Federal judge Oliver Wanger today tossed out a controversial water plan that would have allowed more pumping of water from the imperiled California Delta at the expense of five species of protected chinook salmon and steelhead trout.

Recreational fishing, commercial fishing and conservation groups and the Winnemem Wintu Tribe celebrated the ruling as a victory for the millions of Californians who depend on the delta for drinking water, fishing jobs and agriculture. The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is the largest and most significant estuary on the West Coast - and increased state and federal exports to subsidized agribusiness and southern California in recent years are a key factor in the collapse of Sacramento River salmon.

In his opinion Judge Oliver W. Wanger relied on the National Marine Fisheries Services’ (NMFS) own finding that diverting water from the bay-delta was killing huge numbers of salmon. He said, “This morbid projection is inconsistent, if not irreconcilable” with the agency’s opinion that the project operations did not jeopardize the survival of the fish. He also faulted the agency for failing to analyze the effects of global warming on the fish, calling that failure “arbitrary and capricious.”

"How extirpation of approaching one-third of the species affected by Project operations does not constitute jeopardy is not explained," said Wanger. "NMFS’s no jeopardy conclusion for the Project operations’ effects on the spring-run Chinook is expressly contradicted by underlying data and opinions of the BiOp."

More Bad News for Fishermen

The ocean fishing season for salmon has already been killed off by extremely low returns, and it looks like a zero-take policy will apply to river fisheries too:

The Commission will decide on whether or not to close salmon season on Central Valley rivers at its meeting in Monterey on May 9. However, it is extremely likely that the Commission will close salmon fishing on the Sacramento, American, Feather, San Joaquin and other rivers in conformance with the PFMC’s "zero take" allowance for the dwindling salmon population.

An Underground Rant

Here’s the scenario; salmon populations in the Sacramento River are collapsing (several species, including the stalwart Chinook run), steelhead are hurting, Delta Smelt and Longfin Smelt are on the brink of extinction, and they want to export more water from the Delta?

Here’s a thought: maybe it’s time California learned to live within its water budget.

ShareThis

This time, the New York Times Op-Ed lays it out: the next president will have to focus on rebuilding our commercially valuable salmon stocks, or find out what coastal economic collapse really looks like: (more…)

ShareThis

Ed Engle remains one of my favorite fly fishing writers, in part because he’s pretty damn good at cutting right to the chase.

In a recent Boulder Daily Camera outdoors column, he dives into the concept of home waters, a matter near and dear to my heart:

If you did occasionally travel to a different river or stream and run into a fly-fisherman, he might inquire where your home water was. In my case I’d say, “I’m Ed Engle, and the South Platte River is my home water.” He might have already known its reputation as a “technical” small fly-fishery with a lot of history or, if he didn’t, I would explain to him what our fishing was like. And more often than not, we’d become friends.

I understand that kind of identity, and the high-altitude perspective that makes it possible.

I moved to the Upper Sacramento River (when I could have moved almost anywhere) because it was clearly my home water, and while I can’t deny the itch to fish more exotic places (like the 25-minutes-away McCloud River), I can’t pretend my home water is anywhere but the Upper Sac.

Engle clearly understands this, and it’s an interesting take from someone making a living in an industry where distance is often equated with a bigger, manlier, more extreme experience.

And speaking of the industry, Engle also takes an oblique look at fly fishing tournaments, wondering at their true costs:

Right now, the fly-fishing industry, which seems to believe it is falling on hard times, is busy pushing televised fly-fishing competitions where the river being fished is hardly mentioned and all that counts is how many trout are caught. More and more, it seems like the only thing that is important in fly-fishing is what gear you use, how many fish you catch and how big they are.

I gave Engle’s Fishing Small Flies an excellent review (it’s jammed with real small fly information from someone who’s done it, and it’s far from a regurgitation of the things everyone already knows), and his long out-of-print Seasonal is a wonderful book about a life outdoors.

Only one chapter touches on fly fishing (a rehabilitative visit with John Gierach), but fly fishermen will likely find that chapter alone worth the price (and there are plenty of other great chapters wrapped around it).

