Hatch Guide for the Upper Midwest Stream is a "Must Have" Book

The Hatch Guide for Upper Midwest Streams has been a long time in the making. Aquatic biologist and teacher, Ann Miller has dedicated her time to gather, raise, and photograph insects in the various life cycles of each insect and it has been worth the wait. It is hard to fathom that one person put all this together from research to photography into the most comprehensive books on aquatic entomology for fly anglers to date.

The book is an absolute must have for someone just starting in fly fishing, or a long time fly angler. The easy to carry size fits into your fly vest to make it perfect for on-stream use. This easy to read guide will answer all of your questions when it comes to the size and shape of aquatic insects and the corresponding photos of the flies tied by some of the best fly tyers in the Midwest. I have learned so much more about the area flies, and life cycles that I was not aware of prior to reading Ann's book. I plan on carrying one in the boat and have another copy on my fly tying bench to help me better design the flies I tie. I urge you to pick up your own copy of The Hatch Guide for Upper Midwest Streams and get serious about hatches. This guide is so comprehensive, don't let the "Upper Midwest" portion of the title fool you. Pick up a copy for yourself and one for a friend, it is a great tool for trout anglers. Learn more about the life cycles of the hatches you fish.

Get Your Kids Started in Fly Fishing This Year

The Northern Angler Fly Shop is committed to helping youth get started in the sport of fly fishing. This book by 8 year old Tyler Befus is a great way to get kids interested in the sport of fly fishing. In a time where kids are raised much like indoor house plants, sitting in front of a video monitor, outside for 30 minutes of sunshine a day; get them out fishing on a pond, in a creek or river. This is a great guide to aid you and the kid's to get out and enjoy the outdoors and have fun with fly fishing.

In addition to this "Kid's Guide to Flyfishing" we have youth fishing fly rod and reel outfits , vests and can order waders for your kid's or grandkid's. Continue the fishing tradition and get a younger person outside fishing this coming year. Whether chasing bluegill and bass with popper or spiders or rigging up a Zebco Reel and rod with a worm, get a kid out fishing this season and have some fun!

Eastern Rises Video Now In-Stock!

Eastern Rises Video Now In-Stock! After a long awaited production time, we have it in stock for the Holiday Season. This was much talked about and asked about after the Fly Fishing Film Tour and we have it in stock. Explore the Russian Peninsula of Kachatka in search of the giant rainbows that grew to enormous proportions behind the Iron Curtain with this great video from Felt Soul Media.

Check out Eastern Rises to view the trailer. Order yours today by calling 877-627-4080. $25 plus $2.50 shipping.

Northwest of Normal A Novel by John Larison

I just finished reading this book for a second time and it is really a great tale of life as a steelhead guide in the Northwest. This book captures your imagination and takes you to this mystical place set on a steelhead river in Oregon. A strange tale of friendship, a tight-nit community of characters and moving on past a life of just rowing a boat for a living.

If you are looking for a good book to read, pick up a copy of John Larison's "Northwest of Normal" and you will have a hard time putting it down. We have copies in stock-we are just a phone call away 231-933-4730 or 877-627-4080-makes a great Holiday gift for the angler in your life.

New Book - Predicting the Bite

This is a new addition at the shop and I honestly have not had time to read it but there has been a lot of buzz about the book so I wanted to get a post out there on it. We'd love to hear from you if you've had a chance to read it. The following is from the publisher: (title is a link to purchase the book)

Title: Predicting the Bite
Author: Ronald W. Reinhold
Hardcover 340 pages


This book is loaded with extraordinary new fishing secrets, including the secret of how barometric pressure affects fish behavior. Fishermen have sought it for centuries, and it will change fishing forever. It’s published here for the first time, and can make you a very smart fisherman, and likely a much more successful one.

You’ll learn how to accurately predict when fish will be biting and naturally feeding, and put yourself on the water when odds are highest to catch the most fish. Discover how to predict exact days and times when fishing will be best. If you can only fish on Saturday or Sunday, you’ll learn how to predict which day will be better. You’ll know when to go or when to stay home, because you’ll know how to predict when “the bite is on,” especially the best bites.

Expect to learn more new knowledge about fishing than from any other single source. It gives a major competitive advantage to tournament fishermen, fishing guides, and charter captains during every trip to the water, including on rivers, lakes of all sizes, and saltwater shores. Every chapter contains powerful information that helps you make accurate fishing predictions for a lifetime. Additionally, everything in the book works worldwide.

You’ll learn how flowers can tell you when to go fishing, as will the 70 mile rule, and the 14 day limit, and how wind direction can guide you to the best fishing of the day.
Age-old proverbs like “Wind from the east, fishing is least,” and “Fishing is best just before a storm” are also demystified with practical explanations.

