Nor have I pounded the Underground’s favorite whipping boy good corporate neighbor Nestle lately, but – via This is Fly – I found the perfect means for doing so while still providing a high quality, marketing-related entertainment experience for the Undergrounders:

See you drinking “Mitch,” Tom Chandler.

9. Simms meets entry-level wader price point by introducing new breathable "wader shorts"

8. Top fly fishing magazine sells soul to advertisers and exotic destination lodges at 60% of last year’s price

7. High price of gas means fly fishermen are fishing same water, but driving less and making much, much longer casts

6. Buster Wants to Fish gang seen drinking tap water instead of cheap swill PBR

5. The Orvis Guy photographed fishing in last year’s tweed jacket

4. Guides attempt to convince clients that Ritz crackers and government surplus cheese are "euro gourmet" lunch

3. Fly fishers suddenly convinced they can "cast to the backing," but turns out SciAnglers saving money by making fly lines 40′ long

2. Redding Fly Shop testing Vespa Scooters to see if they can pull a drift boat

1. Donnie Beaver has only enough cash to illegally post half as much water as year before

The signs are inescapable, Undergrounders. See any of your own?

His latest book — Kerplunk!– is more of the same, and McManus fans will no doubt be pleased by that.

His earlier essays chronicled his adventures as a young man, and while they were clearly fiction, they contained enough real world stuff that you knew he was writing from an autobiographical perspective.

McManus’ best humor is based on his mastery of the “unintended consequence” — where a simple, slightly skewed idea spirals out of control.

Disaster is the inevitable result, but this being humorous fiction, nobody gets hurt (too badly).

Some of his essays stay with me to this day; I remember reading his “The Deer on the Bicycle” story (about deer hunting as a kid, using a bicycle as transportation) and not being able to contain my laughter (in science class… yikes).

While his latest book — Kerplunk!– might not be his sharpest work, there is still plenty to smile about.

“Uh-Oh!” (and other things guides shouldn’t say) not only made me laugh, but made me think of the chilling phrases I’ve heard from guides along the way (“Uh, you seen the anchor?”).

Kerplunk delves into McManus’ modern-day exploits in the Pacific Northwest (mostly as an adult), focusing mainly on fishing and hunting trips that — trust me — you won’t want to duplicate.

Those who have never read his largely self-effacing outdoor humor essays might also want to read his earlier books, but Kerplunk!is a solid addition to his bibliography.

See you in the bookshelves, Tom Chandler.

Click to buy a copy of Kerplunk!

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