Michigan Roadhouse Bathroom Graffiti

LOL!!!! Gotta get me some of them light blue choker bags.

I think Rob Roy is Norlands Michigan alias.

The Roe Tree

Some places it grows on trees...

Watch your step...

The river is full of dangers.

Holy Places...

If you are a Steelhead bum like myself you are most certainly familiar with the "Manistee Strain" of Great Lakes Steelhead. These genetics are both desired and enjoyed by anglers throughout Lakes Michigan, Huron and Erie. All of these fish are hatchery raised from eggs collected in the spring at the Weir Facility on the Little Manistee River. There is no stocking or planting of Steelhead on the Little Manistee. By this I mean every egg collected at the Weir comes from a wild self sustaining steelhead population. This is what makes the Stocking program so unique and successful. All fish raised are once through the system. According to Darwin's evolution the genetics should only get better.
When you really sit down and ponder the entire concept it is amazing how one system can single handedly sustain the entire states requirments not to mention others and still maintain its own healthy population. The Weir facility on the Little Manistee river provides all of the steelhead stocking requirements for the entire state of Michigan as well as surplus that is sold into Ohio and Indiana for their programs. For a steelhead bum it really is a holy place.

You can read more about the Weir by clicking on this sentence.

Life as Norland...2010 Fall Edition

Thought I better start throwing shit early this year. ;0)

No looking back...

I winterized the propery up in Muskoka this past weekend for the last time.
As fate would have it we sold it on Friday. I will miss the place dearly as I have many fond memories. In life we must move on I guess...
Muskoka has a grasp on my soul and I'm certain I will find myself there at least once every fall for a special trip. For now, I'm looking forward to making many new memories with family and friends in the Manistee National Forest.

The thing about Salmon...

Salmon, A proud majestic Apex predator of the Great Lakes. A powerful, stealthy creature of grand proportion and prowess. How is it that such a highly evolved species at the top of their food chain can bring such horror to the banks of the world in which they reign. This past weekend I witnessed packs of “sportsman” lining the shores of holy waters chucking concoctions of lead, wire, plastic and occasionally bait into the dark unknown with grand illusions of “catch’n” one for the smoker. I witnessed someone driving down the highway with one arm out the window holding a rope sporting a rotting Chinook. He looked proud! It is sad that one of nature’s grandest spectacles; the annual migration of Salmon; brings out the lowest and darkest element of human nature. Is it the allure of big fish? Is it deeply rooted in custom or tradition? Or… is it the pack mentality? Don’t get me wrong as I am not a tree hugging PETA type but I do believe in ethical fair chase and I sincerely hope mankind are not one day judged by their River Bank Etiquette as I fear we would all be doomed…

Another Season is upon us...

The days are growing shorter, the leaves are starting to turn, and there seems to be that all familiar bite in the morning air. Fall is upon us and more importantly another opportunity to chase our favorite silvery finned adversaries. It has been a while since my keyboard has filled the pages of this blog and a lot of exciting things have have come to hand since my last post. First and foremost would be the acquisition of a Cottage in the Manistee National Forest yet a stones throw from the fabled waters of the Big Manistee and Little Manistee Rivers. The US economic downturn and subsequent strong Canadian Dollar, a chance encounter with a tremendous bargain, and mere fate have resulted in us owning another special place on this planet. I just returned from a family weekend there and I can say the fall season is well under way. The vision of hundreds of Kings pushing up river towards the Weir on the little Manistee brought back childhood memories of what the Huron Tribs used to be. It was as equally exciting witnessing my father’s exuberance at the spectacle as it was he that inflicted the “anadromous curse” on me along the banks of the Little Ausable in Inverhuron many moons ago.
I have also been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to furnish a photograph for “Eastern Fly Fishing Magazines” November/December Issue on the Grand River Watershed. After a few email exchanges with their editor and Art Department a photo was selected that met their needs and approval. It’s one of my favorite steelhead photos and I’m glad I can share it with a larger audience. It should hit the stands some time in early October.
Also Salmon Trout and Steelheader Magazine will be running another article I submitted in their Dec/Jan issue on Winter Jetboat Steelheading. It’s essentially a recap of an adventure Norland and I embarked on earlier in the year. Nothing too heavy but its reads well. This and the fact that a pic of Norlands ugly Mug holding a monster hen from the Muskegon filling the pages of a renowned Steelheading Mag makes it kind of cool. I’m certain his daughter Ella will dig it and that alone is enough reward for me.
It’s kinda funny…as a kid I’d save my money and drool over these magazines and now I can actually submit material that they deem worthy of publishing. Life is very weird.
Anyways…I apologize for the delay in posts and promise some very cool adventures this coming season and some as equally cool photos and videos of our adventures.
Brian