TR: Hello, and thanks for all the fish, eh?

Short version: Just got back from Alberta, where we traveled over
1600 kilometres (notice how I’ve already mastered the Canuckistani
language) while visiting every known relative of Carol’s. Explored some
new waters, including the Highwood. Caught plenty of fish on the Crow,
including my biggest trout to date. Drank plenty of Traditional Ale
(that’s *real* beer, Ken) and ate lots of Alberta beef and really good
Chinese food. The weather was perfect; after the first day it was in
the upper 80’s during the day and in the 40’s-lower 50’s at night. Came
home tired but happy.

Long version: We arrived in Calgary to a cool and overcast day
(mid-50’s). Found our way without major incident to the condo Carol had
booked for the week. (It was cheaper than a good motel and we had a
full kitchen, plus a nice central location).

The next day we headed off towards the Rockies. Drove all the way
to Emerald Lake (http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/emeraldlake01.jpg),
stopping along the ways for pictures and for me to scout some possible
future fishing waters. Emerald River is supposed to have some decent
fishing, but it sure looked silted to me. Spent some time at Takakkaw
Falls and the natural bridge on the Kicking Horse River:

http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/takakkawfalls01.jpg
http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/takakkawfalls02.jpg
http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/naturalbridge01.jpg

The falls itself is awfully impressive (250+ metres high), and it
creates an interesting micro-climate, including odd fungus growths and
lichens

http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/fungus01.jpg
http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/lichen.jpg

The following day we hit the Highwood River west of Longview. It
runs mostly through a very deep gorge that I’ll try when I have a whole
day to explore. As it was, we hit the river in a provincial park 20+
clicks west of Longview. It offered easy access, but it’s obviously
pretty heavily fished. First cast I had what looked to be a good-sized
cutthroat come up and inspect my fly before rolling at the last instant
and heading back down. That was to be the last sign of fish I saw.

The water was great; crystal clear with plenty of good-looking
holding water, but the fish were not cooperating. I wasn’t too worried,
as I was more interested in exploring for future potential trips. I ran
into another couple of fly fishermen who were from the area. I asked
them what they used on the river and the taller of the two asked me
where I was from. When I responded “Texas”, he said he figured he could
tell me, as I wouldn’t be around stealing “his” fish from him. :-) Of
course I didn’t have any of the flies he recommended.

In these river shots, you can get an idea of how clear the water
was, and also how low it was:

http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/highwood01.jpg
http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/highwood02.jpg
http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/highwood03.jpg


Anyhow, it was a fun few hours on the water, but we had family
obligations back in Calgary, so we drove to Longview for lunch and then
back to Calgary. (For you folk music fans, there was a coffee shop in
Longview that’s owned by Ian Tyson of Ian & Sylvia fame.)

[Family obligations omitted to keep this from approaching
novella-length.]

The next day we were off to Lethbridge to visit Carol’s grandson.

[Visit to grandson omitted to keep this from approaching novel-length.]

On Monday we drove to the Crowsnest Pass to visit Carol’s dad and
give me some time on the water. Arrived there about 9:30 to find that
the spot I hoped to fish was occupied, so I did some exploring in
another area. The fish were reasonably cooperative, if small. (And the
flies that worked were reasonably small, and uncooperative; #18 and #20
BWO seemed to be the fare.)

Stopped for a lunch break and went to visit Carol’s dad. After a
couple of hours of that, Carol drove me back to the river so I could
explore and get in a few more hours of fishing. “My” spot was open, so
I settled in to watch for fish activity before I started casting. (A
pic taken of me fishing at the spot on our last trip:
http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/frank05.jpg) Pretty soon I spotted some
smallish fish rising sporadically to what looked to be some more little
BWO’s.

I caught a couple of dinks on a #18 when I noticed the flash of a
larger fish deep down. (One of the joys of this area is how clear the
water is.) I watched the spot for a few minutes, and he was obviously
feeding as I kept seeing his flank move up and back.

Now I’m as Halfordian (Skuesian?) a golfer as there is, but it was
obvious that this guy wasn’t going to be tempted by a dry.
Unfortunately, I only had a couple of non-dry flies in my box, so I
decided to make do. I had a few “Secret Weapon” flies I had tied for
North Carolina (http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/secret.jpg) which looked
buggy enough to be worth a try.

I didn’t have any bobbers or split shot, so I had to fish it the
old-fashioned way (throw it upstream, mend, watch the line and pray).
It took a couple of casts to get it to sink properly and one more to get
it into the area where the fish was working. When the fly appeared to
be close, I just tightened the line (I never didn’t see a flash) and I
had him on.

He turned out to be a solid 14”+ rainbow, my biggest ‘bow to date.
(Hey, I know all you ROFFians have caught 20+ fish, but I’ve only had
four real fishing trips for non-factory trouts.) I clubbed him over the
head … oops, sorry, that's what Tim would have done … *I* released him
to go back and grow bigger. I didn’t get a photo, as I had left my
camera in the car, but that’s OK, as I believe in karma. :-)

Having had all the nymphing I could stand ;-), I switched back to
dries. I took a few more small guys on a #16 para Adams, but eventually
changed to a #14 EHC just because I wanted to see if I could stir things
up with a larger, bushy fly. That turned out to be just the ticket as
on my first cast a 12” bow absolutely nailed the thing.

