The featured image is a screengrab from the latest Ford Bronco Ad.
When will 4×4 companies realize that driving vehicles through shallow rivers and creeks is detrimental? This week in their latest commercial for the new Bronco, Ford showed a clip of the SUV sending spray into the air while driving upstream in a river, which if you couldn’t guess, is horrendous for every kind of life calling that stream home. The practice landed Jeep in hot water a few years ago when they showed the same thing with a handful of their ads. Kirk Deeter, from Trout Unlimited and Angling Trade, just penned a fantastic Op-Ed on the topic, and he explains the issue far better than we can, and it’s well worth a read.
Last Friday, Florida authorities discovered a breach at an industrial wastewater reservoir that could send nearly 300 million gallons of industrial wastewater cascading into the Tampa Bay Area. In addition to the industrial wastewater, which contains pollutants that contribute to harmful algal blooms, a full breach of the containment reservoir could unearth the gypsum stacks that contain radioactive materials such as uranium and radium. Since Friday, Florida has declared a state of emergency and is intentionally draining the contaminated reservoir into Tampa Bay just three miles away, to avoid a worst-case scenario.
Piney Point is an industrial site and former phosphate (fertilizer) plant that contains significant quantities of harmful mining byproducts: contaminated wastewater and phosphogypsum (a radioactive solid).
A leak was discovered at one of reservoirs, and now authorities believe that the breach could worsen and lead to a complete collapse of the reservoir’s embankment. This would send nearly 350 million gallons of nutrient-rich wastewater into the Tampa Bay area in a matter of minutes and through a “20-foot wall of water.”
In an attempt to avoid an all-at-once breach, Florida authorities are pumping roughly 35 million gallons of wastewater a day from the compromised reservoir and sending it into Tampa Bay.
The nutrient-rich wastewater can produce and intensify harmful algal blooms, which have plagued Florida’s coasts for years and are ecologically destructive.
The reservoir once held 480 million gallons of wastewater. On Saturday, it was estimated to have 390 million gallons. And today, Monday April 5th, just shy of 300 million gallons of wastewater remain. 90 million gallons of nutrient-rich, harmful algal bloom promoting, wastewater has entered Tampa Bay.
The looming disaster at Piney Point is not a new one. The industrial plant first opened in 1966. Since then, the property has changed hands twice, experienced several harmful “accidents” and discharges, yet Florida state and local authorities have failed to effectively address Piney Point’s toxic remnants. The situation has been complicated by the holding companies declaring bankruptcy. Tampa Bay Water Keeper said, “we should use this terrible failure to inform the public and our elected officials that we will hold those responsible accountable,” on their social media. Stakeholders and politicians are hoping that a permanent solution for Piney Point and other ignored sources of pollutants.
“We need our state legislature to introduce meaningful policy that holds polluters accountable for environmental impacts like this,” said Captains for Clean Water Co-Founder Capt. Chris Wittman. “The Florida legislature has systematically dismantled regulations to serve and benefit special interests. These special interests—in this case phosphate mining—are profiting off of Florida’s resources at the expense of our state’s citizens and environment. They make their profits, exhaust the resource, and then leave the mess to taxpayers. We have to see new legislation that prevents special interests from continuing this kind of bad business that exploits our state and its citizens.â€
Unfortunately this disaster appears to have been completely preventable. According to Tampa Bay Waterkeeper, “The current failure at the Piney Point facility owned by HRK was preventable. FDEP knew of the failures of the liner not only at Piney Point but other Phosphogypsum stacks. FDEP failed to provide the resources needed to remove the water from the stacks at the site and knew as early as 2013 about the need to remove water from the stacks.”
