Angling Trade 2017 Show Issue

the buzz on the fly-fishing biz ®

INSIDE

THE 2017 SHOW ISSUE

Reaching More Customers | Catch-and-Release Rethought | Making Hay at a Trade Show | AT at 10 Years | Gobs of New Product Spiel... And More July 2017 AnglingTrade.com

the buzz on the flyfishing biz

CONTENTS

®

Features

Departments

Editor

44 HOW TO REACH NEW A N D EXISTING CUSTOMERS.

4 EDITOR’S COLUMN

Managing Editor

Kirk Deeter kirk@anglingtrade.com

Tim Romano tim@anglingtrade.com

Art Director Tara Kester tara@shovelcreative.com shovelcreative.com

Editors-at-Large The Game Has Changed, Have You? The inside skinny on sales and marketing through modern media.

DIY or DOA... You Decide.

By Kirk Deeter

Joel R. Johnson Geoff Mueller

Copy Editors

By Steve Schweitzer

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Mabon Childs, Sarah Deeter

52 C AT C H A N D R E L E A S E …

S T I L L A L L T H AT ?

All the latest news from the fly-fishing business world, including a number of hot new products, access, environment, and more.

Contributing Editors

56 C O W B O Y S E N S E O N C L I M AT E C H A N G E

By Walt Gasson

Tom Bie Ben Romans Steven B. Schweitzer Greg Vincent Photos unless otherwise noted by Tim Romano Angling Trade is printed twice a year, supplemented with bimonthly E-Newsletters by Angling Trade, LLC. Author and photographic submissions should be sent electronically to editor@anglingtrade.com.

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.

Are we at risk of being too PC? A witty reflection on the angler’s moral compass.

By Marshall Bissett

58 H O W T O G E T T H E MOST OUT OF INDUSTRY TRADE SHOWS. 62 B A C K C A S T

Printed in the U.S.A. Advertising Contact: Tim Romano Telephone: 303-495-3967 tim@anglingtrade.com

Being there is only a small part of the equation. Being there with a battle plan is what yields return on your investment.

By D. Roger Maves

The Wonder Years (Happy 10th Birthday, Angling Trade!)

By Geoff Mueller

Street Address: 3055 24th Street Boulder, CO 80304 AnglingTrade.com

AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

Mail Address: PO Box 17487 Boulder, CO 80308

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E D I TO R ’ S C O L U M N

LET’S ALL FIND CONSENSUS ON DIY FISHING

Man, I don’t know about you all, but my plate is pretty full these days.

Lots to cover. Lots to worry about...

AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

Granted, the economy is pretty good. Way better than it was when we started Angling Trade 10 years ago. Back then I spent a lot of time calming nerves. “It’s going to be okay, because fly fishing is inherently beautiful, and the younger people who ‘get it’ are actually 10 times more talented and committed than we thought.” I still believe that.

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Now, however, we have another set of issues to deal with. I don’t feel like getting into politics any more right now than you feel like reading another “political” column. I will say, however, that the notion that humans have to wreck the environment in the name of economic “progress” is outdated and stupid. That brand of thinking puts our sport and our businesses at risk.

Science does matter, and there’s value in sustainability. But alas, we’re living in a selfish “Stupissance” era. It is what it is…

Besides, there are other issues to contend with now… access, water quality, and recruitment of “generation next” among them. Here’s a topic

for collective consideration: How we all really think about “do-it-yourself” angling? I actually think how we embrace (or reject) DIY fishing is going to have as much or more influence on the future of fly fishing in America as anything else. It’s all related to some extent, right?

If this sport becomes a Euro-style pay-to-play deal, count me out. The argument that we have to protect our public lands for “everyman” (or “everywoman”) falls flat on its face if it weren’t for the underlying notion that a person could walk out on that land and enjoy to the extent she/he pleases.

What good is public access on a river if you aren’t afforded the opportunity to wade into that water and fail miserably (or perhaps, succeed with great aplomb) on your own accord?

This industry had a little dust-up a couple years ago, related to the Bahamas, and proposed legislation that would mandate fishing with guides, and so forth. Fortunately, everyone found the middle ground.

It’s a tricky deal, and I don’t know all the answers. I totally see how a working guide could be cheesedoff by an interloper barging in and wrecking his/her flat and/or run in the river. I’d be bummed if I were a guide, and I had someone hire me for one day, then saw that person pounding fish as I taught them to do, for another several days.

But on the other hand, if you don’t actually own the water, you don’t own the water. And if it weren’t for the DIY angler, this sport would be DOA. One of the greatest aspects of fly fishing that I value most—something I consider uniquely American—is the ability to fish on my own terms. Many

magazines, newspapers and websites won’t even run stories on fishing if the story is purely lodge-based, or guide-based. Because by doing so, you abandon the proletariat that often doesn’t have the coin to pay for guides. That’s most people, in fact.

I absolutely love guides. Anyone who has ever fished with me knows how much I value guides as stewards and gatekeepers. I’m a (sometimes) guide, and many of my best friends in this sport are guides. But to me, a great guide transcends. A great must be so darn smart, so darn valuable, that the investment is readily apparent. It shouldn’t be a rite, born of economics or boundaries. It should be born of credibility and value.

I’m simply saying that I think we’d all do well, and AFFTA, in particular, would further prove its value, and manufacturers and shops would ultimately reap more rewards, if we all spent a little more time thinking very carefully about the DIY phenomenon, what that really means to the sport, and foster that with great strategy.

At the same time, taking better care of our gatekeeper fishing guides is overdue. Setting standards… setting parameters… not to place restrictions or rules on people who bust their butts to make a living and grow this sport for the benefit of everyone… rather, helping them build and market their own value is what we should do.

We should swing the doors wide open for anyone who wants to wade in and experience fly fishing. Completely free of charge. And then, we must give them more reasons to invest in learning and getting better. But it shouldn’t have anything to do with boundaries, visible or invisible.

–Kirk Deeter, Editor

FINATIC FLY REEL — PREMIUM FLY FISHING PRODUCTS MADE IN THE USA

HATCHOUTDOORS.COM

AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

PHOTOS © STEPHAN DOMBAJ / FLYFISHINGNATION

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Product, Product, Product.

It’s that time of year, when we get a look at new products in the pipeline for the coming season. We think it’s no exaggeration that this will be the most product-rich trade show we’ve seen in 10 years.

By no means will you find everything (or even close) in these following pages… just some highlights of products that caught our eye, or things we’ve been noodlin’ with that we like. There’s some traditional fly tackle that will definitely move the needle… some outside-the-box ideas that might open new sales avenues… that’s all ultimately up to you.

Of course, the real “meat” is coming straight from the International Fly Tackle Dealer Trade Show, so be sure to check your email inboxes for the Angling Trade E-Newsletters, look for video product reviews at anglingtrade. com (and elsewhere), eagerly check things out for yourselves, and if there’s stuff you like that you think we should talk about, we’re all ears.

Let’s get it on…

AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

Orvis Takes “Helios” to New Heights, with the H3

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The original “game change” happened several years ago, when Orvis launched the “Helios.” The company sent prototypes of a new rod to a bunch of magazine writers and editors, and we all thought they sent us empty rod tubes. But they

didn’t—instead, we found extremely light fly rods, and that was the start of a feel revolution that ultimately blew our minds.

In curiously short succession, Orvis tweaked the Helios design and introduced Helios 2 only a couple years later. Why so soon? Because they could. And it proved worth doing, because H2 has been the “H Bomb” secret weapon for many anglers who happen to like booming long and/or accurate casts, ever since.

But times and competition evolved, and we’ve seen the launch of an impressive, collective space-age arsenal from a number of other rod companies in recent years… the Scott Radian… the Sage X… The T&T Avantt… the G.Loomis Asquith… and so on, and so on (too many to list them all). There’s not a rotten egg in the bunch. I like them all, for different reasons, and, naturally, many other anglers do too.

So thank you, Orvis, for starting the fly rod arms race. Anglers have more sweet rod options now than have ever existed on planet earth at any time in history.

But… what have you done for us lately?

That answer came a couple months ago, when I got to fish the new, muchanticipated, “Helios 3” with Tom Rosenbauer on the Delaware River.

The Delaware is arguably the perfect place to actually test new fly rods, as it is an eastern anomaly in that it has wide currents that can demand long casts and technical line-management moves, yet, when those caddis and mayflies start hatching, you need the puppy dog underbelly-smooth presentations in your bag of tricks too.

The third installment in the trilogy delivers. Way better than Rocky III. Even better than all the sequels in the Harry Potter series. It’s definitely worth the impending hype, and the wait, and all that.

Now, I can give you all the technical wiz-bang jargon, which in this case literally comes from nuclear submarine and aerospace engineers. But to be honest with you, I can’t remember or fully understand all that stuff, and I really don’t care about it.

All I can give you is an honest opinion from a 50-year-old guy who has a fairto-good natural casting stroke, and spends 150 or more days a year on the water, all over the world, chasing fish… mostly trout.

The first thing I’ll tell you is that, the “game change” happened years ago.

H3 is a game refinement. The unique selling proposition now is accuracy.

And the way the graphite is built into these rod does offer visible blank recovery and linear tracking an angler can sense right away. It’s a pointand-shoot rod, and the fly normally drops somewhere near where your thumbnail on top of the Half-Wells grip tells it to go. But the thing I found most special, was that the rod did that, not just the first time, or in the first 10 casts, but also 500 or more casts into the day. (Anyone who has ever fished with Rosenbauer knows that’s often an endurance test). Helios 3 is an exceptionally consistent rod, with great feel. Consistent feel. I like this rod more, the more I fish with it. It admittedly wasn’t “love at first cast.” It was “strong like” at first cast… now a deeper, more meaningful relationship has blossomed. If I could find a 7-iron I could hit this straight off a tee, or from the fairway, or the rough, in the 150- to 160-yard range,

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BETTER BUSINESS AWAITS...

THE AFFTA DEALER SUMMIT

October 15-18, 2017 • Bozeman, Montana After three years of outstanding Dealer Summits, AFFTA continues what is now tradition with our most comprehensive seminar line-up to date, October 15-18, 2017 in Bozeman, Montana, in the heart of trout country.

Register TODAY for educational hands-on seminars and roundtable discussions to benefit your retail business including marketing, advertising, merchandising, retirement, in store experience and much more.

For more information, visit: www.affta.org

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all the time, every time (with my fair-togood golf swing), on any golf course I played, I'd spend $900 to buy that one club for my bag… in a heartbeat.

H3 comes in many models, in two versions, an H3-D (D for distance) and H3-F (F for feel). Orvis is moving away from the “tip flex and mid flex” jargon. I tested the “D” version, and can’t wait to get my hands on an “F” version, not because I didn’t get the “feel” in the former, rather, I can’t imagine how a rod could be more feel-efficient, particularly at 20-40 feet, than the “D” was.

Orvis didn’t go gonzo on the pricing; it’s still right in line with all the premium rods, which is good.

Aesthetically, I like the dark hues in the blanks and wraps. Strikingly, however, there’s a white section, several inches long, right above the grip, which I am told will “pop” with a slick logo. It will certainly be distinctive. When people see that white flash moving back and forth in other drift boats, or along the shoreline, they’ll know H3 has arrived.

Actually, everyone is going to know that pretty darn soon, one way or another.

—Kirk Deeter Hatch “Finatic” Revamped

model I stumbled upon when I met Hatch CEO John Torok over a decade ago. I’ve literally fished that reel from the tip of Tierra del Fuego, to above the Arctic Circle in Russia and Alaska… throughout the jungles in South America, and the flats from the Bahamas to Christmas Island. Same reel. (Many different lines.) Not one hiccup or burp when fighting a fish.

