Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum

Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: DragonSpeed on June 23, 2008, 11:35:12 AM

Title: Finally - I'm back from 3 weeks vacation
Post by: DragonSpeed on June 23, 2008, 11:35:12 AM
I'm back from my Europe/England Vacation.  I have just finished writing up the blog about the trip (warning - lots of reading)  If you're intested, settle down with the laptop by the trout pond and toss out the bobber and worm while reading ;)

http://dragonspeed.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/all-europe-2008-trip-posts/

I'm looking to get out for my first trout outing of 2008 on July 1 (Sad isn't it?).  Any suggestions? (small inflatable boat, flies.)  Will the lakes around Harrison be more productive later due to the colder spring?
Title: Re: Finally - I'm back from 3 weeks vacation
Post by: Every Day on June 23, 2008, 04:02:41 PM
What lakes around Harrison, me and my friend went up to on yesterday and landed at least 15 each.... hooked and missed ALOT more than that, fish are jumping everywhere like crazy and taking almost any dry fly off the top of the water. I guess e-mail me if you want the lake, since I can't PM  ;) 
Title: Re: Finally - I'm back from 3 weeks vacation
Post by: newsman on June 23, 2008, 06:13:36 PM
Hey Dragon at my day job I work with some real top notch anglers ( I wont even fish with these guys cause they make me look that bad). The best producers as far this year, from what I have heard: (localy) Alouette (Thompson region) Knuff, (Cariboo) Dragon. We are talking big numbers and big fish!
Title: Re: Finally - I'm back from 3 weeks vacation
Post by: clarki on June 24, 2008, 10:11:39 AM
I enjoyed reading your blog Brian, particularly of your time in France in the Caen area. I am a WWII history buff so in our worldwind tour of France in August 2006 we visited many of the same sites that you did: Juno, Omaha, both cemetaries, Longues, Ste. Mere Eglise, Vimy. We did alot of other cemetaries as well: there's a very large German one near Avranches, a Canadian one south of Caen where I found the grave of a co-workers uncle that no one from the family had seen, and another Canadian one in NL near Groesbeek.

We also visited Beaumont Hamel in northern France, not to far from Vimy. A piece of Canadian Newfoundland Regiment history that I was unaware of until a month before our trip.   

We also had dinner one night at the La Fiere bridge not far from St Mere Eglise. I was oblivious to the D Day history of that locale too. Since then I devoured a book by Ruggero that devoted a significant amount of text to the action at that bridge. Fascinating stuff.   

We had too short a time in France and my wife and I long to go back. We're still savouring our small bottle of Calvados!

Our blog: http://gid-the-kid-and-mojo.blogspot.com/       
Title: Re: Finally - I'm back from 3 weeks vacation
Post by: Athezone on June 24, 2008, 11:09:37 AM
Welcome Back DS. and good luck on your first trout outing this year. First!!!! ;)
Title: Re: Finally - I'm back from 3 weeks vacation
Post by: DragonSpeed on June 24, 2008, 03:38:37 PM
Welcome Back DS. and good luck on your first trout outing this year. First!!!! ;)
Thanks ATZ.  Man it's been tough finding even one day to fish these days  :'(
Title: Re: Finally - I'm back from 3 weeks vacation
Post by: Rodney on June 24, 2008, 03:41:33 PM
Is there another discussion forum that lets the moderator to go on a three-week holiday?
Title: Re: Finally - I'm back from 3 weeks vacation
Post by: DragonSpeed on June 24, 2008, 03:42:45 PM
I enjoyed reading your blog Brian, particularly of your time in France in the Caen area. I am a WWII history buff so in our worldwind tour of France in August 2006 we visited many of the same sites that you did: Juno, Omaha, both cemetaries, Longues, Ste. Mere Eglise, Vimy. We did alot of other cemetaries as well: there's a very large German one near Avranches, a Canadian one south of Caen where I found the grave of a co-workers uncle that no one from the family had seen, and another Canadian one in NL near Groesbeek.
We passed on the Canadian one south of Caen, but it was on the optional list.  Sooo much history and so many important sites in the area.  To truly do a war history tour justice in the area would be 3 full days.

