A She’s So Fly Fly Fishing Travel Destination Spot Light - Canada Steelhead and Trout

There is little doubt that Western Canada, especially the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta, are some of the best bargains in the fly fishing travel world, and offers some of the finest trout and steelhead fishing on the North American continent.


The air is clear, the skies are bluer than can be imagined and the waters team with trout and steelhead. The U.S. dollar is strong and goes a long way towards the purchase of a first-class outdoor experience that is fast disappearing in other places.


Sparsely populated British Columbia and Alberta are surprisingly easy to get to from the lower 48, as well as economical and The Fly Shop is fortunate to represent the very best of the wilderness destinations in the two provinces.


The lodges and outfitters that we have assembled in British Columbia and Alberta are some of the finest in the angling world. They represent a broad spectrum of angling opportunities from classic steelhead fly-fishing to stalking native rainbows slurping dries on a clear mountain stream. All of the lodges are family operated and owned and offer intimate angling experiences with very limited rod space during the short, condensed Canadian summer. Common to all our outfitters is a genuine concern that each angler's dreams are realized; total commitment to meeting and/or exceeding their trip expectations.


Canada manages wilderness differently than its North American neighbors. The progressive stewards of their tens of millions of acres of provincial and federal wild lands have analyzed each river and stream, every wilderness area, both provincial and federal parks and forests. Then they limit the number of commercial outfitters, guides, lodges, fishing and hunting licenses and guided hunters and fishers.


What that meant to people like the Stewart and Hodson Families on the Dean River, the Harringtons on the Blackwater or Collingwood Family in Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Park was that after decades of work (and generations of guiding and outfitting) they were allocated a permanent number of guide days on their respective waterways and/or territories.


What that means to fly fishermen headed to those lodges and camps is that when they arrive they’re insured the quality experience that they came so far to enjoy. And when they finish their coffee in the morning after a hearty breakfast and head off to their favorite pools or runs, it’s very unlikely that they will be sharing the water with anyone.


In addition to setting aside huge tracks of land and limiting access and use, wilderness managers in Canada classify unique and extraordinary waterways, (river and streams considered to be the finest of their kind in the province and perhaps the world) in effort to keep them wild and pristine. A Class 1 designation of specific water translates into the finest fishery resource of its kind in the entire province.


I invite you to browse through the Canadian fly fishing outfitters that The Fly Shop has assembled over the last 30 years.  The Fly Shop is a great resource for fly fishing travel destinations...read more...