Whats Wrong With Some People

[Wanny]

Sad and pathetic. I hope this guy is on this board to see how embarrassed he should be of himself.

 

I'm sure your little guy will come around to fishing again

[dube]

Sad and pathetic. I hope this guy is on this board to see how embarrassed he should be of himself.

 

I'm sure your little guy will come around to fishing again

 

 

I was thinking about this a little more and fishing the bow is a little like being on a surveillance camera. Lot's of us on this board, and with the posts of poaching and reg. infractions people are trying to be more vigilant in terms of "educating" everyone. Buddy, who is likely a member on this board and saw a spin fisher and his son and figured he'd "educate" them not stopping to consider maybe the dad did flyfish and frequent this board.

Even the rest of us putting in our .02$ about what we would have said or done. Any of us could be fishing the next run to this guy at any given day but just because he's flyfishing he gets the benefit of the doubt or maybe even some friendly **** chat.

 

I had never fished the lower bow until very recently. There are several reasons for this but the biggest being that it just seems like a *hit show. Of course as I suspected it is a very daunting river to fish if you haven't before and most of you will not be surprised to hear I got skunked. Part of me never wanted to fish it because of all the stories I hear on this board. People fishing it for years before ever catching anything. Others landing trophy specimens more times than not. Puts too many expectations into a guys head. Not to mention the fact that despite it being a big long river it seems it's getting hammered constantly so the chance of getting a section to myself seemed unlikely.My nymphing skills suck so as long as I fish certain rivers I rarely need to, which has been another reason to steer clear of the bow. Like I said lots of reasons I've never fished it.

 

Here's why I finally did, and trust me thee is a point to this whole rant;

I was heading into Canmore to visit my GF and was planning to fish the Highwood on closing day and made the mistake of going into Calgary to look at this Loop AEG rod. I had heard they were clearing out and read all the reviews and just wanted to have a look. I've been considering getting a new rod and last day of the season seemed like a good a time as any. So I call South Bow and asked about the rod and yes it was confirmed the had a good discount on the 5wt. So never having spent much time in Calgary I'm aimlessly driving around trying to find this ridiculous address, like what the hell is blah blah blah blah dewinton. WTF. I called directory assistance like three times not understanding what the hell I was hearing. I'm heading down Mcleod trail and decide to call the shop again, dude is super friendly and when he tells me the address I think he figured I was from out of town by my stunned silence not having any clue what blah blah blah Dewinton meant. "where you at?" he asked. "going south on McLeod", "keep on it, turn left on Dunbow, it's right there". So I'm driving and driving and driving out of town WTF. Finally Dunbow.....to late passed the turn off- " EFFIN' IDIOT" drove another how many clicks and turned around at the over pass.

Make it into the shop and proclaim I am indeed the fool from Edmonton looking for the sweet rod on closing day. Dude was super, gave me some options as to where to fish the upcoming weekend and sent me off with a dynamite stick LOOOOOOVE IT.

So off I go back towards the city and started thinking. I had originally bought the rod to take advantage of the sale and was going to sit on it until next season. Well obviously since I had gone ahead and bought it, it seemed crazy not to break it in the following day on the highwood. (closing day). God I'm a sucker. I started kicking myself for not buying a reel, probably would have been worth it to get rod reel line all in one shot. "EFFIN' IDIOT!!!!!". I had noticed Fish Tales on Mcleod on my way down and got the bright idea to stop in there and "have a look". Well long story short, after a bit of arm twisting I walked out of there with a very nice Ross reel. Bit of an upsell but the fellow who was working on me was making some sense and had an air of experience about him . Super friendly folks, need a bigger store btw.

So off I went with a brand new rig and one lousy day to fish it.

Headed down into K- country and had some luck on the upper highwood, nice day to end the season. Too nice even, great rod too! WOW. GF is bogged down with work so next day up to k- lakes....just to cast that baby some more.WOW. Next day, GF still needs to work for the day; off to grotto pond and snoop around the K river bow confluence and ended up fishing the bow above hwy 1 and managed a very nice brown hunkered down under a fallen tree on a steep cut bank. NICE ROD!!!!!!!!

