angling trade magazine december 2008

December2008AnglingTrade.com

InsIDe The ACCess Issue Fish Free or Die/ Private vs. Public/ Fish Parks... Why Not?/ Why Media Matters/ Now is the Time to Take Action

TRADE

the buzz on the flyfishing biz

®

AnglingTrade.com / Decem

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Departments6 editor’s Column

Americans are going to flyfish next year, no matter what the economy does. The issue now isn’t “if,” rather “where” they plan to fish. By Kirk Deeter

8 Currents

The latest product, people, company and issues news from the flyfishing industry.

18 They said It

Will Rice gets the inside perspective from Chris Patterson, director and cinematographer of the new film Drift.

25 Recommended Reading

Angling the World by Roy Tanami. Nate Matthews turns the pages of Tanami’s new adventure epic.

32 Opinion editorial

Now is the Perfect Time to Take Action. By Bill Deeter

36 Backcast

Are you competing with your customers? In the context of river access, that’s an issue every fly shop owner should consider. By Charlie Meyers

COnTenTs

editor

Kirk [email protected]

Managing editor

Tim [email protected]

editor-at-Large

Charlie [email protected]

Art Director

Tara [email protected]

Copy editors

Mabon Childs, Sarah Warner

Contributing editors

Tom BieBen RomansAndrew SteketeeGreg Thomas

Contributors

Jay Cassell, Bill Deeter, Jeff Galbraith, Nate Matthews, Will Rice

Photos unless noted by Tim Romano

Angling Trade is published four times a year by Angling Trade, LLC. Author and photographic submissions should be sent electronically to [email protected]. Angling Trade is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts and/or photo submissions. We ask that contributors send formal queries in advance of submissions. For editorial guidelines and calendar, please contact the editor via E-mail.

Printed in the U.S.A.

Advertising Contact: Tim RomanoTelephone: 303-495-3967 Fax: 303-495-2454 [email protected]

Mail Address:PO Box 17487Boulder, CO 80308

Street Address:3055 24th StreetBoulder, CO 80304

AnglingTrade.com

Features20 Fish Free or Die We’re selling paradise by the acre or the hour, and we could be killing our industry by doing so. Now, more than ever, it’s time to tear down some fences. By Ben Romans

26 Private vs. Public“Private” is not, in fact, a dirty word. What is… is. The smart retailer and guide operator understands that balancing public vs. private water access can key business success. By Jay Cassell

30 Fishparks… Why Not?Maybe we should take a lesson from skateboarding. If you build it, they will fish. They being young anglers, of course… maybe it’s time to give them more than just reasons for being involved. By Jeff Galbraith

34 Why Media Matters More Now than Ever Want flyfishing to be cool? Well, seeing is believing. And seeing means video. Don’t believe it? Just ask kayaking... or skiing... or the X Games... By Tom Bie

TRADE

the buzz on the flyfishing biz

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ber 2008

COnTRIBuTORs

Jeff Galbraith

is the editor and publisher of frequency: the snowboarder’s journal, and The Ski Journal. He’ll soon be making waves in the flyfishing world with a similar journal-type project on a subject we all hold near and dear.

Nate Matthews

is the online editor for Field & Stream. He’s also a well-traveled and decorated writer, a “new media” insider of the highest order, and a flyfishing junkie. We’d tease him more here, but he’s our boss at www.fsflytalk.com.

Jay Cassell

is a deputy editor for Field & Stream, the largest and most respected outdoors magazine in the world. He is a serious flyfishing enthusiast—and business insider—having acquired and edited some of the best flyfishing books and articles on this sport in recent memory.

Bill Deeter

has been the principal and chief executive of a successful marketing and communications consulting firm, based in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, since 1985. He makes no claims as to his flyfishing prowess, or his influence over/association with the editor of this magazine.

Tom Bie

is the publisher and editor of The Drake, and a contributing editor to Angling Trade. He’s also a former editor of Powder, and is involved with numerous other flyfishing- related projects in various media.

Will Rice

is the carp king of Colorado, a successful freelance writer, and an integral member of the Angling Trade team. When we need a “tell us what you really think” piece, from beer joints in Denver to beetle kills, we inevitably talk to Will.

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Ben Romans

is an AT contributing editor, a seasoned writer with many flyfishing industry insights, and an angler with an unabashed penchant for fence-hopping. He has a Montana flyfishing guide book in the works.

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eDITOR’s COLuMn

Bob Dylan said it best: “You don’t need a weath-erman to know which way the wind blows.”

You know better than anyone if and how the American economic slow-down is impacting your business. From where I sit, believe it or not, I’m getting mixed reports. On the one hand, I’m hearing about lodges that have been hammered by low bookings, and high-end bamboo rod makers who have had customers abandon their deposits

altogether. On the other hand, I’ve heard that certain manufacturers and shops are optimistic about 2009, and have the orders to back that up.

I’m not sure how many $700 rods are going to fly off the racks, and I can’t guess how many $500-a-day guide trips will be booked in 2009, but I do know this: People are going to fish next year, no matter what the economy is doing.

I, for one, find flyfishing to be an even more impor-tant salve for my soul when times get tough. I suspect you might rank flyfishing right up there with beer and tobacco consumption in the context of “fixes” most Americans will cling to, even in the toughest of times. As Angling Trade editor-at-large Charlie Meyers (who has seen the market fluctuate over the past 40-some years of cov-ering the outdoors) explained to me when we were out fishing (and bitching about the economy) the other day: “Think about it… a father and son can still grab a hand-ful of flies, and go spend a day on the water together for roughly the same price as going to the movies.”

The big question for the short term, therefore, isn’t whether or not people will fish, it’s where will they go? Put that in the context of food. I just heard that McDonalds recorded an eight-percent rise in profits. What that says to me is that people are still eating at

restaurants, but, given the cost factor, a Big Mac is looking a little more appetizing than filet mignon for some folks. I don’t believe flyfishing is a “fast food” entity, but I do think, in the short term, flyfishing will be a more localized, do-it-yourself endeavor. Some people will travel, for sure. They’ll camp, and float, and all those things… but they’re also going to key in on that piece of water close to home. Which leads us to the theme for this issue—access.

I believe the access issue is more important now than ever before. Not that I have any steadfast opinions on the public-versus-private debate. Sure, I love wide-open public spaces. I also appreciate the experience of fishing private water. In my mind, it’s a matter of bal-ance. I think the fly retailer has to consider this philo-sophical balance very, very carefully now. Working to secure new public leases and opening resources should be paramount concerns. But so, too, should be finding ways to ensure quality experiences for customers.

I invited writers to weigh in on the access issue from various angles: Jay Cassell offers an enlightened “what is” perspective on pay-to-play in his piece, and Ben Romans gives us a passionate “what should be” argu-ment in his. We also invited Jeff Galbraith, editor of the successful titles frequency, and The Ski Journal (and who will soon be launching The Fly Fish Journal), to give us his opinions on “fishparks.”

Switching gears, in light of current market conditions, I asked Tom Bie, editor of The Drake to talk about video’s role in promoting the sport. I even asked my father, Bill Deeter, to chime in on marketing because, as a seasoned pro with 40 years in the marketing world, I figured he’d have some keen perspectives that would help you with your businesses.

In other words, I played my aces. Whether you’re selling Big Macs or filet mignon, now is not the time to quit marketing. This is when the contenders seize opportunities. “Out of sight, out of mind” is an ad-age that holds true in any economy, and in that light, I suggest that now is sure as hell not the time to build more fences… either around the waters we fish, or our businesses.

- Kirk Deeter, Editor

Americans are going to flyfish next year,no matter what the economy does. The issue now isn’t “if,” rather “where” they plan to fish.

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ske/qws/. Angling Trade will report further in its March issue.

Montana Supreme Court Rules Mitchell Slough OpenThe Montana Supreme Court re-cently ruled that Mitchell Slough is open to recreation under the state’s stream access law. This decision will have statewide rami-fications in the ongoing stream access debate. In a 54-page decision, the court said that the 16 miles of this waterway (Be-tween Hamilton and Stevensville, Montana) follows the historical course of a waterway mapped 130 years ago, and therefore is subject to the same public access and permitting standards as other natural waterways. This ruling overturned two earlier rulings by state district courts that found the slough was not a “natural, peren-nial-flowing stream.”

