Jim McLennan
Jim McLennan
Jim has been active as an outdoor writer for over 40 years. He is the author of five books on fly fishing and frequently contributes to numerous outdoor magazines, including
Fly Fisherman
Fly Fusion
Gray's Sporting Journal
Outdoor Canada
Pheasants Forever Journal
Pointing Dog Journal,
Shooting Sportsman
Strung
The Alberta Fishing Guide
and more.
First time ever! All four books are now available.
Fly-Fishing Western Trout Streams is now back!
Complete your collection!
First time ever! All four books are now available.
Fly-Fishing Western Trout Streams is now back!
Complete your collection!
Trout Tracks - Essays on Fly Fishing
Trout Tracks - Essays on Fly Fishing
Drawn from 55 years of excessive obsession with trout, water, streams and flies, this collection of essays from Canada’s most widely read fly-fishing author since Roderick Haig-Brown reveals the depth of engagement that this sport engenders. His poised and polished words reveal the flaws and virtues of humanity, the strength of Mother Nature, the beautiful mystery that is a wild trout, and the obsessed’s inexplicable need to outsmart a creature with a brain the size of a pea.
Fly fishing is considered to be perhaps the most reflective and graceful of outdoor pursuits, and author Jim McLennan agrees - for the most part. In Trout Tracks are pieces on fly-fishing people and fly-fishing places, stories of quiet successes and louder failures, in sum revealing the soul of “the quiet sport.”
You won’t learn to cast farther or tie a knot faster, but if you’ve fly fished, or if you want to, you’ll smile and understand more clearly the seduction of wild trout in wild places.
Trout Tracks books are available.
If you'd like to order a signed copy send us an email.
Note: The Trout Tracks Book Launch was June 24 in Turner Valley.
We had a most enjoyable evening. Jim signed many books and Lynda sold her Wood Prints and Bug Mugs.
Thanks to all who helped make this a special evening for us. We are blessed!
Fly-Fishing Western Trout Streams
Fly-Fishing Western Trout Streams
FFWTS is now available. We are excited to once again offer this very informative book to all levels of fly fishers.
Forward by the late Leigh Perkins, CEO of Orvis Company
Contents:
1. Western Trout
2. Western Trout Streams
3. Fly Tackle for the West
4. Western Casting and Line Control
5. Reading Western Streams
6. Western Methods for the Wading Angler
7. Western Methods for the Driftboat Angler
8. Western Trout Stream Seasons
9. Western Hatches and Other Trout Food
10. Favourite Western Fly Patterns
11. Leftovers
Send us an email for your signed copy!
$32.00 gst and shipping included
Trout Streams of Alberta
Trout Streams of Alberta
Jim's best-selling book and a Canadian best seller, Trout Streams of Alberta is a winner of the
Andy Russell Nature Writing Award.
The book was out
of print for a number of years, but is now available again in a revised, updated edition.
Contains information on Alberta trout species,
trout habitat and requirements and fly patterns. There is a chapter on each watershed in Alberta, highlighting the history, fish, fishing methods, and access. Includes colour photos and a hatch chart for each watershed.
Cost: $26.00 Can. (including gst)
Water Marks
Thirty Years of Fly-Fishing Insight
Water Marks
Thirty Years of Fly-Fishing Insight
Water Marks is a collection Jim's best writing between
1981 and 2006.
Drawn from his magazine work
in that period, there are essays on the Where, Why, How, and Who of fly fishing.
Filled with colour photographs by Jim and Lynda McLennan
Cost: $26.00 Can. (including gst)
Fly Fishing Western Trout Streams Now available as e-book
Jim's book dealing with the types of fish, rivers, hatches and methods that are essential for fly fishing the rivers and streams of western North America in both the U.S. and Canada. It deals with freestone streams, tailwaters and spring creeks. There are hatch charts, fly photographs and discussions of essential tackle.
The print version has been unavailable for some time, but you can now get an electronic version. Visit your favourite source of e-books to get your copy.
For more information, send Jim an email.
Fly Fishing Western Trout Streams Now available as e-book
Jim's book dealing with the types of fish, rivers, hatches and methods that are essential for fly fishing the rivers and streams of western North America in both the U.S. and Canada. It deals with freestone streams, tailwaters and spring creeks. There are hatch charts, fly photographs and discussions of essential tackle.
The print version has been unavailable for some time, but you can now get an electronic version. Visit your favourite source of e-books to get your copy.
For more information, send Jim an email.
Out of Print Books
Out of Print Books
Two other of Jim's books, Blue Ribbon Bow (Lone Pine, 1987) and
Fly Fishing Western Trout Streams (Stackpole 2003) are currently out of print.
You might find copies online, at used bookstores or at your nearest library.
Articles and Stories by Jim McLennan
Articles and Stories by Jim McLennan
Not Catching
By Jim McLennan
“The fishing was fine, but the catching was a little slow.” How many times have you heard that old saw after asking someone how the fishing’s been? While the answer may be both clever and accurate, it’s amazing how many people actually expect a day on the water to have little in the way of “catching.” But it doesn’t have to be that way—finding success is often as simple as knowing what it is you’re not doing. Here are five of the most common sins of omission.
1. NOT treating fish as wild animals
From a fish’s perspective, you are the predator and it is the prey. And since fear always trumps hunger, a fish will consider it a life-threatening situation if you suddenly appear on the scene. This explains the one rule of angling that can never be broken: If you scare fish, you won’t catch fish. So, don’t barge into their world with noise and commotion. Instead, approach the water slowly and quietly, doing everything you can to avoid alerting the fish to your presence. On moving water, this might mean approaching from downstream to stay behind the fish, out of their sight. On still water, it often means shutting off the motor early and rowing or paddling quietly into position before casting.
2. NOT using the proper presentation
Many anglers just grab a lure or fly that appeals to them, or one that worked the last time they were out, and start randomly firing it into the water. This is what makes fishing a hope-for-the-best proposition for so many people. But you can vastly improve your chances for success by first gathering some general information about your quarry’s habits and habitat, and supplementing it with specifics on what the fish are likely to be feeding on when you’’re on the water. By consulting magazines, books, DVDs, friends, fishing shops and the Internet, you can then make an informed decision about what fly to use, and where to use it.
3. NOT fishing deep enough
If the fish are feeding on the surface, you’ll know it by the disturbances they make. But if they’re not up top, it’s a safe bet they’re on the bottom. A general rule in fishing is to make it easy for the fish to eat what you’re offering, so if the fish are deep, do what you must to get your fly down into their dining room. You may need to use a heavier fly or add weight to your leader. Whatever the case, you’ll have far more success putting your offering right in front of the fish rather than expecting them to swim up through the water column to take it.
4. NOT paying attention to conditions
Water levels and clarity play a large role in determining where fish will be found and when they will feed. And because fish are cold-blooded, water temperature is the one factor that trumps nearly all others—fish feed very little if the water temperature is significantly above or below their happy zone. The weather also affects the behaviour of fish, as well as their prey. For example, certain aquatic creatures that trout eat are more active and available on cloudy days than on sunny ones. Remember, though, that weather and water conditions affect different species of fish in different ways, and a little research into this will pay dividends.
5. NOT switching things up
The worst thing an angler can do is stay in one spot for hours and repeat a method that’s ineffective. If what you’re doing isn’t working, change something. Try switching flies, or varying your retrieve or the depth you’re fishing at. You can even change your tactics altogether and move to a different part of the lake or stream. If the fish are going to respond to what you’re offering they’ll usually do so within your first few casts, or not at all. Long-term repetition rarely changes their minds. Trying something new, however, just might.
Illustration by Lynda McLennan