Picture of the Day – Fall Brown Trout

Kean O. with a great October brown trout from the Upper Manistee.

Kean O. with a great fall brown trout in epic colors.  Great day on the river yesterday, seeing the old trout water one more time before old man winter locks her in.  Streamer fishing was pretty consistent, while not too many would actually put the streamer in there mouth, plenty came out and played with it.  Great job Kean getting the couple when you had the chance.

Picture of the Day – Hoodie and Steel

Dan C. with a super silver fall steelhead from the Manistee River.  Dan also sporting a Mangled Fly Hoodie.  (MFM green can barely be seen, but it’s there) With the forecast of 40’s and mix (rain/snow) the down puffs and hoodie will be a staple the rest of the year.  Steelhead fishing is pretty darn good right now.  Thank you Dan for a great day.

IMG_9971

 

Tradition

Welcome Jon Ingham (Speybstrd) to Mangled Fly Blog and his first Contribution.

 

tra·di·tion– noun trə-ˈdi-shən
: a way of thinking, behaving, or doing something that has been used by the people in a particular group, family, society, etc., for a long time

This is the common definition for 2 things near and dear to my heart- fly fishing and whisk(e)y. I like my Bourbon from Kentucky and my malts from the British Isles.  I like to catch trout and steelhead on my own flies tied late at night, with visions of a huge snout sipping in my dry or getting my two handed rod yanked out of my hand from that viscous pull on a swung fly.How can bourbon be from MI, Indiana or heaven for bid, Tennessee?  For me, it needs to be from 51% corn and aged for at least 2 years in in newly charred American oak barrels. It has to be made by old men with first names like Booker, Bill, Elmer or Jim, who have taught their children, grandchildren and possibly their great grandchildren the art and science of mashing, fermenting & running the pot still.  They also will have taught the next generation how to choose the “right”oak for their barrels, how long to age them and what it should taste like for their family style. You can’t teach passion, you either have it or you don’t, but enthusiasm is contagious, while tradition is passed down from those who are devoted unequivocally to their passions for generations.When it comes to fly fishing, far and away my two favorite techniques for fishing to salmonoids are traditional- dries on the surface and wets on the swing. I love stalking that elusive rising trout, casting to them from downstream, floating the fly right down the feeding lane, all the while keeping the fly line, leader and tippet out of their view. Waiting for their snout to break the surface and suck down my offering is full of suspense.  Sometimes the take is so dainty and stealth, you barely see their nose, just the rings of water after your fly disappears. Then, there are those other times where it’s like you’ve handed me a thick Ribeye medium rare,  after a long day of fishing and it’s devoured in a lustful binge of violence- the fly is gone and the fish is screaming downstream afterwards to its favorite “hidey”hole, much like me to the couch with a glass of bourbon in my hand.When it comes to fishing the swing, I do it 7/8ths of the year. If I’m trout fishing and there are no fish eating bugs on the surface, I’m going to cover as much water as I can swinging soft hackles and wets while walking downstream. Sometimes, if the trout are slashing at the bugs on the surface, I’ll take the same approach with my flies and swing a fly tied to “match” the hatch.

Now, Steelhead fishing, it’s all about the tug on a well swung fly, getting that aggressive fish to move to your offering.  It’s the wait, the eternal wait, watching that line swing in front of you, slowly working its way through a greasy seam on its way to the hang down. It’s about hoping that the tension in the line increases and I mutter some of my favorite words, “hmmm, that feels funny”. It’s about the jolt of electricity and all your synapses going ape shit as the rod jolts forward, the drag sings it’s fateful tune and you watch a bar of silver leap it’s way downstream.

If you see me fishing for steelhead with any other method, I’m with one  of my guide buddies, boat and we are “checking out new water”.  There have been more than one occasion that I have been introduced to a fellow fisherman and they look at me and say “Oh, you’re that dude who is always swinging flies at_ _ _ run”. It’s how I was taught to fish for our magnificent foe, Mr/Mrs steelhead, which is a tradition we borrowed from my/our ancestors across the pond for fishing Salmo Salár, aka the leaper.

