Jan Normandale

Another Column on Fly Fishing Matters
Jan has been a member of Trout Unlimited Canada and a flyfisher for over 20 years. Currently he is a National Director of TUC. He has an understanding non fishing wife Markie and 2 children, Jon and Lisa who both fish sometimes. Jan lives and works in Toronto, Canada. He fishes primarily for fun.
His trout adventures have taken him to England, Holland, Italy, Canada and the USA. His collection of fly fishing "stuff" and books is the source of much humour in his family and with friends.

Fly fishing obsession, does it exist? "The final question is; should any man turn his back on ambition, profit, security, and a parking place in the city, just to pursue a fish!"

I'd like to discuss the topic of old and antique fishing tackle from two perspectives. First as actual fishing tackle and second as collectibles. The resurgence in interest for old stuff seems to be okay to me because I'm also old and worn.

Fly's Bug-ology Course. Required Reading: "Serious River Rat Level"

Flyfishing "how-to" Books

This one is for all the new inductees to the sport. I still remember it like it was yesterday, my struggles to understand the arcane techno speak of fly fishing. So here are some books that will explain the arts and mysteries. As usual this listing is by no means complete, it just represents yer humble author's short list of relatively easily obtained books. Having said that I know that someone will be able to prove that some of these titles are not available. Yup that's life for ya, win some... lose some, oh well.

There are a lot of important books that have been published and some recent additions also. In this installment we're going to look at some of the tyers and books that I think are worthwhile and comment on the patterns, concepts and technical aspects of the world of silk, fur and feathers as Mr. Skues put it.

The Guys that Came in Second

Throughout the history of the sport of fly fishing there have been many original thinkers who have been recognized for their contributions yet equally there have been many who have not. What makes one fly fishing guy memorable and another lost in the shuffle? It makes you wonder doesn't it. Well maybe not a whole lot but just a little.

So... for those of you with a pathological curiosity here are a few of the duets where one flyfisher gets the recognition and another gets the footnote.

A Selective Historic Overview of Fly Fishing

There's a lot of mythology to the history of fly fishing. Time tends to embellish things and through selective interpretation of facts, events take on a life of their own. However you want to look at it, the end result is we are stuck with a situation we can do little to verify, so we live with and incorporate this into the fabric of our sport's "reality" and history.

This is where it all starts

You are what you eat!
You are what you read!
Garbage in garbage out!

I don't know what all this means but it came right out of my keyboard as I sat down to begin this journey with you.

This column is a new one for the Global Fly Fisher and it will evolve and grow. It may also flow smoothly, succumb to seasonal droughts and also run full spate as it runs from it's source to it's final destination. It
is unnamed at this time but I will give it a name when I think of something appropriate.