|
Staff Biographies:
Kelly Laatsch, General Manager
Kelly provides the overall management direction for St.Mary Angler, as well as being a full time guide. Kelly was born in southeastern B.C. and has lived in Kimberley since 1997. Kelly has been fly-fishing and tying flies since he was a boy. He grew up in southern Alberta and spent much of his youth learning the art of fly-fishing on the Crowsnest, Oldman and Castle rivers. He has been guiding in southeastern British Columbia since 1992.
Kelly is very serious about his approach to guiding. He prides himself on his ability to give fishers the best opportunity possible to hook and land fish in a comfortable and safe environment.
Kelly believes an angler should be proficient in all types of fly fishing techniques (dry, nymph and streamer) if one wishes to become an accomplished fisher. His rationale is that one never knows when you need to use one of the techniques over the others because that is what the conditions dictate. Kelly likes to think of it as a balanced approach where one has a broad understanding even if one tends to use one particular technique more than the others. And this is the broad based approach that Kelly has taken in the development of his craft.
Kelly has worked hard to develop his skill-set, both as a fisher and as a communicator and instructor. At the same time he is aware of the need to continue to learn, adapt and listen to keep his skills sharp. Kelly describes his main strength as a guide as his ability to, “get fishers into a good situation to hook fish.”
As the General Manager of the St.Mary Angler for over 20 years, he is proud of the level of service provided and the fishing venues that he can offer to clients.
Kelly is also an accomplished fly tier with numerous fly patterns to his credit.
In terms of outreach and teaching, Kelly has given seminars at tradeshows since 1994. He is a regular guest speaker on the O'Loughlin Tradeshow circuit and makes annual presentations at the Seattle, Portland and Central Oregon Sportsmen shows. He has made presentations at other shows in Denver, Phoenix, Portland and Tacoma. Some of the topics include: casting techniques, fly tying techniques, river fishing techniques, as well as discussing the unique stream fishing opportunities of southeastern B.C.
Kelly has also made presentations to numerous fly fishing clubs in the West about fishing in the Kootenays. Some of the locations include; Vancouver Washington, Spokane, Seattle, Tacoma and Portland.
Kelly has fished on most of the major trout streams and rivers of the West in both Canada and the United States. In addition to the rivers of southeastern B.C., he has fished the rivers of southern Alberta. Kelly has spent time on the San Juan River in New Mexico; the Madison, Bitterroot and Gallatin rivers in Montana; the Deschutes and John Day rivers in Oregon, as well as the rivers of Washington's Olympic Peninsula, to name only a few.
Kelly’s lake fishing experience is equally extensive. He has fished most of the quality fishing lakes of the Kootenays, many of the lakes of the Kamloops region of the interior of B.C., as well as on the high desert lakes of New Mexico and Arizona. Kelly has also spent time fly-fishing the saltwater species of the Florida Keys, Belize, the Bahamas, Christmas Island and Mexico.
In describing why he is drawn to the waters of Southeastern British Columbia, Kelly says it is the, ‘breathtaking scenery, relatively low angler pressure, and great fishing”, that draws him here.
In terms of what he sees as the biggest fishing challenge in the area, Kelly says it is the Upper Columbia River. “The rainbows on the Columbia are the most challenging, but their size, fight and beauty make them worth the effort!”
Booking Speaking Engagements:
Kelly is available to make presentations or teaching seminars to your club or association outside of the guiding season. The cost will depend on the location of the presentation as transportation and accommodation costs are part of his fee. In addition to more technical training seminars, Kelly has three new presentations he is more than happy to give, these are titled; "Wild Rainbows of the Upper Columbia", "Cutthroat Dreams" and "Great Trout Waters of Western Canada". Please contact Kelly directly at 1-800-667-2311 to talk about potential topics, logistics, etc.
John Kendal, Guide
John (aka Big John) has lived in the Kimberley area for over 30 years and has been guiding in Southeastern B.C. for 14 years.
He started fly-fishing around the age of nine after a friend of the family took him fly-fishing to Powers Creek in Westbank, B.C. - a tributary of Okanagan Lake. John has been hooked on fishing from that point on. In discussing John’s love for fishing with his father, it is apparent John was a “fishing nut from age four.”
Initially John was apprehensive about guiding because of his concern that it would turn his passion for fishing into a “job”. But after accepting the invitation to guide from Kelly, John really enjoyed the experience and has found that it does not diminish his passion for fishing at all.
John’s approach to guiding anglers comes with the same level of enthusiasm and patience he shows when taking family or friends out for a float. Johns wants to ensure everyone on his trips are comfortable, has a good time out on the water and is given a good opportunity to get into fish.
In the course of making hundreds of trips down the St.Mary and Elk rivers, John has gleaned a tremendous amount of knowledge about what motivates our population of Westslope Cutthroat Trout. In particular, John has acquired an extensive understanding of how to dry fly fish for cuts. Cutthroat trout take flies differently than rainbows as they take a lot more of their food off the surface so the approach to fishing cutthroat is unique.
John brings a lot of patience to his guiding. He has been involved in coaching youth sports for more than 40 years. This extensive experience has provided him with the crossover skill to teach and coach fishers, men and woman alike, with care and dedication. John wants all his fishers to enjoy the sport as much as he does. John grew up fly-fishing the lakes in the Okanagan and Kamloops area of South Central B.C where he developed a great understanding of stillwater fishing techniques. John moved to Kimberley in 1979 and fell in love with fly-fishing the rivers of southeastern B.C. Since then he has been dry fly-fishing the St.Mary, Elk, Bull, Skookumchuk, and Kootenay rivers where he has been perfecting his technique ever since. Over the years he has had the opportunity to fish lakes and rivers all across B.C.
In responding to the question of “Why John is drawn to the waters of Southeastern British Columbia?”, he says it is because, “This part of British Columbia has the whole package – the rugged mountains, lots of absolutely beautiful pristine streams, low fishing pressure and of coarse, those gorgeous wild cutthroat that so generously take a dry fly.”
John’s favorite place to fish in the Kootenays is the Skookumchuck River which has a special place in his heart.
|
