Fly Fish Alberta

“I Would Have Waited Forever”

2012-02-19T02:47:00.000-07:00

So, here we are driving to the river with our new raft in the back of our van and the CD in our stereo is playing the Yes song, “I Would Have Waited Forever”. Dave and I look at each other smiling and laughing, thinking that the words are all too fitting regarding our sentiment towards our long awaited raft. The reality is that we really did “wait forever” as we ordered it over 2.5 months ago from China and the delivery process turned out to be extremely slow and tedious. The flip side is that we’re super happy that it did show up and now having completed the maiden voyage, we know it holds air. Bonus!

The only unfortunate part is that we only have 5 days left before we head home, which is not enough time to arrange shuttles and drive to various waters we had hoped to float this trip. Being dead tired from two months on our feet, putting on the miles and pulling some long days on the river to the point of exhausting ourselves doesn’t help matters either. So, I guess for now we’ll wait for the next 8 months to pass by and we’ll simply visualize the waters we plan to float, knowing that next year some amazing adventures await.

It never ceases to amaze me how much more there really is to look forward to here in NZ and how many more places there are to discover on such a relatively small island.

Another line from the same Yes song stands out, “Just take it as it comes, for everything will come around”

Go ahead... laugh

2012-02-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

Amelia & I want to put a dvd out on some of our favorite aspects of New Zealand. One of those things has to do with tiny waters that are of no consequence to most anglers. We love them and they seldom are fished as they are typically barren of fish, save one or two fish over 1 - 3km length of water. We spent a lot of time this trip exploring and talked to a lot of land owners to access such water. Usually, we were told not to bother or pointed directly to where the owner, manager, or farm hands have seen fish. Helpful is very helpful. But, every now and then, when talking to the land owners, we get laughed at. Such was the case late December as we drove up to ask permission. The property owner simply looked at us, laughed heartily and continuously, "In THAT stream?!!! Are you out of your mind" - HA HA HA "In THAT stream? SERIOUSLY? You want to fish in that???" We were almost told to stuff ourselves as the request was seemingly so outlandish. On and on went the laughter. We simply kept replying "We know that you know your land, but would you mind if we had a go anyway? We're here, we love the landscape, and we simply love photography..."
After literally 10 minutes of being laughed at and having others on the property come over to see what was so funny, thus furthering the laughter in our direction, we were told we could have all the go we wanted.
So we did.
We tip toed along the tiny spring creek.
Through the grassy pasture.
Along the fenceline.

The spring creek looked stunning but it was not quite ankle deep.
If only we could find a bit that was knee deep.
We found it.
And we found this. 7.5 pounds of it to be exact. And we found a couple others quite similar.

And then we found where the spring met the river a ways down. And that was full of fish.

We never saw anyone a few hours later when we drove back out from the property. Nor have we been back. We'd hate to be laughed at again, but, more to the point, we'd hate to telegraph that there are, in fact, fish on the property. So, next year, we'll drive up and knock on the door again. And get laughed at again. And we won't mind. Go ahead. Laugh. And 20 minutes later, when we're on the water we'll be laughing too.

Respite & Catch up

2012-02-14T15:42:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe we're this close to coming home. A week to go after 11 full weeks on the go, fly fishing New Zealand's South Isl. It has been a marvellous trip. Frankly, however, we're tuckered out. Literally fishing 7 of every 8 days, much camping, much walking, a lot of eye strain while sight fishing. A heck of a trip, but knackered as of today. With a week to go, I'm not sure how much fishing we'll do this week vs doing some filming of scenes for a couple of projects on the go, visiting friends, and letting the body recover. 3 months on the go at 8 to 14 hrs on the water each day, camping the back country... about cooked.

Let's catch up a wee bit though. Frankly, we haven't posted any photos from late Dec through mid Feb. When you're in the back country full time and come out for food, a shower, and a quick email check, time to update the blog and Facebook is at a premium.

Here's a few pics from a fun day we spent on a west coast river. It's off the coast highway and it looked like it has fish, so we decided to give it a go back mid December. We began at the bridge, headed upstream. The water was inviting, clear and nice pools. We saw no sign of fish as we went up, but the water was so intriguing we couldn't help it. But, as often happens when exploring, we found ourselves in trouble yet again. The river kept getting steeper. The rocks getting bigger. The drops higher. The walking on giant logs of beech trees got a wee bit tougher.

It was about the time that we were scaling over one such boulder and tucking under a log to pull ourselves up over the next boulder, having not seen a fish in 2 hrs of clammering and stammering the gorge that we decided to bail out. Looking for a way out of a gorge other than the way in isn't so easy. We spotted a track high above, but how to get there would present an issue. Stupidly, I decided I could pull myself up a sheer rock face to a plateau, then pull AJ up to me before scaling up to the track, and hope it led us out. Plausible, until as I was pulling myself up the first rock wall the bit I was holding onto let go and I slid down the rock wall 3 or 4 feet, losing a finger nail and scraping the hell out of my hand and arm. Like a good fly fisher, I'd rather wreck an arm than let go of the fly rod so I could steady myself. About then AJ piped up that we could have gone 20 feet to the right and come up a nice grassy trough right to the track. Easier, indeed.

We returned to the van and drove downstream of the bridge to the viewpoint high above where the small river reached the Tasman Sea. Beautiful, but we had to get a better camera view, walking back down the highway. And of course, when you spend your morning trying to kill yourself in the gorge, lose a finger nail, and then walk the highway looking for a camera friendly viewpoint is when you see the only 2 fish of the day, 200m above the Sea. So, back to the bridge, walk downstream, and drift HUGE cicadas over the snout of the fish you saw from high above. Go figure.

Friendly

2012-01-31T16:12:00.002-07:00

It's always good to fish with friends. It's getting to be nearly a month since we fished with our friends on a local water but it was good to get out. The day we fished together the sun shone but the good old Nor'wester rolled in mid afternoon. The wind was brutal above the river, but for the most part allowed us to fish. We'd all not fished this reach of river and it was good to get out and explore. Nothing knocked our socks off but it was neat to see what we'd been missing. It's definitely on our list of waters to float next year. This blog post simply shares some neat scenes of a nice day spent fly fishing with some friends.

Fisheries Mtg in Rocky Mountain House

2012-01-30T17:17:00.002-07:00

Dave & Amelia,

The Fish & Wildlife Division of Alberta Sustainable Resource Development is having a public information meeting on Wednesday, February 15, 2012, in Rocky Mountain House. The meeting will provide an opportunity for people to view presentations on local fisheries, wildlife and enforcement matters in the Clearwater Area. The meeting will be held at the Walking Eagle Motor Inn (4915 - Hwy 11) in Rocky Mountain House between 7 pm and 10 pm that evening.

Please circulate this information to others.

If you have any further questions, please contact me at the phone number below.

Rocky Konynenbelt
Fisheries Technician
Alberta Sustainable Resource Development - Clearwater Area
P.O. Box 1720, Rocky Mountain House AB T4T 1B3
Tel: (403) 845-8268, Fax: (403) 845-4750
E-mail: rocklyn.konynenbelt@gov.ab.ca

For more information on Clearwater Fisheries Management, please visit our website at:

http://srd.alberta.ca/FishWildlife/FisheriesManagement/FishManagementZones/Zone1EasternSlopes/WatershedUnitES2.aspx

Beech Spring

2012-01-26T11:43:00.000-07:00

Amelia & I have a favourite spring creek. If you know beech forests, you understand that they are typically found in hilly, relatively steep mountainous terrain. If you know spring creeks, you know that they typically flow out of the ground in pastoral settings – or at least a ways out from the toe of the slopes that water infiltrates. So, to find a beech forest spring creek is relatively rare, but that’s what we stumbled across a few years ago as we explored a back country west coast river. Our spring creek is very spring influenced but does pick up a few ephemeral, run-off fed fingers. The kick is that for most of its run, it flows under a beech forest canopy and is quite weedy in spots. It’s not a long run either, perhaps 1.5 km of water. And there aren’t fish everywhere but there are a few nice browns, most certainly. This year we’ve fished it once a month and will likely fish it once more before we head home to Canada. On each of our visits, AJ missed one of the largest browns of our trip – likely tipping the scales near double digits. There’s a clip of video that will be on our West Coast Spring Creeks dvd (due out later this year) that shows just how amazing the fish and spring creek is. As it is, this blog post shows how amazing both the setting and fish are. The pongas, tuis, fantails, beech canopy, mosses, and a few browns… it’s a stunning little bit of water. Below, you’ll find some of hour favourite photos of this wee gem.

Pop & Scoop

2012-01-25T15:47:00.000-07:00

After almost a week of rough fishing on my part, I finally broke through yesterday. I made the perfect cast and the result was a beauty 9lb brown in my hands…not a sea runner, but a beautiful small stream resident fish with golden colors and massive fins. The best part was that Dave came through as my total hero in the moment. I like to give full credit where credit is due in life and he deserves it. Immediately after I hooked up the fish ran into a nasty bankside log jam in deep water and fast current and after digging around the log jam getting himself soaking wet he pulled it out and netted it for me. The kicker was that just as I was pulling the fishes head up to the surface so he could net it, the fly popped out of the fishes mouth. The fish seemed to be stunned for a half a second and in that time frame Davie managed to get under it and scoop net it for me. It was one of those, “I can’t believe that just happened” moments. I was beyond happy. My skills as a fisher had shone in that moment…great cast, perfect hook set and my best foot forward in trying to fight it and then to top it all off, we had a together moment in bringing it to the net.

I love you babe.

Oh and as an aside…there was no fff that came out of my mouth this time....(an inside joke for my kiwi friends!)

Those wonderful willows

2012-01-20T11:00:00.000-07:00

If you fly fish in New Zealand, undoubtedly you'll fish a water lined with willows. New Zealand's #1 invasive species, willows have taken over some streams, yet provide some structure to other waters, and provide overhead cover, shelter, and cooling to many waters. While an introduced weed, willows certainly provide some excellent brown trout habitat. If you fish east of the divide on New Zealand's south island, you'll find willows.

Willows provide the most intimate moments with trout. The dense foliage and branching obscures you from the fish and they can literally swim right under foot if your approach is good. It's what attracts us to these waters, as we seek out exactly that kind of fly fishing - intimate moments to video and photograph. Regardless if the trout is 10" or 8 pounds, it's exciting stuff.

During low water, over hanging willows provide some of the few pockets of fish holding habitat on a stream. Below, I fruitlessly change a fly, stalling myself in order to let the fish settle out. In long, prolonged drought on this stream, 1/2 miles fish population condensed into 30m of stream. Spook one or two in order to work the only active fish and they'll infringe on its space and territorially charge them out of his feeding lie.

In small to tiny waters, in side channels or back waters, willows can really choke thins out. But, get under that canopy and some of the best micro-niche cycling can occur. We can get in tight, find trout, and watch it swim cycles in a kitchen sized pocket of water in a pocket. And, if you wait 5 or 10 minutes for it to cycle into the only spot you can bow & arrow or dap a cast to have a controlled cast, you might have a chance. That is, unless the fish sways to the left instead of to the right where you put your fly - and now have to wait another 5 to 10 minutes for another chance. Sometimes it takes an hour to get a take from that 2 pound fish!

Once you do hook up, it's a game of keeping them out and up on the surface, turning their heads asap. Sometimes it's best to risk losing a fish up and out of the willows rather than leave them to disapear into the deep matt of willows. Better to dance with the devil you know...

Below, AJ outlasts a brown that was cycle feeding. Home base was tucked head into a willow and it would drop out to follow - feed. Every 5 minutes it dropped far enough to get a cast and drift to its nose, if th efish didn't sway oppostite to what she cast she'd have a chance before returning to home base, nose tucked in the willows. After 50 minutes of the game with an eventual refusal to one pattern, she got the take on a caddis.

Right after Amelia pulled her fish out of the willows, we spotted another brown just stream, weaving between willows as it cycle fed 20 yards of shoreline. It kept disapearing way back to the bank before apearing at the next. It finally settled in at the top of a willow branch and a left hand cast knocked in the run.

Amelia lined up on the shoreline. Across from us a 20" brown held in a seam. Upstream, a 5.5lb brown held mid river, on a classic white rock. The far shore lined with thick willow, overhanging to mid river. She couldn't get into the water for fear of spooking the opposite holding trout to the larger. Hence, she couldn't get into proper postion to cast side arm and a straight up cast wouldn't flip under the over hang. Eventually, she ignored the smaller trout, which only moved to nose into the willow on shore. Her first side arm cast under the over hang turned over and came immediately onto the fish.

This next willowy moment came as we walked past an almost dry backwater. We walked back up the muddy flat to explore it a little. Sure enough, a deeper trough existed. Sure enough, a nice brown was cycling. I moved into position but there was only one slot in the overhanging willows to bow and arrow a dap cast. And the fish cycled 5 to 10 minutes between surfing into my zone, and it didn't always come to my direction to look at my fly. After an hour I finally had the fish to my left, 1/2 rod length away. I poked my rod tip in through the willows to my left and dapped my fly. The brown came and took my caddis but t was coming right at me and the only hook set was a pull set - and I pulled it right out of its mouth.

This nice brown was popping to the left of the down willow branch at the left in the background. Off right there was nothing but gravel. With an open back cast, it was easy to line up downstream with a left handed cast. Lay it out and up came the brown.

Exit Strategy? Great, hook it up and get the take. But... what happens next? Need to land every trout? Don't fish under a willow canopy. You know how this one turned out. In reality I almost pulled it out. A 6+ lb brown that cycled along the downed willow knew it was going right back home to snap me off.

The narrow trough upstream saw this fish doing 3 x 10 foot cycles. The hook up was going to be easy enough as the back cast was open, but the landing would prove more issues. The hook up brought on a high stick to keep the head up and the net scooped up. A nice brown just under 5lb.

A dark day and a cycling fish. The dark, oily look of the water made it essential to wait for subsurface disturbance or rises. The grand over hanging canopy allowed for casting. There would be no sighting into the water. Wait for the movement to station and make the cast.

This brown would cycle into the lower pocket then back to the pool. In between a willow obscured the sighting of the cruising trout. Hence, timing and patience would set the table. Wait it out and get a chance. Rush it and force a cast to an unseen fish around the corner and you`ll see it spook off. AJ waited it out.

Back to the dark, cloudy day and a trout popping along a downed willow opposite me. The branch hid my presence but I had to go back downstream in order to get a cast. By moving down the glare hid the fish and the rises. I had to wait to hear a popping take near me in the seam to make the cast.

A set of over hanging willow branches allowed 3 straight up casting seams to the pocket on the opposite wide. No hooks, reaches. Just a cast. AJ worked the cast in and the timing of the casts and cruiser finally lined up. Landing it in the open pool - much easier.

Waiting for the dap. Just when you think the fish will cycle, it goes above the willow. When it stations above, you move to make that cast. As you move, it moves back down - should have waited. You get above, it stays below. Now you`re upstream of the cycle and have to tip to to not be seen nor heard in slow waters. Then figure out the cast to make. Oh, and the color shirt you wear has no bearing on the outcome - we`re not believers in color spooking trout when your approach is good.

All New Zealand trout worthy of catching are 8+ lbs, right... NO! Tiny little creeks with tough casts and approaches open the door to in your face fish and tight casts. Optics are amazing, even on wee 18 to 22 inchers.

And then there`s the ones that you simply wave good-bye to. You think you have the cycles boundaries established and take the 5 minutes to slink into position on the edges. You commit to the process. And as you stand there, the fish then decides to drop further down than it did in the 15 minutes you were watching, and swims past you. Now, it`s feeding almost in your eddy and you watch without moving - any motion will send it scurrying. And then your nose itches or your foot slides, or the fish looks at your pant leg waving in the current - ``hey, that wasn`t there 10 minutes ago - see you!``

And then you walk into an open canopy - fish away!

Open canopy + open cast + feeding trout in a pocket 20 feet upstream:

Another really fun willow creek monster.

