ABOUT US
WELCOME to Jensen Fly Fishing! Home to us, the feeling of connection, fulfillment, joy, and wholeness comes from our life on the water, together. We love to fly fish, film, and photograph fly fishing in order to share with you. We do so professionally and recreationally, spending 250+ days a year on trout water in Canada, USA, Patagonia, and New Zealand. Our goal is to help you, to inspire you to hit the water and find your fly fishing magic. We prefer to be under-stated. We made the decision to live and breathe fly fishing years ago, in 1996 we embarked on our fly fishing career. We live in Alberta, Canada.
Each winter since 2005 we’ve traveled to the S Island of New Zealand to enjoy a second summer of fly fishing and filming. We’ve added considerable time in Chilean & Argentina Patagonia. We began our fly fishing careers as guides in 1996 and quickly grew our business based on the sight-fishing and dry fly fishing of central Alberta brown trout streams and the Ram River cutthroat trout. We purchased and operated the remote, helicopter & float plane access Fortress Lake Retreat in 2005 – 2016, enjoying the 3 to 10lb brookies the lake held.
Our photography and writing has been published in most major fly fishing magazines in North America the late 90s through ownership of our own magazine (Alberta Fishing Guide) in 2013. Since selling the magazine in 2018 we’ve focused on our social media activity, choosing to share through that media in order to connect with, inspire & encourage other fly fishers.
Dave was originally schooled in Forestry and had a 5 year career with the Alberta Forest Service in central Alberta – his home waters’ region. Dave chaired the first Bighorn Wildland Conservation Coaltion 1999 – 2001. We were jointly responsible for leading the lobby to have Alberta’s Ram R designated catch & release in 1999; reducing harvest rates on several streams & lakes; lobbied for 20 years to have Alberta’s Red Deer River management plan revamped & implemented; was a member of Alberta’s Fisheries Round Table committee through its disbanding in 2018; and was instrumental in pursuing the implementation of Alberta’s Emergency Trout Stream Closures (Hoot Owl Restrictions). Dave was instrumental in co-developing Alberta’s Streamwatch Coalition as a group of anglers across Alberta took on hiring enforcement officers for several trout streams. In New Zealand our media has supported initiatives to stop a dam on a back country stream as well as to support agricultural industry water use changes.
~ Dave & Amelia Jensen
CAREER HILIGHT TIMELINE
1977 Dave began fly fishing
1995 began lobby to influence angling regulations changes on 2 regional waters
1996 Started as full-time fly fishing guides “Fly Fish Alberta” guide company
1997 First published in Alberta Fishing Guide magazine
1998 First Individual in Alberta to press charges using Federal Fisheries Act legislation against the MD Clearwater at the Tay R crossing site when provincial authorities refused to uphold environmental standards. Case set a precedent to ensure that all Municipal Districts & Counties in Alberta will be held to account for proper stream crossing construction, design & implementation.
1998 – 2006 Amelia was a Director for Casting For Life Canada as well as a director of the Women’s Fly Fishing Association of Alberta
1998 – 2013 published in Fly Fisherman, Fly Fusion, NW/SW/Eastern FF, American Angler, Home Waters, Canadian Fly Fisher, combination of 15+ print publications
1996 – 2006 Hosted the Fly Fish Alberta Forum (11M+ hits/month)
1998 – 2001 Chaired Alberta’s Bighorn Wildland Conservation Coalition
1999 Lobbied to have Alberta’s Ram R designated C&R
1999 – 2018 Lobbied for creation & execution of Red Deer River Mgt Plan Lobby & Sub-Committee (draft plan developed in 20016 remains politically hand-cuffed by AB Fisheries Policy Branch – there is opportunity for the fly fishing community to pursue this)
2001 – 2005 Started & Facilitated Alberta’s Streamwatch Coalition that hired enforcement / education officers that ultimately gained powers of authority through the Alberta Gov.
