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.

 

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

 

Respect for fish and for film making

Even though I have never fished out West for steelhead, my respect for these fish can never be second guessed.  Also understanding how much it costs to deliver films and videos to the public check this video out.  Here is a short link as well – http://kck.st/15rmFpt

2013 Fall Steelhead season is under way!

David S. pictured below with a great example of what my life will be obsessed with over the next 5 months.  Fall fish look in great shape so far, they are big and they are mean.  Can’t wait to stretch out some line and get the two-hander firing once again.

David is also wearing the Mangled Fly Hoodie, great way to keep warm on those cold morning starts.  One of the best Hoodies I have found, and personally I wear a hoodie almost everyday on the river.

New Steelhead Sticker

While the sea-run steelhead of the West Coast get a lot of attention, we think our Great Lakes steelhead are special, too. This is our take on the Midwest’s unique “Low Sodium” version of these epic migratory beasts. The 6” oval sticker is perfect to show the Great Lakes steelhead scene some love on your truck, boat, cooler – or just about anywhere else you can think of.

Link to Steelhead Sticker

steelhead sticker

Moldy Chum and T3H

One of my most favorite fishing blogs is Moldy Chum, and my favorite two-handed rod  the Scott T3H (1288 to be exact) can now be found in one spot.  Moldy Chum posted the video (thank you) that we worked long and hard on this fall/winter on there site today.  Here is the link  If you have not watched it yet, enjoy.

Scott fly rods

Scott T3H Video

Had a great time working with Erik Rambo on this little project.  Great job Erik you do amazing things with the camera and at the editing desk.  Thank you Erik for all your hard work.

Thank you Brad Petzke and Kevin Feenstra for helping in this project as well.  And thank you Scott rods for making such a good product.  If you like the two-hand rods, you owe it to yourself to pick up one of the new T3H’s, they are sweet.

Swinging with the Scott T3H from Mangled Fly Media on Vimeo.

Screen Shot from Spey Cast Video

From the same project that shows the B&W Fly swimming, here is a screen shot from the video shot of my Scott T3H ripping up the water on the Manistee River.   I bought a Scott 1288 T3H and it’s an absolute gun.  Fell in love with this rod as soon as I first got it wet this fall.  Can handle any situation that I throw at it.  Big heavy flies or longer bellies and lighter bugs.  Rod just matches my casting style and everything Michigan big river fishing has to offer.

scott T3H

Wild Steelhead and the struggle

This is based out west, but reminds me of the same struggles our lake-run rainbows face in our natural reproducing streams and creeks.  A bigger picture view point needs to be taken, the hatchery truck is not always the answer, even for us here in the midwest.  With less and less dollars going around in the state.  Things need to change.