When I make stories, and do not want to mess around (because I’m too far in the boonies for a plan B), I fish a Hatch. And all I’ve ever done is wash it off and move on to the next…

So the next installment for Hatch is has different porting, is available in 10 different colors, and most significantly, has a more refined drag system.

—Kirk Deeter Redington Gets to the Crux of the Issue Redington is launching the new “Crux” all-water rod family in 3-10 weights. It’s a high-line-speed taper with attractive finishes, and it retails for $399. It’s arguably the nicest rod Redington has ever made.

—Kirk Deeter Scott Introduces… “G” Series!

Another highly-anticipated rework of what has become an iconic brand in fly fishing is the new-look “Finatic” reel from Hatch Outdoors. I admittedly have worn my affection for Hatch Reels on my sleeve—I’m still fishing the same first-edition 7-plus

You don’t have to be a sucker for nostalgia to love the new “G” series of rods from Scott, which rekindles the

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FLYLINE. THE SOLUTION TO EVERY CHALLENGE YOU’LL FACE ON THE FLATS.

F LY F I S H I N G

In 2013, we set out to innovate fly storage.

2013

2014

Patent-pending elastomer materials, identifying silicone as the ultimate material for fly storage

Double sided tear drops & off-set slits for maximum capacity

We did it, and we’re not done.

2015

2015

3 dimensional molded silicone mats

Molding slits on a curve for maximum holding power Patent-pending

2016 Molding silicone for specific fly types

#tackyinnovation

F LY

2016

ED I

GRAY’S

tackyflyfishing.com

E IC

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B OX 2016

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graceful classic that was the company’s stalwart model for decades. I loved the original “G” but I love the new “G” 10 times more. It has that same elegant (and honest) medium action.

(Make no mistake; this is a medium action rod.) But it’s built with all the latest and greatest materials, from graphite, to resins, to components.

If I could pick one word to describe the new “G”… that would be “tender.” A tender cast that evokes tender memories. If course, I went and got “Old Uncle Henry,” my Scott G circa. 1992 out of the closet, and cast it side by side with the new model. The new rod is noticeably light (in fact 20 percent lighter, due to a redesigned hollow internal ferrule). It bends deep… but it is extremely stable.

And it’s flat-out stunningly beautiful… a real, distinctive looker. A company must be really careful when resurrecting a classic brand. It has to perform better than the original, yet maintain a respectful likeness.

It has to be part homage, and part refinement… a nod to the past with eyes fixed on the future.

This is the sweet spot in the wader world, both in terms of price and pack-ability. The new Middle Fork Packable Wader from Patagonia has a seamless bootie... and anyone who doesn't like wet-wading in November will appreciate that. The boot seems are where the leaks often happen, and Patagonia has been head-down and working very hard on a waterproof bootie for a long time now. The company is really smart to be pairing what they’ve come up with, with a new style of packable waders.

The Middle Fork waders pack down to an 8”x13” stuff sack and weigh only 1 lb. 10 oz. Backcountry fishing, warm weather fishing, or traveling (light) to fish has never been easier.

They’re built from 3-layer, 3.5-oz.

100% recycled nylon uppers, and the lowers are 4-layer, 4.5 oz. 100% recycled polyester. The body of the waders are made with single-seam construction for durability, and MSRP is a reasonable $349. A slam dunk.

Sign me up. I’ll save the cost of these waders on travel/baggage weight fees alone, in a matter of months.

—Kirk Deeter

Scott nailed it in every regard. MSRP is $845.

“Song Sleuth” iOS app

—Kirk Deeter Patagonia Launches Middle Fork Packable Waders

Need a new tool in your guide bag arsenal? Check out Song Sleuth. It’s

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Better than ever.

The new classic from Scott.

Scott Fly Rod Company

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2 3 5 5 A i r P a r k W a y, M o n t r o s e , C o l o r a d o 8 1 4 0 1

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970-249-3180

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scottflyrod.com

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a new app for birders that analyzes birdsong and identifies them on the spot. Very robust technically… and excellently designed to appeal to beerdrinking birders and fishy clients alike.

From the press release: Song Sleuth iOS app takes flight this spring as the world’s most powerful, elegant and accurate bird song identifier.

Song Sleuth (www.songsleuth.com), a groundbreaking iOS app that turns your compatible iOS device into a powerful and accurate bird song identifier, debuts on the iTunes Store.

Developed by Wildlife Acoustics in collaboration with world-renowned bird expert and illustrator David Sibley, Song Sleuth is a simple to use application that enables anyone with an iOS device to record, recognize and positively identify the songs of nearly 200 North American birds.

AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

(It’s) the biggest leap forward for hobbyist birders since binoculars.

Song Sleuth’s technological backbone is based on Wildlife Acoustics’ decade-long development of algorithms for wildlife study. Its software is similar in concept to what is used in speech recognition software, but specifically tailored to the unique acoustical characteristics of bird songs.

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“By pairing sophisticated algorithms and our proprietary software, Song Sleuth delivers unprecedented accuracy in bird song identification,” said Ian Agranat, Wildlife Acoustics founder.

Wildlife Acoustics is the leading provider of bioacoustics monitoring systems for scientists, researchers, and government agencies worldwide.

Bioacoustics is an emerging field of research that combines biology and acoustic data to gain insights into the natural world.

In addition to the bird song identification software, Song Sleuth includes The David Sibley Bird Reference. Users can access The David Sibley Bird Reference at any time in the app and view Sibley’s beautiful illustrations and detailed descriptions.

The Reference also includes range maps and charts developed exclusively for Song Sleuth that show the likelihood of a bird’s presence in the user’s area at any given time of year.

—Tim Romano Guide Pointer Web-Based Software for Fishing Guides and Outfitters

Over the years we’ve seen many a software platform come and go for guides and outfitters. None really seem to hit the mark, but after spending a good deal probing the ins and outs of Mike Dawes brainchild I can honestly say if you’re a guide or larger operation you’re an idiot for not using this. It’s simple, intuitive, and feature rich but not overly complicated. I was blown away by how helpful this tool could be.

From Guide Pointer: Whether you’re an active guide or busy outfitter, Guide Pointer booking software provides innovative web-based solutions for intuitively managing your bustling business.

“We’ve been testing and honing Guide Pointer for the past 15 years,” says company founder, Mike Dawes.

“And over the last decade, industry leading outfitters from across the country have successfully run more than 50,000 trips through a system that was truly born out of necessity.”

Powered by a full suite of key tools, Guide Pointer is a digitally integrated booking system, built into a featurerich, easy-to-navigate interface.

For outfitters, that means having the ability to customize the reservation management processes for appreciated efficiency. Build and send assignments, match clients to guides, and even place them on specific water sections during specific dates. With a couple of clicks, keeping track of who’s doing what, where, and when has never been more convenient.

For guides, on the other hand, simply log into Guide Pointer and review and request assignments, submit pay sheets, view important forms and documents, and post messages to staff and management. The software also syncs with Google Calendar, allowing you to integrate schedules and keep close tabs on day-to-day tasks.

“Guide Pointer has been an integral part of our business since the day we opened the doors. It’s the most efficient, stable, and cost-effective

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AFFORDABLY AWESOME

FOR THE PRICE OF DINNER AND A MOVIE you can fish

Š2017 The Orvis Company

a mid-arbor reel with the same sealed, sledge hammer drag as our Hydros SL. Beautifully ported and finished in homage to the Battenkills of the past, but an entirely different animal inside. Heirloom quality.

Battle-tested performance. Remarkably accessible price. Only Orvis. orvis.com/battenkillreel

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booking software available for outfitters,” says John Arnold of Headhunters fly shop in Craig, Montana. “The team at Guide Pointer understands the outfitting business and are constantly adding features and flexibility that help us operate more effectively.”

Learn more at GuidePointer.com.

—Tim Romano Mountain River Lanyards Tippet Tool

• Machined aluminum construction

• Strong, lightweight, functional design

holder is very inexpensive and can be attached to most webbing and straps.

An added bonus of the design is it keeps your tippet spools out of the way with less snagging on bushes and gear.

• Holds up to 7 spools of tippet material

How to use Spool Clip:

Handcrafted & built in the USA

Spool Clips are simple to use. Add your tippet spools one at a time to ensure the easiest possible installation.

You may find it easier to attach your second spool by squeezing the clip and spools between your palms. Once your spools are attached you can add them to your pack, suspenders, or belt. For wider straps, pinch the sides together and slide the edges into the strap clip. Thanks to Spool Clip’s unique, patent pending features you can use Spool Clip on most widths of nylon straps. For narrower straps (1”-1.5”) you can either lock the clip to one side or lock the clip diagonally across the strap for maximum grip.

• Anodized in 4 different colors

Dealer Price: $10.00 MSRP: $19.99 Mountain River Lanyards Mountain River Lanyards’ new tippet tool has become a must-have tool for the Angling Trade crew transitioning from the boat to wading and the bass lake. Easy to use, attractive, and moderately priced, it’s one of the better tippet keepers we’ve ever used. Plus it's all made in the USA and less expensive (dealer wise) than it’s similar competitors.

(303) 690-0477 www.mountianriverlanyards.com —Tim Romano Goat Head Gear Spool Clip

Spool Clips can be ordered for shops in display friendly counter top buckets.

Each bucket contains 50 Spool Clips and are reusable and refillable. Please contact sales@goatheadgear.com for more information about bringing Spool Clips into your shop!

AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

What Mountain River Lanyards has to say:

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A new way to organize and carry your tippet spools. Made from machined aluminum instead of plastic, this tippet carrier is built to last. Simple but functional design, easy to use, and available in four different colors so you can add some style to your day on the water.

For the more minimalist angler who still wants to keep a bit organized, this brilliantly simple and compact tippet

MSRP $6.99 —Tim Romano

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The AFFTA Fisheries Fund supports fisheries conservation projects to protect wildlife, habitat and access, and also fosters educational initiatives to grow new anglers. Let’s move the sport and industry of fishing forward...together.

To date, the Fisheries Fund has supported the following projects: • The Freshwater Trust’s efforts to restore steelhead & salmon habitat in the Big Sandy River Basin, Oregon • Trout Unlimited’s 5 Rivers Program that grows new university and college aged-anglers • Utah Stream Access Coalition’s fight for public access to Utah fisheries • Montana Trout Unlimited’s advocacy work regarding a proposed mine near the iconic Smith River fishery • Alaska Conservation Foundation’s work to permanently end threats of drilling and mineral extraction in the famed Bristol Bay, Alaska

For more information or to donate, visit: www.affta.org

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Voormi Eleven.9 Hoodie

Oru Kayak: Finally… a Boat You Can Stock IN Your Fly Shop.

them regularly while floating. Given the conditions of high pushy water and limitations on space, the boat preformed amazingly well with plenty of space and comfort for all day paddling.

Word on the street is the company is working on some modular addons for anglers of all walks, and given the fishing usability of the boats as is, I’d say this is one company worth watching.

—Tim Romano

I’m already on record as saying that Voormi might have created the perfect sun shirt with their ultralight wool River Run Hoodie. Their Eleven.9 Hoodie fits the bill there too. I wear it multiple times a week, much to the chagrin of my wife who is simply tired of staring at it. Pricey, but worth it…

From Voormi:

AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

The Eleven.9 hoody has unparalleled performance you’ve come to expect from our water shedding SURFACE HARDENED™ Thermal Wool. In this proprietary construction, the already tough 21.5-micron wool is first treated with a durable water repellent treatment and then re-enforced with high performance Nylon to ensure long lasting, weather shedding performance. We love it for just about anything... from the first thing we reach for in the morning... to the last thing we put on for the day. Relaxed Fit.