For the next 30 minutes or so, I caught fish on almost every cast.
There was no hatch on, but for some reason, they just couldn’t stand it
when this thing went floating by them. I even caught a couple by
letting the fly float downstream of me and skittering it.

By this time, SWMBO had arrived to pick me up, as we had arranged to
meet her brother and mom for drinks and dinner. Just as I was making
that “one last cast”, I spotted a really large flank directly in front
of the rock I was fishing from. I was really tempted to re-tie and try
to dredge him up, but figured I’d be tempting the fish gods. Maybe next
time.

[Rest of the time spent with family omitted to keep this from
turning into War and Peace.]

All in all a good trip.


Chuck Vance

"Conan The Librarian" wrote in message
...

Short version: Just got back from Alberta, where we traveled over 1600
kilometres (notice how I’ve already mastered the Canuckistani language)
while visiting every known relative of Carol’s. Explored some new waters,
including the Highwood. Caught plenty of fish on the Crow, including my
biggest trout to date. Drank plenty of Traditional Ale (that’s *real*
beer, Ken) and ate lots of Alberta beef and really good Chinese food. The
weather was perfect; after the first day it was in the upper 80’s during
the day and in the 40’s-lower 50’s at night. Came home tired but happy.

Long version: We arrived in Calgary to a cool and overcast day (mid-50’s).
Found our way without major incident to the condo Carol had booked for the
week. (It was cheaper than a good motel and we had a full kitchen, plus a
nice central location).

The next day we headed off towards the Rockies. Drove all the way to
Emerald Lake (http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/emeraldlake01.jpg), stopping
along the ways for pictures and for me to scout some possible future
fishing waters. Emerald River is supposed to have some decent fishing,
but it sure looked silted to me. Spent some time at Takakkaw Falls and
the natural bridge on the Kicking Horse River:

http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/takakkawfalls01.jpg
http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/takakkawfalls02.jpg
http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/naturalbridge01.jpg

The falls itself is awfully impressive (250+ metres high), and it
creates an interesting micro-climate, including odd fungus growths and
lichens

http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/fungus01.jpg
http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/lichen.jpg

The following day we hit the Highwood River west of Longview. It runs
mostly through a very deep gorge that I’ll try when I have a whole day to
explore. As it was, we hit the river in a provincial park 20+ clicks west
of Longview. It offered easy access, but it’s obviously pretty heavily
fished. First cast I had what looked to be a good-sized cutthroat come up
and inspect my fly before rolling at the last instant and heading back
down. That was to be the last sign of fish I saw.

The water was great; crystal clear with plenty of good-looking holding
water, but the fish were not cooperating. I wasn’t too worried, as I was
more interested in exploring for future potential trips. I ran into
another couple of fly fishermen who were from the area. I asked them what
they used on the river and the taller of the two asked me where I was
from. When I responded “Texas”, he said he figured he could tell me, as I
wouldn’t be around stealing “his” fish from him. :-) Of course I didn’t
have any of the flies he recommended.

In these river shots, you can get an idea of how clear the water was,
and also how low it was:

http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/highwood01.jpg
http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/highwood02.jpg
http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/highwood03.jpg


Anyhow, it was a fun few hours on the water, but we had family
obligations back in Calgary, so we drove to Longview for lunch and then
back to Calgary. (For you folk music fans, there was a coffee shop in
Longview that’s owned by Ian Tyson of Ian & Sylvia fame.)

[Family obligations omitted to keep this from approaching
novella-length.]

The next day we were off to Lethbridge to visit Carol’s grandson.

[Visit to grandson omitted to keep this from approaching novel-length.]

On Monday we drove to the Crowsnest Pass to visit Carol’s dad and give
me some time on the water. Arrived there about 9:30 to find that the spot
I hoped to fish was occupied, so I did some exploring in another area.
The fish were reasonably cooperative, if small. (And the flies that
worked were reasonably small, and uncooperative; #18 and #20 BWO seemed to
be the fare.)

Stopped for a lunch break and went to visit Carol’s dad. After a
couple of hours of that, Carol drove me back to the river so I could
explore and get in a few more hours of fishing. “My” spot was open, so I
settled in to watch for fish activity before I started casting. (A pic
taken of me fishing at the spot on our last trip:
http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/frank05.jpg) Pretty soon I spotted some
smallish fish rising sporadically to what looked to be some more little
BWO’s.

I caught a couple of dinks on a #18 when I noticed the flash of a
larger fish deep down. (One of the joys of this area is how clear the
water is.) I watched the spot for a few minutes, and he was obviously
feeding as I kept seeing his flank move up and back.

Now I’m as Halfordian (Skuesian?) a golfer as there is, but it was
obvious that this guy wasn’t going to be tempted by a dry. Unfortunately,
I only had a couple of non-dry flies in my box, so I decided to make do.
I had a few “Secret Weapon” flies I had tied for North Carolina
(http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/secret.jpg) which looked buggy enough to be
worth a try.