Nor'wester Sunset

2012-01-17T09:00:00.000-07:00

Every year we try our best to avoid the Nor'wester. I'm really not a big wind fan. I'm a very sensory sensitive person and wind in my ears plus the pressure gradient of Chinook winds back home drives me nuts. But, Chinook winds back home are put to shame by New Zealand Nor'westers. Nor'wester winds in New Zealand come as a result of the many low pressure fronts that steam roll the west coast. These systems are often intense and dump upwards of 20" of rain in a day out west. The thing is the fronts are stalled by the southern alps and the rains dry up by the divide. But, the weather pressures have to go somewhere and like a pressure release valve, the winds coming across the tops and screaming down the other side of the alps is intense. 120kmh sustained with gusts 140 to 150kmh isn't unheard of. This can happen several times a week in spring, as we've experienced on previous trips. And the tough part isn't putting up with wind in my ears, nor the pressure front, nor the dry heat packed in the winds, it's the fact that the streams on the east side of the alps flow west to east and the winds are almost always Nor'westers. Head winds. On one day last week we found ourselves caught in an area that is very like the Crowsnest Pass in Alberta - wind mill farms on the hillsides. We were looking to explore some new waters in Southland. And, in this area - the only one in NZ we've come across with windmill farms, we found ourselves stuck in a Nor'wester front. Thankfully we found some willow groves to fish as the winds howled. It actually wound up a quite successful day. But it wasn't until the evening that the full drama unfolded, as the peak of the front rolled through as the sun began to set. The winds knocked trees, whipped and bowed power lines, and the tussock grasses danced. It was amazing.

2 Most Magical

2012-01-11T13:59:00.001-07:00

When we run into people in New Zealand, we always tend to listen a great deal more than we talk. We simply mention that we're Canadian fly fishers looking for beautiful waters to fish, not necessarily having the biggest or most fish, just to have a neat experience. Those beautiful moments can happen in a 10 foot wide spring creek, breaking the scene down to one ponga fern and a fantail chirping over our shoulder as we cast to a 4 lb brown, or that beauty can be as in your face on the large scale as a dramatic gorge on a sunny west coast afternoon. When we ran into an outgoing Euro couple, Robin and Liz, he was more than happy to share a few places he thought were beautiful to fly fish. We had a chance to poke around a couple of streams he mentioned about 2 or 3 weeks later, and over those 2 days Amelia & I experienced an out of world fly fishing experience. Pretty? Stunning. Good fishing? Depends on your definition. Not a lot of fish, but when they average over 8 pounds and you work 12 to 15 fish a day and take them all, you wind up with those magical Tourism New Zealand days. The kind that everyone wants to sell you in magazines but happen once or twice in a 3 month trip. It just so happens we timed the weather and water conditions 'just so'. So, a great big shout out "Thank you" to Robin and Liz who put us on the two small waters where the following shots took place over 2 days. We haven't been back since as they are small waters with a very finite number of fish, but maybe we'll get back before we head home end of Feb. For as great a fishing result we had, the scenery and setting was simply stunning on these waters. Casting in the depths of the gorge on the one stream was magical, freely flowing line set against heavy contrasts of beech, rata, and pongas. To have big browns simply gorging on anything resembling a cicada the size of your thumb was a bonus. Amelia had an amazing run of fish as you'll see below. You can click on the images for a slightly larger version.

We'll update this blog again soon with some other amazing fly fishing experiences - not so much for sizes but beauty and neat, smaller scale intimate fly fishing.

The first New Zealand Update

2011-12-10T04:12:00.001-07:00

This, to keep the spirits of fly fishers back home. This is long, lots of pictures. Sorry, but figured some might need a distraction from the snow. How's the following for 10 days of fishing?

As always - click the pic to see the bigger version.

Well, we arrived in New Zealand on the tail end of a heavy rain that left a remarkable strip of ravaged trees and vegetation - some 40 feet above the Grey R. Impressive amounts of water. The levels were generally down everywhere when we arrived, though the last of the higher water still had some great fish in the smaller tributaries. We capitalized on several days worth of good fishing in some of our favorite waters and enjoyed time with our friend Sharron. We moved on to try to head SW to find some more penguins - we have yet to see the Fiordland crested. However, as fates had it, we got detoured to fishing some spring creeks. We never stopped! At first, we fished a few reaches of waters we'd done before. Clearly, the high water of last Christmas period that we were here for had effects on a few reaches as gravel shifted and filled in old, reliable runs. In one case, one reach had only 4 trout with little chance of hiding fish for how shallow it has become. They weren't difficult to catch as they likely haven't seen anglers in some time. Other reaches were very good to us once again. Last year we popped in to one short spring creek to find a mix of rainbows and browns - this visit there were only browns. However, we tagged into some fish in the 6 to 7.5 lb range - impressive for a creek less than 5 yards wide.

One afternoon, at the end of a good day sighting an out of the way creek, we decided to follow an arm upstream to see what we could see. We came over the cattle crossing grass and as I stepped forward Amelia hissed "Stop!" Of course, I'd walked too far as a THICK, long brown waved a long, slow goodbye. As we walked up the stream, it became reminiscent of a stream we fished last year - impossible. This one was tough as the fish weren't stationary at all. In fact, the only ones we saw were already swimming straight downstream as they moved about their searching patterns. The paradise ducks in such small water truly didn't help. Paradise Ducks essentially are ducks the size of turkeys, as loud as a screaming baby, and as irritating as a screeching cat. And they are the only ducks I've come across that anticipate your movement. They always stay just out of reach as they run, flop, and jump on the water, and if you try to walk up around them they simply come out of the water onto land and play their wounded routine on terra - firm. To have a family upstream on gin clear, 3 yards wide spring creeks with few trout - forget it. The next day we fished and came back to this stream for an evening fish. It was warm and humid and the mayflies were hatching. We slowly moved upstream and rounded a tight bend to find risers. In the next 90 minutes we covered 250 yards and there were risers every 10 yards, as fish between 2 an 7 pounds popped at mayflies mercilessly. Amazing.

After that experience, we drove to another mission impossible creek. Last year we fished it twice and had no success. It's essentially a ditch with trout 6 to 14 lbs in gin clear water. Trout don't mind herds of cattle beside them but wave a fly rod 15 yards in any direction and they bolt. This year was different. AJ hooked up a couple of nice fish and I missed a couple of dandies on what were thought to be good hook sets. A the very end of that short run we came upon the 100m of death. Big fish in clear water that move about in searching feeding and spook at first sight. They seldom position and if you are within casting reach for 2 rises in succession, that was your opportunity as the next rise would be at its next station 30 or 40 feet away. It's amazing to watch their wakes move about this water. We arrived at dusk and I could make out a dark torpedo in a trough upstream. It wasn't doing much and I was able to get a good couple of casts over it. Third cast my dry went down and I was hooked up. Bravo! But how do you get a tank out of heavy weeds? Pull hard and lift up - either yard its head up or it's over. And that's what we did. As the fish came to the net a 10+lb trout swam within 2 feet of my net to see what was wrong with mine. Thought of netting it for a brief second but having 17 lbs of brown in the net, thrashing, likely wasn't a good plan. :)

The next day we headed to fish a new stream nearby. We hadn't heard anyone ever talk of it and when we stopped in to talk to the farmer, he told us that some used to fish it regularly years ago, but it was a small troupe of anglers and it hadn't seen much action in recent years. And I think it was the coldest day of the winter back home. :) You know how that day went!

Along the way, we decided to target a few other un named springs that are short lived tribs to streams. Farm fields that drain springs into ditches, to small streams, to creeks, to main rivers. To see large trout in such water is amazing. To watch one come to a #6 red damsel nymph as you dap-swim it in pulses, watching the fish miss on the first two pulses but hammer the third, taking literally below your feet is astounding. Trying to land an 8 lb fish in such weed choked water is incredible.

And then there was the other day we decided to walk the NZR a distance - about 6 km to pick up a stream mouth and walk it back up. Again, when told by a land owner "nobody ever goes back there" your ears perk up. And the fishing once more went as you'd expect. Not huge fish that day but amazing optics of dry fly takes.

And we shouldn't forget the 4 hours we spent at the end of another day. We stopped in to see if we could walk the bottom end of a drainage ditch. It was straight as an arrow but on Google Earth shows as a winding creek for 300 yards before it drains into a side channel of a small river. We walked down and got intrigued by the river side channel - landing 4 nice trout. As we made our back up to the mouth of the ditch, we noted a 3 foot wide, 6" deep spring coming from the left. We followed it up and spotted 6 trout (3 to 6 lbs) in shallow riffles, hooking a few. We got back to the original plan - to the short reach of the lower ditch reach and came upon 7 trout in the 3 to 7.5 pound range. The large fish was hooked but the video shows the line pulling the head up and the mouth opening wide and after 4 or 5 open-jawed thrashes the hook popped. Bugger - especially after the time it took to get into position. We then came upon a 'run' (10 yards long and 3 wide) with 3 trout 4 to 5.5 lbs, taking each. To cap the day Amelia got the take but missed setting on an 8 foot dap-bow & arrow cast and I landed a 3.5 lb fish from the pool at the end of the 3km straight, shallow ditch. The fish was rising and upon hooking, lept out of the water onto the gravel - I yarded as hard as I could to drag him into water. Still on, I was able to smile for one more photo. :)

To date, we have not fished water greater that 10 yards wide this trip and have likely caught a dozen 7 lb fish. Amazing. Of course, in some instances, the 2 to 4 lb fish that came out of 2 yard (or less) wide creeks steal the show for how surprising they are. It comes down to the experience of the fishing moment far more than the size. I've wallowed on my stomach in mud far more times this trip than my life combined.

Tomorrow brings about a week of rain. Not sure where we're headed but we know that the fishing will slow - simply due to the poorer spotting conditions in rain and wind, plus the sheer volume of water in the rivers. It should still be ok for much of the week, but blue and purple on radar is coming. I'm sure nobody will feel sorry for us if we get swamped. It has been the most amazing year of fly fishing and we're still 2 days shy of the first 2 weeks of 3 months. The coming rains are a blessing - we couldn't maintain this pace that long!

Upcoming Film Festivals & Nights

2011-11-26T12:07:00.001-07:00

There are a few upcoming video nights, festivals, and fundraisers...

Bow R Shuttles is putting on a feature release of “Connect” in mid Jan. http://bowrivershuttles.blogspot.com/
Back Cast FF Film Festival Feb 25
There is the TU film festival benefit: http://www.facebook.com/events/236015033121100/ which is the last of the 2011 IF4 film roll.
Trout Unlimited Canada Benefit Calgary, AB – December 15th, 2011 The Globe Theatre-Doors open: 6:00pm Show starts: 7:00pm- IF4 and its sponsors are proud to be working together with Trout Unlimited Canada for this special benefit screening. IF4 has covered all costs associated with the event to ensure that every single dollar raised will go directly to Trout Unlimited Canada to further its efforts of conserving, protecting and restoring Canada’s cold water resources. Festival tickets can be purchased in advance through the IF4 Online Box Office, at the door, or at any of the following fly shops in the Calgary area.
#3 above will be replaced with the 2012 IF4 FIlms, which will be shown at the Canadian premier of the International Fly Fishing Film Festival is scheduled for January 26th, 2012 and will be screened in association with the 10th Annual Western Canadian Fly Fishing Exposition at Canyon Meadows Cinema. Tickets will be available in fly shops and through the IF4 Online Box Office on December 16th, 2011.

One impressive river chart

2011-11-25T08:35:00.001-07:00

The primary reason we're not in New Zealand already is that we opted to try to avoid the head of the rainy season that often hits in November. Last year was the first year we hit drought conditions in New Zealand - in Nov. But Dec was an onslaught of water. We opted to try to miss that spring season a little bit this year. There's always good water to hit no matter how much of it there is. The other reason we pushed our trip back was to hit a bit more of the back country cicadas come Jan - Feb. We had another taste of them last year and opted to give it another go.
But this week's river charts give a glimpse of what we were trying to avoid! A massive storm hit the coast. The chart below shows just how quickly the rains hit, how hard it hits, and how quickly the rivers drain - they're built to do exactly that. The chart is water depth. In under 24 hours, this large river put on 18 feet of depth and came back to normal. Of course, the gauge is now broken thanks to the surge of water, but it just goes to show how this island handles water - quickly - and how you have to keep an eye on the forecast (if only for self preservation).

Grizzly in a truck

2011-11-21T13:12:00.001-07:00

I just got this email from a friend, whose brother sent it to him:
"From my neighbour in Waterton. Last Monday morning he came out to find the inside of his 18 month old Toyota Sequoia trashed. A grizzly bear had somehow got a door open (easy considering the way the handles are) and once inside got trapped when the door shut behind him. Probably the wind. The Toyota was a platinum edition, all the door panels were ripped off, the headliner torn to pieces, all headrests, the leather seats, the dash shredded. The steering column was twisted sideways. Two of the six airbags went off, the other four the bear ripped to pieces. You can imagine a trapped grizzly being hit with an airbag in an enclosed space must have figured he was in for the fight of his life. When the bear ripped off the door panels he clawed all the wiring harnesses out. Toyota figures every wire he pulled or clawed at resulted in bells, voices or sparks. The head mechanic at Calgary Toyota doubted if they had the expertise to put it back together. To add insult to injury the bear took a big dump in the back of the SUV and then broke out the rear window. Fish and wildlife officers have inspected the damage and figure it was a 3 year old griz. From blood left behind the are doing DNA. The vehicle has been written off, cost new over 70,000 they stopped counting repair costs at 60,000."

Amelia on Rosenbauer's Orvis Podcast

2011-11-19T18:14:00.001-07:00

http://www.orvisnews.com/FlyFishing/Becoming-a-guide-and-what-it-is-really-like.aspx
The link name says it all - becoming a guide and what it's really like. Amelia shares a few of her perspectives.

New website coming

2011-11-17T13:46:00.001-07:00

As Amelia & I wrap up all things on the go before heading to New Zealand, one of the items is the launch of our new website.
We're taking a new direction with Fly Fish Alberta.
In the past, we had the old Fly Fish Alberta Forum and guide site. We really marketed a host of different trips and opportunities, trying to make life interesting. The past couple of years we've let go of the hands on guiding, with a few of our guides hosting trips. We got away from being who and what we are. There again, that needed some redefining.
Amelia & I love sight fishing, love hatch chasing, and love our trout streams. We love to host people on good fishing trips and on beautiful waters. We love to travel to New Zealand and have brought back a lot of knowledge of the 'how to' sight fish. It's a lot of fun and very different from what many folks here do.
When you add all the above together, and add in concise text, some of our favorite descriptive video and photos, you get the upcoming Fly Fish Alberta website. It should be up by the end of the weekend!
The site will reflect who & what Amelia & I are about in not just the guide world, but tie into the fly fishing world's bigger picture. As time moves on, we're going to be launching our JensenFlyFishing.com website as well, which will further what we're about on our productions side. Our sight fishing DVD is done, it is going out to a few folks in the industry to comment/ review and by the time we get back from New Zealand in late February we'll put the wraps to it and get it out there for everyone. We do plan to release one other DVD later in 2012 as well, with the layout well on its way.
And of course, we're just putting the wraps on a new page or two for Fortress Lake Retreat's website. There's some amazing sight fishing to be had at key times of the season and we plan to hilight that as part of the whole wilderness experience at Fortress Lake.
So, stay tuned!
Dave & Amelia Jensen

Dr Laura

2011-11-08T10:44:00.000-07:00

Over the summer I was inspired to share this while listening to the Dr Laura Show. Seriously…

I’ve been sitting on this blog post for close to a year. I've waited for opportunity to share. Given my recent posts of sharing some tough Fishing with Friends moments and the lessons to be learned from them, I thought it time. Unfortunately, the negative aspect of recent posts have all derived from the same fishing partner. This post continues on what can be learned from another of my interactions with him.

If you’ve ever heard the Dr Laura show and truly gotten the intent of the show, you can listen without getting too riled up. Personally, I really like listening. I hadn’t tuned in often in recent years, but I certainly have in the past. I find her a valuable resource in cutting through the chaff in life, examining core issues and protecting what’s most valuable in life – family, kids, and traditional values in order to keep us from hurting ourselves and those around us. Yes, it’s a radio show and is commercial, and I don't agree with everything. But it's a place for me to begin deliberations on how I see things - which is the whole point.

Andrew & I got to listening to her this summer on satellite radio up at Fortress Lake. It hit home just how much I have listened in the past as I knew what her views would be ahead of time, but also was asking the same questions of the callers before she was. So, yes, I think quite the same way, but by no means as absolute as she has to be within the parameters of the time constraints of her radio show persona. If you get that, you get that she isn’t the cold hearted so-and-so some paint her to be. But few look at the bigger picture of what is trying to be accomplished while putting the thumbs to the micro situations.

One of my favourite aspects of the show is you’re calling for her opinion. This lays the foundation that you place some value on her opinion, that there’s merit. I really get a kick out of the fact that the premise of the show is to garner her opinion on a variety of people's life issues, yet some people call to argue their position. “You called me, honey, here’s what I think.” Them’s the rules. It makes no sense to argue at all – she’ll offer her opinion, her viewpoint. Just remember, you called her, and she’s laid the ground rules, so play by them or off you go! If you get that, there can't be much controversy - take it or leave it, apply/use it or not.

