Dry Fly Eat Of The Year

In keeping with our philosophy of "We Like It On Top", this image turns our crank.

For more cool stuff, go to http://www.occhioinc.com/

Tarpon For Life

One must have a healthy mix of Rock and Roll and Jumping Tarpon for a healthy mind and body.

Old video from Los Jardines de la Reina.....

Fish Porn Vol 1 Part 4 from Mike Gifford on Vimeo.

Trico Fish Sequence

Greetings from the Haida Gwai....Thinking of you!

Rising Fish on Tricos August 9, 2010 from Mike Gifford on Vimeo.

Rising Fish Video

Rising fish footage from this past August.

More reruns cause I'm fishing!

Rising Fish, Bow River August 29, 2010 from Mike Gifford on Vimeo.

Bugs, Browns, and Big Eats

Replay of video done last summer by Caitlin.....

End of season reruns cause I'm fishing!

Bugs, Browns and Big Eats from Mike Gifford on Vimeo.

Merry Christmas!!!!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

All the best of the season from all of us at Country Pleasures.

Hope Santa was good to you... and thank you for supporting us this past year.

Thanks,

Mike, Maureen, Kevin, Caitlin, and Brent

We might be a little lacking in our blog for the next week.... our official Blogster (me)

is going to fish the Yakoun with Mrs. Blogster. Apologies, but it really is research

and development. More fodder to post and photos to look at (hopefully).

Twelve Days Of Christmas - Twelve Drummers Drumming

For the twelfth day of Christmas, a special gift from Country Pleasures........

Print this page, bring it in to the shop December 27 through 31,

and get 15% off any Sage or Orvis rod in stock.

Fly Tying How-To Series

The next in the series....

The Babine Special Intruder

Tying The Babine Special from Mike Gifford on Vimeo.

Twelve Days Of Christmas - Eleven Pipers Piping

Buy any style 2011 Fishing Calendar, get a second style FREE!

New Stuff Arrived In The Last While

Rio Head Case
New for 2011

The ultimate shooting head case with tough 6mm storage bags arranged to allow easy viewing and flipping of heads, as well as mesh pockets for storing leaders and tippet spools. The bags are large enough to hold regular shooting heads, skagit shooting heads and long Scandinavian shooting heads and 10 bags per case leave plenty of room for a varied selection of RIO heads. Additional storage bags can be purchased in sets of 5.

Color: Black/Chartreuse



Rio Skagit MOW Tips

Skagit MOW Tips are exceptionally easy casting, fish catching machines.

MOW Tips are based on the type of sink tips that Skagit maestros Mike McCune, Scott O’Donnell and Ed Ward have designed and used for years. Not only are the MOW tips exceptionally easy to cast, but they also give anglers far more precision in depth control than has ever been possible in the past.

The MOW tip concept is simple; keep the tip length the same, regardless of how long the sinking section is. The majority of MOW tips are 10 ft long and feature a combination of floating and sinking line that gives anglers the greatest depth control. The six tips are as follows:

1. 10 ft floating tip

2. 7.5 ft of floating line seamlessly integrated into 2.5 ft of sinking tip

3. 5 ft of floating line seamlessly integrated into 5 ft of sinking tip

4. 2.5 ft of floating line seamlessly integrated into 7.5 ft of sinking tip

5. 10 ft level sinking tip.

6. 12.5 ft level sinking tip

Each tip features RIO’s new skinny welded loop in both ends for the easiest and fastest rigging.

There are three different sets of MOW tips availble, Heavy, Medium and Light. The Heavy MOW tips utilize T-14 in all sinking sections. The Medium MOW tips utilize T-11 and the Light MOW tips utilize T-8 for all sinking sections. As a guideline, Heavy MOW Tips are best on Skagit line of 575 grains and heavier, with the Medium MOW Tips most suitable for Skagit lines between 475 and 575 grains and the Light MOW Tips being most ideal on Skagit lines lighter than 475 grains. Though this is a guideline, fly size is actually most important and big flies will cast easiest on the Heavy Tips, while light flies will respond best on the Light MOW Tips.

Skagit MOW tips are perfect for fishing through a pool at a variety of depths. An angler can literally “mow” through the pool - starting off shallow when necessary, and then changing the tip to fish a little deeper, changing again to get deeper still and again until all depths have been thoroughly covered.

