Gales End Press, Mahone Bay, NS (2025)

01/09/2024

For 2024 I've redesigned my website, galesendpress.com, to give it a fresh new look. Flyfishers and flytiers may be interested in the three articles posted on the Resources page. The first has background, material lists, and tying instructions for some of Jean-Guy Côté's brook and gray (lake) trout patterns. Number 2 is the story of the first recorded capture of a salmon on a clipped deerhair pattern fished as a dry fly. The angler was Frank Gray Griswold. The third is a work in progress about fly patterns featuring inherent movement.

04/02/2023

Manitoba has the oldest Master Angler program in North America. It awards medals for catching a fish of a specified length from one of 30 eligible species. Anglers can earn Specialist badges for catching five qualifying fish of a given species. Overall awards progress from gold to platinum to diamond. The diamond honour requirement is catching one trophy fish from 20 of the 30 species.
At the time of his death, Gerry Beck, the master from East Selkirk, had 18 Specialist badges and one of the earliest-awarded diamond-level pins. What is almost certainly unique is that his qualifying fish were caught on flies, most of those of his own design. Beck’s designs are eclectic. He created patterns for the midges, mayflies, caddisflies, and stoneflies of his region, as well as for minnows, crayfish, and a variety of other food forms. An example is his Green Caddis Rockworm, created to mimic a resident free-living caddis that early season tullibee (similar to our Atlantic whitefish, but not rare!) find irresistible.
Minnows are important forage for many Manitoba species. Gerry created several pattern series to imitate what he found in the lakes he fished. The keeled series featured an inexpensive bait hook (Mustad 3777), reshaped and weighted to ride upside down. My local smallmouth bass are quite fond of Beck’s Keeled Emerald Shiner.
Gerry believed in sharing his knowledge and was a founding member of the Manitoba Fly Fishers (circa 1968). He was the club’s first fly-casting instructor and taught fly-tying at virtually every meeting. Patterns and tying notes for more than two dozen of Beck’s patterns can be found in Fly Patterns of Canada from Gales End Press. Gerry died in 2016, having spent a satisfying part of his 87 years with long rod in hand. Pictured below are the Green Caddis Rockworm, Damsel Nymph #2, Type 3,Keeled Emerald Shiner, and Salisbury Stripper.

03/11/2023

Exactly how I found myself in a LabAir Twin Otter, taxiing up to the dock of Awesome Lake Lodge is lost to memory. It was most likely the result of meeting Len Rich at an outdoor show somewhere and accepting an invitation.
Although born in the USA, Len was a familiar figure in Eastern Canada, at least among those addicted to field sports. An outdoor communicator par excellence, he wrote for numerous magazines, had a six-book bibliography, mentored fledgling writers, and served on the board of the Outdoor Writers of Canada. During his many careers, he worked for the Newfoundland government as Hunting & Fishing Development Officer, at the Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) as manager of Special Events, and at Corona College in Grand Falls-Windsor as Director of Communications and Tourism Training. He and his late wife Ruby developed and operated businesses in Clarenville, NL, known as Whitehall Country Inn and The Grapevine.
And then there was Awesome Lake Lodge. On a lodge inspection trip, Len and the pilot decided to land on a wilderness lake for lunch. While the pilot started a fire, Len took a few casts nearby. He returned with a couple of beautiful brookies and the pilot exclaimed, “awesome!” Len was seduced. He wrote about the experience of opening and operating a wilderness lodge in, So You Want to be an Outfitter (believe me, you don’t). He managed to stick it out for about ten hard years (approximately 1992 - 2002) before selling.
Len was widely recognized for his work. Among others, in 1991 received the Canada Recreational Fisheries Award for “writing that influenced a generation of recreational fishers.” An active conservationist, he was a founding member and the first president of the Salmon Preservation Association for the Waters of Newfoundland (SPAWN).
Fly tying was not Len’s major preoccupation. Regardless, he published Newfoundland Salmon Flies … and How to Tie Them (undated but likely in the mid-80s). I have yet to discover an earlier book about Newfoundland patterns. While Newfoundland and Labrador waters were clearly his favourite, he was very fond of the Margaree too.
Len died in April 2009. Four of his pattern creations appear in Modern Atlantic Salmon Flies, two of which are the Torrent River Special and Big Intervale Blue—the latter named for a picturesque Margaree valley.

