Father and son a great movie I ran across

I have moved, I’ve been perched in the same home for 23 years. It has been an experience but one that has kept me from my favorite waters during dry fly season, can’t find most of my fishing gear as it’s still packed and just yesterday unpacked my tying supplies. 8 boxes worth (4 more boxes of non essential materials I haven’t touched), my wife couldn’t believe this all fits back into my roll top desk. I’ve been tying since the early 60’s with stretches of commercial work so have accumulated a feather or two. Here’s what it looks like.

 

 

 

I put two capes in a package to same space

 

 

silks and hooks

 

beads and cdc

 

thread, thread thread

 

another box opened

 

quills and schlappen

 

upland , partridge and fur

 

goodies

 

all done

Korker Boot Studs

Love my new Korker boots, easy to get in and out of, with all my boots I like to add to the traction. Normally I just sink in machine screws into the soles. It give you good grip and safety especially when the bottom boulders are coated with slime or weed. Footing can be like walking on butter, I have always loved felts for their traction and take pains to be sure they are cleaned of evasive species between trips. I ran across a product by Simms and decided to add them to my Corkers. The “HARDBITE™ STAR CLEATs ” Definitely a good looking system. The only thing is that the screws that bind them down are longer than the interchangeable Korker souls. The screws are extremely hard and won’t take to hack sawing to shorten them.  I hit upon this that worked. I pre drilled holes in my soles first with a drill bit smaller than the screw, then screwed in the cleats. The ends of the screws did stick up above the surface of the inside of the souls. A quick run across the screw ends with a grinder solved the problem. have been out with them once so far but am extremely  satisfied with the grip on slippery rocks.I can use the rubber souls for hiking to the water then flip to these.

By the way here is an observation, I’ve always loved felt for good traction, with the advent of evasive species felt has been banned in many areas. I guess they have to target something but it’s a shame as safety is now a question. I have tried a number of “new and improved” rubber type soles from different makers. They are slippery. If you use felt be sure to either dry them out between trips and treat them with a good wash recommended for cleaning off the nasties. I use diluted Bleach. The really nice thing about Korkers is you can pop off the souls and easily clean them. Korkers also offer replaceable souls with cleats that I haven’t tried as yet.

Should you Broadast exact fishing spots?

I post on a few different forums,  reports about my trip to various waters flies and what luck I have had. I tend to share my experiences on the water freely with those who ask, having amassed over 50 years on the water and tying bench. I was a bit dismayed a number of years ago, when after a few reports I found poachers working the exact spots I described and immediately after. I was rewarded when I returned to the favorite spot with empty bait containers (on a no bait river), and fish guts and parts scattering the area. Very focused work and incredibly damaging to the Trout population.

On that stretch of water the very next day I was able to report to fish and game a poacher taking 13 trout on a set line. He was caught and charged but there are a great many more at work. Poaching is a business and can be a very lucrative one dominated purely by greed.

So no problem, just less focused reporting for me on forums and of course just the regular chats with friends I know that respect the resource. I now see more and more young angler’s posting exact places where they fish. They are proud and excited wanting to show their prowess. But remember not all people who read your forum posts are fly fishers with the well being of our natural resource in mind. There are those that will use your proud post to find good areas and milk them for their financial gain and our fisheries decline. A bit of care in fishing reports will go a long way and still get your message across.  I love reading others fishing reports but a bit of care goes a long way.

I am posting this as a cautionary note only, poaching is on the increase whereas the number of wardens is on the decline and those left are faced with massive tracts of land to patrol. Although it is only a very small number of people who damage the fisheries they can wipe out whole streams. We need to step up and report those who break the law and all become wardens of the waters in any way we can.

Cutthroat wonders

Rising from the Shadows from Hale Orviston on Vimeo.

On the Water

Slipped out last night as we had our first real estate showing for the old homestead. The wife headed for the grand-kiddies like a bee to honey I made a bee-line for the river after work (we all have our own honey). Water is looking better all the time, no longer coffee color, nice and healthy. stones are prestage on that stretch but did see a few early Sedges Sallies and Caddis fluttering in the low bushes, a promise of things to come. Fished the Ogdon strip, with the Meiser swinging small minnow patterns. Lots of rainbows to hand (14″ – 16″), Including this brown.

