Fishing Blogs

Thanks to Alex at the iconoclastic Daytripper blog — who’s running a “Stuff That Sucks” series (in opposition to his own “Stuff You Need” posts) — we found ourselves face to face with an Anti-Spring Ridge Club Web site that Underground Tackling Dummy Donny Beaver probably doesn’t love. From their “About” page:

This site is intended to shed light on the activities of the Spring Ridge Club in Central Pennsylvania. The activities of this club are to secure land surrounding PA trout waters and post them for their own use…

We intend to gather support from the public to try to convince the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to change the current legislation to allow stream access to the public to the high water mark of the river, just as it has been done in Montana.

The Underground’s beef with Beaver isn’t with his attempts to post private waters (we’re not in love with that part, but it’s legal). It’s about attempting to illegally restrict legal public access to rivers (and pretending he’s a conservationist for doing it).

It’s a trend we’re going to see a lot more of over the coming years — they’re not making any more rivers.

Buster Wants to Fish looks like a collaborative fly fishing blog written by some of our favorite self-described “dirtbag fly fishers” — along with a few names I don’t recognize, but will certainly come to. Their mission?

Broadcasting from high atop the Bilgewater Building in Dogpatch USA, hello and welcome. We are a small mob of dirtbag flyfishers with a web site. Weve stared at the water enough to maybe have some things to say about it. You might disagree, but here you are anyway. Did you bring beer? Weve stumbled out of a variety of regions and fallen together on the internets. Were pretty much staunch localists who are still stoked about the rivers, lakes and beaches were lucky enough to call our home waters, and wanted to get the words down before life goes and robs us of the alphabet. And we want to have a good time doing it.

“We’re Here”

There’s a lot of hand-wringing in the fly fishing industry about the “next” generation of fly fishers — namely that they don’t exist, and if they do, they’re a bunch fat-assed whiners gripping Xboxes and thinking fish and meat are something that comes shrink wrapped from the grocery store.

I always thought that was a little too convenient for an industry that was largely stuck in the 1980s way of doing things.

If it’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that the new wave are out there, but since they’re unlikely to subscribe to a snore-inducing Fly Fishermen magazine or buy $650 fly rods by the dozen, they might as well not be (as far as big chunks of the industry are concerned).

That’s tunnel vision, and while it seems the Internet might as well be the empty space off the flat end of the earth for most fly fishing companies, a quick visit to the right places would set you straight.

Buster Wants to Fish would be one of those places.

It careens between the odd, the sublime and the overheated, alternating kickass fishing reports like this one or this one with bigfoot sightings and the obligatory, anthemic rage against the machine post (which loses a lot of steam if you have to find, manufacture, or prop up a machine to rage against, but by its nature, rebellion requires something to rebel against).

Put it on the old RSS Feed, and let ‘em blast away. It won’t be a boring trip.

Comments from the Undergrounders are always welcome.

See you on the blogosphere, Tom Chandler.

[tags]fly fishing, fishing, buster wants to fish, fly fishing blog, outdoor blog[/tags]

It seems no one’s indifferent to “The Movie” — Robert Redford’s adaptation of Norman Maclean’s “A River Runs Through It.”

Depending on who you’re talking to, it either persuaded you to try fly fishing, ruined fly fishing, saved fly fishing, or overran the sport with trendy, gloss black SUVs. (Do golfers feel the same way about Caddyshack?)

Frankly, I don’t get it. I mean, I liked the movie — and loved the story — but when I hear someone say the movie was “about fly fishing” I want ask them who their high school literature teacher was and put a contract out on them.

[sfx: deep breath]

(It’s not. Fly fishing is a backdrop; the movie’s about a family.)

Still, everyone who’s anyone knows that Jason Borger did the actual casting scenes, and now, Jason Borger’s blog carries a couple of interesting stories from the movie — 15 years after the fact.

For that matter, Borger’s blog is worth a visit all on its own:

Fish, Flies & Water is meant to provide a flow of links, thoughts, and educational/entertainment media related to my personal journey through fly fishing. I hope that you find some of this blog to be useful, interesting, or simply enjoyable.

See you on the Internet, Tom Chandler.

[tags]fly fishing, jason borger, a river runs through it, the movie[/tags]

It’s Monday, which means those who fished over the weekend are looking for ways to lick their wounds, while those that didn’t fish are wishing they had those wounds.

