Manitoba has fly fishing Silver Medalist!

Did you know that if you can get a young person to try fishing before he or she is eleven years of age the chances are pretty good they will do it for the rest of their lives. It’s no surprise then that Ryan Suffron turned a boyhood dream into reality.
Ryan grew up in Alberta and had a father that loved to fly fish. He got his first fly rod when he was eight years old, accompanying his dad on many a fishing adventure. After moving to Manitoba, Ryan decided to guide up north at a couple of fly-in fishing lodges, fine tuning his fishing skills, a fly rod in hand whenever the opportunity presented itself. Suffron’s most memorable experiences came at this time, guiding the Hayes River in search of massive brook trout. This experience of fishing moving water was to hold him in good stead at the recent Canadian Fly Fishing Championships held in Fernie, British Columbia. Part of the competition was held on the Elk River, one of the best cutthroat trout and bull trout waters in Canada. His guiding experiences on the Hayes taught him how to read moving water, increasing his understanding of how fish relate to current. Ryan consistently caught fish during the five sessions of the event and was in first place going into the last day. The fishing was extremely challenging but Ryan persisted to catch fish in all five sessions, an accomplishment only enjoyed by one other angler. Unfortunately he came up one fish short, winning the silver medal. Ryan’s team (Team Double Hauls) also took team silver during the event.
“ I am very proud and fortunate to have won a silver medal and contribute to a team medal as well, but the biggest honor is to have represented Manitoba and to bring home a medal in return.”
The three-day event saw 45 individual anglers from across Canada competing on the legendary Elk River and local still water, Summit Lake.
Ryan will also be competing in the 8th Canadian National Fly Fishing Championships, which will be hosted by the Parkland in Manitoba from May 24-29 in 2010. Ryan is also the Executive Director of the Manitoba Lodge and Outfitters Association.
FLY FISHING CONTEST FOR YOUTH :
If you want to have a chance to be the next Ryan Suffron, how about the contest the Manitoba Fly Fishers are running in conjunction with Manitoba Youth Angling! The winner will receive a four piece Scientific Anglers complete fly fishing package, along with a MFFA fly box containing two dozen flies tied by the Fly Fishers club members. A family membership to the MFFA for the 2010 year is also included so that the winner and their family can take part in the club activities throughout the year and learn to fly fish with the MFFA.
In a 100 words or less outline any experiences you might have had fly fishing or if you have never tried fly fishing but would like to learn tell us why.
Please submit your entry on line under the submissions button at http://www.youthangler.ca/. You must be a member to enter. If you have a picture to go along with your story even better!
Entries will close on November 30th and the winner will be announced on the Youth Angler website by December 15th.
Judges for the contest will be the Executive of the Manitoba Fly Fishers and their decision will be final.
For more information about the Manitoba Fly Fishing Association visit them on line at http://www.mffa.org/.

Bottom bouncers and crankbaits

There is no substitute for spending time on the water, especially if you can work the same body of water for the same species. Accomplished anglers and guides can then pattern and increase success rates for both themselves and clients.
On a recent trip to Tobin Lake for walleye I decided to head up with an open mind, a number of presentation options thought through and accounted for. I was also fishing with two other accomplished anglers, anglers who had thousands of hours on the water and who also liked to try different techniques that might improve success. Now Tobin is well known to us, in fact I had been fishing it since 1979 but over time things change. Fish become conditioned to certain presentations if there is a lot of fishing pressure and improvisation and hard work usually helps.
After a slow day one on the main lake, we moved back into the river itself. On the first part of the day we decided to run bottom bouncers and spinners, a throw back to the early days of fishing this particular body of water. In 1989 my partner and I won the Premiers Cup tournament using bottom bouncers and big blades running the boat with current. Talk about good memories as I hooked up with the first seven walleyes caught that day using the exactly same technique. In fact it turned out to be an awesome day with more that forty walleyes caught as we found aggressive fish everywhere. Later that day we made an adjustment that capped things off. I had made sure to pack some three way swivels and floating crankbaits.
This was a switch over from straight power trolling using deep divers and leadcore or fireline. Man, talk about success! On our first pass with Berkley Frenzy Minnow Baits, we had on nine fish, the biggest ten pounds! Over the next couple of days we switched over to bottom bouncers instead of three ways. This allowed us to contour troll the edges of the channel a little better. Not only that we only had to let out forty one feet of line to get our baits were we wanted them in 25 feet of water. The applications of a bottom bouncer/floating crankbait setup has tremendous application for river fishing and contour trolling not to mention the wide range of crankbaits you can now use. Give it a try, you will not be disappointed. Just remember to not use too long a snell, thirty six inches is usually plenty.

