Are fat white guys the salvation of fly fishing?

The Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake was apparently another hit, though the article that caught my eye had to do with trends in the outdoor business, namely the need to sell to the **Beached White Male** (BWM).

I’m so stoked that I didn’t blow it off. Marian Salzman from Trendspotting gave quite the lecture on the state of Americans and how the outdoor industry can get their attention.

She’s one of the top trend forecasters in the country, so when she speaks, ears perk up. She told retailers they need to market to the inactivity of America, or what she calls the Beached White Male (BMW). She said they (we) need to show them how to get outdoors . . . Outdoors for Dummies.

Ignoring the fact that some of us already qualify as BWMs, those concerned with growing the sport of fly fishing at all costs will no doubt find comfort in the idea that fly fishing — which can take place from nothing more trying than the front seat of a drift boat — is the ideal outdoor activity for BWMs.

Lucky us.

See you at the gym, Tom Chandler

Posted in fly fishing industry.