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Only 3 days to go!!..........A reminder to make cheques payable to Trout Unlimited Canada and send them to A. Caldwell, 137 Coachwood Point, Lethbridge, Ab. T1K 6A6............Be sure to mark the auction item(s) you are paying for on the cheque......Or you can pay by contacting TUC in Calgary (Kimberly) and use your Visa........Items can be collected by contacting Toolman once they've been paid for........... Here's the summary to date: Items bought and paid for $3600 Items bought but not yet paid $3950 Items bid and still open $1460 Subtotal: $9010 Items with no open bid $1525 (#24,26 and 39) Can we break the $10,000 mark??..................We'll know by Saturday!!

I build (assemble) rods and I like an 9' 8 wt. for pike and a bit softer..........This is good because the Forecast blanks are perfect---and cheap!!........If you know anyone who builds or if you build rods yourself you can do up a pretty nice rig for about $100..........Any decent reel (I like the Pfleuger Trion or President which are about $130 or so) that will hold an 8 WF floating line (Cortland used to make a pike taper but not sure they do any more but no need to get real fancy and if you're on a tight budget cheap is fine here too) with 50-100 yards of 20 pound backing will do........Pike seldom run very far but big pike dog it and can be fun to land........ Jaw spreaders are a must and most tackle shops have them........Poppers and pike flies are easy to tie and if you tie yourself look at Dryfly's pike page for help here and some other useful tips as well such as how to snell them with wire leader which is also a must......... http://members.shaw.ca/clives/pikeflyfish.html I also use a glove for big fish as it just makes them a bit easier to handle.......Pike are a hoot in the spring and fall but most action is in the 4-5 foot depth range....For evenings in the summer when they take poppers are about as much fun as you can have with your clothes on.........Enjoy!!

Thanks to both of you!!!.....What a great idea!! ......Wish someone had been that clever when my kids were growing up.....

$260 on item #38.....

Right on!!..........$10K would be Super Sweet and we have 2 weeks to go...........I'll be doing my best over the next week (in Cuba bonefishing with a bunch of rich guys ) to get some bidding going on the guided trip at Tecumseh.......That's a great deal and I'm surprised we haven't had some action yet...... TUC (Kimberly) is back at work and taking credit card payments for auction items........Whether you pay by Visa or send a cheque to me, payments are to be made to Trout Unlimited Canada and PLEASE note the auction item(s) by lot number that the payment is for..............

$220 on item 38........

Any of you Calgary guys know that spot??...........You'll have to tell Clive again to stop giving away the secret holes........

The donor of an auction item is eligible for a receipt...........The buyer is not as they get the value of the item........No double dipping........... Al........

I feel alot better now..........Makes the 8 rods I BUILT over the winter more satisfying somehow..........

Looks like those fish had been frozen to me.......I'd bet he could have fished it BEFORE it was open...........A guy who'd whack that many fish would likely break ALL the rules........

Finally!!!..............A fly named after Dryfly and me!!.......

I know of the canning suckers thing........I grew up on a ranch near Drumheller and there was a creek (WillowCreek) that fed the Red Deer........Was almost dry most of the year but big flow in the spring............During the 50's the town of East Coulee was a thriving mining town with mostly east-block escapee's who had fled to Canada.......Poles, Hungarians, all of the Slaviks.......In the spring the suckers would run up Willow creek to spawn and apparently you could fork them out with pitchforks wherever there was a constriction like a deadfall or thin water...........Canned suckers apparently were on the menu for alot of the kids I went to school with..........Sort of like heron, I guess-------an acquired taste.......... Al...

Yeah, and then eat the pot........

Here's a note sent to the Streamwatch Committee yesterday outlining how our fundraising is going..........I can't say enough about the support we've had on this auction and it's surpassed even our most optomistic budget projections...........Keep spreading the word!!........... Here's a Budget to Actual report for the week ending February 22: Source /Budget /Actual Corporate/5000/0* (raffle prizes donated by Crowsnest Angler valued at $500) Individuals/5000/2400** Trout Unlimited Canada/2000/ 0 (raffle prize donated valued at $750) OMR TU/5000 /5000 (pledged) Other TU/2000/0 Raffle/3000/0*** U of L/1000/1000 Auction/2000/6750**** Other/0/camera, GPS, raffle prizes,donated Total/25,000/14,650 * There are request out to over 30 companies and 3 grants have been applied for. ** We are stalled a bit here but have a number of requests and pledges that need to be followed. *** We will print 800 raffle tickets at $10 each. Assuming 50% we can improve our budget by $1000. We need lots of help selling raffle tickets!! **** Response by donors and bidders has been tremendous. In addition to the $6750 in sold or currently bid items, there are $1850 of items with no current bids and donations are still coming in with the closing date still set at March 15. A full list of Auction Donors will be posted later. We're over half way there............Please follow up on your contacts, make new ones and keep spreading the word........ Al Caldwell Southern Alberta Streamwatch

