Say what you will about it, (I know I have), but the backstory of the man behind the brand, Yvon Chouinard, is a pretty interesting one. For many of you, it's not a new tale, but when my father-in-law emailed me a copy of the following profile from The New Yorker titled "Patagonia's Philosopher-King," I was totally captivated for the ten or so minutes it took to consume.
Perhaps it's because I work in retail. Perhaps it's because I admire people who effect change. Perhaps it's just because he's an interesting, albeit somewhat unassuming character, which may or may not actually be true. Perhaps it's just author Nick Paumgarten's way with words. Perhaps I'm just drinking a tall glass of Fitz Roy-flavored Kool-Aid.
I don't know. After reading it, all I want to do is get outdoors, fish my tenkara rod, and go save the Earth, not necessarily in that order.
Working in general sporting goods retail for almost 20 years, it's rare to see the niche of fly fishing get some exposure in industry media, especially when the retail press as a whole tends to focus more on big dollar categories such as apparel, footwear, or fitness & team sports equipment.
Ever since I started fly fishing (and consuming the media that surrounds it), a common statement repeated over and over is how fly fishing is a dying sport. The equipment is prohibitively expensive, fly shops are closing left and right, manufacturers are selling direct, and the primary customer base has a demographic skewing toward older rather than younger. Pretty much doom & gloom.
Working my day to day in a different segment of sporting goods, I was pleasantly surprised to see the fly fishing category called out in a positive light in the most recent issue of a widely distributed trade magazine, Sporting Goods Business Weekly. Typically when it appears in my inbox there are basketball shoes, bicycles, fitness equipment, or athletic apparel on the cover, needless to say I stopped in my tracks when I saw Yvon Chouinard (tenkara rod in hand) as the cover boy!
The feature article draws attention the recent push toward younger anglers by brands such as Orvis and Howler Brothers, the steadily growing women's demographic, and even a whole section citing Tenkara USA & Patagonia's influence on attracting new anglers to the sport through simpler fly fishing gear and techniques.
While I'm not sure if this was just a marketing piece put together to stimulate wholesale fly fishing purchases by retailers (it probably was), it was still a refreshing read to see something positive in print about the fly fishing industry, (including tenkara), for a change.
Check it out either via online embed (below) or downloadable PDF beginning on page 18.
Yeah, doesn't get much more badass than Brett Crawford. 300+ pound alligator gar. Bowfishing gear. Likely a tin of Skoal in t-shirt pocket.
No forced perspective or overuse of HDR in this fish pic...
Photo courtesy Brett Crawford & T-Rex
"The two men used a rope attached to Jim's Polaris to drag the fish to the house. Even together the two men could not lift the fish. Jim offered a forklift from his garage, which was just the tool they needed to hang the catch for photos and to weigh it.
But their scale's 300-pound capacity was inadequate. The fish measured 8 feet 2 inches. And it bottomed out the scale in resounding fashion."
With Father's Day approaching I was asked by our friends at the Pottstown Mercury to reflect on "being a dad" in a blog post. I suppose with the vast sea of "mommy bloggers" out there, the perspective of someone with a laptop and a Y chromosome is one that is of some value, at least at this time of year.
Now people familiar with this blog know that I write about my daughter Lilly fairly frequently. OK, not as frequently as I do trout, or scantily clad women fishing in bikinis, but enough to give you a little view into the puppy loving, Cartoon Network watching, chicken nugget eating, Scotch tape wasting kindergarten-graduate that runs our household.
There are a lot of parallels between being a dad and fishing. To start, before you even pick up a rod (or your wife spits out a kid) you can read a lot of how-to books and watch a lot of videos to prepare you for what you think your responsibilities are going to be. Unfortunately, you've got no idea what you're getting yourself into until you jump in and get your feet wet.
What used to be the best catch...
For me, I donned the waders 6 years ago. And believe me, not everything has been trophy fish since. We're talking the tangled lines of potty training, the hook in the hand of refusing to eat dinner, and snag in the trees of playing far too many video games...all while having to put up with the cutest little smile than makes handing out any sort of discipline a challenge onto itself.
Does it get easier, yes? But again, just like fishing, once one skill is "mastered," many more puzzles present themselves. Once a fly fisherman learns to catch fish, he then typically wants to learn how to tie his own flies...which leads down the path of buying a ton of feathers, tools, and a tying vise, none of which is inexpensive.
