Ok, so here’s the deal. One of our fly designers, Denny Rickards, just recently caught an enormous 24 lb Rainbow Trout.

Way to go!

It’s huge, right? We know.

Given how awesome the picture is, we wanted to create a contest out of it. Here are the details:

In the comment section, post what fly you think Denny used to catch this beauty. We’ll give you a hint–it was one of the flies used here.

We will award prizes to five winners. The first person to comment correctly will be awarded a set of Denny’s flies. MFC will then pick four additional winners at random who will receive an MFC Gaiter. Contest will end Thursday 17th at 5:00 p.m.

Oh , also, you have to like us on Facebook in order to be eligible. Good luck!

Two weeks ago at the Simms Ice Out Guide Event we hosted a contest for attendees to submit their best original fly. Here are the podium placers!

1^st place- Dave Blair of UT with the bead body bunny leech.

2^nd place- Colter Anderson of MT with a killer Steely pattern.

3^rd place- Doug Schwartz of MT with the wire body para purple

Here’s a pic of all the flies submitted for the competition. Way to go, guys!

Flies submitted for Ice Out

The brains behind Montana Fly Company’s factory operations, Kris Keller was recently the man of the hour in his interview with MidCurrent. The magazine picked Keller’s brain about jetting around from Montana to Cambodia to Thailand on a regular basis. Keller humbly chatted in the interview about international fly tying while recommending exotic dishes including grasshoppers, which he claims could be substituted as a bar snack. Keller talks about how he got into fly tying as a young kid, immersing himself in the fishing industry at a young age. Check out the interview from MidCurrent here.

The 2nd annual Fly Fishing Film Tour hosted by Casting For Recovery –Montana/Glacier Country Chapter. The event is tonight at 5:30 p.m. at the O’Shaughnessy Center in Whitefish. Tickets are $16 and can be found online or discount tickets are available at select retail stores in Kalispell and Whitefish. A complete list of stores offering tickets, along with additional details can be found on the official Facebook event page.  Proceeds go to our local Casting for Recovery program which provides weekend fly-fishing retreats for Montana women with breast cancer.

Last weekend we packed up the truck and the dog and headed down to Bozeman to attend the 2012 Simms Ice Out Guide Event. Ice Out is geared at improving guiding skills as well as how to market and plan for the future in the guiding business. We were able to set up a booth and sell flies, MFC gear and see a bunch of our great guides, designers, dealers and industry pals.  Legendary basketball coach and fisherman Coach Bobby Knight was there to deliver the event’s keynote speech, meet attendees and share some laughs.  Senator Tester showed up as well.  And best of all, we got to share guiding skills, river secrets and fish stories with the best guys and gals in the biz.

For those who are young at heart (or just have “alternative” drinking styles), we decided that, while at the event,  it would only be appropriate to ICE other attendees of the conference. In case you haven’t spent enough time at your local fraternity house, “icing” people is when you present them with a Smirnoff Ice in a sneaky manner, like hiding it in their fly pack or truck bed. They then have to get on one knee and drink the entire malty beverage in one foul chug. We’re pretty sure all of our victims enjoyed it as much as we did.

In the midst of our “icing escapades,” there was also a Shoot Out Film Competition that our very own MFC pro Ryan Thompson took second place in! You can view all the video submissions online and vote for the People’s Choice Award for the 2012 Shoot Out. The first-place winner will receive a pair of Costa glasses, a Drake Magazine Hoodie and a Galvan fly reel. Check the videos out here and vote for Ryan!  Here are some pics from our great weekend.

Photo courtesy Ian Provo via Facebook

The Provo Brothers have arrived in Alaska!

As we shared with you a few weeks ago, this incredibly talented sibling team have embarked on what may be their coolest film project yet – The Steelhead and Spines project in Alaska. They are seeking to create the world’s most fantastic screen imagery ever – shredding the spines and casting for steelhead. Yes, we are talking powder AND fish porn together!

We pulled up a few amazing photos from the Provo Brothers’ Facebook page to get you into the spirit. They have already been scouting mountain peaks for locations for shooting in 2013. More to come!

This is our friend, Rene Vaz. Rene runs Manic Tackle in Auckland, New Zealand. His company is the exclusive distributor for MFC products for all of New Zealand and Australia.

Born and raised in Hamilton, New Zealand, like many kids Rene fell in love with fishing and the outdoors. At 13, Rene would ride his bike down to the local lakes to fish for rudd and perch and by 15 Rene was catching his first trout spinning in the Waikato River. At 16 Rene dedicated himself to fly fishing, and at the age of 19 had earned himself a place in the New Zealand Fly Fishing Team. He retained this honor until the age of 23 when he retired from competition fishing as the New Zealand fly fishing champion.

Rene achieved a Master Degree with Honors in Fisheries Biology at Waikato University. He also has his Internationally recognized STANIC Trout and Spey Casting Instructors Certification along with his STANIC Fly Tying Instructors Certification, and Rene also holds the distinction of being a Federation of Fly Fishers (FFF) Certified Instructor.

