Our Deepest Apologies!!!

We wanted to apologize for our cavalier attitude on the blog this past week.

The blog crew just got back from 9 days in Terrace, exploring Skeena tribs.

We'll be back doing posts tomorrow, including updates on the Steelhead trip

and fishing reports from the Bow!

New Vid, Bow River: The Rising

Some footage from 2010, enjoy!
Make sure HD is on, for a bigger view go to: The Rising

Idylwilde Now Has A Blog

Zach and the gang at Idylwilde now have their Blog up and running.

Good one to add to your surfing list: http://www.idylwilde.com/wordpress/index.php

Their main site is cool too! http://www.idylwilde.com/index.php

Check em out!

Bull Trout After School

Here's a few pictures sent in from a couple fishing buddies.
They headed out to a "secret location" looking for some bullies.

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-Nice pics guys, thanks for the email!

BWO- a look at blue wings and olive bodies

Insects are the most common class world wide, nearly one million species are known to date and some scientists speculate we haven't even scratched the surface. Its no wonder we're all a little confused or have misconceptions when it comes to bugs. Most of our problems come from simple misnaming. When it comes to Blue Winged Olives, this often occurs . Often a genus like callibaetis is referred to as a Baetis, when in fact it is a Baetidae (a little harder to say but it's much more scientifically correct.) Below is the nomenclature for those that find it easier to understand. Baetis, Callibaetis, Cloeon and Pseudocloeon's are all in the family Baetidae and are collectively referred to as Blue Winged Olives. Within the family of Baetidae lies over twenty separate genus's and again most of us refer to all of these as BWO's.

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
......Pylum Anthropoda (Arthropods)
................Class Insecta (Insects)
........................Order Ephemeroptera (Mayflies)
..................................Family Baetidae (BWO)
....................................................Genus Baetis
....................................................Genus Callibaetis
....................................................Genus Cloeon
....................................................Genus Pseudocloeon
....................................................(many more!)

And enough of the stupid science, lets talk applicable science. If you would like to become confused I highly recommend investigating this subject further. The multitude of genera and diversity between them can make for an interesting study, I recommend the resource I used here, called "Mayflies. An Anglers Study of Trout Water Ephemeroptera" (see reference at end of blog.)


Baetidae are found throughout North America but predominate in weedy and nutrient rich waters. The nymphs will populate any body of water (stream, river, lake) that offers a cool, suitable environment. They can range from slow sections of freestone rivers to fast sections, gravel runs and riffles to slow moving spring creeks and among shoreline weeds in lakes. The nymphs are excellent swimmers due to their movement that actually resembles a minnow. They are usually pale to dark olive bodied and can vary greatly. Mature nymphs have dark, well developed wing cases and their legs darken to an olive brown.
When ready to emerge, the nymphs swim or float to the surface and shed the nymphal shuck. The surface film provides a huge barrier to the tiny insects, and many never pass through. Those that do must sit on the surface to allow their wings to dry and become rigid allowing them to fly away. During cool weather this takes longer to occur, so duns will float for greater distances on the surface. It is important to note that the naturals float very low in the surface film, with their bodies and tails flush. During this stage we can also fish cripple BWO's.
The Dun (sub-imago) sports two large sail like wings that point upwards and have blueish, grey coloring that can range from light to almost black. Typically within six to twenty four hours following emergence (highly temperature dependent) the duns molt into spinners (imago). If the emergence occurs in the morning the spinner fall usually occurs in the evening while if the emergence is in the afternoon then the fall will probably occur the next morning. Female spinners are usually identical to the duns but males have much lighter bodies, sometimes almost white. During this final molt the wing veins become highly visible called hyaline. After fertilization, the females enter the water after remaining on the stream side for the eggs to ripen, then deposit their eggs on submerged logs or vegetation, and then are washed away. Rarely, the males accompany the females.

Much variation occurs throughout the generas and the following are some of the deferrals from the above information.

The Baetis Genus nymphs often congregate around weed beds or crawl up plant stems when emerging, though they can still emerge in the normal Baetidae form. Nymphs usually have markings or stripes that are paler than the other body segments. The female Duns are often brighter while the males are more subdued and the spinners have green females and brown males- the spinner fall occurs during the evening.
Callibaetis commonly called the speckled dun, are seen often in Alberta. They prefer lakes or very slow sections of river, so we will find them on the Bow River. Nymphs vary in color greatly, usually taking on the color of their surroundings and have long, slender bodies. The nymphs congregate under weed beds and once out of the surface film usually take only a few minutes to become air born as a subimago, their wings usually have a predominant white vein pattern. The most productive hatches occur on cool, cloudy days when the duns must remain on the water for greater periods of time.

As most of you know, there is a great amount of indecision and scrutiny that occurs in the field of entomology, if there are any mistakes in this writing please let us know. It is better to be proven wrong and be corrected then to be documenting inaccurate information! Your help is greatly appreciated.

