Seat Sale-...A Dash to Belize

Seat sale, to Belize; book it! Karen and I always wanted to know what it was like in late November to go fly fishing around Ambergris Caye. We were pleasantly surprised. We did have a few showery days but when the big blue sky showed up. It was beautiful, less wind than we are used to and the fly fishing was excellent! We had excellent chances at permit and tarpon but did not land any. Karen hooked three permit and they all got off. For the first time we tried to catch a snook. No luck. The bone fly fishing was superb. Shawn and Hailey have been helping on Hilian's boat lately! Extra eyes on the water sure helps the sight fishing!  We chased jacks that were quite skiddish but we managed to land several. San Pedro was all decorated for the festive season. That was lots of fun to see. We even saw a water spout for the first time. The prevailing winds are usually from the SE but we had mainly north winds. That made fly fishing off of the dock out front quite handy! As always, the sunrises and sun sets are spectacular. It is our happy place. We will be back in March!

A barracuda ate my jack! The tax man got his fee!

Bar Jacks are great fighters and are beautiful!

Water Spout!

Supper at Hilian and Addy's place is always fun. Local lobster, yum!!!!

Karen and Addy

Another spectacular sunrise!

A great picture of Ambergris Caye as we headed back on our direct flight to Calgary!

 

Fly Tying Mondays Start December 8th

 Good Morning Everyone!

I hope to get Fly Tying Mondays started on December 8th at Reliance Oilfied Services Learning Centre starting at 6:30 pm. Thanks to Adam Karras, we have an excellent facility and we are grateful for the the use of the learning centre. 

We are looking for presenters as well! You do not need to be an expert just willing to share a couple of your favourite fly patterns! The group will pay for the materials that are used!

Fly Tying Mondays is for everyone! Whether you are a beginner or an expert, we welcome everyone!

...Colin Allison photo

Here are the dates for fly tying Mondays.

Monday December 8th- Bob Vanderwater-Pumpkinheads and Blue Flash Damsels

Monday December 15th-Dr Bill Young- A Tribute to AK Best

Monday December 22nd-Bob Vanderwater- Christmas Theme

Christmas break

Monday January 5th-Bob Vanderwater- All Things Pheasant Tail-Part 1

Monday January 12th-Rick Miyauchi

Monday January 19th-All Things Pheasant Tail-Part 2

Monday January 26th- Bob Vanderwater-Tying with Pine Squirrel

Monday February 2nd-Doug Pullan-ants

Monday February 9th-Rick Miyauchi

Monday February 16th- Family Day-No Fly Tying

Monday February 23rd-Bob Vanderwater- Mitchell Lake Chironomids

Monday March 2nd-Raymond Evanson

Monday March 9th-Garnet Clews

Monday March 16th

Monday March 23rd-Ralf Kuntzeman

Monday March 30th

Here We Go. Another Tying Season!

Bring 

$5 to cover the cost of materials

Tying vice

Bobbin with basic threads UTC 70 black, olive, red, etc

sharp sissors

whip finish tool

dubbing twister

crazy glue or resin

hair stacker

There is always extra tools to share and most importantly mentorship for any tying skill level! We welcome one and all. There is no charge to join our group. Just come and enjoy the fellowship, learning and sharing with fly tyers from Central Alberta!

 

How to Get Started in Fly Tying-Charlie Craven

Charlie Craven offers excellent advice about how to get started on your fly tying journey! Take a look!

 

Thanks Dr. Bill for the Pheasant and Partridge Feathers!!!

We are just a few weeks from Fly Tying Mondays starting up! I asked Dr. Bill Young for some pheasant and partridge feathers after he went wing shooting. Well yesterday I got a delivery. It made me smile. Thanks Dr. Bill! I hope those pheasant breasts taste great! We now have enough feathers to cover the two workshops I will be doing based on this excellent book! Pheasant feathers are so versatile.

 

Simplicity

The fly fishing season is quickly winding down and that leads directly to fly tying for those who enjoy making their own flies. I enjoy fly tying a lot but I now find myself tying fewer patterns.  I keep using the same chironomid, backswimmer, boatman, bloodworm, callabaetis dragon, damsel patterns, etc because I know they work!

Yvon Chouinard, Craig Matthews and Mauro Mazzo just published a new fly tying book. You can see the cover below. I love tying with pheasant tails but what really caught my eye is the word, simplicity. I had to get a copy of this book for myself! The book came to my door shortly after it was published. It is an excellent reference and the fly patterns are mainly made from pheasant tail.

The final section of the book is a pheasant tail bonefish fly. I was definitely curious. I had no idea that there was a pheasant tail bonefish fly. I finally found Yvon Chouinard tying this simple pattern and talking about his experiences using this fly on You Tube.  Well you know I had to tie some for an upcoming trip to the flats in Belize. I will definitely put them to the test!

I will be sharing several of the fly tying patterns from this book during the tying season with our club! They are straight forward to tie and they are definitely fish catchers.

Some would call them "Guide Flies!" It is all about simplicity!