Hooked Up Films is on location in South Texas ya’ll! We have a 12 day fly fishing frenzy going on the Laguna Madre near Rockport, Texas. Lines are flying, fishing are eating, and the cameras are rolling!

It’s a Texas Thang…so don’t expect to see the finest Orvis duds here, just good ol’e Redneck fun. We are saving the best footage for a feature short film (can anyone say F3 submission), but here is a taste of what we are seeing and experiencing.

There is no doubt, South Texas Laguna Madre fly fishing for redfish, black drum, and sea trout is a whole new experience and unique in all the world of fly angling.

We hope you enjoy the Teaser!

Global warming, rising fuel costs, expensive healthcare, Middle East turmoil, civil unrest, unemployment, and riots……these issues all seem so unsolvable. What do two poor fly fishing buddies do when they have had enough of the talking heads telling them how hopeless it all is? Where should they go to escape the daily onslaught of bad news and reports of corruption?

“Mission Possible” takes you on a whirlwind ride as two anglers take on a self imposed challenge in an attempt to shake the media from their minds. A giant loop of 1,150 miles over 2 States and 4 environments………all in 4 days. They meet up with some new characters while roping some film worthy fish, and maybe even more importantly remember the important things in life usually don’t come out of the flat screen on the wall.

The expo was impressive for a relatively small region and being completely run by the local fly fishing club. There were lots of booths with guides and gear peddlers to browse while in between talks and lectures. The presentations in these talks were fantastic and ranged from techniques on local waters to stunning tales of fishing the exotic places of the world. One talk by Jeff Currier in particular showcased some incredible fly fishing on the Amazon River in South America.

All of this was great. But, as is often the case, the real inspirations came from unexpected places. I met someone there (briefly) that reminded me that the most important things in life are often times those that we give freely of ourselves. That the importance of helping others succeed above ourselves (whether this is fishing or in business) is the most rewarding of endeavors. That, not all things should be driven by financial gain. And that, my friends, lends itself to a happy, fulfilling life. Thank you to that person for reminding me of these important truths….you know who you are.

At one point on Saturday, I found myself standing in front of a booth with a banner overhead that read, “Reel Recovery”. I was intrigued and so stopped by for a chat. The gentleman working the booth was a volunteer and explained for me what Reel Recovery is all about. It was founded in 2003 by a fly fisherman who had been diagnosed with brain cancer and two of his closest friends. They had found that when he was out standing by the water and fly fishing, he experienced a reprieve from the constant onslaught of Doctor’s visits, trips to the cancer center and hospital and the nagging thoughts that so often consume cancer victims. Not only that, but he then returned to reality feeling refreshed and rejuvinated, ready to fight on.

They began talking about how few opportunities there were for men with cancer to escape from the full-time job of beating cancer and to share these struggles with other men with cancer. Many programs had been formed for women with cancer, but very few for men. They decided to fix this and Reel Recovery was born.

Reel Recovery is a non-profit organization that takes men with cancer on 2 1/2 day fly fishing outings, all expenses payed. They team up with “fishing buddies” that help them learn the sport of fly fishing, catch fish, and talk about their disease. Group sessions are set up to in such a way as to offer a safe, positive environment for these men to share with and support each other. It is run completely on donations and volunteers which ensures that no participant pays for their experience.

I found myself struck. Having a career in surgery has shown me the incredible need for a support system for men with cancer. Being an angler has shown me the value and healing power (mentally, physically, and spiritually) of fly fishing. And here in front of me was a way to combine both and give a little back to the world that has been so kind to me.

Long story short, I am looking into becoming a volunteer with Reel Recovery. I had no idea what I might learn when I left Bend, Oregon on a whim and drove to Boise, Idaho; but I sure am glad I did.

I encourage all of you to watch this video and see for yourself what Reel Recovery is about.

We all have our own ways of judging just how tough we are as anglers. Some shoot raging rapids in a rigid drift boat just to fish seldom touched water, others will travel 14 hours on a plane to fish a remote piece of the Amazon River for rare species of bass, and still others will do battle with 30 other fishermen just for a shot at a silver salmon on the Russian River in Alaska. Here in the Hooked Up Films neck of the woods we test our metal by standing in frigid water in December in rain, that is only 1 degree shy of snow swinging flies in a monotonous rhythm again and again. We call it Steelheading.

Around here we gauge the level of psychosis commitment that an angler has by the number of these bone chilling days they log during the often rough Northwest Winters. This short film tries to capture this act of near insanity and, more importantly, explain why we do it. December 2011 was possibly the most mild December on recent record, but as luck would have it, we just happened to pick the 2 days of the month that were the most miserable. As as we all know, “Misery Loves Company”.

