As I sit at home battling the proverbial “mother of all chest colds” it is emails like the one we received this week that make all of the effort of running a fly shop worthwhile. It is always gratifying to receive words of praise and we thank Ken for taking the time to let us know what he thought about our hatch chart for Whiteman’s Creek.

“I just joined your site & was totally AMAZED that u had a hatch chart for Whiteman’s Creek. I have had a 35 foot trailer 20 ft. from the creek at a gun club for 23 yrs now & many members fly fish. I have taught many younger & older members how to fly fish (as I have been doing it for about 45 yrs) & taught my 2 kids boy/girl how to fly fish at the age of 5. I will shortly be ordering a few of your flies [and] will definitely be giving your address to everyone here & am sure they will pass it on to all their friends… I am very glad I found you! Ken”

If you would like more information on hatch charts for the Grand River, the Maitland River, the Saugeen River, the Credit River, the Nottawasaga River, the Humber River, the Boyne River Nd other fly fishing destinations in southern Ontario please go to the Members area of our site. It is free to join our Fly Fishing Club and we trust you will like what you find!

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…

While walking the banks of Whiteman’s Creek last weekend I met an angler who was as disappointed as I was to see a pile of garbage at one of the access points leading to the river. This man was going on about how irresponsible some people are but when I asked him to help pick it up he quickly dismissed the idea, suggesting that by the time he got down the bank I would have already picked everything up… The thought that went through my mind was, “Don’t complain if you’re not willing to do something about it.”

On a similar note, Canada is having an(other) election on Monday May 2 and although many of us think this is a waste of time and money, it is important that we all take the time to vote. Unfortunately, many of us are like that well-intentioned but lazy angler: we don’t bother to vote but complain about what is wrong with Ottawa. That’s not how it works. If we want Canada to continue to be the best country in the world we have to take care of it. Wishing things should get better doesn’t make them better – it takes effort. We are blessed to be citizens of Canada and we should all take the time to vote on Monday because, if nothing else, it is the right thing to do.

If you need further urging, watch Rick Mercer’s rant…

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