Movie Star...every little boys dream!

left to right - ProAngler Drew Miller (from The Grizzly Hackle in Missoula, MT), MCO Guide - Brian 'Lucky' Porter, Wild on the Fly Camera Man Michael Grasseschi, MCO - Guide Tim Fischer, Myself, Wild on the Fly producer Joe Daniels.

It has been a spell since I last sat down and even thought about updating this Blog. Not that is has not been on my mind...mind you! It's just that I have been out of touch with computing since finishing my guide season in late November and then traveling out to California to spend the 'off' season with my family in Sacramento.

But yesterday I called my friend back in frozen Minnesnowta - Big Pike Mike Thomas(http://bigpikemike.blogspot.com/)and he said "Dude, you need to update your Blog..."

Now Big Pike Mike is one of the most tardy bloggers I know of and when he calls me out then I know I have been slacking! So thanks Big Pike Mike...for the motivation!

Getting back in the saddle actually feels good. I notice that I have a bunch of new followers...despite my slack ass ways! THANKS fellows...I'll honor your following in 2011 with a more diligent approach.

Oh, where to begin. Lots of water under the proverbial bridge since the last installment at Musky Ball Time!

I guess I will spend the next few posts looking back on a remarkable 2010 Season and discussing some of the unique things that happened to me as an angler living my dream.

The title to this post - Movie Star really encapsulates my 2010. You see I finally got to live a dream come true and was in front of the rolling cameras many days in Musky Country. Call it narcissistic if you want to but I see it more of just wanting the ball!

It is what every professional worth his or her salt strives for - getting the ball at crunch time. You know digging in when you need to and calling your shot and making it happen. What better way to do this than to have cameras rolling to capture it all for others to enjoy. Making History!

The image you see above is of a crew put together for a TV show actually. Wild on the Fly came to Musky Country to film an episode for their self titled series that airs on The Outdoor Channel.

I invite you to join in and view the show if you have access to The Outdoor Channel. If you are like me and do not I'll see what I can do about getting the episode onto this blog after it makes its TV run...

You can learn more about Wild on the Fly here...

http://www.wildonthefly.com/blog/wild-fly-tv-january

This episode was a challenging one to film. We worked our asses off for several days on many fronts...both on the water and off and in the air. There is so much that goes into putting good angling on film!

Musky Country Outfitters learned a ton about fishing from this experience. Fishing for rolling cameras is really the ultimate test to me. True, guiding clients to a musky on the fly is a super challenge but for my money making it happen when you have a film crew rolling is what really separates the wheat from the chaff.

There is pressure! And pressure can do two things sportsfans...it can fold you like a cheap suit...especially when the chips are down - as they often are when musky fishing...or it can elevate your game.

Look at our faces in this image! What do you see? I see a happy, tired and satisfied band of angling brothers. And that is what this image is. A band of angling brother assembled from strangers who jumped into a common foxhole and come out on the other side changed humans and lifelong friends.

As I said the MCO crew worked our asses off...so did the Wild on the Fly crew. They flew in and had to quickly assimilate to an entirely foreign type of fly fishing and filming environment.

Joe Daniels films Drew Miller from an interesting perspective!

Drew Miller is one fishy motherfucker! This man is a guide and an angler that I'd say could and has caught most everything that swims. You know what...we beat him up and so did the musky for five days.

But he listened and he kept castin' and despite the shitsandwich conditions that were thrown our way we managed to stick enough musky to make a show of it. And then some I am told by Joe.

Just yesterday he called me while putting the finishing touches on that episode. From what Joe says it is one of the finest they have done. I can't wait to see it!
Drew Miller with a slob musky he caught on camera for Wild on the Fly...snapshot from my guide bench perspective

So that was a great highlight for me last season. But I also had a bigger stage to perform on in 2010!

The Big Screen!

And the result was a film by Robert Thompson(http://thirdyearflyfisher.com/) who for my money is the best fly fishing film maker out there. I predict that he is the NEXT BIG THING...
Rob Thompson melting his brain in Musky Country shooting the film Musky Country - Zero 2 Hero

I'll certainly blog more about these experiences in the next few posts. These experiences definitely altered my life in a very positive way.