
Silvia D'Amelio - Pro Staff Silvia D’Amelio is the Ontario Biologist for Trout Unlimited Canada where she works with provincial chapters in rehabilitating and conserving their local waters.
She spends much of her work and personal time studying our watersheds to better understand our fish populations and their ecosystems.
Silvia has been fishing for over twenty years and is known for designing and testing new fly patterns that work. She shares her knowledge of aquatic biology to help new anglers become effective in the sport, has been a featured tier at many events including the Izaak Walton Forum, Winter Hatches and has taught various fly patterns for many clubs in southern Ontario.
Roy De Giusti - Pro Staff having fished for a variety of species in numerous locales, Roy has settled on one fish - the Brown Trout and one river - The Credit.
He has perfected his skills for more than three decades on the Credit River. When he's not dying material for specific fly patterns, he may be found fine-tuning a bamboo rod of his own creation.
Roy's patterns have been included in various magazines and books. He is well known for his realistic patterns that could fool humans as well as trout.
Larry Halyk - Pro Staff Prior to his current Stewardship Coordinator position, Larry Halyk was the MNR biologist responsible for the introduction of brown trout to the Grand River tail water. As the senior management biologist for the MNR Lake Erie Unit, he chaired an international panel of fisheries managers developing a management policy for Lake Erie steelhead.
Larry has seen a lot of changes in the Ontario steelhead fishery in his 35 years of experience as a fly fisher and Steelheader. His technical advice has been sought after and acknowledged by the authors of several books on steelhead fly fishing, including John Nagy, Bob Linsenman, Matt Supinski and the Kustich brothers. For the last 10-15 years, Larry has been one of the Great Lakes steelheading pioneers leading the movement away from “chuck and duck” and bobber techniques to the swinging fly and two-handed rod.
Josh Jagelewski - Pro Staff Josh has been fly fishing for 14 years and has traveled and fished on both Canadian coasts, Ontario, and neighbouring states. He grew up fishing the Saugeen River and its many headwater tributaries. With a passion for migratory species, steelhead and Atlantic salmon, Josh still has a soft spot for local inland trout. He is patient, detailed oriented, and soft spoken always willing to help others in their pursuit of fly fishing and its many aspects.
He received his BES (bachelor of environmental studies) at Waterloo and has a diploma in natural resources law from Sir Sanford Fleming. Previous work experience in the fisheries field and with government agencies has given Josh an understanding of many important fisheries and environmental issues.
Brian Primeau - Pro Staff has been fishing since age 7 and fly fishing since 1988. He is a member of KW Flyfishers, Friends of the Grand River and member of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters.
Brian has been guiding/instructing as his full time occupation since 2004. Whether guiding or fishing Brian always has a kind word or helpful hint for fellow anglers on the river.
An accomplished fly tyer, Brian specializes in tying (and fishing) the small stuff down to #32 as well as creating artistic Atlantic Salmon flies up to 4/0.
Night fishing with dry flies is Brian's passion. Many a huge Brown has fallen to his tactics.
"My biggest thrill is when I am able to catch a fish using my clients hands, especially when the client has learned a new skill or has just caught their best fish ever. It is a privilege to be on the water every day."
Aaron Todd - Pro Staff has been fishing for 30 years and fly fishing for the last seven years. He works for the Ontario Ministry of the Environment where he manages the province’s stream water quality monitoring program.
Aaron is also active in local conservation initiatives including the Speed Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited. Aaron fished competitively in bass tournaments for a few years but is now fly fishing almost exclusively. In the last few years Aaron has fished in some interesting places including Tanzania and Newfoundland – where he caught his first Atlantic salmon on the fly. But most of the time he can be found closer to home stalking big browns in the Grand River (often at night) or chasing steelhead in Lake Huron tributaries.
Arron Varga - Pro Staff has been fishing for 35 years and fly fishing for about 20 of those years. Since 2006 when the Canadian Fly Fishing Championships where held on the Grand River, he has been competing in the FFC Canadian National Fly Fishing Championships. As part of his competitive fly fishing he has become adept at many competitive techniques including Czech nymphing, French nymphing and loch style stillwater fishing.
Arron spends most of his time fishing the Grand River and Conestogo River with a few trips a year to the Credit and Saugeen Rivers. With his competitive angling, Arron has been fortunate to travel and fish across most Canada.
On the river or in the store, he is always ready to share his knowledge and open his fly box with other anglers and has recently started teaching learn to fly fish and czech nymphing courses thru the store.
Arron has competed as part of the Canadian National team at:
2008 Commonwealth Championships in New Zealand where the Canadian team came 5th
2009 Commonwealth Championships in Scotland where the Canadian team came 4th
2011 Canadian World Fly Fishing Team - Italy (August)
"The best part about fly fishing is that you never stop learning or developing your skills."
Randy "2 Hander" Wilson - Spey Consultant grew up fishing the Grand for smallmouth,pike and carp and has been fishing for more than 35 years, fly fishing over 15 years. In the last few years Randy has become a fanatic for spey fishing.
He spends most time fishing lower Grand, Maitland, Ganaraska and Saugeen for steelhead and salmon with his favorite spey pattern - the "Lady Caroline".
Randy started organizing the Grand River Spey Clave November 10/07.and the it has now become an annual event, attracting enthusiasts from around Ontario New York, Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania to attend.
He is a member KW Fly Fishers and Friends of the Grand River. His son Izaak is named after Izaak Walton, the "Father of Fly Fishing".
We keep Randy busy test driving every Spey rod and line that we can get hold of and call upon him for technical advise.
Alec has been tying flies since age 10. If you asked him, he would tell you that he'd rather ties flies than fish!
Now at age 20 he can say that he's tied flies for half his life. He has tied flies professionally for certain clients of the shop as well as for Arron Varga for the world Championships.
Alec's flies are meticulously tied with attention to detail. He has been a guest tier of various fly fishing clubs.

