Bob MacDonald is a highly skilled angler and fly tyer. He’s President
of the Mulgrave and Area Lakes Enhancement Association, an affiliate of the Eastern SportFish Association (ESA). To provide
more local sportfishing opportunities, he’s operated a small fish hatchery at Mulgrave, Nova Scotia for several years
and implemented many unique and effective habitat improvements.
Ever since a storm surge adversely impacted the
Salmon River estuary some years ago, Bob has pondered restoration strategies, finally settling on a viable plan. This November,
with cooperation and funding from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Bob's plan was implemented.
The work involved removal of gravel from the channel where Salmon River empties into Chedabucto Bay. The
project took only about 1 1/2 days.
Bob reports that the water level has since dropped
in the estuary and the tides are once again flushing it as in the past. After the winter’s ice and water completes the
job and nature takes its course, we hope to find healthy populations of shellfish and also an abundance of baitfish needed
to maintain our sportfishery.
Salmon River is truly one of Nova Scotia’s
gems – thanks to Bob for polishing it!
Damian Welsh
is a recent graduate of the Nova Scotia community college with a diploma in business administration in marketing. He also
holds diplomas in business information technology and computer systems management and support. He has just accepted a new
position with big Brothers big sisters Cape Breton as their public relations and recruitment specialist.
The event we mentioned began as a class project for an elective course on volunteerism during the 2011 school
year. Damian and his teammates decided to produce a fundraising poster for a local sport fish organization.
Fly tyers from the nsflyguy.ca website quickly answered his call for help. The resulting gorgeous poster of Nova
Scotia Salmon Flies presents the work of folks from Ontario to Newfoundland. The project was inspired by Damian’s passion
for fly tying and fishing. He and his classmates show their generous sides when they offered the poster has a fund-raising
vehicle for the Eastern Sport Fish Association (ESA). Inspired by the overwhelming support for the poster project the idea
for a book was born.
Damian's fly tying skill has brought him much acclaim. Recently he was invited by Michael Radencich,
the world's most foremost classic Salmon flied tyer and instructor of our time, to tie10 flies for his latest book. It
happens that Mulgrave’s Bob MacDonald also had the same honor and Bob’s exceptionally fine work appears in Damian’s
book and poster.
Damian's work has appeared in several magazines and books and his flies have even won awards. He
is a guest fly tyer and speaker at the annual Dieppe Fly Fishing Forum in New Brunswick and he enjoys sharing his fly tying
knowledge with others whenever he can. Damian’s work has recently been the subject of Scottish artist Sarah Briston’s
paintings.
He’s also led fly tying workshops at the local River Magic fly fishing shop, and in 2010 Damian appeared on the Fishing with Friends
TV show on EastLink TV tying a classic Scottish Dee fly called the Akroyd with the show’s host, Steve Clapperton.
Many of the fly tyers presented in the book are also his friends. When you read it you'll see why.
For more info or to buy the book’s standard edition or the iphone/ipad version see http://www.blurb.com/my/book/detail/2711269
There is also a very special Limited Edition version that is signed, numbered and includes a salmon fly tied
by the author, this version is limited to a run of 125 and are selling fast, you can reserve one by emailing the author at:
riversedgeflyfishing@gmail.com
The fundraising poster will be available by week’s end from the River Magic fly fishing shop
in Stillwater or from the River Magic’s web store at:
http://www.rivermagic.ca
Please send comments and suggestions to:
slim@rivermagic.ca
Please stay on the line …