If you see me fishing for steelhead with any other method, I’m with one  of my guide buddies, boat and we are “checking out new water”.  There have been more than one occasion that I have been introduced to a fellow fisherman and they look at me and say “Oh, you’re that dude who is always swinging flies at_ _ _ run”. It’s how I was taught to fish for our magnificent foe, Mr/Mrs steelhead, which is a tradition we borrowed from my/our ancestors across the pond for fishing Salmo Salár, aka the leaper.

We usually learn our fishing from family and friends, most likely your father or someone else’s father. Maybe a brother. We are taught the skills to catch fish by these mentors and if you are lucky, the why’s too.  My father took me fishing whenever he could manage when I was a kid.  He isn’t a fly fisherman and I did not learn to fly fish until I was in my late 20’s when I moved to Wyoming and go into cahoots with some guides.  I had not fished in a long time, but it was in my soul from the times my dad and I went. I think of him often when I am fishing and thank him for passing on my for love of the outdoors and tell him so frequently. My love of the brown stuff comes from him too- he once told me that while having some J&B, “Scotch is an acquired taste, son”. I’ve certainly acquired it!

I heard lately that we stand on the shoulders of the great fisherman who have come before us and we should honor them by our actions a stream. We should also honor those great distillers who have taught this latest generation of young bucks. I appreciate some of the innovations that we are seeing in the whiskey world, but we should never forget where it all came from.  This past summer, of the greats left our world. Elmer T. Lee, we miss you. May your apprentices and disciples please you.

If you see some Elmer T. Lee on the shelf of your local, buy it, because the supply will all too soon dry up. It’s a full bodied, traditional mash with a tempered and restrained heat I have come to expect from a well made Kentuckian beverage. Soft caramel notes with hints of honey with a twinge of smoke and spice on the finish.

You can thank me later by offering me a wee dram stream side. I will be taking my own advice soon and buying a few bottles and hiding them in the basement, only to bring out for special occasions or for friends who understand, for hoarding whiskey is a tradition too!

Slainté.

 

Big this Year

Better get ready to rumble this year, as fish are bigger than normal on the West side.  Pictured is Jon with a big boy from the Manistee River from this Friday, Oct 11th.  Two-Handed rods are start to come out, as heavy angling pressure is pushing the fish off of the gravy train and into the spots I call home.

 

New Go Pro Studios

With an off day today from the river, did my usual run around, and then caught up on emails, and household chores.  One of the emails I had in that long scroll of inbox was from GoPro, with a link to the new studio download.  The new studio is a definite upgrade.

  • NEW GoPro Edit Templates make it easy to create GoPro-style videos
  • NEW Trim, edit and mix video clips
  • NEW Add titles, music, audio tracks and more
  • NEW Fisheye adjustment control
  • NEW Adjust video playback speed for fast or slow motion
  • NEW Export video still frames at full resolution

So I took the new software for a quick spin.  The GoPro Studio is by no means as good as FinalCut but for just looking and doing a quick edit of some GoPro footage it does some really cool stuff.

I really liked the fact that I could export still images from video.  Below is an example, as we continue to play around with the Muskie footage we shot this past month.  Also another great feature is playing with the fisheye adjustment.  Haven’t tried that but plan on it.  Anyway check out the download if you self edit.  Link is above.

Fireman pants and chrome

The contrast of the bright orange pants with the green tree line, and the pure beauty of a Michigan fall run steelhead.  I love taking pictures of these fish.

Fall Colors

Colors seem to explode yesterday morning (once the rain stopped), this bank along the Manistee River always has great color and is a wonderful back drop for anglers as we search for chrome.

As the sun rises, the colors explode along the Manistee River.

Pic of the Day – Thought we had Chrome

So when you choose to run the streamer for steelhead, anything can bite.  Usually that is a good thing, but when you pick up the two-hand rod in the early season you sometimes hook up on Kings.  Not to be too picky, but when you get the grab your heart drops, but when you realize that it’s just a King you kinda get mad.  This King was the first grab we had of the day and all on board were extremely happy for a short moment.  It was not chrome, but it was a fish.  Days are numbered until chrome (steelhead) start looking for other things to eat other than eggs.

king on a streamer

Mangled Fly Hoodie and Chrome

Hoodies and steelhead have gone hand and hand for me for years.  Chris Radar sporting his Mangled Fly Hoodie and great early run Manistee River Steelhead.

mangled fly hoodie