See you on your home waters, Tom Chandler.

Technorati Tags: Ed Engle,fly fishing,fishing,home waters,south platte

ShareThis

In fact, last night, you caught yourself whining about what was on TV, (OK, that wasn’t you, that was me), so I dragged my butt down to the Man Cave, said the hell with reason, and got the skis prepped for the coming weekend’s Stupidity Run to a Frozen Alpine Lake — a horror-show in the making whereby my brother and I ski many miles to a frozen alpine lake and see if we can’t chip a hole in the ice to fish.

That doesn’t happen for a couple days, so later today I’m filling the car with fly fishing gear, rolling down the window, risking a ticket (because you have to speed when you play Springsteen), and getting the hell off the property.

Dave Roberts openly wondered exactly what obscure point I was trying to prove with the ski trip, but I don’t think there’s a point hidden in here anywhere.

In simplest terms, this is spring landing a little too late; the season-sized equivalent of a mid-life crisis, writ small in the snow.

Blast and cast Undergrounders. It’s time to run. More as it happens.

See you anywhere, but not if I see you first, Tom Chandler.

ShareThis

An anonymous Nestle source said the idea for the merger came about after a round of golf between the Westlands and Nestle corporate hit men operatives.

“Both groups were here screwing over the town of McCloud, which doesn’t take that much time, so we met for a game of golf.”

Water Hazards the Key

“There we were on the golf course, doing tequila shooters out of hollowed out golf balls and pumping the water hazards dry, and we suddenly realized that Nestle and Westlands had the exact same core competency — usurping local control of water supplies with destructive water extraction projects.”

“Why not simply join forces?

“After all, there’s an economy of scale to evil too.”

Industry Buzz

Industry watchers hailed the proposed merger as the biggest news to come out of the extractive industry since the 1872 Mining Act.

Industry analyst Chip Tanbark said “Westlands has long been a leader in profiting from taxpayer-subsidized water projects that never should have been built, and Nestle is the de facto leader in the privatization of water for their own profit.”

“Westland’s groundbreaking lawsuit forcing the American taxpayer to clean up their selenium poisoning mess and their draining of the Trinity for their own profit still rank as some of the ballsiest moves ever.”

“I still get goose bumps just thinking about them.”

Tanbark continued: “Combine that kind of proven market aggressiveness with Nestle’s intimidating legal prowess, international footprint, and absolute disregard for local populations - including breastfeeding children - and you’ve got a match made in heaven.”

Speculation about the operation’s new CEO was running rampant, though early frontrunners included Sisikiyou County Supervisor Marcia Armstrong, Dr. Evil of Austin Powers fame, and Boris & Natasha, who had been at loose ends since ceasing their Moose and Squirrel eradication program.

Technorati Tags: nestle,westlands,water extraction,extractive industry,privatization of water,dr evil,boris and natasha,april fools

ShareThis

Then again, I doubt they’ve missed us much, being as they’ve been busy making all the "World’s Worst Corporation" lists (’#10 with a bullet), suing small towns in Maine into oblivion, trying to illegally obtain new water sources, and splitting the town of McCloud in two over a rapacious contract they’ll do anything to protect.

At the Underground, we have to wonder: Where do they find all the time? 

The McCloud Update

In McCloud, Nestle was finally browbeaten into re-issuing their wholly inadequate Environmental Impact Report, which somehow failed to quantify the downstream impacts of removing a few bazillion gallons of water from Squaw Creek (among other omissions).

Fans of local intrigue will no doubt be pleased to know the McCloud Services District — the collection of individuals who negotiated what has to be one of the worst contracts of all time — recently lost a member.

Rather than replace the lost member (as per custom) with the person receiving the next-highest number of votes in the last election, they bypassed him because he "couldn’t be objective about the Nestle proposal."

Instead, the district board installed the postmaster, a Nestle proponent. Apparently, being "objective" is all about being pro-Nestle.

You see this happen everywhere Nestle appears; they show up quietly, identify likely targets, spread a little money around, make a few promises, and let the small-town politics split the community.