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Made in the United States exclusively from ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGHCOUNTRY MERINO Wool; MSRP: $149.

—Tim Romano

Smithfly Big Flats Poling Board

If you haven’t heard about or seen an Oru foldable kayak, you will soon (well… you just did). The San Francisco-based company has three models of its “Origami” kayaks that literally fold up into a box, and can be backpacked into remote waters, thrown in a car, or checked on an airplane. They’ve won almost every outdoor award there is from Outside’s gear of the show (Outdoor Retailer) to being included in the Museum of Modern Art. They’re tough as nails and insanely light, weighing in at about 26 pounds.

Earlier this spring, we loaded eight kayaks into a short bed pickup truck and dropped in on the John Day River in eastern Oregon for a three-day stint camping and fishing for bruiser smallmouth bass. We paddled 45 miles, with all our overnight gear, food, etc., stowed in the boats. We lashed both spinning and fly rods to the outsides of the boats and used

Need a poling skiff you can check on an airplane or ship halfway around the world? Smithfly has you covered…

From Smithfly: The Big Flats Poling Board is our Patent Pending flats skiff that you can check on a plane, stick in a trunk, or take just about anywhere you want to go.

We’ve worked with our proven team of inflatable experts and aluminum fabricators that we used to develop

the Big Shoals Raft and put it to work on rethinking what a flats skiff could be. Will it replace a nice skiff entirely? Of course it won’t, but it does do things a flats skiff could never do.

At 18’ long and over 5’ wide and just over 100 pounds this poling board is almost like an entire new category of watercraft! It poles with so little effort it’s almost shocking. It’s low profile keeps it from getting blow around too badly in the wind. We’ve added a stake out hole in the center to the aft section for staking the board in place while you deal with landing that trophy.

When it’s deflated it rolls up and stores in a nifty carry bag. If you are a budget conscious angler it will put you on the fish that prowl the shallow water basins of the world without breaking the bank.

Keep it at the beach house for sneaky trips to the back bays and inlets. Keep it at the lake house for bass fishing in the quiet coves of impoundments.

Take it with you to the Carp flats of the great lakes. Pound poppers for pike without trailering a boat into the north woods. Maybe just maybe you can even send it air freight to to the South Pacific Atolls to chase GT’s? You never know where this thing might go.

Packed down it measures approx.: 78”x28”12” Overall weight is 100 pounds including poling platform.

• Inflatable Poling Board • Patch Kit

• 1 Stand Up Paddle • $1999 —Tim Romano Rep Your Water Expands Its Collection in Conjunction with the Western Native Trout Initiative and 21 New Hats

STOP INVASIVE SPECIES

CLEAN. DRAIN. DRY. No matter where you fish, make sure you fish with clean gear.

TR…From Rep Your Water: This collection of hats is a collaborative project with the Western Native Trout Initiative and RepYourWater. The Western Native Trout Initiative is a public-private Fish Habitat Partnership that works collaboratively across 12 western states to conserve, protect, restore and recover 21 native trout and char species. We are excited to have a different hat to represent

www.cleanangling.org

all of those 21 species. We hope this unique offering will get all of us thinking not about what state we fish in, but what fish species are native to the watersheds where we fish. Learn more about the Western Native Trout Initiative at http:// www.westernnativetrout.org/

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AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

Base Package includes:

• Storage / Carry Bag

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Gilman Oar Grips Gilman Grips Oar Handles update the traditional cylindrical oar handle design with an ergonomic shape to maximize power, efficiency, and precision. Utilizing a naturally form-fitting shape, these innovative oar handles match the contours of users’ hands, thereby giving the oarsman more control and stroke accuracy.

An ergonomic design directly orients the oar blade into the water with a precise feathering angle and neutral wrist and thumb position. This unique architecture keeps your blade near the surface of the water, eliminates unwanted oar-spin, and prevents missed strokes. Users benefit from instant feedback regarding blade orientation, intuitive feathering, and greater efficiency, which leads to less shoulder and wrist fatigue. The handles provide unparalleled control, allowing you to position and hold your boat exactly where it needs to be to catch the biggest fish on the river.

After three years in development, Gilman Grips is launching a Kickstarter campaign in early August. As avid oarsmen ourselves, we want nothing more than to bring this great new product to the angling market, but we need your help!

If you’re interested in product updates and company news, please join their mailing list: www.gilmangrips.com You can also check out their website at: www.gilmangrips.com Note: The Angling Trade team has a couple pairs of prototype grips in our possession and will be testing them soon. Be sure to look for the follow up as we think these could be game changing.

Especially for guides or anyone who logs long hours on the river.

—Tim Romano

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/ SALT HD

Finely-tuned rods built to master specific saltwater applications 6–7 WT: Skinny water / floating line / calm conditions / presentation quality for smaller, lighter flies 8 WT: All-around light duty / floating & sinking lines / presentation quality for variety of fly sizes 9 WT: Permit / sinking lines / increased casting power for fighting wind and delivering bigger flies 10 WT: Small tarpon & big permit / increased casting power for throwing oversized air resistant fly patterns 11 WT: Tarpon / quick loading for maximum line pickup and quick shots 12 WT: Flats edges & light bluewater / any variety of sinking & floating lines 13–16 WT: Offshore bluewater / fish fighting & lifting tool / 8’ 6” and extended fighting butt for casting off boats

BENEFITS • More pulling power than a standard Fast Action Rod to bring stronger fish to hand more efficiently • Increased line lifting power allowing for long range second shots • Konnetic HD’s improved energy transfer allows for more stable, accurate casts • Larger guide set allows bulkier saltwater knots to smoothly move through guides • Slim blank to slice through the wind • Ultralight, strong blank reduces fatigue on long, extended saltwater days s a g e fl y fi s h . c o m

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND

Slim Line

tm

CURRENTS

Practical Power Luminoodle Light Rope

FLY BOXES QUALITY • TRADITION • SINCE 1860

This style box has not been available since 1950

S TA N D A R D

SLIMLINE

50% the width of a standard Wheatley box, with the same fly capacity.

Ideal for Trout, Steelhead and Salmon flies.

• Available in all clip, “Easy Grip”, “Easy Slot”, “Flat Foam”, “Tube Fly”, and “Build Your Own” configurations • Anodized in Silver (clear), Black, and Forest Green • GraFx Anodize available upon request

www.REC.com

Still using a Coleman lantern or some other bulky overweight lantern on your overnights? Get rid of it. LEDs have changed many things, and are infiltrating the camping scene in tents, flashlights and products like the Luminoodle. We just used one five different ways on an overnight expedition down the Colorado River and the kids loved it. This is one of those, “Duh… why didn’t I think of that?” products. It’s very compact and super versatile.

ties, embedded magnets, utility loop and a lantern bag so you can stick, strap, hook or hang it. We highly recommend pairing it with the Lithium 4400 battery with built-in lantern and 30+ hours of power for the Luminoodle - MSRP: $29.99

From Practical Power:

LANTERN MODE: Rip-stop nylon carry bag designed to diffuse light

The Luminoodle is a portable LED light rope that is shockproof, waterproof, and dustproof — an allcondition light solution for a campsite, camper van, boat, or backyard.

The ropes produce between 180 – 3000 lumens of light (depending on the model) and start at just $19.

The Luminoodle comes in 5 - 20 ft lengths, in color and white-light-only.

Luminoodle comes with universal

ULTRA BRIGHT: 5 ft. (1.5 m) LED strip produces 180 lumens of light.

HANG ANYWHERE: Universal Ties, magnets, & utility loop for easy hanging.

USB-POWERED: Works with any USB port or universal battery pack WATERPROOF: IP-67 rated (up to 1 meter for 30 minutes). And dustproof too.

—Tim Romano Cheeky Fishing Debuts New Limitless Reels

sales@rec.com 860-749-3476, X-202

Cheeky - Limitless Reels

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B A P T I S M S D O N ’ T TA K E P L A C E I N FA CT O R I E S . T H E Y B E LO N G T O T H E WAT E R .

F U L L I M M E R S I O N I N A B E L I E F SY ST E M T H AT S AY S A F L AW L E S S D R I F T W I L L R A I S E T H E L A R G E S T B R O W N . FA I T H T H AT W I N D W I L L S U B S I D E . T H U N D E R W I L L F I Z Z L E . A N D H I G H LY- C O N S I D E R E D G E A R W I L L S E E Y O U C O M F O R TA B LY T H R O U G H T H E B E AT- D O W N . R I V E R S A R E W H E R E W E R E C A L I B R AT E A N D C O N N E CT. T H E Y ’ R E W H AT W E M A K E O F T H E M . A N D T H E Y I N S P I R E W H AT W E M A K E . S O I T ’ S N O S U R P R I S E T H E W O R L D ’ S B E ST WA D E R S A R E H A N D C R A F T E D B Y A N G L E R S . B E C A U S E I T TA K E S O N E T O K N OW W H E N T H E Y ’ R E R I G H T.

SIMMSFISHING.COM

C L AY K R U L L , L E A D C U T T E R ,

WAD E R

M AK E R

MAKING THE WORLD’S BEST WADERS IS 99% INSPIRATION.

# WADERMAKERS

CURRENTS

New for 2017, Cheeky Fishing has introduced “Limitless” Fly Reels, available worldwide. Limitless Fly Reels set a new standard for performance, toughness and Cheeky’s signature “look-andfeel” appeal. Available in 5 sizes, and less than 200 limited-edition all black models, Limitless Fly Reels feature an innovative fully sealed Gasket Drag System (GDS) that is impressively powerful and impenetrable by the elements. All Limitless Reels incorporate a multi-axis machining technique that redistributes metal to key stress points and an integrated, yet replaceable, torquedispersing reel foot for the toughest fights. Unbeatable line capacity, easy L/R conversion, an insane arbor size for maximum retrieval

rate round out the feature set of Limitless, some of the lightest and strongest freshwater and saltwater fly reels available.

Note: Full disclosure, I have been skeptical of Cheeky from the getgo and over the years had a bit of a tainted experience with their older reels. That has most definitely changed (at least for me) with the arrival of their Limitless Reels. I’ve been using one for moderately big game… think bull reds, giant pike and heavy carp with nothing bad to say about it. It’s got a smooth startup, strong drag, is fully sealed and looks pretty darn good.

—Tim Romano

Affordable impulse items for anglers of all types & budgets

It took us a few tries with this device to figure out that it can’t be near spinning hard drives, certain vehicles or fluorescent lights, but once we did it seems to work as advertised. All the weather indicators were spot on and the lightning detection seems to be very accurate when compared with an online database of strikes. This could be a very handy (and smart) tool to have on the boat or for a remote lodge operation.

From the press release:

DVD: $29.99 srp

DVD: $34.95 srp

Hardcover: $35.00 srp

Hardcover: $34.95 srp

Hardcover: $16.99 srp

Books & DVDs Hardcover: $25.00 srp

INO Weather Pro with Lightning Detection

ANGLER’S BOOK SUPPLY 800.260.3869 Featuring the very best books, dvds, calendars & gifts that fly-fishing has to offer.

www.anglersbooksupply.com

INO Technologies has introduced the first handheld device that combines weather data with lightning detection, making it the most feature-rich product on the market today.

“The INO Weather Pro™ brings together weather data and local lightning protection for outdoor adventurers and commercial users such as construction crews and sports managers,” said Michael Lands, INO Technologies founder. “Though most lightning detection technology relies on national weather data feeds

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When the going gets .

Our new Tough Puff Hoody: stretch and abrasion resistance for the most challenging conditions.

