The fly fishing industry has seen many accessory companies come and go over the years but Loon Outdoors is a company that has earned a great reputation through the products it makes that has kept it in business – and WILSON’S is pleased to be carrying their products.

We expect our first shipment shortly so plan on coming in to see our selection of floatants, caddies, sinkets, indicators, fly tying, line dressings, cleaners, UV cure, lights, kits, tools and fly boxes.

The main benefit of being in fly fishing retail is having the opportunity to meet some truly wonderful people from all walks of life and one of those people is a passionate fly angler and professional water colour artist who currently resides in Nanoose Bay on Vancouver Island by the name of Diane Michelin. Originally from Montreal, Diane’s fly fishing art is appreciated in private collections throughout Canada, the United States and in Europe and if you are lucky enough it may eventually appear on a wall in your home as well.

There are a few artists whose work in particular captures fly fishing in a way that many may appreciate but only anglers truly understand and Diane is one of those artists. As she says on her website, “My water colours describe the essence of fly fishing as told by exotic paraphernalia, rusty pick up trucks, fishin’ dogs and snazzy tackle. The story is about optimism, bits of fur and feathers, solitude and companionship. Each day on the river is notable in the mist off the water or the misadventure of the moment. Consequently, I am inclined to depict the everyday aspect of our passion amid the complexity of the water, light and colour. For it is this that fuels us in our inordinate conservation commitments and the nonstop chatter in the fly shop.”

For more information on Diane please check out her website at www.dianemichelin.com

This past weekend Aimee and I ended up driving to Port Stanley with her mother for an afternoon and I had the opportunity to check out The Kettle Creek Inn. I don’t know about you, but I think you get a true indication of the kind of service an Inn or Hotel provides when you pop in completely unannounced to check it out. From a business perspective I recognize this is completely unfair but I do it anyway because if we are going to recommend a place to our customers I want to know that we are sending them to a place that will jump through hoops. What I have found is that the good places are not phased by this kind of thing but the mediocre and bad places stick out like sore thumbs.

So, what did I find? Like the other members of Ontario’s Finest Inns that I have visited, the Kettle Creek Inn is a place I would not hesitate to recommend. Although it is small Inn with only 10 guest rooms and 5 suites they are spacious and very clean and the Inn has a nice, intimate feel to it. I was impressed with the small pub at the entrance to the Inn and, having never visited Port Stanley, I was also pleasantly surprised with the town and have it on my list to places to come back and visit.

The reason I wanted to check out the Inn is because we are scouting places in Ontario, New York, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania for potential destinations to which we will be organizing trips for the members of our Fly Fishing Club in 2011. Watch our blog for details in the coming months… and make sure you sign up to become a member of the Fly Fishing Club so you can join us!

We received the following update from our friends at Nervous Waters and thought we would pass it along…

Abaco Lodge in the Bahamas always had a lot of bonefish but we have seen an abnormal amount of large fish these last two months. Our standard 2-5 pounders are still there but the percentage of large fish, those in the 5-9 pound class, has been up substantially. The fall fishing has been nothing less than spectacular here in Abaco. Very few fronts moved in and the stable weather meant great fishing across the board. Comfortable days on the water and cooler nights by the fire have made a wonderful start to the season.

The Bahamas is bonefishing at its best but we aren’t limited to the gray ghost. The juvenile tarpon fishing this fall was predictable and sustainable, with us jumping more than 60 fish. We are working on improving the hook up to landed ration but there is nothing like hooking a 25lb tarpon in 12” of water on an 8 wt! We also had a verified snook sighting – the first we know of in the Abacos. Some of the more exciting fish on the flats are those that can bite back – shallow water shark fishing on a fly might just be the most underrated fishing we have. Lemons, blacktips, bonnet heads, and spinners are found throughout the Marls and if you put the time in you can convince them to take an artificial without chum. We use a floating line and large poppers leading to spectacular takes as the whole head comes out of the water to eat the fly. It is all about the bite! Amazing takes and exciting fishing, we think everyone should be rigged for this every day.

For more information on this lodge check out the Travel Section on our website. Remember, if you book this or any other destination through our store you pay the same as booking direct with the lodge but we give you a gift certificate worth 10% of the trip value to spend in our store !

We forgot to mention when we went live that the new logo on our site is going to start appearing on a regular basis. We think this will look good on a hat so start watching for them!

Well, onward and upward (we hope!). The feedback on our new site has been universally positive and we appreciate the suggestions and pointers on the occasional typos that need correcting. We will be adding more destinations to the site shortly and look forward to launching our ecommerce page as quickly as possible. In the interim, if you have any Christmas shopping that you would like to do please send us an email or give us a call toll free and we will be more than happy to help you in any way we can!