Dawn Patrol's "Good Bugs"

Its been a good bit of time since we talked Dawn Patrol, but that doesn't mean I'm not reading the most recent posts when they goes live. Still in my top 5 of favorite fly fishing blogs, one feature I wanted to highlight, that I think is overlooked, is DP's "Good Bugs" tab.

Roll on over and check out these proven patterns for yourself by clicking here...

Boom...Morgan

Fish Art...Dawn Patrol's 'NW Steel'

Via Dawn Patrol Fly Fishing:

Roll on over to Dawn Patrol for more sick vids, fish art, fly tying, and hunting goodness.

Boom...Morgan

Daily Reel...'Time Well Spent'

Time Well Spent from DAWN PATROL on Vimeo.

Boom...Morgan

Dawn Patrol's About to Take Over the Lead Eye Holder Market

Via Dawn Patrol Fly Fishing:

here is my super fancy lead eye holder. i came across a few bags of 400 piece lead eyes in a couple of sizes and couldn’t pass them up. i use my fancy ass comb to hold them and paint them whatever colors i please….coming soon to a fly shop near you -
The Dawnpatrol Lead Eye Painter Holder™ it’ll retail for $3.99 unless i sell the idea to Simms then it’ll cost $79.99 suckas.

Boom...Morgan

Dawn Patrol and Muskie Fishing

Via Dawn Patrol Fly Fishing:

the lawn needed to be cut badly. it was slow going and every few feet i had to lift the shoot on the side of the mower with the toe of my sneaker so it could belch out a clump of long neglected clippings.

i wish the heat that is making the streams so warm would burn my grass so i didn’t even have to pull the mower from the dank shed.

the humidity weighs heavy on everyhting. my new issue of the the fly fish journal wrinkled as soon as i pulled it from it’s protective, plastic sleeve. my beer can seems to have pores and sweats more then i do, leaving dark ringed foot prints everywhere i put it down. you’d have no trouble tracking me through the house.

i use the magazines as coasters and and they quickly resemble the first porn mag i ever saw, a wrinkled mess i pulled from a roadside ditch. it had endured rainstorms and the baking sun while the magazines in my house are aged by the quality of the air alone.

for the last few weeks i’ve abandoned the tricos and 7x for wire tippets and flies with eyes as big as the coins in my pockets. i know muskie are in vogue. that after a movie has been made about a fish that you are just another guy riding on the band wagon as you chase whatever the camera has turned into a star. i don’t care though. just like i refuse to let hipsters and popular culture ruin carp or PBR for me. i won’t let it stop me from peeling back the layers.

muskie are not new and i’ve half heartedly pursued them over the years, but this new water has numbers that make them less of a unicorn that they have been.

it’s been a shot in the arm, straight to the vein. one i truly did not need. i don’t need anything else to make me love this sport more.

yet somehow i feel reinvigorated by a fish that only seems mildly interested in my presentations of spun hair and too much flash. it’s funny how we adjust our standards of success. a follow is something to talk about. in the last couple years I’ve consumed every piece of information i can find about them but i know the only education that really matters happens on the water. i’ve had fish eat but still haven’t held one in my hands.

so the other day when one was hooked up long enough for me to pull the fish to the surface before it shed my offering with a shake of it’s head, i wasn’t surprised by the emotions i felt. not anger, not disappointment, not real regret… just amusement. i realize i’m not in a rush for this one. that there aren’t many new fish within driving distance of my house and that i’ll only get one chance to catch my first muskie. 

it’ll happen soon. i can feel it deep in my bones. i’ll keep casting and won’t loose heart. these log shaped, pretentious fish can sense it and we’ve got a mutual respect for each other now. almost like the girl that played hard to get but then ended up chasing you after you knew her game. i’ve turned a corner with them and we both know it. so we’ll flirt with each other a little longer but soon we’ll be taking photos together smiling because we both it’s inevitable.

Boom...Morgan

Sick of It

Via Dawn Patrol Fly Fishing:

if i read another fucking blog post, magazine article or hear it out of some d-bags mouth hole i’m going to stab my eyes out with a thingamabobber.

please let this nymph vs. dry fly thing die. let’s all assume that we’d like to fish on top but that more enlightened, less whiney fisherman will catch fish in a wider range of conditions, year round then the entrenched dry fly purist out there. every fisherman that i’ve ever known that talks shit on one type of fishing over another sucks at the type of fishing they deplore… sorry to blow your ghey cover.

i believe the dry fly purist has jumped the shark. you aren’t using the same, far inferior equipment Lee Wulff used…right? then don’t prescribe to his theories because it’s tradition. it’s fucking boring. 

…or maybe do that and only fish 3 months out of the year. spend the rest sitting inside talking about fishing while the rest of us teach the trout not to trust a gotdam thing.

…and if you are man enough to put your mouth where your shit talk is, throw out every nymph or streamer that you own and only fish what you have to rub silicone on. 

i’m so sick of hearing the “guide’s have people dragging nymphs under a bobber” nonsense. if you aren’t a guide. shut your fucking hole. full stop. if you are someone watching a guide do his or her job and you think yourself and your tactics superior then get a license and prove it. but never, EVER, deviate from your high road and only carry dry flies. if you ever tie on a nymph know that you are a dirty slut and a hypocrite.

i can tell you first hand having actually done it, that getting someone into their first fish is a cool experience and far more positive then this “my way is better then your way” nonsense. it’s an experience even Lee Wullf might cozy up too, and I’ve never had a single person bring some bullshit, “i only want to catch fish this way” to the table. but i have seen smiles and felt gratitude, dry fly or nymph.

it’s boring and you aren’t doing anything to advance the sport. please stop adding caveats to other people fishing and concentrate on yourself.

