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Tags: RBPIN

As an angler, and a flyfisher particularly, this season has been a hard one for me. I last casted a fly nearly 3 months ago on a May trip to one of our favourite parkland potholes.

Fishing was slow, but the bite was offset by spending time outdoors just a few weeks ahead of the arrival of my second son, Maxwell who just crossed the 2 month mark.

Though I wanted to get some time out on the water, my wife suffered a number of complications from the birth of Max. We spent a number of sleepless nights, and while big brother Ben was helpful, he couldn’t do many of the things needed by his little brother, or mom.

Weeks passed, mom healed, Ben did great and Max has thrived. We’ve been waiting in our house for when Mom is ‘camping better’ – our code for “I’m well enough to manage for the weekend without you or big brother so you can go camping overnight”. Mom has been ‘camping-better’ for about a week, and though we couldn’t cast a fly, I finally got the change to put some of my housework to use.

A few weeks back I happened on to (through a long bar story) a 14′ Lund C-14 with a 20hp Mercury. She’s a ‘77, and looked every year of it. Over the last few weeks I’ve worked my ass off to get that baby painted, motor cleaned up, fuel leaks managed so that we could put it on the water, and see what real challenges were in store for the ‘ol girl.

Lance as always – up for a fish and a toot around a lake helped me unload her, and get to the dock. First order of business – get that bailing bucket ready. The runs of rivets were rivulets and water was taken on. Not excessive, but noticeable. A litre every 10 to 20 minutes, but nothing stopping us from getting her out and on a plane.

The 33 year old outboard – fuel leaks cleaned up and a new tank of premium 50:1 ready to go – fired up in 3 pulls. We pulled out of the dock and took a short tour of the bay nearest the boat launch, and once confident that the engine was sound and rivets were only rivuleting we set out across the lake.

Full throttle kicked us at about 17 km/h (9 knots) across the lake, but I figured something was a little sassy. Pushing the choke in (duh) kicked her up a notch and that ‘ol girl rocked across the water at 18 knots – over 30 km/h! Full plane, wake spraying, and best of all, my boy in the middle seats with hair blowing, and grinning from ear to ear.

That’s really all I remember of the trip. His smile rockin across the lake, being a little green in the wake of all the ski boats, and his excitement at helping uncle Lance reel in a pike and getting to net it.

I’d say a nearly perfect day. Yeah – we have a few things left to do, some sealer to apply, but in all aspects that matter, that boat is perfect. Can’t wait for the next trip.

EMPIRE VALIDATION: EAVB_ZRNLKTAFSW

Tags: LTPIN

This past Sunday, “Free Family Fishing Weekend” I got Greg snuck out of his house again for a few hours to try our hand once more at Sturgeon fishing. So far our track record (for those keeping score on the actual “fish side” of things) has not been great this year.

As you might recall, in past down at our fishing hole we call “StingRay Flats” we have caught Sturgeon, Actual Corvette Stingrays, Bleech Bottles, and I once commented on my own blog here about dead hookers. I also said that if I ever caught a tire I would quit fly-fishing altogether and take up golf. Well, the inevitable happened yesterday.Both Greg and myself got a double header on a couple of  “snake skins” from the N.S.R. Yeah, wrong kind of Rubber! Still, it is enough to make you want to take up golf!

Here are some other non-highlights from the trip, we spared you some gore.

Speaking of condoms, now that we know we can pretty much catching anything that swims, or floats in the river, did you know that condoms make great fly tying material? Yes, fly tyers will use just about any kind of material imaginable. Here are a few that you’ll want to try tying at your bench this Fall. I suggest you use clean ones, preferably, not used – but if you are into recycling we won’t tell if you don’t.

This just smacks of holding a fly swap for next year, don’t you think? Because, we set trends here at FiftyNorth.. we don’t follow them.

CONDOM FLY-PATTERNS:

• Durex Condom Pike Streamer

• “Valdi” Condom Worm

Actually Jack Dennis himself first showed us the “Valdi” pattern about 3 years ago when he was up in Edmonton.

Finally, for my own self-gratification, or perhaps just to try it out in the field sometime when we run of “Dry Ice” next time.

• How to start a fire with a condom.

Tags: GSPIN

Seeing as Greg has been too busy “hatching” and we have not gotten all of our footage together yet I took the liberty of putting together a few scenes from “The Klave That Never Was”. Yeah, there were some real gem moments captured, including “Podcasts” and “Confessional” videos.

More to come later on that, I am sure. 

P.S. – Even though there was a fire ban, we found many interesting ways to amuse ourselves with dry ice.

Tags: Dolberg Lake, DolbergPi

One of the things I told (nay.. nay… warned) my buddy about with his kids growing up was having a “Bleach Moment”. That would be of course referring to the day you find your child gets past the cabinet safety locks under the kitchen sink, and you walk around the corner in that split second just as they are about to down a 4L bottle of Chlorox. (Sadly, a true story in my case.. and yes every Dad has that “Bleach Moment”).

