Home Sweet Home

 

 

 

I love fly fishing. Whatever, whenever, wherever... I just love it. But there is one species that absolutely consumes me, the first I ever went fly fishing for, that has frustrated and rewarded me more than any other fish I've ever targeted: steelhead. I've fished for steelhead in a t-shirt and hot sunshine, in layers of fleece in -15C temps. I've been drenched to the bone for hours on end in the pouring rain, slept in the back of a truck for days at a time, and have driven hours to fish for a day. I've gone through slumps and hot streaks, missed takes and landed fish I shouldn't have. I've spent more time pursuing steelhead than any other species by far, with arguably much less success, and am happy for it.

 

 

 

There are no steelhead in Calgary. Epic trout fishing, yes. Chrome, sea-run fish, no. This is the first winter I haven't spent focused on winter runs, and it's been driving me nuts. I didn't realize just how much until I took that first step back into the cool winter flows a couple weeks ago. Brian Niska contacted me last fall to ask me to do some fly tying at the Whistler Flyfishing/Pieroway Fly Rods Cast & Blast event in Squamish, and I arrived a day early with enough time to fish for a few hours. It was warm and raining, and the river was in beautiful shape. That first glimpse of the river made my heart clench, and honestly, I nearly teared up. "This is where you belong" said a little voice in my head, and my entire soul agreed. I didn't touch a fish that night, but I didn't care. It felt like my whole body was soaking in my surroundings, reveling in being back on the west coast.

 

 

 

Cast & Blast is a three day event at Sunwolf in Brackendale, just outside of Squamish. Free to the public, the days were full of presentations from the likes of Stuart Foxall, Aaron Goodis, Bob Hooten, Scott Baker-McGarva, Brian Morrison, Mikey Orlowski, Scoot Mason, Geoff Pieroway, Francois Blanchet, Tim Arsenault, Pat Beahan, Harrison Perrin, Tom McHugh, JM Reid, myself, and, of course, Brian Niska. The Iron Fly fly tying competition was held on Friday evening, with Kirk Gilchrist stealing my title away with a rather unconventional fly. Saturday night was the Homegrown Fly Fishing Film Festival, with five incredible films premiered for an extremely enthusiastic crowd. It was an exceptional event, with a few beverages consumed, fantastic friends, and non stop entertainment. If you didn't make it this year, I highly recommend that you don't miss next year's event.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I stuck around for the week, as I was hosting a screening of IF4 in Abbotsford the following Friday, and planned on attending the M&Y Spey Day the next day. I fished a few days, losing a fish on an incredible river I'd never had any success on before, mostly because I was entirely unprepared to hook it and kinda stood there like an idiot while it cartwheeled on the end of my line. This river is not easy to fish, nor is it very generous to those who don't know it intimately, and I was beyond thrilled to have the opportunity to spend some time getting to know it better. Hooking a fish was a huge bonus. Towards the end of the week I was able to get out on the Vedder with Ben, who I love fishing with, and watched him hook hook and land an absolutely incredible chromer.

 

 

 

Friday we had a great screening in Abbotsford of IF4, and Saturday saw a couple hundred people gather at Gill Road on the Fraser River for the annual Michael & Young Spey Day. This was the first year I wasn't actually working the event, and was able to run around and catch up with old friends and customers, and spend way more time casting than previous years. Brian and Frankie had the Pieroway competition rod on hand, and a bunch of us took turns casting the big set up - a lot of work, but crazy fun. After a brief rain storm mid day, the sun peeked through the clouds and rewarded us with the most incredible golden light in the evening. I'd left my memory card in my computer, and had to watch enviously as Paula, Josh and Aaron captured some amazing casting photos. As the sun went down the remaining group gathered around a bonfire and enjoyed some drinks and conversation.

 

 

 

 

 

Originally I'd planned to head home the following day, but some very good friends twisted my very twistable arm, and I stuck around for the next week. Of the following seven days, I spent 5 very full days on the water, and two half days. It's been a few years at least since I fished that hard for winter fish, and the steelhead gods were not being kind. Cast after cast, some of the hardest wading I've every done, rain, sunshine and wind. By Friday I still hadn't hooked a fish, and I know well enough at this point that it's not that I was doing anything wrong, so it's tough to get angry or frustrated. Sometimes it just doesn't happen. I was pushing myself as much as ever, casting as far, wading as aggressively, covering water, fishing the right flies... I was so incredibly happy to be fishing for steel again, but just at a complete loss as to why I couldn't hook up. Luckily, I had one more day to fish, and Shane and I headed out super early to beat the weekend crowd. What followed was one of my personal best days of winter run fishing with a buddy, as far as hook ups go. Within the first hour I threw a long cast, and before my fly had gone 5 feet my line tightened up and blinding chrome was erupting on the surface. After a good run, some more violent surface thrashing the hook popped and I stood there, body shaking and heart racing. It doesn't matter how many steelhead I hook, or how often, each and every one leaves me in awe. By the afternoon I had hooked and lost one more, and Shane had lost three, two of them right at the beach. Chrome, wild, aggressive... my sleep deprivation, aching muscles and leaky waders mean nothing when compared with that feeling of standing in a coastal river, spey casting with the chance of hooking one of these irreplaceable creatures.

