User:Jim Fox
Jim Fox
I've been a member of the FF@ list since early 1995. Even though I spend most of my time lurking, I credit the list with introducing me to the vast majority of my fishing friends and mentors. In particular, attending and helping to organize Alberta Conclaves (more on this below) has given me the opportunity to meet and celebrate our mutual passion with an astonishing number of superb flyfishers over the years.
I became a member of FF@ the a few years after I started flyfishing. I may be the only one on the list who will admit to being lured into flyfishing by "the movie" - A River Runs Through It. I saw the movie in the winter of 1993, not long after I moved to Calgary, Alberta. I already had a fly rod and reel but I’d never actually used it. The Bow River was less than a mile from my apartment so I decided to give it a try. Even though I didn’t catch a fish that whole first year, I was “hooked”. In 2004 I started tying my own flies and looking for advice wherever I could find it. I found FF@ with my first internet account and the rest is history.
I noted above that the series of Alberta Conclaves has been one important reason why I’ve stayed on FF@. As I browsed through the FF@ Wiki, I can’t help but be stunned by the lack of information about this series of events. So far, I have been able to attend 12 Alberta conclaves advertised on FF@:
- 1995 GAFBC (Great Alberta Flyfishing and Big Rock Conclave) I – in July on the Crowsnest River
- 1996 GAFBC II – Another July Crowsnest River adventure
- 1997 The No Frills Alberta Clave – A small gathering in September again on the Crowsnest. This was the same year as the Logan Lake Conclave in central BC organized by Eric Poole.
- 2000 – Bow River Clave at Carsland
- 2001 – Kananaskis Clave – held on Cataract Creek
- 2002 – Cataract Creek Clave v2
- 2003 – North Ram River
- 2004 – Upper Red Deer River
- 2005 – Embarrass River
- 2006 – Racehorse Creek
- 2007 - Dutch Creek - just a few miles up the road from Racehorse Creek
- 2008 - Tom Fry Clave - to be held at Carsland on the Bow River. This event is being held in memory of Tom Fry, who passed away on Boxing Day 2007. Tom was the organizer of the first Bow River Clave in 2000. See this link for more details - http://lance-taylor.net/abk2008/. Actually, we held it at Dutch Creek again (lack of interest in the Bow River I guess) on 13-17 August 2008.
No FF@Alberta Klaves were held in 2009
- 2010 Blackstone River in central Alberta - mostly rained out but lots of fun anyway.
- 2011 Blackstone River v2. We did not actually fish the Blackstone in 2010 so we had to go back again. Better weather yielded epic cutthroat fishing.
- 2012 Elk River - while technicall in British Columbia, we "transplanted" it for this Alberta Klave
- 2013 Athabasca River - camping at the confluence of the Athabasca and the Berland,we did two wonderful floats down the Berland and some shore fishing of the Athabasca. Early soutting trips also took Wally Lutz and I to the Little Smokey and "Frenchman's Creek" in the Edson area.
In 2014, I will try to catch a golden trout in one of Alberta's high alpine lakes. A clave happening at the same time will certainly make the event that much more exciting.
I hope that over time, more information will be added on these events.
