Two River Tour.. Upper Squamish, Ashlu River..

I met Dani, at my place on Friday morning and we went out in search of some fish that would take our flies.. We started in the upper Squamish, and fished the usual spots, around 27mile. Dani was the one that got lucky in one of the spots she had two on. They weren't the big ones we were looking for, but she was happy with the end result. The river was silty coloured, and visibility wasn't great. Dani tried using the fly for awhile but she then decided to go back to her light spinning rod she had bought from me at the fly shop, along with a few other things she needed. I put the line on her reel for her, and rigged up with a float and some split shot to get her fly down faster. She liked that idea better because it was so much easier to cast. In the afternoon we decided to go try the Ashlu River, and try and catch a few there. But as luck would have it we didn't get any action, but we both enjoyed the awesome scenery in the valley. It was a long day for both of us but what a great day it was. We lucked out and had a bright sunny day and that's what made it even better. What a day!!.

Close Encounters With Dollies, And Bull Trout.. Upper Squamish.

I finally got the chance to take Marie, to the upper Squamish to fish for Dollies, and Bulltrout on the fly. It was a nice spring morning, we met and grabbed that all important cup of coffe at Bean Around The World and then to go get her liscence, and then up to the river and have a nice day.  We hadn't fished together since Pink season so I figured I might have to give her a few xtra pointers on casting... I was wrong she remembered everything I told her, and it didn't take long for her to get hooked up with a nice bully, land it. Of course that was the big one and as they say the big ones don't like getting photograghed, it slid out of her grasp and away it went back to where it lived. We had the chance to see it and she was super excited about it so back in the water she went to hook up on another one. And as luck would have it there were a couple more in there that were willing to bite. Not as big but just as exciting for her. I knew that there would be a few fish around I showed her where to cast and she did the rest.. The river was in good shape, the visibilty was great, and it was cool enough but not to cool. At the end of the day she had four on and landed three, and had numorous bites along the way.. It was a great day, and we had lots of fun...

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.