03/02/2023

When Canada Post decided to print a small series of stamps featuring fishing flies from across Canada, they called on Eric Baylis to produce the example of a hair-wing Atlantic salmon fly, specifically a Cosseboom Special. Long recognized as one of Nova Scotia’s premier tiers, he operated from Eric’s Reel Shop, located beside his home. During a visit to try and find a part for a reel, my attention focused on the walls featuring framed flies from Eric’s collection.
Born in Dartmouth, NS, into a family of fly-fishers and tiers, Eric’s tying career spanned fifty-five years. Early on, materials for trout and salmon flies “were gathered locally in many cases, cured and dyed at home,” he told me. With time his store of materials grew to include the exotic materials called for in the patterns of classic salmon flies.
With flies featured in Canadian and American magazines and books, Eric earned an international reputation. His regular contributions to the Spawner annual, published by the Salmon Protective Association for Newfoundland Waters, often introduced innovative patterns and suggested improvements to tying techniques. A favourite original pattern was the Phantom. It debuted in the fall of 1992 on the Nepisiguit River in northern New Brunswick and promptly accounted for six salmon to a friend’s rod. During the preparation of Modern Atlantic Salmon Flies, Eric responded to my request with a half-dozen original patterns.
In later years his tying was restricted to donations for fundraising in support of a variety of Atlantic salmon associations, experimental designs, and special patterns for his family and grandchildren. Eric’s flies were in demand and brought excellent prices wherever they appeared and his generosity was widely recognized by the Atlantic salmon community. Eric died in April of 2016 and his memorial page, fittingly, features a photo of him at the vise. Below are the Phantom, The Honor, and the Black Krystal Rat.

02/22/2023

My good friend, Jean-Guy Côté, had three great passions: friends, food, and fly tying. OK, he liked to fish too. While still in high school, he apprenticed to Riviere du Loup professional tier Jean Michaud. Moving to Montreal to study to be a physical education instructor, he was fortunate to live and work with John Cuco, a celebrated Montreal tier and fly-shop owner. Teaching certificate in hand, Jean-Guy moved to the Joliette area, north of Montreal. He continued tying flies to supplement his income. The Joliette Hopper was a popular but time-consuming (i.e. low-profit) dressing. With the analytical style that characterized many of his later designs, Jean-Guy combined familiar elements to create a pattern that could be tied in various sizes and colours to imitate caddis hatches, and serve as a general dry fly for brook trout. Tens of thousands of Mud Hoppers later, it had become, by far, his most commercially successful pattern. Jean-Guy was also recognized as a talented exhibition tier. An example is a series of twenty-four Muddler patterns created for the world-renowned William Cushner Collection.
UNI Products, although not yet named, began with Jean-Guy hand-spooling thread and working on an improved wax and waxing system. The discovery of an outstanding polyester thread would become the company’s foundation. However, without the founder’s self-taught mechanical, computer control, and design skills, it’s improbable UNI could have become, arguably, the world’s largest supplier of spooled fly-tying materials.
In the early years, Jean-Guy primarily fished for trout in lakes and most of his personal creations were effective trolling patterns. We fished together in Norway, on the Labrador coast and across to the Torngat Mountains of Ungava, on the salmon rivers of Gaspe and Cape Breton, and in numerous Quebec lakes. The Man from UNI died in 2006 and it’s rare that I pick up a spool of thread without thinking of him. The images are of a Mud Hopper, a Matonipi, and one from a time when neither of us was quick to push away from the table.

02/20/2023

Few fly-tiers start their journey at the age of five; Bryant Freeman was one. In their home on the banks of Nova Scotia’s Medway River, he helped his dad, who had lost an arm, by holding the wings of both classic and local patterns. During the following 75 years, he participated in virtually every activity associated with fly fishing. Bryant operated Eskape Anglers fly shop from his home in Riverview, NB and his website featured a potpourri of local lore and useful information for both anglers and tiers. I included several of his creations in Modern Atlantic Salmon Flies, one of which, the Rabbi, is shown below. An early favourite, it had remained nameless before being sent to me. Regardless, excluding classics, it was the Carter(s) Bug that garnered much of his attention. His history with the fly can be found via the Wayback Machine (eskapeanglers.com). All this was a bit surprising considering Bryant was allergic to deerhair! Bryant died in November of 2021 and his sense of humour, generosity of spirit, and companionship will be greatly missed by his many friends.