Hoofing it, single spey or double hauling—chasing fish is a mix of moving fast and standing still. That’s why we built the Tough Puff with stretchy and breathable insulation to keep you comfortable across a wide range of temperatures. We also gave it a durable, stretch-woven face that stands up to snags and tangled cover on the approach. The DWR finish handles spray, spit and drizzle, and helps the cuffs shed water after you’ve dunked ‘em in for the release. Worn on its own or layered under a wading jacket, the fish-specific Tough Puff sets new standards for function and performance—no matter what challenge the day may bring.

Sometimes get ting to the water is half the bat tle. Br yan Gregson navigates a half-mile-long logjam on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington. ERIC PAULSON © 2017 Patagonia, Inc.

Find it at your favorite local fl y shop or PATAGONIA.COM/FISH

Men’s Tough Puff Hoody women’s available online

CURRENTS

Archival quality. Limited ads.

Iconic voices; stunning images.

Conservation, adventure and travel.

Tablet and collectible paper editions.

Sell The Flyfish Journal in your shop today Retail and adver tising: questions@thefly fishjournal.com or call 360.752.5559 www.thefly fishjournal.com

AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

and requires an Internet or cellular connection, the INO Weather Pro has its own sensor providing realtime local lightning detection and direction anywhere, anytime — critical information for a wide variety of activities, particularly in remote areas.

No other device has all the features we’ve included.”

28

Handheld weather monitoring has made great technical advances in recent years, adding to the safety and enjoyment of today’s popular outdoor experiences such as golf, biking, hiking, hunting, fishing, camping and boating. The INO Weather Pro’s data and alerts allow weather and outdoor enthusiasts to make informed and educated decisions about what is going on outside and how long to stay outdoors.

“We’ve perfected the ‘Swiss Army Knife’ approach to personal weather

intelligence by combining lightning, temperature, atmospheric pressure and humidity sensors in a single, handheld device,” said Lands. “The INO Weather Pro adds the missing link of lightning detection to these classic weather indicators, plus heat index, altitude and dew point for a total of seven full-service capabilities — ‘weather geeks’ and outdoor enthusiasts will love it.”

The INO Weather Pro detects the distance of cloud-to-ground lightning strikes as far away as 40 miles, providing visual and auditory feedback of lightning strike distances.

With an updatable software interface and a touch screen display, users are able to customize their dashboards with the information most important to them. The portable device is highly water resistant, runs on a USB charged Lithium battery, and carries a suggested retail price of $497. The

INO Weather Pro is available for sale online at www.inotechnologies.com.

—Tim Romano, Kirk Deeter My Charge All Terrain+ Waterproof Portable Charger

Have a need for truly waterproof USB charging in the backcountry or during a day on the river? Check out the All Terrain+. We’ve been using one for months and have never given it a second thought when using around water or in boats.

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C O S TA

580

ÂŽ

TECHNOLOGY

NEW SUNRISE SILVER MIRR OR S This advancement of our color-enhancing 580 lens technology allows you to see more with less light. The yellow-based polarized lenses allow high light transmission while still providing maximum protection and deliver sharper contrast for sunrise, sunset, and a sun that wants to hide behind the clouds all day. Find your pair by using the dealer locator at costadelmar.com

CURRENTS

From My Charge: The IP68 military grade All Terrain+ portable charger is water-proof, temperature-proof, dirt-proof and shock-proof. This military grade charger is designed to withstand the toughest environments and most extreme conditions. Featuring 2 builtin USB ports and a 2.4A output the All Terrain+ is the perfect portable charger for tablets, smartphones or other USB devices.

RIO Products introduces new technology with the DirectCore Flats Pro Fly Line

Battery Capacity: 5200mAh Recharges Via: micro-USB cable Compatibility: Smartphones, Tablets & USB Devices. $49.99 —Tim Romano

RIO Products has brought a very interesting new technology to tropical Saltwater fly lines with the DirectCore Flats Pro line.

RIO’s “new flagship” saltwater fly line has been designed for anglers hitting tropical flats in search of bonefish, permit and tarpon. The line is built on RIO’s new DirectCore, a proprietary low-memory, low-stretch monofilament core that retains its stiffness in tropical heat, yet lies straight on the water without curl or retraction. The core, which has 30% less stretch than regular tropical saltwater fly lines, ensures solid strip sets and shortened fight times.

The new core isn’t the only technology advancement in this fly line. RIO’s SureFire technology, which has been used in their freshwater fly lines in the past, is added to the Flats Pro line.

This triple color, distance-marking design takes the guesswork out of accuracy and distance control, allowing anglers to make higher percentage shots to cruising targets.

AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

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AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

At Redington we focus on what we do best — using our experience and expertise as anglers to dictate the shape and function of our products. A superbly constructed & well executed taper is paramount in high performance rod design. Tapers are born from our experiences as anglers in the field, continually testing our ideas against angling conditions found around the world. The all new CRUX embodies our new high performance casting taper — an action built to offer the user an immediate increase in line speed when casting a fly.

31

CURRENTS

Korkers Launches Limited Edition STLHD Boot

Korkers has partnered with fellow Pacific Northwest brand STLHD on a collaboration that combines one of Korkers’ best-selling wading boots, the Devil’s Canyon, with the popular STLHD logo. This limited edition boot offers the same great features as the Devil’s Canyon, plus unique color treatments and a custom sole package – AlumaTrax soles and Black Felt soles.

“MOJO MUD“ is now

JP’S BROWN* NYMPHING MUD

AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

The same reuseable tungsten putty with a different name - still environmentally friendly, easy to use, and the choice of the pros.

32

15353 E. Hinsdale Circle, Unit F Centennial, Colorado 80112 www.anglersaccessories.com

303-690-0477

*Also available in gray

The DirectCore Flats Pro line is available in floating models and a clear tip “StealthTip” option that features a full-float head with six feet of clear intermediate at the tip. This nearly invisible front section allows for shorter leaders and easier, more accurate casts, while the increased density provides greater wind penetration.

Each line is built with a front taper that loads easily at close range, and with a mid-length head and extended back taper that provides stability for fast, accurate, long-distance casts.

The DirectCore Flats Pro line is available in WF6F to WF12F in an easy to see Aqua/Orange/Sand color, or a subtle Gray/Sand/Kelp option. The DirectCore Flats Pro StealthTip line is available in WF8F/I to WF12F/I. All models are available at RIO dealers for $119.99.

—Kirk Deeter

“Over the past couple years we have become big fans of the STLHD brand, often seeing customers wearing Korkers boots with STLHD branded apparel on the river. With this collaboration, we wanted to create a special package that would not only highlight two great Pacific Northwest brands, but also create a product built specifically for the passionate community of steelhead fisherman in the great Northwest and beyond,” said Korkers CEO Brian Chaney.

The Devil’s Canyon STLHD limited Edition boot features patented OmniTrax Sole System which allows for customized traction on the fly. The unique package of AlumaTrax Bars and Black Felt is not available with any other Korkers style. In addition to the chrome STLHD logo, orange stitching and accents set off this limited edition boot. The Devil’s Canyon STLHD Limited Edition boot is available for

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RICK NYLES

IS A TU BUSINESS MEMBER.

Rick Nyles Sky Blue Outfitters Fleetwood PA

ARE YOU?

Become a TU Business Member: www.tu.org/business

CURRENTS

purchase through a select number of retailers nationwide. With only 350 pairs made, these are sure to go quickly.

Yeti’s Rambler Jug… Practical and Eco-Smart

—Kirk Deeter

—Kirk Deeter

Beyond Coastal Offers “Active Facestick”

Costa Launches Collaboration with OCEARCH

AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

It’s hard to keep up with all the new widgets for keeping stuff cool (or hot) YETI is cranking out these days, but this one really caught my eye, and it’s probably already my favorite of anything YETI has ever made.

34

The Active Facestick is the perfect onthe-go protection for active lifestyles; it’s a no mess, no fuss application that is non-greasy and fast absorbing.

Recognized among the safest sun care protection on the market, Beyond Coastal’s top-selling Active Facestick receives a new look endorsing its water-resistant, broad-spectrum (UVA and UVB) protection and Oxybenzone and Paraben free qualities. Great for quickly reapplying on the trail or chairlift without taking off your gloves and easily fits in your back pocket.

MSRP $6.99

and the cap for that sits on a special magnetic holder, which is pretty slick.

This is a really smart, effective product that deserves some attention.

A simple one-gallon jug, but it has amazing temperature-holding power.

I filled it with ice and sent my son off to his high school baseball game.

Five days later, after riding around on the back seat of his car, what was left inside was still a slushy mix of ice and water. I take it on my drift boat, and I don’t need to carry any more little plastic bottles, and I don’t need to stick my water supply on ice in a cooler (so I can carry a smaller cooler, and balance my boat better).

It isn’t cheap (the one-gallon version is $130, and the half-gallon jug will run you $100), but it works better than advertised. I’d buy this for the eco-friendliness factor alone, as I am strong behind the “Kick Plastic” effort.

One other neat thing to mention: You can unscrew the cap to fill it (naturally) but to drink (or pour) right from it, you can also unscrew a small spout,

Have you heard of OCEARCH? They are a research organization that brings together skilled scientists and fishermen aboard the MV OCEARCH to catch, tag, and release sharks to better understand their breeding and migratory patterns. To better understand the sharks is to better understand, and therefore protect, the waters that first inspired Costa.

There are a few new frames in this collection, as well as a new Gray Silver Mirror lens, and various shark- and ocean-inspired frame patterns.

• N EW Rincon – NEW Smoke Crystal frames with Green Mirror glass lenses • N EW Rincon – Shiny Black frames with Blue Mirror glass lenses • N EW Half Moon – NEW Tiger Shark frames with Green Mirror glass lenses • N EW Remora - NEW Tiger Shark frames with NEW Gray Silver Mirror polycarbonate lenses.

—Kirk Deeter

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THE NEW NIMBUSâ„¢ SERIES. The best 100% graphite rods out there. For every angling situation out there. Fresh, Salt and Two-Handed models. Fast Action. $650 to $750. Made in Twin Bridges, MT.

AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

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CURRENTS

Waterworks-Lamson Evolves

concept that moves the mass of the reel to the center axis of the rod for optimal weight distribution and balance and feels unlike anything you’ve ever cast before. Do check this out.

—Kirk Deeter Wanna Form Your Own New Product Opinions?

new products and network. The event starts at 7 a.m. sharp, and finishes with lunch for everyone at 11:30 am. If you want to participate in the demo day, you must pre-register, so contact AFFTA info@affta.org.

Important Environment News:

Go to the AFFTA Demo Day at IFTD.

Waterworks–Lamson will hit IFTD this year with two new products: Cobalt, a reel with strong technology designed and built from the ground up to withstand the rigors of saltwater fishing; and Center Axis, a rod/reel

In 2016, AFFTA hosted its first Demo Day and it was a tremendous success for retailers, media and manufacturers.

The 2017 Demo Day will build upon last year’s event with a few minor changes.

The event will once again take place at the Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes July 11, 2017. The exhibitors will set-up along the 17th and 18th fairways, allowing everyone ample time to fish, demo

UNI ProdUcts J.G. cote Inc. 1004 Principale Ste-Melanie, QC. Canada JOK 3AO Tel: 450-889-8054 Toll-Free: 1-877-889-8054 Fax: 450-889-5887 Email: info@uniproducts.com

UNI offers over 27 different products – UNI-Thread, UNI-Floss, UNI-Yarn plus many more

AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

Fly tied by Frank Guimond

36

WITH OUR PRODUCT LINE GROWING EACH YEAR, AND OVER 800 DIFFERENT ITEM CODES WE SUPPLY MORE THAN 30 COUNTRIES Our prOductiOn capacity allOws us tO deliver Orders within a 2-day time frame

Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania and New York City Announce Contingency Plan to Preserve Conservation Releases and Enhanced Flood Protection on Delaware River

The states of Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania and New York City recently announced an agreement on a plan to continue sustainable water management for the Delaware River.