Heck, fast forwarding many, many years, I read somewhere that the average wedding cost in 2011 was $27,000. Yeah, looks like I'll have to stop tying flies now...
In the end though, even with all of those trials to pass & riddles to solve, I'm not sure if there's anything more rewarding than being a dad, (including catching a 20"+ trout). Heck, being a dad is way more rewarding than catching a big fish. Fish don't give you hugs, fish don't make you ridiculously proud at even the smallest achievement, fish don't sneak into your bed in the middle of the night just to "snuggle," and fish certainly don't say "Daddy, I love you."
...now the best catch ever!
Yeah, being a dad ain't that bad at all. Love you Lil. Thanks for making every day, Father's Day.
No, it's not a fishing thing, but it's outdoorsy, and has some parallels to an annual fishing "Rite of Spring" so I thought I might be worth posting.
It comes up in local press every few years. Basically the deal is that rather than shooting clays or stationary targets, the Philadelphia Gun Club (and a few other clubs in the State), round up pigeons and systematically release them to let club members have at them as target practice. It's kind of like opening day of trout season, when hundreds of stockies are thrown in a 10 by 20 foot hole to be removed one after another. Like the trout that doesn't care for Powerbait, many pigeons get/fly away to "safety," but the ones that don't...well...don't.
Other than shooting a bunch of what some might think are nuisance birds...
what's the issue might you ask?
First off, pigeon shoots are perfectly legal in Pennsylvania. But since we're talking shotguns, a good portion of the birds don't die right away upon getting hit...rather they're knocked out of the sky by the gunshot and fall to the ground with crippling injuries, blows that most times will prove fatal later. Do the birds suffer in that time between flight and expiration? I suppose so. But then again, so do those opening day trout latched on to stringers bound for the dinner plate. Animal cruelty groups definitely think the pigeons are getting a raw deal, and have been trying to shut these shoots down for years.
What I find most interesting is the latest tact taken in the war against pigeon shoots. Since the Philadelphia Gun Club property resides on the banks of the Delaware River, it is now being sued by said environmental groups for violating the Clean Water Act...or in other words, polluting the river with a bunch of dead birds and spent shotgun shot without permit.
To quote the Inquirer article:
"The shoots are a violation of the Clean Water Act because of shot and carcasses falling into the river," van Rossum said. "They can't have a discharge into the water without a permit."
Federal and state agencies have failed to enforce the Clean Water Act, van Rossum said. So she and her nonprofit group, which has more than 7,700 members, filed suit in federal court in Philadelphia on March 30.
In addition to the pigeon carcasses, gunshot containing lead, bismuth, tungsten, copper, steel, and other metals are polluting the river, according to the suit."
Hmmm...that's an interesting angle. Does it carry any real weight? Probably not, especially considering the fact that pretty much every waterfoul hunter could be considered guilty of the same "crime" if precedent is set.
Something tells me pigeon shoots in Pennsylvania aren't going anywhere anytime soon, but what are your thoughts; environmental and/or moral? I'm especially curious considering parallels to fishing, and the strong "catch & release" ethic that is prevalent in such circles.
Hurricane Irene is here. Although (as I'm typing this) I'm not in imminent danger, all of the streams are going to be blown out at least until midweek, not to mention what kind of havoc the high winds might have caused, so likely not a ton of fishing in store for me...at least until next weekend. Holed up in the house, will have some time on my hands, which gets me thinking about reading.
As a blogger, I love to read other people's blogs. I take at least a partial spin through my blogroll daily; there are so many talented writers and photographers out there, it's something I find really enjoyable.
There are also a ton of online magazines such as 'Catch Magazine,' 'Ten and Two,' 'Kype Magazine,' and 'This Is Fly' that are very good reads. That noted, it doesn't mean I don't like to do traditional reading in primarily magazine or book form as well.
Problem was, I was getting so many magazines either by my own doing or via gift subscriptions, they were really piling up. Reading them all wasn't necessarily the issue, but I just sort of wanted a streamlined way to keep them...not only close by...but for posterity. All that paper takes up space! Not to mention the inconvenience of juggling multiple books and magazines when traveling.
So I've started the migration to digital. I've got the Kindle app for both my Android phone and tablet and have downloaded Gierach's 'No Shortage of Good Days' and 'The Windknot' by John Galligan to start my "library." On top of that, with my Field & Stream subscription running out this month, I've transitioned that to digital as well, which is accessible on the tablet, PC, phone, you name it, via an account with Zinio.