The German cemetery is at La Cambe.  More than 2x the number of dead than the American cemetery, but with much less visitors or recognition.

Complete list of Normandy Cemeteries: http://www.normandie44lamemoire.com/versionanglaise/cimetieresus/lescimetieresus.html

Quote
We had too short a time in France and my wife and I long to go back. We're still savouring our small bottle of Calvados!
We drank local cider and good, cheap red wine while there.  I had no alcohol room left in what I was bringing home - we had our Scotch from Scotland ;)

Salut!
Title: Re: Finally - I'm back from 3 weeks vacation
Post by: DragonSpeed on June 24, 2008, 03:43:26 PM
Is there another discussion forum that lets the moderator to go on a three-week holiday?
Truly the most reasonable working conditions I've had in a while ;)
Title: Re: Finally - I'm back from 3 weeks vacation
Post by: clarki on June 25, 2008, 09:14:26 AM
The German cemetery is at La Cambe.  More than 2x the number of dead than the American cemetery, but with much less visitors or recognition.

Yes, we visitted La Cambe as well as the german cemetery in the south of Normandy at Huisnes-Sur-Mer, near Avranches and within site of Mont St Michel.

We toured France with my in-laws. My father in law is Dutch and spent the war in German occupied Amsterdam. As result it was difficult for him to visit the first cemetery that we went to at La Cambe. His memories of the war are still very fresh.

The cemetery at Huisnes-Sur-Mer is unique as it is a built above ground on a hill and the remains are entombed in large crypts. My mother in law had a hard time at this one; her comment was that it didn't seem right that our boys were buried underground and Geman dead had almost a place of honour.

Maybe you saw the little poppies and wooden crosses that the Brits leave a war memorials. I saw one tucked behind the name plate of german soldier's crypt. It said simply "In memory of German sons from English parents" That spoke volumes.

I could go on and on...

Cheers.         



Title: Re: Finally - I'm back from 3 weeks vacation
Post by: DragonSpeed on June 25, 2008, 10:30:09 AM
The German cemetery is at La Cambe.  More than 2x the number of dead than the American cemetery, but with much less visitors or recognition.
Yes, we visitted La Cambe as well as the german cemetery in the south of Normandy at Huisnes-Sur-Mer, near Avranches and within site of Mont St Michel.
Unforntunately due to time limitations, I didn't get down to the Mont St. Michel area :(

Quote
The cemetery at Huisnes-Sur-Mer is unique as it is a built above ground on a hill and the remains are entombed in large crypts. My mother in law had a hard time at this one; her comment was that it didn't seem right that our boys were buried underground and Geman dead had almost a place of honour.
I can see that many people probably have a hard time with the idea of honoring the German dead.  I thought about it myself and that's why I made a point of visiting the German cemetery.  99% of those soldiers were just scared young men that were trying to stay alive.  They had to kill the enemy before he killed them.  I'm quite sure that they fought with as much valor as many allied soldiers.  In my mind they deserve remembrance as well.  The regime and some of its high ranking officers on the other hand.....

Quote
Maybe you saw the little poppies and wooden crosses that the Brits leave a war memorials. I saw one tucked behind the name plate of german soldier's crypt. It said simply "In memory of German sons from English parents" That spoke volumes.

I could go on and on...
Yes, it's easy to go on about it.  It's quite a moving visit.
Title: Re: Finally - I'm back from 3 weeks vacation
Post by: dennisK on June 25, 2008, 11:21:46 AM
you splurged on an "L" lens; you madman lol...

worth it?
Title: Re: Finally - I'm back from 3 weeks vacation
Post by: DragonSpeed on June 25, 2008, 03:19:13 PM
you splurged on an "L" lens; you madman lol...

worth it?

Yup :D  Click on the picture below for the really amazing view.

