My Life My Way

  I saw an interesting post on Instagram, about a year ago, talking about a new concept of adding "Wiggle Tails" to Pike Fly's for additional attraction. One of the posted comments that stuck out to me was, "When Does Your Fly Become A Lure?" Poses an interesting question, but seems to me like its the "Chicken & The Egg" question all over again. Regardless, here's my take on the post. Wiggle / Marabou Tail Fly  In some parts of Europe, mainly Scandinavia, the Pike fly fishing scene has been pushing the boundaries of this question for several years now.  This clan of fly tying extremists, seem to be adding anything to their flies to get a leg up on big Pike. Wiggle Tails, Rattles, grotesque amounts of Flashabou and articulated flies that push the twelve inch mark. Really quite brilliant! But has some "Trout" purists snubbing their noses at these anglers. I am not one of the "purists", I am all for innovation! Hence my f...

  With another fly fishing season about to open, it's time for some of us April "Fools" to hit the water for the first time since putting the gear away for winter. In preparation of my first trip I dug out the gear bag and gave my kit a once over. Found some interesting artifacts from the last trip out. Included in these fair finds was a rather unsightly pair of socks, still damp from September 2016. Good thing they weren't my lucky socks as they went straight to the trash! Along with the socks, there were a few fly's tangled in a web of tipit and lies, provoking a response of (Insert Curse Words Here). Lesson learned for end of this season? Only time will tell, but likely not ha!   Next up in the process, restock a rather sad looking nymph / wet fly box. Some good early season fly patterns I gravitate to are, San Juan Worms, Prince variations and small bait fish streamers like a Bugger / Zonker. Plus a few experimental, like the "MOP" fly, literally a...

  The 2016 fly fishing season officially came to a close on October 31st. However my season ending trip was spent over three incredible days in mid September. I was to have gone on one last trip in October but a small snow storm put an early end to my fly fishing season. With how the following September trip went I am quite okay with that, enjoy!   In the spirit of Halloween, my father in law George and I went to pick a couple "Pumpkins" from our patch. Our patch this year would consist of two rivers, the Blackstone and the Ram. Goals we set for this trip, try to get my first ever Bull Trout on a fly and to get a couple nice fall run Cutthroat Trout. DAY 1:   Early Breakfast + 2 Hour Drive + 30 Minute Hike + Beating The Crowds = First Fish Before 10am Smile Says It All George   With what looked to be a favorable forecast on the horizon and snow / rain in the forecast by the end of the weekend. It was time to beat the crowds and hi...

  August, two trips were had and a whole pile of rain fall across our fine province of Alberta, just to keep things interesting. Now with high volumes of rain comes high, fast, dirty and almost unfishable trout streams. So with that in mind here's a recap of how the first trip of August plaid out, enjoy! First Trip:  First river, flooded! And doing its best impression of flowing chocolate milk. Time to hit pause and hunt for something else. That something else was good old faithful North Raven River. When other rivers are some what pooched you can always rely on the North Raven. As its a spring fed creek and is generally gin clear. Lucky for us it was only a 10 min drive away from our first choice the main stem of the Raven River.  The first starting point on the North Raven had two cars parked at it and if you've ever fished this small creek you'd know that means find another spot. So, I know of two other spots with public access to the creek and opted for the thir...

  To say summer is fast approaching is a falsity! More like summer is now half over! As August opens up this long weekend here in Alberta, the following is a recap from June and July's trips out on the river and ponds. June, 2016 Gold Panning    At the beginning of June my wife's work, Rock It Out Salon rockitoutsalon.ca, took us on a family retreat to Terratima Lodge, terratima.com, in central Alberta. This quaint, quite, rustic lodge, A frame log cabins sure was about to get a dose of the big city. Or at least we did our part to think we did, for one night...ha ha!  On this property there lie a brown trout stream, Prairie Creek. So in my mind regardless of what the accommodations were and how crazy the party was, I could escape to search out Trout on a section of private water I had yet to fish. Just had to find a clever way to convince the wife and son that daddy was "running away" for four hours.  So what better way to do so than to convince the ...

 Well it has been a while since I've posted something so here's what's been happening this spring. I have been out on the river once and had one heck of a good time with my brother Jordan and buddy Dave. Got them their first Brown Trout on a fly, so that was EPIC! From the following pictures they weren't record beaters but you have to start somewhere, right?  No crazy fish tales or jokes to be had this time round. But the smiles put on these boy's faces, even from small trout, tell the story and will last in their memories for years to come I'm sure. Dave's First Ever Brown Trout Dave Sends His Brown Back To "Brown Town" My Bro's First Ever Brown Trout Eight Inches Of Pure Alberta Gold  As for myself, two solid fish and one who though he was a grown up. I was even able to land my best ever Brook Trout on the fly. That in combination with the boy's getting their first Brown Trout was the icing on the cake for this trip...