The big guy likes fishing

Todd MacCulloch is one big guy and he likes to fish! Recently I had the opportunity to take Todd out for a day fishing on Lake Winnipeg. Todd had spent his high school years in Winnipeg, starring as a basketball players and part time comedian (by his own admission) at Shaftesbury High School. You see Todd is no ordinary basketball player or individual for that matter. He is a legitimate seven footer and played in two NBA Finals! Before we get to that, lets back it up a bit. Todd grew up fishing as a young lad in Prince Albert Saskatchewan, his dad a pilot with the RCMP. Maybe that is why we got along so well on this cold wet day. Prince Albert is also the place I developed such a passion for the sport.

What’s it like having a guy that is over seven feet tall in your boat? Crowded I found out! Friend Bryan Gray had lined up a fishing day with Todd when he was back in town to be inducted to the Manitoba Basketball hall of Fame. Bryan is not exactly short at six feet nine inches so when I loaded them in the boat at Pine Falls I had a massive wind break as we headed the seven miles out to Traverse Bay.
We began our fishing day at the first island on the right as you come into Traverse. Marking a few scattered fish in twelve feet, I handed Todd a jigging rod rigged with some power bait and a shiner. He quickly had the first fish of the day on, a small walleye but lost him at the side of the boat. The guide (me) had forgot to put the net in the boat! After a couple of drifts we had four walleye in the well and Todd was still trying to figure out how to lift these fish over the side of the gunnels, walleye number two of Todds once again escaping.
After a quick tour around the north side of the river channel, we rigged up some crankbaits and headed south onto the mud flats in the middle of the bay. Using medium diving Berkley Frenzy lures in silver, blue and chartreuse we had non-stop action. As the day went on, and Todd got more soaked he kept relating story after story about his experiences in the NBA with the likes of Allan Iverson and various other stars. One of his favorite memories involved fellow Canadian NBA star Steve Nash whom he played with on the Canadian National team. Todd vividly recalls the game in 1999 when they beat Puerto Rico to qualify for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Todd was having a terrible game but Steve Nash took it on his shoulders to win the game that qualified the team. Todd then came through in the final against the U.S Dream team to score 22 points to go along with the 16 rebounds. It was this game that got him drafted into the NBA.
Here are some excerpts from a few of the stories he related to me:
Larry Brown and Allan Iverson: As long as the team was winning and playing defense Larry didn’t mind Iverson taking 30 shots a game.
On Allan Iverson: A good friend and always supported Todd
On Tony Kukoc: traded to the 76ers in 1999, he had played on a number of championship teams with the Bulls and Michael Jordan. Todd would also sit on the team plane ( a customized jet) with Tony. Tony was not a talker and only allowed Todd one question a plane flight…When asked what it was like playing with Michael Jordan, Tony replied “very, very good!
Todd played Division One NCAA basketball at Washington State, then was drafted in the second round of the 1999 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. I can remember watching Todd in the NBA Finals, first with the 76ers, then the next year when he played for the New York Nets. Both times Todd came up against the formidable Shaquille O’Neal.
On playing against Shaq, Todd relates their first meeting the finals..Todd was subbed in and on the first rebound, Shaq went right over Todd and landed his elbow on Todds collarbone. As Todd crumpled to the floor, he could hear his coach yelling at him to get up…and his teammates laughing at him…Todd did say things got a little better after that, but says Shaq is so strong it was amazing.
Todd now lives in Seattle, Washington, is married, with a eighteen month old daughter. He is planning to continue his career in broadcasting with pro pinball as his hobby. Todd was forced to retire early in his career because of a neuromuscular disorder in his feet that made it difficult for him to walk, let alone run. Todd says he is better now and is even able to play nine holes of golf.