I spotted him hunting just before dark along a submerged walking/bike path, at items he was in about 5″ of water. Funny thing was I watched a pair of fisherman walk right by him as he skulked to the edge of the pah. This was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down. Took 3 different stocks before I could get into position far enough above him for a presentation, as he kept swimming steadily along the path and he got above me several times as I cut in and out of the bush trying for a good position. Took the hook pretty as you please and tore off through the grass only to get tangled. A nice 19′ fish. I spooked a very much larger brown along the same path almost stepping on him. Funny where you find the fish.

Sportsman across Canada

I have previously posted part of my collection of Sportsman Cigarettes packages. Love the artwork on those things. For a while now I have been looking for a booklet that the company put out here in Canada in 1956 called “Sportsman across Canada”. 40 pages on flies fly tying and general fishing and hunting articles. I was lucky enough to find a copy at a used book shop inside an old Field and Stream magazine. It was very modestly priced.

What really attracted me was the plates of old fishing flies. Dries, wets streamers and Steelhead and Salmon. I still tie and fish many of these patterns today. I’ve just posted a few pages of Trout flies here to give you the general impression of the booklet. It also give insight into what was used at that time and how timeless the patterns are. Please enjoy

Korkers Chrome Boots review

Well the old Simms boots  where showing their age. After almost 4 years of solid use they are coming apart at the seams and don’t give me good support. When ankle support goes you ability to balance is gone.  I an’t no spring chicken and on the other side of 60, so I decided it was time to look for new footwear. Falls on the water aren’t fun and apart from embarrassing they can be downright dangerous.

The entire wading experience is a rounded one for me, I’ve been on the water for over 50 years from the time that there was only rubber hip boots. Not really contusive for great walk wading or climbing banks, they where heavy hot and tiring. My early boots where leather and a good treatment of mink oil was all that was needed to keep them sound. But leather and water has never been friendly and the lifespan was not long. With the advent of modern gear, waterproof fabrics and artificial materials have made for some great and maintenance free products.

I’ve been checking out various boot makers for a while, My Simms boots did serve me well, but I was trying to balance my present needs on the water. Fishing Alberta waters present a variety of conditions. Often summer brings bottom growth that is slippery and footing can be very slick at times. Grassy banks can also be slick like Ice.  I have used spiked and studded souls for years, and they often have made a real difference for me (in addition to a wading staff). I don’t own a drift boat but I often drift with friends. One of the things is that studs and boats don’t go together great, so in my research the Korker  Chrome boots with changeable souls seemed like a great idea. So that was my decision, I picked up a pair last weekend. They came with two pair of interchangeable souls. The Kling-On Sticky Rubber Sole and felt souls. A bit odd as most companies have discontinued felt. Mind you with interchangeable soles it does make cleaning to guard against evasive species easier.

I have them out for a test run this weekend. They have excellent ankle support that are very comfortable. When buying the boots I was trying them on and was quite surprised that my normal shoe size was a great fit. Most times for me I have needed to go ones suze up to get a good fit. Great toe guards that protect your toes are a bonus. I think above all else, what I really love about these boots is the Boa speed lacing system. In laced type boots I was faced with laces that would loosen up at the worst of times. Lacing was a chore and you have to unlace and stretch the tongue to get you wader foot into the boot often taking a few tries. Again with taking them off at the end of the day, it’s a chore. I’ve usually dead tired and the thought of extra work getting boots off was not something I looked forward to. With the Korkers they pop open nicely to allow quick wide insertion of your foot. And it’s easy to tighten them up with the Bola system. This will be a boon in cold weather when fingers are numb and don’t cooperate. Getting them off was also a pleasant surprise. Really easy just hit the front button and pull the tongue, a joy to use.

Now my biggest decision is which souls to stud.

I’m not normally big on endorsing anyone unless they really shine. But I noticed an article about one of our own member “Bow River” here on the “under the riffles” blog. It’s a great read titled Big Trout Rivers of North America. I’ve had the pleasure of fishing with Richard Mason a few times now and he always puts me into big fish. He has great knowledge of the Bow River and our great Alberta streams. Really caters to the Bamboo crowd. On top of that he is a great guy with an easy going attitude and a deep knowledge of classic equipment.

Enjoy the read.

This wonderful pin was found and when cleaning out his father’s possessions after his passing. The pin was a promotion for Sportman’s Cigarettes and goes well with my collection of cigarette packs. Thank you Ray for thinking of me. Much appreciated.