While I'm getting the hang of this, I have to say I like it so far. Using the Android tablet vs. say an actual Kindle is nice because it's in color so you can still get the full impact of photography in magazines. I wouldn't imagine a book being much of a difference since it is primarily text. Unfortunately, many fly fishing magazines I enjoy aren't available digitally yet, so I can't quite get to paperless Nirvana yet.
So what are your thoughts? Do you do the digital book/magazine thing? Are you thinking about it but still on the fence? Have you tried it and not liked it or do you think it's awesome?
Would love to hear your opinions. With everything going more and more digital by the day perhaps the simple touch and feel of a book is what keeps one "traditional."
I haven't plagiarized posted a news story in a while. But when I saw the video below on YouTube yesterday, I had to dig up the accompanying story. Check out the details HERE.
If you ain't into reading all that terrible local reporting in the link, here's the deal...this lady caught a huge goldfish in a residential pond while trying to catch catfish (hence the basketball sized bobber). Somebody who lives nearby probably let it go, it chowed on radioactive sewage (or Arthur Bryant's) for a few years, and turned into an extremely tame River Monster.
The way it's hanging from the line like a mobile, she probably snagged it rather than hooked it clean, but I ain't here to rain on anyone's parade. Foul hooks happen. Seriously, congrats Olivia, that's a damn big goldfish... Brownliners in Kansas City be warned.
The water's been tested and all those dispersant chemicals used to clean up the mess have evidently dropped to levels well within FDA regulations. Who knows what lies beneath...in the spooky depths...but I'm not a glass half-empty guy - with Earth Day on Friday, that's good news.
I can't really take credit for this next one. Clif sent it over to me. You know, when you write a fishing megablog like yours truly, people like to send you content. (How do you think the Chum gets all their filler?)... Anyway, you may have seen (or maybe better said "heard") this before as it's been making the rounds, but for those that haven't...I present Wally Backman, manager of the South Georgia Peanuts of the South Coast League. Those not in tune with the unique language of baseball probably shouldn't watch...
I got another solicitation email this week, this time from the North American Fishing Club. You know, that group that tries to sucker you into being a life member by sending you prizes and crappy magazines? Actually the articles in their magazines aren't terrible, it's just there's 8x as many pages of advertisements.
Well, they've put out a fishing app for iPhones, iPads & Android phones based on their Knot Wars series. Basically gives you a bunch of knot tying tutorials on your smartphone for just $1.99...but unfortunately no Angry Birds.
Anybody care that there's still no progress in the NFL labor negotiations? Since there's a lockout going on right now, there's been no exciting offseason player movement like in years past. Kinda sucks for those of you who are into crap like that. No Albert Haynesworth to the Redskins, no Julius Peppers to the Bears, although I'm sure Brett Favre is still sending texts somewhere. Well fear not...one of the biggest signings has been made...yup...Mike Iaconelli has signed with Rapala & VMC!
Okay, not really news that'll make the headlines...some of you probably don't even know Ike. He's that BASS angler who weighs like a buck-twenty soaking wet and screams like crazy when he catches a toad. I like Ike quite a bit. He's from South Jersey (basically a Philadelphia suburb) and gives tons of props to Philly all the time - as evidenced by the hat in his "never give up" logo.
Now this news station won't allow me to embed this video (which is a damn shame), they even prohibited YouTube from letting people embed it...so I can only offer the link to view it on their website HERE. It's well worth the click, especially at the 0:25 mark. Eric Hubbard will be the next YouTube auto-tune remix star a la Antoine Dodson...mark my words.
Tornado victim Eric Hubbard - this is just a still pic, not a video, so don't click it.
Now for the blog love. The last nibble kinda made light of all of last week's tornadoes, but honestly they created a very serious situation, one that took far too many lives. r.b. wright, from r.b. wright outdoors has a video segment on most Tuesdays called "Tuesday Tip". It's kinda like the Nibbles, except it's actually informative and not a waste of your time.
"An everyday guy talking to everyday outdoorsmen about extraordinary passion"
Hey - it's Wednesday Nibbles time again. Oh how I missed writing these posts over the last few weeks. I know they only really appeal to the mentally ill, but they're still fun to write.