So, how does this tie in to fly fishing? On last year's trip to New Zealand, we spent time with friends, spending considerable time trying to find water that they could successfully fish. It wasn’t easy. We fished a few waters together in hopes for a break through for them. Everything Amelia & I did for over 2 or 3 weeks was to try to get them into fish, somehow. That break through didn’t happen. He struggled for days on end and Amelia & I watched his demeanor crumble to the point he was unbearable to be around for everyone. Nothing was going to get him out of his funk but a fish or two - which takes us back to the whole discussion of results based depression. Finally, I'd had enough of his perpetual withdrawing, pouting and utter snippiness perpetuated to his wife and us. I piped up,"I have a few waters I can take you to, but you have to promise not to go back to fish them afterwards, and you can't name them or tell anyone where you were." Being friends, and having given him countless emails and conversations of fly fishing & New Zealand advice previously, I expected that his agreeing to my request would be followed through. We offered them a piece of ourselves on the premise that they tell nobody, did not share, never named where they were. They agreed and away we went. All was good. Finally, a fish was caught, though it remained a struggle for them. AJ & I had to give way for most of the time we were together in order to provide opportunity. Sight fishing isn't for everyone, not everyone is successful at it.

Here’s the Dr Laura tie in. About 2 weeks after we parted ways, I began to get emails from several different people that I did not know, as well as a couple that I do, asking why the people we were fishing with were naming the waters we were fishing in New Zealand. Amelia & I had been very specific in our request, both ourselves and our friend Serge (who had guided our friends) had been very specific about this. It goes against the Kiwi spirit to name waters in conjunction with fishing reports and photos. I replied to the emails questioning us that I had no knowledge of our friends having named names. One fellow told me to do a Google search on a few waters. Sure enough, there was my friend’s blog with several blog posts at the top of the Google search. I then did a Google image search. My friend had named his images and posted them on line using the water’s name as a file name. On one particular river he was the only person on the planet to post a fishing image of this particular river. Imagine being the only person in the world to name a river on Google! That says an awful lot about breaking the Kiwi code. (I’ll explain the Kiwi code in a future post).

But there I was, not only having to get my friend to live up to his word, having to grind him on the obvious, but he had put me in a compromising position publicly and I had to address emails questioning me because of his actions. I set my boundaries on both sides, expecting my friend to live up to his word, and to the incoming emails stating both what my friend agreed to and that I’m not him.

I emailed my friend asking him to remove the images, the reference to where we fished on his blog, any reference to us. Instead of, “Hey, you’re right. We agreed to that before hand. I screwed up. I’ll fix that,” I got an email from him telling me all the information is publicly available in books and on line, that if I had valid concerns to email him and they would decide if my concerns were valid and then, possibly, he would make the change. I had to explain that he was the only person on the planet revealing one river, that he was tying Amelia & I in to his actions, that the information might be available but it was not all available in one location on a silver platter the way he presented it.

What I like about Dr Laura is her cutting to the chase. I was direct as well. I simply reiterated what he’d agreed to. I also shared that more people than he realized read our blog and website, and find our information on line. And, very importantly, while AJ & I respect the Kiwi spirit, we expect those that we fish with do so as well which is why we insisted on no naming of the waters that we took them to in hopes they catch a fish. Their actions were reflecting upon us publicly, even though we made it perfectly clear: if we’re upholding an ethic, you either uphold that as well, or we simply don’t fish together, and certainly don’t discuss fishing together. There was no thanks for having taken them to our more intimate waters, just a brick wall of stubborn refusal on our request. At the end of a few emails back and forth along these lines, I finally, simply said to him, “Look, this is what you agreed to before we even fished together. That should be enough for you to make the changes.” In the end, I had to brow beat him in to changing the file name information and deleting a few images.

My friend didn’t see anything past himself. He didn’t get and didn’t care about the breaking of the Kiwi code. He didn’t care about the compromising position he put me in. He didn’t care I had to reply to emails because of his actions. He didn’t get and didn’t care that I spent 2 ½ weeks of our vacation time, paying good money to be in New Zealand, trying to set him up to fish successfully. None of that mattered. He didn’t want to admit he had made a mistake, much less discuss it, much less rectify it. He saw it his way and certainly became defensive when his error revealed. There was no room for discussion no matter how AJ & I tried. How do you approach that? Gently, but it tells you to keep your cards tighter to our chest in the future.

Our relationship suffered because he did the exact same thing that some callers to the Dr Laura Show do. They miss the point and would rather argue their position and not show vulnerability that they made a mistake, that they didn’t do the right thing, much less take the first step to rectifying it. Another good friend of mine is always baffled by people that would rather argue than admit a mistake. “Davie,” he always says, “my simplest measure of a man is can he say ‘I screwed up. I apologize. Please forgive me. I am going to do everything I can to rectify it. If I can’t, I know this is a strain on our relationship but it is important enough to me to try my best now’.” It’s something I’ve lived by, always trying to look ahead before I take action to ensure I don’t put myself or others in a tough spot. I’m one to explicitly admit my mistakes and apologize with a focus to betterment in the future. The best part of it all is that this all requires good lines of communication, but that’s a future blog post.

The bottom line in all of this is that if a friend puts parameters on fishing together, you either agree and adhere to his or her standard, or you simply don’t do it. Full Stop. Of course, you don’t get the benefit of what he/she has to offer if you don't.

If you don't follow through on your word, are you really a friend, or a self absorbed individual simply using someone else’s talents for your own status improvement, to look good, to feel good about yourself? My friend was certainly in that category and needed to have his photo with a big fish for his blog. He needed others back home to see him with at least one big fish. At the end of our time with us, we found a river choked with fish that they could simply nymph the runs and catch fish. Catching is what mattered most to them but it wasn't going to happen sighting and casting. Of course, his persona changed from snippy, shut off, grumpy, disengaged to elated and over the top once he began catching. And of course, they milked the hell out of that river to ensure they got enough fish photos to give the appearance of an amazing trip.
I am simply using a tough situation to encourage folks to honor each other in this matter. It’s really easy to honor each other, as evidenced by the very next person we fished with in New Zealand. He didn’t name any river on his blog or facebook page, wasn’t trying to be a hero to his friends, enjoyed the quiet nature of fly fishing, and loved the style of the fishing. We shared willingly with him. In fact, the less he shared publicly, the more we shared with him. Funny how that works, eh? In the case of the friend who caused the issue, it’s very difficult for a relationship to come back from a breaking of trust like that, especially given what fly fishing is to Amelia & I. But there again, a true friend would have given that some consideration before his own needs to catch & be seen were fulfilled.
Now, I only have one post left in this series of things to learn from this ex-fishing partner. Not so curiously, it's titled, "You have nobody to blame but yourself". And there's certainly another Dr Laura tie in to that one too!

Pining

2011-11-07T12:06:00.000-07:00

It's hitting me today. It's a little under 3 weeks until we fly to New Zealand. We're working hard to wrap up quite a few loose ends - I'm working hard on a brand new Fly Fish Alberta website that will come on line this week or next, as well as laying new foundation to our Fortress Lake Retreat site. It's been go-go-go on the computer the past 2-1/2 weeks with the new sites and a ton of video work - the sight fishing dvds, laying some foundation to a "Real New Zealand" dvd as well as 2 others to compliment a submission to the Back Cast Fly Fishing Film Festival. There's quite a roll of videos to come soon - while having taken their time, are being scrutinized for layout and content , presented in our style.

So here I am today, tired eyes and all. I flipped open Google Earth to have a look at my favorite locations. I began to daydream about a river AJ & I had an amazing experience on last year. We managed to land many dozens of browns in the 4 to 7 pound range in under 5 hours of fishing. Given how far back in the wilderness this reach was, we only had so many hours to fish. As it turned out, we only fished 1.4 km of the water due to the impassable beech forest. We planned to head back there late in our trip but the weather never allowed for it. So, today, I'm looking at Google Earth, zooming a little tighter to see the tiny tribs under the beech forest. I'm looking at the water between where we fished and the lowest take out. While we fished 1.4 km, there's about 6 km of water that is readily fishable - if a guy packs in a small dingy. So, here I sit, day dreaming of the singing, deafening cicadas echoing through the beech forest as we slowly drift though, under the beech forest, Amelia casting at browns and me with the fish eye lens trying to capture the feel of the moment on video, while holding her in position to tag into as many browns as she can. Will we be able to actually pull this off, given how remote this water is? I don't know but the day dreaming makes me pine for the possibilities. And why, when reality was that for a month we couldn't get back to the river due to heavy rains, do we only envision these perfect moments when the sun shines and the fish are easy to catch?

Sight Fishing Fortress Lake

2011-11-07T09:02:00.000-07:00

You might have heard me / us talk about sight fishing Fortress Lake's brook trout. We finally put a short video of it together for you. Forming the basis of an upcoming sight fishing lakes dvd, this video shows how successful an angler can be at given times of the year sight fishing Fortress Lake. You need a boat to sight fish - which thankfully guests at our Fortress Lake Retreat get to use. :) See the video at the top right of the blog.
http://www.fortresslake.com/

Radioactive Wolves - the Chernobyl Story through ecosystem observation

2011-11-02T15:12:00.001-06:00

I finally found this on YouTube. I saw it on PBS 2 weeks ago and this is HIGHLY recommended. Let this one load in a new browser and watch it when you have the 45 minutes. It's a fascinating look at the ecosystem of the Chernobyl exclusion zone. When you realize that animals simply account for lost individuals through reproduction, whereas humans compassionately grieve, looking at the realities of the region's wolves and other species is very interesting. As far as I'm concerned this is a much watch for anyone interested in this kind of thing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6sdQ59g_xg

On Line Petetion Re: Stop Castle R logging

2011-11-02T11:08:00.002-06:00

It's time to have your voice heard. Please take the 3 minutes to look at the following site for a quick info session and sign the petition.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/263/487/971/

Catch Magazine

2011-11-01T13:48:00.001-06:00

Latest issue here:
http://www.catchmagazine.net/blast-nov11.html

Fly Fishers Inc

2011-10-28T13:40:00.000-06:00

The latest issue is online here:
http://www.flyfishersinc.com/

No, you go ahead...

2011-10-26T00:33:00.003-06:00

My last post looked at the worst case scenario in people I likely won't fish with, identifying instances of crossing my personal boundaries - those things that I simply hold dear to my fly fishing that another chose to repetitively not honor. This doesn't make me absolutely right, it simply means that I cannot fish with, much less be around people that do as one has. This isn't about being right, it's about having as mentally healthy a fly fishing experience as we can - one that reflects the same in life.

Let's step back a minute, looking at the difference between fly fishing and other activities in life. For most who progress beyond banging out as many fish as their personal worth decrees, fly fishing is an intimate activity. It's not like doing laps of a swimming pool, miles on the road running or cycling, how much weight you can lift, or "I skied 18km or number of runs today". You can fly fish with other people, though seldom more than one or two, which immediately reflects its intimacy. Because fly fishing is a reflection and projection of our inner self into a moment on a trout water, usually in a quiet setting, it is important to determine what you consider the qualities of someone you would like to spend intimate time with. To spend the precious time we have for such intimate reflections of ourselves with someone who simply trashes or walks over our inner values is not being true to ourselves. While we might desire friendship, we have to ask ourselves if we can afford to potentially sacrifice that intimate part of ourselves. Then ask who would you want to fish with? What are your personal parameters?

Personally, I love to spend time on the water with others who can make an observation without driving it home. I can give a reply or simply leave it as an observation or statement, and feel free to make my own about something completely (ir)relevant then or later. Seldom do such people feel a need to educate me as I feel little compulsion to educate them. I might make a suggestion or two through the day but I'll never give a history lesson or try to lord anything over anyone. If I do, it's a sign to me that relationship needs communication, which is a two way street. Subtlety in a moment or two through a day to try to enhance someone else's experience is my style. I'm never on the water trying to strut or one up - the last thing I ever want to do is badly out fish anyone - I get an awkward feeling and want to help the other. I have never fished anywhere near 100% of my ability with anyone, except Amelia. I simply don't want to show anyone up, nor enter into competition. We're on the water together and the day will unfold as it is. We're not in grade school and there is no teacher - student. We're friends on the water. There doesn't have to be a spirit of "my way/opinion is right". It can simply be a day enjoying a hatch, watching a friend cast to a fish. If he catches or misses is of little consequence on the day or friendship, that moment will be the lesson unto itself for both of us as it pertains to the fishing. We might make adjustments to the style or tactic of fishing we're doing and hope for better closings.

I don't fish wish my friend Barry as much as I'd like. Time simply doesn't afford it. But when we do get on the water, he & I do the exact same thing "no, you go ahead". You see, we both know that fish will be caught. We both know that we'll each get a neat experience that day, be it a fish in a neat location or just a chance to watch the other fish. If he gets a 2 foot brown - brilliant! If I get a 5 pound rainbow - great. If we each catch 5" cutts, even better. It doesn't matter. There's no imposing that a fly pattern, tippet size, or brand name is the right answer. We know that the fish will take care of themselves - we'll get a few. What we do is honor each other without compulsion to step ahead of the other.

I haven't fished with my friend Jim in a couple of seasons, but fishing with him was a great example of people of similar skill and perspective. Simply rotating fish and having fun in discussion without posture. There's no feeling amongst either that the other is something greater, thus removing the one who perceives himself the lesser angler from trying to educate or posture.

I have another friend whom I've only fished with a few times. Granted I've fished a little more, but he loves to sight fish. I was able to spend time with him a couple of weeks back. Am I a better fisher? Meh, I don't know, who cares? We both enjoy sighting and we have been able to enjoy time together on a few waters both here and New Zealand. We try our best to be each other's eyes and we each love to see the fish and study the angles and actions of fish. In my case, I honestly am getting to the point that I love the video taping of fish more than catching them myself, and am torn when it gets to be my turn to fish. But the point is that he pipes up to remind me that it is, indeed, my turn. If I then choose to give way, it's my choice and it happens when I happily do so based on what I feel for myself.

Contrast that to my friend I wrote about in the previous blog post. When we fished on our distant holiday I gave way every day, literally putting my rod away or simply blind fishing the water every once in a while between sighted fish, just so he could have the experience of sight fishing success at some point. At the end of the day it was about his failures or how close he came. Missing was the - "hey, wait a second, Dave just gave way for 6 or the 7 hours we fished, maybe tomorrow I'll honor him". Every day it went the same. And by the end of our time enduring his "me, me, me", I'd had enough. The honor between friends was missing. And when honor between friends is missing, it's tough to come back. The last thing you want to do with someone like this is try to communicate what you see happening because if they don't see it themselves, it'll be received not in the "hey, let's try to communicate and build our relationship", rather, it'll be received as an attack and beget an attack right back. Another friend of mine always joked that this fellow taught me everything I know about fly fishing for how he tries to lord over me just how much he knows. It got painful to watch.

I can't comment too much on my fishing with Amelia publicly. I will say that we see every facet of our relationship while on the water. I don't know any couple that spends as much time together as we do, and less so in how we go about life and the close quarters we spend time together. 3 months in New Zealand in a 4x4 van and 5 months a year pulling 14 to 20 hours a day working together at our lodge. I've seen a few other couples ready to kill each other after a few weeks of having to experience the full front of their spouse's personality. For us, the bottom line with that is honoring each other and communicating well, and seeing the bigger picture in every moment that this is our life together. We talk about our honest feelings openly and pull the tough stuff out in order that we are both completely honest. Niether of us would have any other relationship.

Enjoying company on the water is what winds up being most important, be that the company of yourself or others. The crazy thing about fishing is that if you spend enough time doing it, you'll catch fish. Astute, eh? Given that outcome is inevitable, and considering that expanding your data set of experience to include both sizes and numbers will occur, what's the end result? Be it that you enjoy time alone or with others, mutually respecting and honoring their fishing is what it boils down to. In my one friend's case, he couldn't see just how deeply he cut not only the honor and mutual respect on the water, but discounted my efforts in fisheries management. It's a tough one but I finally had to cut off fishing with him.

Ultimately, as I mentioned before, this comes down to a good sense of self, a good sense of what values you have for your time, and how strongly you hold on to those values in intimate settings. Fly fishing is intimate, and not everyone can share those times with you. We're not called to share our intimate side with everyone, and it's up to us individually to determine at what point we only let certain people share in those moments.

