Kodak101

Totally not necessary. Google maps is your best friend in this province. I'll often just pick a point on a road near a river, drive out and start fishing. I rarely walk more than 20 minutes to get to the river. The trunk road really is a choose your own adventure road, just follow it on google maps on satellite view and you can see just how many rivers cross or border it. The Highwood river is a favourite of mine and very easy to access west of Longview. Most of the land between the road and the river is public lease so crossing it isn't much of an issue. Also, check your PM.

Oh, well damn. Happy I managed to pick one up while they were still around. That being said, it's a great book, but it's not "spend $1,000 on this" good.

Hmm, must have gone out of print in the last couple years. I wouldn't give it too long before Mitchell decides to do a new edition, it's too popular a book to let it stay off shelves for too long.

Wait, $500? I'm pretty sure I picked up a copy at The Fishin' Hole for 20 bucks a couple years ago. I'm sure if you look around you should be able to find a copy online.

Managed to pick up a 12'6" 7wt Sage Accel on clearance - 40% off! Gonna give i a swing this weekend, for sure! Drift Outfitters still has a couple left on clearance if anyone was looking for a Sage at a steep discount!

Awesome, just what I wanted to hear!

Good to know! I'll start out swinging some standard wet flies and soft hackles to get the casting down and keep the dungeons on my single-handed rods. How do you find your 7wt handles trout on the bow RedBeard?

Oh yeah, in southern Alberta I'll be using this Spey setup just on the Bow - I love fishing the Highwood but I wouldn't bring a 13'6" rod to cover that water. I think I'll probably run with a 7wt to learn on, it will be able to handle sex dungeons and high winds - after a few years of practice if I love it for trout I can always size down, then I'll have a fine rod for summer steelhead/summer atlantics. And about the casting - yeah I'm not concerned so much about giant distance, it's about ease of casting and not having to worry about back casting room. Also I just want something new to learn. After playing with a buddies spey rod it's just a ****ing blast. It should also satisfy my gear acquisition syndrome for another couple years. (Should, not will.)

Yeah, I've already got a single handed 6wt, which covers my bases for dry fly and nymph work on the Bow - I'm really looking for something that can handle chinook winds and big chunks of rabbit fur. On calmer days where the trout are rising I'll be using the SH rod for sure. I've read a lot of differing opinions. Some say a 7wt spey is way too big, some say it's perfect for big streamers on windy days. Was hoping I might be able to get the opinions of some people here who have used a spey for big trout/steelhead applications.

Hey all, I'm looking to purchase a spey/switch setup to swing giant streamers on the Bow River to target big browns. After reading everything I can on the internet I have more questions then when I started. I'm thinking of a 12'6" in a 7 weight so that I can throw huge patterns without spending so much time chucking and ducking. Hopefully I can also use the rod to target steelhead, and perhaps the odd atlantic salmon trip back home in NB. Is there a rod that is capable of doing all of this? Or am I spreading the butter too thin? From what I understand, spey rods have far more power than their single handed counterparts. Does a 7 weight spey have the fighting power of a 9 weight single hand rod? If so, is this too big for large brown trout, or should I get a heavier spey to make sure I can turn over gigantic streamers? Let me know what your thoughts are, and thanks!

No need to apologize, this is the stuff I'm looking for. Especially from someone who was in my shoes last year. Just got the digital copy of Dynamic Nymphing, which I'm pretty excited about because it has seemed like the most complicated out of the dry/nymph/streamer styles. If anyone is looking for a fishing partner let me know, I'll be out quite a bit over the next few months.

I've actually had Trout Streams of Alberta on my kobo watch-list. I'll download it ASAP.

Yeah I've been downloading quite a few books for the e-reader: Joan Wulff's, The Orvis Guide, Little Red Handbook, Matching the Hatch, Reasonable Art of Fly Fishing, and a friend got me on The Drake - which is an awesome read but nothing for instruction. Any other books you would recommend? I got out on the Bow at Prince's Isalnd Park for about an hour this morning before work, but the section I decided to explore didn't seem particularly fishy. Got to work on my casting at least.

East slopes? I was under the impression that Calgary is in a eastern slopes management zone. Or do you mean something more specific?