B.C. fly-tying, fishing expert Mo Bradley remembered for his helpful nature and unmatched expertise

Courtney Dickson · CBC News

· Posted: Feb 26, 2025 9:00 AM EST | Last Updated: February 26

Anyone who's gone sportfishing successful and astir Kamloops, B.C., has apt travel crossed Mo Bradley.

Whether done his enactment astatine the section outdoor supplies store, his alert sportfishing tv programme oregon the proposal helium was blessed to stock retired connected the water, helium made his people arsenic a maestro angler, and arsenic idiosyncratic who went retired of his mode to stock his passionateness for sportfishing with others. 

Bradley died past week astatine the property of 86, according to his longtime person and writer Mark Hume. 

Melody Gobkes, a subordinate of the Kamloops Fish and Game Club, said Bradley's bequest successful the assemblage volition not beryllium forgotten. 

"We're losing a batch of cognition with his passing," she said. 

"He's benignant of the antheral of each seasons arsenic acold arsenic tying."

Early life

Bradley arrived successful Kamloops in 1965. 

It was a tiny municipality successful B.C.'s Interior, with a colonisation of astir 10,000 people. He had work astir the assemblage successful an nonfiction astir fishing, Hume said. 

But earlier that, helium had worked successful a ember mine, successful his hometown of Derbyshire — a region successful the mediate of England. 

"His dada was a store steward oregon had immoderate national presumption successful the ember excavation and it was understood that a Bradley lad was going down the mines," said Hume, who documented Bradley's beingness and expertise successful his 2019 book Trout School: Lessons from a Fly-Fishing Master. 

But 1 day, helium came up the shaft with respective coworkers — a fewer Welsh ponies, Hume said. 

The ponies had been down the excavation pulling carts truthful agelong that erstwhile they saw the prima again, they "went berserk," and 1 of them coiled up dead, Hume said. 

"That benignant of stuck successful Mo's caput arsenic a awesome of however hard the mines were."

Bradley was connected his mode location 1 nighttime erstwhile helium came crossed a breached down car connected the broadside of the road. Having a earthy endowment for fixing things, helium stopped to help. As it turned out, the car belonged to a section autobody store owner, who offered Bradley a job, Hume said, giving him the accidental to get retired of the ember mine. 

His skills arsenic a mechanic were what helped him immigrate to Canada, Hume said. 

Arrival successful Kamloops

In Kamloops, Bradley became thing of a legend. He started teaching fly-tying courses, worked astatine the outdoor proviso store Surplus Herby's and adjacent hosted his ain assemblage cablegram tv show, each astir the creation of tying flies.  

Gobkes worked with Bradley astatine Surplus Herby's for 18 years. 

"I sat beside him each play portion helium tied flies," she said. 

"He tied a antithetic alert each time depending connected the upwind and what was biting."

WATCH | Mo Bradley's amusement astir alert tying:

The upwind was cardinal to Bradley, Gobkes said. 

"'If the tempest is coming, get disconnected the lake,' helium said, due to the fact that the food volition not wound erstwhile the barometer is high."

Gobkes said Bradley taught radical they didn't request to bargain fancy materials for flies — thing would do. 

"Thank God helium was present for each the radical that came to Surplus Herby's," she said. "You could necktie with ribbons and you could necktie with aged wool."

'The food are bitin''

Hume met Bradley aft speechmaking the sportfishing pamphlet, From Off Ice … to Ice On, which Bradley wrote and illustrated to manus retired to his sportfishing students. 

"I work that small book. It was truthful elemental and I thought this feline conscionable nails it. He conscionable knows what's going on. So I looked him up and, of course, helium said, 'Let's spell fishing,'" Hume said. 

The brace fished unneurotic each year. Hume would thrust up to Kamloops from his location successful Vancouver whenever Bradley called. 

"He'd telephone maine up and say, 'You amended get up here. The food are bitin'.' And I'd leap successful the motortruck and spell successful the morning."

Hume remembers the mode Bradley went retired of his mode to assistance different fishers. 

"If helium saw idiosyncratic struggling with their formed oregon was evidently not catching food erstwhile we were catching fish, helium would ever [go] over, connection advice, connection flies. He was conscionable specified a generous idiosyncratic with his clip and with his knowledge.

"I cognize that helium taught thousands of radical up determination to alert fish, truthful I'm definite he's missed by a batch of radical now."