Rene recently made a trip to Chaing Mai in Thaland to visit our facilities there and do some custom fly work there. We were excited to host him and glad to feature him here.

Visit the Manic Tackle company website to learn all that they have to offer, and also for great fishing stories and advice. They also host www.flyfishersinc.com – a free online fishing magazine we think you will enjoy. Plenty of great gear reviews and more.

Thanks for being a key part of the team, Rene!

Chuck Forgey at 2011 Mack Days Competition, image courtesy of The Daily Beacon Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon

For the past 11 years Fisherman and fishing enthusiasts have been putting forth their best effort to manage the lake trout population in the Flathead Lake. Biologists believe that controlling the mackinaw population will stimulate native bull trout population growth. We recently read an article in The Flathead Beacon about one of our favorite events of the year, Mack Days, in which fisherman gather to cast their hand at controlling the lake trout population.

From the Flathead Beacon:

So it is with the most dedicated anglers at Mack Days, a popular twice-a-year fishing tournament that pulls tens of thousands of lake trout out of Flathead Lake. Though the majority of participating anglers are less serious, there are fanatics at the top of the tournament standings who refuse to let weather diminish their fish totals.

More:

Mack Days began in 2002 as a fisheries management tool to control the thriving non-native lake trout population in Flathead Lake. Biologists believe that properly managing lake trout will help spur the native bull trout population.

In addition to keeping their fish, participants will compete for prize money that will be distributed among the worthy at the conclusion of the contest.

From The Flathead Beacon:

A total of $150,000 in prize money will be distributed to the winners and other anglers, including those who hook into tagged fish worth up to thousands of dollars each. As of last week, there were 680 anglers signed up for this spring’s event, though Bras-Benson expects around 1,000 to participate by tournament’s end.

Mack Days will be in full swing until May 20th, 2012. To read the entire article please visit The Flathead Beacon:

The latest edition of Fly Fusion magazine features Montana Fly Company’s Olive the Woolly Bugger fly box package for kids!

Our good friend Olive the Woolly Bugger gets a guest appearance to showcase our fly box and six of our tasty flies. Olive, created by our good friend and fishing dad Kirk Werner, is the Woolly Bugger is the central character in a series of fly fishing books for kids.  Through these books kids learn about fly fishing, conservation and much more as Olive takes young readers along on her many adventures  where she meets new friends and fish. But just as there’s more to fishing than just catching fish, there’s more to Olive than just fishing. Olive also learns life lessons about perseverance, kindness and respect for others.

Pick up the latest issue of Fly Fusion!

On Friday last, First Best Place, the community development non-profit right down the street from Montana Fly Company HQ in Columbia Falls, Montana, hosted the annual Showcase dinner and Endowment Ball. This event was a partnership with the local high school, where they are developing an academic endowment to support students into the future.

MFC is proud to have supported this event. The event generated more than $7,000 for the two causes. Auction items included cool MFC equipment, in addition to all sorts of other great outdoor and sporting merchandise.

Great to be a part of local groups doing good!

And there is more to come! If you are near either of these two locales, make sure you check out these fabulous events that support great causes. MFC goodies have gone out to both of these, so it is your chance to do something good AND win something good!

The Casting for Recovery 2nd annual Fly Fishing Film Tour will be at the O’Shaughnessy Theater on Friday, April 27th. Details here.

From their website:

Casting for Recovery was founded in 1996 in Manchester, Vermont, the unique brainchild of a breast cancer reconstructive surgeon and a professional fly fisher. It began as a local grassroots group with a big heart and an original national vision, and quickly received endorsements from medical and psycho-social experts for its innovative healing program model while at the same time provoking intense interest by national media.

We provide an opportunity for women whose lives have been profoundly affected by the disease to gather in a natural setting and learn the sport of fly fishing. Just as importantly, the retreats offer an opportunity to meet new friends, network, exchange information, and have fun.

Event Details:

Date: Friday, April 27, 2012

Time: 5:30pm

Place: O’Shaughnessy Theater, Whitefish, Montana

What:

• Cash Bar and hors d’oeuvres
• Auction
• Fly Fishing Films
• $16.00 admission

On April 12th, make sure you get to Holladay, Utah for the 7th Annual Spring Charity Bash

The mission of Reel Recovery is to help men in the cancer recovery process by introducing them to the healing powers of the sport of fly-fishing, while providing a safe, supportive environment to explore their personal experiences of cancer with others who share their stories.

Though only a few days in duration, a Reel Recovery retreat can be a life-changing event for men battling cancer. The program blends outdoor activity with directed conversations to create a unique environment conducive to relaxed, open interactions.

Retreats are offered at no cost to the participants and are led by professional psychosocial facilitators and expert fly-fishing instructors. A maximum of twelve men are invited to participate, to ensure the quality of the instruction and to create a powerful small-group dynamic.

Event Details:

Date: Thursday, April 12th, 2012

Time: 6:00pm to 9:00pm

Place: 6405 South 3000 East, Holladay, Utah

What:

• Wine education and hors d’oeuvres
• Silent and Live Auction
• $40.00 admission