Piney Point’s Effect on Tampa Bay’s Ecosystem
Millions of gallons of wastewater have been released into Tampa Bay. For years, the Piney Point reservoirs have contained significant amounts of process water, a chemical byproduct of phosphate mining that has high levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, and ammonia. According to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, “the water being discharged from Piney Point is mixed sea water (primarily saltwater from the Port Manatee dredge project, mixed with legacy process water and stormwater runoff/rainfall). The water meets water quality standards for marine waters with the exception of pH, total phosphorus, total nitrogen and total ammonia nitrogen.” Those are concerning and destructive exceptions, especially when considering the levels of pollutants. “At the current rate of wastewater discharge nearly 500 tons of Nitrogen are on track to be released in the course of about a week. This is equivalent to approximately 100,000 bags of fertilizer, though levels of Nitrogen may vary throughout the water column in the stack and these numbers are an estimate, based on recent samples,” according to Tampa Bay Waterkeeper.
Compared to a complete collapse of the reservoir–which would expose radioactive mining byproducts, according to authorities on the ground–these discharges seem like a small price to pay in the scheme of things. However, the ecological concern now is with harmful algal blooms. The discharged wastewater contains high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen, which are known to cause or contribute to fish-killing harmful algal blooms.
Past example of harmful algae in Tampa Bay, courtesy of Rusty Chinnis
Tampa Bay area fishing Capt. Justin Moore, a second generation fishing guide who has been a captain since 1999, said he’s deeply concerned that the nutrient-rich water being released will cause harmful algae blooms. “I just don’t know how much more these bays can take,†Moore said. “It’s really unfortunate to see the ecosystem go through this again when this really could have been prevented.â€Â Moore said he took a boat ride recently around the area where the water is being dumped and said there is already a change in watercolor. The water normally is clear this time of year, but Moore said it currently is a greenish yellow. There were no birds, hardly any mullet, you can tell the fish are sensing it and moving away from it,†Moore said.
Florida is no stranger to these harmful algal events. Red tides and other forms of toxic algae have harmed vast stretches of Florida’s ecosystems and its outdoor recreation and tourism economies. We are learning a great deal about these events, but nutrients continue to pollute water and encourage these semi-natural event. If Piney Point gives us one lesson, it’s this: strict regulations and proactive environmental mitigation are often needed to effectively protect the environment. Too often private entities just pack up and leave, relying on the taxpayer to clean up their mess–oftentimes climbing into the billions.
We’ll be following this developing situation closely, but authorities are hopeful the situation will become stable tomorrow, Tuesday. In the meantime, I’ll reiterate Capt. Chris Wittman’s point: “They make their profits, exhaust the resource, and then leave the mess to taxpayers. We have to see new legislation that prevents special interests from continuing this kind of bad business that exploits our state and its citizens.â€
It’s that time of year again. Cool brisk mornings on the water turn into warm sunny days by mid-morning. Springtime is the start of a new hatch cycle, and as anglers, we couldn’t be more excited. Dry fly fishing is a technical approach to fly fishing but when a plan comes to fruition, there isn’t a better feeling. In this tips and tricks video of the week, The Orvis Company demonstrates the proper approach to fishing for rising trout.
Dry Fly Tactics
Trout have what is called a feeding window. This is the radius that a trout is willing to travel to feed. When water temperatures fare on the colder side, the feeding window for trout is much smaller as opposed to warmer water temperatures.
Cold Water Tactics:
Image Credit to the Orvis Company
When fishing in colder water temperatures, it is important to remember to use smaller flies. Trout are more sluggish and not willing to move as far and so tight feeding windows = small flies. Along with colder water, low flows will also result in a smaller feeding window while trout are feeding.
Warmer Water Tactics:
Image Credit to the Orvis Company
Generally, when water temperatures are on the warmer side, trout will be much more active. This results in a larger feeding window. When this is the case, you can get away with using larger flies to induce a downstream take.
Where to Position Yourself:
No matter the size of the trout’s feeding window, it is always best to position yourself for a cast that will land and drift into your side of the feeding window. This is important to remember because you have more room for error if the cast is positioned properly. If you cast across the pool, you will expose yourself and likely spook the trout feeding in that zone.
The key takeaway when fishing with dry flies is position, position, position. Placing your fly in the strike zone will lead to a successful day on the water. Once those hatches start popping off, take your dry fly box out and give these tips a try. Best of luck out there!