Orvis Creates Casting CourseHas Orvis created the first fish-park in the country (see “fishparks” editorial by Jeff Galbraith on page 30)? Perhaps. Call it “sporting

clays goes fishing” or “frisbee golf with fly lines” if you will, but the Orvis Casting Course at the Old Mill in Bend, Oregon, is the only 18-hole golf-style casting course of its kind in North America. It was designed for fun, education, and as an opportunity to practice essential casting skills before going fishing or

hot newsAngling Trade to Produce 2009 FFR Show Guide Angling Trade magazine and Nielsen Business Media, producers of the Fly Fishing Retailer (FFR) Trade Show, have reached an agreement under which Angling Trade has exclusive rights to produce the 2009 FFR Show Guide. The 2009 FFR show will be held in Denver in September; the show guide will be integrated into the September 2009 issue of Angling Trade magazine.

The guide will be its own section in the September issue, and will feature many of the same elements as in previous years: an exhibitor list, map of the FFR floor, show information, AFFTA update, etc. It will also coordinate with features, columns, reviews and news items produced by Angling Trade.

Advertisers should plan accordingly in terms of budgeting. The contact for placements in the Show Guide will be Tim Romano ([email protected]). Ad positions will be determined by insertions with Angling Trade. Rates will remain unchanged in 2009.

BC Steelhead at Center of Access DebateThe Ministry of Environment in British Columbia is tackling the sticky issue of crowding and access through an extensive planning pro-gram, now underway. An excerpt on rationale:

“For years, people have told the Ministry of Environment that waters in the Skeena River system have persistent steelhead angler-use issues – crowding, dispropor-tionate numbers of non-resident anglers or guided anglers, lack of opportunities for resident anglers, illegal guiding, and poor angler etiquette – leading to a degraded quality of angling experience. Spring 2008 consultations con-firmed these concerns about an-gler use on a number of waters in the Skeena River watershed.

In response to these concerns, the ministry implemented the Quality Waters Strategy on the Skeena River and its major tributaries. The Qual-ity Water Strategy is a process to develop a draft Angling Management Plan on priority waters of the Skeena River watershed.”

This is an issue with wide-reaching ramifications, not only among guides, shops, lodges, and others in the Skeena region, but also for traveling anglers and the shops that refer them to this area. In some regards, access for “do-it-yourself ” anglers could be restricted sig-nificantly. To keep apprised of this situation, refer to www.gov.bc.ca/


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during the off-season. The course is free and open to the public. It was developed in partnership with The Old Mill District. Each station is named after a given fishing situation exemplifying its unique challenges; some will require roll casts, some distance, all require a level of accu-racy and all provide fun and im-prove your casting. Users can keep track of their scores on scorecards distributed at the store. Best scores will be showcased on a plaque in the entrance of the store.

Tosh Brown Starts PublishingNoted outdoor photographer Tosh Brown has created a new pub-lishing venture called Departure Publishing (www.departurepub-lishing.com) designed to challenge traditional avenues and “facilitate a select list of accomplished writ-ers who are challenging the tradi-

tional boundaries of sporting and expedition publishing. Instead of continually churning out volumes of comfortable and habitual writ-ing, we’re looking to occasionally publish something really unique.”

First on the Departure roster is a book called The Alaska Chronicles, a memoir by Miles Nolte, who trans-mitted via satellite Internet a semi-daily account of what it’s really like to be a flyfishing guide on a remote Alaskan river. A list of other topics being considered for future projects is available at the company’s website.

O’Keefe and Moen Make Impressions with CatchIf you haven’t checked out Catch Magazine (www.catchmagazine.net) you should. It is the latest cre-ation from respected photographer and manufacturer’s representative Brian O’Keefe, and world-trav-eling videographer Todd Moen. The team combines a balance of mesmerizing still images and video that capture the essence of flyfish-ing in stunning splendor.

Fish & Fly Acquires… Fish & Fly

Fish & Fly Ltd, owner of the popular UK-based online magazine (www.fishandfly.com) has acquired the rights and title of its print namesake in the USA—Fish & Fly magazine—from Turnstile Publishing Company of

Orlando, Florida. Clayton Morris, president of Turnstile said: “We are delighted to see the USA and UK Fish & Fly brands joining forces because it is clear from our negotiations that the new owners have the passion and enthusiasm to build on achievements to date and are ready to create a truly global brand.” A new issue of the magazine is expected in the first quarter of 2009.

Products Kudos To…

Fishpond, for its “Dakota” carry-on rod and reel case… which we’ve found to be an excellent travel companion. The case has a hard-molded bottom to keep rods and reels safe while traveling, as well as adjustable, padded interior dividers that are movable to accommodate gear. It can hold up to four rods and several reels or fly boxes.

Kaenon… for hanging shades in style on some of the most cel-ebrated figures in sport (includ-ing, of course, flyfishing). Latest on the roster: Future Hall-of-Fame NFL quarterback Brett Favre who’s now seen in Segment G12’s and Tampa Bay Rays skipper Joe Maddon, who wore Lewi, Hard Kore, and Basis designs (with SR-91 Rx Freestyle Progressive lenses) as he led his team to the World Series.

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Hardy, whose “Perfect” reel was cho-sen as one of the Top New Fly Fish-ing Products for 2009 under the reel category by our esteemed colleagues at Midcurrent.com.

And Float Master Products, for its line of exceptionally sensitive, adjustable strike indicators that stay

stuck (in place) on leaders. Made from high-density polystyrene, these indicators attach to line with a piece of natural rubber tubing, and are available in various shapes and sizes, as well as 17 color combinations. See www.floatmasterco.net.

The People Buzz

Green River Icon Denny Breer Killed in AccidentThe flyfishing community lost one of its greatest advocates and most gentle souls when Denny Breer, 59, was killed in a construction accident at his home in Dutch John, Utah, on November 6, 2008. As owner of Trout Creek Flies, Denny was a tire-less advocate for the Green River fishery, and an ambassador for the sport as a whole. He was a gra-cious, caring, and humble person, and the consummate teacher. He literally wrote the book on fish-ing the Green, Utah’s Green River: A Fly Fisher’s Guide to the Flaming Gorge Tailwater. Through his sharing nature, Denny played a key role in a book that launched my outdoor writing career. He remained a good friend and mentor afterward. Our thoughts are with his wife, Grace, and their family. There will never, ever, be another river icon like Denny, who “walked the walk” far beyond “talking the talk.” His lega-cy will have lasting impact, likely far beyond anything he imagined.

- Kirk Deeter

Filson Names Harold Egler Vice President of Direct Sales; John Wright as North American Wholesale Sales Manager Filson expanded its management team by naming Harold Egler vice president of direct sales, responsible

for managing all of the brand’s di-rect consumer sales and the catalog and E-commerce platforms. John Wright, North American whole-sale sales manager, will oversee all wholesale sales representatives in the United States and Canada.

“Harry and John have extensive experience in outdoor industry sales and proven track records of suc-cess,” said Bill Kulczycki, president and CEO of Filson. “They not only understand the importance of nurturing an established brand his-tory, but also, growing companies by introducing more consumers to the brand. They will be strong additions to our team.”

Egler has more than 15 years of ex-perience in specialty retail, includ-ing positions with Eddie Bauer and Lands’ End. Most recently, Egler was the vice president of market-ing at Celebrate Express, a leading catalog and online retailer of party supplies and costumes based in Kirkland, Wash.

Wright has more than 18 years of sales experience in the outdoor in-dustry, most recently serving as the national sales manager for Slumber-jack, a division of American Recre-ation Products, Inc.

Industry BuzzOrvis and Customers Provide Record-Breaking Support to Casting for RecoveryCasting for Recovery (CFR), a national, non-profit support and educational program for women who have or have had breast cancer, announced that The Orvis Com-pany and its customers have raised a record-breaking $100,000 in 2008,

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which will help expand CFR pro-grams by 17% next year. The total includes a $25,000 direct contribu-tion from Orvis, which matches a portion of the total given through individual donations of customers, employees, and the public.