All information was taken from either:
-http://www.troutnut.com/hatch/90/Mayfly-Baetidae-Blue-Winged-Olives taken Sept. 20, 2009.
-"Mayflies. An Angler's study of Trout Water Ephemeroptera" Written by Malcolm Knopp and Robert Cormier. Lyons Press (Guilford, CT) 1997.

Picture from:http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.onlinefishinglog.com/images/blog/2006_outdoors/blue_winged_olives.jpg&imgrefurl=http://onlinefishinglog.com/blog/8/Outdoor-Pictures-2006&usg=__N_9amYwLOaI1EsaSSdmqhmrkMeI=&h=600&w=800&sz=54&hl=en&start=17&sig2=BOGRLkWhS9QXyg_45Q9ZkA&um=1&tbnid=kkcsuRg5eafeYM:&tbnh=107&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dblue%2Bwing%2Bolives%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-ca:IE-SearchBox%26um%3D1&ei=qGi2SpbnMYLUsQOjh6XSDA

Where have all the vests gone? Part One

Both in the shop and on the river I’m seeing an increasing amount of anglers straying away from the traditional vest and leaning towards alternative options like a backpack, lumbar pack or chest pack, this includes myself. But why!? Vests have long since represented fly fisherman, it was their everlasting emblem, a silly neutral coloured vest with pockets for every nick-nack and accessory an imaginative angler could come up with. Why now do anglers look towards an alternative to the clumsy, heavy, hot, uncomfortable extra layer we call a vest, oh wait!

Manufacturers of fly fishing gear have put their minds to coming up with alternatives that work just as well as the traditional vest but have they succeeded? Well, in my mind the answer is no. There is not an alternative that holds as much gear in as easy access as the vest but there are some great attempts that stand out in their own way.

“The Fanny” or in man language, the waist pack sits on the hips usually in reverse holding all your fishing gear around your lower back. It quickly swivels around for a semi-easy access to pockets and zippered compartments. Just like a vest, the waist pack has compartments designed for fl y fishing paraphernalia, from tippet spool holders to a forceps pocket. The waist pack often holds much less than a vest but as a user of the Sage Lumbar Pack I find this an added benefit since it restricts me to my essentials. For example, there really is no need for seven fly boxes, six sizes of tippet, and every new line nipper on the market but that’s just me, some have the need or the desire to carry a lot of gear with them and in this instance the waist pack may not be large enough. The waist pack also doesn’t have an attachment for a net unlike the vest, this makes the waist pack less useful to the walk and wade anglers. For anglers that often fish from a boat where they are hopping in and out and carrying a boat net, then the waist pack works great. The Sage Lumbar Pack and the Simms Headwaters Series stand out as useful and durable waist packs for the avid fisherman looking for an alternative to the vest.

Part two to come- The chest pack as an alternative to the vest
Part three to come- The backpack and combination chest/backpack

A few item highlights - Simplifying your fishing

There's some products in the shop that we feel deserve some highlighting.
Here's a few of them, we'll focus on 'gear simplifying' today:
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Simms Sling Pack:
The sling pack will certainly become a favourite for steelheaders and anglers trying to simplify. It's a no-nonsense pack that gives you quick access to flies and tippets, then swing out of your way. No more tangling running line on that 100 foot cast, and it is built to last (and a price that can't be beat).
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Sage Double Rod/Reel Case:
We sell a ton of these to anglers that are looking to simplify access to their rods. Keep your rods fully rigged up for your next day on the river. Bring the case in a drift boat and you have instant access to your foam-bug rod when the streamer fishing slows.

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Cliff's Super Day's Worth Fly Box:
Midges, Meat, and Mayflies - Oh My! The triple layer design allows you to effectively hold a ton of different sized flies. One of the cooler features is the Magnetic Compartment. Perfect for holding all your small nymphs (or when you're rushing through your box as a 26" brown is refusing your latest creation). It's also a nearly indesructible box.

This box was awarded the Ka-Ching award at the Fly Fishing Retailer World Trade Expo

-Brent

Cutthroat continuation

Oncorhynchus clarki

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Note: A High Stream Temperature advisory was placed between Rocky Mountain House and the Montana-Alberta border on July 28, 2009. Please choose to avoid streams where the water temperature rises above 22º C, carrying a water thermometer can come in handy.

Even if the water temperature is below 22º C please use caution when fishing, taking extra care when fighting and releasing fish to minimize stress.

More information can be obtained at:

http://alberta.ca/acn/200907/26590C2C3DCA4-9DDF-CB57-832170F5F31ED1E8.html#

-C.

Some More Albertan Cutthroat

Went fishing in the afternoon yesterday. It rained like mad, but the fish couldn't be happier. We lucked out on a Green Drake hatch that lasted about an hour, and the fishing was just nutty. Here's some more photos. We'll add the last tomorrow.

A pocket water bully.

Caity's very pretty Cutthroat.

A few photos

A few photos from a rainy, rainy day.
More tomorrow!