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Ontario
fly fishing
Fly fishing in Ontario:
Grand River guiding, fly fishing and fly casting instruction with
Ian Colin James one of the top guides on the Grand River. Try fly
fishing for carp with "The Carpfather" the man who made
it popular in North America. Ian was the first certified
instructor and full time guide on the Grand River, and he is the
author of The Bestseller: Fumbling with a Flyrod .
He caught his first fish on a fly,
a grayling, when he was 6 years old, from the River Clyde, near
the town of Motherwell, Scotland. 41 years of fly fishing have taught
him one or two tricks, which he painlessly passes on to his clients
and students.
For 27 years, professionally, he's
been showing folks how to cast, how to find fish and how to catch
the fish they find. Several of his students have gone on to open
their own fly fishing shops and guiding services. Yup, he is that
good. He was certified as an instructor by Peter Anderson - ex World
Fly Casting Champion - on the River Spey in Scotland. Will you get
more fish if you take lessons from him, or if you use his flies?
Absolutely.
Known for his 'No Bull' approach
to fly fishing, his quick warm wit and his down to earth teaching
methods, his instructional sessions are always entertaining. He
developed and promotes Common Sense Fly Fishing: The minimum amount
of gear . . . the maximum amount of fish. Ian calls a spade a spade,
and a strike indicator a bobber.
In 1995, he was part of the Canadian
Fly Fishing Team at the 15th World Fly Fishing Championships in
Galway, Ireland. Unfortunately, Team Canada received 'a butt kicking.'
Hey, it was a Loch Style event, and we don't do much of that kind
of fly fishing on this side of the Big Pond. That same year at the
Commonwealth Fly Fishing Championships on Loch Leven, Scotland,
a fly he created called the Dunkeld Dabbler, took the largest fish
of the event for his team mate, Tom Murray. At the 2006 Canadian
Fly Fishing Championships he coached the Les Chiens d'Eau team to
a silver medal.
Ian's flies are sold world wide
- mostly in the US, Canada and in the UK. Several of his original
patterns have found their way into publications on both sides of
the Atlantic. He is the only fly tier to receive a Design Award
from the Ontario Arts Council.
Recently, Ian became a co-host and the resident fly tying expert
on the TV Show: The New Fly Fisher. He was also featured on the
prestigious US show, Legends of Rod and Reel.
Legends of Rod and Reel
Yes, I was one of the featured fly
fishermen on the ESPN show, Legends of Rod and Reel. It was an honor
to take part in such a great series and it was a lot of fun shooting
the show.
Messages from Ian
Updates
There is no question that so far in 2009 I have been somewhat
negligent in updating this web site. It was a busy year and the
updates were put on the back burner, then they fell off the stove.
I tried my best and that was that.
The fly fishing course I am teaching at Fanshawe College here
in London has been a monster hit, but it has eaten into a lot
of my time. For the most part the students have been amazing and
the staff have done a great job in helping me stay on the tracks.
I can't thank them enough. How hard is the course? Well, I would
guess that 90% of fly fishermen would easily fail the mid term.
It was a tricky year on the Grand River with the better fish
hitting flies at night, or in the wee hours of the morning - midnight
to dawn - when there were few anglers on the river.
There were some memorable days on the river and one of them was
fishing with Big Fish Aherne. While learning to swing traditional
wet flies on a floating line, she thumped several good-sized steelhead
and some cracking brown trout. Chucky K from Michigan managed
to bust up not one, but two very expensive rods while out carping
with me, and he was thrilled to do so. Both of the fish were in
the "fishzilla" size range.
For the record, the 2010 Coal Tar Classic is full and we have
about 30 folk on the waiting list.
Christmas Gift Certificates
Starting on October 15th each year for the past 17 years,
as a thank you to my clients, I put my gift certificates on sale.
They make a great gift, but remember that there is a limit of
four per person. They do not have an expiry date on them, and
some folk have used them after they have been sitting in a desk
drawer for eight years or longer!