For more tips and tricks, check out the Orvis Company YouTube Channel by clicking here.
Tarpon. A word and fish that evokes feelings of excitement and disappointment in saltwater anglers around the globe. It’s one of the most challenging species to pursue on the fly and learning how to do it successfully is no easy task. Having a guide or mentor to lean on is often the difference between let down and glory. Mac Hammond was just that mentor for Tommy Cooper, an avid tarpon angler based in Florida.
“Just Like Macâ€, a feature film in this year’s Fly Fishing Film Tour focuses on the story of a mentor and the lasting effects one can have on others through fly fishing. We recently had the opportunity to catch up with producer Ben Meadows and the star of the film, Tommy Cooper, to learn a little about tarpon fishing, discuss the importance of community in fly fishing, and the impact “Uncle” Mac Hammond left on Tommy.
Flylords: Can you tell us a little about yourselves, how you guys met, and the role fly fishing plays in your lives?
Ben: About four years ago when I was in grad school, I met Tommy probably in the weirdest possible way, his mother was my landlord. One day she asked me what I do for fun and I said I really love to fly fish and it really makes me sad being in Knoxville, TN because I really love taking a fly rod to saltwater. Being in Knoxville, you have to hedge that people won’t always associate fly fishing with saltwater but Tommy’s mom absolutely lost it. She said “No way! My son is obsessed with saltwater fly fishing and you’ll have to meet him.†And that’s where it started. Within one day of meeting Tommy, you could tell how obsessed he was with tarpon.Â
I’ve gotten to fish for tarpon but not in the very formal way that Tommy fishes for the really big tarpon. And so the first summer that we were in Knoxville together, he threw me and my buddy George in a car and we drove to the Florida panhandle. He was just really excited to share the fishery with us. And we were humbled by it. I mean, we had never seen fish that big.
You could always tell that Tommy had this really high level of technical knowledge of tarpon, how they behave, where to position a boat, how to make the cast. All that kind of stuff. As he began to talk, it became really clear that he learned everything he knew about fly fishing from his Uncle Mac. It was almost to the point where you were ready for Tommy to introduce Uncle Mac who was about to walk around the corner or come in on another boat or something. That’s just how deep their personal relationship was.Â
Flylords: Having met Tommy 4 years ago, what was the spark to go forward with making the film now?
Ben: It’s important to note Uncle Mac’s impact on Tommy, you almost can’t tell them apart. I’d always thought that there was something special about their story but didn’t have the talent or know-how. Through a mutual connection with Tommy, I met a videographer named Ben Fields who is based out of Knoxville and likes to fly fish as well. We started drumming up ideas on how to visually show fly anglers on limited budgets traveling internationally and doing really cool trips, so that was the main gig. I was just so humbled that Ben Fields took me under his wing and taught me. Tommy’s story about Uncle Mac has always been there, I just didn’t have the medium to tell it.
This past summer, Tommy and George were fishing and I got one of the worst phone calls of my life. They were screaming and hollering and all that stuff after having one of the best tarpon days of their lives. And they were like “dude, we were running the camera the entire time”. I was like “I gotta see it to believe it”, and bless my wife, we had just had our first baby 3 months before, let me go down to fish with them for one night. I left at 1 am, my son had woken up so I put him down, drove until sunrise, and got on the boat. The fishing of course wasn’t nearly as good the day before but I caught one of the largest tarpon of my life. I can’t claim to be a tarpon guy because there’s a whole culture around that, one that Monte Burke captures well in his new book, but it was a big fish. But anyway, we walked away from that trip, and then we realized that we could tell the story of Uncle Mac through this one tarpon session.
“When you have a powerful storyteller like Tommy, I feel like your job as a filmmaker is to just get the hell out of the way.”
