Will joined the Fish Tales team in March of 2021, He has several years of retail experience and his fishing experiences span the globe. Will is originally from Australia but has lived in Canada for about a decade now. His Aussie life allowed him to spend a lot of time on the water - diving, instructing diving, captaining boats, and fishing. Since moving to Alberta, he's focused his passion for water on angling and tying for  local freshwater species. He's an accomplished tier and we are proud to have him as a member of the Fish Tales team. 

 How long have you been fishing? 45 years

How long have you been fly fishing? About 10 years (since coming to Canada)

How did you get started in fly fishing? I was intrigued by fly fishing at a very young age but there wasn't and still isn't much of it around where I grew up. It was at the very top of things to do upon arriving in Canada. And what better place than Calgary? You could say that I was immediately hooked.

 Favorite species?

                Freshwater – Brown Trout

                Saltwater - Barramundi

 Favorite water?

                Rivers and streams so far

Favorite technique? Dry fly

 Favorite flies?

Freshwater:  Parachute Adams, Pheasant Tail/Perdigon, Wooly Bugger.   

Saltwater: Poppers, Baitfish Streamers, Crab & Prawn Imitations

Favorite fishing book or DVD

1. “Stripped Down” The Brown Trout Project (Dave & Amelia Jensen) DVD
2.  Sight Fishing Trout Rivers (Dave & Amilia Jensen) DVD
3.  Blue Ribbon Bow (Jim McLennan) Book

Favorite Vise (as in the tool) Norvise

Favorite pattern to tie?

Hare's Ear, easy-to-tie but it works extremely well.

Favorite material and why?

CDC, it’s still quite new to me but I'm already liking the range of applications and different tying techniques for different effects.

Prefer to fish alone or with friends?

With friends. Sharing the experience with someone is more fun and I’m always looking to learn from people I fish with. Teaching and helping people have more fun and to take better care of the fish is very rewarding as well.

Two things you wouldn’t go fishing without (aside from rod, reel, line, flies)

Polarized sunglasses and a camera

Interesting anecdote (ie. Embarrassing moment with a fly rod, interesting story about something you caught, etc.)

Pre fly fishing for me but 1st day guiding in remote Northern Territory Australia, blue water game fishing and estuary fishing. We (guests and I) were in the Walker river chasing Barramundi with pretty large lures. Well within the first 5 minutes one of them buried a treble deep into my left butt cheek, barb and all. It took about half an hour to get it out. We then continued on to have a great day of fishing with lots of fish caught and some very happy guests with lots of stories to tell.

Most interesting (remote, distant, crowded, etc.) location you’ve fished.

“Groote Eylandt” (Island) Northern Territory Australia

 Your destination/species wishlist:

1. Amazon, Peacock Bass
2. South Africa, Tiger fish
3. Australia, a whole bunch of locations and species, I often think about what it would be like with a  fly rod, including my own family farm on the Nambucca River In NSW.

Given the opportunity who would you choose to fish with? Or someone who has inspired you as an angler/tyer/teacher/guide.

1. Dave & Amelia Jensen
2. Jim McLennan I have been a student of Jim’s in the early days of my fly fishing obsession and would love to fish with him again.
3. My new colleagues and guides here at Fish Tales Fly Shop, a great bunch of passionate and experienced professionals, all of them.