Western Canadian Fly Fishing Exposition, Whistler flyfishing goes to Calgary Fly show

Calgary expo, the Whistler Flyfishing team photo from last year

As with years previous, Whistler fly fishing will have a booth at the Calgary Fly show from January 28-30th. Our booth will be stuffed with our popular Whistler Flyfishing logowear and sweet deals on fly gear, along with Metal detector rods and clothing among other things. Our western Fly expo booth will have tying demonstrations done by local guide and Loop prostaff, Maxwell Robinson. Fishing encyclopedia Scott Baker and Haida Gwaii big deal Yos Gladstone will be hanging around the booth offering advice, instruction and security services. Of course Brian Niska will be there too, showing off some casting techniques, advice and instruction. If you are in the area, check us out!

Opti Creek, sweet reel for Lite gear

If you ever fish small creeks or very light tippets, check out the Loop Opti Creek Reel. With a large diameter for good pickup on reeling in and keeping light lines from coiling up and retaining memory. The super smooth enclosed carbon disk drag works perfectly without ever needing maintenance, even if you hook a really good one you have the advantage. At 120 grams, you could put this reel on rods from 0-4wt and have a field day on the local pan-fry population or fish Spring fed creeks with big spooky Browns, Check it out.

Loop Evotec Double hander

Loop is always on the cutting edge of Speyrod designs. Their new Evotec Spey series is a sweet new addition to an already great lineup of double handers. The handle is formed with loop's newer rubberized cork rubber grip, which actually grips better then regular cork and lasts much longer. Loop's "form follows function" philosophy also incorporates a balanced reel seat that is adjustable at both ends to precisely balance the reel on the rod, pretty nice to have on the bigger sticks. The Staff and guides at WFF have been using the Evotec for a while now (see pic below) and love the power and action of this stick. From a 11'6' #7 to 15' #10 there is something for whatever it is you swing for, and a nice progressive action appropriate for many different types of lines.

Loop Classic reels

Tradition with an attitude" Loops Classic series of reels are a great choice for the 2 hander. These reels will put up with the abuse that a hardcore steelhead/salmon fisher can dish out, and have a drag big enough to handle the biggest ocean fresh Salmonoids. Using the same waterproof Power Matrix Drag incorperated in all other loop reels, it is silky smooth "with a pronounced 'click' that signals “fish on” through your ears"... Meaning it absolutly screams when that big fish smashes your fly and starts taking line. It comes in 5 sizes, from a trout 4/6 to a king sized 10/13.

Loop Opti Switch Fly Rods Coming Soon

The staff at Whistler Flyfishing has been helping in the development of a new series of switch rods from Loop. Switch rods are the perfect fishing tool for the angler that values versatility. They are equally at home beach fishing for Coho Salmon as they are swinging flies for winter Steelhead. Much lighter than most switch rods currently available,the new Loop's were designed as single hand rods that speycast well. They are light and fairly fast with a smooth progressive action that is distinctively Loop. There are two rods In the Opti Switch series, both featuring Loops' stylish and comfortable new grip and durable cross weave technology. We expect these Opti Switch rods to be available early this spring.Give the fly shop a call at 1-888-822-3474 for more info on this and any other Loop tackle products

Queen Charlotte Islands Steelhead

This past month, I took a trip to the Queen Charlotte Islands to fish for Steelhead on the famous Yakoun River. The Yakoun is the largest river on the islands and has one of the largest Steehead runs there. The river flows into Masset inlet with the town of Port Clements located right at its mouth. Although there was a over a foot and a half of snow to drive through and the river conditions were low, the Steelhead were more then willing to hit the peach colored intruder flies that were used primarily throughout the trip. The rod of choice was a Loop 7120 Multi Combined with the Multi reel and a 510 Compact skagit using type 3-6 Sink tips. The rod had enough backbone to handle the larger fish and at 12 feet, was perfect length for this smaller river.

My bad, forgot to remove my gloves