill that dream in this industry.. pgk is right i think if we had rod days the outfitters and flyshops with the highest seniority should have th dibs not some rich dude who barely guides looking to **** others over long term... i wish we could control the dams more some what(mainly for low flows right now!!! we should have a little mor water if we get no snow!!!) but flooding the city, losing power or whatever that might happen will probably harsh my mellow more than fishing streamers for a few days while they settle down or lower water right now as long as the spawning channels have flows!... the river is well regulated that way IMHO with the exception of the spray lakes dam this year that deposited tons of silt... the bow is a blue ribbon stream partially because of our dam we put in at bearspaw as well as the numerous other ones... another part about a guide union would be to actually have some sort of a pention to actually build and pay into so that when me and other guides retire we are not left with nothing ( i get rrsp and other saving stuff but...) same with healthcare and all the other stuff JOBS usually have when run by a governing body... the biggest problem with the cutty streams is access i guide them all the time the canadian rockies is a large place for destination travel and tourists and bucket list fisherman are more than willing to fish these places because it is the place they have dreamed of there whole lives... lets not allow guiding for bonefish while we are at it, pacific salmon and many other species across the globe that us canadians (and guidies) go and get guided on.... i think many of these streams would be far better if there was a limited access with no random camping.. my clients would be willing to walk and we do treat the fish far better than most people i see out there including the "hardcore" fisherman who disrespect the non trophy fish... the same ones that would or can become trophy if they are cherished and taken care of the most!!! barry mitchel had a great article on this!!! totally changed my mind on some things... a tri yearly closure on sensitive areas like from the falls up to the racehorse confluence or whatever i can name other stretches too... single fly only to im all for fish you dry or bust ou a bobbr but dont do box thos ctiesget so hok shyand so many eple belly hook tons of em when they nip a the hoppers... we need another campsite or two on the livingstone portion of the trunk road. syncline along the castle confluence and up on the carbondale. the people killing the msot fish are the only one for the pan crowd and teh c n r fly guys so horney to get more pictures of fish they caught the week prior! gettting mid teen cutties is a daily things so why handle them all the time for another picture... less camping wherver with more of a challenge and weeding out the lazies these fish will bounce back huge IMHO they dont live long and a few generations will be super abumdant again...

nice looking flies!!!

well it still feels like fall lol but september and october were great to me! lots of great adventures some epic fall colors and consistant fishing across the province!!! the last month hasnt bin to bad either heres a bunch of photos from my journies! enjoy...

nice dude!!! love the photo overlay dealio trippy stuff!!

i like the 25 and 55lb slick shooter i find it stacks better and like other hanve mentioned it is coily to start but it gets better if u use it! after 20 hours or so maybe less it is alreay lip only the reels i use a few times a year for steelhead may have a little memory when i first take em out but limp really fast and are golden my whole trip.. the trick i have found with monic running lines is using them.. the brand new mono running line has memory but after you use it for a few days and limp it each time your good to go once it reaches its break in period... i try to stretch out my whole line on a tree when i frst get it and stretch it really good a few times too cut down on the break in period! it helps huge!! never going too use a regular running line again not even on the bow or steelhead streams this winter. im not a big fan of frog hair because its thin its shoots crazy but almost over shoots at times and gets in a rats nest more often than the slick shooter. it kinks and stays kinked too making it more likely too know in that same place again.. i do have the big stuff 60 and 80 lb on my metal deterctor 720 tho and 80lb spider wire for teh backing........ nothings gonna get away from me with that rig

13 foot 9 wt or somewere around there should have you covered for steel, chinooks, chum and coho kinda deal if you loooking for a happy medium for all of that ish kinda thing... i like short rods dont own anything past 13' 6" most are 12 i find em a little easier to use on smaller rivers overhanging brush and things like that and a little easier too toss scandi and skagit lines. but i got buddies who fish 13-15 foot rods on alot of the same rivers. my favotire rod this year has bin a 11'6" 9wt spey on small or large rivers still can push big flies and toss long bombs but handles really well in tight places and such...