Executive Float Trips

For those of you who are torn between screwing off to go fishing, and keeping up with work......


Available by special order at Calgary's SECOND friendliest fly shop!

Twelve Days Of Christmas - Ten Lords-A-Leaping

Today until Christmas, purchase any Simms gear items and get a

Simms Microfibre Cap for FREE!

Twelve Days Of Christmas - Nine Ladies Dancing

Saturday, December 18 and Sunday, December 19, purchase a

Simms Headwaters Chest Pack and receive a "Fishing Supplies" package

at no charge. Includes 2 Leaders, 2 Tippet Spools, Aquel Floatant,

Loon Streamline Line Cleaner, and 2 Thingamabobber Indicators.

Twelve Days Of Christmas - Eight Maids-A-Milking

Fly Fisher Stocking Stuffer Idea!

Simms DeYoung Artwork Go Cup, Leader, Tippet, Indicator,

and a selection of flies.... All only $44.95

Twelve Days Of Christmas - Seven Swans A Swimming

A GREAT CHHRISTMAS STOCKING STUFFER IDEA!

SOUTHERN ALBERTA BIG BUG BOX

A large selection of the "big bugs" we use in this part of the world.

Dries, Streamers, and Nymphs....all housed in a top quality

Cliff's Bugger Barn Box. Only $77.95

Bow River Fishing Report

This pretty much sums it up. Photo taken by Zach Southgate at Policeman's the other day.

We need a "Mother of all Chinooks!".



You'll notice the ducks are having a good time. This is due to the fact that the river is currently available in several flavours...Coke, Sprite, Orange Explosion, Berry Bomb, and Blueberry Squishee. They love their Slurpees.

Twelve Days Of Christmas...Six Geese-A-Laying

Redington Pursuit Reels...Quality without breaking the bank!!!

Disc Drag reels up to 9 weight under $80

A reel with lightweight construction and aluminum frame for durability.

FEATURES:

•Large arbor design for easier and quicker retrieve
•Durable aluminum frame construction and easy to change spool
•Easily converts to right or left hand retrieve
•Strong disc drag system for great fish stopping power
•Color: Matte Charcoal
•Comes with cloth reel bag

Fly Tying How-To Series

First of a bunch more fly tying videos.

How to tie the Hoh Bo Spey.

Very easy, very effective!

And we'll try it with sound this time!

How To Tie The Hoh Bo Spey from Mike Gifford on Vimeo.

Devotion?

Last May on my spring steelhead trip, one of the rivers we ventured up had a bit of a problem near the bottom of the river, there was a very, very old tree (actually many trees) that had interlocked themselves into the river, with no way around it. We managed to get around it on the way up (a story i cannot tell here, for fear of my mother imploding if she ever heard of it), but had to find a way down on the way home

After a good 2 hours with the chainsaw, and virtually no progress, we this is what we resorted to...Gotta love UHMW! We did this for another 4 days (both in and out), and only got stuck once!

Oh, and it was totally worth it!

Twelve Days Of Christmas....Five Golden Rings

Sunday and Monday, December 12 and 13 only.

All remaining inventory Simms Pursuit Sandal 40% OFF!!

Even More Messing With Nature

Damn! More Tarpon Video

We Love Tarpon from Mike Gifford on Vimeo.

Twelve Days Of Christmas...On the Fourth Day

Friday, December 10th and Saturday, December 11th only.....

Buy One Simms Water Bottle and get a second of equal value for 50% OFF.

Getting Ready To Travel - First Aid Kit

Second instalment of these posts... Some items you may not have thought of but can save your trip:

The first aid kit:

One thing before we start...don't go overboard with your kit. Old medications you haven't used for years, duplicate or redundant medications,etc. all lead to more weight and space and more importantly, in some foreign airports it can lead to severe delays.

- Everything gets stored in a little Pelican 1050 case. Even though I don't normally take this in my boat/skiff bag I prefer the sealed cases.

-Personal medications/prescriptions that you're currently taking.

- Tylenol or equivalent pain medication.

- Sinus/cold medication/ night time cold medications are good as they knock you out and you can get a good nights sleep.

- Cipro (trade name for Ciprofloxin)...have to ask your doctor for this one. Should you get a GI bug from bad water, food, etc. this one will save your trip. I've only had to use mine once but I'm glad I had it. Have had to give to others a few times, works every time. Not supposed to go out in the sun when taking but it's never done anything to me ( ha ha!).

