This is big news! We are very pleased to announce that Ontario fly fishing guide & outfitter Rob Heal has joined the team at WILSON’S and will be working in our new Fergus fly shop when it opens in the coming weeks. Rob has been given the task of heading up and coordinating our fly fishing education and outfitting programs and we could not be more delighted to have him on our team!

If you are familiar with Rob Heal you already know that he is one of the most experienced and respected fly fishing drift boat guides in Ontario. Getting someone of Rob’s calibre is a coup by any measure and it is a union of strengths that will produce a level of outfitting, education and fly fishing retail in Ontario that has never been seen in the Province. To be honest, we can’t wait to get started! Anyone who has fished with or been guided by Rob over the past 16 years knows that he is passionate about teaching people and being on the river. This is a great opportunity for WILSON’S to take our fly fishing guiding and fly fishing school programs to a new level. Rob has been given the responsibility of putting together our new program and he has gathered together some of the other most skilled, experienced guides and pro-staffers in Ontario to create the most formidable team of drift boat and walk & wade fly fishing guides in the Province. Keep watching our website for more details in the coming days…

To learn more about what is happening with our new fly shop in Fergus, our schools and our guiding program please make www.CanadasFlyFishingOutfitter.com a favorite. We will continue to keep everyone updated via this blog and on Twitter @WILSONSFlyShop. In the interim please feel free to contact us with any questions or comments you may have – and of course guided trips! Rob is currently booking guided walk & wade trips on a number of destinations including of course the Grand River, the Credit River, Whiteman’s Creek, Bronte Creek, the Niagara River, the Humber River, the Ganaraska River, Bowmanville Creek, the Trent River, the Bighead River, the Mad River, the Beaver River, and the Saugeen River. We are also now booking fly fishing drift boat trips on the Grand River, the Saugeen River, the Maitland River, the Sauble River, and the Nottawasaga River.

We trust you will agree this is very cool but we have more announcements coming!

Stay tuned…

As I sit at home battling the proverbial “mother of all chest colds” it is emails like the one we received this week that make all of the effort of running a fly shop worthwhile. It is always gratifying to receive words of praise and we thank Ken for taking the time to let us know what he thought about our hatch chart for Whiteman’s Creek.

“I just joined your site & was totally AMAZED that u had a hatch chart for Whiteman’s Creek. I have had a 35 foot trailer 20 ft. from the creek at a gun club for 23 yrs now & many members fly fish. I have taught many younger & older members how to fly fish (as I have been doing it for about 45 yrs) & taught my 2 kids boy/girl how to fly fish at the age of 5. I will shortly be ordering a few of your flies [and] will definitely be giving your address to everyone here & am sure they will pass it on to all their friends… I am very glad I found you! Ken”

If you would like more information on hatch charts for the Grand River, the Maitland River, the Saugeen River, the Credit River, the Nottawasaga River, the Humber River, the Boyne River Nd other fly fishing destinations in southern Ontario please go to the Members area of our site. It is free to join our Fly Fishing Club and we trust you will like what you find!

Happy Thanksgiving – we hope you and yours have a safe and happy holiday weekend!

The following story appeared on InsideHalton.com on October 18th and is worth forwarding…

Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources is investigating what could be the wasteful killing of salmon in Bronte Creek for the purpose of harvesting their roe.

Last week, the creek, just north of Rebecca bridge, was lined with dead salmon. Salmon naturally die after spawning up the river, but a number of local fishermen say it is too early for this number of dead salmon.

“We’ve received numerous tips to our tips line,” confirmed Jolanta Kowalski, a ministry spokesperson.

Kowalski said the ministry is currently investigating whether the fish have been killed and slit open to extract their eggs, which is a natural resource violation. She said this practice of catching salmon to extract the roe for the purpose of using it as bait is very common.

Angler Tom Oliver, of Hamilton, visited the area recently hoping to do some fly-fishing, but was angered at the sight of countless dead fish.

“These salmon were beyond counting. They were just caught and slit from gill to tail and the roe is used for bait,” he said.

He added eyes were also removed from fish.

“It’s just terrible. That fish doesn’t get a chance to go up and spawn,” he said.

“There are literally thousands of them that die, but the fact is, when you catch them before they get a chance to spawn and take the roe, then your cutting down the population of this salmon that was imported into this part of Canada from B.C.”

Oliver is calling on the Town to do something and hopes the culprits are charged.

If convicted, fines start at $200 and increase, depending on a number of variables, such as whether fishing was done in closed season, without a licence, snagging, in a sanctuary and more.

People who witness natural resource violations can call the ministry tip line at 1-877-847-7667.

I like to think I am a fairly level headed, upbeat person but yesterday was an off day. The day started out on a sour note and got progressively worse. It’s not that anything bad happened but rather nothing was going quite right. My son Jake had been cranky throughout the night to the point that he may have been awake more often than he was asleep which didn’t help. I think our household’s circadian rhythms were just off kilter. After attending my first meeting of the day my decision to work out of my home office quickly morphed into taking a mental health day so I grabbed my gear bag, jumped into my car and headed for the nearest stream to my house which is Bronte Creek.

For those not familiar with Bronte Creek a great description is available on Trout Unlimited Canada’s Ted Knott Chapter website (http://tutkc.org). This creek is a local and accessible oasis of calm for any angler who is looking for a fun outing and it is a preferred haunt for anglers who need a quick escape. As I parked my car in Lowville and took the keys out of the ignition I could feel my anxiety start to subside and by the time I had my waders on and my rod lined up my frustration level had dropped well below the ‘#@&% you’ threshold. The sun was out, the humidity had dropped and I had a fly box waiting to be opened.

Bronte Creek at Lowville is not difficult water to fish but as I mentioned earlier it is fun. Through the efforts of Trout Unlimited Canada and other like-minded organizations this watershed is undergoing a rehabilitation program that is improving the fishery ten-fold. River bank stabilization projects and a fish stocking program have made the angling in this area excellent for those who don’t mind catching smaller fish and yesterday was one of those days. I am a huge fan of dry fly fishing and the fish in the creek were on the same page as the longer I spent on the river the broader my smile grew. Trophy anglers may disagree but an afternoon of catching a couple of dozen creek trout that are 6 to 8 inches on a dry fly is fun – and the perfect way to get my mental state back on track. What made the start to my day even better was meeting a fly angler from Hamilton at the end of the lane where I had parked who kindly shared not only his knowledge of the creek but one of his own custom flies he had been fishing that was working particularly well (thanks Dennis – it worked for me also!). His generosity and kind words were a harbinger of things to come and the following 4 hours were exactly what the psychiatrist ordered.

As I was wrapping up my day I rounded a bend in the river and saw the only other angler I encountered casting into a riffle above a bridge. We waved from a distance and as I approached I introduced myself by first name and said I was finishing up. As we chatted I added that I hoped his day was going as well as mine and he smiled and said, “It’s going great – I just caught my first fish!”

“First fish of the day?”, I asked.

“No. My first ever fish on a fly!”

What I then learned was that Brian Mori and his son Michael had come to Bronte Creek directly from WILSON’S an hour earlier where they had invested in new Sage rods, Abel reels as well as Simms waders, boots and vests. I smiled when he told me this and then thanked him for the business – which initially puzzled him until I introduced myself as the owner of the store. We both laughed at the irony of our meeting and, to be honest, sharing the excitement of Brian’s first trout on a fly was the perfect reminder of what first drew me to this sport and also why I love being in fly fishing retail. There may be more noble pursuits in business but none more important than one that helps people enjoy the small pleasures in life. Congratulations Brian – and thank you for allowing me to share this moment with you and your son.