(http://www.fotothing.com/photos/f26/f2642a1481eb6cf8e8ebf1db85628f72.jpg) (http://www.fotothing.com/photos/f26/f2642a1481eb6cf8e8ebf1db85628f72_d78.jpg)
Title: Re: Finally - I'm back from 3 weeks vacation
Post by: troutbreath on June 25, 2008, 03:31:47 PM
The clarity is really something else. The water drops are almost real and your relection from the birds eye is wunderbarste.
Title: Re: Finally - I'm back from 3 weeks vacation
Post by: clarki on June 27, 2008, 01:44:18 PM

I can see that many people probably have a hard time with the idea of honoring the German dead.  I thought about it myself and that's why I made a point of visiting the German cemetery.  99% of those soldiers were just scared young men that were trying to stay alive.  They had to kill the enemy before he killed them.  I'm quite sure that they fought with as much valor as many allied soldiers.  In my mind they deserve remembrance as well.  The regime and some of its high ranking officers on the other hand.....

 
Young men, and older men. As the war dragged on, many at either end of the spectrum were pressed into service. At the German war cemetery at LaCambe we saw several graves of boys in their late teens. At the other cemetery in the south of Normandy we saw crypts of soldiers who were in the their 40’s or 50’s.  Not many folks know that some of the soldiers that manned the defenses of the Atlantic Wall to repel an invasion were not German at all. Many were prisoners (Polish, Russian) pressed into service at gunpoint. They were members of Ost Battalions. Their only options: survival, being killed by the attacking Allies or being killed by the German officer overseeing their unit.

Don’t necessarily agree with all of your statement. What you say is generally true of the German Army, the Wermacht. Typically these soldiers were not hard core Nazis and were fighting for their country, family and honour, not an ideology. However the Waffen SS were fanatical and brutal. During the fighting near Juno Beach the SS executed more than 60 Canadian wounded and prisoners. In the town of Authie there is a street named “Place des 37 Canadiens” honouring the 37 Canadians murdered by the 12th SS on June 7. The 12th SS Panzer Divison was a Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth) unit.

The Canadians faced two SS Panzer Divisions in the Juno Beach sector. Other sectors had tanks, but not as many, and not SS. Montgomery’s strategy was for the Canadian’s to engage and hold the panzers so that the American’s further west at Omaha and Utah beaches could break out of the beachhead and hook around. The Canadian Shermans were no match for the German Panthers and Tigers and the Candians were severely bloodied, but they did their job.

I can recommend Mark Zuehlke’s two books “Juno” and “Holding Juno”. Zuehlke is a Victoria writer and is Canada’s pre-eminent military historian. Both books are fascinating reads.           
Title: Re: Finally - I'm back from 3 weeks vacation
Post by: Newtown on June 27, 2008, 05:34:05 PM
Watch any soccer while you were there? 
Title: Re: Finally - I'm back from 3 weeks vacation
Post by: DragonSpeed on June 27, 2008, 07:10:03 PM
Watch any soccer while you were there? 
We watched some most evenings.  A bit too far to make it to an actual game though ;)
Title: Re: Finally - I'm back from 3 weeks vacation
Post by: DragonSpeed on June 27, 2008, 07:12:10 PM
Some shots from our time in Normandy:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=527326

Cheers.
Title: Re: Finally - I'm back from 3 weeks vacation
Post by: ColinB on June 28, 2008, 10:45:46 AM
I'm back from my Europe/England Vacation.  I have just finished writing up the blog about the trip (warning - lots of reading)  If you're intested, settle down with the laptop by the trout pond and toss out the bobber and worm while reading ;)

http://dragonspeed.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/all-europe-2008-trip-posts/

I'm looking to get out for my first trout outing of 2008 on July 1 (Sad isn't it?).  Any suggestions? (small inflatable boat, flies.)  Will the lakes around Harrison be more productive later due to the colder spring?

Hi DS,

I've only just spotted this thread?  Shame as when you visited Cambridge, I could have given you a guided tour and probably got you into Kings Chapel for free!

Next time perhaps.

Colin
Title: Re: Finally - I'm back from 3 weeks vacation
Post by: DragonSpeed on June 28, 2008, 11:18:13 AM
Hi DS,

I've only just spotted this thread?  Shame as when you visited Cambridge, I could have given you a guided tour and probably got you into Kings Chapel for free!

