River Talk

Born and raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Mike Crosby has owned and operated a number of successful businesses over the past 25 years.  Among them were a sporting goods franchise, a photography gallery and 'Mike's Tackle Shop', a specialty fishing store that combined his business expertise with his passion for Atlantic salmon fishing.

Mike’s new book, "River Talk" is a compilation of tales and tips that could only stem from a lifetime of fishing on the river. Mike Crosby has spent more than 35 salmon seasons wandering Atlantic Canada and the Gaspe Coast of Quebec. He is known amongst friends, family and colleagues as "the legend". His obsession for salmon fishing has ultimately given him a new angle on the sport, one he calls "River Talk".

Mike tells of his early days learning to tie flies, and in particular, his experience with close to 5,000 MacIntoshes in the air: 

“I can remember getting a small fly tying kit for Christmas when I was 11 or 12 years old. I know that I used everything that came with the kit before I actually tied a fly that looked like a fly. It was trial and error all the way until one day my father arranged for me to get a lesson from Halifax real estate developer and consummate outdoorsman, Ben McCrea, who lived down the street. I don’t remember much about growing up but I do remember sitting with Ben and learning how to spin hair to make a bug. With that basic level of instruction, and several other tricks of the fly tying trade that I was able to learn from Ben, I started to practice, practice, and practice”.

There really is no substitute for practice, and after thousands of attempts, I finally began to tie flies that not only caught fish, but had even started to look pretty good. I managed to solicit a commercial order from a store called Scotia Sports in Downtown Halifax. Every day, all winter long, I would be up at the crack of dawn wrapping flies. By spring that year I had tied about 5,000, most of them MacIntosh-style dry flies. This was an accomplishment. I was proud of my work and I was ready to collect my cash. I called Murray Clements who had ordered the flies and we arranged a delivery time. I packed the flies by pattern into empty pizza boxes and got my mother to drive me downtown. I was pretty excited as we pulled up and I realized that enough money to allow me to fish all summer long was only a couple hundred feet away. I don’t think Mum or I will ever forget what happened next — as I stepped from the car, a gust of wind funneled down between the office buildings, there were hundreds of dry flies swirling around Duke Street. They blew everywhere and I was absolutely devastated. By the time I reached the store I had managed to recover all but about 300 of them but it was a sight I will never forget.”

Mike has set many fishing records over the years, and as a result, has certainly earned his reputation as one of the best anglers in the world. He currently lives in Halifax with his wife, Ann, and their children, Mark and Heather.
 

The photo is from the book, taken on Nova Scotia’s Margaree River. “River Talk” is available from www.mikecrosby.com/.

Please send comments and suggestions to slim@rivermagic.ca

Please stay on the line …