The Gomphus

A great sprawler pattern that requires you to spin some deer hair, cut to shape! Take a look!

Tying the Copper Moon and Deceivers with Dr. Bill Young

Dr. Bill Young was our guest fly tyer instructor tonight! Bill brought along a streamer few of us had seen before. We affectionately named it the Copper Moon, partially because Bill's hunting dog's name is Copper and also because of the copper flash in the fly! Bill has used the Copper Moon on the Bow River with lots of success!We also spent part of the evening tying Lefty Kreh's Deceiver. Deceivers have been used to catch many species of fish. I know Dr. Bill is gearing up for tarpon while others use deceivers to catch lake trout, bull trout, pike as well as many other species! There is no doubt that both flies are fish catchers.

Just a reminder that our all day fly tying session with Philip Rowley is on Saturday February 4th. This will mainly be a stillwater session with a wide variety of lake flies. Drop Bob Vanderwater a note to sign up.  We already have had several sign up!

Reid Stoyberg is our next guest instructor. Reid is a guide at Plummers Lodge at Great Bear Lake and the Tree River! Our next fly tying session will be January 2nd. The location will be announced shortly (we hope to tie flies at a pub)!

Tonight was our last tying session before Christmas. Karen and I would like to wish one and all a very Merry Christmas. We hope the holidays is filled with good health and time well spent with family and friends!

Copper Moon

Hook: 3 XL size 6 or 8 streamer 

Cone Head: 5/32nds

Thread: black or brown 8/0

Tail: White marabou

Body: White Marabou

Throat: Pearl crystal flash

Over Wing: Mallard Flank

Colar: Webby duck feather

Cool Fly Tying Set Up

Lefty's Deceiver

Hook: Mustad 34007  size 4 to 4/0

Thread: Whie 6/0

Tail: 4 hackle feathers

Body: silver or gold tinsel

Under Wing: White Buck Tail

Over Wing: Buck Tail: colour to suit

Flash: Rainbow Flashabou

Throat: Red Flashabou

Thanks for the Christmas Chocolates Doug!

Cola Worm

Phil Rowley is just starting to add a new series of videos to his You Tube Channel! Take a look!

Look Out Permit, Tarpon and Barracuda!

Our fly tying club is very fortunate to have a wide variety of fly tying knowledge. Today Brandon Fawcett, Head Guide at Fly Fishing Little Corn Island in Nicaragua spent the evening teaching us three neat fly patterns. Tying a needlefish imitation was our first challenge, followed by tying an EP Crab and finally a Big Eye Tarpon Fly!

Brandon has shared his expertise with our tying group the last three years. Brandon heads to Little Corn Island about mid January and he continues to guide there until the spring. Brandon is a skilled guide. Little Corn Island is a diamond in the rough. A great place to escape Canada's harsh winter! Take sometime to check out his Fly Fishing Company!

Thanks Brandon and a huge congratulations go to Brandon and Genevieve!

Next week, Dr. Bill Young is our guest tyer!  Dr. Bill has asked you to bring 8/0 brown or black thread, 6/0 white or cream thread and some buck tail (if you have some)! You will also need some UV resin or Hard as Nails (finger nail polish) or fast drying epoxy! I am sure we can share around with this stuff!

See you then!

Brandon Fawcett

It was a full house, as usual!

Needle Fish Imitation

Two hooks: Mustad 34007 size 4 connected by knowable bit tippet, 30 pound

Tail: Chartreuse or Blue Marabou

Body: Mylar tubing

Eyes: Craft Eyes

EP Crab

Hook: Mustad 34007 size 2 or 4 or TMC 811

Thread: Tan or chartreuse

Dumbell Eyes: 5/32nds

Tail: Marabou-tan or chartreuse

Body: EP Fibres

Legs: Tan Sili Legs

Big Eye Tarpon Fly

Hook: Mustad 34007 size 1 

Thread: Orange, red-6/0

Tail: Schlappen feathers

Collar: Schlappen feathers

A New Season Begins with Clouser Minnows and Half and Halfs

What a great start to another fly tying season! Twenty-nine keen fly fishers came out on a frigid Monday evening and worked on tying Bob Clouser's famous clouser minnow. Perhaps the fly that has caught more species than any other fly! Clouser minnows are not difficult to tie although mounting bucktail at the correct angle ensures you get a nice tapered head on the fly. When you add some tail feathers similar to a deceiver, you then have a fly called a half and half! Lastly we tied clousers and half and halts with stinger hooks.

Next week, Brandon Fawcett, guide at Little Corn Island is our guest tyer. I am sure we will be tying some great salt water patterns!

Clouser Minnows- Bob Clouser Inventor

Hook: Mustad 34007 hooks sizes 8 to 6/0

Thread: Colour to suit pattern

Mirror Flash

Body: Bucktail

Dumbbell Eyes

...add a stinger hook

with Power Pro

Half and Half

Hook: Mustad 34007 hooks sizes 8 to 6/0

Thread: Colour to suit pattern

Body: Bucktail

Mirror Flash

Tail: hackle, schalappen; colour to suit design

Dumbbell Eyes

A New Tying Season Starts on December 5th

Hi Everybody!

Well the fly tying season kicks off on Monday, December 5th at West Park Middle School starting at  7 pm. We generally are all finished up at 9 pm. Remember that each session costs $3.00 per person. That covers the costs of the fly tying materials for the evening per person!