With support from the three states, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) will voluntarily release additional water from its Delaware System reservoirs to protect the ecological health of the Delaware River, maintain seasonal reservoir voids that enhance flood protection, and lessen the regional harm caused by the expiration of the Flexible Flow Management Program (FFMP).

Look to UNI for the best in spooled fly-tying materials!

www. uniproducts .com

The FFMP regulated the flow of water from New York City’s three

reservoirs (Cannonsville, Neversink and Pepacton) on the headwaters of the Delaware River since it was first adopted in 2008. The program had been extended for several years upon unanimous agreement of New York City and the states of Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, which were given that authority by a 1954 U.S. Supreme Court Decree.

cut by more than half during most times of the year, and the seasonal 10 percent voids that bolstered flood attenuation provided by the reservoirs would be eliminated. This significant reduction in water releases would adversely affect the wild trout fishery

on the upper Delaware River, the myriad tourism businesses that make their living off the river, and riverside communities that benefit from the enhanced flood protection.

C’mon Jersey…

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However, the State of New Jersey refused to approve an extension of the program. Without unanimous agreement, flow management on the Delaware River now reverts back to a program known as “Revision 1,” which was developed in 1983.

Under Revision 1, the amount of water released downstream from New York City’s reservoirs would be WNTI 5.125X2.5 4 color AD Print Ready.indd 1

5/26/17 2:51 PM

CURRENTS

A Fish Cat float tube designed for anglers big and tall.

FEATURES • Above water seating • 300 pound load capacity

Excellent Video from The Flyfish Journal…

Outcastboats.com | 844.243.2473

Trout Unlimited, “Signs of Life” is worth checking out. See Skagit. theflyfishjournal.com.

Local Colorado Business Putting #FishFirst

AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

In an era when videos on fly fishing are flying around like Royal Wulffs, it’s important to take note of one that cuts right to the conscience of angling, and highlights an iconic wild waterway—Washington’s Skagit—that’s making a tenuous comeback, for all the right reasons.

38

Artfully produced by our friends at The Flyfish Journal, with support from 10 Barrel Brewing and Patagonia, and in creative collaboration with

Vail Valley Anglers is the first flyfishing shop and guide service in the Colorado Rocky Mountains to be Actively Green certified through the Walking Mountains Science Center.

“We have always prioritized sustainability,” says Store Manager Patrick Perry, “but we decided it was time to get serious about tracking our efforts and taking quantitative steps to improve.”

These kind of improvements stretch from guided trips to retail practices and everything in between. They keep track of 20 different criteria on a sustainable management system database. Vail Valley Anglers joins numerous local businesses that are already certified or working to become certified through the Actively Green program.

Bike & Fish: Eliminating greenhouse gas emissions can take some creativity.

Vail Valley Anglers decided to take advantage of the stunning bike path along the Eagle River with Electric Bicycles. Clients can now book flyfishing trips touring local waters by bike. The state-of-the-art bikes are fully geared up for an excellent day on the river.

Channeling the Wind: For anglers in general – wind is not a good thing.

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CURRENTS

Tangles, messy casts and difficult rowing characterize windy days on the water. But for Vail Valley Anglers, wind now fully powers their retail location. In addition to tracking energy usage on a monthly basis, the Actively Green program encourages business to subsidize their energy in creative ways.

Vail Valley Anglers chose a wind farm in Eastern Colorado to power its fly shop.

Kick Plastic: Water bottle waste is one of the more tricky challenges to sustainability for a guide service. We must always to be prepared to keep our clients hydrated. Our solution is to motivate our clients to start to solve the problem themselves. Vail Valley Anglers’ clients are able to bring a reusable water bottle to their guided trip, fill it up at the shop, and get a free “FishFirst” hat as a thank you.

Creating a culture of “kicking plastic” takes educating one guest at a time….

“We call it our #FishFirst initiative. We want to create a movement within the fly fishing community of anglers who share ideas and encourage good stewardship,” explained Madeline Grande, Co-Director of the #FishFirst program.

Have a #FishFirst idea? Share with @ VailValleyAnglers on social media.

The Great Fishing Houses of Ireland Launch New Website Ireland’s premier organization of trout and salmon fishing lodges has launched an all-new website for 2017 (www.irelandflyfishing.com). With detailed descriptions and photographs of ten of the finest fisheries and fishing establishments in the Republic of Ireland, the Great Fishing Houses’ collection includes a full array of accommodations, from comfortable guest houses, historic lodges and

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18th Annual

January 13 & 14 www.vaflyfishingfestival.org • wine tastings (Virginia) 2

nd

• brew tastings (Texas)

Annual

• Boy Scouts can earn their fly fishing merit badge

March 10 & 11

• dedicated kayak and SUPB area

AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

hotels to luxurious country mansions— while offering the very best-of-the-best in fly fishing for brown trout, sea trout and Atlantic salmon. The new website also features detailed descriptions of over 30 trout and salmon lakes in Ireland, making it the ideal information source for anyone planning a flyfishing trip to Ireland.

42

Many of the houses offer access to private fisheries, including exclusive salmon beats on the fabled Ballynahinch, Cong, Delphi/ Bundorragh, Inagh, Moy, Munster Blackwater and Owenduff rivers.

Lough fishing opportunities include the world-famous Corrib as well as Connemara’s Inagh, Derryclare, Ballynahinch and Screebe Loughs. All of the houses have expert fisheries’ mangers and experienced ghillies on their staff, and many offer fly-casting and on-stream fishing instruction.

Unlike many other fishing destinations, each of the Great Fishing Houses of Ireland offer plenty of activities for non-angling companions, from hiking, shopping in nearby villages and towns, touring the Irish countryside, and visiting Neolithic and other historic sites — or simply relaxing in incomparably beautiful surroundings.

All of the houses serve hearty Irish breakfasts, many offer full dinner service with locally-sourced beef, lamb and seafood, several have cozy pubs, and all have wine licenses.

A trip to Ireland should be on every serious angler’s bucket list, and the Great Fishing Houses of Ireland’s new website will provide all a travelling angler might need to know while researching and planning their visit.

To see for yourself, visit www. irelandflyfishing.com.

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FEATURE

HOW TO REACH NEW & EXISTING CUSTOMERS The Game Has Changed… Are You Still In It?

AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

Written by Steve Schweitzer

44

Let’s start with a business case that most likely has nothing to do with you or your shop—or it may seem so on the surface. Then, let’s turn the case study into lessons learned that can be directly applicable to you—answering to the classic WIIFM principle (What’s In It For Me?), on how to reach your customers in today’s technologically-driven, what-areyou-doing-for-me-lately, fickle world.

Urban Airship (a mobile strategy company)

shop – let’s say you tripled your sales

collected data from more than 1,000

this past year, but found that 3% of your

mobile apps and found the average

customer-base just left you for another

opt-in rate to be 45%. The same analysis

shop. Great that you increased sales,

was completed a year later, with 3X the

but that is not a sustainable achievement

amount of apps analyzed in the study,

for any sized company. Losing 3% of

and found the opt-in rate dropped to

your customer base YOY is unfortunately

42%. While a 3% drop in opt-in rates isn’t

quite achievable, and closer to reality.

alarming, it does suggest the foundation

No awards are given for losing 3% of

of a rapid speed-of-customer trend. It

anything, unless weight loss is the goal.

won’t take too many more years of a

The other side of that statistic is that 58%

3% decline YOY (year over year) and

of customers who chose not to opt-in are

Opt-Out Messaging – Why It Means

opt-in rates will be irrelevant and not

potentially unattended… said another

Something to You

impactful. Put it in terms of sales in your

way, 58% of the potential customer

CASE STUDY: Mobile Apps & Opt-in/

FEATURE base isn’t even paying attention to you.

• The messages were not personalized

Let’s peel the onion layers back a bit further, revealing more stats from the study that paint a less-than-promising picture for retail. That 42% opt-in rate is an average over 16 industry verticals in the study. The highest opt-in rates for mobile apps were in the charities/ non-profit sector (nearly 60%), the lowest was gaming (just over 30%), and retail was the second lowest at (35%). There’s more of this story to tell: retail opt-in rates were around 47% in 2013 and are now 35% a year later, representing the steepest decline (12 percentage points) in the 16 industry verticals studied. What does this tell us? That customers are ok with being slammed push messages to mobile devices if it is for a good cause, but they are getting tired of hearing from you if you have something to sell.

• The opt-ins were for generic app messages, not centric to the customer’s wants and needs

3.

Customers are becoming more selective about what messaging is barraging them at all hours of the day, opting in less and being more selective in what they do want to see.

If you have something to sell, they are more apt to ignore your offering than if the message was for some philanthropic or charitable objective.

4.

Customers shy away from general opt-in options and want more personalization. Asking the customer “Would you like to sign up for our newsletter?” just doesn’t cut it anymore.

5.

Customers want to see something different: “A Big Sale,” “40% off” or “free shipping” is just a “me too” campaign; your competitors are doing it, too.

WIIFM? So, let’s succinctly address the WIIFM principle. We learned of six consumer behaviors from the case study above – 1.

A vast majority of your potential customer base isn’t even paying attention to you. That is what’s called a Blue Ocean. More on that later.

Here’s a few more stats from the study: • The vast majority of holiday season push notifications focused on 40% off or free shipping offers

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AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

Other recent studies have revealed clickthrough rates on mobile apps are 2x-10x higher than email campaigns. And of those that clicked-through, conversion rates to generate a sale was upwards of 1000% more effective than a traditional email campaign. Again, there might be more behind the kimono that we don’t see—those studies also revealed that retailers doubled their push messages on key shopping days, which doubled the click-through response rates. That can skew results in a heartbeat to unsustainable levels. The key learning here is that consumers are reacting with mobile devices much more frequently than with antiquated email campaigns. Disagree with email being antiquated? - General retail industry guidelines say that a paltry 2% of website visitors sign up for emails.

That’s a terrible sign-up rate, but then again, it’s better than snail-mail response rates measured in the tenths of a percent.

OK, I get it… it’s rare that any fly shop would have their own app that can push messages to the user, let alone any opt-in type of mobile marketing media. So why do we care about such trends? Because the trends with mobile devices is a real-time bellwether of simple consumer behavior—it’s what I call “selling at the speed of the customer.” We can learn much from this type of consumer behavior analysis and apply it to other marketing methods.

2. Customers are more responsive on their mobile devices compared to responding to emails with the same content.

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FEATURE 6.

Most customers just aren’t loyal; roughly 60% of mobile customers don’t want to hear from you at all (unless you offer a compelling reason why), and 98% don’t want your emails.

When some new-fangled super-shiny approach to reach consumers hits the market (e.g. - Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat) adoption rates will sky-rocket and consumers will be all about it, but as the method or tool hits market maturation, which can now be measured in months, consumer adoption fizzles and settles into a realistic realm. (refer to the graphics in this article – Twitter only took 9 months to reach 50 million subscribers, but fizzled away quickly and its daily use is a paltry 313 million subscribers compared to Facebook’s 1.86 billion daily users).

AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

It doesn’t matter what the marketing medium is (mobile apps, social media, direct-mail, internet-ads, blind acquisition emails), consumer tendencies will always

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be the same. The consumer is and always will be the great equalizer when it comes to evaluating effective retail practices; not shiny new products, not fancy new merchandising point-of-presence, not even lower pricing. The consumer will always tell you what works, you just have to observe it, because they won’t tell you outright.

Lesson-Learned #1: A vast majority of your potential customer base isn’t paying attention to you.

the customer has. These shoppers are called OmniShoppers. OmniShoppers are comfortable with emerging technology and keen with in-store product and purchasing research – all with the intent on making the OmniShopper more confident and satisfied with purchasing decisions.

OmniShoppers can shop from home on a computer, tablet, or smartphone.

There are apps for key brands, apps for deals-of-the-day, apps that track special coupon codes, and apps that keep track of deal apps that track coupon apps.

Even the most popular social media platforms compete for the attention of the subscriber, to the point of being almost all-consuming. The consumer is armed with a plethora of tools to seek out and find the best deals, making the entire retail landscape transparent to them, and you.

A 2017 study by MasterCard suggests that consumer shopping behavior hasn’t changed much, but technology and more shopping options being embraced by

There is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, however. To get customers to pay attention to you, just be relevant to your customers. Being relevant can

Reaching Out to Customers – The Game Has Changed Using the six consumer behaviors we learned from our case study above, let’s explore how we can maximize our reach to new and existing customers better.

FEATURE be difficult though – it requires a lot of genuine thought about the people you’re marketing to, which means you’re forced to think about the habits of your demographic. Here are a few things to help you brainstorm your own relevancy:

3. Offer video-based product reviews and tips.

I recently sat down in-person with one of the internet’s largest online retailers (sales measured in the billions) where they shared an amazing statistic. On their website, products that have video content attached are 86% more likely to result in a sale than product listings that don’t have video. Let’s face it, we’d all rather watch a video and have someone talk to us about a product review than to actually have to read it. Which leads to the next thing to think about…

1. Think about how your customers are best reached.

Ask them, don’t guess. Heck, if emails are the best way, then use email campaigns. If social media posts are best, then focus there.

There is no one perfect answer. Let your customers tell you.

2. Where are your best customers?

Where do they come from? Are they in-person shoppers or website shoppers? Do they travel far to see you or just stop by on their way to a river? Do they use Facebook or Instagram – or both? Think hard about this – it’s very important to understand where your best customers are and where they come from.

4. Customer attention spans are getting shorter.

If you have read this far, you are not the norm. Keep your communications strictly brief and to the point.

5. Relevancy is more about connecting with your customers by sharing real advice from real people.

Customers today want the facts,

succinctly and precisely; they are experts at smelling out BS. Be real with them about product advice and where-to or how-to fishing tips and don’t try to wow them with pompand-circumstance that only masks your shop’s true identity.

Lesson-Learned #2: Customers are more responsive on their mobile devices.

No matter what method you use to reach your customers, creatively think how the content you want them to read can be viewed on a mobile device. Is your website mobile-friendly, or does it take a PC or tablet browser to see the site?

Do you have a smartphone and a tablet version of your site? Are your subscriberbased emails mobile friendly? (I bet not, I subscribe to at least twenty fly fishing industry email subscription lists and very few of them are easily read on my smartphone). Since 2014, it is estimated

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Fly Fishing is NOT part of the show IT IS THE SHOW!

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CONTRACTS FOR ALL 2018 LOCATIONS ARE NOW BEING ACCEPTED.

AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

ALAMEDA COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS

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FEATURE What could those options be? - how about these 5 opt-in ideas to get started. Let them know what they’re going to get and when:

that global smartphone use has surpassed the use of PCs and the gap continues to grow. There are an estimated 2.5 billion smartphones with connectivity worldwide - if you sell on the web, offering your wares with smartphones in mind only makes sense.

AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

Lesson-Learned #3. Customers are becoming more selective about what messages they want to see.

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Think of your own tendencies, what communications mediums do you subscribe to? What messages do you want to see, and what messages bother you? As social media matures and fancy new technology emerges to reach out to consumers, the consumer is becoming more savvy and picky about what they subscribe to. What is the solution to breaking through the glass wall of the customer? As mentioned before, make the messages succinct and relevant.

Relevancy to your customer-base is only found by asking your customer base what they want to see. Some like to see it all, some like to see just sales and discounts, some like to see new product reviews, some like to read the latest hot fishing spot news, you get the idea. We are in the age of mass customization – offer

them choices. There is one thing that is clear, use pictures over words when you communicate to your customers. In a recent study “The Science of Email Marketing”, 2/3rds of respondents said they prefer image-based subscription emails – they are easier to visually scan and navigate for content that may be of interest.

1.

“Shop [text/email] exclusive specials.

You won’t know about them if you don’t sign up – sent as specials occur”

2.

“Latest Local Fishing News – sent monthly”

3.

“General shop news and specials – sent monthly”

4.

“New Product Reviews – sent seasonally”

5.

“Special Shop Events, Classes, FREE events, VIP Appearances – sent monthly”

Let’s say we implemented the five signup options above. There’s something to be learned by what the majority of the customers choose. Say they overwhelmingly choose #2, “Latest Local Fishing News”. They want to know what are the hot fishing spots, hot flies, hot

Lesson-Learned #4: Customers shy away from general opt-in media.

Consumers want options, and plenty of them. And they want to be assured you aren’t sneaky on the backend with their personal identity information. There’s the old school way to go about opt-in media for your customer, and a new way.

• What’s so 2000’s? – Jumping on the hottest media bandwagon: “Sign up for my shop’s email here”, or “Like us on Facebook” • W hat’s relevant in the 2010’s – Tell them WHY they should get your emails and like you on Facebook. An email sign-up script can look something like this: “Sign up for timely information from our experts using the options below. Only information you select will be sent to you, and we will never use your email in a way other than you specify.”

techniques, etc. This is an opportunity to give them something they will read (and not delete) and blend in relevant store specials. Examples: List a hotspot, show a gear or fly pattern special for that area.

List the hot flies, offer a weekday evening tying class specializing in tying those hot flies. List the hot techniques, offer the right gear and/or workshop to accomplish the technique. You get the idea. Just sending out an email blast with your specials without offering the customer some information they actually can use will get your emails deleted faster than those from the Honorable Mr. Alhamad Sudayser with $6 million in offshore transfer funds awaiting your signature.

Rule of thumb: If you are sending the customer sales pitches, always accompany with information and updates that can be useful to them. And only send them info they signed-up for.

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WE DESIGN AND BUILD BETTER PRODUCTS, IT IS THAT SIMPLE. From the ubiquitous box of Nippas on your retail counter for the last decade, through the back-to-back award winning Flask Pack a few years ago, up to our current Anodized Aluminum Nets we have proven our ability to consistently supply your shop with the next best thing. We do so by manufacturing in America in small batches where we can control the quality and the customization.

We will miss you in Florida this year, but want you to know we’re here building the gear you sell to succeed.

51 East State Rd 35, Francis, Utah 84036 | 801.582.1010 | dylan@risingfish.net | www.risingfish.net

FEATURE Lesson-Learned #5: Customers want to see something different.

AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

You aren’t the only one sending stuff to your customers. What is your competition sending? How are they sending it?

When do they send it? What is the call-to-action in the messaging? What is your competitor asking your customer to do? These and other questions need to be assessed and answered before making your communication different.

Offering what your competitor offers is futile – first to the consumer wins; and if you are reading your competitor’s emails before you send yours out, you came in second. Don’t necessarily repeat what your competitor does, venture out onto your own blue ocean and stay away from the bloody red ocean battlefield where everyone competes (read “Blue Ocean Strategy” by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne for more on being creative with competitive strategy). Once you know what your competitor’s angles are, leverage the successful techniques and do something different. It’s almost costneutral these days to try some radical market tests with email, social media or text. See what crazy ideas stick, and see what ones fly like one-winged planes.

And, using a theme I have repeated in several past AT articles, find out why your patrons shop with you. Sit down with them or make a phone call and ask them what makes them shop with your or your competitor. Yes, consumers want to see something different, but they don’t always know what. It’s your job to figure out what your customers want. Start with what makes your shop different than any of the others in the area; that’s your value proposition – and leverage it.

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Lesson-Learned #6: Let’s face it – your customers aren’t loyal to you (or your competitors for that matter).

Roughly 60% of mobile customers don’t want to hear from you at all, and 98%

don’t want your emails. Those aren’t loyal customers. So why try? – because what the customer is really saying is “what you send me is not what I want to see.” The number one way to break the “I don’t want your stuff” barrier to gain loyal customers is personalization. In a recent study by Datacandy, a leading loyalty think-tank, 90% of customers surveyed said that personalization positively affected their purchasing habits. And it doesn’t take many loyal customers to make an impact to your bottom line. Northwestern University’s Center for Retail Management concluded that 12-15% of your customer base is loyal to only you, and those loyal customers are responsible for 55% to 70% of total sales.

So, increasing your loyal customer base by a percentage point or two will have measurable impacts on sales.

But the challenge remains, how can a retailer deliver a personalized experience to drive loyalty? Here are a few ways, some simple to implement, some require more effort.

• O ffer sales and promotions based on customer’s prior purchases – mine your POS data to help predict the future.

• Stop employee turnover where it counts. Keep the staff members that excel at creating relationships with your customers. Remember that customers don’t buy from companies, they buy from people – people they like.

• Be sure to not treat existing customers like new customers. Existing customers require being rewarded for their growing purchases while new customers require the complete sales pitch to get them in the door. New customers can lift the top line, but keeping existing customers will carry your bottom line. Once an existing repeat customer is lost, 68% of them won’t give you another chance, an Accenture survey posted.

• Don’t lose sight of what keeps the lights on: make a list of what your key customers buy and why – that’s most likely what new and less loyal customers want too.

Summary – You are Always Still in the Game Despite all the forces vying for your customers, you are always still in the game.

Despite a rapidly growing consumer base that buys online, the ability to seek out products in person keeps brick-n-mortar stores in business. There’s no way an online store can supplant the in-person handson experience that serious customers still seek. Make your expertise and product knowledge a cornerstone of exceptional customer service, and you’ll serve your customers well. And don’t forget, regardless of the various technologies customers use to research and buy, they’ll still want to visit a store to see products inperson and ask questions. That’s why you’ll always be in the game.

B AC KC O U N T RY HUNTERS

& ANGLERS

The Sportsmen’s Voice for Our Wild Public Lands, Waters and Wildlife

Read BHA’s new report, Stream Access Now!, at www.backcountryhunters.org Visit us at IFTD booth 4844

FEATURE

CATCH AND RELEASE… KILLING WITH KINDNESS? Written by Marshall Bissett

Frank: I think I’m going to take a couple of these home.

AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

Bob: Are you kidding? That’s not cool.

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Frank is either headed straight to fishing Hell (where they only have neoprene waders and small arbor reels) or he’s simply doing what comes naturally to thousands of anglers. The rules allow him to keep two (stocked) fish so he may only wind up in purgatory.

Lately, my barber and my mailman have me thinking that we elitist fly fishermen might be getting a tad self-righteous in our blanket adoption of catch and release. My barber is Armenian and he bait fishes the same Eastern Sierra lakes and streams as my upscale fly fishing club. He keeps everything he catches and makes a point of showing me stringers of fish.

His eyes glaze over at the mention of releasing fish that feed his whole

family and friends on a camping trip.

