I am old enough to vaguely remember when my family got its first television in the 1960s. It was a black and white unit with speakers and the whole thing was the size of a piano (I know. I said I’m old…). I also recall when my parents decided to upgrade from that first TV to a colour unit with something called stereo. Growing up in North Bay, Ontario our family was the definition of Canadian middle class in that our father was a high school vice principal and our mother stayed at home to raise the family. We did not lack for anything but our parents were also wise enough to know that they should not give us everything we wanted and, of course, thought we needed. Our parents also taught us to save our money for those extra special things on our ‘gotta have’ lists as children because they wanted to instill in us a pride of ownership and hard work. I remember the purchase of that colour television was a special event for our family that we all celebrated. Our household did not necessarily promote watching television but nor was it dissuaded. In order to get permission to watch TV we had to get our homework done and we were often forced to play outside (the insanity!) before we were allowed to sit down in front of the TV and turn our minds off. Now that I am older I am thankful my parents did not give in to our incessant whining.

So there I sat on the plane last night flipping from channel to channel and the thought that came to mind was, “This is noise.” For example, I watched a news channel and listened as the host droned on about some inane mental pap to fill air and realized after a few moments that the thing I most value now that I am older is not the opportunity to watch a false perception of life on a TV screen but rather to get off my butt and experience it myself. I guess it is the adult version of going out to play (thanks Mom!). Having now gone over a year without watching television on a regular basis I am astonished that I actually watched it in the first place. The old adage “You don’t know what you have got until it is gone” certainly works both ways… So I turned it off.

We have so much coming at us on a 24/7 basis that being able to sit and listen to nothing was a welcome break in my day. And the thought that quickly then came to mind was, “I am looking forward to casting a dry fly to a rising trout on a quiet early morning this spring on the Grand River.”

You know, I like fly fishing because there isn’t any noise…

“Hi Jim, just read your blog, Im not sure how you pulled that one off, but in my book your a genius. Rob is an excelent choice to head the team.”

“I would like to say that this reflects how incredibly clever we are but truth be known it reflects just plain luck… but thanks!”

“Well whatever it is, its a solid move on your part, you’re right about it turning heads. I’d like to bet there’s a stomach or two [of your competitors] turning too.”

“Thanks. There are more announcements to come…”

“I can’t wait”

This person is right about one thing – Rob is definitely an excellent choice to head our guiding and instruction and we could not be more pleased to have him on board!

When we first opened our store in 1998 we decided to focus on fly fishing retail. That is an important point to make because other retailers in Ontario who have in-house fly fishing guide programs are not even

Ontario Drift Boat Guide

While building our inventory and retail sales over the years we have outsourced our guide business to the handful of professional fly fishing guides in Ontario whom we know and trust. On that note it is worth emphasizing that there are many people in Ontario who call themselves fly fishing guides but in our opinion there are only a handful on the river who are truly professional. And when we say professional we mean guides who have the qualifications our customers look for: knowledge, experience, first aid and rescue training, proper gear and the proper attitude (and insurance) to do the job. You would likely be surprised at how many supposed ‘professional’ fly fishing guides there are in Ontario who operate without many of these qualifications let alone the permission from the Conservation Authorities to operate on the rivers. Where to fish is only a small part of what professional guides offer.

So why mention this? Watch for an announcement shortly…

This photo by Dennis Nazarenko is one of the 12 pictures we have received for our December photo contest. We would like to get 4 more pictures submitted this month so we can beat our total for November so send us yours today! Remember, pictures of trophy fish are nice but we appreciate receiving photos of everything and anything associated with people enjoying fly fishing so don’t be shy about sending us your favourite shots! You can check out the pictures at http://www.canadasflyfishingoutfitter.com/gallery-photos.php

With all of the choices out there we are delighted that this customer (who by the way is a recent convert to fly fishing from float fishing) has chosen our store in which to buy his gear and he explained that the main reason he has done so is the guys we have behind the counter. As he said, “They know their stuff!”

My frustration was not with the customer but rather with his innocent and heartfelt response to our suggestion that he submit some of his pictures to our monthly photo contest. As we were speaking I asked if he was aware of all the information we have on our website and he said, “No. Not really.”

He was interested so I took a moment to explain that we have almost 30 fly fishing access maps for southern Ontario as well as the major hatch charts you need to fish them effectively.

I then asked if he was aware of our monthly photo contest and when his response was again, “No” so I explained that we give away a $50 gift certificate every month to the person who sends us what we choose as our favourite photo. When I suggested to him that he should send us some of his pictures because we only get a handful of pictures each month and the odds of winning are excellent (!) he got a bit sheepish and replied, “I don’t think so because I don’t have any pictures of trophy fish…”

His comment, but more so the look of embarrassment on his face, made me pause.

“That, my friend, is preferred!” I said. “Let’s face it. Pictures of people holding big fish are at times impressive but after a while they get pretty boring. Our contest is not about boasting but rather about sharing and we would appreciate receiving any pictures you send us.”

With that he smiled and said, “If that’s the case I’ll see what I can do!” He wished us a Merry Christmas and out the door he went.

There are too many people – beginners in particular – who are intimidated by our sport and embarrassed by their perceived lack of knowledge so we hope that everyone reading this blog will send us a picture every month for our contest of anything EXCEPT a trophy fish!

That might change shortly…