"Fishing Result Deficiency Syndrome"

2011-10-21T15:23:00.002-06:00

To open, we all have our reason for fly fishing. At some point, we all have to admit to ourselves that we do it because we fulfill a need in our lives in some way. Even if we do it to enrich other people's lives, we get something out of it. So, we all have some form of result that we derive from fly fishing. The other introductory point is that I am a firm believer that negative example provides a world of examples of opportunity where we can grow and share, so others can learn and use another's negative example to a positive end. That said...

I've fished with, watched, or guided a lot of people and have seen a lot of different personalities. I myself have had a lot of different emotions and reactions in my fly fishing, and have had a few perspectives change through the few decades of doing it. Nobody is 'right' in how they fish, and the result of effort and skill doesn't always line up as you'd think. Further, there is no 'right' way to act and react to what happens on the water, as there certainly are as many varying aspects of personalities - and moments of personalities - as there are varying moments on the water.

However, for the people I've been on the water with, a very select few people have gone above and beyond the call of duty for how the result of fly fishing affects their self worth. These people are completely engulfed by the outcome of their fly fishing. In fact, a few folks I've been around have seen their lack of fishing result affect their entire being. Size and numbers - or a combination of the two - rule their world and unless the result is within their pre-ordained data set, their expectations, their over-estimation of their ability... their self worth falls, their reactions outlandish, and their entire being crashes. No fish = no self worth. No result = no self love.

I've seen it quite a few times on moderate levels, and unfortunately a few have completely melted down in a day or over a short period of time. Their reaction isn't usually an outburst, rather, an inward downward spiral that manifests itself in countless symptoms that are painfully obvious to those around them. They remain this way until the results change or they go home and somehow manage to see the sun rise again. And God help those around them if these people begin to have success in fishing - the equal opposite is also then true.

Such symptoms include: quietness; disengaging; withdrawal; belittling others; owliness; mood swings from euphoria to outright being pissed off; snippiness; passive aggressive comments; subtle comments of comparison of result; turning away from, deliberately ignoring, or even flat out walking away from others when they hook up or catch another fish and they can't; they can't share in their fishing partner's success; throwing rods, gear, boats, etc around out of frustration. The list goes on and most aspects aren't pretty. In fact, I've seen all the above from one fishing partner!

We all have moments in time, a minute here or there where we deviate from the core of who we are due to a momentary reaction to a situation. We recognize these moments and apologize and get back to having fun for others as much as ourselves - often more for the other. But I'm talking about the people who spiral out of control for a complete afternoon of fishing, or have one afternoon of pity party extend to two days or on to 2 or 3 weeks on an extended fishing trip.

Most often, these individuals can't see past themselves. They often forget that if they have been taken to a river or are being taught by someone else, that the person hosting them is sacrificing a part of their free time, sacrificing their personal holiday time, or sacrificing part of themselves for the benefit of the one they are assisting. In the end, instead of appreciation, the person taking time out of their fly fishing time receives a whole host of the above attitudes instead of appreciation.What's amazing is that rarely do these people realize that they have completely melted. They act as if life is normal or deny how they're acting, project onto you that you have the issue or problem, and sometimes even attack you for wanting to discuss what's obvious to everyone else around them. "I don't have any problem, everything's fine," I've heard a few times. Complete dismissal, lack of ownership, and a clear cutting of any possibility of deeper relationship by being vulnerable in admitting even the slightest character flaw. And vulnerability - its expression and sharing - is so important.

I once spent successive days fishing with a fellow who couldn't cast 25 feet accurately, nor with any kind of line control to average wariness brown trout. He kept spooking them or missing the two or three takes he did manage. I was on a distant vacation and he his, yet I gave way to him. We were supposed to rotate fish but because he was continuously showing poorly I kept giving my turn to him. By the end of our time together, there was no recognition of me foregoing my opportunities in his favor - I often went entire afternoons without fishing after catching on my first attempt - in order to give him opportunity to catch a fish. I didn't want to show him up, frankly as I knew his ego couldn't handle it. In fact, he went so far as to state to me, "You get to do this all the time," when I consistently gave way one afternoon. At the end of our time together, he'd managed to land one fish and he was sulking, loathing, and so entrenched in his own pity party he didn't realize that I was paying good money & sacrificing my vacation time to enhance him. There was absolutely no recognition of anything past himself and his fishing experience. He stayed that way for some time, to the point Amelia & I decided to gently part ways so we could continue to enjoy our vacation - you don't want to hear Amelia's perspective! The flipside is that when this person is catching fish he's on top of the world and having a grand time, and everyone knows it.

If you identify with any (large or small part) of what I've written here, be it having suffered through it or if you are honest enough with yourself and those around you to admit you are this way, ask yourself if you or your friends should be subjected to this? Friends put up with friends to a degree, and compassion is always encouraged, but at some point you need to take ownership of your actions and realize that pouting, withdrawal, and the other negative aspects impact the ability of the others around you to be care free and enjoy their time as basic social tact suggests they can't otherwise. It's difficult for one person who cares about someone else to show their elation when the other is a kill joy mired in self loathing. Most who suffer from fishing result deficiency syndrome will never realize how miserable they are to be around.

So, what can we do? If you are on the receiving side, it really comes down to our personal boundaries, how much we can tolerate and how strongly we feel we are to be treated to what standard. That's a mouthful but so true. We have to be honest to ourselves how we are feeling and own our reactions or building reaction. It's very important to keep our composure and remove ourselves before we act out of our own character, standards, or views. Allow the other person space and time, and don't get caught up in their negativity.

If you are on the perpetrating side, the first step is certainly to own up to it and listen to what your mind is telling you. It's easy to recognize those feelings of jealousy, self loathing, angst, anger, etc. It's extremely difficult for some to admit even to themselves that they have a character flaw. We all have them. It's contrite to simply say 'get past yourself', but that's ultimately where this is heading. Recognize where you are at, and perhaps explore the notions of boundaries, fostering friendship, sharing in others' joy through difficult times, personal integrity, work on your self confidence and recognize that a strong outgoing personality is often a front to hide inner flaws, etc. Be honest with yourself and take the time to explore these things.

There is so much to enjoy about fly fishing once we establish that it isn't all about 'me'. Take the time to enjoy the fact that someone else that you care about is enjoying a moment. Let go your personal frustration. Put the rod down, watch & absorb the beauty of someone more skilled or more successful. Look at the artistry of the lines on the rocks, the trees about you. Stop placing so much importance on having a photo of your mug with a fish. There's simply so much more to enjoy in and about fly fishing than the fish.

New Zealand Non Resident License Review

2011-10-21T09:07:00.002-06:00

They're finally thinking of increasing non-resident license fees in NZ - they are the same for residents as non at present. They are asking for input. The discussion paper is as follows:
http://www.doc.govt.nz/upload/documents/getting-involved/consultations/current-consultations/non-resident-fishing-licences-discussion-document.pdf
The discussion paper and justification is extremely poor and relies on reaching, unproven points. However, the bottom line is it makes sense. If you have comment, please read and have your voice included with a response to it.
Cheers

You Again, eh?

2011-10-21T08:02:00.000-06:00

The flight tickets arrived for our wintering in New Zealand yesterday. The temperature certainly dropped while we were on the water, and then the sleet and rain slowly started turning to something a little more sinister. We'd forgotten how fun this stuff is! The next month and a bit can go by quickly now... I think we can just about hang up the Alberta season.

Fall Friends

2011-10-18T18:18:00.001-06:00

A friend invited me to fish a quiet reach of his favorite water. We'd fished together on a few out of the way waters in New Zealand last December. It was a wonderful day, though I should have seized more of the opportunities to film the amazing sight fishing we had. While the clouds covered the sun we had chances to catch fish and hooked a few. As soon as the sun came out no fly or tippet could come within 15 feet of the trout - they spooked instantly. It was a great day to see the reach.
The next day Amelia & I headed out to a small spring creek we'd not been able to fish all season. We came across a few fish and enjoyed a great day together in the warm, fall sun.
Through both days I managed to video tape a few moments that reflect the feel of the season... in a short video I call "Fall Friends" - both the sight fished browns, the staging browns swimming together, and the people I was able to enjoy time on the water with.
You can see the video on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9Ml8yNTNsM) or look at the video to the top right of this blog. Be sure to watch it in HD as there is some clear footage. :)
Cheers & happy autumn.

We Made Orvis News Photo of the Day Again!

2011-10-18T13:07:00.001-06:00

It was a neat experience and neat to swim with the fish:
http://www.orvisnews.com/FlyFishing/Picture-of-the-day-flrtress-lake-brookies.aspx

Brown Trout Edge Structure

2011-10-13T11:42:00.001-06:00

Need some help with brown trout. I've been brain storming a bunch and writing down the specific structures they hold on the edge of. I'm hoping some folks will email or post about what neat features you've come across browns holding - you know the stuff - logs, weedbeds, boulders - but what about shopping carts, different types of structures like that? This is for a forthcoming production that I am finally starting to work on. :)

Please share - info@flyfishalberta.com or simply comment below.

Thanks!

Boatman Bash

2011-09-28T16:43:00.002-06:00

Well, I hadn't seen anything like it. We were floating along in our drift boat when we decided to anchor up in an eddy and have lunch. As we drift in, the entire eddy was black - all 30 yards wide and 80 yards length. Black like a deep organic black. After recently having had great fishing in central Alberta brown trout streams and a few local lakes, we knew what was causing this eddy to be black. It was an epic water boatman event. I took the time to take some underwater photos and video. I also got the net out and scopped up 4 pounds of boatmen for a few stills on the bank. It was amazing to see.

Oreti River (New Zealand) needs some help

2011-09-20T19:21:00.001-06:00

The following email comes from New Zealand. There is one of the country's fabled rivers at a cross roads. The Oreti R has seen a multitude of management scenarios through the years, the present fisheries management critically dependant upon angler etiquette and common respect in spreading use of the river through a walk only reach that is essentially user managed. It works reasonably well. The river produces some massive trout. At issue today is a proposal to build a bicycle route along the river, through the walk access only. Where the current 'park in this stall if you are fishing beats 1, 2, or 3 and hike in to your beat' system is simple, the proposed bike route will see a massive change to a relatively small water with few, large fish. It really will change the dynamics of the river's fishing. It also ties in to the long term vision of the region, and how remote areas will be managed and/or developed, and how that ties in to the 20, 50, and 100 year visions. If you look at the bigger picture, this is not simply about a small bike route with b&bs/cafes pitted against a few fish, it's symptomatic about so much more - how a small country like NZ will cope with the ongoing changes brought with economic expansion on a small landbase.

For more, for the application, for the background, etc, please visit the NZ FF Forum:

http://www.flyshop.co.nz/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=1;t=3235

Northern Lights

2011-09-18T15:05:00.001-06:00

Like many people, we were treated to an amazing display of northern lights a week ago. At Fortress Lake, the moon rose and tucked behind the range to our south. It shot amazing moon beams down the lake's valley. That would have been stunning enough for the night, but as it slowly drew down below the ridge, the northern lights began rocking out the northern sky. Purple's and greens lit up the night sky over Fortress Lake in an amazing show. The first shot is of the ridge to our north with the big dipper. The second shot is of Mt Quincy & Fortress.

Losing it!

2011-09-18T14:55:00.001-06:00

With 45 guests in just over 2 weeks rolling through Fortress Lake Retreat, my attention to detail of projects back home has slipped, to say the least. The bad news was that a program glitch no longer recognized the largest chapter in our soon to be completed sight fishing trout rivers dvd just before I went in to Fortress, and I had to re-build the entire timeline and story board. For once, I saw it simply as a challenge, to build it back up better than it was before. The good news is that the music and voice over files are all done, and the best news that I knew exactly what clips I'd chosen and simply have to re-edit their inclusion. But now that I have 3 days in front of the computer once again, and sit in front of the open program, I'd forgotten that I'd already laid it out and edited 1/3 of it prior to heading in to Fortress. Great news! If I'm this foggy @ 39 years old, I can hardly wait for 79... :) It's looking good. As soon as I get through this chapter re-build, we're on to learning dual layer Blu-Ray burning and bar coding. Here's hoping things go well!

Catch Magazine

2011-09-01T12:29:00.001-06:00

The latest issue is on line now. Good viewing as always. :)
http://www.catchmagazine.net/

Quick Float

2011-08-18T09:56:00.003-06:00

We snuck out for a quick float of the Red Deer. Little did we know just how short that short float would be. We arrived to blissful conditions - calm, cloudy, mild, with bugs on the water. The first bend of the river went very well, though no real sizes showed:

As we came around the corner, this cloud greeted us. The front forecast to arrive about midnight was a few hours early. That was that - the wind began to howl, some rain and hail smacked us and the fishing shut down. For one bend of the river, it fished well. :) Back to Fortress Lake for a couple of weeks!

Wallowing

2011-08-07T18:26:00.002-06:00

This past week I had a chance to head back a few times to photo/video the remnants of the hexes. The water had come way down and the hatch that kept coming off became tough to fish. The duns pooped strictly from inside the heavy weed beds and extremely few got caught in the drift. While the fishing for fish was slow with a few landed each outing, the fishing for photos and video was incredible. I managed to get a few emergers on video, which will be hilighted in a forthcoming production. It was fun to wallow in the mud a little, chasing the hatch from a different perspective - thigh deep in mud and thick weeds! A couple of nights we actually wound up wasting the hatch from a fishing perspective to get some neat photos/videos. The fish aren't everything when it comes to fly fishing - not in our household anyway. :)

Cheers!

Wishing Well

2011-08-07T16:48:00.003-06:00

I'm off to Fortress for a spell. Amelia will be in and out. But there won't be much in the way of blog posts as we move into the height of things for the season. The weather outlook for the middle of August is scattered, cool for this time of year, and cloudy days coming. Perfect hatch weather! I hope you get the time & take the time to do a little fishing in the coming weeks. The water levels are finally favorable and the weather isn't too hot. There should be a great transition from the golden stones, pmds, caddis, hoppers, to olives, and fall caddis. Add in the yearling return to the Bow in the coming weeks and you can add some good streamer fishing to the list of things to hit. I wish everyone a great mid to end of the season. At Fortress, we're getting in to some great sight fishing and a little bit of dry fly fishing with some late evening mouse fishing - should be as fun as always. :)
Happy fishing everyone.

Recent Action

2011-08-04T11:54:00.001-06:00

Lately we've enjoyed some good late night fishing. While we certainly have a favorite water, we've pulled ourselves away a couple nights to fish other waters where hexes, caddis, and pmds are hatching. It's been a great time to fish if you time things 'just so'.

Above - A long brown takes a big dry

Below - A whale of a brown comes to hand

Above - what the hatch looked like last night

Below - fish are the last to feed on the duns. Waxwings stole the show this week. Amazing!

Above & Below - HAPPY

Above - thick fish gorge on big bugs

Below - AJ with one of many fish this evening

Above - A lone hex on an off night for the hatch. We didn't stay until 2am to get the spinner fall.

Below - What a good hatch brings to the surface

A back channel brown on the Red Deer

Below - Hex nymph holes in the mud.

Above & Below - Hexagenia mayfly nymphs

Above - A nice brown

Below - Late night shot of a spent cripple.

