Let's Catch Up with Mike Alwin

If you are anywhere near the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, and you have an interest in fly fishing, you probably have at least heard of Mike Alwin. He was the proprietor of Bob Mitchell's Fly Shop in Lake Elmo from 1994 until the spring of 2013. I have known him well since about 1997, when I got back into the sport of fly fishing after an 8 year hiatus, and quickly became one of his best customers. I got to know him even better when he hired me to be one of his part-time "henchmen" in the fall of 2001, a role I played for the next almost-twelve years. Since he sold the shop three years ago, I have seen Mike probably less than 10 times, so I thought it was about time to catch up with him and find out how retirement is treating him.

Mr. Alwin, looking pretty much the same as always...

I got to choose our meeting place, so I decided on one of the fancier restaurants on my list of favorites, Denny's. Whilst cramming my face with the Moons Over My Hammy, Mike regaled me with story after story of what he's been up to since he retired. He has definitely made the most of his time, that's for sure.

When I worked at Bob Mitchell's with Mike, it always seemed like his duties at the shop kept him from fishing as much as he would have liked. Now that he is retired, he seems to be making up for lost time. He has been able to get on his beloved Kinnickinnic more, he has made trips to Rock Creek and the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area in Montana, he has hiked through the Wind River range in Wyoming, and he has even made the trek over to the Rush River a couple of times, which is something I never thought would happen. Mike was never a fan of the Rush, despite it's being one of the most popular rivers in the area. Maybe that was the very reason why he didn't like it...

Along with fishing, Mike has been spending time helping out with the DNR's electro-shocking crew, he's been designing some super-secret trout leaders, and he's been tying a lot of flies, mostly local patterns that can't be found anywhere else any more (if you are interested in his patterns, he will be selling some at the River Falls Fly Fishing Festival in a couple of weeks).

Despite what some of us think, fishing isn't the be-all and end-all, even for people who have been in the industry for almost 20 years. When not on the water, Mike has done a lot of traveling. He and his wife Deb went on an extended trip throughout France and Germany in the spring of 2014, and they are planning another big trip to Germany and Poland in 2017. They also are heading east this summer, as Mike will be making his maiden voyage to the state if New York, specifically the Adirondacks, to do some camping, sight-seeing and fishing.

There was a glimmer in Mike's eyes the entire time we were chatting, but I think they got the glimmeriest when he was talking about their new dog, Gina, an English Springer Spaniel they rescued a year and a half ago. His praise of Gina was effusive, as he told story after story about her. If you know Mike and Deb, you should know that they have long had a love of Springer Spaniels, and it seems they have found another great one in Gina. His glowing praise makes me wish I could have a dog some time...Oh yeah, I already have two...I temporarily forgot...

If you want to catch up with Mike like I did, make sure you head on over to the River Falls Fly Fishing Festival on March 11th & 12th, where he will be tying and selling his flies. Or, if you can't make that, head to the Kiap-TU-Wish Chapter's booth at the Great Waters Expo the following weekend. He will be there, too. Make sure you tell him you read about him on my blog. But be warned, you might have to explain to him what a blog is...