In 2008, 37 Casting for Recovery retreat programs were held in 28 states. Retreats will also be held in Canada through Casting for Recov-ery-Canada and in the UK through Casting for Recovery-UK/Ireland. In the United States, Casting for Recovery has served close to 3,500 women since its beginnings in 1996. Demand for the program continues to grow.

“Thanks to the ongoing leadership and support from Orvis, we continue to be able to sustain and expand our services to women across the country. Their commitment to women and their families is to be commended,” says Seline Skoug, executive director of Casting for Recovery.”

Skoug added: “Women who attend a Casting for Recovery retreat tell us of the enormous difference it makes in their lives—as this quote from a recent participant illustrates: ‘My experience at the Casting for Recov-ery weekend was one of empowerment. I knew that no matter what I faced beyond that weekend I could handle. That week-end gave me the strength and support I needed to face a second diagnosis of breast cancer last December. My life was changed and blessed by the opportunity to attend this phenomenal retreat.’

The Casting for Recovery program is unique in that the retreat cur-riculum incorporates the elements of flyfishing combined with profes-sional medical and psychosocial support to promote physical and

mental healing. Through classroom sessions, group discussions and in-service presentations, the focus is on wellness, learning and empower-ment, while providing the partici-pant with a true retreat—a respite from familiar surroundings and everyday routines. Each Casting for Recovery retreat is appropriate for women at all stages of treat-ment and recovery, and at various stages of emotional adaptation to breast cancer. Each retreat serves a maximum of 14 women and is staffed by trained volunteers, includ-ing one medical and one counseling professional; 4 flyfishing instructors; 11 “River Guides,” and at least 1 alumna who serves as the hospitality coordinator. The growth of the pro-gram relies on the efforts of a de-voted cadre of over 1,000 volunteers nationwide and to generous dona-tions by many donors. Demand for the program is growing: In 1998, Casting for Recovery conducted four retreats; it has scheduled 43 for 2009.

For more information about the Casting for Recovery program, and for information on how to support our retreat programs, call (toll-free) 888-553-3500 or visit www.casting-forrecovery.org.

Zebco Acquires Vortex Outdoors (William Joseph) Zebco Brands, a W.C. Bradley company, has acquired privately held Vortex Outdoors. The move combines a group of companies that produce specialty packs and gear (including William Joseph) for the fly-fishing market with one of the largest and most recognized fishing brands in the world. The purchased brands include William Joseph flyfishing gear, Badlands hunting equipment,

Vortex backpacks, Black Ridge packs and Watermark flyfishing packs. Purchase price and additional terms of the sale were not disclosed.

Founded in 1992 as Vortex Cor-poration, the Salt Lake City, Utah, company was named among the state’s top 100 fastest-growing com-panies in 2006 and 2007, based on sustained double-digit growth for numerous consecutive years.

“This is a good match for both companies,” said Zebco Brands president Jeff Pontius in making the announcement. “Vortex has achieved success through product innovation and building enthusiasm around their brands, and we have the resources and support structure to help them take that momentum to the next level. We are thrilled to lead the way in the further develop-ment of brands and markets.”

Pontius said Vortex will continue to operate from its present Salt Lake City location with the same per-sonnel in place, including Vortex founder Bill Crawley.

“To watch our brands grow like they have, especially over the past decade, and see what they have become today has been a truly remarkable journey. We couldn’t be more pleased to have what we’ve built become a part of the Zebco Brands family,” Crawley said. “This is a good deci-sion for us, and we’re in the best of hands with the Bradley folks.”

In July, Zebco changed its company name to Zebco Brands, hinting that it had intentions to expand its brand portfolio beyond just fishing. This is the first acquisition by the W.C. Bradley Co. business since then and serves as proof of the company’s interest in strategic diversification.

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2009

DENVER, CO JANUARY 9, 10 & 11

MARLBOROUGH, MA JANUARY 16, 17 & 18

SOMERSET, NJ JANUARY 23, 24 & 25

CHARLOTTE, NC JANUARY 30 & 31

BELLEVUE, WA FEBRUARY 6, 7 & 8

PORTLAND, OR FEBRUARY 14 & 15

PASADENA, CA FEBRUARY 21 & 22

PLEASANTON, CA FEBRUARY 27, 28 & MARCH 1

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Fly Fishing is NOT part of the show

IT IS THE SHOW!

Umpqua Feather Merchants Acquires Fly H2O Umpqua Feather Merchants recent-ly announced the acquisition of Fly H20. The move effectively bolsters Umpqua’s massive Asian-based pro-duction capabilities, with comple-mentary Mexico-based production assets from Fly H20. Specific terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Fly H2O and its founder, Troy Bachmann, are an outstanding addi-tion to Umpqua Feather Merchants,” said Umpqua president/COO Jeff Fryhover. “This acquisition partners the knowledge, skill, and experience of Troy Bachmann and his produc-tion team with Umpqua’s broad distribution and outstanding sales force… it’s a great fit!”

“All fly companies face tremendous challenges delivering product to cust-omers. By combining Umpqua’s quality ethic, the strength and sheer volume of its Asian facilities, with our commitment to high quality and the ability to quickly address market changes with our Mexican facility, it makes for one outstanding fly company,” said Troy Bachmann, founder of Fly H2O and new direc-tor of Umpqua de Mexico.

Retailers working with either com-pany are advised of the following:

1. As of now, all checks are to be written out to Umpqua Feather Merchants and mailed to: Umpqua Feather Merchants 594 S. Arthur Ave., Louisville, CO 80027.

2. All new orders should be sent to Umpqua as well, as they will ship out from their Colorado warehouse. If you currently order from Um-pqua, you can send in one order with Umpqua items, Metz items, and FlyH2O items.

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TCO Fly shop expands with sixth Retail Location

a. Orders may be faxed to: 303-567-6697.

b. Orders may be emailed to: [email protected].

Questions? Please contact Bruce Olson, sales manager of Umpqua at [email protected] or Kelly Pfeiffer, accounting manager of Um-pqua at [email protected].

Hardy Expands North American OperationOn October 22, Hardy North America officially opened the doors of its new Lancaster, Penn-sylvania, warehouse service and distribution facility. The com-pany will ship Hardy and Greys products to US Dealers from this facility. Jim Murphy, president of Hardy North America, said: “The

opening of the new Hardy North America facility represents the full confidence that Hardy has in the US market.

“We are thrilled to become full members of the world’s largest fly rod market and look forward to delivering the world class products and services that have made Hardy famous during the last two centuries.

We are great believers in the US mar-ket and our long term commitment will bring that message home.”

The warehouse offices and showrooms measure nearly 15,000 square feet and the fitted workspaces are designed specifically for the subsidiary. Staff will include customer service, sales admin-istration, and warehouse personnel.

AFFTA Memberships Now Based On Calendar Year The AFFTA board of directors has voted to extend annual member-ships to December 31, 2008 (typi-cally, memberships had expired on October 31), and base future mem-berships on the calendar year basis. Beginning in 2009, AFFTA member-ships dues will be due January 1 and will be effective for the calendar year. There are three types of member-ships available: General, Associate and Individual. The General mem-bership is suitable for manufacturers, suppliers, retailers, industry represen-tatives, travel agencies and outfitters. General membership dues are deter-mined by self-reporting a company’s annual revenue and submitting the appropriate amount of money for that level. (AFFTA assures that all proprietary information provided by each General member will be held in strictest confidence and will not be shared outside of the AFFTA HQ office. Associate memberships cost $100, and individual memberships are $50. Associate memberships are for media representatives and trade organizations. Individual member-ships are for guides, shop staff and other individuals interested in sup-porting the flyfishing industry and promoting the mission of AFFTA.

The 2009 annual AFFTA member-ship dues structure can be found at http://www.affta.com/additional.php?sect=membership.


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Travel highlight

Argentina has long been one of the best value destinations for the trav-eling angler. And in this economy, with unstable fuel prices and an American dollar that’s weak against everything from the Euro to the Canadian Loonie, that holds par-ticularly true. For what it’s worth, Argentina is also an incredibly al-luring (socially and geographically) place worth visiting in your life, whether you plan to fish or not.