I fished that baby hard for three days and was only driving my appetite to cast it further and further. Screw it I have one more day off and I'm going back to Calgary and am going to fish this bloody river and be done with it. So I head back to Southbow and did a little begging for some insider lowdown on how to get started. Same guy working and also another dude who was also there on the previous friday- must be a regular. I rave about the rod and didn't mention the reel ( I'm from the chuck- we got dick for fishing shops, no offense wholesale posse) and he was kind enough to: send me off to a spot, picked out a few flies and gave me some tips on how to rig it and fish it. Sweet, I was so stoked and felt a little more at ease at tackling this river.

Off I went and just like he said "probably no one there". Well actually there was some strange dude emptying out his car and had all this bizarre stuff that looked to me like it may have come form a house quite recently. I was a tad suspicious ( all my stuff was in my truck as I had been at the GF's) and reluctantly headed down to the river. It was quite isolated and I could not relax wondering about the shifty dude so I walked back up to check and passed a fellow heading down. Suspicious guy was gone and my truck still had all the windows so I turned a round and headed back. Caught up with the fellow and started to chat, standing by the river he gave me some good advice as to was to look for as far a current and what not and noted that lately he was finding them in closer to the bank than you might expect. Super friendly guy, and just like all the other Calgary folk I had met in the fishing community of the past couple days more than willing to help out. Good people.

So I fished and although I did actually spot a few and may have had a few ticks I got nothing. They were in close no doubt. It was nice to be out and was excited to be exploring new waters especially when I've seen splattered all over this board the beauties that it can produce.

 

Here's the moral of my story; at South Bow, Fishtales and the fellow streamside, this board came up. What was strange for me was that I suddenly had this moment where I was like oh *hit....can I give out my handle without getting sacked in the nuts? Now I haven't exactly been a thorn on here but I've had my moments and can be opinionated at times but some of us are really outspoken. I know full well the internet can provide a cloak of security in terms of running off your mouth but what if you come face to face?

 

I have to hand it to you guys who do know eachother and fish with eachother and this board is actually a real community in a lot of regards. Most of the participants are local and that should be a good thing as long as we make a point of acting as though it were face to face. Calgary is a big city and the bow has plenty of room but sooner or later you're bound to run into one another. Do you have the confidence in how you've acted on here to come out and say it to a stranger? Strangely I did not. I had this fear of how I may be percieved on this board compared to how I may be perceived in real life. Again, I stand behind what I say and I'm not such a flake as to have this online persona but on the other hand I know there have been times when I might have bit my tongue if it were a real life situation.

 

Anyway, for those of you who took the time to read this, thanks. My name is Royce and I hope I get to fish with some of you in the future. My new Loop rod will not wait until June so you can count on seeing me hopelessly flogging your river this winter. Next time I'll introduce both of myselfs.

 

Buddy who made the little fisher cry and ruined a little bit of heaven for his dad- think about what I've just said. I'd tell it to your face too.

[Guest Sundancefisher]

that was a pretty bad outing. I feel more sorry for that jerk as he clearly has problems dealing with others. You seem to have life under control and have a nice kid to go on outings with. I would suggest you get a Wii and a Wii fishing game to try and put the fun back into the experience with Dad.

 

good luck.

 

Sun

[jonn]

Thanks guys, it's good to see that I'm not alone in my views. I truly hope he gets a chance to read everyones posts, maybe it will open his eyes a little and if not, the river is a small place and I'm sure I'll see him around a bend when Logans not there hahahaha.

[jonn]

that was a pretty bad outing. I feel more sorry for that jerk as he clearly has problems dealing with others. You seem to have life under control and have a nice kid to go on outings with. I would suggest you get a Wii and a Wii fishing game to try and put the fun back into the experience with Dad.

 

good luck.

 

Sun

 

 

funny you should mention the wii, he's had one for a year and is convinced he's going to catch a mackerel or a needle fish every time we go out.

[jonn]

angeryjonn, wow sorry to hear about your experience, what a complete a$$hole! What age range was this guy?

 

Good for you for keeping your cool in front of your young son. I hope your son will forget about the negative experience and get out fishing with you again!

 

mid forties I would guess, Simms waders, blue north face jacket and brown hair.