 

 

Sunday I headed back to Calgary, but I left my heart on the coast, amongst the evergreens and rocky banks of the rivers that are home.

 

 

 

Thank you to all the amazing friends who I was able to spend time with - April, Greg, Nick, Paula, Josh, Lisa, Brian, Mikey, Pat, Scoot, Stu, Scott, Sarah, Dave, Kirk, Bobbi, Frankie, Craig, Yos, Harrison, Ryan, Dave, Smalley, Paul, Landon, Jordan, Rick, Ross, Ben, Mat, Stevie, Andrea, Roger, Matt, Catherine, Vanessa, Justin, Tim, Aaron, Lawrence, Geoff, Mike, Chris and Shane - I love you all and miss you more than I can say.

 

 

Jan-Apr 2012: Tacos, Tequila and Steelhead

 

Without getting into any of the gory details, the last couple of months of 2011 were not the best. It seemed that, not only just for me, but for other dear friends too, that things just kind of fell apart in November and December. So the start of 2012 was almost a relief, a huge "thank goodness that's over, now we can try to move forward". I kind of laid low for the first few weeks of January, fished a little, lost a beauty little chrome steelhead on the Vedder. And January isn't exactly the easiest time to catch fish on the fly out there.

 

Ape and I setting up her booth at the Fly Expo 



 

April had asked me to help her out at her booth at the Western Canadian Fly Fishing Exposition in Calgary, so we carpooled with Greg and drove out towards the end of January. I don't know about you, but I love trade shows, particularily when I actually get the chance to check out the show and do some socializing. The people are one of the biggest reasons why I love working in the fly fishing industry, and there's something about shows, maybe its the absolute exhaustion combined with a wee little bit of alcohol, that creates a sense of family. The show went by fast, as they all do, but was crammed full of events. It was exactly what I needed to finally help me start feeling positive about myself and my life again. I was able to spend time with old friends, and meet some incredible new ones. That was the first time I'd really encountered this scenario: "Oh, Adrienne, do you know ________?" "We've never met in person, but we're friends on Facebook." It made me realize not only how small the fly fishing world is, but how like minded people are drawn to and seek out each other regardless of geography.

Me, Ape, Paula, Timbre and Caitlin at the Expo

 

February, March and April went something like this: work Thursday through Monday at the fly shop, with the occassional Friday or Saturday night drinks with friends, drive out to Chilliwack after work Monday to meet up with friends for Monday Night Tacos at the Jolly Miller ($1.00 tacos and cheap Corona) which invariably always got a little messier (tequila shots) than we intended, sleep in Tuesday morning and fish the afternoon, sometimes for cutties but most often for steelhead, sometimes stay over again and fish Wednesday, or head home for a little sleep and rebooting for the upcoming work week.

This season was my best for winter steelhead, not only was my hook up for time spent ratio pretty exceptional, but it was also the funnest season I think I've ever had out there. The Vedder is a busy system, and it is very, very easy to get annoyed and frustrated with the pressure. Some days we'd fish a run or two, meet up with friends, drink a few beer and have a good bullshit session. Did we find fish? Not every day, but yes, we still caught fish and had a hell of a good time doing it.

 

In March a good friend, Bill, came up from Washington to fish, and we had a fun couple of days on the river. I didn't touch one, but Bill and Ben both landed an incredible fish each. Bill unfortunately had to witness a beautiful wild steelhead being dragged up onto the gravel, unhooked, and then kicked back into the water. The angler was swearing mad that he had caught three wild fish that morning, when what he really was looking for was a hatchery fish to kill.

April started off with a bang with the Whistler Fly Fishing/Pieroway Fly Rods Cast & Blast in Squamish. I made it out for the Saturday night IronFly Tying Competition (which I won :P), the SSBC auction, and the subsequent late night shenanigans around the bonfire. The following week I had an amazing afternoon fishing on my own where I landed 3 beautiful fish with no one around, and finally landed a fish on my birthday. The M&Y Spey Day was a huge success again, and we followed it up with a big bonfire on the gravel bar afterwards. Josh made it out from Calgary for a couple days, and we had one beautiful day fishing the Cheakamus and the next day fishing a rising, dirty river in the torrential rain.

