Biography
In the early 1970s I started fly fishing for trout. The city library
in Halifax had a great selection of fly fishing & tying books. Helen Shaw’s book, “Fly Tying”, is one
of the very best guides for a beginner and it helped me tremendously.
I really got hooked on fly fishing in
1974 when I caught my first Atlantic salmon on Nova Scotia’s St. Mary’s River. I caught it on a Cosseboom wet
fly that I tied myself, so that event increased my interest in fly tying.
I continued tying all my own flies and
read all I could find on the subject for several years, but tying flies had become a chore. In 1992 the St Mary’s River
Association hosted the Atlantic Salmon Federation’s Conclave. Guest fly tiers Eric Baylis, Ron Alcott, and Warren Duncan
showed me that I still knew very little about fly tying. As a fly tier, I was reborn.
Warren Duncan of Saint John,
New Brunswick was a great tier and a very generous & special man. His inspiration and support helped me become a commercial
fly tier and my fly tying improved a whole lot. Dunc is no longer with us, but his influence will always show in my work.
Two years later I took Mike Crosby
and Jim McCoul’s Classic Atlantic Salmon Fly Tying Workshop in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Over a weekend we tied a Jock Scott.
That added another dimension to my hobby, requiring much study and lots of practice.
Jim McCoul won first place in
Quebec’s FQSA fly tying world championship 4 years in a row. Jim and I became great friends and he helped me overcome
problems and gain proficiency in tying traditional salmon flies.
Retirement from my computer systems design career happened in
2001. In 2006 I won a fly creation contest sponsored by the Nova Scotia Federation Of Anglers & Hunters.
My entry was chosen to become Nova Scotia’s official fly, proclaimed in the provincial legislature in 2007.
I opened
my fly shop “River Magic” on the St. Mary’s River in 2007, making my hobby and my work one. Hope to see
you there.
Bill Carpan, River Magic
