Wetting a Line for the First Time in 2011

It has been awhile since my last entry.  My schedule remains busy as it is the peak of the show and seminar season.  A few weeks ago I was in Boise for the Confessions weekend seminar with Pete Erickson and Jeff Currier.  Although attendance was not what we had hoped due to the NCAA Final Four tournament and the last weekend of fishing before the annual spring closure we still had a group of enthusiastic students.

The head of this pool held lots of browns

On the Monday after the show Pete took me out to one of his favourite haunts, the Owyhee River.  The Owyhee is a tail-water fishery located roughly 45 minutes away in nearby Oregon state.  Some of you may recall an entry around this time last year when I had a chance to visit Owyhee for the first time.   A year ago flows were low and the rivers large browns and feisty rainbows were stacked up in the large almost lake like pools sipping tiny midges.  I tried in vain to join the ’20-20’ club, hooking a 20 inch or larger fish on a size 20 or smaller fly.  I shook hands with a few breaking them off in the process.

Pete demonstrates how to Euro Nymph

This year we were a month later, things were warmer and the river was running higher.  My goal with my previous year’s visit was to continue my Euro Nymphing education with Pete.  This year the conditions were perfect.  Pete is a master of this method using in on many occasions during his international experiences with the U.S. fly fishing team.  We began by fishing the head of a pool as the water from a large flat above spilled over what appeared to be a beaver constructed dam.  Pete went first demonstrating the correct casting techniques and rod position.  It was nothing short of amazing to watch Pete hook up and land an impressive number of browns between 14-22 inches.  He was a vacuum with a fly rod! So impressive that I will think twice about using a traditional strike indicator to nymph on faster flows!

Proof is at hand!

Using heavily weighted nymphs, a caddis larva on the dropper and a Vladi Worm on the point we cast upstream leading the flies through the run under tension, leader barely outside the rod tip, Polish style.  Most takes were felt as you were tight to the fly or seen as you focused on the ‘slinky’ indicator section of the leader.  Pete’s leader system consisting of a short butt section connected to 5-7 feet of tapered leader to the ‘slinky’ leader.  From there 4-5 feet of fluorocarbon tippet was attached to the bottom end of the ‘slinky’ section to complete the leader.  Pete’s system allows you to both fish the short line Polish system and the long leader Spanish and French systems.

Pete works to rising fish in the flat above

  
Later in the day we moved upstream to scout.  We spent a number of minutes watch large browns cruise, sip and route out nymphs in a shallow eddy below a small island.  Watching feeding fish is fascinating and provides an excellent opportunity to watch how they feed.  This knowledge is invaluable when it comes to catching them.  Small Baetis were hatching along with t a steady stream of midges.  Owyhee trout are no dummies and over the course of their life time see more flies than most fly tying companies.  Today was no distant.  I had a couple of half-hearted looks to my tiny #18 Baetis pattern.  Pete finally hooked one on a #18 or #20 gold bead Pheasant Tail Nymph.  It proved a short firm handshake as the 7X tippet Pete was forced to use separated within seconds of the strike.

A handful of Owyhee brown

I have attached a few images with the content of this entry the rest can be found in an album on my Facebook page. 

Winter is finally coming to an end here in the great white north I can finally see grass in my yard and the destruction left by a one year old golden retriever.  At the end of the month I will be in B.C. targeting the trophy rainbows Ruddock’s Ranch is noted for so stay tuned for that entry.  If I can I hope to sneak out prior to that.  We shall see!

Seminar Update-Boise Bound for Confessions Seminar

My hectic seminar schedule continues.  I have been crisscrossing the continent with stops in Abbotsford, B.C. and last weekend in Ottawa, Ontario where Brian Chan and I provided a one day stillwater seminar.  Over 70 enthusiastic participants were on hand.

Next weekend, March 25-27, I will one of the presenters along with friends Pete Erickson and Jeff Currier Boise Idaho for a weekend fly fishing seminar entitled confessions.   It will be held at the Boise Hotel and Conference Center, 3300 South Vista Avenue, 8:45-4:30 each day.  Two day or daily tickets can be booked ahead of time or purchased at the door.  We are offering discounts for early booking.

Our goal is to provide a comprehensive educational seminar covering a range of fly fishing topics.  We will touch on a variety of subjects including river and stream tactics, stillwater strategies, warm water and salt water techniques.  Although aimed at the intermediate fly fisher this effect should offer something for every fly fisher.  We will also be providing presentations on some of our favourite destinations such as one of my personal favourites, Fortress Lake, home of some of the world’s largest brook trout.  Pete will be providing a session detailing some of his European travels while with the U.S. Fly Fishing Team.  Jeff, our world traveller, will tempt our dreams with his Trout Bumming the World presentation.

From an educational perspective here is a sampling of our some agenda subjects:

• Advanced Nymphing Techniques
• Improve Your Fly Fishing Photography
• Advanced Chironomid Tactics
• Tactical Casting Techniques
• Saltwater Fly Fishing-Bonefish to Billfish
• Top 10 Habits for Stillwater Success
• Warm water Fly Fishing-Bass, Pike, Carp and many More
• Loch Style Techniques
• Terminal Solutions, Favourite Knots

Each student will be provided with ‘goody bags’ and we will be raffling off a number of great prizes from our sponsors including Rio, Echo, Superfly International, Loon Outdoors, Outcast Boats and The New Fly Fisher.