We travel as much as we can in an effort to find new and exciting fly fishing opportunities. In those travels we have had the distinct pleasure of making some new “stream side” friends. We couldn’t think of better way to say thank you and Happy Holidays to you, our loyal followers, than to let our knew friends do it for us.

We sincerely wish you, your family, and your loved ones a Fantastic Holiday Season!

Fall is absolutely one of our favorite times of the year to fish. Steelhead and Salmon are all over the Northwest Rivers and the trout fishing has become great again. On top of all that, the colors along our favorite streams are simply brilliant. It’s a good time to get out and shoot fly fishing footage…..or just stand in a run and stare at the awesome beauty of our environment in its transition from Summer to Winter.

Hooked Up Films spent a weekend floating and fishing the McKenzie River in Late October. We are a little ashamed to admit this, but we had never really fished the McKenzie River in Oregon before despite having been only 1 hour away for nearly 10 years. The McKenzie may be best known for its distinction as the “home of the modern day drift boat”. McKenzie River Drift Boats were first designed to handle the higher gradients and rock strewn runs of this magnificent river decades ago and the drift boat has been the standard by which all other river boats are measured ever since.

Drift boats aside, the McKenzie River is also known for some pretty impressive trout fishing and can be one of the more consistent rivers for fly anglers on any given day of the year. We had heard about this of course, and so anticipation was high for our planned 2 day trip.

“Fall on the McKenzie River” is a short film beautifully shot with the trees in full Fall color. Join us as we take a brief glance back at what proved to be not only a fantastic learning experience, but an incredibly gorgeous 2 days of trout chasing on the legendary McKenzie River.

I fear that some of you may be a little upset with us over hear at Hooked Up Films when you learn that we have parted ways with our 1977 Toyota land cruiser FJ40…………and replaced it with a JEEP! Now, wait a minute. Before you assemble the lynch mob, let me explain.

First of all, as most of you know, last winter we converted our 2006 Nissan Titan LE into a permanent and dedicated overland travel and expedition fly fishing rig when we added a custom built carbon fiber, hard side, pop-up camper with all kinds of cutting edge expedition equipment built in. This essentially made the Titan Expedition Vehicle a perfect short and long range multi-day exploration and fly fishing rig, but at the same time a not-so-great day trip vehicle for those trips to our favorite local fishing spots.

Second, the ol’ FJ40 had some issues. It only got about 10-12 miles to the gallon thanks to the Ford 302 under the hood and has a nasty habit of giving me mechanical issues when I was at the apex of some of my outings. I love spending time at remote lakes in the Cascade Mountains, but don’t want to have spend 2 unplanned days there.
Third, Winter were just a little too cold in the FJ40.

So, we started doing our research on possible (more modern) replacements. This was a pretty scientific process with some specific criteria.

1. It had to get around 18-20 mpg on the highway.
2. It did not have to have a ton of power, but needed to have the juice to pull the drift boat up long grades without feeling like a horse and buggy.
3. It had to have plenty of room for gear, but not be a road barge.
4. It had to have 4X4 (we get a ton of snow).
5. It needed to have off-road capability so that Hooked Up Films could get back into those remote, pristine fly waters that see only a handful of anglers each year.

Really the options were limited and we boiled it down to three possablities. The Toyota FJ Cruiser, the Land Rover Defender, or the Jeep Wrangler JK Rubicon.

The Toyota FJ is simply too much of a ruined version of its former perfect self. No soul. The top doesn’t even come off. Plus it has some fairly significant shortcomings in the off-road ready category as well as an awful blind spot in the rear. The Land Rover Defender scores perfect in all categories…..but starts at around 50K, so that was out for us.

This left us with the Jeep Wrangler JK. This rig comes in three models. The Sport, which is the basic trimmed down version. The Sahara which is as close to a grocery runner as a Wrangler can get. And the Rubicon. The Rubicon is THE BEST off road production vehicle there is. It comes stock with Dana 44 axles, coil over springs, electronic front and rear locking hubs, 4-wheel drive with gear ratio 4:1 in low range, Electronic release stabilizer, three sections of removable hard top, onboard navigation with USB connect for device or computer download, SIRIUS Satellite, Bluetooth, and a totally reinvented interior.

Under the hood there is a 3.8 liter V-6 engine putting out 202 horsepower. All of that with 17-20 mpg.

The next big decision for us was 2-door or 4-door. Because we wanted as much room for our fly and video gear as possible we had to go with the Unlimited (4-door). This adds 24 inches to the wheel base which would also be better in the snow than the much shorter 2-door. We opted for the tow package so that we could get the drift boat out and about without having to add this aftermarket. We also liked the feature of the fold and tumble back seat to essentially double the cargo space.
Color was less of an issue for us, but whatever it turned out to be it had to look good with a Hooked Up Films logo on the side somewhere . We are pretty happy with the “Mango Tango” that we wound up with.