Either the online editor lost a bet or it was a slow news day, either way I was honored to share my fifteen minutes of digital fame with the "Duct-Taped Baby's" Mom.
Spotlight - Idiot rants about Tuesday - no mention of ball kicking
Have you seen this video? I'm actually only posting it for Owl since he has a creepy thing for LOL cats and has been spending all his time cranking out the latest incarnation of his site. This video has been making the rounds this week on TV and stuff - so I present "Cat Bowling."
If it was me, I'd shoot that laser pointer toward a trash can, or a freeway, or the mom who evidently duct tapes babies. I'm not a big fan of cats...sorry.
I haven't called out Acadia Sports Rods in a while. Once upon a time I was a product tester for Acadia (through the WhereIFish.com forum) as they were developing their M-Series of rods. Well, fast forward a few years and those rods are in production and available for sale.
If you're not familiar with this company, they make a solid rod at two different pricepoints - F-Series at $65 and M-Series at $100. But that price isn't for one rod, it's for 2. They sell their rods as a "Buy 1 Get 1 Free" program, and you can mix and match within series however you want. Need a new spinning or baitcast rod and on a budget, check out Acadia. Good bang for the buck - and even better customer service.
The only reason to see that crappy Adam Sandler movie
Finally, time for the blog love. This week's blog love goes to the "Noise on the Line" blog, aka the blog written by John over at Fish Creek Spinners. Here's the deal, and I'll give you the straight skinny - John is looking for Google Followers. He's trying to give away $50 worth of FREE SPINNERS by the end of the month, and is using the Followers widget as the "entry form."
Tape measure not included
Even without the giveaway, he writes some pretty insightful posts on how to fish spinners, lots of video of spinners in action, as well as some pretty detailed posts on product development. Wanna know how to powder coat your own lure components...check this out. Oh, and let me repeat myself - FREE SPINNERS...what are you waiting for?
I don't really call out the affiliation much here (shame on me), but you may have noticed the little "Mercury" banner over in the right sidebar of the blog upon one of your previous visits.
Well, they asked all of the bloggers to answer a short interview questionnaire the other day, and appears the one about Troutrageous! got published today. Here's the link if you'd like to read it.
If they had asked, I could have probably given them a picture that was not so pixelated, like this one below of me after a day of tenkara fishing with Dr. Ishigaki and Sasquatch, but on many levels, their image is kinda fitting.
The Three Amigos
[Note: Looks like they changed the picture. Unfortunately not to the one above.
I love the instant gratification that the internet brings]
The point of this post isn't only to toot my own horn (*toot toot*) it's actually just to point out that if you're interested in going this route, local newspapers are affiliating themselves with blogs and bloggers all the time. Just ask Shoreman. If you're looking for a way to reach more readers, a simple email to your local newspaper's editor might just be an easy place to start.
Also, to anybody who might be stopping by for the first time. I'm sorry. You were probably expecting some really good fishing tips, maybe some top secret local places to catch a big brown trout or smallmouth bass. You're not going to find that here. (However if you know of any I'm all ears!) Nope, just fishing related nonsense, self-deprecating humor, bad photoshop, and kinda funny YouTube videos. Oh, and Lilly. Lots of Lilly.
Shame on me. Some legit fishing news happens close to home and I totally missed it.
I hang my head especially low since it involves a 13 year old catching a record bass. Kids outfishing their fathers is always a huge hit on the web. I mean what other than scantily clad women awkwardly gripping fishing rods do most fisherfolk smile at immediately when they see it?
So in the spirit of giving you what you want to see, albeit belated...no, not half naked women donning oversized floatation devices...here's a video and a link to an accompanying article about Juliana and her huge striped bass. I especially like how NBC Philadelphia places this article in their "Weird News" section...what, is the Sports section too much of a stretch?
Way to go Juliana!
P.S. To all of my daily readers. There may not be a post on Friday. As I mentioned in a post last week, I'll most likely be in Dallas as you're reading this, so unless I can figure out how to post something from my damn smartphone, Troutrageous! will look very much the same tomorrow as it does today...
My favorite way to fish with my tenkara gear is using a tandem fly rig. Usually my flies of choice are a size #16 or #18 beadhead prince nymph or copper john beneath a #12 or #14 CDC & Elk Hair Caddis.
This combo works especially good on the creeks I fish, as the beadheads are perfect for attracting subsurface feeding in the riffles & eddies. In this scenario the CDC caddis simply serves as an indicator fly. If it moves unnaturally, fish on!