But we’re talking fishing, and in many ways, Argentine angling culture mirrors many of the best American flyfishing traditions. Minus the English-to-Spanish language divide (and 11 hours of air travel, give or take), when in parts of Argentina, it’s very easy to imagine yourself fishing rivers in the American West… only 50 or

Finding Über-Trout at the Far end of the World

75 years ago. Of course, in other ways, fishing in Argentina can flat-out blow away any preconceptions the average American angler might have, from casting at giant golden dorado in Argentina’s warm north-ern drainages, to chasing the giant sea-run trout of Tierra del Fuego.

I had always been captivated by the latter, and dreamed of catching sea-run trout south of the Straits of Magellan. But I’ll admit I was also apprehensive, thanks to the stories I’d read involving giant rivers that demanded two-handed rods, ever-howling winds, and notoriously spooky fish.

But last year I had a chance to join Patty Reilly of Wilson, Wyoming, on an exploratory trip to the Rio Irigoy-en, which is one of the southernmost trout rivers on the planet, far south

Written by Kirk Deeter

of even the fabled Rio Grande... and, thankfully, I took it. There’s a new lodge there, called Far End Rivers (www.farendrivers.com), which caters to a very small handful of anglers per week. We flew to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, and from there, traveled by land to the lodge, which sits amidst a vast estan-cia within sight of the Atlantic and Cabo San Diego, the pencil-point tip of South America.

What took me by surprise was the in-timate, in fact gentle, setting. Nestled in the terminal crook of the Andes, the Irigoyen is small enough to wade across (though we had many private miles to explore), and sheltered from Atlantic breezes in a deep lenga tree hollow. The fishing, it turned out, was quite similar to casting for browns on the streams in Michigan where I cut my angling teeth… only we used 8-weights, giant streamers, and some of the fish were over 20 pounds! The lodge was immaculate, the food was exceptional, the scenery was stunning, and the guides, Alex and Nico Tro-chine, were among the best I’ve ever fished with.

If you know someone looking for a “life experience,” a relative value (a week at the lodge is still $4500 US), and a trip that’s beyond what many people know about, this is a referral you can make with confidence (or a trip you should consider yourself). That guy from Grand Rapids, or Allentown, or Mill Valley, or Boulder, who has always wanted to land the monster brown trout of a lifetime… he can reliably do that here.

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That, above everything else, is what makes Far End Rivers a compelling lodge destination. The “Everyman” angler can, in fact, catch the trout he/she only imagined before, bringing with him/her the casting skills they use back home.

Of course, anyone who has seen and experienced Argentina and its culture realizes why it’s more than worth it to journey here.

There is still very limited availability at Far End Rivers this season (US winter, South American sum-mer). Contact Marcelo Perez at [email protected] or Patty Reilly at [email protected] for information.


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Coming soon to Your shop?

The “under-cover Angler” Grey Market salesThe words from 8,000 miles away came as no real surprise.

“They just told me straight out how to avoid paying duty and value added tax on the product,” Jarle Kristiansen related. “I didn’t even have to ask for it.”

Thus began another negotiation in the shady world of grey market enterprise as it relates to the sale of U.S.-based flyfishing gear in the international marketplace.

As managing director for Flyfish/Europe, the major distributor for Simms products on the continent,

Kristiansen deals daily with a problem that, to varying degrees, impacts the orderly allocation of goods.

A direct fallout from Internet shop-ping, this illegal practice allows buyers to save as much as 70 per-cent on purchases while saddling legitimate retailers with subsequent warranty or handling costs. At the same time, it robs distributors such as the Norway-based Kristiansen of profits earned through normal delivery channels.

Kristiansen and his associates have made perhaps a dozen inquiries to the offending major Internet houses on both U.S. coasts to establish their willingness, even eagerness, to cir-cumvent import laws.

“I have E-mails as proof,” he said.

Trouble is, he’s not quite certain what to do with them, or who will listen amid the hurly-burly of a global economy in which the shuffle of a few relatively low-cost customs tickets don’t warrant much notice.

But to shops and smaller firms try-ing to make a go in a slender mar-ket, this erosion of legitimate profit poses a real threat.

“I have nothing against free compe-tition. If I can’t compete with price, I shouldn’t be in the trade. But it’s a different matter when they cheat,” Kristiansen said.

For Kristiansen and distributors in Europe and Japan, the pinch increas-es when one considers the standard costs of warehousing and dispersal.

The common practice among of-fending Internet firms is to either disguise the product as an outright gift or to under-declare its value at a half or less. A European Internet customer thus might save 17 per-cent duty on the purchase of fish-

ing boots in Norway or the United Kingdom, 19 percent in Germany, 21 percent in Spain. Tack on a 25 percent VAT (sales) tax, plus the normal markup through a supply network, and the incentive becomes substantial. The margin grows when these fraudulent purchases are made at dollar pricing during periods when the Euro is dominant.

The problem is greatest for soft-good distributors for a couple of reasons. First, duty is much less on rods and reels, just 3.7 percent. Also, serial number tracking allows the manufacturer to identify each item as to its point of sale, thus eliminat-ing misdirected warranty claims.

“We know where every one of our products go. We can track back to the origin and take whatever steps necessary to stop it,” said Bruce Kirschner, president of Far Bank Enterprises, which lists Sage among its product line. “Companies that don’t track are more vulnerable.”

While it might be argued that the manufacturer is selling product either way, the more insidious aspect is that grey market sales undermine the integrity of a dealer network that thrives on grassroots promotion. If retailers aren’t boosting products, overall sales will suffer.

Most believe that, as Internet sales blossom around the globe while manufacturers work to create solid distribution networks, the trouble will accelerate.

“This is a big deal as far as its long-term implications,” said John LeCoq of fishpond.

Meanwhile, Kristiansen shouts for the attention of tariff officials who thus far don’t seem to be listening.

- Charlie Meyers

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TheY sAID IT

My closest near-death, fishing-related incident: The 10 days in Kashmir while shooting DRIFT… lots of automatic weapons, super fast water, very shady characters and terrifying roads.

The last zone I fished that blew my mind that I’m willing to talk about: When I’m filming it’s kind of like fishing with my camera, I have the same stoke as the angler when he hooks a great fish, so I’d have to say chasing Steelhead on the Deschutes with John and Amy Hazel.

The fish I lost that still haunts me: I didn’t actually lose it—but I ran out of film which is kind of the same feeling—it was a big Rainbow in Kashmir with Travis Smith.

When I’m not working and not fishing you might find me: Thinking about how to fish more and work less.

Name and age: Chris Patterson, 38

Title: Director/Cinematographer of DRIFT

To earn a paycheck I: Shoot movies all winter for Warren Miller, so I can shoot movies about flyfish-ing all summer.

The part of my job I love the most is: The reward of sitting in a theater with an audience and experiencing their reactions to the images and stories I worked hard to create.

The part of my job I hate the most is: Film-ing great anglers who make it look so easy.

If I mysteriously came down with the avian flu my boss would most likely find me fishing: Southern Belize with cold Belikin to ease my fever.

They Said It:

Interview by Will Rice

“Lots of automatic weapons, super fast water, very shady characters... “

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Lots of automatic weapons, super fast water, very shady characters...

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First thing I’m going to do is buy my little slice of heaven. River frontage of course, with at least a mile, maybe two, of the best riffle-pool trout water I can find. I’ll build some benches under shade trees; maybe add a small barbeque pavilion. It will be the perfect piece of water—filled to the nuts with 22-inch browns. Everyone will want to fish it. Want to hear the best part? You’re all invited.

I want to redefine what it means to be a riverfront landowner in the 21st century. Go against the grain. Areas closed to the public would reopen, all in the name of the greater good. Damn it’s nice to dream.

I believe humanity is inherently entitled to the gifts of nature, no matter your background or wealth. The outdoors is a bandage for the soul. When we manu-facture the fish, manipulate the water, manicure the fauna, and slap on a price tag, it cheapens the experi-ence, and embarrasses me as an outdoorsman.

Planting abnormally huge, dim-witted hatchery fish and charging untold amounts of money to catch them only adds insult to injury. Pay-to-play

Written by Ben Romans

I just won the lottery. Bam! Two hundred million dollars, just like that. Who knew a string of ambitious little ping-pong balls stuck in a vacuum tube would decide my destiny? No more of “the man” keeping me down, he can kiss my ass, I quit.