Hmmm...........Wong???...........From Ontario???............Fishing a lake near Medicine Hat????............Why would HE care if he's destroying the place??........And I agree with those who've said suspending his liscense for a year is in the WGAF category 'cause this dude likely doesn't buy a liscense anyway............Did someone say shoot him in the kneecap??...............

One fly might use my entire inventory of tying materials...........

Not sure what's up at TUC but I think Kimberly is on holidays........I left a voice mail for her on Tuesday and haven't heard from her yet.......I called last week and Doug Cressman answered her line and said she was away but didn't give me details..........Maybe wait til next week BBT and try then..........If you have trouble let me know........ Al.......

Right on, Greg.......We need to keep up the momentum because as you say our corporate sponsors haven't really shown themselves yet.......By the way, here's an interesting note........As of now, there have been 5832 views on this post and about 1800 on the Streamwatch come to S. Alberta thread...........If we charged $10 a view we'd have enough for the next 3 years....... ..........Let's not let it die folks, it's up to us.......... Al........

34. TACO'S CUTTHROAT SAFARI...with Host/Guide Taco More info. from Taco... "I'll offer up one guided Aug- early Sept Cutthroat trip for 1 or 2 anglers, somewhere in the headwaters of the OMR, buyers choice of time and place. I'll supply food and beverages. Meet in the Gap area and the buyer(s) must have the ability to ride in a cowman's regular cab truck, with all it's associated sounds and smells." -Current bidder: $150/ReelLife I'm hopin' you guys get checked by the Streamwatch officer!!!.............. Al........

Jim, the first rod I built---er, assembled---was a 2pc. Orvis Spring Creek 9'3" that I bought from you and got your advice on how to assemble it when your shop was down on Richmond Road----probably about 1980.......It was a noodly, soft, slow rod and it was the rod that really taught me how to flycast........I used that rod and nothing else for years throwing everything from tiny drys to big weighted streamers.........Cast like a dream and although I seldom use it anymore----it became a 8'9" when I broke the tip off and had to re-wrap it---I still prefer softer rods to the ultra quicks that seem to be the norm now........As Taco pointed out, you adjust your casting stroke to the rod and they all work fine---really just a matter of preference........ Al.....

That's nice!!!...........

Don here's an observation..........Seems to me that with graphite at least, (I know nothing about fish grass) the higher modulus graphites---read faster, stiffer, whatever--often don't load with the recommended line........Line weight seems to be determined, by the rodmakers at least, more by the diameter and weight of the rod rather than the action..........I assemble rods (I built them until today when I read your post) and I find that with the softer rods the recommended line weight is sometimes correct and sometimes too heavy wheras with the quicker ones the recommeded line is usually too light to load the rod properly---or at least the way I like it..........Whatcha think??

:) You guys (and gals) are nothing short of incredible!!.......When our Streamwatch Committee met to plan our attack and do the budget, we were hoping for $2000-$2500 from the auction...........We are now well over $5000 and the bids and items, keep on coming in!!..........Absolutely FANTASTIC!!..........And keep in mind that if we exceed our budget this year, the funds will carry over for next---every penny donated or bid, will stay with Streamwatch............Keep it up folks and many thanks!! Al Caldwell Southern Alberta Streamwatch :)

Good for you LS!!..........I'm sure you're under-rating yourself as a tyer..........Thanks for supporting the cause.....

Great point Stoppah........I have emailed this thread to a bunch of my "wealthy" contacts who don't use the Board........I will gladly bid on thier behalf...........This is a great auction item and while pricey for some of us (Clive and I are on fixed incomes ) it would be a great recognition and reward item for a company to use as an incentive..........And, given the variety of recreation, even a non-flyfisher would be thrilled!!