My Life My Way

Death Of A Pike Fly  When I look back at how the 2014 fishing season played out I am in a state of shock. I have been very successful & extremely lucky in my fishing journeys over the years. But no one year has jumped of the pages of time quite like this one. As I grow older I know that this year will be one that produces an evolution of fish tales in the years a. So while 2014 is still fresh in my minds eye, I am putting it down on paper for all to enjoy. Maybe this will even inspire some of those who read this to look back and reflect on your own success, whatever they may be.  January / February, Were a wash as nothing happens here in the frozen north. Unless you live in the southern half of Alberta and get one of those freak warm weeks and can get on to open water, you're pretty much shut out till spring. My body thought this was a perfect time to get a blood infection that kept me in the hospital until March. So it was a bit touch and go as to if I would ev...

Orvis 5wt Combo & The N. Ram At My Feet - Perfect! Fall 2013 seemed to produce some of the best fly fishing days for me to date. On one of my cherished Alberta Cutthroat Trout rivers, the North Ram. So I made it my go to river for fall 2014 and this time I was bringing my brother for his chance to catch his first big trout.   The first opportunity we had to get out there we, being my father in law and brother jumped in the truck and ran to the hills, so to speak. We arrive at the river around ten in the morning, geared up and hiked downstream about half an hour. It's a bit of a scramble to get down to the river from the ATV path but once your down there it's more than worth the effort.   Stream side we came up with a game plan for how we were going to attack this stretch of the river. My father in law George went dry fly only, My brother Jordan went with a deep nymph rig and I followed that up with a hopper dropper combo.   The first pool we fished was a ...

Hunting For Pike, Surface Fly Retrieval    Flash forward now to March of 2014.  At this time I was just starting to tie my own flies under strict supervision of my father in law George. As I advanced so did my desire to make all types of flies and streamers.   While thinking about Pike fly patterns I had one of those "light bulb" moments. Why not use modern day resources to find out who is fishing for Pike on the fly. So I went hunting for videos on YouTube. What I came up with was a channel called flytying.eu, based out of Denmark. This site, combined with their YouTube channel, was my inspiration for the coming Pike season. My First Four Pike Flies   I did find one item a bit frustrating, the lack of materials available in my city to replicate the patterns I found on line. However, I did my best with what materials I could dig up and feel accomplished with the product I was able to produce in the end.   With having felt like I succeeded in t...

First Northern Pike On A Surface Fly   Every adventure we start in life begins with a conversation.  My conversation / adventure began in the winter of 2012. I guess you could say that I started the conversation about catching Walleye and Northern Pike on the fly.  I started grilling my fly fisherman father in law about the subject to which I was surprised he had limited knowledge on. Since he has over thirty years plus experience with the sport I surely thought he would have tapped into these fish at some point. So I put forth a challenge for the two of us, to make it our mission, starting spring of 2013 to land one of these beasts on the fly.  I was surprised to find out that this method of fishing, for these fish species, is pretty much and untapped market in Canada. So, throughout the winter I looked into what weight of fly rod I should start with, what flies people have used and a general technique & approach to fly fishing for these fish species. ...

   The year 2014 came in with a bit of concern as I was in hospital for the month of February with a serious blood infection.  Once released from hospital, I battled through the infection at home for an additional six weeks.  Finally getting the "All Clear" from the doctor's on my birthday at the end of March. The following weekend, my father in law decided it would be a good idea, as a mental health break, to go chase some early season Brown Trout in the snow.  So off we went, one old guy and a sickly dude, on a mission to find a snowy Brown Trout.  "Stauffer Creek" April 2014    Here is a little back story leading up to the events of April 2014. One of my favoured early season creeks to fish is the infamous "Stauffer Creek" aka The North Raven River, here in Alberta.  This little creek has won the hearts and minds of some famous writers over the years, as highlighted in Barry Mitchell's book "Alberta's Trout Highway." Wo...