Next time perhaps.

Colin
That's funny.  I hadn't even thought about posting about my trip here when it was upcoming since there aren't many brits or Europeans here.  My fotoblog site is littered with Brits so I did alot of my planning in the forums over there.

Cambridge was really lovely, as long as you don't run over by a cyclist ;)  My only gripe was that you couldn't really get far enough away to get a quality picture so most of my shots from our couple of hours there all feature the "lean-away" building look.

Here's one that I liked though (except for the annoying sign <grr> ):
(http://www.fotothing.com/photos/163/16399fe5ce00ad773b67728d7b6e0372.jpg)

Title: Re: Finally - I'm back from 3 weeks vacation
Post by: ColinB on June 28, 2008, 01:51:35 PM
Cambridge was really lovely, as long as you don't run over by a cyclist ;)  My only gripe was that you couldn't really get far enough away to get a quality picture so most of my shots from our couple of hours there all feature the "lean-away" building look.
Here's one that I liked though (except for the annoying sign <grr> ):
(http://www.fotothing.com/DragonSpeed/photo/16399fe5ce00ad773b67728d7b6e0372/)
I assume as time was tight you didn't get to see the "Backs" of the colleges?  There's plenty of space for wide angles there.
The image you posted of Kings front reminds me of my days as a messenger for the university, I passed through that gateway many many times. I also worked in the "Old Schools" building which is right next to the Chapel at Kings.  I always considered myself extremely lucky to live and work in such a beautiful city.
I just wish we had a run of Coho ::) ::)

Colin
Trinity Great Court, Great Gate and Chapel, Chariots of Fire and all that!!  (http://www.accony.co.uk/images/uni/tggchapel.jpg)
St. Catharine's Main court (http://www.accony.co.uk/images/uni/catz.jpg)
King's front and Chapel (http://www.accony.co.uk/images/uni/kingsfront.jpg)
and finally if you want some history try this shot of Queen's college Cloister Court!
(http://www.accony.co.uk/images/uni/ccstj.jpg)
Title: Re: Finally - I'm back from 3 weeks vacation
Post by: DragonSpeed on June 29, 2008, 03:47:57 AM
Cambridge was really lovely, as long as you don't run over by a cyclist ;)  My only gripe was that you couldn't really get far enough away to get a quality picture so most of my shots from our couple of hours there all feature the "lean-away" building look.
Here's one that I liked though (except for the annoying sign <grr> ):
(http://www.fotothing.com/photos/163/16399fe5ce00ad773b67728d7b6e0372.jpg)
I assume as time was tight you didn't get to see the "Backs" of the colleges?  There's plenty of space for wide angles there.
I realized that too late unfortunately :(  We had to get to Ipswitch to drop off the car that day.
Quote
The image you posted of Kings front reminds me of my days as a messenger for the university, I passed through that gateway many many times. I also worked in the "Old Schools" building which is right next to the Chapel at Kings.  I always considered myself extremely lucky to live and work in such a beautiful city.
I just wish we had a run of Coho ::) ::)
That would be ideal - except you'd probably have to pay 20 pounds/day to fish it ;)
Title: Re: Finally - I'm back from 3 weeks vacation
Post by: DragonSpeed on July 02, 2008, 03:06:11 PM
I'm back from my Europe/England Vacation.  I have just finished writing up the blog about the trip (warning - lots of reading)  If you're intested, settle down with the laptop by the trout pond and toss out the bobber and worm while reading ;)

http://dragonspeed.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/all-europe-2008-trip-posts/

I'm looking to get out for my first trout outing of 2008 on July 1 (Sad isn't it?).  Any suggestions? (small inflatable boat, flies.)  Will the lakes around Harrison be more productive later due to the colder spring?

We ended up doing a day trip to Hatheume lake.  Great time.  I didn't land anything but had a few good hits.  Not too busy as far as lakes go.  Probably the 1 fiish rule has that effect.  I like it.  Not exactly "day trip"distance though.  Will have to make a "weekend trip" later ;)

It was SOOOOO good to get on water again!