So we came home and I asked Tommy to take voice recordings and trimmed the recordings until it was a storyline. Honestly, the main storyline was like catching lightning in a bottle. There’s a part in the film where Tommy talks about missing his first tarpon with Mac and we have a video of him trout-setting a tarpon, like how perfect is that? And I mean Tommy’s talented and that’s not in his character to trout set a tarpon but there it is on film. It was just a short little cut of their story through tarpon and seemed like an important story to tell and focus on the fish that shaped Tommy and Mac’s relationship. So we ended up just settling on brim and tarpon, that’s where this story evolved.Â
When you have a powerful storyteller like Tommy, I feel like your job as a filmmaker is to just get the hell out of the way. The fact that he can still put so much emphasis on the first tarpon he missed with Mac shows you how scared that fish got him and the wealth of stories that he and Mac share. You could do a 4 hour documentary on them.Â
Flylords: Were there any challenges that you encountered throughout the process?Â
“It’s actually really hard to get the jumps with these big fish.”
Ben: Sure, filming tarpon is a beast all on its own. I think that’s where having skilled guys that have fished for tarpon comes in. You’re not aiming the lens at the line, you’re aiming at where you think the fish is going. Usually, the angler who’s fighting it know’s when they’re coming up. These big panhandle tarpon do a lot of rolling so you know when they’re going to come up. It’s a good opportunity to get some face time with the fish. It’s actually really hard to get the jumps with these big fish because they typically happen at the start of the fight and that’s when all hell is breaking loose on the boat. You’ve got fly line flying everywhere, people screaming at each other, you may need to re-position the boat and you’re supposed to sit there and be still with a camera. That’s really challenging.Â
Tommy: Well, really capturing the film is pretty difficult. I don’t know how much tarpon fishing you’ve done but anyways, I love film but I love tarpon fishing more. Two things I struggle with are picking a camera up instead of another fly rod or helping another angler. A lot of the guys I fish with are still learning so I’m coaching them through what’s going on. There’s the chaos of not only trying to see fish, get in front of fish, but also coaching people to get the fly in the right place. To add a camera in there is difficult.Â
Tommy showing how to get it done, no matter the circumstance.
Luckily over the last year, we hit the weather and timing right and had some really banner days fishing so getting a lot of eats and jumps helped making the film. The storyline came after the fact. Obviously, it’s a story that’s near and dear to my heart, we just got lucky with the footage we had tying into how the story laid out.Â
Ben: This project really got the green-light because we had so much footage of fish from that blockbuster day. It gave us the confidence that the story could finally be told. This is obviously a story that Tommy has been passionate about for years, we just never had the right medium to tell it. Then this legendary day drops out of the sky.Â
Hilariously, the weather was cooling down when we were trying to film the brim segment. So you’d think the easiest part would be brim but we kept getting hit with cold fronts while we were trying to film top-water eats and you need it to be warm outside. So believe it or not, that was pretty challenging.Â
Flylords: Throughout the film it’s clear that Mac has left a significant impact on you. In what ways has he inspired you to teach others rather than going out and getting eats for yourself?
Tommy:Aside from Mac, I didn’t have anyone that I fished for tarpon with. Getting to share that bond with him and then losing him was tough. I didn’t have anyone to share the experience with and that’s really when I started going out with Ben and George and some other guys. It was cool to watch them, Mac was always the teacher and I was the student. Getting to fish with these guys reminded me where I started fishing for tarpon. It’s so difficult- you can be a good caster, a good fly tyer, you can practice as much as you want but there’s something so different about fly fishing for tarpon that you can’t prepare for aside from experience.Â
Watching them start out and not present the fly correctly or not even be able to see the fish allowed me to share my knowledge. That’s a hilarious part- when you have a 100-pound fish swimming in 5 feet of water right on the grass line and they can’t see it, like how can you not see the fish. I began to notice where I was compared to them but also looking at them and remembering where I started made me feel like I became the mentor that Mac was for me. Seeing Mac’s success in me and now being able to coach these guys how to catch a tarpon on the fly really brought it to another level for me.Â
Flylords: Are the others that Tommy is spreading his passion for tarpon with? Has the story of Tommy and Mac inspired you to share the sport with anyone else?
