alhuger

I was going to upload some of my photos for this season but realized it would be easier to just post the URL to my home site. I have a series of photos up from this year at: http://www.winterhope.com/Winter/Fishing_P...ing_Photos.html Mostly they are this year although there are some others, I am terrible at taking photos on what I catch, I am usually too worried about pushing my luck with handling them for the photos. I should take more. -al

I'm no expert but when I was out this last week I had a similar experience although fewer hits. The one I did land was on the swing and it was totally unambiguous. The same was true when I was in BC a couple of weeks ago, the takes where I lost were soft, the one I landed was fierce grab, mid swing. I wonder if part of it given the length of line out that my touch is not as sensitive so I am not setting right where otherwise the current was helping set the hook. -al

I work in technology and the higher dollar is without question affecting my industry. It is becoming more and more fiscally responsible for me to hire over seas (in India and China etc.) than it is locally. The trade offs were more palatable to argue away when the dollar was weaker against the greenback. For background, my company is US based, we have over 100 people here in Calgary but I think growing that is a challenge (not impossible, but more challenging) with a weak US dollar. So it's not just energy feeling it. -al

Everyone, Thanks for the advice, it was just what I was looking for. With regards to long lines, the Airflo site states that their long belly line is not a great choice for people new to spey casting, any idea why? I am assuming simply because it's a challenge to move all of that head if you are not used to the cast. However, if I only have as much line out as I can handle with the long belly still throw the same as the mid belly I have? I would like to practice with both if I can. -al

With the us and cdn dollars now at parity+ I've been doing some shopping online with US distributors to pick up things I have a hard time finding locally without special ordering. I have noticed though that there is a allot of product out there right now on the net which is in fact cheaper than what we can get locally, even with shipping. I am not advocating doing all your shopping online because supporting local shops is important but I do like to save money where I can. Color me practical. I am wondering if anyone else is following suit (or has been doing it for a while) and if they have any particular retailers they like? I have been dealing with feather-craft.com and am so far pleased. -al

All, I've recently picked up a spey rod and am quickly becoming obsessed with it. The down side to this is that I am a bit over burdened with questions and and have a pretty limited audience to ask questions to. Thankfully my wife knows nothing about spey casting or otherwise she'd likely be be further unimpressed by my hounding and then realize that my (already barely tolerated) fly fishing sickness has worsened! So folks, be patient with me while I ask some pretty simple questions. Qustions: 1. I recently bought a TFO DeerCreek 5/6 on SilverDoc's and Toolman's suggestions. It's an awesome rod and both places I have taken it now for practice (in BC and here) have ended up catching me fish, on water I could otherwise never have hit. However I am still a little perplexed at the gain rating (in general actually). This rod is rated at 350 to 550 grains, but what does this variance mean? I am assuming at 350 I am at the min it will need to throw well and that at 550 I am approaching where it starts to throw poorly given the mass it's trying to push. What is the sweet spot? Is this easy to define? 2. Lines, grains... I recently bought an Airflow Delta spey line (7 wf) and it seemingly has no grain associated with it that I can find on the bow. Is this common on non sinking tip lines? Is there any way to figure it out? I am trying to add up my line and tip weight so I can move the 15 foot sinking tip I have with some degree of grace. 3. Long belly versus skagit etc. My goal this summer is to use this rod for both still and running water fishing but I am unsure what lines to invest in. I currently have about a 45 ft head on my line (I believe) and would like to move to a longer belly line. My goal here is to be able to push the line out and not have to strip back into 25 feet or so (I think this is the standard length of a skagit no?) in order to push it back out again. I also want to fish a sinking tip with a decent sized flys (think intruders) at times. Suggestions? 4. Polyleaders. These look like a merging of a leader made of different material which (unless your floating) also doubles as your sink tip system. Do you end up tying the fly right to this polyleader? At 15 bucks a pop this seems pretty pricey given you will be cutting it down, am I missing something? -al

Well, mines not terribly impressive but reading all of yours did make me think on it, so for this year here goes: Rivers: Adams Anesty Beaver Bow Highwood Seymour Little River Still: Shuswap Salt: Ascension Bay, MX Tulum coast and Playa Del Carmen coast, MX Work Channel, .CA Pacific (outside of Work Channel) .CA Species Caught : Bonefish Bull Trout Carp Chinook Chum Coarse Fish (pike minnows, long nose suckers, etc. - not counting whitefish as coarse) Coho Cutties Lake Char Pinks Whitefish Rainbows Sockeye Snapper Species Fished for (but skunked on): Barracuda Brown Trout Bull Trout (in a river) Permit Snook Tarpon Not sure how many days I had on the water although I would guess less than 30. I try to avoid being an absentee dad or a shitty husband due to my obsession with fishing! Also not sure how many I caught, enough I suppose but not enough to dampen my need to get on the water... I hope to improve my days on the bow (with a spey rod I hope!) in the coming year and over the winter perhaps, it's a great river to have in your backyard but it can certainly be intimidating if you are not well versed on it (or on rivers in general). -al

I'll go out on a limb and disagree with most of the folks here. Life is tremendously short and I would never advocate spending your time on something you do not feel your able to commit to. I am not saying that your education is not important, because clearly it is, but I am saying that if you feel you actually have the discipline to return (and this is not simply a cop out), I say go. I left school early and took some time to live. I did eventually return and I did much better than I had previously. The whole experience of taking a break left me no worse for wear. I am surrounded by men I work with who are in the same boat. I think the real fear is that leaving equates to not coming back and finishing out. U of C is not going anywhere and nor is the industry you will eventually enslave your soul to. Good fishing though is harder and harder to find. -al

Thanks Toolman & Max, I appreciate the info. Any preference between the bow and the elbow? Are the browns gathering up in the elbow right now for staging before they spawn?

All, My days are getting longer of late and my ability to hit the bow after work in the evening is getting pretty limited. As a result I've decided to fit in some early morning fishing around where I live, which is the inner city. I live in walking distance of the both the bow and elbow and am looking at hitting them somewhere between 5:30 - 6:00 in the morning for an hour or two fish each day before work (reality permitting). The problem though is that I have never fished either body of water early in the morning and am unsure what to start with. My time is limited so experimentation will be costly. Any advice? I am assuming the water is chilly enough to slow down any heavy hatches so am I looking at nymphing and maybe streamers? Any advice would be appreciated. -al

Argentina is an awfully big place so my commentary may only hold for the places I know and my experience is with Buenos Aires (province & city). Getting by without Spanish is doable in places like Buenos Aires or Cordova but it gets dicey in rural areas. Having said that though, it's not that tough as long as your polite, patient and are willing to at least try some Spanish. Anywhere there is allot of angling though your likely going to find english as pretty much the default language, the same is true of anything that's tourist driven in Argentina (which is allot these days). I have not fished there but I've been there a bit for business and it's *amazing*. The Argentines in the rural areas are pretty serious about their hunting and fishing, as much or more so in some areas as here. If you end up committing to going let me know and I can point you in the right direction for what's safe, what's not, how to get around while there etc. -al