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cliques hook these marvels of pellet nutrition and the consequence is instant nitro fuel for the ego; a weekend-warrior’s golden ticket to boast like they’re angler-of-the-year after hoodwinking a 26-inch slab of piscatorial Purina. It’s false advertis-ing; the angling equivalent of high-fence hunting operations—instant rewards without the quest.

The rise of pay-to-play and the overall privatiza-tion of flyfishing is the death knell for the industry. It’s forcing more anglers to occupy less public space and one reason participation continues to decline. From a financial standpoint, we can’t afford to lose any more of the sport’s public component than is already lost. The fly shop owner, the gear manufac-turer, and the small-town tourist economies depend on “free range” fishing. And the best way to ensure its survival is through a united front.

I know I’ll make enemies saying this, but Colorado and Wyoming, you guys got problems. Look at Utah, they’re finally getting the picture Montana’s Stream Access Law painted over twenty years ago.

You salty-dogs, you’re next. Up and down both coastlines beach-front homeowners are pushing anglers off the sand under the guise that property lines extend to the water.

New Zealand gets the idea. This past September an overwhelming majority passed a bill in parlia-ment that secures public access to the country’s great outdoors. Rural Affairs Minister Damien O’Connor said the “Walking Ac-cess Bill,” which creates a Com-mission to provide leadership on access issues, goes to the heart of what most New Zealanders regard as their fundamental birthright.

“The Bill builds on the legacy of public access established over the last century and a half and creates the Walking Access Com-mission to clarify, promote and extend walking access to lakes and waterways throughout New Zealand,” O’Connor says.

I’m with O’Connor. We should be creating entry points, not selling them. When a private interest “outbids” the public for access rights, or claims the streambed as its own, it angers me. I feel cheated and take it personally, as if someone is steal-ing from me.

Such is the case with the Farm-er’s Union property of the North Fork of the South Platte River outside Denver, Colorado—once an incredibly popular destination because of its quality fishing and proximity to the Mile-High City. For years, these miles of river-bank operated as an open-ended club where 80 to 100 members paid yearly dues, brought guests,


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and held events like church retreats and weddings. Non-members could access the water with a guide for a nominal fee, strikingly similar to the daily rod-fee structure used on Montana’s famous Paradise Valley spring creeks.

That changed last winter when someone sealed an $80,000 a year, five-year lease agreement with the Farmer’s Union for exclusive fishing rights. The former members, local guides, and other interested parties

(like area fly shops) were blindsided, and for Dan Hydinger, owner of The Hatch fly shop in Pine Junction, it was a tough pill to swallow.

“This was a nice piece of water. People from Denver could fish, it didn’t cost an arm-and-a-leg, and it was easy to take your kid or wife. Just a quality experience for the average Joe,” Hydinger says. “This is the third decent chunk of water we’ve lost to private interests in the last year or two and it’s starting to leave a bad taste in my mouth. Even if people weren’t booking our guides to fish at Farmer’s Union, they were at least stopping in the shop on their way to the water.”

Jim Cannon of the Blue Quill Angler fly shop has a different take. Rather than denounce the new Farmer’s Union arrangement, he insists on

looking at the bright side and notes that Colorado is a great place to mix private and public fisheries.

“Let’s choose our battles,” Can-non says. “In reality, Colorado has a tremendous amount of public water, and yeah, it was disappoint-ing to see the Farmer’s Union go, but there are a lot of other places for people to fish. Most of the riv-ers in this state aren’t very big so crowding is a problem, especially this close to Denver. Our guides

primarily fish and guide on pub-lic water, but it’s nice to have the private areas for those that want the opportunity to catch bigger fish and get away from people.”

And so it goes—two different people with two different opinions. It’s one reason why the issue of access has become such a hot potato and the movement to privatize water is splintering some circles of the sport. On one side are those that say priva-tization is good; that landowners have a vested interest in their prop-erty and are ideally suited to safe-guard watersheds as they see fit. On the other side of the coin are the majority; public access advocates willing to take their fight to court.

Nobody knows this more than Donny Beaver, owner of the Spring Ridge Club in central Pennsyl-

vania. Beaver became flyfishing’s poster child for greed when he tried to sequester public water for personal profit. He tried distancing himself from the image by playing the “savior” role (in my opinion, a smoke-and-mirrors public rela-tions stunt propelling the myth his private-land stewardship benefited the river as a whole), but this only provoked his critics.

In February 2007, the courts handed Beaver a smackdown, but it wasn’t a knockout. He had already put his show on the road, landed in Colorado (www.alpineriverclub.com), and locked up private leases with a similar pay-to-play scheme as the Spring Ridge Club. You can fish the river if the price is right, otherwise (to quote ol’ Woody) “If you ain’t got the do-re-mi honey, folks, you ain’t got the do-re-mi.”

His business model is legal in Colora-do, but doing something just because you have the right, doesn’t always mean it’s the right thing to do. Look for the Spring Ridge Club in a town near you! He’s planted additional roots in northwestern Pennsylvania on some popular Great Lakes steel-head water—another area plagued by problems with private landowners, crowds, and access issues.

The outcome of the Spring Ridge Club fiasco was important for the Keystone State because it set a prec-edent. Approximately 83 percent of the land adjacent to Pennsylvania’s rivers and streams is in the hands of private owners. Outdoorsmen need to stay united or risk losing the remaining 17 percent.

Like it or not, “private” is word that sometimes motivates us as anglers—that vision of casting over

naive fish is what dreams are made of. Nevertheless, it’s also a marketing buzzword, a catalyst for those with the Benjamins. Punch the words “private flyfish-ing” into a Google search bar and you’ll see what I’m saying. I’m sure having a personal slice of Heaven is the tops, but there are risks and consequences with closing paradise; namely the future of our sport.

Enter James Cox Kennedy—a malevolent thorn in the side of Montana’s Stream Access Law. Kennedy, heir to the Cox Media fortune, owns thousands of acres along the Ruby River, and while the river isn’t one of the state’s “marquee” destinations, it is a well-known fishery frequented by anglers bouncing between the Beaverhead, Jefferson, and Big Hole watersheds.

At some point he decided the Stream Access Law wasn’t his cup-of-tea, chased anglers and floaters away, and erected fences to keep people out—not keep cattle in as he claims. Escalation ensued. Ken-nedy replaced barbed wire fences with electric and connected the barriers to county bridges. This angered, but didn’t stop anglers who risked a quick jolt for an afternoon on the water. When the electric fence short-circuited one gentleman’s pacemaker, however, Kennedy’s henchmen removed it, and restrung barbed-wire to the guardrails of the bridge.

At issue was whether the Ruby was publicly accessible (which meant crossing Kennedy’s fences) where the road/bridge and river easements meet. After a public exhibition of finger

pointing between the Public Land & Water Access Association Inc. (PLWA), Madison County commis-sioners, and Kennedy’s attorneys, the dispute landed in court. In early October 2008, District Court Judge Loren Tucker issued a split continued on next page...

decision, but in the big picture, the stream-access advocates were clearly victorious.

“His (Kennedy’s) implicit argument is that a county road may not be

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utilized in the vicinity of water. That argument is unsupported by authority or by logic,” Tucker said.

What does that mean? Basically, Ken-nedy (and other state landowners) can attach fences to the bridge, but the public is allowed to cross and make their way to the water. The burden to ensure fences meet legal specifications rests on the shoulders of the county commissioners.

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“We just wanted some accountabili-ty,” says John Gibson, president of the PLWA. “We’ve always argued there is a public right-of-way that overlaps where public rivers and public bridges meet. We’ve never asked Kennedy to remove his fences; we just wanted a reasonable and safe way to access the Ruby. Rather than address that issue in court, Kennedy and his attorneys tried chipping away at the Stream

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Access Law; calling it unconstitutional and such. Well, Judge Tucker shut’em down and his decision blew their arguments out of the water.”

The Ruby/Kennedy case strengthened the Stream Access Law in Montana and set a powerful precedent for other bridge access points within the state. This case, and the decision against Donny Beaver, is proof that unified sportsman can prevail for the greater good. David can still beat Goliath—no matter how big his portfolio may be.