Bad Rubber

2011-08-03T11:21:00.001-06:00

It's that funny old thing, you get what you pay for. Most often, what you pay for determines how much you'll pay on the back end. I've never been stuck with trailer tires but have close a couple of times now. I have always bought tires from a tire shop, getting decent mileage and have not had to worry about a pebble shredding cheap rubber open. Good trailer tires last a while.
While we were in Washington State, we were waltzing through the Wal-Mart Super Center, amazed at the selection and prices of goods - generally 50 to 85% of home prices, and the selection of items we simply don't have. While there, we came across trailer tires on rims. $50 +/-. Great deal! I bought a set. I kept the old tires as spares, bald as they had become. They had been good tires. We happily went fishing a couple of days, each day fishing 10 min from town. I thought I'd noticed the new tires wearing a little in 40 minutes of driving, but thought nothing of it until we arrived home to Red Deer at the end of our trip. They were already through the tread! A week later we returned to Washington to fish. Before we got through BC, one of the tires shredded apart. Luckily, as I came to a stop, I was beside a tire shop and I borrowed a couple of things and swapped out my old tires. We arrived in Washington, and I took the tires back to the Wal-Mart. They swapped them out on warranty (it had been a whole week) and I again kept my old tires as spares. We fished and came back to Red Deer. I've been able to drive 5 or 6 short local fishing trips on the trailer. I noticed that the tires were flat bald and the inner rubber, which was incredibly soft on these tires, felt like memory foam. Not good. But, I drove it anyway. Long story short, 2 nights ago on my way home, 5 miles out from Red Deer I felt a wiggle in the trailer. I knew the tire had shot, but being well past midnight, close enough to home, and not wanting to deal with cheap rubber, I drove home. :) The tire was smoking upon arrival.
I've had enough of the tires and simply went to a local tire shop. Now that I have 4 rims, I now have 4 brand new trailer tires.
I got lucky twice with these cheap rubbers. The point is that had they melted off the rims anywhere but where they had, the cheap up front price would likely have cost more in time (going back and forth to replace the tire or looking for a spare or possibly a jack/tire iron) than it's worth. Funny how you get that feeling when you know that the deal up front is a gamble, and it turns out exactly as you knew it would.
Which reminds me of an old Kinks song, Low Budget, still one of my favs:
"Cheap is small and not too steep
But best of all cheap is cheap
Circumstance has forced my hand
To be a cut price person in a low budget land
Times are hard but we'll all survive
I just got to learn to economize
I'm not cheap, you understand
I'm just a cut price person in a low budget land
Excuse my shoes they don't quite fit
They're a special offer and they hurt me a bit
Even my trousers are giving me pain
They were reduced in a sale so I shouldn't complain
They squeeze me so tight so I can't take no more
They're size 28 but I take 34"

Float Tubes For Sale

2011-08-01T12:27:00.002-06:00

SOLD

Have 4 of them in a bag that haven't been used in a while, all hold air. These are all the donut style. If you simply want to hike to an alpine lake or get a family into fly fishing a lake to try it out, this might be worth your while. I think these are what I have here:

1 x Trout Traps Cricket
2 x Browning Classic
1 x Caddis Navigator
Gee, I'll even toss in 1/2 dozen tie down straps, a pr of vests (one is even new), and a loose pack to carry the 2 browning tubes.
$150 takes the lot.
info@flyfishalberta.com
Cheers
Dave Jensen

July 27 report & outlook!

2011-07-27T14:11:00.001-06:00

For the first time all year, the central Alberta region is almost firing on all cylinders. There will be some lingering murkiness from the patchy deluges (S Ram, Little Red Deer) but many waters are coming in just above normal and clarity 3 to 6 feet. With sun and warmth in the forecast, the long weekend could be very good to fly fishers!
A few flavs (green drakes) on the N Ram, golden stones, a few brown drakes on the Red Deer, hexes on a couple streams, caddis, pmds everywhere, and olives on miserable days.
Hope for the continued upswing in good fishing.
Cheers!

July 26 Report

2011-07-26T00:46:00.001-06:00

Don't look now but the Red Deer R has 18" of vis for the first time since April
The streams out west are a real mixed bag and a bit of a west. Brown trout streams are generally ok west of #22 but better south of Sundre as yet. Prairie remains murky. The mid & lower reaches of Little Red Deer R have less than a foot vis. The upper RDR is mud. The Clearwater is up and off color.
Cutthroat rivers were in great shape until last night's front rolled through. The radar showed a few good cells about the Ram Rivers and a good storm 2 days ago on the Blackstone might well have knocked it out again.

Hatches - golden stones, pmds, caddis, hexes, midges, some green drakes & flavs starting to show up top.

Weather report is cool but getting nicer once again for the long weekend.

A Day with the wee cutts

2011-07-21T10:30:00.001-06:00

Recently, AJ & I decided to head to the high country to fish a spot we hadn't been in years. The stream flows through a high country willowy meadow and is home to wee cutthroat trout. The cutts are rich in color and a hope for the day was to photograph a few and take some underwater video in the right light. The other hope was to simply relax together, enjoy some photos of the surroundings, and stretch our legs in the high country again. After some long hours in front of the computer lately, it was good to get out together before the hectic schedule of Aug & Sept comes. Here's a sampling of our day together.

Fishing Report July 20

2011-07-20T18:40:00.002-06:00

Just when things were looking to improve for brown trout fishing... yesterday's storms were amazing, running at an angle 45 degrees to the southwest of Red Deer angled right at the city. The resulting hail, downpours, and high winds smacked some of our brown trout streams around. Raven, Prairie, Little Red (lower) are all off today once again. Further up might be ok on the Little RDR, FT, Dp, so too Raven. Stauffer is ok apparently. The RDR? HA! Good one. Book the fishing on the RDR sometime in August this year. But the reach fromt he dam to the Little RDR may come around sooner than you might think...
Cutthroat trout waters continue to be the region's best bets.
Happy cutthroat fishing.
:)

Many Faces

2011-07-19T14:20:00.004-06:00

Have you ever seen locations differently in varying light? One day while walking home from the depths of the Ram Canyon at dusk, I stopped for a breather and looked around. I can close my eyes and recite every single riffle and run of the Ram from the Forestry Trunk Road to the confluence with the N Ram, and on this evening I knew exactly where I was of course. However, I saw something I'd never seen before. Typically, I walk past this cliff wall at about 10 am and the sun usually beats down on its shale face. It's a craggy face but I'd never thought it any kind of special. It's the last cliff wall of the open canyon on the Ram before the canyon narrows at a key hole corner where Small Falls kick off the Triple Falls - 3 sets of pretty impressive waterfalls in about 2km of river.

As I looked at the cliff face that marks the entrance to this chasm of rock and whitewater, I noticed about 20 faces sternly looking down at the river embedded in the cliff face. In the photo, to me anyway, it looks like foreheads, eye sockets, noses, and chins. 20+ faces giving a stern warning. It was pretty neat to see, and appropriate. So, I now call that cliff face "Many Faces". If you see it, you're about to really get into the rougher canyon section on the Ram.

Turning the corner - July 19 Report

2011-07-19T14:00:00.002-06:00

The upper slope cutthroat rivers remain in good shape. If we can get through the next 4 or 5 days of unsettled weather, it could be a great end to July and bump to August.
Brown trout streams are slowly showing signs of coming around. The Red Deer R is dropping. The reach below the dam may actually be in the best shape sooner than any other reach. LRDR & FTC are both in ok shape in the upper 1/2. Prairie Cr was brown on the 17th @ 752 crossing.
FYI - the water flow gauge on the main Ram is pretty sketchy. Use it as a general trend but not for flow.
Stream hatches: some brown drakes, golden stones, pmds, caddis, hexes, caddis.

July 19 Fishing Report

2011-07-18T09:50:00.002-06:00

Easily summated:
If you are a cutthroat trout, you are swimming in clear water.
If you are a brown trout, you likely are swimming in brown water and aren't eating a lot right now.

Such is life in central Alberta. It's actually an amazing line drawn out in where the heavy rains have fallen east of the FTR.

Happy cutthroat fishing.

Stauffer Update

2011-07-14T17:34:00.002-06:00

Stauffer has 2 feet vis and is up. AJ came upon 6 rises all day (from 3 very sporadic fish). Just sharin'. You may wish to go south of Sundre or west of Edson.
Cheers

Amazing Amounts of Water

2011-07-12T13:03:00.001-06:00

You don't need to be a genius to see the impact of the massive storm that rolled through the Caroline - Rocky Mtn House area last night. The streams out that way are once again chugging. We drove around and were quite impressed at the sheer volume of water. There's water flowing over hwy 11, and the Stauffer hwy has water flowing over it at the #11 junction. The ditches are full of water and the streams... well... forget it.

Most of the waters out west remain high for this time of year, though a few are showing signs of clarity, such as the upper reaches of the N Ram. It's a little silly, but perhaps this weekend's sunny forecast might finally get us opportunity to dry out a little.

Early Float

2011-07-09T17:24:00.002-06:00

It was good to get back to the Bow. While the golden stone hatch is a little later getting rolling this year, the fish are definitely keyed up on the nymphs. At every stop I looked on the rocks and few had many shucks, so we focused on hanging a pair of nymphs under an indicator for the day. With a fellow quite new to fly fishing, we opted to fish a 5 foot depth (from indicator to bottom fly) and work the shallow seams tight to shore. The day started slower, as expected due to the low pressure front and cooler air sweeping through 8 hrs earlier, but picked up by late morning. And when it did pick up, it was silly. The rainbows are quite thin this year and in need of a serious dose of stoneflies. Every single fish opted to take the larger, dark nymph. I saw 2 stone adults all day, one on the water and another in a robin's mouth. The wind was forecast 40 gusting 60 for the morning and 50, gusting 70 for the afternoon. The weather folks were bang on. We got to the Highwood the same time the wind did. With the HW quite murky and the wind howling, we tagged a few more at the next bluffs and called it a day close to 3pm. A lot of fish!
We began our day at 4:45 am. With the downstream launches closed, we weren't going to start later and get behind the chaos that no doubt will hit the river daily until Legacy & Carseland open. There again, a guy should give the N Bow Lodge a call and see if their launch is available.
This is a shot of the river @ Policeman's taken at 4:30am. The clouds were moving and the wind shook the shrubs in the foreground. The exposure is at +4; ISO 3200; shutter open for 25 seconds; fish eye lens. Turned out ok. :)

Beginning of Tornado cloud

2011-07-07T18:43:00.002-06:00

You might have heard that a tornado touched down near Bergen today. AJ & I were out in the mosquito mine fields trying to entice a couple of nice browns spotted in gin clear spring ponds. As we waited for the trout, we watched the weather turn as this head turned into a a huge, billowing, far reaching one in a matter of an hour. It literally developed before our eyes and killed the sight fishing. The skies built up and turned black and the mossies were insane. We headed for home and on the way heard about the tornado near Bergen, with golf ball sized hail. This was the cell that spawned the twister. Good thing we left when we did! :)

Here's the same cell on radar a couple hours later. You can see the long leading comma tail like cloud show up on the radar shot. Kind of cool. Have to run as the storm is just setting up over Red Deer now and I don't want to miss the boomers. :)

Central Brown Trout Streams

2011-07-06T17:29:00.000-06:00

Lo.
Behold.
Away Comet & Vixen.
There are fish... brown trout...
There are a few miles of fishable water.
There are clear spring creeks.
There are risers.
There are brown drakes. There are pmds, caddis. And even a few golden stones...
It's not perfect out west, the Red Deer in town has 15" vis. Other streams have 1 to 3 feet vis. Spring creeks are back to normal...
And last night was a TON of fun for 3 hours...
It's getting to be worth poking around here & there again... Happy hunting!

Waters of the FTR

2011-07-04T18:50:00.004-06:00

A little birdie driving 130kmh down the FTR this morning tells me that the Blackstone is a little high but is coming into shape. Further N things are still off, with the Pembina dark stained. Further north yet things remain high. South, things are also high but visibility is coming into its own. The main Ram is out but the N Ram is comnig, so too a few tribs.

Fly Fishers Inc

2011-07-02T08:08:00.002-06:00

The New Zealand online magazine's latest issue is now up:http://www.flyfishersinc.com/

Catch Magazine

2011-07-02T08:07:00.002-06:00

The latest issue is now online. Always worth a look:http://www.catchmagazine.net/

The Annual Disconnect

2011-06-30T17:28:00.000-06:00

Every fly fishing season there is a disconnect from social norms. If you are in the fly fishing industry, you'll know what I mean. Every day a new customer walks into your shop, guides host new guests, or, if you're in the lodge business, there's a million facets added in running a shop, guide service, hotel, restaurant, and boat servicing all rolled under one roof. The hours are incredibly long. The season starts out innocently enough. Days are booked up and while we get to see the early rounds of NHL or NBA playoffs, we're nowhere to be seen come the semi finals or finals. Friends call and our ability to get back to them falls off the charts, and by the end of June, we're simply into our daily routine of our dusk til dawn insular worlds based on how we cope with the long hours and provide the best opportunities to our guests. From May through early October, connection with friends and family is tough. Developing relationships is almost impossible given dedication to guests, rather, the focus is on maintaining our core relationships, reaching out to others as we go, and hopefully laying friendly foundations to new friends at some point in the season. When you're up at 4 or 6 am and getting to bed at 11pm to 1am, this industry can consume 7/12 of your year. It's a good life, but it is consuming.

The difficulty comes when something dramatic occurs. Recently, my brother in law has been diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer, mastesicized to his liver, consuming his small intestine. He has been in hospital for 2 weeks and can't even hold down water. They can't remove the tumor as it is simply too consuming and the stent put in to get him nutrition has been choked off by the aggressively growing tumor. This weekend he'll undergo bi-pass surgery to eliminate the small intestine from the digestive track. They can't remove the tumor since it is so fast growing and given what it's attacking, his body wouldn't have the energy to heal. The surgery is to provide perhaps a few weeks to be with his wife and kids.
Another friend lost his father while hosting a fly fishing trip recently. He was on an extended trip with people and found out about the passing a few days ahead of the end of the trip. There was no choice but to complete the trip with so many people depending upon him. That's the nature of what we do. Put aside our situation for the betterment of others.

In both cases above, there's a surreal aura. Is this really happening? Here we are hosting fly fishing, immersing ourselves in the fantasy world escape of fly fishing, and yet we're somehow to connect with reality and realize that this stuff is really happening. The seasonal insular worlds we create to get us through the season, providing our guests the best vacation we can... surrounded by happy people and fishing, the long hours and our means of coping... suddenly we have to connect that these realities are happening to our loved ones. It's tough.

I know that even for Amelia & I, we love to develop our relationship. We love to explore each others thoughts, develop our talents, seek out new things in our lives. It's difficult to do so when we're consumed by what we do. We've been in the industry for 15 years, we know what to expect and continue on. We've matured ourselves on not fretting the temporary busy-ness from day to day. We take the time to try to connect daily, regardless if 1am becomes 2am, to allow each other time to decompress, to share something about ourselves. It's the month to month ins and outs that we have had to look at and take time to ensure we connect with each other. We choose time to connect and see how each other is, what thoughts we've each had, to look forward and try to have a plan of what we're to do when it's us time again. And yet, somehow, we try to remain connected to the world outside of our reality... the one where friends and family care, where their lives unfold and develop... where we try to ensure they know we're here. It's an interesting balance for sure. And, for anyone not in the industry, one that is almost impossible to maintain a balance in, given the seasonality of it and the financial realities the lifestyle.

Just sharing.

Anchors

2011-06-29T11:16:00.000-06:00

If you've been to the store lately, you'll notice that the price of anchors the past 3 years has risen dramatically. A 15 pound mushroom is $45. I walked through literally every store in Red Deer and several in Edmonton, and not one 15 pound anchor was under $40. At the good old Wal-Mart here in Red Deer, their mushroom is $45 as well. When we were in Washington State this spring, the exact same anchor at the Wal-Mart Super Center there was $18. The fishing stores, Can-Tire, etc, all are priced high here in Alberta. As I walked through Wally World, I walked through the fitness department on my way to checking out the anchors. A 15 pound barbell is $13. Why are we paying $32 for a different shape?
Guess what I did? The rear anchors for the boats at Fortress are all now 15 pound barbells. And they work extremely well given that we can't use claw anchors in the lake given the rate of loss due to heavy timber on the bottom. For anyone who wants a good, cheap anchor for their pontoon or jon boat for lakes or slow sections of rivers, barbells work as good as anything.
And as your wife drives you down the lake you can get a quick work out.

Hwy 16 & 22 waters

2011-06-27T18:48:00.000-06:00

From Sunwapta R to the Athabasca, Whirlpool, McLeod, Wolf, Carrot, Lobstick, N Sask, Rose, Medicine, Blindman - way up & brown.

Clicky Clicky

2011-06-22T11:23:00.000-06:00

You can tell an awful lot about a person by their fly fishing photo collection. It becomes very telling if an individual is self absorbed, loves nature, loves the art of photography, loves others, esteems to better others, has low or high self esteem, is mature in fly fishing or not. There are countless things you can learn. Of course, photography, at its core, is a self focused thing because it’s an interest photographers have, with them selecting subjects, focuses, etc. But, when it comes to having to take photos, ensuring your photo is taken, the stress of moments and the reasons for those stresses, etc, pictures can be quite telling – if you are present and aware in the moment, and honest with yourself.

In my personal case, in reviewing my photo collection, I can tell when I was younger, when I needed to be seen, when I was trying to develop photo skills, when I was trying to take advertising photos to enhance our business, when I enjoyed other people’s fishing, when I simply enjoyed what fly fishing was about, when I simply enjoyed moments regardless of people, when I was trying to better someone else's experience and put the rod away to take photos, or when I was being cocky or egotistical some years back (thankfully!). I can look back and, by being honest with myself, recognize what my state of being was. I can recognize growth or areas needing growth and choose to address those. Of course, I can just enjoy the photos.