- Bandage Kit...few different sizes of band-aids as well as moleskin. Obviuos but it's amazing how many people forget. And the moleskin can keep you out on the flat if you get a booty blister.

- Polysporin...if you get cut in certain parts of the world infections can be a problem. Coral scrapes can be really bad as well. Always put Polysporin on before bandage. And re-dress every day.

-Immodium...another "must have". If you don't know what it's for, go to the drug store, read the box, it will come to you fairly quickly.

- Nasal Inhaler....If you come down with a cold it's nice to have. vicks is a good one. Also, some people react badly to air conditioning in their rooms in the tropics. This will clear you out for a while.

- Spare Lip Balm...It still amazes me how many people run out of this stuff on a trip. ever had sunburned lips? I have, never again!

- Cough drops...obvious use. In combination with cold medicine. Also has very interesting effects when combined with most brands of Rum.

- Everything packs neatly in it's place back in the case. Goes on every trip with me. I am often called upon to give out some of these items as well as use them myself.

ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOU MAINTAIN AND REFILL KIT WHEN YOU GET HOME. DON'T PUT IT OFF!

Twelve Days Of Christmas...On The Third Day

Three French Hens...and between now and December 24, any purchase over $500 enters your name in a draw for a guided day on the Bow with Mike Gifford and Kevin Peterson.

Top 5 Christmas Gifts

There seems to be a bunch more people out Christmas shopping. The big favourites this season so far for under the tree:

Simms G3 Guide Wallet: The perfect wallet for the fly fisher.

Rivershed Cardigan: The new color in black seems to be a big hit.

Sage DXL Typhoon Boat Bag: Awesome! That's all we can say. Take a look, you'll see.

Waterwoks Lamson Litespped Reels: Maybe the best reels for the money made today. Even suitable for saltwater and Spey (without breaking the bank).

Patagonia R1 Pullovers: Superb layering item. very wicking, very breathable, great looking.

Twelve Days Of Christmas...On The Second Day

Instead of two Turtle Doves (no one seems to know what they are any way). Until December 9, buy a pair of Simms Guide Boots, get a set of Simms Guard Socks at no charge.

Christmas Island

After a couple of years off, Country Pleasures is doing another trip to Christmas Island.
We took a little break when there was no jet service to the island but all is back and running.

This is a very reasonably priced trip compared to a lot of others around the world and is a very "target rich environment" for Bonefish and Trevally.

The trip will be at Christmas from November 8-15, 2011. This will offer us the monthly cycle of the largest Bonefish coming up on certain flats following the full moon.

CP first started going to Christmas Island in 1986 and no shop in Canada knows this destination better than we do!

Perfect for the seasoned flats angler or the first time flats angler!
Give us a call or send us an e-mail for more information.

Christmas Island Slide Show from Mike Gifford on Vimeo.

Spring Steelhead in Terrace BC

While most think of steelheading on the Skeena as a purely fall pursuit, the spring season on the Skeena tributaries is possibly my favorite.Here's a few reasons why.

.You get to fish some REALLY cool water: A lot of the tiny coastal streams do not see a fall run of steelhead, and thus do not get the publicity of the famous rivers. On the lesser known rivers, you may never run into another angler for weeks at a time, and still have the best fishing of your life. The scenery will blow your mind as well.

However, the fish in these rivers (and creeks) can be some of the biggest of the year, and are typically very aggressive to the fly. There is also no commercial fishing at the time on the Skeena, and thus increasing your odds.

.
. Hot fish. Most of the spring fish are in and out of their spawning streams in relatively little time, and aren't traveling hundreds of kilometers before you encounter them. They fight as hard as any we've encountered.

Did i mention COOL water?

.

.
You might just run into one of these guys. The vast majority of the Skeena's monster kings travel to the Kalum river, and are a welcome bycatch to steelhead.

Nicholas Dean runs out of the Yellow Cedar Lodge. We've been lucky enough to spend a few nights here, and it is an absolutely stunning locale and operation.

There are a few openings for some dates in April at Nicholas Dean, and they are very affordable. This is a perfect place to introduce yourself (and become addicted) to steelheading.

Give us a shout if you want some more information.