Am I exaggerating? Read on…

The Maine Update

Regular readers will remember the town of Fryeburg, Maine — a small town that repeatedly said "no" to Nestle’s attempts to open a truck loading station (complete with 100 truck trips per day, 24/7).

Sure, the town rejected Nestle’s application many times; voted "yes" on a moratorium prohibiting this kind of project; and beat Nestle like a cheap rug three times in court (including an argument in front of the Maine Supreme Court), yet — showing the kind of stick-to-your-guns grit popularized by corporate sleazes self-helpers everywhere, Nestle’s not done with Fryeburg.

They filed yet another legal appeal, and it’s clear the goal isn’t to prevail because their cause is just, but to bankrupt those fighting the project.

Unintentionally funny quote of the week?

"I think all parties would like to reach a conclusion," said Philip Ahrens, one of three attorneys representing Poland Spring…"

See, given that Fryeburg’s residents (and the courts) have said no, and no, and no again, I thought they had reached a conclusion.

Dollars From Heaven

Sure, it’s a good time to be Nestle’s legal representatives - billable hours are falling from the sky like $500 bills from heaven - but we’ve gotta ask; is bankrupting a small town trying to defend itself really part of their "good corporate neighbor" policy?

We’re just asking is all.

Still, all this litigation makes me nostalgic for the good old days here in Mt. Shasta — those halcyon days when Nestle subpoenaed the private financial records of project opponents in what you’d have to call a clear attempt to intimidate those who would speak out against them.

Ahh, good times. Good times.

More on The Maine Update

Lest you think Nestle’s attention is wholly occupied by the town of Fryeburg, Maine, we’ll point your attention towards another quasi-legal attempt to circumvent what the rest of us foolishly consider "laws" (and what Nestle considers obstacles to be brushed aside).

They want to pump water from a watershed within the town of Sterling (though the reservoir itself is owned by the town of Clinton).

The problem? It seems it’s illegal (here, here and here), but that crafty, gritty bunch at Nestle — can-do folks if we’ve ever seen them — don’t really care.

Today’s Most Telling Quote From a Maine Resident? Coming right at ya:

"We were being told by these corporations that there was not much that we could do to limit their activities, and it did not seem that our select board had much authority either. It seemed to me that these corporations were telling us that we must accept these damaging activities into our town, even though the majority of our citizens objected," said MacLeod.

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Nestle. It’s highly likely you won’t enjoy your stay.

The Summary Update

Frankly, I’ve abandoned all hope of keeping Nestle out of McCloud; their water contract with McCloud is so lopsided — buying water at 1/10 the current rate for the next 100 years and selling it at above-gasoline prices — that Nestle will do anything to protect it.

What’s left is a tiny thread of hope the town can negotiate more favorable terms, and that the McCloud River (and Squaw Creek) aren’t terminally harmed by the project, especially in the face of the uncertain effects of climate change.

In a decade or two, it’s possible the town’s costs of supporting Nestle will outstrip the payments made by the company, and Nestle’s exclusivity clause would even bar businesses like micro-breweries from locating in the town.

And for all this, McCloud "benefits" from a handful of $10/hour jobs, sells its water at 1/10 the going rate, and gets saddled with the costs of maintaining the wells and infrastructure.

If that’s real economic advancement, I’ll crack open a bottle of Arrowhead/Nestle water and drink it.

See you drinking tap water, Tom Chandler.

ShareThis

An editor of a mainstream fly fishing magazine - responding to online criticism that his magazine ran the same stories over and over - said a large pool of new fly fishing writers capable of stringing simple sentences together didn’t exist.

That’s a hard statement to swallow given the existence of The Drake, This is Fly, AEG and a laundry list of literate, relevant fly fishing blogs.

Clearly, there’s no shortage of new voices in fly fishing demanding to be heard.

Yes, they can write. And yes, many them have a lot to say about the sport and the environmental/access/lifestyle issues facing it — issues largely ignored by fly fishing’s print media.

Speaking to us via blogs, video, online magazines, podcasts and other digital publishing platforms, these voices continue to multiply and capture an audience — despite the inattention of a largely hidebound fly fishing industry.