If you look through your photo collection, honestly, you can learn a lot about yourself. That is, if you care to really, honestly look at yourself in the moments the photos are taken. If you look through your fly fishing photo collection:

Do you take photos of every single fish you catch?
Do you take photos of you with the fish to hilight you, or of interesting angles, colors, markings, fins, etc to hilight the fish?
Do you prefer to take photos only of your family or on special fishing trips?
Do you take photos of yourself or of others? And I mean, take one photo of yourself and 10 of others or of nature, insects, wildlife, scenes, etc?
Which is more important - taking the time to take someone else's photo or you snapping a quick photo and to get back to fishing?
Do you fish to get photos taken of your fish, or fish to enjoy something about the event and artistry of nature?
Do you flip out on your fishing partner / spouse when he or she screws up a photo of your fish?
Do you take time (and I mean more than one random shot here or there) to photograph others so they have shots of themselves, not just with fish but sharing moments?
Do you yell loudly when you hook up, and make your fishing partner / spouse run 200m or more to take photos of every fish you catch? Do you get upset when he or she can’t get to you in time?
Do you put the pressure on yourself, then, to reciprocate when he or she then hooks up? If not, why not? Is it all about you?
Is the photograph moment always an uptight moment – making sure you don’t screw it up? More importantly, do you put the pressure on the photographer to not screw up a shot of you with every fish?
If you are uptight about a photo, is it a one off situation in which you are trying to capture a time sensitive subject, or is it every time you shoot?
If it’s a one off moment of being uptight, do you apologize in that moment for your actions and ensure it is received, or do you ignore your actions and just expect others to as well - leaving things unresolved?
Just why do you need a photograph of every fish?
Do you show the size of the fish because you need to show how amazing an angler you are, that you catch big fish, or because you’re amazed at the fact the fish get that big? Be honest. There's a big difference.
If you catch a big fish, is that the first photo you show, or are other photos of your spouse, insects, scenery, etc shared first? In fact, do you share the biggest fish story right away or do you leave it as a sub note? Why?
Is the process of taking your photo or you taking others’ photos enjoyable? Is it peaceful reverence and natural, or is it forced and a stressful one?
Do the people around you cringe every time you have to take a photo, knowing it’s about to get stressful or be all about you?
Did your trophy fish swim away with great vim or did it sink to the bottom? Did you notice? Did you do everything you could to ensure its survival or did you do everything you could to get that photo of you?
Do you share photos of big fish to one up the other guy, to rub it in their faces that you're fishing and how great your life is?
Do you share photos of various sized fish, mixed in with other fly fishing facets as encouragement to others, to share moments on the water when they might not be able to get out?
What is your motivation in photography? Are the photos a true depiction of who you are or were when they were taken? Are you proud of yourself for how you acted, how self focused you were, how you treated others, where you were in life at that time? If not, have you honestly taken the time to better yourself since that time?

By looking through your collection, you can really get a handle on how self absorbed you might be; how much you give way to other people; how much you take the time to honor your friends; how much you appreciate the solitude of nature; how much time you spend with your friends; how much more effort you need to make to invite your friends fishing; how much you enjoy studying nature; how important catching fish is vs the relationships with the people you fish with; whether you have co-dependency issues; if you have avoidance issues; etc. The funny part is that you could finally be honest with yourself and finally admit what everyone around you already sees in you - because they were there with you.

The old saying “A man can fish his entire life without realizing that it’s not the fish he’s after” is very applicable to fly fishing photography and this line of thought. If you pay attention to your photo collection, and reflect upon the moments of the photos, you might realize life’s growth opportunities. These might help you find what you are truly trying to catch when fishing. Or it might reveal what flies need to change in order to help you catch what you’re seeking.

Hummingbirds

2011-06-21T11:30:00.000-06:00

I wrote the following on a rainy day at Fortress Lake last week...

I can do it for hours, days on end. Every year it fascinates me. In fact, my favourite part of Fortress Lake Retreat is simply watching the hummingbirds zipping around. When we first put the feeders up upon arrival each spring, the leaves aren’t out on the trees and the bright red feeders stand out like giant T-Bones to a Rottweiler. They get attention.

There’s some really neat habits on show at the feeder. There is always one mean ass male that rules the roost. He’ll sit beside a feeder and keep tabs on his food. You have to realize that each feeder has a litre of sugar water, so a feeder is about 3 weeks of feed for him. He could share. But, no, it doesn’t work that way. It’s his feeder, done deal. Any time another hummer comes along – squeaky squawk and he’s on it and chases it away. At the start of the year when 6 or 7 hummers come at once, the dominant male is a light sabre like show, flying through the willows like an Ewok on those cruisers.

Eventually things settle out and it’s time to get horny. The males fly in their J-curve, peaking about 80 feet up and come straight down, arching just above the vegetation and levelling out horizontally, putting the brakes on and chirping three or four times while fanning their tail feathers. From there, it follows that route back up to the peak, and it follows the sequence two more times before going for a drink at the feeder, then to the perch to chill, waiting for baby’s momma to come along.

The females tend to lay low in the bushes, likely fearful for their tail feathers. They hang along the two bottom branches, just off the ground in the willows. They wait until there is no obvious noise or presence of the males before rising to the feeder. And naturally, Billy Joe has simply been resting on the nearest branch and comes to say hi to the female. She tries to get a little feed, but most often the male chases her into the willows and tries to play ‘tag’ with her little tail feathers.

To really impress the ladies, the males can get so aggressive when chasing the gals through the willows that the female stops on a branch. The male then pulses on horizontal plane in and out. It’s kind of eerily like the pelvic thrust that my grade 10 Chemistry teacher Mr Peet used to do in class, but I think the male hummingbird’s intent is a little different. But Mr. Peet was an odd duck, so who knows. While giving the gals the pelvic thrust show, the males humm to the rhythm. Amelia should only be so lucky. I assume the lucky dudes shake the female’s tail feathers in the bushes soon after this.

Otherwise, the hummers simply fly about, crash into the odd window, I resuscitate them, and they fly out of my hands. If we leave the yurt doors open, they fly in to check things out, and then spook up to the dome at the top of the yurt. And it’s way too hot for a little hummer in the dome, so I get the dome opener and open it until there’s a small opening. Then it’s Rescue 911 as I get a broom to try to nudge it towards the opening. Sometimes it will simply look at the broom as a good roost, and I lower the broom down with the bird sitting neatly. We look at each other and I’ll walk him out the front door. Every single one flies over to the feeder.

We position our chairs between the feeders to give a little spice to conversation. At the peak of hummingbird season the racetrack between the feeders has birds zipping past at 30 mph over our shoulders or just over our hats.

It’s really cool.

The un-Limey bastard?

2011-06-21T11:24:00.000-06:00

After 5 weeks, finally off the antibiotics as of Friday. I'm tiptoeing around it all but the last 8 days I've not noticed (m)any symptoms of the Lyme disease that racked my body last month. Crossing the Chaba R 4 miles from the glacier was back to my typical bare feet, there's no tingling in my hands, knees, ears, nose. No fever. No night floods. Energy is back.
Now, just have to keep an eye on it because the disease apparently can come back as it can produce spores that re-propagate itself in your body. And if it does that, you're back to square one. Worst case you don't get a big rush of symptoms and it slowly builds back over time. So, am I now an unLimey Bastard or a Limey Bastard in waiting?
Time.

Hwy 11 Corridor River Update

2011-06-21T11:16:00.001-06:00

Pick a water between Eckville & Banff Park Bdy and insert the following report:
HIGH & MUDDY.
FTR south of Nordegg closed due to flooding.

Update

2011-06-14T20:31:00.000-06:00

All rivers west of Nojack on Hwy 16 are high and muddy right now, so if anyone was thinking of heading that way to go fishing you might want to reconsider.

Negative Example Learning

2011-06-14T08:07:00.000-06:00

I had in mind to share a series of incidences in which there was great opportunity to learn about fly fishing, about the personal ethical and moral standards by which we fish and interact with others while fly fishing. As I mentioned, there were some things that we've had happened the past year that truly dumbfounded us. But, as I often do, I was contemplating the collective of these incidents one day, considering where life has brought me to. I've opted to not go the route that I'd planned for the blog posts.
A side bar for a moment. As a kid life wasn't great. Folks wondered how I managed to turn out as I did, coming from what I was presented with. I always maintained that in my surroundings was great opportunity to learn, simply by doing the opposite of those around me. It really worked. If my family did things one way, and the results were usually negative, then if I did the opposite, things surely would be better. It really worked. It also grew a sense of looking at the bigger picture in scenarios, to analyze what's going on. A lot of that is why I'm a decent fly fisher and go where the fishing is good. Observe the bigger picture and hone in on those waters that are likely to fish well.
But hidden in there, and the lightbulb didn't turn on me until recently, is a life long propensity for subconsciously being drawn to negative situations that cost me a part of who I am. The negative examples I was to write about are about a friendship or two and how individuals couldn't get past themselves. I was to use those situations as example to demonstrate bigger picture stuff - how one so self absorbed missed what was really happening and how others could learn from it. Now, in the realization of my own psyche, I have to ask myself if it's worth sharing the negative, drawing further negative from these people, just to share with others to hopefully help them avoid the situations I have been in - the very ones up until this week I hadn't been consciously aware that I have been drawn to all my life. The very ones I don't need to be drawn to in order to grow and develop in this good life of ours.

So, if you've followed this blog, wondered about some of the things I'd typed previously hinting at discussion of bigger picture stuff, I'm going to mull over a different way of presenting. And then I'll get back at it. And if you haven't a clue what the hell I'm talking about or don't care about this stuff: fishing pictures coming soon.

:)

Lyme Disease, eh?

2011-06-07T22:16:00.001-06:00

I guess it was bound to happen through the years of outdoors life and travel. Several weeks ago, our last night fishing lahontans in Washington State, Amelia had two ticks crawling on her. As she showered she found another one beginning to bite her and she dug it out of her stomach. I woke up the previous morning with a large, raised welt of an insect bite on the inside of my upper arm. Ticks were in the room, likely having come into the hotel room on our fishing gear and/or our friends' dogs. Dogs and gear were through the room, on and off the beds, and it's not like ticks don't crawl.

I do know that the next afternoon I was dizzy as hell, to the point I couldn't stand up. That weekend I had a fever, then not, headaches, neck pain, fatigue, and remained so dizzy that to walk I had to focus on a stationary object. I didn't make it far at all. Seeing the doctor, he wanted to give it a few days to see if it was simply something viral. 5 days later, while the fever symptoms came down, my other symptoms became worse. I could sit at the computer because it's stationary. I couldn't walk around the block or even up the stairs for lack of energy plus the dizziness felt like I was in a fun house. I had violent, random shivers to the point (hide your eyes ladies) I barely hit the bowl when peeing. My eyes went from stinging to not. I typically run like a furnace for body temps but my hands went purple and cold. I moved slowly, I was constantly tired. I was sweating just sitting, though my body temp was normal. I changed clothes 3 to 5 times a day. Night time I flooded the sheets even though I wasn't hot. 10 days in, still no change. I didn't have a cold or the flu. I thought I could go fishing but my body laughed at me.

Now here's the fun part. If you don't treat it as Lyme disease and the symptoms simply wane but don't go away, then you get into a second phase of Lyme. The second phase really gets into the disseminated disease, with symptoms varying wildly in a variety of your body's systems, which further complicates the diagnosis and often keeps you from doing much of anything. Sometimes the impacts are extremely serious and you can get knocked on your ass for a year or two. Lyme is not contagious, the infected person is the end of the line.

The idea is to knock it down with antibiotics for 3 or 4 weeks and try to rid your system it. Even at that, there's a chance of treatment failure due to late diagnosis, insufficient treatment, or just aggressiveness of the infection. But in the early stages you don't / can't even know that you have Lyme disease because it takes a few weeks for it to fully show in your body's systems.

So, I was put on antibiotics and the fever, head fog, and dizziness went away. However, my energy level remained low and I just wanted to sleep all the time - this for a fellow who typically gets 6hrs or so a night. In the past 4 or 5 days I have begun to regain my energy levels, just in time to open at Fortress Lake. But, curiously, I began to develop other symptoms. The bugger of it all is that I have numb tingling, itching on my knees, nose, ears, and hands. I landed one particular fish and it took a moment to release it. My hands ached for 4 or 5 minutes to the point I damned near wanted to cry. I was immobilized in pain. The nervous system can get really screwed up. If I take anything warmer than a luke warm shower my body fries. Anything cooler and I freeze. I have been able to wade in glacial water all my life but I can't stand to touch anything but luke water or I'm in serious agony. I now twitch randomly in the morning as well, which is really spooky. My hands are puffy. And I have migrating joint pain. It's a new symptom every other day. And the antibiotics have me so sensitive to the sun that even wearing 70 block sunscreen my ears blistered and scabbed, and anything open to the sun burns with the same sunblock. I have another week to go on antibiotics. I'm hoping for the best right now.

Amelia has spoken to the tick experts in the Pacific NW and there's no doubt this is Lyme disease. In the USA there are upwards of 16,000 cases per year. While I got unlucky, the 1 to 3 % of tick bites that manifest into Lyme disease have to come from somewhere. I guess I am the unlucky part of that average. Hopefully the treatment kicks this thing out. Right now my doctor is seeing my lingering symptoms as the end game of the cycle and the last of the antibiotics should flush it out. Hope so. Phase two gets more serious and treatment more involved.

So, in future, no doggies in my room when fishing in tick zones. Fishing gear will be stored outside. I'll wear waders even though I don't need to for the fishing. And every day I'll do a rigorous check of my clothing and body for ticks. I'd like to encourage you to do the same when you're in tick country. I wouldn't wish this for anyone else.

http://www.canlyme.com/

"The minimum time a tick needs to be attached to humans in order for the Lyme bacteria to be transmitted is estimated to be 24 to 48 hours, HOWEVER this applies only to the laboratory setting. In real life as a person moves, scratches, brushes up against things, sleeps and rolls over, the tick can be compressed causing its stomach contents to expel into the victim at any time. Recent incomplete attachment to an infected host could also cause tick saliva to be infective."

There are absolutely no absolutes with this. Just check yourselves for ticks. You don't want this.

Cheers

We're off

2011-05-30T23:31:00.000-06:00

Well, the season begins for us at Fortress. We'll be up there through the season, back home to host a few special trips, and try our best to help everyone enjoy their fly fishing trips this season. Our guides will host river trips once the water levels permit. I'll have time to write a few blog posts in the evenings at Fortress and likely share them when I come out next week. I have some thoughts I need some time to assemble.

Remember, the hike in Fortress Lake Retreat rate is $295 per person per day, includes your accommodation, meals, semi guided fishing, use of power boats & pontoon boats, and a whole host of perks at our 2011 Orvis Endorsed Operation of the Year Retreat. To put that in perspective, that's less than a day of guided fishing on the Elk or Bow R with a drive through supper. We'd love to host you and share this incredible location, and have you use our boats to enjoy the full valley and lake - and its big, trophy brookies!

Amelia is available to take calls & emails in a couple of days again. We'll see you soon & until then, tight lines. :)

The first mistakes...

2011-05-19T11:00:00.001-06:00

My list of dumb moves began, ironically, with my first move in the fly fishing industry.

From my perspective, when I lobbied to change the S Ram to catch & release, it was after years of working for the Forest Service and looking ahead. I knew that the logging company was opening access, so too o&g. Watching catch rates and sizes dwindle while extrapolating to the future, it didn't take a genius to figure out what was to come for the river. To this day, I believe the Ram a special and unique location that is more deserving of a wilderness park with motorized restrictions. Others would see it differently, that's how the world turns. For now, it's c&r.

But a dumb move was being a guide and doing the lobby to get the river c&r. I should have done it before I began guiding. Local perception was rampant that I was doing the lobby solely to get attention to myself, my company, to pump my business. I still laugh at that notion in disbelief. I heard back that I was self serving, etc. To some degree that notion is correct simply due to the law of physics that action gets reaction. But the motivation & purpose has and always will be the river.

Things went downhill the summer after. A project to establish a baseline fishery study on the Ram fell apart due to some politics. A concept came together that the local advocacy group would fund raise, then finance a fly in, one day fly fishing study of the river. Two angler units spread out every few kilometers were to be dropped off by heli in the remote reaches, while other pairings would drive/atv to their reaches to fish. The idea was to have baseline fisheries data taken on the same day, same conditions, etc throughout the drainage, then repeated every few years to monitor the population. Basically, fish your butt off all day and record the result so there were tangible numbers to show trends through time. This was yet prior to the logging roads and oil & gas roads & wells that have since come to the river. It was a wonderful project concept, which would at least show us the pre-industry status of the fishery and subsequent trends. It would also have shown catch rates prior to the wave of attention the river has garnered this past decade. It was something that hadn't been done before in Alberta by a private organization.

