The Drift Team
Ian Martin, Ph.D - "Fly Fishing the Grand River"- Presentations
Updated: Jan 1, 2020
Ian Martin quite literally wrote the book on the Grand River - “Fly Fishing the Grand River” with Jane Rutherford — his wife, also a biologist.

Presentation 1: Fly Fishing the Grand River Tailwater
Date: Sunday, February 9, 2020
Time: 5:15 PM
Duration: 2-ish hours
Location: Drift Outfitters & Fly Shop
Address: 199 Queen St. East, Toronto, Ontario, M5A-1S2
Admittance and seating is first come, first serve - bring a chair in case we run out.
We are not taking reservation or holding seats for anyone Pull up a seat and ignore the winter weather as aquatic biologist Ian Martin (author of the Canadian Best Seller book “Fly Fishing the Grand River”) gives a fishing season tour of the hatches and fishing on the Grand River tailwater. What’s the best time? The best section of the river? The best fly?
Ian will take us through the fishing season, highlighting the best hatches and spinner falls and showing the most effective imitations for fishing on the Grand and other Ontario rivers. Whether you know the number of tails on a Hendrickson dun, or have trouble telling a caddisfly from a mayfly, there’s lots to learn about this highly productive and popular fishery.
There is no fee to attend, but we ask that folks who come either make a voluntary donation to the non-profit conservation group Friends of the Grand River, or become a member to help support the stewardship of the Grand tailwater fishery.
Presentation 2: Matching the Hatch- Grand River Bugs and How to Tie the Most Effective Imitations
Date: Sunday, February 23, 2020
Time: 5:15 PM
Duration: 2-ish hours
Location: Drift Outfitters & Fly Shop
Address: 199 Queen St. East, Toronto, Ontario, M5A-1S2
Admittance and seating is first come, first serve - bring a chair in case we run out.
We are not taking reservation or holding seats for anyone
Join Ian Martin as he shows specimen insects from the Grand River tailwater fishery and demonstrates the tying of proven effective patterns for matching the hatch. Ian is an aquatic biologist and author of the well known guide to fishing this tailwater (“Fly Fishing the Grand River”). He lives, riverside, on the Grand near Elora.
Ian’s imitations of the important Grand River hatches have been proven through many seasons of guiding on the Grand and other rivers. His fly patterns have been featured in many magazine articles as well as in his book, but they are easy ties and adaptable to multiple hatches and to other rivers.
There is no fee to attend, but we ask that folks who come either make a voluntary donation to the non-profit conservation group Friends of the Grand River, or become a member to help support the stewardship of the Grand tailwater fishery.
Cost: $10 donation to Friends of the Grand
This fee is payable at the event in cash.
No credit, debit, cheques, or other forms of payment accepted).
If you are current members of Friends of the Grand this presentation is FREE to you!
Attendance in for both presentation is not necessary, you may come to only one, or both!

Ian Martin's Bio
Ian Martin was born in Waterloo, Ontario, and began fly tying and fly fishing at age 14, when to his chagrin he found he could not catch a rising trout on a hook baited with balogna. Soon afterwards, he began teaching a popular fly tying course for the community recreation department in Kitchener, Ontario. Starting with southern Ontario rivers such as the Grand and the Credit, Ian has since fished wherever he has found water and fish, but particularly enjoys chasing trout and steelhead around home, as well as Atlantic salmon from his salmon camp in Gaspésie Québec.
Together with other local fly fishers, Ian was a founding member of the KW Fly Fishers’ Club, and has served for many year on the board of the conservation group “Friends of the Grand River” in Fergus.
His interest in aquatic environments led Ian to complete a Ph.D. in stream insect ecology, and gave him the background to write the Canadian non-fiction best selling book “Fly Fishing the Grand River” with Jane Rutherford — his wife, also a biologist. His writings on fly fishing have been published also in The Canadian Fly Fisher magazine, Fly Fisherman, Pêche à la mouche Destinations, and Outdoors Canada. He has given seminars and presentations to fly fishing clubs in both Canada and the U.S.A.
Ian and his family live on the banks of the Grand River, near Elora, Ont., where he can keep an eye open for rising trout, which sometimes distract him from his work as an environmental consultant.