Photography 

Today, Mike has take on a passion project of showing people the simple beauty of the things that he as seen during a lifetime in the outdoors. For the last few years Mike has created a following through Social Media Platforms, photo contests, and publishing photos on for both viewing and for sale. 

Mike performs one-on-one or two-on-one personalized workshops, providing a chance to learn with top notch equipment. This allows you to learn more before you invest a lot of time and money into the activity. You may choose a less intensive tour with a larger group, which can be arranged. When it comes to wildlife most opportunities happen from October through March, with opportunities for landscape and and sightseeing continue throughout the year.

Guided Tours

Mike’s extensive knowledge in both the outdoors and photography have give him the ability to provide his guests with the most beautiful nature tours in the Pacific Northwest. He can custom design tours according to your interests and seasonal opportunities. Or perhaps you would like to take a sight seeing trip to some of the most beautiful land and seascapes in Washington state.

River Guide and Teacher

No doubt Mike’s greatest gift is the great number of anglers who elevated their angling skills with his help.  The name Mike Kinney is synonymous with Spey casting.  Mike has been involved in teaching free clinics almost every weekend for more than 5 years on the rivers surrounding Puget Sound.  It was not unusual to see Mike working his way down a line of 20 casting students at such clinics, helping each new or experienced caster conquer the next step in their learning progress.   A supreme instructor, one of Mikes many attributes is being able to take clients that have little or no knowledge of fly casting and teach them to make fishable cast and catch fish within a single day.  More experienced casters learn problem solving and self diagnosis.  Mike was a popular presenter at many Spey claves across the United States demonstrating spey casting and its application to practical fishing situations.

Most people associate Mike Kinney with steelhead fishing, but he has made many noteworthy contributions to methods and tools for trout and sea-run cutthroat fishing as well.  His Reverse Spider fly stands out as one of the most revolutionary and most effective offerings.  With a forward-cast wing constructed of Lady Amherst pheasant tippet fibers or waterfowl flank feather fibers, this fly is a must-have in the box of any sea-run angler whether casting over salt or fresh waters.

Published and Media Recognition:

Mike was featured in Fly Fishing Magazine (February, 1990) and in Trey Combs' book, Steelhead Fly Fishing (1991).  He was credited for his many contributions to the sport in: Les Johnson’s book, Sea Run: Complete Guide to Fishing for Sea-Run Cutthroat Trout (1979), Mark Mandell and Les Johnson’s book, Tube Flies: A Tying, Fishing and Historical Guide (2004), and in Bruce Ferguson, Les Johnson, and Pat Trotter’s book Fly Fishing for Pacific Salmon (1985). His flies were highlighted in Kent Helvie's Steelhead Fly Tying Guide (1994) and Mike personally showcased some of his flies and how to tie them in two 1995 Bennett/Watt Entertainment, Hooked On Fly Tying Series videos entitled, "Favorite Steelhead Flies with Mike Kinney" & "Marabou Steelhead Patterns the Guides Choice, with Mike Kinney."

In 1990 Mike was featured on the Prime Sports Entertainment Network (Fox Television) "Fly fishing for Sea-Run Cutthroat.”

He often receives mention for his contributions to fly fishing in the Pacific Northwest in Internet reporting such as Mark Bachmann’s flyfishusa.com newsletter.

Mike’s fly tying contributions are represented in books including:  Flies for Steelhead (1992) by Dick Stewart and Farrow Allen, Spey Flies and Dee Flies: Their History & Construction (2002) by John Shewey,  Shrimp & Spey Flies for Salmon & Steelhead (2002) by Chris Mann and Robert Gillespie, and Feather wing & Hackle Flies for Salmon & Steelhead (2006) by Chris Mann.

Perhaps Mike’s contributions were best summed up in a full page color spread entitled The Legend of Mike Kinney in the 2005 Sage Rod Company’s product catalog which included the words, “…you will learn that Mike Kinney is for real, and the stories are true.