I am delighted to welcome you to the new online presence of WILSON’S – “Canada’s Fly Fishing Outfitter”. This website represents our renewed commitment to being Canada’s fly fishing store of choice and we hope you like the path we are on.

There are many people to thank for this project becoming a reality and the first two are Ruth McLeod and Joel Langlois. Ruth and Joel took us up on our challenge of creating a new website that is easy to navigate, interesting and informative and I hope you agree they have delivered. Our hats are off to them! The team at the store – Bill, Hugo, Gary & Ian – have been diligently working behind the scenes as we have navigated the perils of organizing what has seemed at times ‘unorganizable’ and their efforts and patience with this process are greatly appreciated. I also wish to thank our suppliers over the last few months as we have navigated some interesting waters. Their ongoing assistance and words of wisdom have been invaluable and we appreciate the opportunity and privilege of being their retail partners.

As you wade through our new site you will see we are making more than a few cosmetic changes. Perhaps most importantly, we are delighted to announce that Rick Whorwood has joined us to head up our Education program. An FFF Master Certified Casting Instructor in both single and double casting, Rick is a great teacher who will take our fly fishing education program to a new level. Joining Rick at our schools are Marty Tannahill (who also has his Master  Certification in Single Hand Casting) and Doug Swift. Our new team members, along with Wally Schmidt and Eli Garrett, will be teaching our Beginner Fly Fishing Schools, On-Stream Instruction courses and fly casting lessons in 2011. The other exciting development in our school program is that we will be holding Fly Fishing Schools in 3 locations in the east, north and west ends of the Greater Toronto Area and at a fourth location near Collingwood. Watch for details in the coming weeks !

On the topic of fly fishing education we should also make you aware of the new courses we are offering. Notably, If you are an advanced fly angler who is looking for a new challenge, check out our FFF Casting Course that teaches you everything you need to know to become an FFF-certified casting instructor.

On the fly tying front we are delighted to announce that Sheldon Seale is heading up our fly tying classes. A well known fixture in the Toronto fly fishing community, a past-president of the  Izaak Walton Fly Fishing Club and Fly Tying Editor of the Canadian Fly Fisher magazine, Sheldon’s skills are a welcome addition to our team and we fortunate to have him on board. [We also now having "open vise" fly tying sessions after Sheldon's classes every Saturday from 1pm until 5pm and another "open vise" session on Tuesday evenings from 6pm until 8pm. Check the calendar on our website for details].

Another addition to our team is Ian McLeod. Originally from Ireland and an avid fly tyer and angler, you will find Ian behind the counter on a regular basis and he will also be hosting our “Open Vise” tying session on Tuesday evenings. Please make a point of saying hello to Ian when you stop by in the coming weeks!

The final, and most important group I want to thank are our customers. Many of you have been with us since we first opened our doors on April 28, 1998 at 26 Wellington East in downtown Toronto and I can’t express how much the team at the store and I appreciate your loyalty, friendship and support. On the days when being in fly fishing retail is not that great, you make it fun!

There is a lot of change for the better happening at WILSON’S and this new website is just a part of it. One of the things on the site that you will notice immediately is our ecommerce page is not yet live – but it is coming soon! In the interim, if you have any special needs please let us know and we will do our best to help you out.

Again, thank you for your interest and your ongoing support. We hope you enjoy your visit!

Very Best,

Jim Wilson

Happy Thanksgiving !

I gotta say there is going to be one huge sigh of relief from our team when our new site goes live… immediately followed by a Homer moment when we look at something stupid on the site that we missed that will be painfully obvious to everyone (except of course to those who have been immersed in it). You know the moment. You look at something you have been laboring over for what seems like forever and think, “…oh crap.” Hopefully there won’t be too many of them but we will appreciate you letting us know if you see any!

We are finishing up loose ends today and look forward to hearing what you think of our new site… we’re down to counting the hours!

Fly Fish Ontario Magazine is a free ‘ezine’ that focuses on fly fishing in Ontario (funny how that works). The latest issue has articles on the Niagara River, local guide Mike Verhoef of Fly Fitters, fly tying, steelheading, fly fishing tattoos & classic salmon flies and we hope you enjoy looking through it as much as we did.

Check it out at onlinemag.flyfishontario.ca

If you read our website last week you saw that we are hosting a free “Open Vise” every Saturday afternoon from 12:30 until 5:00 pm. What we forgot to mention is that we are also hosting another free Open Vise fly tying session every Tuesday evening from 5:30 until 8:00 pm.

If you are interested in attending either session all you have to do is show up – but space is limited so get here earlier rather than later !

It is important to note that the Tuesday evening Open Vise session will commence at 6:00pm or earlier if you are in the store but if no one shows up (or calls to say they are on the way) by 6:10 then our friend Ian McLeod will lock the door and head home for dinner. Although there is no cost to attend we are thinking of asking everyone who shows up to throw a few dollars into a pot to order in some pizza and beverages so no one starves.

Let us know if this is an idea that interests you. If it is of interest but another time/date works better let us know. What we want to do is provide a free location on a regular basis for fly tiers to trade tips and techniques – and have fun doing it!