The Drake’s importance in this fragmenting media landscape is clear; while a lot of us are succeeding via digital media channels, The Drake is currently kicking butt in the exact same sandbox as the industry’s traditional media players.

Ten years? Hot damn.

Time For a Change

For years — convinced their audience was interested only in fin & grins, teak-and-butler destination stories, and gear ads masquerading as editorial content — the leading magazines and weekend video producers fed readers & viewers a steady diet of the stuff, wholly overlooking the sport’s younger practitioners and and ignoring those who wanted more.

In fact, these younger readers were the subject of much hand wringing, and a common industry position was they didn’t exist at all.

In other words, if you didn’t buy into the existing program, you weren’t on the radar.

The problem wasn’t with the “market segment” in question; it was the radar that was broken.

Of course, new media’s audience isn’t limited to younger participants; plenty of “seasoned” fly fishers are on board with the Drake and what I’ll simply call “alternative fly fishing outlets” (hint: you’re reading one).

In fact, it’s likely the “new wave” is composed of as many geezers as youngsters, and the cumulative effect on the media side of fly fishing is one of rapid, wholesale evolution.

Meet the New Boss?

It’s fair to ask if we’re witnessing the democratization of fly fishing media, or simply the emergence of a new fly fishing elite happy to make the same mistakes as those they replaced.

And once the marketing dollars start flowing to new media, will the too-chummy relationship between industry and media be repeated?

Being largely trapped in the present, I have no answers.

For now, the Drake represents an alternative voice in a fly fishing industry that desperately needed one, and its long-term success benefits all of us interested in perspectives beyond the typical.

Happy 10th Anniversary to the Drake. It wouldn’t be the same without you.

Technorati Tags: fly fishing,fishing,the drake,fly fishing magazine,fly fishing media,fly fishing’s new media,AEG,fly fishing blogs,damned straight

ShareThis

I stumbled across an excellent podcast series that asks this very question (via Tom Mangan’s hiking blog). The two-part podcast is worth a listen (Sargeant’s stuff largely kicks ass), as are these excerpts of reader comments on Mangan’s blog:

From Dan Mitchell:
I’ll never forget the time I casually mentioned to one of my work colleagues who has (I now clearly understand) led an entirely indoor life that I was planning a short pack trip. She ripped into me for acting foolishly and dangerously and risking my life and putting the futures of my children in danger. There was no explaining…

Randy L:
I cracked up a few weeks ago when one of our office workers spotted a turkey outside the window near her workspace. Our building is very near the wetlands beyond 237, and we commonly see ducks, seabirds, various rodents, and such. She was actually scared of it. She was saying “oh my god” “what about diseases”, and “do they bite?” “Should we call security?”, things like that.

Sure, you don’t tangle with Marauding Packs of Killer Turkeys every time you head out into the backcountry, but you have to wonder about the “Wild IQ” of people who think you do — or people who think backpacking involves risks on a par with spearfishing for sharks.

Danger, Will Robinson. Danger.

Every report we’ve seen cites the decline in participation in outdoor sports (the Internet and video games are seen as culprits). Does the popular, somewhat sensational media play a role?

After all, the only time you hear about mountain climbers is when they die; the only media attention given mountain lions comes during their very infrequent attacks.

Years ago, — while suiting up at a fishing access — I was confronted by a woman who wanted to know why I was “risking my life” (presumably in the raging waters of the river) “just to catch some silly fish.”

She was nice about it, but it’s hard to answer a question when you disagree with the basic premise. Suggesting that I was in more danger on the drive to the river (down I-5) didn’t make much of an impression, and I wonder how she would have reacted to a backcountry skier.

A Question of Risk

Does the average “indoor” person believe wild animals are hanging right on the fringes of the darkness, waiting for dinner some foolish human to wander by?

Do people really perceive wild turkeys as a threat?

Is the wilderness really more dangerous than your average freeway at rush hour?

And how many wild turkeys (the animal kind, not the bottled version) would it take to kill a pair of fly fishermen?

Weigh in Undergrounders; do you have any stories/opinions/rants to share about the public’s perception of wilderness?