Ben: Yeah, so Tommy fishes on Mac’s boat. The boat you see in the film, that’s the boat he grew up fishing on. We’re part of that legacy of Tommy passing the sport on or passing the torch from Mac. Everybody who steps foot on that boat gets a little bit of that. Think about all the feet that have stood where he and Mac stood.
I think a lot about passing on fly fishing to my son, he’s 9 months old so it’s not going to happen anytime soon, but I always love telling people about fly fishing. I always have. When I was in high school my pitch to people would always be you know, even if the fishing sucks you can always work on casting.Â
Flylords: Are there any tips or tricks that you would provide to someone looking to get into tarpon fishing?
Ben: It’s all emotional training. It’s patience. The ability to deal with really high levels of frustration. Tommy talks about it in the film. You don’t get a ton of shots. You get one string of fish and if you blow the cast that could be it for the day. Preparation is an obvious one. I’ve never been embarrassed to practice casting in my front yard. There’s all the technical stuff, that’s what books and guides are for. As someone who just enjoys it, I’d say you gotta be tough, prepared, and ready to shake off mistakes. I set the bar pretty low for myself.
Tommy: Definitely literature. I’m not much of a reader but especially A Passion for Tarpon by Andy Mill and all different stories of those guys that pioneered the sport. He goes over a lot of the tactics and techniques that are hard to teach. If you’re going with a guide they’ll teach you a lot of those things but understanding how to feed fish, put the fly in the right place, knowing how to strip is important. If you’ve never done anything but streamer fish, you’re gonna rip the fly right past the tarpons face. It’s very slow, 2 inch, ticks.Â
The other thing I’ve learned is that everything you know about fly fishing goes out the door when you see this 100lb fish coming at you, it seems like no matter how much you practice it all goes away. Literature and watching some of the tarpon shows to know what’s going to happen would be my recommendations.
Flylords: Do you have any tips for aspiring filmmakers or personal learnings from this project?
Ben: It’s easier to cut a moving story that matters to you rather than make a story for someone else. Tommy’s relationship and passion for Mac was unmissable. Like I was saying earlier, I was a facilitator. Get out of the way and let the story teller tell it.Â
Flylords: Anything else that you’d like our readers to know about the story or anything about the project in general?
Ben: What I’ve learned from Mac’s story and Tommy and even my experience from learning to fly fish is that fly fishing is worth sharing. I see the fly fishing community get wrapped up in techniques and levels of purity on what constitutes what. I think that it’s worth sharing. The people we appreciate most in the sport are often the ones who make the most sacrifices. It’s one thing that I’ve learned from Tommy and Mac. Mac sacrificed shots at tarpon for Tommy and now Tommy does that for us. If we have that mentality of sacrificing for others and getting others into the sport, that’s what’s important.Â
Thank you to Ben Meadows (@_benmeadows) and Tommy Cooper (@tcoop92) for graciously taking the time to talk through their film, “Just Like Mac” with us. If you haven’t already, be sure to pick up your tickets to this year’s Fly Fishing Film Tour while you can.
Rachel Leinweber is the general manager and guide for the prominent Colorado Springs fly shop the Angler’s Covey. Throughout her childhood, much of her time was spent in the fly shop. Early in her adult years, she discovered that she truly did love to fly fish, not because it was something she had to do, but because it was something that she loved to do. Today, this love can be seen in the way she runs the fly shop, and in her passion for being on the water. Check out the full Women on the Water Interview below.
Photo credit: Rachel Leinweber
Flylords: Who is Rachel Leinweber? What defines you as a person?
Rachel: I ama fun, loving person, who got really lucky to grow up in the outdoors and in the fly shop. That’s how I got connected with the Angler’s Covey, it’s a family business. Granted, I have another sibling, he decided to not stick with it. So I am just someone who is super passionate about fly fishing and the outdoors in general. I am also passionate about getting other people connected to fly fishing so that they can do what I love to do.
Flylords: How did you start fly fishing? Was there one person in particular who inspired you?
