Seasons of a Fly Fisher

Description

Brian Smith is a freelance outdoor writer who has been an accomplished fly tier, rod builder and fly fishing enthusiast for over fifty years. His specialty is fly fishing for trout in British Columbia’s lakes and streams and the foothills’ rivers of Southern Alberta, and chasing steelhead and salmons in the watercourses of Northwest BC. He will readily admit his first love is for trout that come freely to the dry fly. Brian credits this life-long passion to the pioneer work of the late Master Angler Jack Shaw, who was his friend and mentor during his formative fly fishing years while living in Kamloops during the 1970s.

Smith’s early work appeared in BCWF Outdoor Edge magazine, Fly Fishing and Tying Journal, the Canadian Fly Fisher magazine, and the Art of BC Fly Fishing 2005 Calendar. He was featured in Art Lingren’s book Contemporary Fly Patterns of BC, donated fly patterns to the late Bob Jones and Paul Marriner’s recent publication A Compendium of Canadian Fly Patterns and was a sponsor and contributor to the publication of a collection of Jack Shaw’s diaries titled The Pleasure of His Company. Brian also authored quarterly magazine articles for Northword Magazine for five years. He was recognized as Contributor of the Year in 1997 for donations of fly fishing articles to the BC Wildlife Federation publication Outdoor Edge magazine and in 2008 was awarded the Jack Shaw Fly Tying Award by the BC Federation of Fly Fishers, an honour given to “that BCFFF member that has excelled in the art and craft of fly tying”. His first book Fly Fishing BC’s Interior was published by Caitlin Press in 2009, followed with his second book Seasons of a Fly Fisher in 2013. Essential Fly Patterns for Lakes and Streams is his third.

Brian, 71, is the current President of Polar Coachman Fly Fishers in Prince George and a long-time member of the BC Wildlife Federation, BC Federation of Fly Fishers and Steelhead Society of BC. He has four fly-fishing children and lives with his wife Lois in Prince George, BC.