 

 

Stay tuned for for part 2 of 2012...

 

A Little Tying...

Quick Hits

The time of year has come again, when days are getting long, waters are warming up, and the spey hatch is blooming. For all those addicted to the great sport (?) of spey casting and double handed rods, here are two awesome events to attend in the upcoming months.

Michael & Young Flyshop's Annual Spey Day

Saturday, April 17th, 2010

Over the past 5 years, M&Y's free spey day has grown and grown, while still maintaining a easy, low key atmostphere. For those of you unfamiliar with our spey day, there is nothing for sale at this event, which means all you have to worry about is how many combos you can manage to try throughout the day. This event is designed to appeal to everyone, whether you haven't even tried spey casting yet, want to learn the technique for your single hand rod, or have been using a double hander for years. No pressure, no expectations, just a great learning environment and an opportunity to try out rods and lines.

This year we are pleased to have Steve Rajeff and Steve Choate return to wow us with their demonstrations, and offer their tips and encouragement with our own casting. As always, a FREE barbeque lunch will be provided and there will be a draw for some great prizes; the one to watch out for is the Hatch Pulse 9 Mid Arbor reel, generously donated by Hatch Outdoors.

Location: Peg Leg Bar, Chilliwack, BC (directions)

Start Time: 8:00 am

~Vendors~

Sage

Scott

G. Loomis

Redington

CND

Winston

TFO

Echo

Airflo

Rio

3M Scientific Anglers

and more....

For more information, contact the shop via email - info@myflyshop.com or phone - (604) 588-2833

Sandy River Spey Clave

May 14-16, 2010

The mother of all spey claves, the Sandy River Clave is an action packed weekend with demos, presentations, and lots of gear to drool over. This year the Friday (May 14) is once again devoted to the ladies, with a number of great presentions by some incredible women - Kateri Clay, Amy Hazel, Mia Sheppard, Denise Maxwell, Dawn Fischer-Chou, Whitney Gould, Nicole Darland, Mary Ann Dozer, Katherine Hart, Anne Tatum,  and Rachel Andras. Oh, and me. The Saturday and Sunday will follow the usual format of great meals, great presentations, and lots of fun.

For more information please go  to http://www.flyfishusa.com/spey-clave.htm

I Have A Confession.

I often think that most fly fishers must have some degree of an obsessive personality. For some its with gear, collecting rods or reels one after the other. With others its tying material, with desk drawers and tupperware containers bursting with fur and feathers and more on the way home from the shop. Flies are a good one, especially my fanatical chironomid fishing buddies, some of who literally have thousands of bugs. Others find their obsession not in the material aspects of fishing, but in fish themselves and the waters they inhabit. Who can argue that steelheaders aren't obsessed? Or that you won't dream about that perfect trout stream for months after your trip, or yearn for that one shot at that elusive permit?

Obsession manifests itself in many weird and wonderful ways with fly anglers. I have to admit I am fully enthralled with fly fishing in its entirety. I love the fish, I dream about fishing and casting, I'm a broke but happy gear slut, flies fascinate me, I'm as much of a sucker for yummy tying material as the next guy, and I sink into a state of depression if I don't get out on the water often. But though I've always known it somewhere deep inside, I hadn't fully realized that I have a particular fishing obsession, that really has no bearing on my ability to fish.

Here is my confession: I am obsessed with hats. In particular, hats for fishing.

I'm moving next week, and tonight I had the intention of doing some packing. I had a couple hats to put back on my bookshelf that I turned into my hat rack, and in doing so took a good look at my collection. I realized that most were stacked two or three deep. So I took them down, one by one, and here is what I discovered:

I own 60 assorted hats, visors, tank hats and toques (beanies, I think, for my neighbours to the south).

I have 8 Sage ball caps and 1 toque.

I have 14 Loomis ball caps and 1 toque.

3 Simms, 3 Scott, 3 Ross Reels, and 5 Michael & Young Ball Caps.

A number of precious onsies, including a No Pebble Mine hat, a Trout Bums hat from the Patagonia movie party in Whistler, a camo Ruth's Chris Steak House hat (ha, I don't eat meat, but apparently this is heaven on earth for steak lovers - their sides, I can testify, are incredible!) and a Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society hat.

12 of them are in various states of camo.

9 are pink.

4 of those pink are Loomis.

Is it wrong that I want more?

I am obsessed.