 

[hopdrop]

For Sale: one pair Simms waders

one north face jacket - blue

 

 

 

[Hawgstoppah]

For Sale: one pair Simms waders

one north face jacket - blue

 

 

LOL hopdrop.

 

Wow that sucks. I would not have had the ability to restrain myself in such a situation. Good on ya. There are a lot of elitist pricks out there. Some pick on little kids and their dads for using spinning rods, some hate the san juan worm, some think steelhead shouldn't be fished with egg patterns... but ya know what? screw 'em... do what you have fun with and keep on having fun!

[SilverDoctor]

I don't think this has anything to do do with fishing. You just had an encounter with a self opinionated jerk. Plenty out there.

[Christofficer]

Sometimes facial expressions and the way one carries himself speak more than words. Many of times, nearly everytime I run into someone on the bow I get atleast 1 snarley look, depending upon how many people I run into. Whether I carry a spin rod or not that day, it doesn't seem to matter.

 

I'm really sorry to hear what happened to you, and am even more sorry the guy was such a jerk it changed your son's opinion. Fortunately, nothing like this ever happened to me......yet. But you have alot of patience, I commend you for that. If that were me, I would have drove my son home, went back, and he'd be paying for a new rod and a new set of pearly whites to his dentist. Anyways......

 

I happen to carry a spin rod EVERYTIME I go fishing. And a big ugly tackle box full of all sorts of lures. I never leave the house without it, it stays in the trunk of my car infact. I think it's complete BS someone should be looked down upon for spin fishing. Everytime I go with friends, we all use spin rods because I am not the best flyfisherman, and I get skunked sometimes...plus, I'm not really wlling to dish out the patience to teach casting at this point. So spin fishing is more of a guaranteed success for my noob peers. I also must admit, I bring beers with me sometimes. Last time I went before season ended, me and 4 other friends just merrily had a little bit of fun and drank some beers on the shore, and took in the scenery, joking around with eachother and enjoying our lives in nature. That's one of the best times I've ever had fishing honestly, I wish I could relive that day over and over. But you know what? we didn't use illegal bait, we didn't leave any garbage, We didn't do anything ethically we weren't supposed to, we were quite a ways away from the city. Just good clean fun with some friends. A couple of fly fisherman walked by and gave us an evil glare, but I didn't care, I was having fun. It may have been due to the fact we all had beers and we were hootin and laughin at each other, or it may have been because we weren't dressed up like old men with bulky waders and a $400 fishing vest, speaking very low and drone. If you're not doing anything wrong, nobody has the right to say sh*t about what you are doing, where you are going, or how you are fishing. Pardon my language..... but this is a free country, you can use all the spin gear you want and if it's not breaking the law you can fish however you like.

[slingshotz]

I really can't understand what the elitist attitude toward spin casting comes from. Still love my spinning gear and while I don't use it on the Bow anymore I still miss it many times when I'm getting skunked on the fly rod. The thrill of a fish on with spinning gear, fly or Tenkara rod are all just as exciting and gets my heart racing just the same. I enjoy fly fishing but I also enjoy sitting on a shoreline baitfishing or sitting in a shack jigging a smelt up and down, nothing wrong with any of them as long as I'm following the rules.

 

I'm glad we never encountered anyone like that when I was growing up and fishing with my dad. Thought you handled it very well considering the situation, I probably would have taken down his licence plate and reported him to the CRA for tax evasion, people never see that coming .

 

Judging from the educated posts on this board, I highly doubt that idiot is part of these forums so don't let that one bad apple make a stereotype out of all of us. I found my old 1983 fishing regulations (in mint condition too!) and on the front cover it's got a really great statement. Wish they would put it again on the new regs.

 

[rhuseby]

That is some of the most assinine behavior I've heard of in a long time. I started with a spin rod and bait, and my kids still use primarily spin gear, although there is usually a fly attached these days. As long as you're following the regulations I could care less what method you use. I have been known to physically threaten people who acted like towards kids (and not just my own). Kids can be totally turned off for life by experiences like that, although most will get over it with some encouragement. I sincerely hope this idiot is reading all of these comments and crawls back under whatever rock he dared to drag himself out from under.

[iamfrontosa]

i hope this idiot is a member of this forum, and is reading this.