The Analogy of Flyfishing to good business strategy and market penetration - Ari Seilis

The Analogy of flyfishing to good business strategy and market penetration

Ari Seiris

I grew up in Ladysmith in the late 60's and from a young age, as soon as my father had developed a network with some other working professionals in the small town and got to know some of the farmers, I had the opportunity to be invited as a 'laaitie' to fish bass on their farms, while my mom and dad relaxed on the farmer’s porch sipping G&T and beer and planning development, debating politics and arguing about sport.

The dams were full of bass and anything you threw in the water worked as bait. Bread balls with Bovril, earthworms, crickets, grasshoppers and a rubber lure. I am not sure whether we could not afford rapala or if they were not around but everything seemed to get the attention of the Nambiti bass. I caught many, kept them all, filled up the deep freeze and never embraced the concept of “release”.

It was the greatest fun I had as a kid, actually equalling the guinea fowl shooting Sundays when I would retrieve the birds and be the shoot 'skivvie' on the same farms I fished. My Dad was popular with the farmers, not a great shot but a great sport and always told a great story. He was known as “Big Hunter” for not being so accurate, but great fun. In 1972 I was sent off to Highbury Preparatory School in Hillcrest. I thought my fishing days were over. How wrong I was; the journey was just beginning. During my school holidays I could fish bass in any dam I wanted; the farmers loved me, as it was an essential culling of their fish. The dams were always brimming full. In my senior year at Highbury (Standard 6 in 1975), I joined the fly-fishing club under the stewardship of Mr. Pennington and the expertise of the maestro, Jack Blackman.

My Papu and Granny Daph bought me all the kit I needed, which I was told was the most expensive birthday gift I have ever been given, and all of a sudden I was a fly fisherman. It seems that the type of fishing I was doing for peasant bass was but a lowly sport for mudrats. Fly fishing was for gentlemen, I was told, in our case - young gentlemen.

We were taught to tie flies, to understand the generic flies and their purpose, to cast, how to navigate rivers and look for trout in various hot spots in a river section. Also, the different traits of Rainbow vs Brown and how to address each. We understood the difference between flashing a dam and stalking a river. Trout fishing became an art, a science, a sport, a mystery, a challenge and bloody difficult, but intriguing and fun. Being a boarder at Highbury, I seldom got to leave the school in a term (school quarter) but the fly fishing club travelled to the Drakensberg and Kamberg for the occasional weekend. A dozen of us escaped in the school bus and it was great fun. Being part of the fly-fishing club was beginning to have status and meaning. It was the beginning of a hobby that is still my favourite and will forever keep my interest.

One incident I do recall was at the annual Highbury fly-fishing club casting competition, when my parents drove all the way from Ladysmith to see what I could do. Sadly, I came last. I was terribly embarrassed and got teased for years about this loss. Anyway, the truth of it is that the longest cast does not always catch the biggest fish. I will come back to that. However, it was a huge blow to my ego. The fly fishing club helped form strong friendships between we eager youngsters and I still have invaluable friendships today with everyone in the group. Another memory made … I just smile every time I hear Space Oddity by David Bowie. “…ground control to Major Tom…” This song had just come out: between us we had one cassette tape recorder and 2 sets of batteries and we played this song over and over again during a fishing weekend to Balgowan, until either the tape stretched or the batteries went flat.

There was no fly-fishing club at Hilton College and my high school years were consumed with sport as well as a dozen other societies and activities. On my holidays in Ladysmith, I did wield my fly rod at bass again and slaughtered them but there was no challenge or stalk. As soon as my fly landed, there was a squabble over it. When I focussed on trout, my whole outlook and philosophy changed and I wanted the adventure of luring the most stubborn of trout. This is when the penny dropped about the purpose of fly-fishing. Trout fishing is about assessing the conditions on the day at the water: understanding the prevalent bugs and baits on the water and simulating these conditions in fly choice, line and depth placement, casting techniques, retrieving methods and then how you treat the fish when it is on.

I studied at UCT (although only for 2 years), then was drafted into the Army (infantry) for my two years of National Service. This was a very interesting period and I learnt many life lessons from serving an illegitimate cause. I trained in Echo Company and qualified out of Infantry School at Oudtshoorn as a 2nd lieutenant after having being awarded “Sportsman of the year (1983)” at the unit.

