alhuger

Yeh, I hear you. I use distance as an indicator that I have my form sorted out, nothing more. That being said I have fished this year where distance did matter and I did need long casts. I like casting scandi but I generally dislike bringing along multiple lines. I like the compact skagit right now as it's pretty utilitarian for me. I will certainly end up fishing the scandi again as well but right now I am really digging the compact. al

What a horrible waste.

All, Lately I’ve been working diligently on getting my form sorted out with a Skagit cast. I judge my casts not by their distance as much as by their consistency. By this I mean I select a distance and attempt to consistently put the line out to the mark and have it land in ‘fishing’ condition. Fishing condition to me means the fly lands straight and the line is not piled up or otherwise looking bizarre. My casts are typical Skagit casts and a double (cack handed and regular) spey. I am not generally performing simple roll casts unless I am slumming it with an indy :> When practicing I am using a compact Skagits and rods in lengths from 12.6 to 13 feet. I am fishing them with 12-15 feet of sinking tip (typically type 3) and around 3 feet of leader and a 4-5 inch fly. I was attempting to fish a longer leader with smaller flies but I was corrected on this (my turnover sucked). Typically I am managing consistency with about 60-70 feet in running water and that is after I get my rhythm. I am judging this by knowing that my head/leader/fly is going to be 3 times rod length (I rig it as such) and then count how many rod lengths I am shooting by managing two loops roughly the length of my rod. In a casting pond where I do not have to manage line I can hit 75-80 with some regularity. I am using distance here as a marker because I know my line soars when my form is right and *hit falls apart when my form is poor. My goal this coming year is to be able to fish up to 80 feet on both banks with real solid consistency. How is everyone else who is new to the spey coming along? Anyone have any lessons they’ve learned that they can share which helped them better their cast? al

Agreed, I was not trying to present it as such.

It was not an attempt a lecture, if it came of as such I am sorry. It was commentary, nothing more. I agree it's something people can control and should. It was also certainly not trolling, I have better *hit to do, honest. As for beaching, it has nothing to do with pictures when I see it, I see people do it who are fishing on their own and using it as a way of getting the fish in. Perhaps they cannot tail it or don't care to. I am not sure which. To be clear, I use a net as I am not great at tailing fish, even big ones.

For the bow I like my TFO 12.6 DC and my Loop Opti 4wt. I really had a good time with both this year on the bow (incidentally much of that was w/ Headscan :> ). al

Dude, all the fish handling issues in the Skeena system do not hold weight to the gill netting, beach seining and general commercial fishing the system suffers. I do not often hear stories of dead chrome washing up on the beaches the rivers in the system and I suspect we would yes? But I see a great many photos of fish on or slightly above rocks, I am not defending the practice but rather putting it in perspective. Plus the AMP is not about fish being mishandled or conservation at all, it's about locals being pissed off that their water is crowded. BTW, it's not like BC residents are not in the habit of beaching their fish on their sides and then after flipping the fly out reviving them in the water. I have seen it plenty and I believe it's common place, right or otherwise. al

I have caught with weighted scuds on the bow they are my substitute for not having czech nymphs. I am not sure if they are resident in the river or not.

Well, it's not what people like to hear but I can state, qualitatively, that you generally (although not always) get what you pay for when it comes to AV. If your kids are active on the same system you bank from I would suggest you shell out the money for real AV. My suggestions would be go with an AV package that has anti spyware support and not the other way around. al

I was not ragging on the US.

Sure we have plenty of folks who fit that category but they do not lobby (effectively) nor do they generally have strong representation in government in any way even close to what we see in our southern neighbor. It's not apples to apples when it comes to a governmental point of view. Sure, on the ground it can feel the same way. My apologies if it offended any Americans on the board, that was not my intent. I am big fan of the US, I have worked and lived there off and on for the last 15 years. al

That is a good point actually I forgot to mention that you double over the tip before you tie on the knot. I fished for two days with salmon on and the rig held up done like that.

URL to the screenshot is attached. I bet you it's serving it up to me because I am coming from a US IP which is why likely none of you are seeing it. http://www.winterhope.com/Picture%201.png

There is currently a banner on the site being served up consistently, the 'Marriage is Between a Woman and Man' banner. I hope this is being served up by an ad server in some agnostic fashion rather than being something the site owners are choosing to put up. It's myopic backwoods religious right homophobia fresh out of middle America and it has no place on a fly fishing forum. Seriously, what's next, Pro-Life or Pro-Choice banners? They might all have their place but it's certainly (I really, really hope) not here. al

Something I saw recently which I liked was on the fly end the tip you nail knot on 30 or 20# test and then you triple surgeons now on your tippet from there. Fewer in flight tangles and it catches up on bottom less. Also saves you a little work on the loop. al

Hey Rusty, I just keep a well organized leader wallet but you can also mark them by taking a small piece of paper coloring it and then using something like epoxy (or the loon stuff) to enamel it on by the base loop. Are you looping both ends?

I see more Albertan's in BC with nice boats than I do British Columbian's by far. I suspect allot of the guys buying them would fish them up in the interior where they have holiday homes. Beats PST and BCI... al

Holy smokes, that's super impressive. I have no idea the community lakes had such nice rainbows. Almost makes me miss living in arbor lake! Nice fish guys!

Great pics looks like a nice season.

I love loud reels, so count me in that crowd! I really like the islanders but am always nervous when swapping spools out when I am in the water. Too many pieces to possibly hit the water... I can attest to the durability as well, my cousin guides north of Rupert and has fished the same center pin Islanders for maybe a decade now with thousands of salmon fought on them. They still work as smoothly as if they were new. al

Awesome thread. Well, some things I learned this year: 1. Better gear does not make a better angler. 2. I need to stop buying more gear, I need time on the water and I cannot buy it. 3. This sport is like constantly drinking from a fire hose. I am always learning more than I can process. 4. People mistreating fish really, really piss me off. 5. People keeping fish (particularly salmon and wild steelhead) in systems that are in trouble piss me off. 6. I need to stop getting pissed off. Nobody (including myself) likes a zealot :> 7. I will probably suck at this for a very long time and I am not sure I care. It's that much fun. al

I take spey rods (4 piece) on Air Canada flights as carry on all the time. I have done the same on United. Both to destinations in Canada and the USA. al

Bah, c'mon you've fished salmon on center pin reels so you know that drag is for the weak! I think (for the most part) nothing in fresh water that I've fished for requires much in the way of heavy drag and nothing is as as sensitive to pressure adjustments as your hand. I am admittedly somewhat of a newly coined zealot on this. al

I have to agree with Doc, I love the Hardy's. I fished salmon last week on a Ross Momentum beside a Hardy Bougle MK IV. Wow, the Hardy kicked it's ass. No drag, all palm, more fun than should be legal. I am selling all my reels to switch over (except my salt stuff). al

Happy Birthday Marc!