Should I see trout rising to feed, the dry still maintains an adequate enough drift to attract strikes despite the second fly in tow. It's very convenient that you don't necessarily need to re-rig.
The "hatches" aren't that spectacular on the creeks I frequent, so my ratio is probably 80/20 nymph to dry, but the dries do catch fish and in my opinion are worth adding to the line.
There's a very good article in Midcurrent expanding on dropper flies and tandem rigs HERE. It's a nice primer if you don't fish this style right now.
On a non-fishing note, Lilly & I enjoyed our own form of tandem rig last night. All I heard was "Go faster Daddy, go faster!" Great fun for a 15 minute cruise around the neighborhood.
Read an interesting article on the Wall Street Journal website yesterday. Ok, maybe I didn't read the entire thing, but in my opinion skimming a few paragraphs and looking at the pictures qualifies something as "read" in today's age of electronic information overload.
Wear them to work, a fancy restaurant, wherever & whenever - because guess what my friends, you're now cutting edge. That $2,000 Armani suit in your closet is so last year. Cabela's is where it's at.
Anyhow, couldn't pass up a post on this interesting article. Evidently Kevin Costner (yes, that Kevin Costner) wants to help save our oil-soaked oceans & coastlines. No, not with some sort of Hollywood based fund-raising telethon, but rather pitching an emergency oil spill plan to Congress starring his army of centrifugal oil-water separator machines - ok - say those last five words 10 times fast.
"Yes, Waterworld sucked, but I made freakin' Dances with Wolves dammit!"
Interesting stuff, here's a link to a Yahoo/AFP article on Kevin pitching in Congress' cornfield. http://tinyurl.com/danceswithoil
Tongue removed from cheek, I do hope at minimum he's got some good science behind him to raise enough eyebrows so that when this happens again, all parties involved will be a bit more prepared.
Some also other oily stuff going on worth mentioning...
Also, don't think BP is going to fulfill their promise of making everything right by those affected in the Gulf in financial terms? Perhaps think about picking up one of these R3 tees from Bugslinger. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to impacted fly guides in Louisiana. http://tinyurl.com/bugslingerR3
I'll be honest, sort of mailing in today's post, it's more or less a regurgitation of some news events. There's a lot going on at the household this week taking away from blogging (& unfortunately keeping up with my blog buddies' posts).
That said, there was an interesting development over the past few days that on one hand is unbelievable, yet on the other so believable. Here's the short of it.
It was leaked to the press the other day that Pennsylvania Homeland Security has been collecting, tracking, and forwarding to local law agencies the names of citizens and activist groups that have been documented as opposing natural gas (Marcellus Shale) drilling in the state. The explanation is that these groups could become violent in their protests. Basically support the 'Gasland' movie and you're on the list.
Fear of violent protest is one thing, but what...folks that want clean drinking water and an end to the corporate abuses of natural resources are now a homeland security threat?
Natural Gas in your tap water...anyone?
Stinks of special interest money (read pro-drilling lobbyists) influencing Pennsylvania government actions to me. There's only billions of dollars to be made by these gas extraction companies over the next few decades, right?
It's a shame to see any company suffer through a large round of layoffs. It's really painful when it's a local company, one that's operated more or less in the same area since the late 1800s. Unfortunately, that's what happened to Gudebrod Inc. last week, a Pottstown, PA based company forced to lay off 60-65 workers last Friday.
What does this have to do with fishing and dental floss you might ask? Well anybody that has built their own rod or ties their own flies is probably at least familiar with the Gudebrod brand of fishing threads.
Here's to hoping the company's financial fortunes turn around quickly, and more importantly, that all of these recently unemployed folks can land back on their feet very quickly.
I'm usually good about trolling around the internet for trouty tasting news morsels...how did I miss that some dude in Wisconsin caught what might be the new world record brown trout?
Evidently Roger Hellen caught the 41 pound, 8 ounce beast trolling Lake Michigan as part of the annual Salmon-A-Rama tournament. After reeling it in and promptly taking to the butcher to prevent shrinkage (don't we all hate that?), they confirmed that it was in-fact world record size.
Actually the first butcher's scale was too small, so they took it to a second one to finally get the measurement. Yeah, there's still an IFGA confirmation that needs to be made, but that's one huge fish any which way it was measured!
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