About Your Grizzly Hackle Fly Shop Staff
We have assembled a team that is second to none in customer service excellence and fishing knowledge of the area, as well as destinations around the world. Fly fishing is their passion and helping you have the best Missoula fly fishing experience is what they love to do. There is a reason that we continually win best fly shop in Missoula from the Missoulian newspaper. There are no egos and no snob’s in our staff.
Brendan Bannigan
Owner
Brendan graduated from the University of Montana with a bachelor’s degree in both environmental studies and history. A life-long angler, Brendan was a customer of the Grizzly Hackle first, an employee beginning in 2009, and its proud owner as of January 2016. If he’s not in the shop, you’ll find him exploring Montana’s rivers and streams looking for big trout. Brendan is also a salt-water fanatic and dreams about chasing permit. Brendan and his family live in Missoula.
Matt Bryn
Retail Manager
Matt is a native of Missoula, MT. His love of the outdoors started at birth as he was always fishing and hunting with his dad. Matt didn’t watch cartoons or play video games as a kid – he wanted to be outside! After he graduated from the University of Montana –Western in Dillon, he became a full time fisherman guiding the rivers of SW Montana. Although Matt is done guiding , his love of fly fishing has kept him in the business. Matt’s biggest passion in life is big game hunting for Deer and Elk. He gets a little extra nutty in the fall when the leaves begin to change, and the elk begin to bugle. Besides his corny jokes, he’s a goofy ice fisherman drilling holes on a frozen lakes in the winter. Matt has worked at the Grizzly Hackle since 2011 and is our Retail Manager. He’s been married to his wife, Jessica since 2012, and is now a proud papa to a little boy named Gus and little girl named Madeline.
Rick Marcum
Outfitting Manager
Rick grew up fishing for bass and bluegill in the midwest. He caught his first big bass at age 7 and it was all downhill from there. All he ever thought about was fishing. In College his roommate ended up being a fly fishing guide from Libby, MT. He introduced Rick to fly fishing for trout and it didn’t take long for him to get addicted to fly fishing and trout. Since then he has been pursuing trout and other species on a fly rod. Rick runs the outfitting business out of the Grizzly Hackle and has since 2012. If you have any guided trip questions or end up booking you’ll talk to Rick at some point.
Aidan Morton
Fishing Specialist
Born and raised in Montana, Aidan moved all around the state before landing in Missoula to attend the University of Montana. He grew up fishing grasshoppers to hungry trout in the canal by his house and jigging for walleye in our state’s eastern waters. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and wilderness studies in 2021. When not in the shop, Aidan can be found experimenting at his tying desk, chasing horns and upland birds in the plains, and sharing laughs and cold ones with friends on his drift boat.
Reed Simlar
Shipping Manager
Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Reed has been a fisherman for as long as he can remember. Reed cut his teeth fly fishing by throwing mayflies, streamers and mice to finicky trout on the rivers of the north woods. His fourth year here in Missoula, Reed has taken quite a liking to the style and techniques used in Western Montana; especially the local pike fishing. He is currently finishing up his bachelor’s degree in parks, tourism, and recreation management and an associate’s degree in business administration from the University of Montana. On Reed’s off days you can find him straying off the beaten path and hiking deep into the backcountry to find those special fish that don’t see flies every day!