A Day On The River With Pat Beahen.. Whistler Flyfishing.

It all started with some flycasting lessons that I gave to a newcomer to Squamish. I took her out in the evenings and taught her the fundamentals. After a few times at the casting pond it was time to hit the river and show her how to work a piece of water to find fish. Then after that we had made the plan to go up to the upper Squamish and go do some real fishing. Susan, became really good at casting in a short period of time. She decided to book a guided trip, and got a great deal on a whole days float and lunch included. Brian was great at setting it up at a moments notice. It was Susan's Bday, and she was pretty excited to get on the river. I met her at the shop in Squamish, and from there we went and met Pat Beahen, up at the Ashlu Bridge on the Squamish River to begin her adventure. We all met and piled into Pat's truck and up the river we went to the drop in point. We put the boat in at twenty eight mile, and started our float. Susan had never ever floated a river before much less flyfished in a river before. It was all new and exciting.. I was able to go along for the adventure to have a little bit of guide training. Soon enough Susan was into a few fish, some dollies and bulltrout. And then the big surprise came in the form of a nice steelhead as bright as the sun fresh in from the ocean. It was an awesome sight to watch someone that has never flyfished before doing battle with such an incredible fish. She landed the steelhead in fine style, and the pictures were taken and high fives all around.. It was an awesome birthday present, and a great day. She will never forget it, and neither will I..

Winter to Spring.. Upper Squamish.

Bryan, Dan, and myself found orselves in a bit of a snowstorm when we arrived at the Ashlu Bridge campground. The flakes were big and there was a light dusting on the ground. As we drove up the valley the flakes started coming down harder, with alittle bit more snow on the ground on the sides of the road. We pulled off at 27mile, and set up for the drift down. As we floated along and stopped to fish the good spots, the snow had stopped at about 25mile. Then all of a sudden the sun came out and it felt like spring, I decided to take off my jacket. It wasn't to cold at all just right the perfect fishing weather. The sun was up high and kept a steady warmth through the afternoon, I have to say that it didn't help the fishing greatly because any fish that were there would be under log jams, or some other form of cover. I did however have a hit in this perticular area, even though it was still fairly bright out.. As we drifted around that 24mile area there was a spot that did produce a couple of hits and a nice dolly. It was a deep spot so I figured that there would be one there, it was a good call to spend some xtra time fishing through it.. My colors were a purple and black Hobo Spey, a yellow marabou tube fly, and a white and blue marabou tube fly. It was a great day out on the upper squamish, with Bryan, and Dan.. With some wierd weather to boot.. That's the way it goes in the squamish valley.. Good times!!...

As Brian and I floated the river, we thought we were somewhere else every run we fished, and floated thru was different than the last one. There were lots of pockets and pools, and runs that we thought would have fish in them. Some did some didn't but they were worth a try. It felt like we were in the middle of nowhere and we were wondering when the helicopter would come and pick us up. Well no helicopter came as luck would have it. That's ok!!.. We continued our quest to find more fish. We fished a few more spots before the pullout, and I hooked another bully in one spot that I thought it would be.. That was a good end to the day. We pulled out at the Ashlu Bridge and then went to get my car back up at 27mile. It was a long day but super fun... good times in the Squamish River wilderness...

N. S. F. G. C. Flyfishing Seminar..

Cliff Tang, the director at large for the North Shore Fish and Game Club, asked me to take part in a flyfishing seminar about still water flyfishing, and River Flyfishing. We discussed tactics, and strategy for lakes, and rivers. We displayed rods, reels, and lines and different types of flies that are used for the various types of fishing. Cliff had a few boxes of lake flies, and I had three of my spey rods, and various flies to show and also some lines.. The audience that we had wasn't to big about 30, people some of whom I knew from many years ago when I was a member of the club way back when.. There was a q and a where people could ask questions.. I talked about spey fishing, and my adventures out on the lakes and rivers of bc. It was a great experience to speak in front of a sort of large group of people. And Cliff was a great person to do that with, we played off one another very well and everything went perfect.. I thank my good buddy Cliff for the opportunity to take part. What fun!!..

Gift Certificate, and a Fly Tying lesson..

It was a slow morning at the flyshop the other day. It wasn't until the afternoon that Tommy, Phil, and Brian came in. After that there was a guy that came in with a gift certificate and he wanted to pick up a bunch of fly tying materials and such. We talked for awhile about materials and things and then he bought a bunch of stuff and then I gave him a tying lesson and showed him how to tie an intruder pattern with some of the materials that he had bought. Oh yeah Brian had given me a new tying vise for christmas so I could do the demo right there. It was great to give a hands-on lesson to somebody that didn't know how to do it.. The best part was is that it was in the shop.. I was happy to show him, and he was happy to learn the basics from someone showing him step, by step.. That was the most fun I have had in the shop so far. It turned out to be a great day.

Breakfast, and a float down the Squamish...

Brian, and I were thinking of floating the upper squamish. As luck would have it when we got to the 20mile, ranch it was snowing and there was allready a few inches of snow on the ground so we went with plan B. After an adventurous morning we had breakfast at Fergies Cafe. It was great!! then we headed down to the lower river and put in at Judd Rd. We had a fun time drifting down the river and checking things out, casting here and there looking for a fish. Didn't find anything but it was still a nice crisp cold day.

Whistler Flyfishing, Downtown Squamish.

Squamish now has a flyfishing shop located on Main, and Third St. in downtown Squamish. It's pretty cool because now there is a place to buy fly tying materials, and outerwear. There is a selection of rods, reels, and lines to meet everyones needs. Lots of flies, are displayed on the counter. It's great to work in a small shop because everything is right there at your fingertips. This is a real change for me to work in a shop that I get to talk about flies, and flylines and fishing in general. Also it's great to get paid to do that. Working for Brian and Whistler Flyfishing is going to be fun!!!.. So come pay us a visit it will be worth your while... We'll give you all the information you need to have a positive expierence out on the river..