If you are in the Boise area see if your schedule allows time to drop by, Pete Jeff and I look forward to seeing you there!  Don’t hesitate to drop me an email at flycraft@shaw.ca if you wish to know more.

Winter Whirlwind!

Wow, what a whirlwind it has been since my last blog entry.  Show season is all around and I have been coming and going every weekend for the past month! 

Somerset at a quieter moment

After the Marlborough MA show I headed to New Jersey for the Somerset Fly Fishing Show.  It was my first time there and was thoroughly impressed.  As with the Marlborough MA show I was there with the New Fly Fisher TV show I co-host in support of the episodes we filmed in Newfoundland and Labrador.  Response to our show was overwhelming.  Living in the west you are never sure if people are seeing the show.  I was pleasantly surprised as countless people recognized the show and complimented us on the educational format we follow.  Fellow co-host Bill Spicer and I had one young fan drop by the booth that knew every episode and the featured flies.  He was a delight to talk too as he was so keen about the sort.  It seems people can never get enough learning in the fly fishing diets.  A good thing as it is my web site motto too! 

Bill Spicer and I with a young fan of The New Fly Fisher

Show attendance was up and on Saturday it was difficult to navigate the aisles.  They were completely clogged at times.  In addition to fielding questions about the great fly fishing Newfoundland and Labrador has to offer there were lots of questions regarding stillwaters.  Questions I was only too happy to answer. I saw enough pictures of some of the large brown trout inhabiting some of the local lakes to get me interested.
While at the show I had a chance to catch up with many friends and colleagues in the industry including Simon Gawesworth, Jeff Currier, and Bob Clouser to name a few.  I particularly enjoy catching with Simon.  Like me, Simon is a die-hard Liverpool fan.

After Somerset ended I drove back to Ottawa with the booth arriving back around 1:30am.  We unloaded the vehicle and I was asleep by 3am.  I awoke again at 6am, gassed up the rental car, dropped it off at the airport, checked in and boarded my flight back to Edmonton.  I think I was asleep before they pushed back the plane!

The following weekend I was down in Calgary attending the IF4 Film Festival and the Fly Fishing Events Show in Calgary.  This year I had no on the floor speaking commitments other than two tying demonstrations.  I did put on two workshops, Fly Fishing Alberta’s Stillwaters and Demystifying Bugs.  Both were complete sell outs.  When I wasn’t tying flies or teaching a workshop I divided my time between the Rio, Trout Unlimited Canada and Superfly booths.  Brian was in town and like myself did not have any speaking commitments.  Brian was tying up a storm of sorts in the Superfly booth promoting the Stillwater Solutions line of products he and I developed in partnership with Superfly. 

Simon was there once again and we had some ups and downs over the weekend as Liverpool signed Luis Suarez only to learn a few hours later that Fernando Torres, Liverpool’s premier striker put in a transfer request.  We couldn’t believe it,   ahh the ups and downs of Premier League Soccer during the January transfer window.

Talking to the the Central Alberta Tying Club about big flies

On Saturday February 5th I provided my annual tying clinic to the Central Alberta Tying Club.  This year over 20 students enjoyed tying ‘Big Flies for Big Fish’.

'Big Flies for Big Fish' tying seminar

We spent the day tying nothing but flies intended for fish that like their food large.  Students tied Pike Bunny’s, Articulated Popsicle Leeches, Intruders, tube flies, Shaving Brush poppers, Gurglers and Double Bunny’s.  I don’t think any fly was less than three inches in length!  We are already making plans for next year’s seminar.  At this year we will be exploring the ‘Fun with Foam’.

Cross section of big fly patterns

My whirlwind show, seminar and presentation adventure ended earlier this week when I provided a tying demonstration and evening presentation to the Spokane Fly Fishers.  During the day 20 tyers joined me as I toured them through six of my favourite stillwater patterns.  Thanks to Superfly for providing the materials so everyone had the right stuff on hand.  Later that evening I provided my ‘Tactics for Tough Days’ presentation to what I estimated to be over 90 club members and guests.  This was a fun trip and I enjoyed my visit and I look forward to returning in the not too distant future.  Thanks to Judy, Mike and the rest of the Spokane Fly Fishers.

My next trip is not until early March when I will be speaking at the BC Boat and Sportsman’s Show in Abbotsford.  In the meantime I will be busy catching up on a host of article deadlines.

Keep your calendars open in late March too.  If you are going to be near Boise Idaho why not spend the weekend with Jeff Currier, Pete Erickson and me as we provide a comprehensive weekend seminar on wide array of subjects such as river and stream techniques, stillwater tricks and tactics, warm water fly fishing, salt water, casting tricks to name a few.  If you are interested in attending please drop me an email at flycraft@shaw.ca.  Additional seminar details will be available shortly both through my blog and Facebook pages.  

Please don’t forget to check out my Calendar page on my site too for additional shows and seminars such as my Fortress Lake and Learning with the Pros seminars.  2011 is shaping up to be another crazy educational year.