Rachel: I grew up fly fishing, but a lot of people think that that means that I automatically love to fish; not the case. I have known how to fly fish since I was really little, but I didn’t really like it because my friends could go to the movies and to the mall, and I had to go fishing and camping, which at the time didn’t sound fun. I would say that in late high school and then in college I really started to love fly fishing. My mom was probably the most helpful during this period because she needed help teaching some of our women’s classes. There wasn’t really a moment for me, it was more just in college and me doing it not just because I had to, but because I actually wanted to; that was kind of the spark.Â
Flylords: Are there any fly fishing experiences or moments that have shaped you as an angler or as a person?
Rachel: I lived in Juno, Alaska a couple of times just over the summer in college, that would be one big one. We did some conventional fishing, and I am not sure really why, but that is what made it clear that fly fishing was that path for me, and that I really loved it. But most importantly for me, we have this spot called Beaver Creek here in Victor, Colorado. Catching the tiny little brook trout that live there is so much more satisfying to me than catching some huge fish. I would say that that has helped define me as an angler, teaching me to be a little bit sneaky, to think the way they think, and just being able to get out and fish without all of the people.
Flylords: How did you get into the fly fishing industry?Â
Rachel: My senior year of college I started Pikes Peak Outfitters, which is a paddling store. Initially, we built that building, when I was in high school, and there were two spots that we were leasing out to other businesses. We got really sick of people not paying rent, and being landlords. It was just awful. After looking at Colorado Springs and what was missing in the outdoors scene, there were no paddle shops at all, even for flat water. I got to start that as my “training wheels†business; I designed the logo, painted the store, and built all of the fixtures from Home Depot. I did that from the ground up to see if I liked business. I have a degree in business management, but I wanted to make sure that it was really what I wanted to do.
As much as I like paddling, fly fishing is really my passion. I would find myself wandering into the fly shop a lot more than hanging out in my own paddle shop, which was a big sign, like a really, really big sign, that maybe the paddle shop was not my future. We needed management over in the fly shop, so I jumped on it. I already knew everyone that worked there, they were all my best friends and all of the people I fished with. I also started guiding. Again, guiding isn’t something I really wanted to do, I was forced into it initially because we needed female guides. I knew how to do it, but I didn’t have a lot of confidence in myself because I had never had a female guide role model, ever. That combination of guiding and needing more oversight in the fly shop led me to take a management position, and then it has just grown from there. I have been taking on more responsibilities, and consequently delegating more responsibilities. Making more friends in the industry has really helped. Just being willing to network and having confidence that I know what I am talking about was probably the biggest thing. Nowadays there are so many more women in the industry that are good role models than there were a while ago.Â
Flylords: Where do you see yourself in ten years? Do you think that you will still be guiding and working as a general manager?
Rachel: We are in a transition period right now; David, my dad, and my mom want to start fishing and camping and hanging out in our RV more. Within the next five to seven years we are hoping to transition from them being owners to me taking over. Even when I take over as the owner, I will never give up guiding because that is not something I do not for money necessarily, it is something I do to keep my life interesting and connected to customers and to the water. People say all the time “Oh you work in a fly shop? That must be the dream job!â€, and it is like “Yeah, but I work in a shop in the same way that you work in an office.†You still have to stay connected to the water and to why you love doing what you do. I want to be a good example to all of my employees too, we have to practice what we preach.Â
Flylords: In what ways does being a woman affect your work on a day-to-day basis (ie. interactions with others)?
Rachel: I would say that when I work the floor and work with customers, it can go one of two ways. I have definitely had experiences where a group of guys comes up and it is me and a bunch of other dudes up at the counter, and they will look past me to talk to one of the guys. The awesome thing is that my guys are always great, they are like, “She can answer your question.†They notice it more than I do which is awesome. It can be hard that way, but I would say that I have been really lucky with the people that I work with that it is almost not even a factor.