Gift Certificates
Ecologically friendly flies
Just so you know, all my flies are tied on grain-fed, free range
hooks. I can honestly say that not one hook has been harvested
from the wild.
Great Bay Rod Company
David Gibson the owner of the Great Bay Rod Company from Rochester,
NH, is one heck of a guy. Last fall he flipped me an email asking
if he could help out the Canadian National Youth Team. In an economy
going down the crapper, there was David offering to supply the
team with fly rods. Not only that, he was willing to build a custom
rod, if coach Bob Sheedy and myself told him what we needed. So
we did. Over the winter David took our suggestions and put together
exactly what we wanted. We needed an 11 foot rod which would very
easily cast 15 yards with only one backcast. It had to be a 4-5
weight so that it could be used for nymphing and for lake fishing.
It had to have oversized guides, just because Bob and I think
that is nifty. No, honestly the oversized guides would help the
kids cast a long line quickly.
Long story short ... David delivered. Not only did he deliver,
but he delivered in spades. Actually it was rods, but you get
the idea. Coach Sheedy and myself would like to take this opportunity
to publicly thank David for his work. David, thank you. It's people
like you who step up to the plate and who can see the value in
supporting kids once they are in the sport.
Will the rod design give Team Canada an advantage at the World
Championships in Prague this July? Yes it will and that's all
you can ask for ... the opportunity to do well.
The kicker is this. When I was field testing the rod, there were
so many anglers who fell in love with it, that the rod is now
in production. No guff. Take a look at it on David's web site.
The part # EMG1104-5.
If you want to build one of these, the blank retails for $149.95
and the rod retails for $349.95. Yes, David donated 8 rods worth
about $350 each to the team. Thank again David.
More info ... Great
Bay Rods
Scratch and Dent Fly List
Yikes. I have been dragging my butt on this. I am making some
changes to the set-up for this, and things will run much more
efficiently staring in January of 2010. Remember: All the fish
shown on my web site were caught on scratch and dent flies, or
on flies from the grab bag section on the web site.
learn more ...
Like the web site?
Judging by the emails I have been receiving, there are a few of
you who have found the web site by accident and you have enjoyed
the site once you have gone over it. If you enjoy the site, there
is a good chance your buddies will as well, so please don't be
shy about passing the address on to all your friends. Thanks.
There are 10,905 links on this web site, if you happen to find
one that is not working, please let me know and I will fix it.
Less than eight years ago, this site consisted of four pages.
It has grown a wee bit and as I am the guy who built it, there
have been a few errors along the way. I am a fishing guide, not
an html expert.
My Fly Pattern Book
My fly pattern book has been put on hold. I will be publishing
it in the Spring of 2009. I have been asked to teach a fly fishing
course at Fanshawe College here in London, and preparing for it
has taken up a lot of my time. If you want to see what some of
the fly images in the book will look like this will give you an
idea.
Test Image: Fly pattern book
E-mail: No attachments please.
24hr reply.
Just a reminder ... if you send me an e-mail with an attachment,
it will get "nuked" and I won't even know that you sent
me the e-mail. Please, do not send me any attachments. Thanks.
If you send me an e-mail and I do not reply within 24 hours, send
it again as I did not receive it. I make a point in answering
all my e-mail within 24 hours.
Used Fumblings
Did you know that used "Fumblings" are selling for $228
online at Amazon, and that last year one of the limited editions
was sold for $870 in a private deal. The seller did well on his
initial $55 investment. I had to verify that the book was one
of the limited editions. It was purchased by a book collector
in Michigan. The book was in mint condition. It was nice to see
it again after 8 years. Don't ask. I do not have any "Fumblings"
left in stock.
SCUDS. All about my scud pattern
Are
you looking for a never-miss pattern you can use all year long,
even in the winter, and, one which will work when no fish are
showing? Lots of fly fishing tips on fishing scuds and lots of
insight into the life of the scud.
learn more ...
Privacy Statement
If you are a bit shy about sending me an e-mail, adding your name
to my scratch list or sticking your name into one my contests,
please read my privacy statement before you start browsing through
my website.
learn more ...