I also completed a Parabat course after my Commission at the School and then, against my will, was deployed to a specialised Intelligence unit reporting to Pretoria with the mandate to infiltrate Maseru in company with 170 miners from the Lesotho Liberation Army, *(https://www.sahistory.org.za/ archive/chapter-3-historical-lesotho) to assassinate President Leabua Jonathan of the Basotho National Party.

He was the dictator in Lesotho and housed the ANC office and personnel, including the late Chris Hani.

We were only 3 in this leader group: myself, Kpl Fritz Kraft with whom I had been at Oudtshoorn and whom I really trusted, and a Captain from 32 Battalion (mainly to keep an eye on us). We set up a camp at Monks Cowl forestry station and started training these 170 coalminers from the Free State. Fritz and I were given new passports (Zimbabwean) and I was now Andy McTavers. We had piles of Russian weapons and all the resources we needed except no communication was allowed with the outside world. The only communication we had was a radio between ourselves and Colonel Benade in Chief Staff Intelligence. To be honest, I knew that we were dispensable, and I did not trust anybody except Kraft.

The interesting thing about our location was that we were surrounded by many of the farmers whom I knew very well and as you will recall, I had fished many of their waters and walked behind my dad as a 'skivvie' during guinea fowl shoots those many years

ago. On many a day I dreamt of cutting loose to go fly fishing but all I had was an AK47.

I don’t know whether it was fortunate or unfortunate for me that the intelligence unit did not do a good enough background check on me to know that I had grown up in Ladysmith and would know the local community. I did occasionally in the middle of the night visit some of the farmers and relayed messages to my parents to let them know I was okay and informed them that I was involved in a very secret operation. I am not sure if that made them more comfortable or uncomfortable.

The period from September to December 1983 in this scenario was very traumatic and national servicemen should not have been deployed into this very sensitive and secretive operation. We got to meet Ntsu Mokhehle who was to be the next President of Lesotho as soon as we deposed President Jonathan. We would meet at 2am at the Van Reenens Pass picnic spot on a regular basis to update him on his freedom fighters. His Liberation Army was propped up by the PW Botha Government and we were to lead his forces to take control of Lesotho. The whole operation was a failure; I was extracted and after much interrogation in Pretoria, sent to my new assignment, which was to serve with the Bushman trackers of 203 Battalion on the Border.

I always tried to look and see what positives I could take out of that experience of being that covert operator. I learned to cook, I gained the trust of 170 souls who desperately wanted to find their freedom and opportunity in Lesotho, and then I also learnt to watch my back.

I was allowed a fleeting visit home after the Lesotho debacle before being flown to Bushmanland in a C130 flossie. At this time my dad pleaded with me to understand war. He also begged me not to kill anyone in the name of war. Wow, a tough ask when faced with an enemy day by day! His explanation was simple and made sense: war does not legitimise murder or the right to kill someone. I was only 21. What right did I have to kill anyone? To be honest I'd never supported the reason for the RSA vs SWAPO war. Therefore, I'd left home with a dilemma. Now, I decided to take my dad’s advice… but how?

I served the last 8 months in the army at 203Bn (Bushmen Tracking unit). This was an amazing experience although also very traumatic as we were involved in many “contacts” or fire fights against SWAPO soldiers. On the first deployment to the Angolan border when I was leading a “stick” of Bushmen in 2 Buffels for 6 weeks of tracking infiltrated SWAPO and CUBAN

soldiers, I stood on the Buffel seat, and threw the “sluitstuk” firing pin of my R4 rifle as far into the bush as I could. And thus was my decision made as to how to keep my promise to my Dad.

The Bushman trackers were tremendously loyal and very skilled at tracking, until the first shot in our direction. I recall spending a lot of time trying to gather my troops together after the contact, assuring them they had done their job of tracking, and informing them that other 'crack' units had “done the business”. The lesson learnt here was that a tracker is a tracker, and a tracker was not expected to be a fighter. Thus, very soon in our deployment on the Angolan border while tracking the infiltration of SWAPO soldiers, I learned the knack of informing Koevoet and Recces when we were close to action and then made sure there would always be troops close by to take over and join the contact.

There are so many things that happened in those 9 months on the border with the Bushmen that they would go to make a book on its own. Maybe one day I will pen it all down.

