Thursday, April 29, 2010

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

A number you should have..

Plug this number into your phone for Report a Poacher. Worth it to protect our fisheries!
1-800-642-3800

Read more about it here,

http://www.ab-conservation.com/go/default/index.cfm/programs/report-a-poacher/

Sunday, April 25, 2010

"Happy" Fish

We often get funny looks when we speak of "happy" fish, so I thought I'd define it. We've all seen them. Fish that are either eating bugs on top very consistently (a super happy fish going left/right/left/right with only a half second in between is usually a pretty awesome thing).

Fish don't have to be eating on top to be "happy." We spend a ton of time doing sited fish stuff where the fish is 'nymphing' hard. The fish might be up in the column, but typically these fish are obvious by their hard movements to eat bugs.

There are also 'moody' fish, typically Brown Trout. A lot of time Brown's will not push when you spook them, but sit on the bottom and stop eating. It can be the most annoying thing in the world when you find a fish, and go through your entire box without the slightest interest. Usually you've spooked them without knowing it, and the fish aint gonna eat!

Either way, if you get a happy fish and you put the right bug in front of it's face, you'll be rewarded.


Here's some happy fish we've seen lately.



Friday, April 23, 2010

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Been seeing some of this lately

There has been a little bit of this lately on the Bow..pretty awesome dry fly fishing, if that wind ever settles down for 2 minutes! A lot of these fish are being beat on pretty heavily, so a longer leader and a good cast can make the day!


New Species Coming to a Stream Near You



Some Brown obviously got drunk one Fall. Lord, how a Whitefish with lowered inhibitions can cause havoc in nature!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Dork of the Month Award

Originally posted by the guys at Moldy Chum.

This month's Dork Award is shared between "English Pete"
and FRR Magazine.



Over a year ago the story of Peter Harrison, AKA English Pete, and his,"world record" Hoh River steelhead, was making the rounds on all the fish blogs, forums and porn chat rooms. In a nutshell, Pete hooked a REALLY big steelhead on the Hoh, claimed it was mortally wounded, clonked it, and then proceeded to submit the fish to the IGFA for world record certification. At the time many people called bullshit on Pete's claims that the fish was, "bleeding heavily from the gills" and he dispatched the fish purely for his personal satisfaction in recording a "world record" fish. Ultimately Pete got his IGFA record even though we've all seen images of larger fish that were released by serious steelhead anglers. Why the IGFA even issues world record status to endangered fish is another whole topic of conversation.

Then, through advancements in modern print media, Fly Rod and Reel published Pete's story over a year later in their most recent issue......with an intro from none other than Joan Wulff. We heard about it from the Chum nation and never quite got around to calling bullshit on Fly Rod and Reel for reviving a story that did not deserve the to be on the pages preceding the Ted Willliams conservation column. Celebrating the killing of a magnificent wild steelhead on a river that has not met its escapement goals 4 of the last 7 years shows a complete lack of understanding of the plight of wild steelhead in this region.

Now Fly Rod and Reel has posted English Pete's story front and center on their website and is asking for comments pro and con about the whole affair. To continue to flog this old story is a thumb in the eye to all of us who volunteer our time, donate our dollars and fight on behalf of wild steelhead. Even the title of the story, "A Change of Tackle, A Happy Ending" is insulting to all conservation minded anglers. As others have much more eloquently pointed out, will the loss of that one fish make a difference in the grand scheme of things? No.... but that fish is a symbol for everything that is wrong with the current path we're on when it comes to wild steelhead and Fly Rod and Reel should be ashamed of themselves for keeping the story alive.

Moldy Chum gets it dead on again!

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Dry Flies on the Bow

Got away from studying yesterday to go look for some rising fish on the Bow (nutty dry fly fishing and school don't mix so well). Found a ton of happy fish eating midges and the odd baetis, so here's a little 'photo essay' that was captured by Caitlin. Any time the wind kicked up the fishing absolutely died, so hope for calm weather and bring your dry flies. Griffith Gnats and BWO's were the deal.
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Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Travellers To Cuba Should Know........

