hydropsyche

I believe that to be true. I get a bit pissed when I see someone playing a 16in fish for 10 minutes before releasing it. Its usually someone who hasn't caught a fish all day and wants to make the best of it. I do agree that the bigger the rod, the quicker you can land a fish and that is my goal. I lot of times, to my dismay, I LDR a fish because I'm trying to bring it in too fast. I've learned to live with that risk.

Are we forgetting about the tippet? That is the ulimate determinator as to wether backbone can be applied, is it not? Either the rod breaks or the tippet does. If I was fishing for stealhead, I wouldn't be using the 3wt but I also won't be using 4x tippet or a size 16 fly (and I wouldn't be fishing in Alberta). And you guessed it Tim, I do have an under rated 3wt (Dancraft FT - fast) and compared to that, the 6wt is a moderate action (Five Rivers).

It was healthy both times, believe me. First pict, it was dreary, hence the rain suit. Second pict, it was sunny. To those who know fish habits more then I, I imagine this fish goes to spawn. Do you think it travels to do that and then comes back to the same spot, or could there be some nice spawning ground near by and therefore didn't have to go far?

Just rambling some thoughts out. The weight of a rod is designed to toss the appropriate weight fly line more so then how big a fish you plan on catching. I can land a fish just as fast on my 3wt then my 6wt (they will both have the same size tippet on the end). Within reason. I wouldn't want to catch a 26in Brown on my one weight (fear the rod would break). So what determines which rod to use, for me, is how windy it is. I'd rather cast a 6wt line in the wind then a 3wt. Or how spooky the fish is (dry fly = 3wt), or how much gear I'm chucking (sjw rig = 6wt). Or how far I need to cast, etc. As you can tell, my vote is for a 3wt and a 6wt (and a 1wt for those dinks).

When I was a kid, I tried to kill one by stepping on it (on the sidewalk, even).... ..it just reared up and hissed at me. They've given me the creeps ever since.

Nope. I didn't write down what I caught it on the first time but my log says "nothing on the worm today". So it must have been a small nymph of some kind. This year it was on a size 14 hare's ear type softhackle.

That is great. You must be a photoshop wizard to throw this together so quick. Do you still have it full sized? I'll send you a PM. What? Burt? Hate me? Na. He likes me so much he comes to say hello every year.

It was the same run. Most likely, the exact same spot but I don't know for sure.

I was telling my fishin buddy how you can tell if a fish is the same by the spots. This guy is my lucky charm. He helped me land three of my biggest Browns to date. Each of them one year apart. Well, we were wondering if there was any chance any of the Browns were the same fish as the year before. This is the brown I caught last spring (sorry about the finger in the gill plate, but as you will see, it survived). Taped at 25.5 inches. This is the 27 in Brown I caught this year. Look at the spots. I'm pretty sure its the same fish. Caught 1 year apart and 1.5 inches larger. What are the odds? I can't wait til next year!!

I've never text messaged before in my life, but I don't get it. Text, compared to audio, is minuscule in size. Each character is 8 bits. "I luv u, q-t pie" takes a fraction of bandwidth to transmit over text then voice. I just don't get it.

Don, somehow, I don't think you and I can be classified as "laid back".

Yeah. but when you just landed that once in a season fish, don't you just gotta know?

Only in Canada would you have a prime minister (lawyer) present a bill of sale written on a dinner napkin and the RCMP ends up raiding the office of a bank as a result (*and* the guy goes on to win term after term (which results in other well known scandals)) Shawinigate

Martin. Yup. I'm cheap and I also believe a reel is to hold line. The drag comes into play if you're fishing for permit but rarely do you need a high quality smooth $400 drag for fresh water fishing. The most expensive reel I have is a $200 Ross and I can't say I ever lost a fish because of the quality of the reel. (...waiting for the barrage of responses telling me how wrong I am.... )

I don't think anyone should say they caught an X incher if they didn't actually measure it. They should say an X'ish incher, indicating it was a guess or an inaccurate measurement. Its funny how what you think is an 17incher is actually 15. It can go both ways for me. One time I guessed a fish to be 23 only to discover it was 25. I use a tape only for my own benefit. There is no other way to tell for sure if a fish is a personal best.

Wow. Very impressive, guys. Doesn't matter who goes onto the next round, these are all top quality files and you should all be very proud.

Yeee Haa. Ride em, Cowboy!

"..and I am getting very rich...." The mean temp of the earth as not warmed since 1998 (according to some sources). Don't get me started..... What I have noticed and what seems to be apparent is that winter is starting later and lasting longer into the "spring". Checking my fishing logs from years past confirms this.

Brent, tie one of these. Less studying and fishing, more tying. Do you think Jerome is fishing right now?

Perfect. Thats what I'm talking about. I'll be looking into that. Thanks. edit: 55' of middle shooting line. Meets my needs even more Rio Line

If a DT is the same thickness as the front part of a WT, as Jim alludes to, then what we have it 30' of thick line followed by 60' of thinner shooting line. I rarely fish 90' of line. Maybe 60, but not usually. 30' of thick line followed by 30' of shooting line followed by 30' of thick line. It may limit my shooting capabilites but it might just meet my needs. Especially for nymphing.

What I want to know is why the don't make WF lines with WF at both ends. That way, you can reverse the line when the front wears out just like a DT. Probably no mystery. Planned obsolesence. ($$$) If they did, I would buy one in a second.

I don't get it either, considering most albertans weren't even born here (me included). When we say "Alberta Drivers", we really mean "those who chose to move to Alberta drivers. My guess is its probably the same everywhere..... ps. Winter tires on my front wheel drive are still on. Usually come of after may long weekend.

I'm glad you had a great time. There are a few people on this board who kinda like the Bow. Condoms, tampons, poop and the occasional body aside.

Nice job. I really like the "personal" co-ed type touch. Welcome to the club.