2002 – 2011 Central Alberta Fisheries Round Table Committee
2001 – 2004 Produced 3 DVD set “Fly Fishing Alberta’s Hatches”
2005 – 2013 Owned & Operated Fortress Lake Retreat
2006 – 2018 Alberta Fisheries Round Table Committee member
2005 – 2014 We owned and operated a small fly in fly fishing retreat at the incredible brook trout destination of Fortress Lake Retreat, BC for 10 years, being recognized for our hospitality with several Awards & Nominations.
2006 – present Travel to S Island New Zealand sight-fishing & videography
2007 – present Orvis Rod, Wader, Boots & Tackle Field Testers
2010 Published in National Inquirer
2011 Won Orvis ELOG Expedition of the Year
2012 Finalist Orvis ELOG Expedition of the Year
2012 Produced “Sight-Fishing Trout Rivers” DVD
2013 Won Orvis ELOG Expedition of the Year
2013 – 2018 Owned & published the Alberta Fishing Guide Magazine, est 1971 (Canada’s #1 selling fishing issue) 2014 – 2017
2014 Produced “The Brown Trout Project” DVD
2015 Pursued through to implementation the Alberta Emergency Trout Stream Protocols & Procedures (Hoot Owl Restrictions)
2015 Provided media to assist stopping New Zealand dam on Kakapo Brook
2015 – Behind the scenes lobby holding regional biologists’ feet to the fire in keeping Alberta’s Raven R system catch & release coming out of Red Deer R oil spill using fisheries data shortage and change of angler will as basis points.
2015 – Present: Ambassadors for Orvis Fly Fishing and Smith Optics
2016 – present Host & Produce Orvis Master-Class Advanced Tactics Video series
2016 – lobbied to gain verbal commitment from AB Gov Fisheries officials to begin management plans for non-native fish species & populations (brown trout cited feature species). This is open & left unfulfilled for another angler/ lobby to pursue
2017 – Led the fight against Alberta Regional Fisheries Biologists & HQ Policy Dept plans to close several rivers for 5 years based on modeling projections. North-Central Native Trout Initiative (later deemed “junk science” by an external audit) social media driven & extremely leading to the Dept’s agenda survey from 95% to just over 50% as it woke Alberta anglers up to what was happening and what the initiative was based on – junk science. Regional Bio John Tchir point-blank told Dave “You killed the NCNT, your articles gutted it. Watching the survey results was like someone turned on a light switch and not one positive result came after. There’s no chance it survives politically”. There is opportunity for anglers in Alberta to force the issue here and demand changes to how our Fisheries Mgt System works, who it includes, and to improve communication with the angling public.
2018 – Present: Media Production & Promotion for lodges & guides
2019 Hosted trips to 2 lodges in Argentina via Orvis Travel
2020 On Demand Productions “Rise Art”
2021 Signature Series Course Release “Fly Fishing Small Trout Streams”
2022 – present – Host our Patreon / Digital Membership
2022 – 23 Hosted Trips to Chilean Patagonia
We have both been featured as Orvis Trout Bums of the week. Amelia had a great interview with Tom Rosenbauer of Orvis regarding women in fly fishing, what guiding & sight-fishing is really like.
“Orvis has been working with the Jensens for more than 15 years and they always deliver. From detailed field testing feedback, to collaborating on which problems to solve next, they are among our most trusted advisers. They are always willing to go the extra mile when needed. No team in fly fishing has the complete package like Dave and Amelia. Our product has improved thanks to their involvement.” Shawn Combs, Director Product Development/Design – Fish/Hunt
“I wanted to let you know how much we appreciate the video of our new Ultralight Wading boots. Often, at Orvis Guide Rendezvous, because it’s new product we are telling stories and repeating feedback through the field-testing phase, but we showed the boots and played the video and people were blown away. Very impactful, thank you both.” Shawn Combs. Director Product Development/Design, The Orvis Company