“Keep releasing these trout,” he says, “more for me.” Neither angler fishes protected streams for wild trout nor sees the point of catch and release. Others release everything they catch with a large dollop of self- congratulation, but they may be hurting the resource they want to protect. The ‘fry them or free them’ argument makes healthcare, gun control and immigration look like

FEATURE slam dunks. British author and angler Charles Jardine who has been in the eye of this debate for five decades says, “I am disturbed and irritated by the sanctimony of those that catch endless amounts of fish, bask in the glory of numbers, then see that they have done nothing wrong, and yet, vilify those that take the odd fish to eat. Errant madness.” Then there’s the loss of fly fishing’s iconic props- the hand-crafted House of Hardy wood and brass “priest” and the creels that carry lunch in the morning and fresh fish in the evening.

TOO PC FOR THE RIVER

Most of us were not raised to release the fish we caught. My chances of entering the angling afterlife were dashed before I was 10 years old. I grew up near Loch Leven, the Scottish ancestral home of America’s brown trout. In the 1960s this fishery was thought to be a bottomless resource and catches were weighed but never released. This perfectly suited my father and uncle who kept me in the boat to catch fish for dinner while they drank Scotch. At age sixteen my karmic currency was further devalued by working on a salmon netting crew on the nearby River Tay. In both cases I will plead ignorance at the Pearly Gates; my defense attorney is a fly fisherman. Loch Leven fell into sharp decline through pollution by local industry, not the practice of catch and keep. The Tay and other East Coast salmon rivers are now net free and face a slow return to their prolific glory days. Their decline was never blamed on sport fishermen keeping salmon, a practice that still exists in a limited form.

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN According to teacher and author Gary Borger, the practice of releasing fish in North America started in Michigan in 1956 as a cost-cutting measure for the Department of Natural Resources, who saw it as a way to decrease hatchery production and therefore the overall budget. He quotes a three-year study in the Madison River where catch-and-release regulations in the upper section of the river produced larger fish than a closed section downstream that produced more but smaller fish. The mystery was solved by observing that poor

fish handling by the angler resulted in a 10% mortality rate, leaving more food for the remaining fish in the regulated section. Natural selection with a helping hand. Each body of water has a unique algorithm to safeguard its future. This can be high limits, low limits, slot limits or no limits. In the Pacific Northwest guides will routinely harvest a couple of hatchery steelhead while lovingly releasing their native cousins. I would make the case that anadromous native fish should always be released.

Borger adds, “a remote wilderness stream that only gets fished a few times a year does not need C&R regulations...people do, after all, enjoy eating fish and, for some, that is as much a part of the experience as catching the fish.”

THE WARMWATER VIEW The bass fishing industry has a vested interest in getting to the bottom of this debate. With millions of dollars of tournament money, TV shows and sponsorships at stake, they want to get it right. They are not whole hearted supporters of catch and release, believing that smaller, more aggressive fish can quickly deplete a lake’s resources. Generally speaking, they lean towards slot limits.

Minnesota smallmouth guide and author Tim Holschlag believes that Western trout fly fishermen live in a tiny bubble of catch and release while 90% of the rest of the country’s water is home to what he calls the ‘whack ‘em and fry ‘em crowd.’ He does not hold back. “In my home state of Minnesota, walleye angling dominates and walleye anglers are relentlessly looking for more walleyes to kill. And they are in a

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AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

Unfortunately we live in times of suffocating political correctness.

When students at the University of Pennsylvania can remove a portrait of Shakespeare and replace it with a photo of an African American writer, feminist and civil rights activist, you know the lunatics are running the asylum. Not even Othello could save England’s greatest dramatist from the charge of lacking empathy for minorities. I am concerned that fly fishermen are diving down the same rabbit hole in our eagerness to champion a good cause not always supported by good science.

Nowhere are we at greater risk than when we defend the practice of catch and release as a universal panacea. Lee Wulff, an early adopter of releasing fish, famously said, “Limit your kill, don’t kill your limit.”

Science is increasingly on his side showing that slot limits, not catch and release, may be the answer. Or as Jardine puts it, “If we want to justify our sport, surely harvesting a nurtured crop is the better way to go, rather than playing the numbers game with a pious god-complex.”

FORGIVE ME, I WAS YOUNG

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AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

FEATURE

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constant state of frustration because their fishery is always so exploited and depleted. Worse, they blame other species like smallmouth bass, muskies or pike for any declining walleye populations, even though the culprit is themselves. Biologists are concerned that repeated releasing of largemouth bass may be changing the species in uncharted ways. “We are making more docile bass, smaller and less able to defend their nests,” says David Philipp, a scientist at the Illinois Natural History Survey who studies the effects of angling on reproductive species.

BAD FOR BUSINESS Many states (notably California) are seeing a dramatic decline in the

sale of fishing licenses. Could it be that catch and release regulations are a barrier to entry? My barber would take up golf if he was forced to forsake his fish dinner. A growing immigrant population may cling to the practices of their home countries.

In Switzerland and Germany, catch and release fishing is considered inhumane and is now banned. In Germany the Animal Welfare Act states that “no-one may cause an animal pain, suffering or harm without good reason”. This leaves no legal basis for catch and release due to its inherent lack of “good reason”, and thus personal fishing is solely allowed for immediate food consumption.

Additionally, it is against the law to release fish back into the water if they are above minimum size requirements

and aren’t a protected species or in closed season.

EXPLAINING IT TO THE NEXT GENERATION The outside world and that most logical group, our own children, do not always grasp the nuances of catch and release. Charles Jardine notes, “I run an angling foundation that goes into UK schools and where we do have forays into fly fishing. When young people catch something, the first question isn’t: “Oh good, can we put it back, now?” It is “Gosh! Can I take it home and show it to my parents?

At this point the cell phone and the selfie are all that stand between the fish and the frying pan.

PUBLIC LANDS

COWBOY CREDIBILITY AND CLIMATE CHANGE WRITTEN BY WALT GASSON

AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

“We need to talk.” Maybe you’ve never noticed it before, but when somebody says that, they really mean, “You need to listen - now.”

That’s why I’m saying it right up front. We need to talk. And we need to talk about climate change.

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Before you chalk this up to another latte-sipping, Prius-driving liberal preaching the gospel of renewable energy and all that other crap, let me remind you that I’m a conservative guy from a western state. Let me remind you that I drive a diesel pickup and that I have no intention of preaching

any gospel other than that of the lands and waters that my family has lived in and loved passionately for six generations. And let me remind you that in my home state, the energy industry pays about 70 percent of the total tax burden. So we’ll have none of that partisan stereotyping, thank you. I’ve got 62 years of street cred on this one.

So let’s start with the science. That’s a good place to start, since science doesn’t really care about partisan politics or prevailing opinion. It exists independent of them. So let’s start with an undeniable scientific fact: Trout and salmon depend on an abundant

supply of cold, clean water every day.

Right now, the best estimates of U.S. Forest Service scientists suggest that more than half of the wild trout populations will likely disappear from the southern Appalachians because of warming stream temperatures. Losses of western trout populations may exceed 60 percent in some places, with potential losses of migratory bull trout as high as 90 percent. That’s solid science.

If I’ve learned anything in 41 years of work in wildlife conservation, it is that wild critters are a great deal more

"So let’s start with the science. That’s a good place to start, since science doesn’t really care about partisan politics or prevailing opinion. It exists independent of them. So let’s start with an undeniable scientific fact: Trout and salmon depend on an abundant supply of cold, clean water every day."

Despite all the challenges of the last five decades here in one of the most arid parts of the interior West, the people of my state – people who are

just as dependent on a commoditybased economy as they were when Johnson was in the White House – have proven that they can do hard things. They can work together to solve problems. It hasn’t always been easy, and we’re still working on it. But we can do it. We can do it because it’s important to us.

So it is with climate change. We can do this. The American people can do what we need to do to stem the effects of a warming planet. But the first step to doing this is to stop denying that it exists. We have to get out of denial. There’s no room anymore for simply denying that climate change exists or that it’s simply some sort of ill-defined natural cycle.

It’s not. It’s a problem we created and we’re the only ones that can work to solve it.

Why us? Because we’re the leaders here. Government isn’t going to solve this. I wish it would, but I have a very limited faith in government, and that faith is diminishing rapidly. This is a problem that has to be solved from the bottom us by real people. And those people need us, specifically the shop

owners, guides and manufacturers who know and care about brook trout in the southern Appalachians and bull trout in the Northwest, to step up and lead.

We know the issue and we know the lands and waters that will be affected.

This one is on us.

My friend Tim Linehan—a great guide and a great man—once said that he is in the transportation business.

Not in the sense that he puts people in a boat at one place on the river and takes them out at a different place. Rather, he transports them to a different level of awareness of their own environment. He puts them in touch with the lands and waters of northwest Montana. I suggest that all of us are in that same business – we help people to experience the wonder and the magic of the American outdoors. We cannot dodge the issue of climate change. We must be the leaders. We must acknowledge its reality and take the steps we know we need to take to create the political will emerges to address climate change.

Not only can we do this. We must do this.

AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

resilient that we sometimes think they are. Trout and salmon are two of the best examples. Native trout in my state are more widely distributed and more abundant than they were 50 years ago.

Why? Simple. People (good people) from a variety of communities worked really hard to protect and restore the habitats those fish depend on. People worked together to build commonsense plans to conserve native fish. We protected the highest quality habitats – for us, typically the headwaters. Next, we worked to reconnect protected areas to surrounding habitats.

Fish thrive in healthy streams and healthy streams only exist in healthy landscapes. Then we worked to restore habitat on public and private land that would benefit our natives. This is about working with state and federal agencies, conservation partners, ranchers, industry and others to help rebuild the natural resilience of streams and rivers. It’s a work in progress, but it’s working. It isn’t always easy, but the results are there.

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FEATURE

HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF ATTENDING INDUSTRY TRADE SHOWS

Written by D. Roger Maves

Attending trade shows can be very

productive or a total waste of time, it’s all up to you.

You’re going to spend a substantial AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

amount of money for registration fees,

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airfare, hotels, transportation and food so why not start out with a plan that will help you get the most out of the show. Whether you’re looking for new products to sell at your store or looking for a company to license that great new

product you invented it always pays to be prepared.

If you are exhibiting and attending then you have no choice but to create a strategic plan and stick by it – your time will be counted in minutes and you’ll need to make every minute count.

If you want to get the most from attending a trade show you need to know what you need to accomplish before, during and after the show and this is what

we will cover now but first a few words about why you should attend a show.

Why Attend Trade shows are one of the few places where you can get access to most of the top manufacturers, retailers, service providers and competitors for your industry all in one place. Many times, the CEO, president and founders of the companies can be found standing

FEATURE right there in front of you in a booth with no gatekeepers!

Meeting face-to-face with people is far better than talking on the phone or meeting virtually. It’s so much more personal and memorable – your conversations are likely not to be forgotten.

If you have a new product idea trade shows are a great place to talk to the large companies that may license your product.

out what hotels the event coordinators are recommending. It’s best to stay at a hotel that other people attending the show are staying at – you never know who you might bump into. You’ll find exhibitors and attendees winding down in the lounge at day’s end – what better time to meet people then when they are relaxing. Yes, it might be more expensive than other hotels you are considering but it will be well worth it.

7. Make an hour by hour schedule of who you want to see and when. You can do this in a simple spreadsheet.

Don’t forget to include keynote speaking sessions and seminars you want to attend.

8. D esign a form to gather information from leads. Bring a stapler to staple business cards to the forms so you don’t waste time duplicating the

It’s also about time and money. Is there any better way to connect with dozens of people in a short period of time than at a trade show? I think not.

2. Register for the show in advance to get the best pricing. Many times, there will be early bird pricing and you can save some money if you register early.

information from the cards on the

Preshow Preparation

3. Checkout the mass transit, taxi services and shuttles available so that you know how you will get from the hotel to the conference center in the least amount of time and for the least amount of money.

