Category: family

  • Following the threads

    Following the threads

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    I don’t remember exactly where the phrase first came up for me this year, the idea of following the thread. Likely in a random social post over on LinkedIn where I need to sound a weird mix of profound and professional. Even more likely is that I was talking about…

  • Hoot owl blues

    Hoot owl blues

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    I’d been here before. This exact same pool, the exact same fish, and the exact same feeling – “Just let me catch this fish before I call it a day… please?”. The difference was that the last time, I stopped fishing because it was time to call it a day.…

  • The tagalong 

    The tagalong 

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    For the most part, Supper Lake was off-limits to guests. It used to be the main lake for the lodge where my parents worked. But, as happens, it was fished a little too hard over the years, and, at the owner’s insistence, the lake was closed to all guests.  We…

  • The indicator hatch

    The indicator hatch

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    I don’t normally count how many fish I catch and today was no different. I was, however, keenly aware of the fact that I was catching fish every few casts, while my brother hadn’t had so much as a whiff of interest. This never happened. My brother was a meticulous…

  • Looking for trout on Turkey Day

    Looking for trout on Turkey Day

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    “Catch anything?” I called out to the guy fishing down the creek behind me. I’d popped over to one of my usual spots to kill a bit of time while the turkey was cooking. I knew I’d see someone on the creek today, but hadn’t expected to find someone perched…

  • Three days in Alberta

    Three days in Alberta

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    Life has a funny way of repeating itself. This summer, as I was getting ready to visit Southern Alberta for a fews days off fishing with my brother, my wife turned to me and said, “Do you know what you were doing on this day 9 years ago?” After a…

  • A Creek of One’s Own

    A Creek of One’s Own

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    When I was about 12 years old, my best friend’s dad bought a house on the opposite end of the island we were living on at the time. When I asked him why his dad had bought the place–they already had three places that I knew about–he told me that…

  • A Fish 12 Months in the Catching

    A Fish 12 Months in the Catching

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    About five kilometers north of where you’re staying, you’ll see a large rock that looks like a house. People have painted a door and a window on it. There’s even a satellite dish. Stop there. Fish downriver. Don’t go upriver. The water is only three inches deep for a mile.…

  • Teaching An Old Dog New Tricks – Fly Fishing With My Dad

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    Fall is in full swing here. The nice weather is happening less often; the poplars have started turning, adding nice golden yellow patches to the hillsides and we’ve seen frost on more than one occasion. As part of the usual fall celebrations, we had ourThanksgiving last week here in Canada. Since…

  • 5 Surprising Ways Fishing Can Make You A Better Parent

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    About a year before my daughter was born, I got my first fly rod. Next to the birth of my daughter, it proved to be one of the most transformative things that ever happened to me. Over the course of that one year I went from a casual angler to…