We’re talking sore legs from wading, sore elbows from casting, sore butt from falling, bruised egos from not catching fish, a hangover from too much cheap beer, and a sore tongue from lying about it all.

Just the normal aches and pains, though I suffered the slings and arrows of a couple drive-by e-mailers relating to my Columbia/Snake Rivers dam post, one of whom accused me of being — and I quote — “a Goddamned Fin Hugger.”

It’s almost certain to become a staple here on the Underground.

Poets come in all shapes and sizes, my gentle readers. Enjoy the poets among the Underground’s Monday Morning Link Party.

Single Smashed Barb

Singlebarbed is offering what we’ll politely call a series of (ahem) unique insights into fly fishing, including a post about finding the future Mrs. Right and also a hilarious bug identification graphic. Sure, we’re a little afraid of the guy (especially once we found his homage to Hunter S. Thompson), but “weird” definitely has its uses. It’s possible I’m a little weird too.

Yellowstone Roundup

Meanwhile, if you’re not fishing the Yellowstone park area — but wish you were — a visit to the Yellowstone Fly Fishing blog is just the answer. He posts more fishing information than we can shake a high modulus rod at, and we’ve gotta wonder how he finds time to fish (we suspect powerful illegal stimulants).

Stuck in a Rutter

Meanwhile, we hope Ian and Charity Rutter are reading the above-mentioned Yellowstone blog; they’re heading west any day now.

Before going Ian found the time to post actual useful “how-to” information, like this beaut on fly fishing the Smokies in the fall, and even a useful streamer tutorial.

Tamanawis

This always well-written blog recently featured a series of pictures and a very short poem — both well worth your time. We still love pretty much everything Tamanawis writes — we’re just trying to figure out how to get him to do more of it.

And while you’re blog surfing that side of the Atlantic, pop into Alistair’s Urban Fly Fisher for an account of… a cow drooling on his car. We don’t get a lot of that here in Siskiyou county, so we thought we’d point out the very real danger to other fly fishers. You’ve been warned.

Hack, Hack

Meanwhile, Oregon’s Fish Hack continues his Monday morning Haiku series, and while poetry isn’t one of our strong suits, his hilarious stories are worth the rhyme, err… time.

Grits & Bamboo

While the rest of us are surfing the Internet in search of fly rod deals and underwater porn, the Grits blog is building a bamboo rod. Sure, we detest that kind of industry in a fly fisher, but don’t judge him harshly — he’s the kind of guy who accomplishes things, but that’s no reason to shun him.

(This lesson in embracing diversity brought to you by the Trout Underground.)

That’s it for now. More to come, including the Underground’s First Real Estate post. Don’t miss it.

See you in the cubicles, Tom Chandler.

[tags]fly fishing, fishing, blogs, fishing blogs, fly fishing blogs[/tags]

The Trout Underground has been a truckload of fun; a community of wry, intelligent commenters has sprung up, and it allows me to indulge my compulsion to write about something I love.

Frankly, I’d like to see others afforded the same opportunity, so you’re witness to the start of something new and interesting — The Fly Fishing Underground’s Writer’s Network. (sfx: ignite the fireworks)

It will eventually become a blog network for fly fishing writers, and I’ll explain the details further down this post. For now, say “hello” to the first new blog — Singlebarbed.com.

It’s the fevered ramblings of none other than Everyday Underground Commenter Kbarton, who test-flew a free blog under the Ripefish.com banner. He decided he liked it enough to try it for real, and here we are — welcoming another witty, interesting blog to the mix.

What’s the Fly Fishing Underground Writer’s Network?

The Trout Underground has been a passion of mine for almost two years. While I started it with the intention of being nothing more than a quirky Web site, the switch to blog software opened my eyes.

Blogs are affordable, easy-to-use, wholly delicious electronic publishing platforms. Couple the efficiency of blogs with the realization that fly fishing is a tiny industry, and I saw either a burning need or an opportunity (I’ll let history decide).

I believe there are a lot of smart, kickass fly fishing writers out there who don’t want to write a book, or blast out the how-to/gear/destination articles sought by magazines.

I’ve long held the goal of forming an online writer’s community focused on a shared passion, and the Underground’s Writer’s Network is the first manifestation of that.

What’s Next?

Over time, we’ll be adding other writers — both those we find, and those who contact us. The deal is this: we set up and run the blog (and if you’re serious about blogging, the free blogs don’t really cut it), add our expertise to the mix, and everyone supports each other.