So what’s the purpose of my rant? What did it take me 2,000 words to say that I can simply summarize in one sentence? Simple—we need to protect, enhance, and promote the public resources already available and pursue other public-access options with landowners to help facilitate a growth in outdoor participation. State-managed incentive programs like Montana’s Block Management and Idaho’s Ac-cess Yes are steps in the right direction. Overpriced, overrated, overvalued pay-to-play clubs send the wrong message to the next generation of anglers—we should be welcoming them to the water, not asking for American Express.

Public resources are just that—public. We all have a stake in them. Every acre lost to the private sector chips away at the heart of our sport. Get fired up and join or contribute to organizations making a stand on a national level like the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (www.trcp.org) and the Trust for Pub-lic Land (http://www.tpl.org), or state level like the PLWA (www.plwa.org) and Pennsylvania Land Trust Associa-tion (http://conserveland.org). As an industry, and as an angling family, we need to remain vigilant and seek ways to open up more water for future generations. We cannot afford to lose public resource footholds in the name of aristocratic vanity.


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Here’s a tip. Unless you have a great deal of money or an uncom-mon freedom from responsibility, don’t read Angling the World when you’re sitting behind a desk. If you do, you’ll realize it’s possible to make a living out of traveling the globe on the excuse of a fly rod, and be sorely tempted to shrug off the burdens that chain most of us mortals to the earth.

Roy Tanami has built a life out of, in his words, “Consistently and abso-lutely ignoring the wisdom that says you should never make your hobby your career.” There are many kinds of wisdom, though, and by ditching the conventional he’s found another, the kind you learn by spending most

Tanami’s stories are entertaining and well written, but it’s his photographs that take center stage. The best of these are his landscapes, which hit you like gut shots to the soul. They remind me of paintings by Thomas Cole and Frederic Church; the anglers temporal figures of human desire buried by the permanent sweep of creation.

My favorite is a picture of a fisherman standing in British Columbia’s Nass River, looping a cast between the jag-ged solidity of the Canadian Rockies and the soft vertical lines of a stand of fall aspens. It captures perfectly the humbling solitude that gives dedicated wilderness anglers perspective few others possess.

Then there are the fish. These are, in the end, an afterthought. The best fish stories have little to do with our quarry. But there’s no denying the visceral satisfaction of holding your achievement up to the camera for the world to see, and there are few fish more impressive than the bright sea-run browns, Arctic char, steelhead, Mongolian taimen, and other brilliant punctuation marks Tanami has scat-tered across these pages.

At times Roy’s stories drift into screeds extolling the superiority of flies over bait, which, after all, is an ideal that makes the fly world go around. This book won’t do much to help entry-level rods fly off your shelves. But then, most entry-level anglers could never afford the trips about which Tanami writes.

In the end, however, the value of this book is in its ability to cast the spell of wanderlust upon its readers, and trans-port them to the exotic, in spirit, if not in person. Anyone who picks up Angling the World will leave its pages desperate for an adventure of their own. If you know anglers who dream big, display this book in a prominent location. at

of your days standing in a river. This book is a guide to finding those lessons that live in the far corners of the earth.

First written for Wild On the Fly maga-zine, the pieces collected in Angling the World are case studies on the quest to satisfy that unquiet demon which drives men to test themselves against the unknown. Tanami takes us to Russia, Brazil, British Columbia, Mongolia, Cuba, and beyond, by airplane, heli-copter, riverboat, and more, to the best destination fly water money can buy.

These adventures run the gamut from primitive camping deep in the Ama-zon to hob-knobbing with wine-tasters at high-end Argentinian lodges.

Reviewed by Nate Matthews

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Public vs. Private What the future holds for our fisheriesWritten by Jay Cassell

Last May, I had the chance to fish Mud Run, a pristine (despite its name) little stream in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. Mud Run flows through Graystones Preserve, a 3800-acre, 74-year-old privately held tract that has six cabins available to its members. About 65 people belong to Graystones, paying several thousand dollars a year for the privilege of fishing for outsize brown, rainbow, and brook trout. Members can fish anywhere on the stream they like, without worrying about other anglers pressuring them, or getting in their faces. The fishing is great, and it’s all quite civilized, with Adirondack chairs and even picnic tables situated at various overlooks along the stream.

I wrote a piece about this fish-ing for fieldandstream.com. The piece ran with a lot of photos of big fish, including one that went an honest 25 inches.

Most responses were along the lines of “Man, I’d like to fish there,” and “It’s nice to know such fish exist in the Poconos.”

A couple of responses really took me to task, though. “You should be ashamed of yourself for fish-ing waters like that,” one person noted. Another person told me I was full of it when I stated that the big trout in Mud Run were naturally produced. “You know they were just shoveled into the stream from a hatchery truck so that rich stiffs can catch them and feel like they’re great fishermen,” was another comment.

I was surprised, at least at first. I guess I shouldn’t have been. The issue of public versus private fishing is always a touchy subject, with strong feelings on both sides.

The Case for Private

I spoke with Gary Edwards, manager at Graystones, and got his take on it. Gary used to be a steelhead guide on New York’s Salmon River, and has seen his share of public waters.

“I understand where a lot of folks feel that paying money to fish waters exclusively is resented by people who perhaps can’t afford it,” he said. “Their feeling is that it’s their right to fish anywhere.

“On the other hand, you can’t trespass onto private property to go hiking, can you? If the water is non-navigable, then a landowner is allowed to prevent you from go-ing into his or her stream as well.


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“Limiting access to private water has a positive side to it. For instance, a lot of members bring their kids here to fish. They catch fish, like it, and come back again; before you know it, a new fisherman has been added to the ranks—which means someone who, in the future, hope-fully will help to preserve fishing for future generations.

“I’ve seen a lot of kids not catch fish on public waters. They get bored, don’t enjoy themselves, and move onto other things—organized sports, video games, whatever.”

I asked Lefty Kreh, who has fished all over the world, on public as well as private waters, what he thought about private waters.

“Private fishing water is occurring for a couple of reasons,” he told me. “One is that the public has taken such poor care of public fishing areas. People trash them, they bring suits against landowners. You know, we have not been kind to the people who own public water, or to private water that we use publicly. So, part of this is our fault.”

When I asked him reasons for landowners not allowing the public to fish anymore, he stated that: “Because of liability, most private landowners today are reluctant to have the public come onto their property. They never know when somebody is going to sue them.

“When somebody comes along and says, ‘Look, I’ll lease the rights only to fish the stream. I don’t want any-thing else, and I’ll pay you for it,’ that’s a win-win situa-tion for the landowners and for the people. Whether we like it or not, it’s what’s going to come. We’re going to see more and more of that. The people who are leas-ing private waters are not just leasing them and fishing them, though; in many cases they’re actually improving the streams. So, that’s one positive thing.”

So, if a stream is locked up, with no public fishing allowed, and someone comes along and leases it, that means that the water will now be cared for, and fished, whereas nothing was happening at all before.

Another small plus, as I see it, is that with more people fishing private waters, that means fewer people are fishing on public waters.

The downside to all this, of course, is that public waters are often crowded during prime fishing periods, such as when major insects are hatching or when fish are on spawning runs. Catch-and-release stretches at

least ensure that the fish will stay in the water; we all know what happens if anglers are allowed to keep a lot of fish. Pretty soon that water will be all but fishless, or carry only stocked fish, not natives.

The Case for Public

With strapped budgets and the number of fishing li-cense sales declining in many states, what is the future of public fishing water? As a random sample, I asked Doug Stang, assistant director for fish, wildlife and marine resources of the New York State department of environmental conservation, about the current state of public fishing in his state.

“In New York, we had the number of license sales drop from 1.2 million in 1990 to about 940,000 5 years ago, but that has leveled off and has held steady since. Was there a dropoff in revenue? Absolutely. But, that doesn’t mean the fishing on public waters has gone downhill. On the contrary, thanks to smart manage-ment and scientifically-based fishing regulations, the fishing is actually getting better.

“There is also a new angling ethic, where fewer and fewer people feel the need to keep everything they catch. Catch and release, plus larger minimum size limits and smaller bag limits, have really made a differ-ence in keeping the quality in fish populations high.