And then came the politics.

Who would be the anglers? Not only who are the anglers but who got to choose the anglers? What sections would one person fish... while who got the free heli fishing trip?

People were asked to submit names who they thought should be amongst the anglers. I was 24 at the time and only knew names of people that you read in magazines plus a few others. So, Jim Mclennan, Barry Mitchell, and a few others were on my list. I figured if these guys were the gurus of fly fishing in Alberta, who better to do the fishing to get the data? That's the very moment I began to learn to never under-estimate the ability of others to project their limited viewpoints and paint a very narrow picture of you. As Barry was heading the project through the local advocacy group, in later years he told me how much I pissed people off in that group with my list, that they saw me as having no respect for the group and that I was (again) self serving. Apparently a few stated that I only wanted Jim on the trip so he'd write a feature article about the river and my company. I hadn't thought of that, I simply wanted the river to get the best opportunity to thrive well into the future. Credit to Barry that he's never told me who had said what, and frankly I don't care. Being good friends, Barry & I have spoken of it a few times through the years now, and every time I come back to my position that I simply wanted the river to be taken care of. However, I do realize the mistakes I made, and hopefully this might help someone else.

I didn't know the people involved. I didn't know the fundraising process. I didn't know how entrenched the people involved had been with the group, nor for how many years, and much less did I recognize the extent of pride people take in their involvement. In a nutshell, I was only focused on what I wanted, saw things from my perspectives and I didn't take the time to look around me to see what was really going on. And tell me that's not typical of a 24 year old.

When dealing with an establishment, it is as much about the people and their/its history and keeping their involvement, energy, momentum and taking the time to recognize it than simply to bang out the project. Without the people involved, nothing gets done. That's what makes clubs/groups so valuable and, when you think about how long and how many projects have been accomplished, so amazing.

When it comes to taking the time to honor those involved, it's important that we do so to the best of our ability and put our own agendas and timing aside for the betterment of the whole.

When it comes time that you have a great idea and want to see it accomplished, taking that extra time to get to know how things have been done before, what the process within the group involved is, and stroking a few egos (in a positive, sincere manner) along the way saves everyone a lot of time, energy, and grief. I'm still hearing about it nearly 15 years later.

Which leads to the biggest lesson of all in the fly fishing industry - people have really long memories. Like it or not, whether they are right or wrong, people remember what they will of you and generally won't let it go, good or not. There's a lot of pride and ego in the Alberta scene to boot, and when you add it up, it's best to heed the lesson - look to the future with every action and interaction as you'll likely interact with the same people 20 years from now that you are today. Try your best to make it the most positive interaction you can.

Heroes and Open Water

2011-05-17T16:40:00.001-06:00

We've been back for a week from our return trip, so apologies in the update delay.
This trip was also a good one to us both for weather and the fishing result. The pods of fish came and went. The fishing had its highs and lows, just like fishing anywhere. A couple pods of 70+ fish were sighted, which - as it turns out - is more fun to try to video and photo than fish to once you land a couple anyway. Most pods had 3 to 9 or 10 fish and if you ran down the beach and got something at the right depth in their path, one of 2 or 50 casts would be taken if you wanted to chase on the available shoal. Not terribly difficult but fun sighting anyway.
This trip was certainly windier and for 1/2 the trip you simply couldn't launch a jon boat. Thankfully we found reaches of shoreline with nobody else fishing periodically. That isn't to say there aren't people, however. At one point we found ourselves feigning to fish while waiting for our friends to wrap up. The beach can come alive with drunken fools and anglers launching fish back into the lake like a shanked NFL punt - 20 yards high and 25 deep, the "football" wobbling. This was of course all serenaded by another group in their 1978 Pontiac Parisienne with 800 Watt bass tubes belting out the Mexican Top 40, enjoying the quaint moment. In hindsight the locals poaching massive cutts right in front of everyone on our last trip should have been a clue.
But by our last afternoon the 1km section of shoreline available to wade fish for cruisers (due to very restrictive land use laws and sheer rock cliffs) was shared with a couple of other anglers, which quickly spelled out just how few people this location could handle while still feeling freedom to fish.
So, when you look at the photos, realize the reality of the above, and please note that we try our best to reflect the best locations have to offer with pretty photos. It is a pretty spot, but... if you only looked at the photos, you'd be fooled as to the reality of the situation.
To be responsible both to the folks that fish there already and don't need to be crowded out, as well as the folks that only look at the photos and salivate at big cutts and just have to go, it's not all heroes and open water.
We wanted to share this so if you decide to figure out where we went, you know what you are getting yourself into.
I wouldn't want to be responsible for tempting you into what might be your personal hell in terms of fishing surroundings, if such factors aren't your bag, especially given the time to travel, the time off work, and the costs involved. We want to respect your time. A couple evenings it certainly detracted from the experience AJ & I had. The upside & central reason for the return trip was to escape the last of Alberta's clinging winter and to feel the spring sun. That mission... accomplished.
On a scale of 6 second hang times, the fishing experience was a 2 or 3 given the shenanigans. For photos, spring air, and some down time in a pretty spot... a good 5 seconds on that punt. ;)

Check out our full album at our Facebook Page:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150183391976441.302481.688531440

Feature Article!

2011-05-15T18:07:00.000-06:00

Last summer I was presented opportunity to write a feature article for the major fly fishing magazine. The request was for an intensive journalism piece on central Alberta brown trout streams. Having seen what having a feature article on the Red Deer R in 2005 could have done for that river (we had scores of bookings... until the flood hit and changed everything), I mulled over the options of such an article. Should it be written? Should anyone else write it? Who?

You see, Amelia & I love our brown trout waters in central Alberta. We spend any available time poking around new spots and return to a few favorites, but seldom do we milk the same reach of stream more than 4 or 5 times in a season. I'll delve into why in a future blog post. The trouble is that generally every single inch of our brown trout water is publicly accessible if you are willing to walk or talk to land owners.

An in depth article includes access points, hatches, timing of the best fishing per stream. Could I do that? I have the knowledge, sure. I have the photos, the background, etc. Once you get to a point of fishing in the region, it's not hard to know it intimately. With brown trout streams having big browns and big browns doing what big browns do - territorial as hell - it's not hard to pin point what reaches have the best fish and best opportunities.

How would you like to see that in the major fly fishing magazine? Would you want to see 3 cars at every cut line, bridge, or get jumped by someone coming in off private access every time you fished?
Sure, knowing what happened with the feature on the Red Deer R, our guide company would have flown off the handle with bookings. Yay. How irresponsible would that have been of me? How selfish of me to put those kind of needs first? Regardless of anyone else, would I want to do that to my own enjoyment of fly fishing the region? Would I want to be responsible for that? If you consider others then, would you want me to do that to other people - you?
In discussion with the editor, there was no way in hell this article was going to be written how they wanted it. And in discussions, I really hope that I drove home the fact that such an article should never be written about this region. It would simply kill what it's all about.

In future blog posts, I hope to convey some thoughts about responsibility in being part of the fly fishing community. I've watched a few things on the internet and done some dumb things in the past myself that set the table for a growing, yet succinct list of do's and don'ts when it comes to the responsibilities of anglers, but more so those involved in the fly fishing community/industry. Amelia & I have had some unfortunate things happen to us and we simply hope to convey that there are other ways of sharing without crossing the boundaries of appropriate sharing.

This essentially signals my personal return to some writing and sharing of thoughts and perspectives after some time off. The entire decade of hosting the old Fly Fish Alberta Forum really took a major toll on me personally, and it's been 4 years since I've really engaged. I just see opportunity to jog thoughts on sharing perspectives, and some folks I've interacted with have jogged me to share.

Cheers

Quick Tip

2011-05-12T12:19:00.000-06:00

When cleaning your pontoon boat or raft, while Armor-All makes it look all shiny and new, it also makes standing in the raft or holding anything on or against the pontoons all but impossible. So, don't use Armor-All to finish the look on inflatables. Some experience points in my past.

Red Deer R Clean Up

2011-05-12T12:06:00.000-06:00

As an FYI, here are the details for this year's Red Deer River Clean up.

Tick Talk

2011-05-11T20:41:00.000-06:00

Well, it's spring and in some areas, that means ticks. We just got back from a trip south once more and while the fishing, the weather, the setting, etc was all great, we had a little reminder about some menacing little critters. When hopping into the shower, Amelia found a tick helping himself to some strip loin (get it?). It was just a wee bite, but given the effects of Lyme disease, she was a little freaked. The next night we just came in to town to get supper and while waiting in line (sign of a hi-brow supper) a lady pointed out a tick crawling on AJ's back. I swept it off. A few minutes later she had another one crawling along her collar. Soooo, just a head's up that it is tick season for those of you in tick land. Here's a link to a little more info on ticks & the dreaded Lyme disease:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002296/

Awareness Time

2011-05-07T10:27:00.002-06:00

It's that time of the year.

Lahontan Cutts trip

2011-05-02T07:44:00.000-06:00

Last week we enjoyed an escape to warmer weather, a little south of the border. The leaves were out and spring was very enjoyable. Not a hint of snow or ice where we fished, nor any muddy water. Like everyone else in Alberta, we appreciate these things this time of the year. :)
It was interesting to get away to fish a new species of fish. Lahontans have long been on our radar, since I saw Larry Schoenborne fish for them @ Pyramid Lake during his "Fly Fishing the West" tv series back in the early 80s. Yes, they get big. No, they don't fight all that well - like westslope cutts. For the most part, they look like a cross between west slopes and yellowstones with a few extra spots added, and slightly more color on the females. We caught our fish near their spawning time, though well away from the closed spawning grounds, and their colors were incredibly vivid.

To see more photos in this gallery, as well as to see our ongoing gallery additions, check out my FaceBook Page.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=688531440

Catch Magazine

2011-05-01T18:51:00.000-06:00

The latest issue of Catch Magazine is live.
It includes a short feature on Ben Bolden, a younger fly fisher whom Amelia & I ran into one day in New Zealand 2 years ago. He's genuine and loves to fly fish and photograph.
http://www.catchmagazine.net/

Lake Fishing Podcast

2011-04-28T08:40:00.000-06:00

There's a great listen with Tom Rosenbauer of Orvis with Phil Rowley. A lot of information dealing with lake fishing.

http://www.orvisnews.com/FlyFishing/Podcast-Stillwater-Fly-Fishing-Tips.aspx

Brown Trout Streams Presentation

2011-04-26T10:24:00.000-06:00

Dave will be down at Bow R Troutfitters on this Thursday, April 28, 2011 at noon until 1:30. Presentation topic is central Alberta brown trout streams. Hope to see you there!

Annual Piper Cr flood

2011-04-12T12:37:00.000-06:00

There hasn't been a good one in a few years, but Piper Cr is back at its spring tricks near Rotary Park. It's moving really good right now, field runoff in full swing.

Field Run Off & Stoneflies

2011-04-11T18:09:00.000-06:00

The first signs of field runoff have finally come. East of #22, several streams have come up and gone muddy. Expect this to linger through Tuesday before levels lower and visibility improves (on streams that actually have ice free water). The cold temperatures forecast this week will freeze the snowpack and slow run off. A tip for hatch chasers is to keep your eyes out for a sunny, warm day on the back side of the cold snap. Good dry fly activity can occur if we get a day or two of warmth to get the egg laying female stones on the water before waters muddy up again. This spring, that's going to be a perpetually tight window. Here's hoping though! A variety of early winter black & late winter black, plus a few skwala stones are all out and about on the region's waters, though the skwalas will be another week or two to really get going.

Why?

2011-04-11T10:13:00.001-06:00

Perhaps I live in a utopic haze, but can anyone help me understand this photo?

Note the atv and ski doo tracks on the left side of the sign, leading out to a very sensitive ecological area on the N Saskatchewan River. Prior to the change in land use framework, we used to float the river once or twice each spring and fall and have atvs ripping down the river bank to stay ahead of us, to ensure those on the atvs could get to the next pool to fish first. They'd rip donuts in the gravel and tear wherever they wanted. They completely missed the point of the location. The Kootenay Plains, tucked beside Banff National Park, receive such small amounts of precipitation and endure winter like conditions much of the year. It's an anomaly filled area. Life takes time to grow here. The surrounding mountains are absolutely gorgeous, and while the conditions are extremely harsh, cold, and the wind often howls down the valley, floating the river here ranks highest of any river in the province this time of the year for the white peaks and herds of elk we often see while floating. Sure, there's the odd bull trout that shows, but the reason for the float is to appreciate what's here, not our use and conquering of it.
I will never understand the blatant ignoring of simple rules like "don't drive your atv here because we're trying to conserve what's here". Driving a skidoo or atv right past the sign, that's just mindboggling. Yet, it is so typically human, the mindset of conquer, use, and move on so prevalent. Especially here in Alberta where we have so much money, but so few brains attached to pro-active forethought of our future. Do we have to drive our off road units everywhere in the province, especially in the 1% of the landbase under Alberta gov jurisdiction that is actually protected?

Changes to Boating Licenses in Canada

2011-04-06T19:26:00.002-06:00

Important Changes To Boating License Laws In Canada - copied from the Boater Exam blog

To Improve Boating Safety
Some of you may have already heard that Transport Canada has made some fundamental changes to the boating exam process needed to acquire a boating license in Canada. These changes have been implemented in order to improve safety for all boaters, and make the boating experience more enjoyable for everyone.
Providing access to the latest boating safety information these more defined boating guidelines will help recreational boaters become more responsible and knowledgeable about boating safety.
New boating enthusiasts might not know how this will affect them so here's rundown of all the upcoming changes.
Overview

Effective April 15, 2011 boaters of all ages (there are no age exemptions or minimum ages to get certified) operating a motorized pleasure craft (this includes any watercraft with a motor, be it a sailboat fitted with an auxiliary motor, or even an electric motor on a canoe) need to hold a Pleasure Craft Operator Card (PCOC) (i.e. a boating license).

In order to acquire the license, candidates must first pass a mandatory 5 chapter online course and receive a minimum grade of 80% on each quiz found at the end of every chapter. Once completed, they must pass the open-book online PCOC test comprised of 50 questions and receive a minimum grade of 75%.

Those who have taken a boating safety course prior to April 1, 1999 will not be required to take another course or test. However, a copy of a certificate or a card issued at the completion of courses taken prior to April 1, 1999 will need to be carried on board the pleasure craft.

Online Study Guide Requirements

Beginning April 15, 2011, if a person wants to take the online boating safety test, they must first complete the Study Guide, which is available online.

The Online Study Guide comprises a minimum of 5 chapters which cover the basics of boating safety, regulations and accepted best practices. At the end of each chapter, the candidate tests their knowledge by taking a chapter review quiz. There is a minimum of 10 practice questions per chapter. They are graded automatically and given their score online. If they receive a grade of over 80%, they can move on to the next chapter.

◦The total amount of time required to complete the Online Study Guide must be no less than three (3) hours and each chapter has a minimum set time limit

◦A candidate may complete the Online Study Guide one chapter at a time at their own pace, over a period of up to one (1) year

◦Once a candidate has successfully passed a chapter review quiz, he or she can return to the content page for that chapter at any time with no time requirements

◦Once the Study Guide has been completed, candidates will be able to access the online PCOC Test website and complete their official test

Online PCOC Test

Once the Study Guide is complete, candidates will be provided a link to the Transport Canada Marine Safety's (TCMS) online test website. Every test is unique with 50 randomly generated questions drawn from the TCMS bank of boating safety questions.

The test is open-book and can be completed from the candidate's private residence. (Prior to this, a Supervisor was required for the exam.)

◦A passing grade is 75% and candidates will automatically receive their test scores online

◦A candidate may only take one (1) Online PCOC test per day (24 hours)

◦If the candidate fails the test twice, TCMS will email the Course Provider and the candidate will be required to start the entire Online Study Guide again from the beginning ? with the time requirements in place.

After Passing The PCOC Test

Following the test, TCMS will send an email to the candidate that will allow them to print a temporary Operator Card directly from their website. The temporary PCOC expires when candidates receive their permanent PCOC, or, no later than 60 days after the date they passed the test.