Down the line, I plan to launch a weekly “best of” e-newsletter, and yes, there’s even the lure of ad revenues. Nobody will be getting rich, but it doesn’t take many ads to put what most fly fishing magazines pay into perspective.

Along the way, we’ll have a lot of fun. I think assembling a squad of insightful, intelligent writers is a lot like chemistry lab in high school; you never quite know what’s going to happen, but it since involves chemistry, energy, and the potential for an explosion, it’s gonna be interesting.

More to come, Undergrounders. More to come. See you on the Internet, Tom Chandler.

[tags]fly fishing, fishing, blog, blogging, fly fishing underground writer’s network, singlebarbed[/tags]

Here’s a couple of amusing/interesting fly fishing links I should have blogged recently, but couldn’t because I was busy serving as host organism for germs with unhappy childhoods.

I hate it when that happens. More to come.

RipeFish wants the hat, or the Brookie Gets It

It’s never pretty when the innocent suffer, which is exactly what Ripefish has in mind if he doesn’t win the Underground’s Canoe Hat Giveaway.

He apparently doesn’t know that the Official Trout Underground Policy is not to negotiate with fish terrorists.

Ian Rutter Switches Careers: Goes Hollywood

I think Ian’s planning to abandon the fly fishing guide gig and start producing rock music videos. Or not, but either way, he’s posted his second short YouTube video. This one’s of trout swimming underwater, and is worth the minute-long investment.

See you underwater, Tom Chandler.

[tags]fly fishing, fishing, fly fishing blogs, ian rutter, ripefish[/tags]

I’m an old school kind of writer. I’m into capital letters and punctuation the way people in personal ads are supposed to be into moonlight walks on the beach.

Still, I recognize good stuff when I read it, so even though reading the stream-of-consciousness, capitals-and-spell-check-optional Voluntary Beatdown blog sometimes makes my head hurt (the black background doesn’t help much), the ideas are worth the effort.

In a recent installment, they get all medieval on the Internet Experts you’ll find on some message boards. You know the type; the folks with a deeply informed opinion on pretty much everything, and yet when you meet them they can’t cast farther than their rod tip:

at one time or another, you’ve prolly been bored enough to read some fool fishing website (you’re here, fella…) and, in specific, the bulletin boards. we’ve all attempted to sit through the pain of these fishing forums/pits of dispair where people post a question or something, and then four hundred geriatric armchair internet jockey experts chime in with the latest rumors based on no fact and all heresay. i’ll admit to being guilty of reading that shit a few times, clinging to my beer and hoping sweet, sweet death would relieve me from the idiocy and flat-out half truths and really not believing some of the virgin shit these dudes and their misiformation like to spew. it was like watching a compound fracture happen

Compound fracture? Yeah, we’re down with that (see, we’re not without hipness here). Add Voluntary Beatdown to your RSS reader, and then forgive them their rantings about limp-wristed trout fishers.

[tags]fly fishing, fishing, voluntary beatdown, blog[/tags]

The proposed Pebble Mine in Alaska — the one planning to use toxic removal methods, potentially poisoning one of the richest watersheds in the whole state, including Bristol Bay — is the subject of Felt Soul Media’s blog.

They’re creating documentary about the mine and the opposition to it, and writing about the process on their blog. It’s a wild ride, and one of the best posts includes this passage:

Did you know that bug populations are so epic in Alaska that the severity of the insect swarm can dictate Caribou migration? At one point on the upper Nushagak river I was contemplating my own migration back to Colorado as the demonic white sock fly was crawling up my sleeves, behind my ears and under my waist line, leaving streaks and pools of my own blood behind. As you could imagine, it’s a little challenging to hold a camera still when this is happening. It’s also hard to resist the urge to flail around like a man on fire, ripping your clothes off and cursing God. When I rolled up my sleeve, my forearm looked like it had been through BB gun hell fire. Your skin crawls with the urge to itch the bites after you’ve wiped the blood away but those who know from experience tell you not to scratch unless you don’t mind permanent scars oozing puss, or a possible trip to the hospital. Not what I would describe as ideal filmmaking conditions, but fuck it, you only live once.

Sure, it’s a teensy bit Jack London, but it’s engrossing reading, and Ben Knight’s photography is great stuff. Worth a read, especially if they can help kill this awful project.

[tags]fly fishing, felt soul media, pebble mine, alaska[/tags]