I didn’t have any bobbers or split shot, so I had to fish it the
old-fashioned way (throw it upstream, mend, watch the line and pray). It
took a couple of casts to get it to sink properly and one more to get it
into the area where the fish was working. When the fly appeared to be
close, I just tightened the line (I never didn’t see a flash) and I had
him on.

He turned out to be a solid 14”+ rainbow, my biggest ‘bow to date.
(Hey, I know all you ROFFians have caught 20+ fish, but I’ve only had four
real fishing trips for non-factory trouts.) I clubbed him over the head …
oops, sorry, that's what Tim would have done … *I* released him to go back
and grow bigger. I didn’t get a photo, as I had left my camera in the
car, but that’s OK, as I believe in karma. :-)

Having had all the nymphing I could stand ;-), I switched back to
dries. I took a few more small guys on a #16 para Adams, but eventually
changed to a #14 EHC just because I wanted to see if I could stir things
up with a larger, bushy fly. That turned out to be just the ticket as on
my first cast a 12” bow absolutely nailed the thing.

For the next 30 minutes or so, I caught fish on almost every cast.
There was no hatch on, but for some reason, they just couldn’t stand it
when this thing went floating by them. I even caught a couple by letting
the fly float downstream of me and skittering it.

By this time, SWMBO had arrived to pick me up, as we had arranged to
meet her brother and mom for drinks and dinner. Just as I was making that
“one last cast”, I spotted a really large flank directly in front of the
rock I was fishing from. I was really tempted to re-tie and try to dredge
him up, but figured I’d be tempting the fish gods. Maybe next time.

[Rest of the time spent with family omitted to keep this from turning
into War and Peace.]

All in all a good trip.


Chuck Vance

Great report Chuck,
enjoyed reading...gotta love the Elk Hair Caddis!
-tom

"Conan The Librarian" wrote ...

All in all a good trip.


Sure as hell seems like it was. Thanks for posting, the longer TRs around
here make for some nice temporary escapes.

Nice pics too, you super mo-dell.

I can't compare Alberta beef to the stuff y'all eats down in Tex-us, but the
Canuckistani stuff sure compares nicely to that available in Chicago
(probably originating in Texas?).

Homer

mmmmm.....Alberta beef.......

Drool

/Homer

Dan
....rotting in his research carrel, trying to figure out exactly why the LOC
cataloging makes any sense.
......and giving up, resuming reading.

On 9/8/06 10:49 AM, in article
, "Daniel-San"
Rot13 wrote:


...rotting in his research carrel, trying to figure out exactly why the LOC

cataloging makes any sense.

Chuck, you take this one- I got a plateful at the moment.

.....and giving up, resuming reading.

Well, not a bad response actually. :-)

Bill
(licking his wounds, stuck at home, dreaming of brook trout)

Great report with nice photos, much appreciated!

--
Jarmo Hurri

Commercial email countermeasures included in header email
address. Remove all garbage from header email address when replying,
or just use .

On Fri, 08 Sep 2006 08:10:03 -0500, Conan The Librarian
wrote:


The falls itself is awfully impressive (250+ metres high), and it
creates an interesting micro-climate, including odd fungus growths and
lichens
I've found once a fellow gets enough years on him he can get those
without traveling all the way to Canada.

Nice TR.

Kiyu

"Conan The Librarian" wrote

Caught plenty of fish on the Crow,
including my biggest trout to date. Drank plenty of Traditional Ale (that’s
*real* beer, Ken) and ate lots of Alberta beef and really good Chinese
food.


Cool about the big fish


back in my drinking days I used to love Canada ..... there was one pub in
Calgary that I visited and ordered "a beer" .... they brought me two ... I
said, "only ordered one" .... the waitress replied "Nobody ever has just
one, this saves me work" ..... she was right G



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Conan The Librarian typed:
Short version: Just got back from Alberta, where we traveled over
1600 kilometres (notice how I’ve already mastered the Canuckistani
language) while visiting every known relative of Carol’s. Explored
some new waters, including the Highwood. Caught plenty of fish on
the Crow, including my biggest trout to date. Drank plenty of
Traditional Ale (that’s *real* beer, Ken) and ate lots of Alberta
beef and really good Chinese food. The weather was perfect; after
the first day it was in the upper 80’s during the day and in the 40’s-lower
50’s at night. Came home tired but happy.
snip

Nice, Chuck. Thanks for the ride and the photos.

BTW, why waste your breath telling Ken about good beer. Pearls before
swine, wot? ;-)
--
TL,
Tim
---------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj/

Tim J. wrote:
Conan The Librarian typed:

... Drank plenty of
Traditional Ale (that’s *real* beer, Ken) ...

BTW, why waste your breath telling Ken about good beer. Pearls before
swine, wot? ;-)

You guys wouldn't know a good beer if it bit you on the tit.

"Traditional Ale", what in the hell is *that* ? Canadian for
over-hopped and costs way too much ?

Obroff: **** you, Timmmmmmay and you too, Chuck. (But thanks
for the TR, Chuck. Not too bad, ... for a male librarian. ;-)

--
Ken Fortenberry