A few years ago I met a guide who got me into swinging a smaller weighted fly off a floating line for steelhead.  Using about a 12' leader off a Scandi head with a weighted fly offers you an effective way to swing your fly tight into the bank without having to worry about hooking up with the bottom.  It also works great on runs you may be swinging your fly into slower water, or if you're fishing shallow slots.
As usual there are always a number of flies that work well for this.  Below is a video for a 'Beaded Leech' which is one of my favourites for this technique.  Quick and simple to tie and effective on the river.  Enjoy.

Materials List:
Hook:  Grip 42433-BK, Size #4
Bead: 5 or 6mm (3/16" or 1/4") Brass, Fluorescent Orange
Thread:  Grip 6/0 Black
Body (Optional):  Veevus Iris Thread, Black  
Wing: Rabbit Zonker, Black
Under Collar: Senyo's Laser Dub, Black
Hackle:  Schlappen, Black, 2 wraps
​Flash:  Holographic Flashabou, Purple
Collar:  Senyo's Laser Dub, Black

I've recently realized just how much I like to share my limited tying knowledge and experience.  Often when I post photos of flies I tie I get asked to send a step-by-step, or asked what materials go into it, etc.  So, I thought I'd try something I've never done and make a fly-tying video.  If you guys like it, I may make some more.
Here's the video for the Flash Fry which I use back home to imitate migrating salmon fry making their perilous journey to the Pacific Ocean.

Materials List:
Hook:  Mustad R74, Size 8
Thread:  Medium Olive
Tail and Back:  Peacock Krystal Flash
Body:  Dyed Pearl Diamond Braid - Pearl
Eyes: 1/8" Chartreuse stick-on eyes
Resin:  Deer Creek Diamond Hard UV Resin

I was recently asked to be the guest tyer at the monthly Durban Fly Tyers Club meeting.  The challenge was that they requested that I demo a salt water fly.  I didn't want to do something common like a clouser or baitfish pattern, so I turned to my favourite salt water fly, my Crafty Shrimp.

The Crafty Shrimp became my go-to fly over a two-month period of winter in-shore fishing in Florida.  Everything ate it willingly!  Snook, Redfish, Sea Trout, Flounder, Black Drum, Triple Tail, and more.  Being my own design and bring back so many good fishing memories I decided to go back to this fly and share it with some of the locals here.  Who knows maybe it'll help someone finally catch one of those Spotted Grunter in the Durban Harbour.

Thanks again to the Durban Fly Tyers for having me.  I really enjoyed the evening, and hope you all enjoy this step by step.

Materials List:
Hook:  Mustad 34007, Size 1
Thread:  White or Tan
Weight:  Medium brass dumbbells
Tail: Tan Craft Fur
Dubbing Bump: Under Fur from the Tan Craft Fur 
Eyes: Bead and Mono (bead held on mono by melting the mono)
Body: Bone Fish Tan Chenille over dubbed Craft Fur under fur
Wing/Carapace: Trimmed excess of Craft Fur tied in as the tail.
Dubbing over Dumbbell eyes:  Dubbed Craft Fur under fur.

I was asked to be interviewed on the Fishing Guys podcast.  
CLICK HERE TO HAVE A LISTEN

Here's a short video I threw together of one of our favourite fisheries near Smithers, BC.  Looking forward to spring!

When your usual fishing spots, or lakes just don't seem to be fishing as they used to you have 2 options: 1) Find another location.  Or  2) Figure out what the heck is going on.

In the past few weeks the lake on which I learned to fly fish still water has caused me much frustration.  It has been very productive lake in the past, but as any lake always required some adaptation in fly  presentation.  However, this year it has been a struggle to catch fish in this lake.  Never before had I gone longer than an hour without catching a fish, usually no more than 20 min.  

Even the signs haven't been good.  Ideal conditions, hatches coming off, and almost no fish rising.  A creepy sight to behold when in the past it seemed as if there were always fish rising regardless of conditions.

I decided to try to find a new lake, while continuing to ponder what to do about my old fishing hole.  So, off I went, rumours of a walk-in lake lead me up an old mountain road with my GPS, float tube, fly fishing gear and a roll of flagging tape.  

Once I'd figured out where the road was nearest to the lake I parked the truck and walked in to mark a trail and make sure I could get in and out with my float tube.  To my surprise, it was a very easy walk in and only about 150m off the road through the forest (albeit in an area I'd sighted Grizzlies previously).  I made my way back to the truck, geared up and headed in.

In was a beautiful little lake and produced nearly a fish per cast near the small creek flowing in.  Although they ranged in size from 6 to 10 inches, it was still a blast on the 4 weight.  It was next to impossible to count to 3 after your fly landed on the water before you had a fish take it.  After a couple hours playing with these wild rainbows 120m away from a feeding cow and calf moose, I decided to move on to another lake.  But which one?

I had about 8 to choose from, but had a gut feeling about my usual lake.  Previously I had been fishing it from 7 to 9ish and leaving because the fishing was rubbish.   It was 8:30 pm when I arrived and being this far north I still had at least 3 hours of good light to fish.  I decided to give it a try.

