North Ram River August 30th

Karen and I spent the last Sunday of our summer holidays on the North Ram River. The run to the North Ram from Red Deer takes about 2 hours. We decided to dry fly fish all day. The thermometer got to 25 C. It was a great choice. We had several takes on size 16 PMDs all day and the cutts were on to hopper patterns as well. We encountered several nice sized cutts today. Our only disappointment was the condition of 3 cutts that we caught today. I guess that "catch and release" fishing does cause some cutts to "get beat up" a bit. We also saw the handy work of an osprey that is hanging out on the North Ram. One cutt we caught was almost lunch for an osprey. The cutt had a rather large chunk missing from its back. I could hear the osprey chattering right behind one run that we were fishing. I wonder what it was saying.

The water is gin clear. The North Ram cutts have seen a load of fisherman. Do take the time to set up for your casts. The cutts will refuse a poorly presented fly this time of the year.

Bob

Prairie Creek Browns

I had the chance to hit Prairie Creek today. It was all about small hoppers. The action was steady too. Lots of browns to hand. The largest was 15 or 16 inches. Most of the fish were against the wood in the shade. The fields around Prairie Creek had loads of hoppers.

...one more day of summer holidays and then back to reality.

Bob

Fortress Lake Big Boys

Fortress Lake consistently produces genuine trophy Brook Trout. There are but a few places in the world where you have a realistic chance at catching an amazing gigantic brook trout. Fortress Lake is at the top of my list.

Bob

North Ram River

Karen and I hit the North Ram River on Thursday. It was a popular idea. Lots of flyfishers were out. We had to search a bit to find a stretch to fish but alas we did find a nice section we had to ourselves all day. Nothing amazing but lots of fish to hand. We were hot and tired but the top fly action was continuous. Gotta love cutties.

A great weekend for our charity auction trip!

As part of Fly Fish Alberta & Fortress Lake Retreat's ongoing community involvement and support, we hosted Darryl McIntyre of CTV Edmonton News along with the Edmonton Sun Christmas Charity Auction winners this past weekend. The Sun's Christmas Charity supports the Edmonton Christmas Bureau, The United Way Alberta Capital Region, Catholic Social Services, and the Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation.

Our donation of a trip to Fortress Lake Retreat for 4 people plus host Darryl McIntyre turned out to be one of the largest cash values at the auction!

We'll provide a more in-depth review of the fantastic weekend together later in the season. In the meantime, many of you may have seen Darryl thank Fortress Lake Retreat, Dave & Amelia Jensen, Air Jasper, BobDale Oilfield Construction, as well as Bob & Karen Vanderwater for the wonderful weekend. We thank you as well, Darryl.

Keep it tight!

;)
Above - guide Bob gives direction to Marvin as he fights a trophy brookie. Darryl McIntyre watches. Niether Darryl nor Marvin had fly fished previously.

Below - Marvin with a fine 5 - 6 pound brookie. Not a bad first day of fly fishing.

Cutt to hand

It's funny how seldom westslope cutts jump. Most often they'll save such exercise for just when you think they're to hand. Not quite. This one displayed an incredible set of slashes on the lower jaw as it tried to throw the hook and avoid a human encounter. It didn't work but the random snap of the shutter caught this neat photo.

An encroaching storm

An approaching storm as we arrive in a prime run. 3 trout rise as we cross the river. Luck looked to be precarious. And it was. Upon stepping up to the first riser, the low cloud swept across our rod tips and made upstream casting impossible. Within 15 minutes the temperature dropped 6 or 7 C and the fish rising all disappeared for the evening. With whitecapped ripples in our faces and trout sulking, the most recent high water got off to a good kick start as the Red Deer River then tripled in flow.

Pocket

An iffy day of fly fishing brown trout water. The clouds rolled in through the early part of the day, then toyed with us an hour prior to breaking wide open for a ridiculously bright afternoon. The fishing of the pockets went from steady to spotty to shoody. Such is life in the world of brown trout streams of central Alberta.

Morning Cigar

The sun shining on the pool, the canyon wall shroud in shadow, the morning air cool... time to light up the closest Cuban. Thus begins another day of fly fishing in the Ram.

:)

Articulated Sculpins

Also from the American Angler website come two good pages detailing articulated sculpin patterns of interest.

http://americanangler.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1016&Itemid=0

American Angler Slide Shows

Some neat full screen option slideshows from the American Angler Fly Fishing magazine.

http://americanangler.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=21&Itemid=421

Fall Cr (Ram Trib) Reg Change

Recieved the same in email a short while ago, then again yesterday. It's in pdf so have to link via a fly fishing forum post. The nuts and bolts are that the Fall Cr bull trout spawning is attributable to quite a range of populations in the N Sask R system and needs protection. It's a good proposal - close the short piece of water to angling to protect the fish from us.

http://www.setbb.com/albertaflyfish/viewtopic.php?t=1937&mforum=albertaflyfish

It's funny, 11 years ago I did a bunch of legwork to get the Ram C&R. Some folks attempted to call me out as being a guide, saying I was only interested in pumping my own tires to get recognition. 11 years later, folks are finally realizing and implementing other measures recognizing the fragile state the Ram watershed is in, being the transition from the more productive southern waters to the cold water of the Athabasca drainage. This is a wonderful, logical step. Please take the time to print off the form, fill it in, and fax it or email it to the gov supporting the measure.