Technorati Tags: two heel drive,wildebeat,wilderness,popular media,fly fishing

ShareThis

For example, we present a list of “spring-is-here” bloggers singled out for special attention because in the paranoid, multiple-personality, spring-fevered world of the Trout Underground, they’re taunting me.

Yes, me. Directly.

They’re here. Behind that cloud, the Mother Ship is docking.

It all seems so clear to me here in the Trout Underground/Man Cave Padded Cell, and all the spring-fishing-is-a-long-ways-away medication in the universe simply can’t change that fact (though if taken properly, it does reduce the number of voices).

Because it’s hard to type with this straightjacket on, I’ll get right to it.

Smokies Fever

First up is ex-friend Ian Rutter, who scores heavy on dries in the Smokies several days straight and writes about it in a series of posts — the very same Smokies I won’t be visiting this year:

We don’t mean to taunt, but I hope you’re getting something valuable accomplished if you haven’t been fishing in the past 3 days. I said it in the last report, but let me reiterate: Spring fly fishing in the Smokies is here!

Quill Gordons were on the water as well as Blue Quills. Doug made good use of a quill bodied parachute dry fly that I think was #14, perhaps #12. I used a #12 Haystack that came from a pile I tied back in the foul weather we had about a month ago.

Ian intelligently closed the comments on that particular article so I couldn’t post some anonymous, lithium-fueled screed about the very clear fact he and his alien friends are obviously taunting me personally, but then, the restraining order doesn’t permit it. Damn.

Still, if you had the kind of clarity of vision I do, you’d add an extra layer of aluminum foil to your helmet and screen out the spring barrage of mind control rays.

Fail to do so — and after they’ve seized control of your brain — don’t come whining to me. You were warned.

I’ve Seen the Mother Ship. It’s Green and Warm.

Fly Fishing in Yellowstone not only fires up a “spring is coming post”, but also throws in a bikini picture and plenty of interesting local fly patterns too.

The trail through the snow to the Madison River has reached bare ground in the vicinity of Campfire Lodge: brave soles have connected the post-holes at the Hebgen Tailwater, the anchor ice is rapidly disappearing along the Gallatin River in it’s lower canyon reaches, and, (parenthetically,) fish have already arrived at the Henry’s Lake Hatchery on the Snake River.

Then Fly Fishing in South Wales — clearly a member of the Global Spring Fly Fishing Conspiracy — posts about fly fishing on his first warm sunny day:

It was nice to be out fishing on a lovely sunny day. I could have closed my eyes and thought it was summer at one point. Birds flitting up and down the river all afternoon, picking a few tiny duns out of the air as they blew about in the strong wind.

If you read Gareth’s post carefully (assuming that is his real name), you can see the alien influences in the sentence structure. In fact, his post was probably actually written at Area 51 (where it’s already spring).

Hear me Undergrounders; it ain’t summer here, and hell — with waist deep snow still piled up at Trout Underground/Man Cave World Headquarters — even spring feels like it’s farther away than it actually is.

Traditionally, early spring hasn’t been the best time to fish the Upper Sacramento; flows are often high and the river often gets hard to fish about the same time the better dry fly hatches start coming off.

Of course, those manning the mind control rays don’t want you to know that. They want to slowly drive you crazy, eventually seizing control of your mind (what’s left of it), your bank account, and your extensive baseball hat collection (their robots need fuel).

It’s enough to make a fly fisher crazy. In fact, I believe it already has.

So Undergrounders, slip on your aluminum underwear, down those fancy pills, bury that canned food in the back yard and — for God’s sake — keep your eyes peeled for the Mother Ship.

Trust no one. No one.

(UPDATE: Proof that snow-worshipping aliens are among us) 

Technorati Tags: fly fishing,fishing,spring fever,alien abduction

ShareThis

Apparently, I slept through the development of this particular technique, and didn’t particularly see the big deal until I got to this part:

Just lob that dangling bare hook and bead out there, or better yet drop it straight down over the gunwales of a drift boat and let the guide row you around over the top of the fish, and soon trout will be flopping in the landing net. Because, unlike flies, when a trout bites a pegged bead and spits it out, you don’t even have to be paying attention at all (shoot, sometimes I like to take a nap while fishing this way).

