S4E11 Home Waters Fly Fishing with Joel Cates

A couple of years ago I met Joel on a remote foothills stream. Then again this summer, I met him, on the same water. Neither of us visits this river often, so I took it as a sign that I needed to follow up with him to try to fish together.

One afternoon, not long ago, I found myself driving into Joel's yard at the Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary near Cochrane, Alberta. The sanctuary, with the hard work of founder Georgina, and Joel, has become a thriving safe space for neglected and abused wolf cross dogs. It is a very popular tourist attraction that provides the money that is necessary to look after the dogs properly along with the huge tracts of land that allow them to live freely and safely. It is quickly obvious the amount of hard work and passion that goes into their sanctuary.

When the tour is over and the chores are complete, Joel and I hop into the truck. In less than an hour, we are standing stream-side on Joel's favourite trout water and we start fishing.  It is well after dark, late into the evening by the time we are finished.

A few Cuttbow Trout were brought to the net and we had a great time. It was really interesting to hear about Joel's struggles to teach himself to fly fish. I am sure that many of us can relate. But what was even more interesting was to learn about Joel's talent for making machines move fast on the race track. Joel is a former national champion rally driver and has been successful in racing snow machines and dirt bikes also.

I had a great time fishing with Joel and getting to know him better. I suspect that you will feel the same after spending an hour with us on the stream. I hope you enjoy episode eleven of season four of the Food Afield Podcast!