On my return home I sat down with my dad and discussed my adventure with him and explained my response to his request. Removing a firing pin could have been seen as “mutiny” or “desertion”, but for me it was a life changing decision for which I am forever grateful. Let me explain.

Little did I know that I had at least 36 years ahead of me as a quadriplegic and the lesson I learnt about removing the firing from my rifle which did not allow me to hurt or kill anyone, was going to stand me in good stead. I used the comparison of my mouth as my firing pin and I was going to try my best never to say anything to anybody that would hurt them. I was going to need as much support as I could to continue life as it should be, albeit as a quadriplegic, and a firing pin on automatic was going to be no asset. Efcharistó Baba. (Thank you dad)

My experience in the army had a direct impact in my rehabilitation as well as being one of my reasons for returning to fly-fishing.

In early 1985, somebody late one night in a place of ill repute took a bet that I could not run the Comrades Marathon. That was a big mistake. Next day, babalaas and I went to Kings Sports in Hill street Pinetown and bought a pair of running shoes. I joined a running club and did what needed to be done and very proudly completed the Comrades Marathon in 10h31m. I vowed never to do that again and fate was to confirm that.

In August 1985, I broke my neck in a diving accident at Durban’s Waterworld. This was NOT on my playlist. In order to accept the consequences of a spinal cord injury, apply myself in rehabilitation and then have to face the world again while using a wheelchair, I needed some of the business acumen I had learnt at UCT, the strategic planning, bullet dodging and the mind of the fox learnt in the army, as well as the resilience needed to complete a Comrades Marathon. In hindsight, I was grateful for all those experiences. There were three discussions that were very significant to me quite soon into my rehabilitation which began in Addington Hospital. The orthopaedic surgeon who performed my neck fusion came to me and said “You are a quadriplegic. You won’t be able to do this, you won't be able to do that …”. I could not spell the word let alone understand what it meant in terms of recovery, future agility and lifestyle choices. I wanted to walk again. Let's be honest: all of us suffering SCI want that.....

An occupational therapist visited me and said, “You are going to be in a wheelchair for the rest of your life”.

I decided almost immediately that I would tell quadriplegia what my dreams and goals were and what I needed to do and achieve in life; quadriplegia was NOT going to define me. Quadriplegia needed to fit in with my goals, not the opposite way around. I would decide where I wished to go and not be always confined to my wheelchair. Using a wheelchair would not imprison me; it would allow me to participate and be a force in society.

This is the mind-set with which I began. And

it has worked for me.

The third discussion I had was as a result of my accident being widely broadcast in the media, and lots of people took a particular interest in wishing me well, especially friends. My family support was quite incredible but the visits and support from friends was actually overwhelming. I decided to talk to many of them and ask them to give me the space, time and rest to participate in rehabilitation and amortise their visitation times over a much longer period - if necessary, even over years. And this worked. I have managed to retain my friend-base or most of them for all of these years, and our visitation continues.

I have achieved most of my goals and I have travelled to most places on my bucket list; I have worked for myself as an entrepreneur, for a company as an employee, and for an NPO as the CEO. Moreover, I know there’s still much more to come and to be done.

It took me a few years to settle and become independent with a home, to drive again and to have a business - and then I yearned to fly fish. I knew that the calm of fly fishing would be the perfect remedy to recover from war and injury, and whether I like to admit it or not, post traumatic stress existed. There was no demobilisation process from the army and there is no quick fix for the trauma of the spinal cord injury. Rehabilitation is the process of returning in sound mind from hospital to home. Many of us who fought in Angola have not spoken about our experiences and this was almost 40 years ago. I guess nobody would bother to listen anyway and so there needs to be a place where one can find calmness, and somewhere that allows one to meditate and make sense of the senseless. For me, that place is in fly fishing! I had earned PTS and needed to find the remedy of calmness and release.

I have thought about it for a long time and this is when I started realising that there is another whole message and philosophy in the activity of fly-fishing. I just needed to get back on the water to prove this to myself and create an analogy between living and fishing. There were some physical elements to deal with however. Having no triceps muscles at all and with very little agility in my fingers and limited wrist movement, with my rod in hand I presented myself to an orthoptist, Heinrich Grimsel, at his practice in Durban, and asked him to offer a solution whereby I could hold the rod and functionally be able to cast.