Well said.

Boom...Morgan

Fish Art: Dawn Patrol Fly Fishing

Wish he had an online shop...love it.

Dawn Patrol Fly Fishing

the process. catch fish. take picture. sketch fish. paint fish.

Boom...Morgan

Non-Fishing Related Reel...'North'

Via Dawn Patrol:

i spent a lot of time bobbing around in fall and winter swells in full suits with hoods, 7mm booties and lobster claw gloves. makes you appreciate board shorts and warm water.

it’s the same way i look at wet wading now. gotta love that point in the season when your waders get a break and the only thing you have to grab out of the car is a rod and your pack.

(Source: gotsurf.ca)

Boom...Morgan

Dawn Patrol is at it Again

Via Dawn Patrol Fly Fishing:

despite carp being hyped by the entire industry for the last few years i still have yet to come across another fly fisherman while fishing for them.

i come across guys bow hunting for them all the time. it’s the one case where i’d prefer the guy sneaking around the bend to be another fisherman.

sometimes while i’m carp fishing, a smallmouth will rip out in front of the carp and eat my offering. it’s the one case where i’d prefer a smallmouth didn’t eat my fly.

most people that i talk to think that smallmouth are easy to catch and carp are always difficult. while both can be true at times, in my experience it’s all relative. some days no matter what the species, they’ll be easy to fool and other days those same fish will be impossible. the key to hitting those easy days is to show up for the game as often as possible.

Boom...Morgan

Pretty Cool Stream Report from Dawn Patrol

Via Dawn Patrol:

spend enough time wandering around in the woods and eventually you’ll run across some weird shit. creeps seek the solitude of the wilderness just like outdoorsman do… only for different reasons. we checked out new water today and one section had some old cabins along the bank. they had all been trashed and tagged to no end in the shitty graffiti you’d expect from bored, backwoods teenagers with a little spray paint and too much keystone light.

the last one in the row was set further apart and as we got closer i noticed a car parked out front. the cabin was falling apart like the others but it had fresh trash all around it and the vibe immediately felt different. while my friend fished i saw some movement in the car through it’s fogged up windows. we moved up through the pool with one eye on the water and one over our shoulders. when we got behind cabin and out of the line of sight, the engine fired up in all it’s mufflerless glory and the beater chevy reluctantly drove off through the woods. behind the shack we found a pile of discarded jewelry scattered among the river stones. some still had price tags hanging on them. i imagine some shady capers now take place in what was once someones quaint little getaway.

the stream was slow to show us any love but when it did the fish were larger than expected. so despite all the trash and the meth heads on the one stretch, we’ll be back to see those fish again once spring rolls around.

For the rest of the pictures, check out Dawn Patrol for yourself!

Boom...Morgan

Fish Jerks Swag Pack

Via Dawn Patrol Fly Fishing:

"FISHJERKS swag pack. funniest mail i’ve received in a long time. opened it to find a woman’s bowling trophy, some top ride, fishjerks official beer koozie, fish bottle opener (so heavy i could use it as a spare anchor), cassettes from Journey, Violent Femmes and The Cure. a hawaii shot glass, one thingamabobber and some kickass stickers son.

i highly recommend you get one of your own."

Boom...Morgan

Amen

Via Dawn Patrol Fly Fishing:

spending the next couple days trying to make this happen as often as possible.

Boom...Morgan

Grip & Grin

Via Dawn Patrol:

 

"i don’t know exactly when it happened but i do know that at some point grip n’ grins started to carry a certain amount of shame with them. i think some dickbags trolling the internet fueled the idea. i’ve actually had friends email me trip reports and apologize “for all the grip and grins”. i didn’t want photos of your lunch or scenery anyway. we can talk about that shit later. i wanted the fishing report, grip and grins fill the order nicely.

people have been posing with the shit they’ve caught or killed ever since people have been catching and killing shit. 

over the weekend we spent some time with the in-laws. i dig looking through my father in-laws photo albums. he’s as legit as they can be. dude has hunted, worked trap lines, and stalked streams his whole life. his den is littered with evidence of his skills and knowledge. the old man’s photo albums are filled with grip n’ grins, all of which have memories attached so the stories he tells about those photos are better then the grainy smiles they contain.

next time you catch a fish that you are proud of, get a few shots or take a video. don’t be a douche, practice common sense and get the fish back in water in good shape. know that if you post that shit online at least one turd will chime in on your fish handling skills. but fuck em’, i guarantee they won’t be there in 20 years when you are telling the next generation about how fucking rad that day was.

long live the grip n’ grin"

Boom...Morgan

Dawn Patrol..."Fly Fishing & Life with Terrible Spelling and Worse Grammer"

Found a gnarly blog thanks to Striped Pajamas...Dawn Patrol. Awesome blog, made the bookmarks bar for sure. Check out this dudes awesome fish art...

Check out the rest of his blog, dudes got his shit together.

Boom...Morgan