The line below the pegged bead will floss that tricky little bare hook right into the side of that smarty-pants trout’s face — even if he did spit out the bead long before you saw the strike.

Given that the Underground’s largely clueless about pegged beads, does somebody want to enlighten me? Are pegged beads really designed to “floss” fish, wholly removing the need for a timely hook set?

(UPDATE: Another article in the same paper takes the opposite viewpoint; bead fishers just want to have fun. It’s up to you kids)

See you at school, Tom Chandler.

Technorati Tags: pegged beads,fly fishing,fishing

ShareThis

(UPDATE: Ok, a clarification. I woke up this morning and someone had built the above “shrine” blog aimed at me, and sent a short email. I took it to be a joke, and think everyone else should too.)

Sure, the anonymous attack dog site seems cute now, but next thing you know, I’ve got a stalker messing with my credit rating (as if that could get any lower) and firing off emails trying to get my press credentials revoked (and now that I mention it, yes, that actually happened).

Accordingly, I’d like to suggest that the person who created the “Tom Chandler is a Bait Fishing Chummer” simply mixed me up with Noted Explosives Expert Singlebarbed.

After all, explosives use on the Upper Sacramento would draw some attention from sharp-eyed Warden Joe Powell, but explosives use in Singlebarbed’s brownline environment would barely raise an eyebrow.

Not that I’m accusing or anything. I’m just saying is all.

Naturally, no purist of my stature would be caught dead using C4. That stuff’s for terrorists and nymph fishers. If I used explosives, I’d insist on only the most refined varieties, preferably those sustainably manufactured from organic components.

Of course, what’s really true is that I’m simply too damned lazy to go to all the trouble mentioned in the attack blog. I could summon a long, long list of character witnesses willing to testify to that fact.

See you in hiding, Tom Chandler

Technorati Tags: tom chandler,trout underground,attack blog

ShareThis

And with a name like Hurdygurdy Creek, the place practically screams big steelies (say Hurdygurdy five times fast, I dare you).

So — in about 25 seconds — you can let the Powers That Be know you think protecting key salmonid spawning habitat in one of the few rivers still supporting healthy runs is a good idea. From CalTrout:

The Smith River, home to the state’s healthiest wild runs of coho and Chinook salmon, steelhead and coastal cutthroat trout, is California’s only major undammed river system. More than 300 miles of the Smith River are designated National Wild and Scenic Rivers. Now, we have an opportunity to protect one of the river’s major tributaries, Hurdygurdy Creek.

Please join me in urging Senator Dianne Feinstein to approve $4.5 million to buy critical land and stream habitat nested within the Smith River National Recreation Area.

Twenty-five seconds, Undergrounders. That’s all it takes.

Ok, maybe it scales up to 40 seconds if you have to register, though CalTrout’s site knew me and I sent my email in 18 seconds. Anyone able to top that?

See you in the political fray, Tom Chandler.

Technorati Tags: smith river,hurdygurdy creek,caltrout,salmon preservation

ShareThis

It’s a genuine event; would it help or hurt fly fishing to do the same?

By any television standard, the production is stunning: live broadcasts right from the boats of top anglers, a crew of announcers, realtime standings, helicopter shots, 70 mph boats, in-depth Web coverage, lazer light show at weigh-in, and yes — plenty of air time for the high-voltage, in-boat antics of the more “demonstrative” anglers.

Modeled on NASCAR, today’s competitive bass fishing scene includes all the elements of good drama (or high camp): (more…)

ShareThis

(I can’t remember — is it the memory that goes first or is it the knees?)

 
Maine ain’t hard on the eyes.

The Environmental Thing

We had more than our share of fun in 2007, though if you take a run through the archives, you’ll notice it’s also the year the Underground got a little cranky with the people (and the predatory corporations) that want to denude our watersheds, extinguish our salmon runs, steal our water, privatize public water, and flood our rivers with higher dams.