I took my reel to a good friend, Brett Bakke, and he quickly engineered a reeling- in mechanism. Reel done!

Heinrich called me and said he was ready for me. He had designed the most incredible rod holder that could strap onto my arm and be stable enough so that I could secure my rod, and then cast. It looked beautiful and he was as proud as I was delighted! The first fish that I caught with my new rig, I chose to keep and I proudly presented it to him for his pan, in gratitude that I could fish again. Since then, I have not intentionally taken another fish out of the water.

I took a few casting lessons at Blue Lagoon with Mike Harker and after achieving 50ft of line on the water, I knew it was time to visit the mountains again.

And so the analogy of fly fishing to good business strategy and market penetration.

When anybody hears that I fly fish, I see the frown on their faces and I know they are wondering how I get to the dam or river. Most don’t think further than that. Yes, as a wheelchair- user, I need to have accessible water, which means a dam that is groomed or a river where I can get really close to the flow.

So it boils down to my having the wallet and they having the facilities which they rent out for the day..... and that is how fly-fishing is sustainable in commercial waters. If a farmer makes his water available for guest fishing and the facilities are groomed, then they get my business. In addition, many farmers make a big effort to make their facilities accessible for which I am grateful. There is quite a lot of fly-fishing available at tourist resorts mainly in the Berg areas of South Africa and there are more than enough waters that are accessible. Maybe here is an analogy on its own if you are talking about accessible markets and economies. If countries, governments and policies are accessible in their trade agreements and provide access to markets, then everyone can 'cast' into these markets and benefit from trade.

When I get to the water’s edge, I find myself a level position for my wheelchair and lock myself in, as I always remember the story of “the old man and the sea “ by Ernest Hemingway where Santiago, the fisherman, gets towed away by the monster marlin and endures tremendous hardship. I’d hate to be pulled into the water for the embarrassment, the inconvenience, and the guaranteed freezing thereafter.

So, in business language you need to be close to the marketplace (the water), but far enough away to be able to make essential and important observations. Establish yourself. Lock yourself into the community. Make sure your company not only trades in the area but that there is also the support of the local community and investment in that community. Social entrepreneurship and social enterprises are well respected in all communities these days and the corporate sector is now understanding the importance of not only maximising profit, but also the investment in the community.

Probably the most important element of market assessment is to spend some time looking at the conditions of the day. Is it windy? Is it quiet? Is the water warm? Is it cold? Is it quiet or abuzz? Is it murky or clear? Is it deep or shallow? What sort of structure is there around the dam? Structure is defined in trout fishing terms as the availability and position of shade, rocks, weed, water flow in and out of the dam, varying depths. Once you identify all of these, you have various options in terms of what fly to use and where you want to place it.

If you are selling goods, products and services, there are many markets with different structures; each market needs a different strategy and possibly different products and services which are packaged and priced accordingly. The same is true of with fly-fishing for trout. Look, feel, plan, deliberate, decide.

Carefully study all the bugs on the water and those fluttering just above. All of these are potential trout food. In the market, these are your competitors. And so you want your product to attract the attention of the trout as your 'customer'. Take a look at your fly box (your catalogue). Is there something there that can compete with the bugs on the water on the day? What will work today? The black woolly bugger? A walkers killer? Mrs Simpson or the infamous Speed-Kop? Or do you need to repackage?

Pull out your fly tying equipment and material, and put together a better product in the form of a unique fly pattern that will trump the market with attention, pricing and offering.

Tie your fly on well, secure it, choose your correct line. Decide on floating, intermediate or sinking, depending on the conditions of the day and then get your cast out. Remember, most people identify fly anglers as those people who are whisking a line up and down in the air looking wellcoordinated, gentlemanly and professional. However, you can catch the fish only when the fly is on the water. The furthest cast does not always catch; it's all about making the correct assessment of the water, the structure and what you observe about the fish if you have had a sighting.

It's no different in the marketplace: do you pester a customer for an order or patiently present your offering? Remember what happens if you do get a fish on your fly that has not been tied on securely. You will lose your catch as well as your reputation, and the same is true in business.

