Posts Tagged ‘Bozeman’

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

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.

There are only 29 days left until the Simms Ice Out, the incredible annual guide event in Bozeman, Montana. This year the Ice Out is April 19th-21st. Mark your calendar, call you guide buddies and plan your trip. It is a-one-of-a-kind event designed just for professional guides.

Montana Fly Company will be there! It’s your opportunity to get a good sneak peek at the latest MFC goodies and get your questions answered by our staff. (We plan to have some fun too, of course!)

According to the folks at Simms Fishing Products, here are three reasons to plan on coming to ICE OUT:

• Career Building: Every other profession, from doctors to garbage men, have a conference to help them improve their careers. ICE OUT is an industry first for fishing guides: an event to help you improve not only your guiding skills, but how to market your business and plan for the future.

• Great Gear: Of course you know Simms makes the best fishing apparel on the planet. This is your chance to stock up with the best deals of the year at our one-night-only Super Sale. Plus, we have invited our industry friends to bring something special to next year’s ICE OUT.

• Fun: Guide-Olympics, ICE OUT Shoot Out Film Competition, cocktail parties, barbeques, etc. Plus-some of the best fishing of the year.

• Oh yeah, it’s free!

This year, legendary basketball coach Bobby Knight will be there, giving guides his perspective from 40 years of being guided around the globe.

In addition, you can count on all the good stuff the event always offers:

• The Guide Olympics will again pit your skills against other guides
• Tons of beer
• A Legends Panel
• The Super Sale is on Saturday night

We’re looking forward to seeing you all there!!!

We’re going to have to change the sign on the front office door from “gone fishin’” to “gone to ICE OUT.”  It’s time to hit the road south to Bozeman to attend one of the best guide events of the year.

The gathering is going down this coming Thursday the 14th through Saturday the 16th, and is open to members of the Simms Pro Program.

As proud sponsors of the event, we’re going to be holding a big tying throwdown.  Whichever pattern wins will go into the Montana Fly Company 2012 catalog.  That’s a big deal!  We’ll have three MFC tying stations set up.  Be sure to come check out the latest in materials and techniques.

We’re also looking forward to the Guide Olympics, the film and photo presentation by Catch Magazine, the gear sales and the all the adult beverages, but another big reason we’re headed down is to take in the seminars.   No, really!  We are ready to learn from the industry and share information.  There are seminars on fly selection and entomology…our favorite subjects!

Another one of the highlights at the event is the Simms Shoot Out, hosted by The Drake Magazine.  It’s a videography contest of the country’s best fishing filmmakers.  And it’s a pretty unique contest–each filmmaker has just two days to shoot and edit an entire film in Montana.  It’s screened at the ICE OUT event…winner take all.  $1,000! Check out the filmmakers in this year’s contest.  You know we love our fish porn.

If you’re planning to be in Bozeman for the Simms Ice Out Guide Event, be sure to holler at us and we’ll buy you a beer.   (Hopefully there will be a hosted bar.)