Nothing in fishing literature is as jam-packed with new information, concepts, and principles that will contribute as much to your growth as a successful fisherman. You’ll be among the first to learn about “ableness” and the pressure rules — which make it possible for you to predict the exact days when fly hatches will occur, and days when they will not. They will greatly improve your fishing success, and dramatically reduce your travel costs and time lost on unproductive fishing trips.

Whether you’re a fly fisherman, spin fisherman, or baitcaster, you’ll be captivated by the vigorous bites caused by pie hatches and pie molts, and will learn how to predict the exact day they will occur, and where. If you fish the saltwater intertidal zone, you’ll discover the effects of barometric pressure and wind on fishing near shore. There is so much more.

Understanding the effects of barometric pressure on fish behavior will be one of the most enlightening experiences of your fishing lifetime. The explanation presented, and the extraordinary fishing benefits it provides, have been meticulously reviewed and approved by a platoon of science scholars before revealing them in these pages. A science thread runs throughout the explanations, as well as the entire book, but the whole work is written in fishermen’s language as a fishing book for fishing success for all fishermen at all education levels

Trout Streams and Great Lakes Steelhead - New Books!

I wanted to do a quick review of two new books that we just got in at The Northern Angler. One is a revision and one is a totally new book.

I'll start with Twelve Classic Trout Streams in Michigan by Gerth E. Hendrickson and fully revised by Jim DuFresne. The last update to the original book was done in 1994 so it was time and the new version does not disappoint. As in the original, the book covers 12 of the state's best known rivers with full descriptions, maps, and access points for each. The new edition adds quite a lot of interesting "sidebar" information that, while not specifically helpful in catching fish definitely added a nice element to the book. Some examples are historical notes about Grayling, John Voelker, Trout Unlimited, the Adams fly, and much more, I found that them good reading and not a distraction. Of course, accrss points do change and the book has made the updates and included GPS coordinates for all of the named public access points in the book - very cool. One last upgrade that might sound trivial but it is certainly not is the addition of the color blue to the maps, I know, it sounds silly but by simply making the rivers blue, the maps are significantly easier to read and follow. I had always recommended some of the other guidebooks ahead of 12 Classic Trout Streams in the past but this new version is now on the 'must have' list for anyone interested in Michigan trout fishing. Bonus - the book is new enough that it has the correct 803 W Front St address for The Northern Angler. Softcover, 314 pages, $18.95

The next new arrival is Great Lakes Steelhead Salmon & Trout by Karl Weixlmann. I hadn't heard any advance press on the book but here it is. This is Great Lakes Steelhead, not specific to Michigan and I think that probably makes it a more useful book with the explosion of the Lake Erie fishery in recent years. Unlike some previous books, this is not a 'where to' guidebook, there are no river maps or access points. The book starts with a description of the fish species, then moves on to seasons - how to/where to find and catch fish all year round. Chapter three is reading the water with some nice diagrams and photos, I should note that the book is full of great pictures, some real top notch photography. Up to this point the book is a nice basic overview, hardcore steelheaders may not find much new but I think the novice will find it very helpful. Once we reach chapter four - Flies, the book really shines. Nearly 40 pages long, the flies chapter includes solid pictures and full recipies for every type of steelhead fly - streamers, spey flies, wets, some creative egg patterns, nymphs, and tube flies from some of the region's best tyers. The techniques chapter is very helpful, especially if your Great Lakes steelheading experience to this point has been restricted to the "chuck and duck" method. A section on tackle and gear followed by a quick ethics/environmental section round out the book. I would highly recommend it to the beginner or someone considering getting into steelhead fishing and also think that for the experienced steelhead angler, the flies chapter alone is probably worth buying the book for. As a shop owner I have seen the steelhead fishery continue to develop and gain popularity and I would say that this book is a great resource for that market. Softcover, 180 pages, $29.95.

Tight lines and good reading!

The Northern Angler

DVD Review - Nervous Water

Talk about fish porn! Nervous Water has close to 3 1/2 hours of great, fishy content. There are 4 featured films, 10 short films, and the fishporn cut, which is a compilation of cuts from all of the films put together with some sweet music. If you attended the Fly Fishing Film Tour in Traverse City or anywhere else this year, you got to see a number of clips from this DVD already, including the marlin fishing in Paupa New Guinea which was one of the more entertaining segments. A couple of the short films have also been featured on the Simms website. After watching the DVD all the way through and rewatching a lot of it here in the shop, I can certainly recommend it, especially given the price of only $24.95. That's a lot of content for $25!

