I was driving home on Saturday and saw a sign that said “No Exit”. Knowing that I had never been down that stretch of road I decided to take a quick detour and found myself at the end of a lane where someone has decided to establish their own garbage dump. But beyond the garbage I could see a path and my GPS told me that path likely lead down to the valley below the road. I doubled back and drove into the last driveway to ask the owner about whether it might be possible to walk through the woods on their property to try fly fishing the creek which I knew ran below their house. As luck would have it the owner, Evelyn, was just walking out of her barn and waited for me as I drove onto her property. After introducing myself and explaining why I was there she smiled, thanked me for asking and said I was more than welcome to walk through her property. She then added that many people don’t ask and when she sees them she goes out of her way to ask them to leave. As she said, “It’s a courtesy – but it means a lot.”

If you have never knocked on a door to ask a landowner for permission, in my experience the typical response you get is, “No problem – thanks for asking!” Many landowners are more than happy to grant permission to fly fishers but if we don’t ask we’re lumped in with that knucklehead who is dumping his garbage at the end of the lane way. We are breaking the law.

So if you see a stretch of water and you are not sure if it is public property, do the rest of us a favour, err on the side of caution and ask permission. And a word of advice: don’t be shy asking because it’s kind of like being back at a high school dance. Remember those painful moments when you saw the one with whom you wanted to dance but couldn’t muster up the courage? All we have to do is ask…

With the snow finally – and quickly – disappearing I have been making occasional trips to the banks of my favorite stretches of river to check on the conditions and see if there are any new pools that may have been carved by the spring thaw. The other thing I have been doing is taking advantage of the lack of underbrush at this time of year to pick up garbage at access points and along the river banks. Candy wrappers, water bottles, cigarette boxes, coffee cups and lids and styrofoam containers are the usual haul but on occasion, like yesterday, there are things like beer bottles, copies of the fishing regulations (at least they were responsible on one level) and a hookah pipe which made for a very relaxing day for someone on the water last year…

I started carrying small plastic garbage bags with me while fly fishing a few years ago to have a place to put the refuse I found along the way. Although a small gesture, picking up any garbage I find makes every outing that much more rewarding. If you are heading out to check on your favorite water in the coming weeks we encourage you to keep a few small plastic bags and a pair of gardening gloves in the trunk of your car with a larger bag in which to put the garbage you find (the larger one will keep your car clean). If we all take a few extra minutes to do a little bit of spring cleaning it will make a world of difference.

Now, if I can only do the same thing around the house…

One of the aspects I like about fly fishing is that regardless of how long any of us have been involved in the sport there is always something new to learn. Some of us focus on casting and teaching. Others prefer to focus on mastering the art of catching a certain species and still others prefer to master the art of fly tying. The list truly is endless but it has one common thread – we all love fly fishing and that bond and the mutual respect upon which it is based is what creates friendships at club meetings, fly fishing lodges, industry shows and chance encounters on a river.

I am not one to make New Year’s resolutions but as this year draws to a close two of the things I would like to learn more about in 2011 are fly tying and entomology.These aspects of our sport are inseparable and while endless in their complexity they also give us countless hours of enjoyment at a tying bench and on a river. I was told when getting into the sport that catching a fish on a fly you have tied yourself provides one of the greatest senses of accomplishment you can experience as a fly angler. Over the years that comment has haunted me and I have decided that 2011 is the year that I will improve my knowledge of both.

To that end, one of the best online entomology resources I have seen over the years is troutnut.com and if you have not bookmarked this website you should. Created and maintained by Jason Neuswanger, troutnut.com is a fly tyers dream come true because it has over 3,700 pictures of 748 subjects and a growing library of behavioral information to help fly tyers understand and better imitate the things trout eat.

To see what I mean go to www.troutnut.com

70 Fahrenheit (21 C):
Bahamian flats guides stay on the dock because their sunscreen is chilled.
Canadian anglers put ice in their hats to prevent heat stroke.

50 Fahrenheit (10 C):
Italian anglers stop fly fishing because their wine gets too cold.
Canadians anglers stop wet wading.

32 Fahrenheit (0 C):
British anglers stop fly fishing because their beer freezes.
Canadians anglers don’t have that problem because they drink Canadian beer.

0 Fahrenheit (-17..9 C):
New York City landlords finally turn on the heat.
Canadians anglers put on a toque.

-60 Fahrenheit (-51 C):
Santa Claus abandons the North Pole.
Canadians anglers pull down their earflaps.

-109.9 Fahrenheit (-78.5 C):
Carbon dioxide freezes.
Canadian anglers skip school to go steelheading.

-173 Fahrenheit (-114 C):
Ethyl alcohol freezes.
Canadians anglers get frustrated because they can’t thaw the keg.

-459.67 Fahrenheit (-273.15 C):
Absolute zero; all atomic motion stops.
Canadian anglers start saying “Cold, eh?”

-500 Fahrenheit (-295 C):
Hell freezes over.
The Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup…

We hope you wake this morning to find everything you wished for under the Christmas tree and that you have friends and family with whom to share the day. Merry Christmas everyone!