100% advertising free
It may have escaped your notice, then again maybe it did not,
this website is absolutely free from annoying advertisements.
I figure that just like fly fishing, viewing a website should
be a relaxing experience and keeping advertising from the site
does that. However, it still costs money to keep this little puppy
up-and-running, so ... if you enjoy the site, if you pick up a
few fishing tips and if you find some fish-catching pointers,
you can support the website by purchasing a few flies. Simple
as that. Similarly, sending along a bucket of fried chicken, an
envelope of unmarked bills, a bag of M and M's or a case of 15-year
old single malt would also be fine and worth while contributions.
Fly fishing in Scotland
A few thoughts from my last trip over there. Tips on accessing
rivers and tips on how to pick up the appropriate license. Well
worth a read.
learn more
...
Inspirational fly tiers
Junior Crow from Arkansas, is first up in this new section of
my site.
Mac Stark from the Northwest Territories will be up next when
I can get caught up on updating my site. This part of the site
started out as a bit of fun, and it has quickly developed into
a small nightmare.
View the flies: learn
more ...
Website pictures
I encourage you to use the images,
from my website, but you need to ask before you do. Only once in
7 years have I said, "No, you can't." Several folk have
requested higher resolution images so they could use some of the
photographs like: "Sunrise over the Detroit River" and
"Morning on the Grand River," as screen savers. No worries.
Just ask and I will try and accommodate your request.
Dedication
This website is dedicated to Buzz and Woody,
two great goldfish.
That's it
That's it for the moment.
rover and out
Ian
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The
Christmas Puppy
Let's face it at some point just
about everyone wanted a puppy for Christmas, and for the most
part we have all gone through the pain of not finding one
under the tree. That said, you may have been all set to get
a puppy as a Christmas present but then in March you discovered
a long forgotten limp, squishy and slightly stinky gift wrapped
package under the basement stairs. Hey, every parent makes
a mistake. Christmas is a busy time of the year and things
... well ... you know.
This Christmas if you
are not going to give the fly fisherman in your life a puppy,
you may want to follow this link to find a full range of Christmas
gifts he will like, use and enjoy. And, all of these gifts
are house trained.
Puppy Free Christmas Gifts. |
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... "Ian - apart from being
Scottish which, as a third "generationer" I can
still lay some vague claim to myself - is utterly refreshing.
He brings a sense and proportion to fly tying - no namby
pamby new fangled stuff here: just good, well constructed
patterns, using no-nonsense materials that actually catch
fish! But beyond that, Ian fishes with the tenacity of Robert
the Bruce and is one of the clearest thinkers on conservation
you could wish to meet. Beyond that, he is quite a nice
Bloke really; Seriously." ...
Charles Jardine - somewhere near to a trout stream in England.
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...
"Having Ian James as emcee at the National Club's annual
2008 Game Dinner capped a very special evening. His insights
on human nature gleaned from his years as a professional fly
fishing guide combined with his dry sense of humour had the
attendees laughing aloud on a regular basis and helped make
the event one of our best ever!" ...
Bill Morari, General Manager, National Club, Toronto. |
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...
"Ian presented a talk "Fly Fishing Unplugged"
at the Loaves and Fishes Seminar Series sponsored by the Institute
of Ichthyology, University of Guelph, in March 2008. He was
highly entertaining - great images of really big fish, good
fishing stories and bad jokes. Enjoyed by all!" ...
Patricia Wright, Professor, Department of Integrative Biology,
U of Guelph. |
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... "Ian
Colin James clearly captivated an audience of conservationists
with his very educational and often hilarious power point
presentation at London's Western Ontario Fish and Game Protective
Association. Addressing home town and South-western Ontario
hunters and anglers with examples of his deep appreciation
and caring for both local and international riverine resources
while encouraging everyone to actively challenge wasteful
and ecologically damaging projects like London's Springbank
dam was impressive indeed. Doing it in a funny and very effective
manner was priceless."...