When casting you need to be aware of what is behind you as well. What obstacles are there that will snare your fly before it lands on the water - or your product in the market. This is the blind spot, if you haven't checked it out; it's an essential on your checklist. I can assure you, it took me a long time to get that right, and I have spent some time in the embarrassing situation of my rod being flexed in the wrong direction. These are good photo opportunities for your worst enemies and best friends.

In business this could equate to staying abreast of technology changes (e.g. Netflix nailing the video rental business) or shifts in the consumer sentiment or the competitive landscape.

Each different fly in your fly box should have a different retrieval method. “Two short jerks of the line and the halt… or a low stroke and wait". There so many different ways to present your product to the market in order to get the attention of your customer.......or your trophy trout.

Each time you fish, whether in the same water or new, you learn more and more about trout and their eating habits. And so you should likewise understand the buying habits and needs of your customers. Take copious notes, dig deeper into your fly box, understand retrieving methods, and try putting your fly into a different structure on the water. Is this the most delicious and best fly on the water on the day? If so, you are going to have a lot of fun and many relationships with plenty of trout. If not, do not despair. Back to the drawing board. Should I use a different fly? Should we improve our pricing? Should I use a different line weight? Should our distribution channels be more effective? Should I change retrieving methods? Is our advertising method appropriate to the market? Questions for the angler and similar questions for the sales team or marketer.

There are so many analogies about the choices you make when you fly fish for trout and when you present your product or service to a market. It is fascinating and if you’ve got something decent to offer the market, then there is a trout out there. What do you need to do to get the attention you want and to be able to shout, “fish on!” Is it in your price? Your packaging? Branding? Delivery? Your guarantee? Your service?

Occasionally nothing comes to light in your search for the right fly to cast and in this case I tie on my “tried and tested” black woolly bugger or take a chance on something that has never been chosen by me before.(I actually do feel sorry for a dozen flies in my box that haven’t had a dip in the water). And so too, in the market out there: present something with gut feel and confidence, or test a new product. I have surprised myself a

And so there comes a time, hopefully sooner rather than later on the day you go fishing, that there is this nudge on your fly. Do you retrieve quicker and expect a chase? Or strike like hell? Or lie still and wait for a second look-in? There is no definite answer; you should know the water by now, that being your market; you should be getting to know your customer - and the habits of trout - and make your decision in a “blink”. Malcolm Gladwell will tell you this in his bestseller, ”Blink:the Power of Thinking without Thinking”.

“FISH ON” says you have the interest of the trout.. your customer. The hook is in, and now you need to do the reeling in. Gently? Letting the trout run a bit or just robustly reel in at all costs and maybe losing the catch for a light breaking strain leader?

Of course, the hook itself is reason for another debate between anglers. Do you fish the water with barbless or use barbs on our hook. Fishing with barbless allows many opportunities to return the catch to the water with minimal damage and pain, yet the opposite is true of a hook that has a barb.

There are many different theories about getting the fish to the side of the water, ready to be introduced to yourself. Allowing the trout to run is a lot of fun and you will really enjoy the fight and achievement when it's over. It gives you an opportunity to learn about the resilience of your catch. Or reeling in as fast as possible to satisfy your hunger or basket? I seldom see that business strategy working. Nevertheless, people do it.

Gently retrieving your trout and enjoying the play is a very successful strategy: there is very little stress on your catch and the chance of losing your fish from a break-off is reduced.

Eventually when you hold a beautiful trout in both hands - a new customer or the same old one - I can guarantee that you will have a big smile on your face. You chose the right fly, you cast the right length onto the right spot and you lead the fish into taking a look at you. Do you take the fish out the water, and keep it to take home or do you give this beautiful trout a soft peck of introduction and reintroduce it back into the water to live another day? That decision is yours to make. Some businessmen will take everything they can get and eat as much as they can. Others will be selective as to what they keep out of the water, taking stock of age, length and weight....... and then there are those social entrepreneurs and strategists who realise that the kinder you treat your trout, the more often you will catch the same fellow. Get to understand the fish in this particular dam and come back for more and more.

Is the cost of securing a new customer much cheaper than servicing all your existing customers? If that’s the case, then keep all of your fish. But if that’s not the case, then “catch and release” and grow your business accordingly.