I have little desire to turn the Underground into one of those spittle-streaked blogs where every other post features a venomous attack on Nestle or Westlands or our prehistoric Board of Supervisors (not that it wouldn’t be fun) or some other environmental miscreant (plenty of available villans), so I’ve passed on stories I probably should have run.

Those are backcountry Brookie rise rings. We love it.

And I haven’t even touched on California’s water wars, which encompass a battery of largely farcical statements, unacknowledged realities, and plain stupid behavior.

The obvious answer is to fire up a separate water/fly fishing issues blog — complete with an “action” list of people who need to hear from the “strike team” of readers.

Sadly, there’s that little question of time. Given the amount of non-revenue producing time already invested on the Underground, a new blog represents a one-way ticket to insolvency and divorce.

I have no answers, but I did want to acknowledge the question. If anyone has an idea, feel free to write it on a winning lottery ticket and mail it to me immediately. I’ll give it every consideration.

Stoneflies in June. Part and parcel of every year.

In 2007, the Underground Stayed Close to Home

Though I fished in Maine and Tennessee again, 2007 found me sticking closer to home. No trips to Idaho in Winter or Belize in fall, though I did hike my way to a lot of backcountry waters I hadn’t seen before (and a few I had), and yes, that did cut into my time on the Upper Sacramento.

I’d feel bad about that, but it’s hard to argue with jewel-like (and admittedly small) trout in tiny streams and impossibly beautiful mountain lakes, and there are only 24 hours in a day.

The backcountry. Spent a fair amount of time there in 2007.

And admittedly, the latter part of 2007 was consumed by things which — like a herd of little space-time carnivores — pretty seriously ate into my fishing time.

In the interest of not sounding like a massive whiner, I won’t list them here (though our very time-consuming fight with the Sisikiyou County Board of Supervisors ranks among them). Sometimes, life just intrudes.

Still, anyone who lives near a lifetime’s worth of fly fishing water probably shouldn’t expect a lot of folks to cry along with him, and so I’ll move on to…

What’s Next?

That’s a good question. If the Trout Underground were a corporate enterprise, I’d have a “Mission Statement” and Team Building exercises (and you’d all have to take drug tests).

Given the somewhat doubtful chemical histories of many of my readers, I suggest we skip the corporate angle, and move forward with the predictions.

Expect to see the usual philosophical fishing reports, the typical barrage of pictures, the same snarky take on the industry and world at large, and a few longer, more serious articles.

 
There’s a stream there somewhere. Rest assured we fished it.

We might also plunge into the shadowy realm of podcasts, and yes — I am trying to find a sound commercial footing for the Trout Underground.

I love this blog and the community of seriously odd people that have gathered round it, but in truth, it’s hard to imagine any non-trust-funded writer generating original content at this pace without eventually burning out or enjoying some kind of financial return.

That’s the subject of another half-written post: The online fly fishing world — where it’s headed, and why it’s probably not sustainable in its non-commercial form. Stay tuned.

Of course, feel free to post ideas, suggestions and rants in the comments section.

Above All Else, Enjoy Fishing in 2008

That’s the bottom line. Fly fishing is simply an excuse to do something engrossing in a beautiful setting, and while there are a million and one reasons not to go fishing, they’re mostly bullshit.

Ian Rutter on Hazel Creek.

Each year gives us a handful of real memories, and while I’ve got a bunch tied up in the L&T that we’re not going to discuss, most of the others revolve around friends, trout, fly rods, and — in my case — some outrageously beautiful backcountry settings.

You don’t generate those memories from your office, and you won’t generate them doing something you don’t want to do, so here’s the Underground’s advice — get out and fish the way you want to fish, and to hell with all the folks who think you’re not being as “efficient” as possible when it comes to catching fish.

We really are here for a short time, so don’t waste it generating non-memories. That’s 2008 in a nutshell.

See you on the river, Tom Chandler.

 
Home, sweet home.

ShareThis

Welcome to the Denver fly fishing show death match, Undergrounders. It won’t be boring.

The sparks and the rhetoric flew when the American Fly Fishing Trade Association (AFFTA) announced it was getting into the fly fishing consumer trade show business — by competing head-to-head with an already-established Denver consumer show.