9. B ring plenty of business cards – this

There are plenty of things for you to do before the show starts. If you spend just a few hours planning out your show activities you’ll be way ahead in the game.

First, who will be going from your company? If you are exhibiting and attending you’ll need a team – a few people to take care of your booth and a couple of people to gather information and meet with other exhibitors. The idea behind having two people making the rounds is to divide and conquer. Many times, it’s a waste for two people to work together – you’ll cover more ground by separating and going your own way. If you must do double duty and man the booth as well as work the show you’ll need to be even more diligent about planning your activities.

Here’s a few tips for preshow preparation: 1. Stay at the hotel that is hosting the event. If the show is in a conference center and there is no hotel then find

5. If there are specific people you want to meet with then call them up in advance and try to set an appointment with them. Doing this will save you time and assure you’ll get to see the most important people on your list.

6. Get a map and directory of the show so you can identify and mark where your appointments are. Plan to visit booths around your appointment both before and after your meeting. If there are two of you you’ll need two separate maps.

Walking trade shows can be exhausting so keep your steps to a minimum.

to make sure you ask every lead be sure to include them on the form.

is the one thing you don’t want to run out of.

10. B ring plenty of pens – you’ll lose them and they are great to give out to others who need one.

11. B ring three to four large 9x 12 envelopes or pocket file folders – you can use these to organize the information you collect.

12. Bring a comfortable shoulder bag that you can use to hold your materials (water bottle, forms, stapler, pens, business cards, pad of paper, sticky notes, recorder, etc.). Make sure it has two compartments one for your stuff and another for the forms you fill out and business cards and brochures you collect. Backpacks don’t work out too well because you’re always having to take them off and put them back on which is inconvenient and ends up wasting time. Pack it light and empty it at the end of the day of all that you have collected. You’ll be surprised at how heavy that bag gets after lugging it around for several days.

continued on next page...

AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

Decide what you want to achieve at the show. What are your goals? Make a list and prioritize it. What are the things you must accomplish and what are the things that would be nice to accomplish?

4. Decide in advance who you want to see and prioritize your list. Usually the show will publish the exhibitors and speakers online in advance so you can work from that information. Research the appropriate people that you want to meet with and record all their names and any additional information you want to have handy.

forms. If there are questions you want

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FEATURE 13. Comfortable shoes are a must. You’ll be walking on cement floors for most of the time and that takes its toll on your feet. Consider adding some padded insoles for extra comfort.

14. Lastly, go to the bank get some small bills for tipping. Check to see if they have any two dollar bills. They’re lots of fun to give out and you end up carrying half the amount of bills you would otherwise.

During the Show Working a trade show is tough work – there is nothing easy about it. Make sure you get a good night’s sleep every night and try to avoid staying up until 2:00 AM in the bar – you’ll pay for it the next day.

This is serious and important work Here are a few tips for working the show: 1. Dress appropriately for the people you’ll be meeting. If you over dress or under dress you’ll look out of place.

2. Make sure you have everything you need in your shoulder bag before you leave your hotel room.

3. Always carry your business cards - you never know when you’ll need them.

AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

4. Check to see if the convention center has a coat check. If they don’t leave your coat in the hotel room, you don’t want to carry it around all day.

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7. If you are planning to attend a keynote or seminar and want to speak to the speaker get there early and make an introduction. Speakers are more like to remember you when there are only a few people around than after their presentation when there may be 10, 20 or more all trying to get their attention.

8. If a booth is packed with people move on to another and circle back when it’s not so crowded - there’s no sense in waiting in line.

9. Only approach booths that are of interest to you. Don’t waste your time with those that won’t benefit you.

10. Make sure you get a card from everyone you meet. You want to be able to follow up with them later.

11. Immediately after receiving a business card write on the back of the card or on a sticky note you attach to the card any pertinent information that you will need to jog your memory later. If you promise to follow up, write down when. The last thing you want to face is a stack of business cards in your hotel room with no idea of who these people were and what you needed to do with or for them.

12. If you’ve created lead forms just staple the card to your lead form.

5. Get to the registration area at least 30 minutes early, that way you’ll avoid the early morning rush and won’t have to waste time in long lines.

13. If you want literature from an exhibitor ask them if they will mail it to you.

Many exhibitors will do this and it will save you from carrying it around all day.

6. Be sure to get to your appointments early and let someone know you’re there. People get busy and sometimes forget – if you don’t speak up you may miss your opportunity.

14. Use your cell phone to photograph booths, signs, marketing ideas, products and information. Rather than writing something down it may save time just to photograph it.

15. A sk the exhibitors if they will be hosting an afterhours reception or a hospitality suite. If so, ask if you can come. These are great opportunities to meet people.

16. D on’t forget to check out your competitors. This is a great time to see what new products are being introduced to the market and what types of marketing they are using.

Don’t be shy, talk to the people in the booth and pick their brain.

17. W hen you get back to your hotel room take a few minutes to organize what you’ve collected. Put the information into the large envelopes or file folders you brought with you.

Label them Leads, Marketing and Competitors. This will save you from doing it later when it’s not so fresh in your mind.

After the Show Now that the show is over you need to organize the information so that you are ready to act on it. You need to do this as soon as possible after the show. Don’t make the mistake of putting this off for a week or two – you need to do this while it’s fresh in your mind. The longer you wait the more you’ll forget.

1. O ne of the best ways to organize the contact information for the leads you’ve collected is to put it into a contact management system (CMS).

There are many available from very basic to quite complex. The key is that once you get the information into your CMS you’ll be able to work it much more easily. If you don’t have a CMS then the next best thing is a spreadsheet.

2. O ne of the first actions you should take is to send the contact a thank you

FEATURE

One of the first actions you should take is to send the contact a thank you email. It doesn’t have to be anything complicated or lengthy just a quick note telling them that is was nice to meet them, you enjoyed talking with them and you look forward to following up with them soon.

email. It doesn’t have to be anything complicated or lengthy just a quick note telling them that is was nice to meet them, you enjoyed talking with them and you look forward to following up with them soon.

4. Also enter any notes from the conversations you had into the CMS

with and you will make new friends and acquire new customers or clients. Yes, they are a lot of work but they can be well

5. Create a follow up strategy for each lead and prioritize them for follow up.

worth it if you do the right things. The tips above will put you on the right path to success and help you to get the most out

6. Once you have all your leads organized you can move on to reviewing the marketing ideas and competitor information you collected. Each piece of information you review may have its own direction to follow and could require additional work. Ask yourself how your company might implement these ideas in the days and months to come.

of the show. Now it’s time to pack your bags and go have some fun.

D. Roger Maves is the president and CEO of The Knowledge Group, Inc., a digital marketing agency that helps small businesses increase their revenues and grow their business using digital marketing solutions specializing in the fly fishing industry. He’s also the host

Trade shows are a fantastic way to connect with people you might otherwise have a tough time getting in touch

and producer of Ask About Fly Fishing Internet Radio. He can be reached at 303430-4634 or roger@tkgi.com.

AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

3. After you send your “thank you” email be sure to include a next contact date in your CMS record or spreadsheet column. You may have notes from the show about when to follow up with them so use that when available. If not, give them at least a week before you reach out. Remember, they are probably going through all the information they collected from the show that first week just like you.

record. You’ll need them later to jog your memory.

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B AC K C A S T

gas prices, and general economic pandemonium. The outlook for the fly-fishing industry, on the cusp of the Great Recession, was grim.

THE WONDER YEARS A Trade-show retrospective and an AT anniversary Written by Geoff Mueller

In 2007, Fly Fishing Trade publisher Joe Daniel exited stage left, ceding his three-year-old trade title to the maw of the magazine you’re holding in your hands today.

AnglingTrade.com | July 2017

Positioned to carry on balanced flyfishing trade coverage in the newly amalgamated publication, AT Editor Kirk Deeter noted: “We understand that we are working in an often turbulent business environment and we will continue to bring to bear attention to key issues that only a U.S.based magazine, run by writers and editors who embrace fly fishing as a personal passion, can deliver.”

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The words “turbulent business environment” couldn’t have been truer. Fly-fishing’s golden ’90s, tucked neatly inside Brad Pitt’s creel, had been effectively dispatched by a volatile housing bubble, soaring

That same year I traveled from Harrisburg to Denver to cover my first industry trade show. And on opening night I pulled up a chair in a dark, walnut paneled-room ready to gnaw on bloody t-bones with the brass of a leading fly-rod brand.

Expecting a solemn event, I got the opposite. As the bottles were uncorked things got loose, with Marc Bale, of Sage, delivering an animated sermon on steelheading in B.C. Fly-fishing bigwigs, I’d come to learn, are often cut from a highly relatable kind of people: anglers to the core. And that sort of authentic engagement, I hoped, would help safely see the industry through an economic hurricane.

The next day’s hangover was terrific, as was the show itself as gauged

by Colorado Convention Center attendees. Energized by the popular return from summer to fall dates, FlyFishing Retailer 2007 posted a 50-percent spike in day-one foot traffic over 2006. And those on the floor had plenty to rap about. The war on aquatic invasive species was being hailed as the next catch-and-release moment, soon to be championed by Simms. Orvis’ ultra-light ZG Helios delivered big buzz for the brand.

Nymph nuts rejoiced at the birth of the Thingamabobber. Even the Jarden Corporation, eventually acquired by Newell Rubbermaid, was in on the mixer, having wiggled into some Hodgmans with the $400 million purchase of Pure Fishing and its affiliated fishing brands.

A couple of nights later, hundreds of industry folk flooded Denver’s Oxford Hotel for The Drake’s annual Flyfishing

Video Awards. Felt Soul Media’s Pebble Mine documentary Red Gold stole the show. The persuasive story of Alaska’s salmon culture and the fight to save it from myopic foreign mine operators would go on to become a galvanizing force. We suddenly had a common cause. And instead of pointing fingers at each other, we could jab our collective pitchforks toward the assholes who’d put the world’s best sockeye salmon fishery in peril. Pebble Mine also helped vault conservation to the forefront of brand identity. Patagonia had this mastered. An onslaught of brands soon followed, rightfully realizing that unhealthy resources hurt the bottom line.

As the industry banded together to save the world from snails and evil corps, time rolled on.

In 2010 AFFTA took over the show, christening it the International Fly Tackle Dealer (IFTD). A year later we shipped out to the Big Easy. New Orleans was perhaps the best event in tradeshow history. (Memories remain foggy.) In 2013 we spun the roulette wheel and landed on Vegas, with an IFTD/ICAST combo. Then the tour bus lurched to a stop in steamy Central Florida, where we’ve been parked ever since. For better or for worse, depending on who you talk to.

The moral of this little romp through time is that after a decade in the trenches, this is our time. And in 2019, we’ll make the transition back to Denver, coming full circle as a standalone show reborn—stronger, savvier and as this magazine’s editor once said, focused on the key issues that only industry people who embrace fly fishing as a personal passion can conquer. I’ll be ordering the steak.

experience counts for everything

Capt. Joel Dickey, a no-nonsense veteran guide and one of the most knowledgable and experienced anglers on the water. He calls Georgia home but can normally be found in Big Pine Key Florida chasing tarpon, bonefish and permit. Hardcore professionals like Joel are testing our products to the limit every day and push us in our pursuit to build truly great rods. Their knowledge, expertise, and understanding are passed to our craftsmen, who strive for perfection and uncompromising performance in every rod we make.

To us, Joel and his fellow professionals are our unsung heroes. We salute you.

Introducing the new T&T Avantt and Exocett Series. remarkably light. extraordinarily strong.

est

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