Hello and Warning: Very Long First Post

[GrandDude]

Hi Folks.

 

My name is Richard .... or Dick .... both work for me. And this is my not-so-short-story .... So let me jump right in ....

 

After a few decades I have (finally) returned to T.U. I was first a member at the age of 21, back in 1979. I was lucky enough to attend the Cold Water Anglers’ Conference and met Lefty Kreh, Joan and Lee Wulff at the SHAW Conference Centre. At about that same time I landed a job at the Fishing Hole at the 97 street location. Thank you to the kind Johnson brothers!

 

In my teens and early 20s, I fished my hand-tied flies over much of Alberta but being an Edmontonian, I concentrated mostly north, central Alberta targeting the east slopes, north of highway 11. I did make the odd trip to the Castle, Barnaby Ridge, Crowsnest, Bow and even the Elk in BC.

 

At 26, married with a baby but no work, had us relocate to Peace River in 1985. For recreation we purchased a used holiday trailer and camped almost every weekend. Locally I continued to fly fish the Notikewin, North Heart, Little Smoky and numerous streams west of Swan Hills plus many many stocked ponds in the area. We often vacationed between Peace River and the Yukon Territories camping on many Grayling/trout streams, rivers and the lakes along the Alaska Highway.

 

Due to another career change we relocated the family, now with two teenagers, to Grande Prairie in 1999. Even though my career was a major commitment, I spent as much time as reasonably possible fishing in the Two Lakes/Kakwa Falls region with many trips to the lower Kakwa and further south to the Grande Cache area. I did make a few trips across the BC border too.

 

More moving; finally and hopefully our last stop is St. Albert but now we are empty-nesters and grandparents. I have just retired a couple of months ago, hopefully this time for good. Note: I failed at retirement twice before .... So in addition to family, many hobbies, interests and sports, I have returned to T.U., day-hiking and fly fishing as well. Fly-tying is not far away ....

 

I plan to be quite active on this forum and I wish to attend a couple of local meetings and events to meet the community AND I do have a strong interest in volunteering for some field work. Time will tell.

 

Cheers, thank you for reading my very long first post, chat later, and maybe meet you on a stream this summer.

[Michael Dell]

Welcome Richard,

Please come out to one of our in-person meetings at Queen Mary Park Hall.  

Or if you are comfortable with computers you can join our Zoom meetings.  

Michael Dell