I carried my boat down to the edge of the lake and scanned the water.  Saw 2 rises in one corner, so I decided to troll a fly in that direction.  30 minutes later I'd only seen 2 more rises and had no bites.  It was mind boggling.  But almost as if someone turned on a switch at about 9:15 pm the fish began to move cruising just below the surface sipping hatching insects as they went.

I made my way to my usual corner of the lake and decided to take full advantage of the situation.  I tied on a small frog imitation and started hunting.  I singled out one fish cruising near a patch of lily pads, stealthily put myself within casting distance, and launched my little frog about 8 feet away from him.  All it took was 3 strips and FISH ON!  A nice little 14 inch Rainbow trout was the first one to the boat.  Oh, it was on!

I spent the next hour plus singling out fish and hunting them down with that little frog.  The biggest was a 19 inch Cut Throat.

Persistence was key however.  Some fish I cast to up to 8 times before they took the fly.  What surprised me was not that they went for the frog, they love the frog, but that night they did not miss that frog!  They engulfed it like they wanted it.  Several fish later it was after 11 and getting dark.  Piles of fish still rising, but not interested in the frog.  I could have taken them with a small Caddis, or Parachute Adams, but I just had better froggin' than I'd ever dreamt of. 


Never had I had so much fun with a frog and a 4 weight.

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It doesn't matter where you live, nearly all of us have to survive an off-season.  Whether it be because of seasonal weather, or by regulation, most of us know the off-season as winter.

If you're like me, you clung onto the fall fishing like a cat hanging on a screen door.  I know I wasn't the only one fishing after ice had started to build up along the edges of the Bulkley River late last November.  However, I do think I was the only one breaking through the ice on the shores of a local lake with my waders in -5 Celsius to catch a few more cut throat before everything froze over entirely.

Unfortunately, however,  every cat is eventually removed, or falls off (or through) that screen door and suddenly winter is upon us.  It starts off alright with memories of the past fishing season still fresh; a little adrenalin left in our veins from those fish we will never forget, that discovery of that spot we can't wait to fish next year and for us fly tiers we look forward to having the time to stock up our fly boxes for next year.

As the winter wears on our focus begins to become more and more narrow because spring is coming.  The days start getting longer, the snow begins to melt, and the most mentally and emotionally challenging time we as anglers face begins.  At least this is how it is for me.

SAS or "Spring Anticipation Syndrome" kicks in.  Our fly boxes are full, and when you try to tie more you end up sitting at your tying bench staring at an empty vice.  It isn't that you don't know what to tie, but your mind is somewhere else.

In your head you're back on the river, your favourite hole, or perhaps a new hole, hooked up to a fish you can't imagine.  When you come back to reality you decide that watching a fishing DVD, or program on TV will help.  But it doesn't.  Now you're fidgety, flailing your arms and mimicking fighting a fish as you imagine you're hooked into that fish you just saw on your TV.

At this point you either scream out loud, or proceed to sigh the deepest sigh of your entire life.  Either way you cannot deny you have SAS, and bad!

Unfortunately, there is only one cure for SAS and it relies on winter ending, and spring taking over and the fishing to turn back on.  Ultimately your SAS will not be cured until you do catch that first fish of the season.  Last year mine was a nice little Rainbow Trout (pictured above) taken on a micro leech from a lake I hadn't tried before.  It was a great feeling.

If you're still suffering from SAS, just remember, you're not alone, and it won't be  too long before the fishing is back on.  At least that's what I've been told is the right thing to say these situations.

If you are an avid fly fisher, you'll know what I mean when I talk about that moment of conversion.  That one day you experienced fly fishing and said to yourself "This is the only way to catch fish!"  

I like to believe that most of us who have had that experience can remember it.  Whether it was at a young age when you watched someone close to fly fishing, or later on in life when you experienced it for yourself and your inner skeptic swam off like a freshly released fish.

I remember my conversion very clearly, and oddly enough, I had been fly fishing for a number of years before it.  However, it came to that point where I knew that I knew fly fishing was the only way forward for me.

It was during my first trip to the Okavango River in Botswana.  Catching Tigerfish on the fly was something I had dreamt about and finally was going to do.  I was so determined to catch a tiger on the fly because a number of people had told me how impossible it was, and how miserable it was to have your palm burned while palming your fly reel on a running fish.

The first day I fished the Okavango I went out for just the a few hours.  I had driven about 400 km that day, so just had the afternoon to fish.  I thought I should feel these fish on the spinning rod before I try for them on the fly.  You know, get an idea of what I was up for.  So I rigged only my spinning rod and went out on the river with a local guide.

This was my first time on the Okavango and it was an awesome experience to drive along these channels walled in with 10 foot tall papyrus and reeds and pass by islands covered in palm trees with African Fish Eagles calling from them.  It was paradise and I hadn't even wet a line yet.

My guide brought me to a hole, anchored and I started fishing.  It wasn't long before I had caught my first tigers and lost a number of them as well.  I was blown away by how strong they  were.  Every fish I hooked I imagined was at least double if not triple the size it was by the time I got it to the boat.