“I can’t speak for other states, but here in New York, we are constantly looking to obtain more and more fishing access for the public. It’s an ongoing thing


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that can benefit both landowners, whom we compensate in certain circumstances, as well as anglers. It ensures that the public will be able to reach good fishing spots, far into the future.

“As for public versus private fish-ing, yes, there is room for both today. I understand the positive aspects of private fishing, but pub-lic fishing has many things going for it as well: For starters, it’s free, except for the cost of your license; the fishing is good and varied; and you aren’t limited to only fishing one spot for one type of fish, as you might at a club or a preserve. Plus, there are no hidden or additional costs, which is often the case at private clubs.”

The Case for Both

Are we going the way of Europe, where wealthy landowners control all of the good hunting and fish-ing, and the public is kept out? No way, and we can thank Theodore Roosevelt and a group of like-minded conservationists for taking care of that. Back in the late 1880s, they pushed for hunting and fishing regulations to protect our wildlife, and established conservation groups to protect their habitat. Their ef-forts are the backbone of the North American Wildlife Conservation Model, the only one of its kind in the world. The Model has two basic priniciples: that fish and wildlife be-long to all North American citizens, and that they are to be managed in such a way that their populations will be sustained forever.

A democracy is designed to be made up of public and private, for the good of all. To my mind, what is happen-ing in fishing is what’s supposed to happen. Let’s live with that. at

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How young is young? What constitutes “cool” in a market where clothing of-ten comes in two colors and the major-ity of participants are far more Dave Matthews than Kanye West? And how legitimate and/or micro is this market in comparison the bulk numbers of “adult” participants? It can be hard to say at times.

But most all that have a dog in this fight would agree that regardless of the market size, compulsion or strength, that flyfishing kids are the key to flyfishing’s future and that there is little doubt many activities are doing a better job connecting with this market. And while, the idea of dumbing down or “X-gaming” the culture may make little sense, more can be done.

One such possibility would be to mimic an already existing, off-the-shelf model developed to cater to a young, active demographic: skateparks.

While it is nearly impossible to turn on cable television these days without seeing skateboard heroes hosting shows on MTV, selling video games, or ap-pearing in the ESPY’s—there was a time before Tony Hawk. In the early 1990’s, skateboarding was in one of its downturns, and parents were being sued by city planning departments for

Build Them and They Will Cast

Fishparks:Written by Jeff Galbraith

While the interest in, and increased emphasis upon, the “youth” market is a clear directive among the industry marketing honchos, at times it can be hard to discern what this means.


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constructing backyard ramps for their children. Skateboarders themselves were being arrested for simply rolling down the street. There was effectively no access to quality skateboard spots, and not one municipal skateboard park in the country.

However, as the sport began to come back and Mr. Hawk began to pros-elytize around the country to build city skate parks, things began to change dramatically.

The harbinger of all of this, an il-licit skatepark developed by Portland, Oregon’s, skate community under the Burnside Street Bridge was allowed to flourish by cops who shrugged, happy to see the prior community of heroin dealers displaced. With the success of Burnside and the advocacy of Tony Hawk, in less than a decade, nearly every major metropolis and mid-sized city in the country had a municipal skatepark. The years of parks depart-ment’s citing insurance, safety, and other impediments seemed to evapo-rate in light of the demand.

One such park was built immediately adjacent to one of the more quality trout streams in America: Sun Valley, Idaho’s Big Wood River. And while the industry soothsayers sometimes write off teen and pre-teen participation in flyfishing as an impossible grail to grasp, I’ve seen different.

During the years I lived in the Ketchum area, it was a common sight to see kids stripping off their pads at the end of a skate session, grabbing the rods out of a base vehicle mini-van/truck and fishing for another hour or so. I can’t imagine the same doesn’t go down in Steamboat Springs, Bend, Jackson Hole, Bozeman, Burlington, and other towns where active kids and fishy spots intersect.

Which got me to thinking…

Why not fishparks?

If the most cash-strapped and mod-erate suburban burg can work their way through the land-use, insurance, and engineering juggernaut that is even the smallest cement skatepark, then why can’t the same civic bod-ies clean up a few hundred yards of urban stream, create juvenile fishing/no-license-required zones, add some enhancement features, interpretive displays and hold casting competi-tions, stream clean-ups, school field trips, demos and derbies/contests?

Compared to hiring union contrac-tors, bringing in excavators, and getting lawyers to sign off on kids hurling themselves into the air on city-built structures, fishparks seem like a piece of cake.

Ideally these would be located in proximity to other recreational oppor-tunities: skateparks, ski areas, mountain bike trails, climbing walls, tennis courts, etc. and could function as a private/public co-opt with the industry and groups like Trout Unlimited, The Nature Conservancy and others getting involved. Ideally the build-out on these spaces would be minimal; the beauty of the concept being that the water is already there.

While the need to save habitat and critical fisheries is obvious enough, the greatest threatened resource is future vigilant fisherfolk themselves. And regardless of how you feel about the potential for the “youth” market to ex-plode vs. incrementally grow, as access declines throughout the country, places to incubate young stoke for flyfishing are urgently needed for the long-term health of the culture.

And to many parents, it would be jaw-dropping and incredibly warm-ing thing to hear young James or Jane pipe up on the way to an afternoon of serious recreation: “Do we have the fly rods, too?”

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OPInIOn eDITORIAL

NowWritten by Bill Deeter

Yes, it is quite possible that in the short term many in business may not re-alize their sales projections and some may not want to build a lot more in-ventory. So what should you do to keep your people busy while the indus-try settles out or stabilizes? At times like these really smart marketers turn their attention to fact finding, data collection, self assessment, and opti-

For the past several months we’ve heard nothing but gloom and doom from nearly all the country’s financial experts. Yet those of us who have been through recessionary times before realize there really can be a silver lining for everyone who is willing to take the time to sit still long enough to look and listen to the marketplace.

is the Time to Take Action

mizing performance measurement. These are some of the very impor-tant marketing actions that don’t get talked about because, while they are just as important (if not more so) as advertisements, public relations activities, and sales promotions of various shapes and sizes, they are not quite as exciting. Nevertheless, behind every “great” advertisement, press release, direct mail campaign, trade show exhibit and point-of-sale display someone did the spade work to insure that communication was on time, on target and on budget. What did they do? Probably one or more of the following:

• They staged a situation analysis to assess their company’s marketing and/or communications function against market needs, objectives, and audience profiles. They wanted to be sure what they were doing was con-sistent with what was actually being called for in the marketplace.

• They conducted a self exam. Looking at their operations and func-tions, they determined if they were on target in terms of meeting client or customer expectations and needs. Key here is the ability to flag issues or problems that impact on success long before they creep into any go-to-market strategy. No need to think about mid-course corrections when you are spot on. But you have to be tough on yourself.

• They climbed outside their own skin to seriously determine their core competencies. Honestly assessing both strengths and weaknesses, they put themselves in the best position to take appropriate, meaningful action. Sometimes you need outside help to really pull this off.

• They looked long and hard at the competition to determine what they were doing right and why. It is hard to give your competition credit but if they are successful you don’t want to reward them by being either stupid or stubborn. If we are willing to swallow our pride, it is amazing what we can learn from our competitors.

• They explored more and better ways to measure their performance. Establishing measurement criteria keeps everyone on their toes in good times and bad. The secret here is working against clearly stated and agreed-to objectives. Everything a company does is measurable one way or another. Smart marketers

embrace measurement as a way of improving process and not just evaluating performance.

So, rather than sitting around the office, warehouse or store wasting time wringing your hands and lend-ing yourself to gloom and doom conversations, pick yourself up,

dust yourself off and start wood shedding on some of those things that will bring your business back sooner than most and better than it was before. By doing the “hard” marketing you set yourself up for greater success when it is time to begin the fun marketing anew.

Brouwer GRaphIC DesIGNDesigner of Angling Trade. ads, Websites, Logos, Catalogs.

BrouwerDesign.com 303 901 5128

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feature

In July of 1999, I took a job as the managing editor of Paddler magazine in Steamboat, Colorado. Paddler was, as it is now, one of only two prominent paddlesports publications, the other being Canoe and Kayak.

It was a good time to be in pad-dlesports. Like almost every other industry at the time, it was receiving a strong infusion of capital from two different sources: booming dot coms, and a few noteworthy mergers and acquisitions that were consolidating companies and bring-ing in an influx of cash. Yet the dot coms and the consolidation of the industry was not the main source of fuel for the fire. It was video.