Human activities cause dwindling numbers of the westslope and bull trout

Not a very shocking title as, left to their own devices, these fish woul dbe doing quite well, but a good, quick read.

Thanks to Bow R Shuttles email, Stimulator for the link.

Singing in the rain

We woke to a light rain shower before the skies cleared at 11am. We set out to fish the river, having camped 4 days in the stunning Ram canyon. Today was no different than any other day, the fish were on already, another 50 fish per typical angler rod expected. Sure, young blood with more testosterone can land 100 to 250 cutts in a long day, but when you're content and enjoying the location, it isn't always about the pounding of numbers and racking up the river miles. So, we focussed on the river, working the water, enjoying time this trip. The following photo's title is simple, a reference to the reels and a few triple headers that day...

"Singing in the rain"

Survivors Club

http://www.thesurvivorsclub.org/

Attacked by a mountain lion while mountain biking. Ejected from a fighter jet at supersonic speed. Falling off a cruise ship 50 miles from shore, without anyone knowing, and staying afloat for 17 hours.

Many of us enjoy reading a good survivor story. But, have you ever wondered about who survives these situations and why they specifically survived? Beyond the newscast sound bite, what really makes someone a member of the survivors club? Is it the will to live? Physical conditioning? A positive mental attitude? Luck?

If you want a deeper investigation into these questions read The Survivors Club (subtitle: the secrets and science that could save your life) by Ben Sherwood. For this book, journalist Sherwood interviewed legions of survivors, and not just the kinds you read about in adventure magazines, as well as doctors, psychologists, and scientists. He subjected himself to the navy’s Aviation Survival Training Center, where sailors learn to survive “mishaps” over open water, and the air force’s survival, evasion, resistance, and escape training.

The fascinating book is filled with big picture questions. Does the will to live make any difference? Are some people actually luckier than others? It also has many interesting facts. I was heartened to read (while flying in turbulence) that 95.7% of people survive airplane crashes (so don’t buy into the myth of hopelessness, pay attention and take action). And, if you must suffer a heart attack, do so in Las Vegas casino. They’ll have a defibrillator on you in minutes, faster even than in a hospital.

Naturally, all of these questions about survival lead to this one: would I survive?

Sherwood says everyone is a survivor, but it helps to know your survivor personality. When you buy a copy of The Survivors Club you get a special code to take a survivor profile test on Sherwood’s website, www.thesurvivorsclub.org. You’ll find your survivor personality out of five types — Connector (28%), Realist (24%), Thinker (21%), Fighter (15%), Believer (12%)— as well as your top three strengths (aka your survival tool kit) out of 12 traits.

Since research shows you can increase your chances of surviving and thriving by leading with your strengths, the test also identifies those traits, also called your tool kit. The test also identifies your bottom ranking tools, traits you may still have, just not as strongly.

The 12 Survivor Strengths

Intelligence (14.89%)
Love (14.89%)
Adaptability (12.77%)
Instinct (9.57%)
Tenacity (9.57%)
Empathy (8.51%)
Hope (8.51%)
Flow (6.38%)
Purpose (5.32%)
Faith (5.32%)
Ingenuity (2.13%)
Resilience (2.13%)

(frequency of strength's #1 ranking among test takers: as of 11/18/2008)

Visit www.thesurvivorsclub.org for more information on the book, and profiles and videos of survivors. The site also has some short, free survival tests.

Euro Salmon Success Story

A neat read:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8196801.stm

Orvis Dog Photo Contest

Orvis is looking for a dog photo for the cover of their doggie catalog. If you have a great shot of your proud pup, consider entering it on line at the Orvis site.

http://coverdog.orvis.com/contest.html?contestId=1

Hook Tv & A River Runs Through It

Hook.tv is proud to launch a new channel dedicated solely to Sony Pictures’ “A River Runs Through It”, in celebration of the film’s recent re-release on BluRay. You can visit the channel athttp://www.hook.tv/flyfishing/channel/ARRTI to view highlights from the film, clips from the new behind-the-scenes BluRay documentary, and Montana-themed images and videos. Directed by Robert Redford and starring Brad Pitt, "A River Runs Through It" brought the artistry and majesty of fly fishing to the general public, and influenced the perception of the sport like never before. John Dietsch, founder of Hook.tv and fly-fishing coordinator on the film, just returned from Montana filming episodes of our Outdoor Channel series "Adventure Guides : Fishing Edition", as well as a future documentary on conservation. Look for some more of our awesome Montana footage on the ARRTI channel coming soon!

Good blog of wild weekend weather

Just to share, friends of ours have an interesting weather/photo site and it has some great shots of the recent wild weather rolling through:

http://blog.boomerphoto.com/

Pacific Ocean Floating Garbage Patch

An interesting read, not too surprising really, but interesting this exists and that it has garnered attention.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/08/04/pacific.garbage.patch/index.html

Timing is funny sometimes

There we were, enduring the heat in hopes of a late eve float on the RDR, or possibly the morning looking for tricos. It felt humid and the weather was going to change Sunday night, a storm had to be out there somewhere. We were about to pack the boat and hit the river when a look to the radar revealed our suspicions.

Nothing puts the end to evening rises like pea to grape sized hail. A good eve for a movie. The good news is the house is a whole lot cooler. The bad news is that cold overnight isn't going to help the morning tricos. Just when you think you've got a beat on a good streak of fishing, things change. So be it, the week ahead looks fantastic for brown trout. :)