Long story short, we pulled the trigger and haven’t looked back. The Jeep Wrangler JK Rubicon Unlimited was absolutely the right move. This thing is a pleasure to drive (unlike the older wranglers that would rattle your teeth out). Not only that, but it really comes into its own off road. Only a few days after driving it off the lot we had an early season snow in the mountains and so we headed up and over the jeep trail passed Broken Top Mountain and over the Sisters, Oregon. This isn’t the toughest road around, but has its rough spots. The Rubicon made it almost too easy with it in 4 high and the stabilizer disconnected. Next we planned a day trip on the Middle Deschutes River and hooked up the drift boat for a test pull. The Wrangler had plenty of power and it never flagged pulling the boat and gear up over the grade heading toward Sunriver, Oregon and literally jerked the boat out of the water at the end of the day. Next we wanted to see just how much gear this thing would handle so we planned a trip out to the Crooked River with 3 anglers, all their gear, film equipment, and lunch. It offered plenty of room for all of that and still had room for my trusty fishing buddy Rascal.

All in all we are thrilled with the Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited and while we will be making some custom alterations to meet the specific needs of the fly angler it is nearly perfect as is.

To sum it all up, if you are considering a Jeep Wrangler, we highly recommend it. And that is coming from someone that drove a classic FJ40 for years!

Special Thanks to Ian Slovis and the gang over at Jim Smolich Motors for such a great car buying experience. You all made it easy!

Back in October Hooked Up Films headed out to meet up with a crew from Wander the West. The trip had two objectives: 1. to see as much of the Black Rock Desert as possible and 2. to meet some fellow overlanders from all over the West.

The Black Rock Desert is famous for its flat playa. This is where the world land speed record of 760 mph was set and is where the Burning Man Festival takes place. For us however, it meant a chance to get out into some solitude, test our overland vehicles, visit some unique geologic attractions, and to hang with like-minded people for a few days.

There were seven rigs involved in this trip and folks came from as far away as New Mexico to be a part of the Wander the West Black Rock Desert Rally. This video tells the tale from our perspectives. Hope you enjoy it and that the Black Rock Desert makes it onto your bucket list!

Recommended Navigation Software:

This was not our first trip to Baja, but it was most certainly our most educational. We did not know it when planning this trip, but we were about to get a hands-on education about living……and surviving in Baja without the usual creature comforts of the 5 star hotels and high end fishing charters where they practically hand you fish that are pre-hooked and waiting for you to simply reel them in. No, this was a more realistic, up-close and personal experience. Something that you might expect to experience while hanging out with Gary at Baja on the Fly. I will never look at Baja the same, nor will I ever be able to visit a high-end hotel without longing for a return to this type of fishing vacation.

“Baja, Pleasure and Pain” valiantly attempts to document our amazing experiences both on the water fishing as well as overcoming the daily challenges of ‘going it alone’ in Baja. We hope you find it fun and inspiring!

Recommended Baja Guide Books:

Sometimes I wonder if the Middle Deschutes River goes equally unappreciated. The Deschutes has earned what can only be described as a ‘world class’ reputation as a blue ribbon trout stream and in the last 6 years has gained the reputation as an incredible steelhead river as well. But this only pertains to the Lower Deschutes below Lake Billy Chinook. The Upper Deschutes, while not Nationally known, is at least locally considered to be one of the best brook trout waters in the Central Oregon area. But this water stops at Wickiup Reservoir. Which means that there is some 50ish miles of river between the two sections that you almost never hear about.

The Middle Deschutes is similar to a middle child, never in trouble like the oldest sibling but not as loved as the youngest, it is just sort of……….there. This passive recognition of the Middle Deschutes extends from the weekend angler all the way up to the local guide outfits. Most days when I walk into a shop and ask, “How’s the fishing on the Middle Deschutes?”, I get quizzical looks followed by an “I don’t really know.” and “would you mind stopping back by with a report?”

Well, I’m here to set the record straight. The fishing sucks! Don’t even bother. You’d be better off staying at home and watching Classic College Football on ESPN. Especially that crummy section between Wickiup Reservoir and Sunriver, Oregon. What ever you do, don’t put a drift boat in there. Fishing from the boat really stinks anyway.

A sample 18 inch Brown

Sample 18 inch 'Bow'

Basically I’m saying that after having fished the Middle Deschutes River above Bend, Oregon multiple times this summer; it is
1. Way to convenient to get to.
2. Way to easy to float and fish.
3. Only capable of producing small fish (see pictures)
4. Something that should continue to be ignored by any angler that considers themselves even half way serious about the pursuit.

A really nice Fall Brown!

Recommended Deschutes River Guide Books: