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

Anyone who's gone fishing in and around Kamloops, B.C., has likely come across Mo Bradley.

Whether through his work at the local outdoor supplies store, his fly fishing television program or the advice he was happy to share out on the water, he made his mark as a master angler, and as someone who went out of his way to share his passion for fishing with others. 

Bradley died last week at the age of 86, according to his longtime friend and writer Mark Hume. 

Melody Gobkes, a member of the Kamloops Fish and Game Club, said Bradley's legacy in the community will not be forgotten. 

"We're losing a lot of knowledge with his passing," she said. 

"He's kind of the man of all seasons as far as tying."

Early life

Bradley arrived in Kamloops in 1965. 

It was a small town in B.C.'s Interior, with a population of about 10,000 people. He had read about the community in an article about fishing, Hume said. 

But before that, he had worked in a coal mine, in his hometown of Derbyshire — a county in the middle of England. 

"His dad was a shop steward or had some union position in the coal mine and it was understood that a Bradley boy was going down the mines," said Hume, who documented Bradley's life and expertise in his 2019 book Trout School: Lessons from a Fly-Fishing Master. 

But one day, he came up the shaft with several coworkers — a few Welsh ponies, Hume said. 

The ponies had been down the mine pulling carts so long that when they saw the sun again, they "went berserk," and one of them wound up dead, Hume said. 

"That kind of stuck in Mo's mind as a symbol of how hard the mines were."

Bradley was on his way home one night when he came across a broken down car on the side of the road. Having a natural talent for fixing things, he stopped to help. As it turned out, the car belonged to a local autobody shop owner, who offered Bradley a job, Hume said, giving him the chance to get out of the coal mine. 

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

Arrival in Kamloops

In Kamloops, Bradley became something of a legend. He started teaching fly-tying courses, worked at the outdoor supply shop Surplus Herby's and even hosted his own community cable television show, all about the art of tying flies.  

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

"I sat beside him every weekend while he tied flies," she said. 

"He tied a different fly every day depending on the weather and what was biting."

The weather was key to Bradley, Gobkes said. 

"'If the storm is coming, get off the lake,' he said, because the fish will not bite when the barometer is high."

Gobkes said Bradley taught people they didn't need to buy fancy materials for flies — anything would do. 

"Thank God he was here for all the people that came to Surplus Herby's," she said. "You could tie with ribbons and you could tie with old wool."

'The fish are bitin''

Hume met Bradley after reading the fishing pamphlet, From Off Ice … to Ice On, which Bradley wrote and illustrated to hand out to his fishing students. 

"I read that little book. It was so simple and I thought this guy just nails it. He just knows what's going on. So I looked him up and, of course, he said, 'Let's go fishing,'" Hume said. 

The pair fished together every year. Hume would drive up to Kamloops from his home in Vancouver whenever Bradley called. 

"He'd call me up and say, 'You better get up here. The fish are bitin'.' And I'd jump in the truck and go in the morning."

Hume remembers the way Bradley went out of his way to help other fishers. 

"If he saw someone struggling with their cast or was obviously not catching fish when we were catching fish, he would always [go] over, offer advice, offer flies. He was just such a generous person with his time and with his knowledge.

"I know that he taught thousands of people up there to fly fish, so I'm sure he's missed by a lot of people now."