When the sun goes down and you've completed your last cast, it’s the end of the trading day and you evaluate your basket or your market penetration. Many fly anglers are happy with nothing in their basket but many a trout at the end of their line, which they released to catch another day. Every time I go fishing, many people ask me “how many did you catch?” There is a simple but very important answer to this question: how many fish did I want to catch Is probably the most relevant question. I must say, there have been times when I have not caught a single trout even though the water was teeming with rises.

And so there comes a time, hopefully sooner rather than later on the day you go fishing, that there is this nudge on your fly. Do you retrieve quicker and expect a chase? Or strike like hell? Or lie still and wait for a second look-in? There is no definite answer; you should know the water by now, that being your market; you should be getting to know your customer - and the habits of trout - and make your decision in a “blink”. Malcolm Gladwell will tell you this in his bestseller, ”Blink:the Power of Thinking without Thinking”.

“FISH ON” says you have the interest of the trout.. your customer. The hook is in, and now you need to do the reeling in. Gently? Letting the trout run a bit or just robustly reel in at all costs and maybe losing the catch for a light breaking strain leader?

Of course, the hook itself is reason for another debate between anglers. Do you fish the water with barbless or use barbs on our hook. Fishing with barbless allows many opportunities to return the catch to the water with minimal damage and pain, yet the opposite is true of a hook that has a barb.

There are many different theories about getting the fish to the side of the water, ready to be introduced to yourself. Allowing the trout to run is a lot of fun and you will really enjoy the fight and achievement when it's over. It gives you an opportunity to learn about the resilience of your catch. Or reeling in as fast as possible to satisfy your hunger or basket? I seldom see that business strategy working. Nevertheless, people do it.

Gently retrieving your trout and enjoying the play is a very successful strategy: there is very little stress on your catch and the chance of losing your fish from a break-off is reduced.

Eventually when you hold a beautiful trout in both hands - a new customer or the same old one - I can guarantee that you will have a big smile on your face. You chose the right fly, you cast the right length onto the right spot and you lead the fish into taking a look at you. Do you take the fish out the water, and keep it to take home or do you give this beautiful trout a soft peck of introduction and reintroduce it back into the water to live another day? That decision is yours to make. Some businessmen will take everything they can get and eat as much as they can. Others will be selective as to what they keep out of the water, taking stock of age, length and weight....... and then there are those social entrepreneurs and strategists who realise that the kinder you treat your trout, the more often you will catch the same fellow. Get to understand the fish in this particular dam and come back for more

Is the cost of securing a new customer much cheaper than servicing all your existing customers? If that’s the case, then keep all of your fish. But if that’s not the case, then “catch and release” and grow your business accordingly.

When the sun goes down and you've completed your last cast, it’s the end of the trading day and you evaluate your basket or your market penetration. Many fly anglers are happy with nothing in their basket but many a trout at the end of their line, which they released to catch another day. Every time I go fishing, many people ask me “how many did you catch?” There is a simple but very important answer to this question: how many fish did I want to catch Is probably the most relevant question. I must say, there have been times when I have not caught a single trout even though the water was teeming with rises.

Maybe I have not assessed the demographics of my market correctly on the day and I’m fishing in the wrong dam. That often happens. Did I do enough market research? Did I ask others who have fished on the same water if they caught or had any interest? The market has dried up and I need to look and book on another farm. Time to move on and possibly time to pivot. There are so many new lessons and strategies coming out of COVID19 that we have not thought of before. Recently I fished a dam for hours from sunrise to sunset without even seeing a “rise”. I felt too awkward to ask the farmer when he had last stocked this dam as he bragged it was a trophy dam and charged accordingly but I will take the blame and return one day when word gets out of a trophy catch. Maybe this dam or market had limited potential or alternatively I need more skill to fish in this technical water. In the meantime to survive in my business, or to keep my interest, I will choose more productive waters.

In the last few years I have loved my time back on the water with my fly fishing rod, my friends and a single malt. It has given me many solutions to strategic and operational dilemmas. It has also given me the calmness I needed in my life and has allowed me to cure, reflect and understand.

Fly-fishing still remains an art that not everybody gets into, or is successful at. However, I’ve never seen an ugly outlook, nor an unwise fishing buddy and every time I've gone fishing with some friends, have always taken the trouble to enquire what fly is working, and what condition the trout are in. Those are the two most important elements to balance, besides rhythm and patience.

I’ve worked this out… “It's not how you get there, it's what you do and how you do it when you're there.”

Ari Seirlis