02/18/2023

As the author of an early (earliest?) eastern-Canadian fly-tying instruction book (Basic Fly Tying) in both French (1977) and English (1979), I chose to begin my project with Serge J. Vincent. Serge wrote prolifically for magazines and participated in French-language movies and television programs. A celebrated guide on his beloved Sainte-Marguerite River (Saguenay), he also taught fly-fishing and fly-tying at the CGEP in Baie Comeau.
The only original Vincent pattern in MASF is the Stoumph [pictured below]. He sent four trout flies to me and his Dark Montreal is included in Fly Patterns of Canada. I also uploaded an image of the memorial pattern, Serge Vincent, created by André Belaieff.
Serge died of ALS in 2007.

02/18/2023

Starting today, then off and on for the next few months, I plan to post images of patterns tied by some widely-known, relatively recently departed, Canadian fly-tiers. I’ll include brief biographical notes if available. First in line will be Atlantic-salmon-fly tiers from Atlantic Canada and Quebec. Most of the patterns appear in Modern Atlantic Salmon Flies. Later, I’ll add patterns from my collection tied by innovators from other provinces and even a few from across the pond.
Biographical information for many of the Quebec group may be found on the excellent website, fabri-Mouches.ca. For the New Brunswick cadre, Dewey Gillespie’s book, The Fly Tyers of New Brunswick, offers some help. An expanded version lived, intermittently, on the Eskape Anglers website. I uncovered it using the Wayback Machine with the URL http://nbflytyers.com/. Dewey’s follow-up PDF, “The Fly Tyers of New Brunswick - The 2nd Time Around,” can be found with a Google search.

01/29/2023

The Canada Fly, created and tied by Daniel Duval.
A week ago I posted about downsizing my fly-fishing and fly-tying tackle, tools, and materials. Unsuspectingly I was punked. A miscreant “ordered” a large number of items and then “disappeared.” If you wanted something from my list that showed as sold, perhaps it wasn’t, or if you didn’t see the original post, message me for the “restored” list. I’ve also added a few items.

03/23/2021

For anyone who missed getting a copy of Jim's, Tight Lines Mean Bright Fish, The Larry's Gulch Story, the 3rd printing is now available on Amazon.

03/25/2020

After a couple of weeks wait, signed copies of Guides Eyes are available from galesendpress.com

03/09/2020

Today Gale's End Press is pleased to announce a new title, Guides Eyes by Perry Munro. In about 2 weeks, signed copies will be available on our website (www.galesendpress.com) or from Perry. To those who know him, Perry needs no introduction; for those that don't, here is a brief quote from the rear cover: "Outdoorsman. A substantial word, evoking images of hunting, fishing, and trapping. Nevertheless, it feels deficient when applied to Perry Munro. For more than fifty years he has done all those things and many more. Operating a maple syrup business, managing a woodlot and milling lumber to build cabins, and running a professional guiding business including a lodge, these are just a few examples of his constant connection to the natural world. A connection not just in the doing; he also expresses it in sketches, watercolours, sculpture and writing."

04/02/2019

The story behind the first (and second) recorded capture of an Atlantic salmon on the all-deer-hair dry fly pictured below. I've posted this as a blog post on my website, www.galesendpress.com.

01/01/2019

To my friends both near and far, all the best to you and yours for 2019.

01/16/2018

I’ve just released Fly Patterns of Canada. Based on the sold-out print title, A Compendium of Canadian Fly Patterns by R.H. Jones & P.C. Marriner, it presents more than 1,600 fly patterns illustrated in full colour, patterns created to catch dozens of Canadian species from coast to coast. The recipes for several hundred more (typically variations) are found in an Appendix, which also offers tying instructions for the more challenging ties. Formatted as an interactive pdf, reflowable ePub, or mobi file for Kindles or Kindle apps, it has a variety of interactive features. For tablet and larger screens the pdf is the best choice. For phones the mobi file and a Kindle app offer the best performance. Changes to the content focused on corrections, reformatting and improved navigation. Owners of the print title have the essential content. Fly Patterns of Canada is $14.95, available at www.galesendpress.com.

02/27/2017

I'm considering digitizing How to Choose & Use Fly-tying Thread. No longer restricted by print publishing needs I can add material. I wonder if those who own a copy have any suggestions for additions?

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