Felix Barbetti, Vice Chair OFAH Fisheries Advisory Committee. |
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My
flies and the Orvis Company
As some of you may know, the good folk at Orvis have picked
up a few of my fly patterns for their 2008 catalog. Some of
you may have fished these patterns, and if you have, I am
asking you to take a minute or two out of your busy day, or
when you are slacking off at work playing on the internet,
to post a review of the flies you have used. Note that I said,
"the flies you have used." Only review the patterns
you have fished with.
Now the Smack em Spey pattern is interesting.
If you have fished with me and we were using streamers, there
is a very good chance that you fished this pattern, but you
may not have known that at the time. If you have any doubts,
let me know and I will get it sorted out for you.
If you have fished with me on the Grand River
for Brown Trout or Smallmouth Bass, you have fished the Brass
Ass and the Crunchy Caddis. Similarly if you have been out
steelheading with me, at some point you used the Crunchy Caddis.
If you have been out fishing Smallmouth Bass, Sheephead or
Carp with me, then you used the Crunchy Caddis ... for sure
you did.
Donation of my
royalties
For the record, I am donating 30% of my royalties from the
sale of the flies to the Tan Flies, a great bunch of kids
from the High School in Cotter, Arkansas. They do a lot of
cleanup work on the banks White River.
Links to the flies on
the Orvis website:
view
Orvis ... Crunchy Caddis
view
Orvis ... Brass Ass
view
Orvis ... Smack em Spey
Note
It takes about 4 days for your review to get posted on the
Orvis website, so check back to make sure it's uploaded. Mistakes
happen, even at Orvis. Also, you can't use the word "Ass"
when reviewing my Brass Ass pattern, so you will have to be
creative.
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The
Fireline Leader
I have been picking up a whack of emails from the folk visiting
my website, wanting more information on my simple leader system.
Well, here it is. I have never been a fan of a tapered leader,
I grew up fishing 20 foot leaders with three flies and I have
always been happy with the results.
Years before Fireline made it into the marketplace,
I was fortunate enough to have been given a few spools to
try out. When nymphing I found that the bite detection was
unbelievable, and some 10 years on, I am still using it. When
you are nymphing, if you are having a tough time detecting
soft takes, try using a leader of Fireline. When you are connecting
Fireline to a section of mono with a blood knot, you need
one less turn of the Fireline. So, you would have 6 turns
of mono, but only 5 turns of the Fireline. |
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Muncher Nymph
fur
This a a big "Woo-hoo." John's Fly tying Materials
and Jay's Fly Shop here in London have teamed up with Superfly
to produce some of the seal's fur used in tying up the thorax
for my Muncher Nymph. The fiery brown colour is dead-on. It's
by far the best match to the colour of the original fur I
brought over from Ireland back in the early 1980s. If you
want to purchase some of the fur, please contact John directly.
I do not sell fly tying materials.
E-mail:
John's Fly Tying Materials, |
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What I said was
...
Some of you, I suspect those of you over 30 who are still
living in your mums basement eating gourmet Kraft Dinner,
have been hassling me about my comment on Lake Ontario. Let's
clear this up. What I said was, "Lake Ontario is the
biggest stocked pond in the world." If you want to take
issue with that, that's your choice. You best go now. I think
your mummy is calling you to head upstairs for your dinner,
or as they say in Scotland, "Yir tea's oot." Run
along now and you may be able to catch the Telly Tubbies,
and the sun is always smiling in Telly Tubby Land. Watch you
don't get any ketchup on your Star Trek uniform. |
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What I also said
was ...
I have been getting a bit of flack from some of you lot, notably
one or two of the great unwashed wandering aimlessly in the
fly fishing wilderness with far too much time on their hands,
about the comments I made on false casting and strike indicators.
I did not say that someone who false casts and uses a bobber
is friends with the Devil. For the record this is what I said,
"False casting and the strike indicator were both invented
by the Devil".
I hope this clears things up. |
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My e-mail address:
If your e-mail system is not run though a browser you may have
difficulty contacting me by using the "contact buttons".
Here is my actual e-mail address:
E-mail: ianjames@sympatico.ca |
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