*** We checked and anyone with a valid boaters license in the past years need not worry. Your lic is good for life.

Upper Colorado R - A river on the brink

2011-04-06T17:45:00.003-06:00

This is an interesting video done by TU about the issues imminent to impact the upper Colorado.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzWA8gTb4og

'Fishing' Report

2011-04-06T15:20:00.000-06:00

Most years there's a lot of water to fish for the April 1 opening. It's April 6 and few reaches of any water have opened. Snaky braids of the upper Red Deer, Clearwater, Brazeau, and N Saskatchewan Rivers are open. Poke around and you'll find the typical open water on Shunda Cr near the beaverdam. Sure, Stauffer & Clear Cr are open but get there first or fish follow up. There's a smattering of midges, a few olives, and the usual early stoneflies on sunny, warm days.
This fishing report should be a wee more positive a week from now, after we've had +10C and perhaps some wind to really evaporate the moisture.
Cheers

Flymage Magazine

2011-04-06T15:16:00.000-06:00

Add another to the e-zine list of fly fishing magazines to look at. Nice shots. The center shadow through all images in the magazine are a little distracting, but in time they'll get a new software package. The pictures are nice.
http://www.flymage.net/

We're @ the Edmonton Fishin' Hole Show - come say hi

2011-04-02T00:49:00.002-06:00

We're in Edmonton @ the Fishin' Hole & Camper's Village spring show & sale. If you have the time to stop in & say hi, we're here with our Fortress Lake booth. We have a great Father's Day cabin promotion! Hope to see you here. :)

Sight Fishing Presentation - Red Deer

2011-03-28T12:39:00.000-06:00

On Monday, April 4, 2011, I'll be presenting to the Central Alberta Fly Tiers. Topic will be sight fishing! There's a $5 charge at the door and everyone is welcome to attend. For more information, please see the Central Alberta Fly Tiers Club blog: http://rdflytying.blogspot.com/
7pm West Park Middle School

The importance of altruism

2011-03-17T15:31:00.001-06:00

I find myself seeing the world differently in many different ways and realizing the difference. The past 2 years I did some soul searching regarding a couple repetitive patterns in my life that impacted some of my relationships, and part of my personal evolution has been observing the importance of altruism. Obviously, I fall short of it.
I've had quite a few positive comments and emails about the New Fly Fisher tv show I did with Phil & Tom. I think the reason the show was so well received was each of us afforded the other to do what we each did best for the greater good of the show. I wasn't pumping my guide company's tires, Tom wasn't pumping his rounded fly fishing abilities, fishing contact network, nor Orvis, and Phil wasn't trying to be one of those "look at me" hosts. Instead, I had a skill to share with hunting and sight fishing browns, Tom has a wonderful charisma about him, and Phil brought out the information with subtle questions, taking a back seat in many instances. It helped that we got along fabulously. Each simply did what we do and made no extra bones about how good we are/aren't. The goal was the bigger picture - to make the show the best it could be. And the show was very well received, which was my hope from the get go - far more than worrying about how I look or how much exposure it brought our company.
The above is nice, but not the jogger for the post.
I attended a Red Deer Fisheries Round Table meeting recently. I've written here about pursuing an updated Fisheries Management Plan for the Red Deer R for years. The local biologist Vance has committed to it many times the past 12 years I've been pressing, only to see other things get in the way - can we not only focus on lake dwelling walleye in this region? The RDR FMP was to get going, but a new gov policy has come down the pipe where intensive public involvement with government must gain approval from a cabinet committee. Yes, something so trivial as this faces up against health care, education, finance, o&g issues, etc. This wouldn't be a big deal, except the concern that caused this motion is that the gov is attempting to minimize negativity coming back to MLAs and cabinet.
If you look at the past 15 years on the Red Deer R, there has been a group hot to implement their plan to change fisheries management policy, procedure, and protocol - by implementing an aggressive stocking plan of triploid rainbows, a daily license fee, trophy license, a dedicated river bio & officers, amongst other things for the Red Deer R. Without commenting on the meat of it, the reality is that it flies in the face of how fisheries are managed in this province. Time & time again they tried to ram their proposal through by going over the local biologist's head, meeting with MLAs, environment ministers, etc. I doubt you can find an MLA near the Red Deer - Rocky Mountain House area that hasn't heard from them. All I can comment on is that the result has been that each MLA and cabinet minister has to rely on its staff expertise and the policy, protocol, and policy. Hence, the group's hope has been quashed at every turn and the experience has generally been negative. The great irony is that the group has not attended a single Red Deer Region Fisheries Round Table meeting, choosing to circumvent procedure and go straight to upper government.
The connection now is that the Red Deer R needs an updated Fisheries Management Plan. The one existing was printed in 1994, was supposed to be update every 5 years with science occurring. Time marches on, a massive flood alters the river, and things change. The walleye population has changed upwards dramatically, the whitefish are in the dumps, the browns are holding their own, and pike remain a bit of an enigma most of the year save opening 2 weeks. We need a fall closure for the whitefish and browns, and whitefish regulations need to shift downwards. And we need some new guiding principles, public input and support for direction on the river - a fisheries management plan. It's obvious.
However, a group that has pushed so long and hard to get changes on the river, the changes they deem fit, has caused such a stir of negativity in government that - get the irony - the public process may not be granted by cabinet for fear of negative government interaction. How do you like that?
It's one thing to see an issue, see areas where change is needed. It's another to have personal thoughts. But it's altogether another position to honor the system, the people, the policies, procedures, and protocols while trying to 'improve' things that you might hope to. The altruistic see these things and hope for a positive change that benefits the whole, not just themselves. Is it possible to have altruism in a completely different dimension - yes. But if your altruism in your dimension is completely opposed to reality, yet you fervently oppose those in reality, that's where it breaks down. And that's exactly where the Red Deer River Fisheries Management Plan may never get off the ground.
My encouragement is to those seeking to get involved in any issue to make our society or resources better - seek out the foundations of what you trying to change first, get in touch with the guiding principles, policies, protocols, and procedures and see how they might work/blend with your ideas. If they can be worked with or modified and you work within the procedural boundaries to effect change, perfect. Even if we are going to simply support a cause it's up to us to know these things before supporting it.
Yes, I'm fully aware that even talking on the level of altruism I'm going to get raked over the coals by these people, even though I've not mentioned if I agree with their points or not. I only hope they appreciate the intent is not directed solely at them, rather, using their example as a basis to the point for everyone who is considering involvement. Speaking altruistically of course.

The Wonders of Winter at Fortress Lake

2011-03-11T21:41:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that it's mid March and the mounds of snow outside our front door are still 6 ft tall and the temps are ever so slowly getting closer to average for this time of year. Winter seems to have stayed on longer this year and despite most of us wanting to see it melt, the snow itself has brought some beauty with it. A few weeks ago, we headed into Fortress to do our annual winter trip to shovel snow off the roofs of our cabins and Yurts to keep them safe and secure.The day we went was cold. The temperature was -32 to start our day and it only got up to a balmy -26 as a high. It was cold, but the sun was shining and the wind stayed away for most of our day, which made it bearable.
It was the flight in and the flight back that made this day so memorable. We left from the Springbank airport this year in our friends Cessna 185, and proceeded to fly west towards the Rockies. The path our pilot, Steve took was incredible. The mountains were looking the most dramatic I've ever seen them in the winter. Over the course of the day we must have flown over 80% of the tallest peaks in our Canadian Rockies and some of the largest glaciers in the parks. Some of these mountains seem like old friends, for the number of times I have either driven past, seen them from the air or hiked them. To see them so heavily layden with snow and to get the birds eye view above them on such a winter day was a treat for the eyes. Mt. Columbia,Clemenceau, Tusk, Assiniboine, Storm, Alberta, McCarthur, Temple, etc. Many of you who have spent time in the Rockies will be familar with many of them. Seeing Storm Mountain Lodge from the air bought back some old memories from the summers back in my 20's when I used to waitress there. The other neat memory came when our pilot few us past Abbots Hut, which is highest mountain hut in our Rockies.
We arrived at Fortress to find a fairly typical snow load on the cabins, so our shovelling efforts went smoothly, which gave us some extra daylight hours and time to sitesee from the air. Steve, our pilot was keen to fly over the Clemenceau Icefield and a few of the other major glaciers that hang in that same general area, and make his way to Golden to fuel up before heading back to Calgary. Turns out, this little side trip involved a stop on a glacier at about 10,000 ft. Amazing stuff. The video tells the story well of our day. More fun with our fish eye lens.

Catch Magazine's latest issue

2011-03-05T08:53:00.002-07:00

Looks good as always:
http://www.catchmagazine.net/

25 quick pro photo tips

2011-03-03T20:13:00.000-07:00

From Outdoor Photographer Magazine website:
"We polled a number of professionals for some of their best photo tips, and in the spirit of our 25th Anniversary issue, we’ve come up with a list of 25 that are sure to help you make better photographs. There have been some astounding innovations in photography over the past 25 years, and several of these tips apply to digital technology, but it seems that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Some of our pros’ thoughts apply just as much to shooting with a DSLR today as they would have if you had been standing next to Ansel Adams on the roof of his car with a wooden 8x10 view camera and emulsions coated onto glass plates. Give these tips a try. We guarantee results..."

Read more at the link:
http://www.outdoorphotographer.com/how-to/shooting/25-pro-tips.html

Orvis Tech Guide

2011-03-01T10:08:00.000-07:00

Just fyi for anyone out there that likes this kind of knowledge.
http://www.orvis.com/orvis_assets/files/2010Tech_Manual.pdf?CampaignID=1805&ADV=113876&cm_ite=BOT2&cm_ven=orvisemail&cm_cat=ELOG_03_01_11&cm_pla=05

NZ Earthquake info - int'l travel & donations

2011-02-23T18:47:00.000-07:00

From the Fly Shop NZ, we get this email update about current trips, donations, etc. Important note is that the earthquake was centralized, as most recent ones have been, around Christchurch. It's not as though the entire country was hit by the quake.
"Greetings!

Our hearts go out to the people of Christchurch and to all our Christchurch customers who have been affected by this terrible disaster, we wish you all the very best during this terrible time.
For our overseas customers who are perhaps wondering whether they can still come over for their planned trips I suggest you contact your travel agent for the latest information. Note the the earthquake is very much centered on Christchurch, the rest of the South Island has escaped without any damage. Christchurch airport is open, and international travelers are arriving through the airport. No doubt some supporting services like rental vehicles will be affected though, however your travel agent will be the best person for advice.
How can we help;
Seems the best way we can help is to donate some $$ to a reputable orangisation;
Westpac Bank has an account set up to help the Christchurch Earthquake relief effort. The account is for the public and bank customers to make donations, and all funds will go to the Salvation Army to help those in need.
The account details are:
The Salvation Army - Christchurch Earthquake Appeal Account;
03 0207 0617331 00
For people making donations from overseas: Transaction fees and foreign exchange fees will be waived for any donations made by Telegraphic Transfer. These fees will be waived both for donations made in New Zealand currency or foreign currency. If you're making a donation from outside New Zealand, please ask your bank to send payment by Telegraphic Transfer to;
Westpac Banking Corporation, Wellington, New Zealand
SWIFT Code: WPACNZ2W
For credit to account: 03 0207 0617331 00
Beneficiary: The Salvation Army - Christchurch Earthquake Appeal
Or the Red Cross The Red Cross have a payment gateway so you can use your credit cards to donate Red Cross Donate"

We are home Canada - CHCH earthquake info

2011-02-22T10:51:00.000-07:00

Thank you for the folks that follow our blog and that have taken the time to email us. We are home, safely in Red Deer, Alberta. We have been here for over a week. It is a very odd feeling to have been walking through Christchurch and the Canterbury area not quite 2 weeks ago, given the drama that has unfolded with this intense earthquake yesterday. New reports suggest as many as 300 people may have died.
For up to ate info, please follow the NZ Herald website:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/
Christchurch is dubbed the garden city. It is a wonderful city of about 450,000 people. Imagine the feel of Vernon, BC mixed with San Francisco. A small town that grew large, with small shops and perpetual gardens and parks. A very nice feel. Mix in a bustling city center that mixed old brick and mortar buildings built 200+ years ago with the new, stylish architecture that blended well with the tradition of the city. If we were to ever move to NZ, Christchurch would definitely be a major component of our lives.
We were more than thrilled to wake to the telephone ringing at 2:30 am last night. Our friends, their families, and others living outside the quake zone are all well. Serge & Sharron were sitting in a coffee shop, having just sat down when it hit. Within seconds their coffees were emptied by the quake. The building they were in is fine, though neighbouring ones were not. As they worked their way through the city, aftershocks hit, making their car jump up and down "like a kangaroo". They are safe.
It is a very odd feeling to know the region well, having spent 2 - 3 months each year there. In a perfect world, we would hop a plane next week, once things settle down, just to help even one family get their life back in order, even to help patch a roof, provide hope, anything. It just isn't sitting right with me as I type this. For as much as I am Canadian, I feel as strongly for New Zealand.

Keas

2011-02-18T10:13:00.000-07:00

Every country has different birds. The south island of New Zealand is alive with birds. I don't know anyone who has visited that hasn't wakened to the 5am symphony. After a big day the day before, it can get a bit much when camping! There are so many different species of birds in their forests, and most are in good populations. It was one bird that caught our attention on our first trip to NZ. An alpine parrot called a Kea. Native to the south island's high country beech forests and rock outcroppings, their numbers are in decline thanks to the introduced possums, stoats, and ferrets that eat the eggs and young. They are one of few alpine parrot species in the world. There again, alpine on the S Isl of NZ is a touch different than Jasper National Park. They certainly are a very curious bird.

During this year's trip we decided to take a day and try to find a kea. For 4 years we've wondered what they look like, where to find them. We did a little internet searching and came across a couple of certain spots to find them. It wasn't exactly difficult!

Wiki has a good write up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kea

10 & 2 Magazine

2011-02-16T16:10:00.000-07:00

Latest issue on line now.

http://www.tenandtwomagazine.com/

Q the X

2011-02-15T02:01:00.000-07:00

The concept wasn't pre-conceived for Q the X. We'd set out to gather intimate video footage for a forthcoming sight fishing dvd. As we fished this tiny stream, which we named "the X", we began to get in touch with a different perspective. It's a perspective we've garnered after fishing waters with low or obvious fish stocks, through western Canada and US, and especially New Zealand. It's a perspective that we see, that we can't shake if we're honest about the impacts we have on such fisheries. This is not to project this on to anyone, it's just sharing.

The thoughts and perspectives of fishing this tiny stream culminated in a question of our fishing, hence the name "Q the X". It's a question every angler can ask themselves on any piece of water, centering on the fundamental environmental principle that if we use it, we affect it.

This short won the best feature at the Back Cast film festival in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 2011.

Example of NZ fisheries/ env issues

2011-02-14T17:00:00.001-07:00

If you follow the link below, you'll quickly see what kind of issues even a tiny little island like New Zealand is facing. Agriculture gets more open doors than even the oil & gas industry of the early days in Alberta did. Ag, combined with power generation (dams) are well on their way to changing the face of New Zealand. We're sold on it being a green country, but under the bed sheets it isn't too different from here. Given that the recently elected national government just recently dismantled the water councils and replaced them with pro-industry overseers, it could be some time before that worm turns. This is a link to a forum post showing a series of photos of irrigation 'withdrawals'. We witnessed countless such examples of dry riverbeds due to withdrawals on each of our trips, many waters simply no longer reach the ocean.
http://www.flyshop.co.nz/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=5;t=2953

Back Cast Film Festival this weekend

2011-02-11T17:40:00.001-07:00

If you happen to be in Calgary, the Back Cast Film Festival is on Saturday, featuring a variety of fine fly fishing films from near and far. Be sure to visit their website for ticket info and showing times, as there is a matinee and evening viewings.
http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Back-Cast-Fly-Fishing-Film-Festival-2011--film-lineup---ticket-purchase-.html?soid=1103420700706&aid=NTBfQCC8BjM

As an aside, a short project we worked on was chosen as the Best Feature Film Award for the festival.
"I'm pleased to announce that the film "Q the X" from Jensen Fly Fishing Productions will be receiving the Best Feature Film Award* at Back Cast Fly Fishing Film Festival 2011.
The cinematography in "Q the X" was absolutely first class. We enjoyed the storyline, and the thought provoking conclusion."Q the X" will be opening the evening program on Saturday Feb 12, 2010.
Dave and Amelia Jensen will be in attendance and they will be introducing their film.
Be sure to join us!"
Michelle @ BCFF

Thanks for the encouragement, Michelle. Small steps on our side of things, hopefully leading to continued improvements.
Cheers

New Fly Fisher online Mag

2011-02-10T14:26:00.002-07:00

Now this is an online magazine worth checking out:
http://www.mygazines.com/subscribers/title/8364/1