The new AFFTA consumer show is set for January 4-6, 2008 in the downtown Denver Convention Center — the very same weekend as The Fly Fishing Show , the existing event run by Chuck Furimsky at Denver’s Merchandise Mart.

Furimsky didn’t wait long before crying foul, alleging a personal vendetta and an attempt by some of AFFTA’s manufacturers to put him out of business. Furimsky owns and operates several Western fly fishing shows, and recently split (amicably) with his partner, who retains control of the company’s eastern shows.

Ramsay: “It’s Nothing Personal. It’s Just Business.”

AFFTA President Robert Ramsay responded to Furimsky’s attacks in a recent interview, where he said the AFFTA Board of Directors voted unanimously to move into the consumer show business because the existing shows weren’t oriented towards growing the fly fishing market.

“It’s nothing personal,” Ramsay said. “It’s just business. Our goal is the growth of a sustainable fly fishing market, which helps everyone.”

Furismky apparently didn’t agree, and he’s vowed to organize a retailer trade show to compete with AFFTA’s Fly Fishing Retailer (FFR) show in the fall.

He’s also said he’s willing to lose money on the Denver consumer show for several years in an attempt to drive the new AFFTA consumer show under.

Meanwhile, AFFTA’s Ramsay said the decision to compete was not taken lightly by the AFFTA board, but that the association wanted to build a sustainable fly fishing market, and one of the best methods for doing so was through beginner-friendly consumer shows.

Dividing an Industry

The heated rhetoric aside, it’s clear that exhibitors will have to make some hard decisions. Exhibit at one show? Smaller booths at both shows? Skip them altogether and hope for a resolution next year?

Obviously, AFFTA’s trump card here is its own membership; the show with the big manufacturers might be perceived as the most prestigious, and Furimsky’s job will be to stem the losses of exhibitors from his show to the new AFFTA show.

For his part, Furimsky has years of momentum behind him; attendees have been flocking to his Merchandise Mart show for several years, and it’s possible a lot of showgoers won’t even know about AFFTA’s Downtown Denver show.

We’ve already seen a few public battles over fly fishing’s celebrities, some of whom immediately defected to the new show while others stood pat with Furimsky.

One thing is clear; even given the popularity of fly fishing in Colorado, it’s unlikely that both shows will survive for long in direct competition.

The Consumer Decision? Wait and See.

In any free market, the consumer decides who wins, but like most inter-family squabbles, this one’s going to leave some long-lasting scars on an industry that can ill afford it.

When I spoke with Ramsay, he repeatedly emphasized this wasn’t a personal vendetta, though one wag at the FFR show said it looked to him like a commercial “assassination” of Furimsky — a somewhat flambouyant character who has made his share of enemies in the industry.

It couldn’t feel good to have the industry’s own trade association paint a big bullseye on your back, and if this show is a success, Ramsay said the AFFTA will expand their line of consumer shows.

Next time, Ramsay said, AFFTA would move into major markets without directly competing trade shows, though I question how many truly worthwhile markets are left (Ramsay mentioned Dallas and a few other Southern locations).

One thing is likely clear; the other show owners are closely watching this battle in an attempt to divine what’s in their future.

Waiting For Early January

During our interview, it became clear Ramsay was frustrated with some of the rhetoric generated by Furimsky, and admitted that a model of direct competition — as with Furimsky’s Denver show — won’t be repeated at other venues.

What I find remarkable is the width and breadth of feeling within the industry; while almost no one is willing to go on the record, I heard whispers at the recent FFR show aimed at both sides of the aisle.

“The manufacturers dislike the bargain basement selling that goes on at Furimsky’s shows, and they’re trying to put him out of business” said one attendee.

Another said (rather hopefully) that “a little competition would only help dealers and manufacturers,” while another cryptically said only that “this was going to be good for the industry.”

One thing is clear; it’s a PR problem of significant proportions for the AFFTA. Regardless of their true motives, whenever a trade association enters into direct competition with one of their own, the results won’t be pretty.

Stay tuned, Undergrounders. And — as always — the floor is yours. Any opinions?

ShareThis