If you attended the Toronto Sportsmen’s Show this past week and came by our booth you found out the answer to one of the worst kept secrets you have likely heard in a while. Our new fly shop in Fergus is in the same building where Grand River Troutfitters was (105 Queen Street West) but we will be in Unit 6 which is a smaller suite just to the west beside Hooligan’s Cafe. The space is currently occupied by Grand River Running who are vacating at the end of the month and we will be taking over the space on April 1st to do our fixturing. Our hope is to have a soft opening on Sunday April 15 with a “Fly Fishing Town Hall” for anyone wishing to attend where we will be soliciting advice from the fly fishing community on what it is you would like us to carry in the store. With your guidance we hope to get organized just in time for the trout opener on the 28th. We also hope everyone will attend our “Grand Opening” (pun intended) on Sunday May 27th because we will be having draws for prizes throughout the day and a barbecue manned by Randy Wilson and his crew!

[When we actually stop and think about what it is we are doing at the moment it scares the heck out of us but we have to admit we're having fun!]

We want to put this event on your radar now because before you know it it will be the end of trout season again (did I just write that???).

The 2012 Grand River Spey Clave is again taking place at Bean Park in Paris Ontario but this year the event is going from a single day to a two day event on September 29th & 30th. Who should attend? Of course any anglers who fish spey should make a point of coming but if you are a single-hand fly angler who has never cast a two-hand rod you should also think of coming. If you are not aware there are usually a couple of hundred people who attend because the list of speakers/demonstrators that Randy and his team put together is second to none (and the barbeque lunch is also pretty darned good!).

The Clave has grown into one of the premier fly fishing events in Ontario and this is due to the efforts of Randy Wilson. Randy has no relation to WILSON’S Fly Shop but he has a heck of a great last name and he works his tail off every year for little to no reward. We are lucky to have people like Randy in the Ontario fly fishing community and we look forward to again supporting and attending this year’s clave.

For more information on the 2012 Grand River Spey Clave at Bean Park in Paris, Ontario this September please go to www.grandriverspey.ca/index.html#

If you were not able to attend the Grand River Spey Clave in Paris Ontario this past Saturday you missed out on a great event. Although the weather conspired to challenge both presenters and attendees the event was excellent and much of the credit goes to the leadership of Randy Wilson (no relation to our store owner – Randy is much better looking than our Wilson…). This event is due to the efforts of many volunteers but in particular it is due to the vision and energy of Randy and we would like to congratulate him on helping make the clave into what it is, namely, one of the premier fly fishing events in Eastern Canada.

This post is a short one… “GO!”

www.grandriverspey.ca

This update was forwarded by Randy Wilson and we thought we would pass it along:

“We are now less then two months from the Spey Clave and counting down. We presently have seven guest tyers that will be tying some of thier favourite salmon and steelhead patterns in the event tent through out the day. We have confrimation with six instructors that will be doing casting/fishing demos in Steve Rajeff, David Bishop, Courtney Ogilvie, Doug Swift, Larry Halyk and Rick Kustich. I am working on a few possible additions to the demos and will post them as the are confirmed. During the day we will have brief talks from the three Larrys. Larry Halyk will talk about On Stream Fishing Etiquette, Larry Mellors will discuss the Grand River Fisheries Management Plan and Larry McGratton will talk about The Friends of the Grand River and their on going efforts and projects on the river.

Mike Verhoef will be set up along the river bank with his rods and gear to work one on one through the day with people with their casting. Work and planning for this Clave began last Fall and it is slowly but surely all coming together. Look forward to seeing everyone there.”

Cheers & thanks,Randy

For more information on the Spey Clave please go to www.grandriverspey.ca/