Nervous water takes the viewer all over the world including Alaska, Slovenia, Papua New Guinea, North Carolina, Wyoming, New Zealand, and more! It also takes you inside the head of a western trout guide in the short film 'Stream of Consciousness' which for anyone that guides or has ever spent much time with guides, is a very funny short film. The footage from Slovenia was a personal favorite of mine, very unique water and very big fish. Trout fishing, bonefish, permit, marlin, bass on the fly, carp - there is a little bit of something for everyone here.

Like many of the recent fly fishing DVD releases, Nervous Water features a lot of cool music. In fact we were recently discussing how difficult it must be to soundtrack one of these videos well, but RA Beattie and crew succeeded on this one. The fishporn cut has been on a fairly constant loop in The Northern Angler and I would consider the majority of the DVD as 'A' material and it would make a good addition to any video collection.

The Northern Angler

Once in a Blue Moon DVD Review

I was going to just say "wow" and leave it at that but I suppose that I should expand upon that just a bit. Once in a Blue Moon is a documentary film about one man's quest to fish and document one of the famed "mouse years" in New Zealand. Every so often (7 years +/-) there is a chain of events set in motion by a mild winter that leads to a strong spring for the beech trees that flower and subsequently seed, which leads to a lot of seeds, which then leads to very well fed mice, that leads to an explosion in the mouse population, which finally leads them to their watery death when they don't have anywhere else to turn for food and space. The trout feed heavily on the mice at this time and this film, 3 years in the making, takes us on a journey through New Zealand chasing trout feeding on mice.
It's a great premise for a film and it delivers on the fishing action but where it truly excels is in the cinematography, scenery, and HD filming - this is an incredibly well made film! If you have ever had the desire to go to New Zealand but needed a little push, this should shove you right over the edge. The landscape of NZ is breathtaking and thanks to some high tech cameras and daring helicopter pilots, Once in a Blue Moon captures some of the best footage that I have ever seen. From a fishing standpoint, there were quite a few times when I had involuntary outbursts as a result of a giant trout mouth emerging to engulf a fly, or monster fish jumping out of the gin clear water. On top of that, it is captivating to watch a really well executed fly cast unroll and hit its target and the DVD delivers some wonderful casting scenes too.
I loved the DVD, the one potenetial downside is that at $29.95 for 38 mins it isn't exactly cheap, but I would say that the quality of the film certainly makes up for the quantity. Highly recommended! If you are a reader of the blog in the Traverse City area, we are playing the DVD in the shop so stop in and check it out.

The Northern Angler

Urban Warfare DVD - Fly Fishing for Carp

That's right, it has come to this...carp fish porn! "Urban Warfare - In Pursuit of the Poor Man's Bonefish" by Barry Reynolds (Pike on the Fly) is exactly that, a DVD dedicated to flyfishing for carp. Actually, they often get a bad rap but fly fishing for carp can be fun, challenging, and offer a different perspective for most fly fishers. Barry's DVD is not really much of a "how to" for carp on the fly but rather a fun video that is filmed in and around Denver. It is really meant to be (and succeeds at being) an eye opening look at how much fishing opportunity is right in front of us. Carp can be found in ponds, rivers, lakes, ditches, you name it and they are big, strong, fast fish that will give you quite a pull on the fly rod. Additionally, the DVD discusses how, despite their "trash fish" perception, the fish can be very selective and technically challenging to catch.
I found the DVD very interesting and fun to watch, much like Barry's earlier video Pike on the Fly. The format and feel are very similar, they have lots of great footage of takes, fights, and really big fish. The opening dramatic music was maybe a bit much but the rest of the music throughout the DVD was good and it fit well (a lot of guitar and "rough" sound) with the fish and the surroundings. The locations were far from scenic, many times you see the expressway in the background or hear a train, but that is exactly the point, you can travel two minutes from home and be flyfishing for 25 pound fish. The "how to" was basically limited to Barry sharing his two favorite carp flies (the Whitlock's Near Nuff Crayfish and the swimming carp nymph) but the video makes no attempt to sell itself as an instructional video. I have watched it a few times already and watching him try to fit 30+ pound carp in the net or watching a carp swim over and suck up the fly in clear water just doesn't get old, it's fun to watch!
I don't know if this DVD will instanly convert everyone over to fly fishing for carp but it certainly will open some eyes of those that haven't tried it and will confirm to others why they do it. A very worthwhile view!

