Doc

Hey! I resemble that remark Thanks for the birthday wishes. Cheers, Doc

Not sure about the other lakes as the waters still pretty cool with ice just coming off recently but Muir is definitely starting to turn. The water has been open for quite a while, is rather shallow and with the 25c temps lately and the strong winds mixing it, you can see decaying matter making it's way to the surface. I don't believe Muir takes as long to turn as most lakes because of it's shallow depth, maybe give it another 4 or 5 days.

The Blackstone near Nordeg is fishing extremely well. Check out my last blog post here. Doc's Ol' Blog House

Still there, just doing some maintenance. Alberta Fly Fishing Forum Cheers, Doc

Thanks for posting Brian, I'll definitely keep my eyes open for them and will be calling RAP if I see them using bait.

I got quite a few sink lines and to be honest, I use my floating line 95% of the time as weighted flies and long leaders will get me to the depth I need. When I do fish a sink line it's usually a clear intermediate as the most productive waters are normally quite shallow. When I do reach for a faster sinking line, I prefer the traditional sink line that forms a belly in it to fish floating patterns off the bottom or to get the "U" shape movement of the boatman. Just my two cents but for a first line I'd go with a clear intermediate sink. Cheers, Doc

The town council of Wabamun is requesting approval from the Alberta government to develop the lands south of the CN railway track in the town of Wabamun. This area is an important wetlands for Wabamun lake. It serves as an important bird nesting area and a major fish spawning area. The vegetation in this area also serves to maintain the lake's water quality. In addition, the area is not suitable for development as there is no strong foundation to build on. The marshy area would require excessive gravel fill to create a suitable building area. This alteration to the lake's natural shoreline would further disrupt the lake. Plans for the development can be seen here. http://www.wabamun.ca/life/documents/Web_Package.pdf To sign the petition against this development, go to this link. http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/protec...of-wabamun.html Cheers, Doc

And people ask me "why do you love stillwaters?" Thanks for answering that Dennis. Great read, felt like I was there with you. Of course if I were there, you wouldn't have gotten any help. I'd have been to busy laughing my A$$ off. Cheers Doc

Thanks for the birthday wishes. Not much of a malt guy but I did enjoy a nice streak BBQ with 1/2 a pound of King Crab (my favorite) Cheers

Hope to see you all at the TU meeting tonight (Monday Dec 15). 7:30pm at the Central Lions Senior Recreation Center 11113 113 ST. Phil will be presenting four fly patterns. Two patterns for Pike/Walleye (the 1/2 & 1/2 and the popsicle leech) and two patterns for trout (the balance leech and the foam dragon). Watching him present the balance leech alone is worth coming out for. Phil will also be presenting on how to put together kit bags (everything you should have with you) for Pike/Walleye and for trout. Cheers, Doc

Hope is was a gooder Darren Cheers, Doc

Very sorry for the loss to you, Will and your entire family. I never actually knew your dad but I sure knew of him. I spent many days in his old fly shop and more than a few hours at the vise tying up some of his patterns. Your dad and your family will be in our prayers. Doc

Hope you have a good one RB. Happy Birthday Cheers, Doc

Al, you didn't miss anything. The meeting was canceled due to flooding in our room. Phil has been rescheduled for December 15. So how's Saskabush treating you? Cheers, Doc

We're kicking off our TU meetings here in Edmonton with stillwater expert Phil Rowley. Phil will be presenting four fly patterns. Two patterns for Pike/Walleye (the 1/2 & 1/2 and the popsicle leech) and two patterns for trout (the balance leech and the foam dragon). Watching him present the balance leech alone is worth coming out for. Phil will also be presenting on how to put together kit bags (everything you should have with you) for Pike/Walleye and for trout. The meeting is at the newly renovated Central Lions Senior Recreation Center 11113 113 ST. Meeting takes place at 7:30pm on Monday November 17 and the third Monday of every month to follow. You don't need to have a TU membership to come out but if you find the information and comradeship with fellow anglers that share your interests to have value then by all means purchase a membership. There are timbits and coffee available but we ask for a donation of $2.00 to cover the costs. MEMBERSHIPS AVAILABLE: • Regular: $30.00 • Youth/Student: $15.00 • Family: $50.00 • Corporate: $100.00 • Lifetime: $1000.00 Hope to see you there. Cheers, Doc

Happy B-day Shan, hope it was a gooder Cheers, Doc

Michael, I have some other folks interested in the redd count on the Raven. I've sent an e-mail to your telus account but no reply. Could you send me an e-mail? flyfish-edm@hotmail.com Cheers, Doc

Thanks for the birthday wishes. For my present, I got a bad sunburn on each forearm... oh and some trout. Had a good time today at Muir. The radiation burn was worth it. Cheers, Doc

So I ended up working yesterday and got home late. I decided to get dressed quick and head over to Bo-Diddley's but had to cancel before I gotr the chance due to family things that came up. Anywho, how was the turnout? Hope it was a success and everyone had a good time. Wish i could have been there Cheers Doc

Guys, how would Joe Blow off the street buy tickets? Cheers, Doc

Is there a post on here about the auction information? I'd like to copy it and post it on my board. Thanks. Cheers, Doc

Hey Adam. Although I don't get out to very many meetings, the folks at NLFT&F's are simply awesome. Not overly clicky, very helpful and friendly. I think you'll really enjoy your time at the club. Hope to see you there sometime. Cheers, Doc

Weedy had posted this on my AFF forum a while back. Here's the link... Muir Lake lots for sale Cheers, Doc

DT, never thought of you as a Unreal guy. I used to play all the time but haven't in the last three years. I was pretty good too, loved playing c.t.f. Cheers, Doc

Yes I just made an bum out of u and me. So who is it that I'm corresponding with then? You're quite knowledgable about our resourses and writing style is similar to that of Don's. The first question to be asked, should be: How many anglers do we have in Alberta? The only way to get this answer is to have all anglers hold a valid anglers license. No need to guess anymore, the information would be right there. Seriously, how can our province manage our fisheries (even with reactive management) if we don't even know how many anglers we have? Ok, I may have exaggerated a bit on that statement. But I exaggerated to make the point that we just don't know. And I agree with you, many of our older anglers do make their way to BC but many stay right here. When I owned the night club, most of my fishing took place early mornings during the week days. In my estimate 80% of the folks I saw fishing from shore while I packed up, were seniors. Depending on where I fished there could be as few as one or two anglers or as many as 15 on any given day. Other then the most important tool of 'how many anglers we have', you're dead on there. Then why hasn't the Gov't taken this obvious 1st step in managing our fisheries? Asking for this type of management before we can get the mickey mouse stuff covered is like getting a child to run before it can crawl. The 'keep slugging away' is a slow process but you're right, what else can we do? I don't know that focusing on the bigger picture at this time is going to make much sense at this time. We need to get the province to be in the mindset that we need management change to pro-active and to start with the basics first. IMO, We need to all get on board with the mickey mouse stuff and get it out of the way. When that's taken care of, we push the harder issues and focus on the bigger picture. Agreed, but the bigger issues are being directed to a brick wall. Let's build a doorway first so we can present the bigger issues. Maybe us trout guys need to make a bigger presence at the AFGA through membership and change the direction our fisheries are being presented to the higher powers. Just a thought (if you can't beat them, join them). No oposition there