New fly tyers are always welcome!

What do you need to have along with you? Here are the basics:

• a fly tying vice
• sharp pair of scissors (you can get cheap sharp ones at Michaels for about $8
• whip finishing tool
• a bobbin or two (to hold tying thread)
• fly tying thread: I suggest back, red, olive, orange (8/0) and the same colours in 6/0; you at times will need other colours but these are the basic colours that will get you by!
• some crazy glue (brushable type, can get at Michaels)
• dubbing twister
• hair stacker
• velcro brush

There are other materials that you may occasionally need but these will get you by! You can gather most of these materials locally (TC Outfitters, Sportsmen's Den or Wolverine (by Costco).

The first session is all about clouser minnows! If you have bucktail, bring it along! Especially white and any of your favourite colours!

Bob Scammell has Passed Away

...from the Red Deer Advocate!

...from a blog post a few years back!

The Central Alberta Chapter of Trout Unlimited has made an effort to recognize and honor members of our community that have made a significant contribution to our chapter over the years.

Last week we took the time to honor Bob Scammell. Bob has written an outdoor column that has been published in our main Alberta newspapers for over 45 years. Bob’s columns have earned him several outdoor writer awards from both Outdoor Writers of Canada and the Outdoor Writers Association of America. Bob has also received so many more writing awards. Bob was recently inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame.

Bob has served as president of the Alberta Fish and Game Association and was involved in the Canadian Wildlife Federation. Bob was one of the founding members of the Alberta Conservation Association and was a director from 1988 to 2002. Bob’s volunteering goes past his passion for the outdoors and right into the community of Red Deer. Bob volunteered with the Red Deer Regional Public Library for many years and the Legal Aid Society of Alberta.

The North Raven River restoration was part of the very first Bucks for Wildlife Project in Alberta. If you have been a regular follower of Bob’s column, you would have the opportunity to understand his passionate perspective on the importance of protecting public land.

It was a prividge for several members of our executive to sit and listen to Don Pike from Trout Unlimited Canada, noted authors and fly fishers: Jim McLennan and Neil Waugh to tell some fun stories that involved Bob over the years. Neil brought several books that Bob was either the author or was written about. One excerpt from John Geirach made me smile. John wrote a chapter in his book, Fool’s Paradise, about Bob’s book called the Phenological Fly. Neil enjoyed pointing out some of the thoughts that were written. It made for lots of laughter and raised eyebrows at the luncheon. Jim recalled many an adventure in his early years as a fly fisher with Bob. Bob was glad to add many anecdotes to the foray.

Don Pike presented Bob a certificate of Appreciation on behalf of Trout Unlimited Canada thanking him for his contributions for almost 5 decades to trout fishing. As Don Pike pointed out, Bob is a great friend of Trout Unlimited Canada. Bob has also made several contributions to our local chapter. His photography and books have always been included in our dinner auctions over the years.

Bob has lost lots of his mobility over the past several years because of a disease that has cause his leg muscles to atrophy. He still writes his weekly column in the Red Deer Advocate as well as other Alberta newspapers.

Last Day on the Eastern Slopes

Happy Halloween everybody!

Sadly today is the last day that most of our mountain streams are open. The Eastern Slopes streams close at the end of today and will reopen mid-June of next year!

Yesterday was our last chance to get out to the west country and we did. We left in a thick fog bank. We had to be careful on the roads. A moose ran in front of our truck just outside of Rocky Mountain House as did several deer a few moments later. We finally drove out of the fog but the temperatures dropped to -6C. Burr! Fortunately the sun was shining brightly and the temperatures quickly climbed to above zero. We bundled up and had a great time!

The guides on our fly rods were frozen in the morning. We managed to catch several beautifully coloured cutthroats. The gin clear water meant nymphing early with small stuff. SOSs, small flashbacks and evil weevils did the job! Later in the day there was a light hatch of BWOs. We did rig up for dry fly fishing and got a few!

We called it a day about 4 pm. As usual, there was nobody around except us die hards. We said our good byes to an old friend and then made our way back to Red Deer!

It was a fitting way to close out our fly fishing on the eastern slopes!

A BWO dry fly gave me my last cutthroat of the year!

Twenty Five Years is Way Too Long

It has been a lot of years since Doug Pullen has been out in the west country fly fishing. Now we all know Doug has loves his fly fishing! I was able to get Doug out to the west country for two reasons. The first was to enjoy a day out on the river even though it is quite late in the season. The second was to get Doug to help me erect some Catch and Release signs alongside the river.

Well it was a drizzly start to the day but the uneventful ride out to the west country allowed us to quickly gear up and head downstream for an hour and then fish back to the truck!

We finally arrived at two great runs and it did not take Doug long to connect with some dandy cutthroats! We even encountered rising cutts and we geared up the 4 weight rod. It did not take Doug long to catch a cutthroat on a size 18 BWO dry fly!

Well the day turned pleasantly warm and the cutts were more than cooperative all day!

After a bit of a break, we got the post hole digger and pry bars out and erected some Catch and Release signs. Now that was work and we were glad to get that job off of our list!

Awesome day except for the foggy drive back to Red Deer.


I think Doug will become a regular out in the west country cutthroat streams. We had an awesome day.

Well of course I got to fish too!