In 2000, no less than seven kayaking films premiered at the winter and summer Outdoor Retailer shows in Salt Lake, including one produced by Teton Gravity Research—at the time one of the hottest production companies in ski filming. The result-ing media explosion had kayaks dropping off waterfalls on TV sets across the country. Tao Berman even appeared on the news show 20/20, after he plunged 120 feet off a western Washington waterfall. Nike started sponsoring kayakers. Kayaking was cool.

That same year, ESPN made two big changes to their Winter X Games. First, they began allowing skiers—not just snowboarders—to compete in the halfpipe competi-tion. And secondly, they began broadcasting live, from Aspen, giv-ing skiing equal footing with snow-boarding for the first time. Sudden-ly, kids were watching skiers boost 10 or 15 feet farther and higher out of the halfpipe than snowboarders could. And that’s all it took. Almost overnight, snowboarding became something that their parents did. Skiing was cool.

Over the past nine years, these two industries have shown quite a con-trast. Skiing manufacturers continue to fund filmmakers and the result is 10 or 12 decent ski films a year,

Why Good

Now MoreThan Ever

Media Matters—

Written by Tom Bie


ber 200835

from the king Warren Miller all the way down to the “companies” consist-ing of a couple kids with a digicam and a creative idea. There’s even been a trend that was inconceivable just a few short years ago—snowboarding companies manufacturing skis, instead of the other way around. Even surf companies like Quicksilver and Roxy started making ski and snowboarding gear. The result is a still-strong and vi-brant ski industry, 15 years after it was proclaimed dead by snowboarders.

And kayaking? Let’s put it this way: If it weren’t for thousands of overweight anglers who convinced their wives that an $800 fishing kayak was easier on the family budget than a $40,000 flats boat, and that floating around drink-ing beer in that fishing kayak somehow passed as exercise, then there would BE no paddling industry.

The whitewater kayaking industry has largely stopped funding filmmakers al-together, and the result is that when you walk into almost any drinking establish-ment in the country on any night of the week, what do you say playing in the TV sets around the bar? Surfing. Surfing! In Salt Lake City and Denver!

Flyfishing will never have the “cool” vibe of surfing, if only because spandex is sexier than Gore-tex. Which is fine. I don’t want to have to go to Hollisters at the mall to buy my next chest pack anyway. But ALL these sports—skiing, kayaking, surfing, mountain biking—they have all shared something in common the past decade: a rift within each industry that separated the “new school” style of participating in the sport from the old. With skiing, it’s been the “Big Mountain” Alaska or backcountry guys vs. the kids who spend all day working on tricks in the terrain park. With kayaking, it’s the big-water river-running set vs. the park-and-play kids refining their moves

at the local play park. Mountain bikers have the traditional single-trackers vs. the Red Bull inspired tricksters on man-made dirt mounds.

But flyfishing has none of that. A 16-year-old kid casts pretty much the same way his grandfather does, and for the most part, they’ll be fishing the same water. What do we have that differ-entiates us from previous generations of flyfishers? Video. It’s how many young people see the differences in the old way vs. the new way. More than anything else, video has helped make flyfishing cool.

In 2003, in Salt Lake City, I walked around the Flyfishing Retailer show asking for sponsors to help make my flyfishing movie, Feeding Time. I was the only one there who was doing it. Three companies—Clackacraft, Smith, and

Scott fly rods, contributed to the cause. And I still sell copies of that movie today. But at the 2009 FFR show in Denver, I’m betting there will be at least 20 different “production compa-nies” looking for funding. My advice: give it to them.

You might not think it matters that flyfishing looks “cool” to the next generation of anglers. And you might be right. But I promise you this: if, eight years from now, flyfishing videos have gone the way of kayaking videos, then young people will find something else to participate in that is produc-ing the type of media they want to watch, whether that’s skateboarding or jetskiing or paintball. And then we’ll hear it: hundreds of flyfishing industry old-timers, standing around the trade show asking the question, “Where did all the young people go?” at

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BACKCAsT

This one arrived as I dodged an overweighted nymph while bouncing along a river in northern Wyoming that wound a conundrum course through public and pri-vate land. It was a lovely float, except for the fact that we never could quite figure out where one left off and the other began. We solved the quandary by staying in our seats, but each little pleasure was tempered by the thought that we were missing really good chances to get out and pound some juicy water.

The man at the oars, a local who was not a professional guide, turned philosopher at one point in the proceed-ings. The thing he most loves about his recently adopted home, he allowed, is that the streams aren’t overrun with other anglers, as he perceived to be the case just over the border in Montana. He had other thoughts about the subject, but if you boiled them all down, that’s what stuck to the bottom of the pot.

Since the concept I was reaching for had to do with the impact of public access, or lack of same, on the relative prosperity of the flyfishing business, it only took a few more casts to start getting my mind around the topic. The immediate conclusion was a no-brainer.

Wyoming, whose law forbids wading through private property, has less crowding because there are so few people there. At any given moment, more folks will be en-gaged in Washington, D.C., rush hour traffic than reside in the whole damn state. Then, this law-limiting factor has a way of discouraging visitors who haven’t paid their way into some sort of deal.

It occurs that this matter of access stirs different emotions from each of us, depending upon which circumstance we happen to be wading in at the time. We’ve all been there, that sweet spot on some private water where the fish are jumping and the cotton is oh, so high. We relish our tem-porary good fortune, all the while thinking how glad we are that the riffraff can’t barge in and spoil it for us.

But the real point of all this is about all those other guys, the thousands, perhaps millions pounding on the gates of Rome trying to enjoy some of the good stuff. Your very own customers, as it were.

This thing about public access, this opportunity for the ordinary fly fisherman to wet a line in a spot desirable enough to make him want to come back tomorrow and the day after that may be the most important issue facing the industry. It’s nice to have a private stash for preferred customers, but much better still if the hundred-odd others who come through the shop enjoy a good day as well.

If these folks get discouraged and don’t want to keep fishing, don’t think it’s fun enough to bring along family and friends, then we’re all in a world of trouble: the shop owner, the manufacturer, the ink-stained wretch who writes for magazines that no longer exist.

From where I sit at my real job as outdoor writer for the Denver Post, I hear more frustration over access to good stream fishing than any other complaint. Out my way, we have plenty of excellent and open tailwaters. Trouble is, they don’t tail far enough.

These, and other big-water locations obtained by the state wildlife agency wind up crowded to the point of suffoca-tion. Find what seems like a good spot and there’s always someone creeping up on you. The fish look like they’ve gone several rounds with a bad dentist; something intrin-sically precious about the experience has been lost.

Are You Competing with Your Customers? A columnist in search

of an idea more elusive than any large brown trout sometimes finds it—the notion, not the fish—in the strangest places.


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www.fsflytalk.comFor lively discussion topics, entertaining perspectives, commentary, and the occasional product review that’s, well...

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BACKCAsT

In a state with laws similar to Wyoming, successful destination shops lease private water for guide trips. But I can’t help comparing this to their counterparts in Montana, Idaho and several other states with open-access laws who get the same, and much more, for free. There’s a pow-erful reason ordinary anglers—people who desire to spend their vacation, or at least a part of it, fishing on their own—flock to the Big Sky.

estimable organizations as Trout Unlimited, even causing consterna-tion among families. More recently, a seismic shift occurred in Utah, where a unanimous State Supreme Court decision declared all waters open to the public.

Whether the Utah ruling survives legal or legislative challenges re-mains to be seen. But when it was announced, a flurry of celebratory fishing caps got tossed into the air, a lot of these from the heads of fly shop owners and guides.

It’s tough to predict where we’re going with this access thing, or how fast. This much seems certain: we’re not likely to grow our sport unless we find adequate and desirable space to support it.

- Charlie Meyers

at

In the more than quarter century since Montana enacted its open-access law, the state has become the Mecca of America’s conventional trout fish-ing, perhaps of the world. Many book guide trips; all make several stops at fly shops on their way to all that open water. They buy stuff. Lots of stuff.

This sticky matter of stream access law has carved a deep divide in the flyfishing community, splitting such

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