Today, while out fishing for Sturgeon, I had a “Bleach Moment” of a different sort. My heart was pounding like it does in that moment, thinking I had a big fish on.. and then. Like I said, the strangest shit always seems to happen to us whenever we go out fishing. This is why we carry video cameras.

Yeah, I actually managed to get Greg “snuck” out of the house today for a couple of hours. So, catching that sole piece of garbage was priceless indeed.

You can find more photos here from the day.

Tags: RBPIN

As you can well surmise yourself (after reading Greg’s previous article), uhm yeah, him and I have not gotten out to do a whole lot of fishing yet this year. He is too busy making future generations of fly-fishers, or “making hatches of Scratches” as I like to kid him.

Nice segue eh? So, speaking of kids!

I got a little antsy tonight and needed to get out fishing. I asked my youngest daughter Laura if she would like to join me and to my surprise she did. I don’t force them to come, I invite them. Fishing should be a fun experience for kids, it’s what ensures we have future generations that will take care of our natural resources long after you and I are gone.

Anyways, I didn’t expect we’d get much time on the water tonight, especially with a nasty thunderstorm rolling in from the West. However, tail-lights away from the City is where I needed to be today. So we headed out to my favorite local pond at Cardiff, I strung up the rods and we wandered over to the water. Uhm, where is the water she asked? Good question indeed!

You see, this “pond” is located on the property of the Cardiff Golf Course, and is stocked annually by Alberta SRD. However, the golf course also uses said pond to water the golf course. Do you see a problem with that? I sure do!

Taking needed habitat away from the fish, uhm.. yeah water.. I wondered have they reduced the stocking rates in proportion? A quick check of  the past stocking reports here for this water body seem to indicate that they are putting in the same number of fish (15,000). Incredibly, the sizes are actually increasing. So, what’s up with that?

As the carrying capacity of water body is diminished during these Alberta “drought” spells, should the stocking figures not reflect this too!? Lower numbers of fish, or smaller sizes? Anyone from SRD care to comment on that? I know I plan to take it up with Trout Unlimited the next chance I get.

2008

CARDIFF PARK POND (24-55-25-W4) May 12,500, Type: 2N, 16 CM.
CARDIFF PARK POND (24-55-25-W4)  May 2,500, Type: 2N, 17 CM.

2009

CARDIFF PARK POND (24-55-25-W4)  May 15,100, Type: 2N, 17 CM.

2010

CARDIFF PARK POND (24-55-25-W4)  May 15,000, Type: 2N, 18 CM.

Anyways, the day ended with me landing one fish, and missing several other strikes before we had to “run away” from the thunderstorm. I’ll definitely be back to take her out there and teach her some more. Oh yeah, the RBE still does the trick out here.

Note: The white pump house is on the other side that “Driiiiiiinnks these poor fishes milkshakes up! Drinks it all up!”

More photos here from our trip today

It’s been 7 years since I took up angling. Unlike most I took to the sport as an adult, with little history to build upon. I was reintroduced by a fellow employee at a software company and was hooked immediately.

A season passsed, chucking and ducking spin gear on my local waters, and though I never saw a fish – I was persistent. My eyes were wide open, and the fish were secondary to the escape. I suppose this is why most people fish anyway.

Later in that year I was introduced to fly fishing. Having seen it from my couch, and in movies I had built a mysticism about it – believing it to be a sport of old men in earthy felt hats and plaid shirts. I wasn’t farther from the truth – as I watched Dick pushing a loop into the air and dropping a tiny dry fly on a lake only to see the rainbow rise and sip it from the surface. At that moment I realized everything I knew amounted to nothing.

I bought some fly-gear, taught myself to cast and joined a fly-tying club. Angling ephemera joined angling entomology, and the leather, wicker, silk and felt faded as I met dozens of fly-fishers who broke that mental mold. I was becoming one of them.

One of the most important things I gained from that exposure was an acquaintance who would become a close friend – my brother from another mother. Today we run FiftyNorth together as we take our experiences in fly-fishing and dive into the world of hunting, learning as we go.

The modern world of hunting and angling is a difficult one. With consistent pressure from animal rights, left wing politics, right wing government and a lack of funding for our resources.

We clamber yearly to our favourite fishing haunts only to find depleted waters, ailing fisheries and regulations blunders. As hunters we must navigate the politics of hunting, just to be met with the bleeding heart public who doesn’t understand, nor wishes to do so. The gauntlet is deep, but we forge forward.

We do so because the places we spend our cherished free time are both beautiful, abundant, and fragile.

While our favourite waters and prairie hunting areas may still be natural and remote, they are under attack. Ignorance, politics, and pressure are daily influences, and we as anglers and hunters must hold the line against threats to these places. Unchecked development, abuse, lack of enforcement and wildlife management are all the responsibility of the active educated sportsmen for whom these special places are sacred.

The next time you see an angler or hunter – ask them how they’ve given back to their province – to the lands that sustain their pastimes and passions… If they can’t give you an answer, we’d like to spend some time with them.