Kirk Novak
The Northern Angler

The Northern Angler Flyfishing DVD Review 2-13-09

Drift

Confluence Films

It's getting to be that time of the season where cabin fever is getting strong and we need a little escape. For those of us that aren't heading south and just need a little help, Drift is a fantastic DVD that takes the viewer around the world in pursuit of fish on the fly. Written and narrated by Tom Bie, the main man behind The Drake Magazine, Drift has a similar feel to The Drake, fantastic pictures, fun stories, and of course, plenty of hardcore fly fishing fanatics. The film is exceptionally well done, shot entirely on 16mm film and mastered in HD, this is not your typical Saturday morning fishin' show! The DVD is over an hour long and includes segments on spey fishing with John and Amy Hazel, fishing the flats of Belize with Brian O'Keefe, bonefishing in the Bahamas with "Bonefish" Charlie Smith, trout on the Green, Frying pan, and Big Horn rivers, and my personal favorite, flyfishing in Kashmir India. The Kashmir segment is actually split between the mountains (that could be BC if nobody told you otherwise) and the villages of Kashmir, where the guys are fishing through a river with women washing clothes on the banks and people looking on (rightfully so) at these two men all decked out in full fly fishing gear like they are from another planet!
Another aspect of the DVD that I enjoyed was the music, Drift has a great soundtrack to it that helps set the mood and move things along at a good pace. I had the opportunity to listen to it over and over (it was on a loop at the shop) for a few weeks and I never tired of it and certainly didn't tire of the film. I caught myself saying "check this out" over and over when people would come into the shop regardless of what point in the film we were at. I can highly recommend Drift and I'm definitely looking forward to the next project form the guys at Confluence films.

Kirk Novak
The Northern Angler

The Northern Angler DVD Review Feb 1st

Fishizzle
Rollcast Productions

Well, at the very least the name catches you right off the bat, fo’ shizzle. The movie is about an Alaskan fishing guide, Steve that is forced to quit guiding in Alaska and move back to his hometown of Seattle and get a “real job” working at Wooligan’s. Of course, it’s killing him and he spends most of his time daydreaming, watching fishing videos from his time in Alaska, and watching the Northwest outdoor TV channel while at work. The DVD has a lot of awesome fishing footage from Alaska including fishing for kings, silvers, Dollys, and huge rainbows (one favorite scene of mine was when a backing knot goes out and the guide chases down the fish, gets the line, reattaches it, and subsequently lands the big king salmon, very cool) and it is for this reason that the movie works. I found the story to be almost a distraction from the fishing action, but I must admit, the were some funny scenes and the Al Braughtinwood character that repeatedly pops up is hilarious (imagine Al Linder meets Billy Mays but less intelligent). Another thing that helped the movie along was the soundtrack, definitely a top shelf slate of tunes that fit the Alaskan fishing vibe perfectly. So overall I found the movie to be entertaining enough and the DVD to be well worthwhile due to the hour and a half of bonus fishing footage that was included.

Kirk Novak
The Northern Angler

The Northern Angler DVD Review

As a regular blog feature, we are going to start a weekly DVD or book review. Most of the time we will stick to newer stuff, but we will cover some older things too. For the first entry we picked a newer DVD, the documentary Red Gold.

Red Gold
By Felt Sole Media – an environmental documentary.

I had heard about how great this film was from a number of people in the business and so I was afraid that it would suffer from inflated expectations but that was definitely not the case. The movie (and the fight against the Pebble Mine) has been supported by many of the biggest names in the flyfishing business – Sage, Patagonia, Redington, Rio and Orvis, and after watching it, I can see why. The film takes place in the Bristol Bay area of Alaska, home of the Kvichak and Nushagak rivers which support some of the largest sockeye salmon runs anywhere in the world. It is also home to a newly discovered copper and gold reserve that has an estimated value of $350-$500 billion (yes with a ‘b’). The mining company says they can get the rock out of the ground without harming the environment and surrounding land, but unfortunately history doesn’t side well with that claim. So the fight to stop the mine is a big one and is the reason the film came to be.
The setting for the movie is an incredible place, true wild lands on a scale that most of us have never experienced or could even imagine. I hate to sound like a cliché movie reviewer, but the phrase that comes to mind is visually stunning. This is a DVD that you want to watch on the biggest TV that you can, it’s awesome. The filmmakers did a wonderful job bringing together aerial images, panoramas, still photos (both present day and historical), interviews, and good music to make a movie that is an hour well spent.
Being a pro environmental/anti mining film, it could have been very easy for the film makers to inundate the viewer with footage of mines and all of the disasters, environmental rape, and resource damage that could occur. Furthermore they could have spun and villianized the mining company representatives as greedy money chasers that could care less if some fish died, but in my opinion, that’s where Red Gold really shined. They took the high road and basically gave the miners’ side of the story without bias and acknowledged the huge economic potential of the find and the reasons they want to build the mine. On the other side of the coin, the film presents a wonderful portrait of a truly incredible place with all of its natural beauty and history and the people that call Bristol Bay home. Without actually being there you still gain a great appreciation of what is really at stake if the mine goes forward and the worst case environmental outcome occurs. In the end, I can highly recommend Red Gold and thank the filmmakers for a job well done.

The Northern Angler