monger i think u nailed it for me.. growing up reading all the stories about the tug or pull seeing all the fancy flies and now for me loving spey casting with double handed rods. its all about the experience! nymphing beats streamer fishing hands down anywere thats not hard too figure out. but if i wanted too nymph i would. for me its about the cast and the hunt and finding a good fish. looking for em stacked in a bucket eating eggs, stones, drakes, caddis etc isnt why i drive out there. i have buddies who do and yes they "beat" me in the numbers department and most of the locals in the west coast gear fish with spoons n glow bugs.. the PNW USA and great lakes dudes aswell cuz its all about numbers.. same with most of my clients/non locals i see here.. they come to dry fly fish for cutts not nymph up numbers... i think were people get really pissed off is when one who does it one day is getting "showed up" or looked down because he has less fish at the end of the week... ive bin there almost every trip!! i might get one or a few in a week while my buddies who nymph steelies average those numbers daily...

tacos right.. but the battle is lost.. i think rainbows will take over by the time im his age and if we want too keep numbers up we need to resrtic the number of angling days.. some stretches i use to hammer fish dont have many not because they are smarter they just dont live there any more.. even now were i can check the winter holes and get a good idea on fish per km i just dont see the same fish schooling up. cutties are native but they are gullable and numbers are dropping imho due to over fishing and handling each season then whats left the following year mixes with the rainbows and the fish are further dilluted.. some are still around but to truly preserve them would be to stop angling for them altogether and having river keepers go through and murder all the ones who are un pure..

cutties are on the way out specially in the oldman and castle drainages not too mention highwood sheep and anywere else there are rainbows.. im all for a harder fighting, larger, more reproductive species.. and the rivers taht once had cutties and dont now like ghost or kanaskis river are buggered because of dams... im all for cutt bows rainbows and browns! if they are looking at stocking similar strains into lakes they do BC aswell they should! our lakes are brutal compared to some of theres and some of it has to do with the strain... would be cool to see some epic still water action in alberta... save some of my buddies gas money ripping across the border i suppose..

i have a board member who has booked the 12th and is looking for someone too fill the second seat possibly. the cost would be $200. please send a pm if interested!

the last of em!! cheers!

here are a bunch more!!

had a blast this year out in teh mountains and on the bow! spent some quality time with my girl and my baby sister on the bow and in the mountains. got a chance too hunt some bulls with a buddy a few times but spent most of my time on the bow hunting fish eating mayflies and hoppers hope the last few months have bin good too yall! bin loving the fall colors lately! many more pictures to come!

like other mentioned for dries terrestrials has bin my go to for my clients the past couple weeks. midges and small mayflies too if we get decent hatches... the hoppers have bin pretty small out west ive bin having luck on smaller ones 3/4" long or so with tiny droppers. fish are moving out of the fast water too and stacking into the winter holes... was out on a 3 day trip with a client last week and we had tuff fishing in the morning there was really a 4-5 hr period were the fishing was good if we covered water and found the holes they stacked up on.

i will be offering my falls walk and wade specials to all FFC members again this year for the month of october! this year we also have float specials on the bow. this is a great way too learn how too fish your favorite stretch better, see a new part of the river. build more skill and confidence with your casting and fishing tactics! the cost for a full day walk and wade 1 or 2 people is $300 or $200 for a half day for float trips the cost will be $400 1 or 2 people please email me trips@bowcrow.ca or shoot me a pm on the forum! feel free to ask any further questions. looking forward too meeting more of yall and knocking a few years off of your learning curve! maxwell

its great marketing! its a nice rod forsure but like most high end rods they are good if oyu are a good caster.. i get lots of clients with balling gear that hinders there casts more than my low end and mid range sticks i give em halfway through ever would.... but it is a nice rod to cast imho