The Toronto Sportsman’s Show is March 14-18 at the Toronto Convention Centre and if you have not yet put it into your calendar we encourage you to do so. Members of the Toronto fly fishing community and the Ontario fly fishing guide community will be attending as will WILSON’S.

Details to follow but in the interim please go to http://www.torontosportshow.ca/

This photo appeared in today’s Globe and Mail and it may surprise many readers that there is fly fishing available within steps of a subway stop in the heart of downtown Toronto!

Find out where to go on the Humber and other good places to fly fish in Southern Ontario by checking out the fly fishing access maps in the member’s area of our website.

Issue #20 is now live – check it out at http://www.catchmagazine.net/blast-nov11.html

“World economy in ‘dangerous phase’ IMF warns” – Toronto Star

“EU crisis raises bank risk…” – Globe and Mail

“Volatility is the new norm” – New York Times

“IMF warns of new threat to banks” – BBC

I don’t know about you but the more I read newspapers the more I want to go fishing…

I had the pleasure in Calgary of meeting one of the hardest-core anglers I have met in a while. This guy lives and breaths fly fishing and spends over 150 days a year on the water. He admitted he is able to spend a lot of time fishing in part because he is single and he focuses on fly fishing the waters of Alberta and BC exclusively with a dry fly because, well, he can. We had a great chat which was unfortunately cut short because my son Jake was being Mr. Crank-Pants and I had to take him upstairs and put him to bed. As I walked Jake back to our room the comments thrown at me over dinner got me thinking.

My new friend was chatting about the various types of people he has met in fly fishing and he categorized them in part as “Pretenders” (those who think they are experts but don’t really know much about the sport), Club Members (people who spend more time in meetings talking about fishing than actually fishing), Fly Tiers (those who can’t fish, tie), etc. It was one of those conversations that I wish I had on camera because it was completely unguarded. I did not agree with everything that he said but I kept my mouth shut and listened and the thought that came to mind was, “I may not agree with you on all fronts but your passion for fly fishing is inspiring!” He truly struck me as a fascinating, honest man and, while a bit intense I would love to spend a day on the water with him.

As he spoke I kept coming back to the thought that fly fishing is a melting pot that attracts all kinds of people. I suspect that to go out fishing with this man is a privilege earned by few and those who fish with him more than once first have to prove to him that they are worthy of his company. And you know what? His motivation is different from mine and that’s okay. We derive different pleasure from the same pursuit – and that is one of the other things I like about our sport. We’re not all the same but we share the same passion.