Just a quick heads up to those of you travelling to go fishing in Cuba in the next while....

Effective May 1, 2010, legislation passed in early March come into law in Cuba stating that
all foreign visitors entering Cuba must possess valid Travel Medical Insurance.

Should you not have it you must purchase it from the Cubans and they'll likely be expensive.
Nobody completely understands the possibilities of Capitalism like a Communist!

You MUST present certificate showing you have medical insurance at immigration/customs when
entering the country.

Approved insurance carriers are RBC Insurance, Medjet, CIBC Insurance (that we know of right now)
RBC Insurance is probably the cheapest at around $60 for a week.
MAKE SURE YOU TAKE CERTIFICATE SHOWING YOU HAVE THE INSURANCE!

Didn't want anyone getting caught without it!!! Have fun when you go!

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Friday, April 9, 2010

Fishing Has Been Really Good!!

For those of you who haven't had a chance to get out, the
Bow has been fishing amazingly well. We can't remember having
fishing like this this early.

AND THEY"RE LOOKING UP!!!!!

Zach Southgate and an early season dry fly fish.


Another Pretty Brown Trout.



Brent got out yesterday and took some photo's as well. Gotta love Dry Fly fishing in April...especially since it's blizzarding outside right now!!



Thursday, April 8, 2010

Fishing Report

Bow River Report – April 8, 2010

The Bow is fishing as well, or better than we have ever seen at this time of year.
There have been rising fish in lots of places on Midges and Blue Winged Olives.

To quote an angler who fished the river on Monday, “The River is fishing stupid right now.”

The fish are generally in a good mood right now so Nymph and Streamer fishing is very good as well.

You should probably get out there if you can!!

Remember to get your Angling License online at www.albertarelm.com
takes about 2 minutes.

Hatches: Midges, Baetis

Streamers: ¼ Pound Bugger, Geek Leech, Marabou Clouser, Party Boy, Witch Doctor

Nymphs: B/H Wire Worm, Conestone, Tung Stud, Tungsten Soft Hackle, TB Super Pupa, Tailwater Tiny, Tungsten Zebra Midge, Ice Nymph.

Dry Flies: Griffith Gnat, Neversink Gnat, Transitional Midge, Parachute Adams, Micro Mayfly-BWO, Micro Midge

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Country Pleasures Fly Tying Videos

Puglisi Tarpon Streamer Tying Video.
Probably still Puglisi's most popular flt for flats Tarpon.
Video instructions on how to tie. HD Video, so give it a
minute on pause until a bunch of the video loads.


Tying the EP Tarpon Streamer from Mike Gifford on Vimeo.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Video On The Florida Snook Kill

A short video about the 2010 Florida fish kill, narrated by Brett Fitzgerald of the Snook Foundation.




2010 Florida Fish Kill from Snook Foundation on Vimeo.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

A Little Bit Of Fly Fishing History

Joan Wulff is widely recognized as the leading female fly fisher of her generation. She brought a personal perfectionism to the art of teaching fly casting, and is admired as one of the most effective instructors of all time.

You might want to check out the video Joan Wulff's Dynamics of Fly Casting: From Solid Basics to Advanced Techniques (Miracle Productions, DVD, 90 minutes). The DVD is optimized for full-screen viewing and contains all 23 segments covering basic to advanced casting techniques.




When all the videos and magazines profile the amazing crew of female fly fishers coming into the sport don't forget ladies like Joan. She was an icon in our sport long ago.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Silvey's Tube Snake

Underwater footage of Brian Silvey's fly being swung for winter steelhead. Brian shot the footage himself. Brian designs flies for Idylwilde Flies and guides anglers on the Sandy and Deschutes Rivers.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Orvis Steelhead Video

Orvis video starting with Steelhead. Vidoe was supposed to be a promotional tape, they have a few troubles.