I think that part of it is that I have been around the shop and everyone who works there for so long that I have earned their respect. I will say, it feels harder to earn respect or to prove to people that you know what you are talking about and that you are educated. It is just automatically assumed respect and credibility for many of the men who I work with. As I have gotten older, I almost have started not caring as much what others think about me. I will give them what I have to offer, and if they don’t want to take it, then they can deal with it.Â
One awesome experience that I have had is being on the board of AFFTA. There are only a couple of us women, and I get a lot of questions when I am on there like, “Is it just an old boys club?†and it really is not. It has been really cool to not just be in my little bubble where everyone already knows me but to be with other industry leaders. The guys on AFFTA are so empowering and so welcoming, and they don’t pander to the women.
I haven’t experienced a ton of sexism in my realm, but I have when I have walked into other fly shops. When I walk in with my boyfriend who doesn’t even know how to fish and they start talking to him, not to me, I’m like “Well um hi! See you later.â€
Flylords: In what ways do you see sexism within the fly fishing industry as a whole?
Rachel: A few different ways. I will say that with regards to fly shops, there is often the assumption that you know less, especially if you look like you don’t fly fish. It feels like when you walk into a fly shop wearing cute, everyday clothes, they want to educate you “for your good, sweetheartâ€. I have even had a guide, in a different town, show me where to go on a map, and rub my back. I was like, “No thank you!†and I promptly left. This is part of why I am so intense about training my guys that if a person walks in, they have just as much knowledge as you; male, female, old, young, doesn’t matter.Â
Industry-wide, I would say that there are companies that use super skinny, model-looking women who are super graceful and who have their hair and makeup perfectly done if they use women at all. Either that, or it will be clear that they are trying to push a female agenda, and everything is women all the time, or it’s all girly and pretty and pink. I will say that Simms is a good example of a company that is trying to get away from that. They are using more women in their marketing who just look like normal chicks, and their clothing is less pink and sparkly. Orvis is another brand that in recent years has begun to do a better job of including women of different sizes, skin colors, ages, things like that. More than anything, I am concerned with what genuine…is it from a place of actually wanting more people to join the sport, or is it just marketing? And likewise, does it reflect the women in the industry who I know?
Flylords: As an industry and as individuals, how can we work to become more inclusive (race, gender, size, etc.)?
Rachel: I think that there are a lot of things that we can do. In marketing, we need to include people who look like all people, not just the people who are currently buying your products. For some brands, their main consumers may be white, upper-middle class males, but instead of just marketing to them, market to everyone. A lot of what we have been doing has been creating events that lower the barrier to entry. In the last few years, we have been doing quite a few free 1-on-1 classes in places that you would not usually see. For example, this year we will be doing a big 1-on-1 event that is at a park in a lower-income neighborhood, and it’s free, you can just come and hang out.
I really do think that marketing is the biggest component to inclusion because if people see other people who look like them fishing, it is so much easier to feel already included. I think that fly shops have a lot to do with that too..if someone walks in who is not your typical bro-bro wearing all camo Simms, it is important to just talk to them like they are human and with the same respect that you would give anyone else. There are definitely shops that I have seen who don’t do that, they just assume that you don’t know anything or that you are just looking for bait or Powerbait or something like that. A lot of the steps that we need to be taking are really small, and within our communities. You can hold national events and things, but if local fly shops are not holding events within their communities that enable you to have face to face interactions, and that encourage people to participate in the sport, it is not going to work.  Â
Flylords: What advice would you give a woman or younger female who is just starting to fly fish?
Rachel: I think that asking questions is the biggest thing. It can be scary and intimidating when you feel like you don’t know enough. Just have confidence that you know all that you need to get started. There are some people that I know who I was intimidated by, and by some people I mean the old crusty guys who worked at the fly shop growing up, they were scary, retired army dudes. But when I started asking questions, they taught me so many amazing things that I might not have ever learned otherwise. Also, don’t be afraid to look stupid. Just by trying to look cool or like you have it all together, well you really don’t, no one ever does.
Next time you are in the Colorado Springs area be sure to stop in at the Anglers Covey to say hi to Rachel and her team. Follow along with Rachel’s adventures at @rmleinweber and be sure to check out @anglers_covey on Instagram.
In a strict sense, infrastructure is bridges, roads, and tunnels. However, past infrastructure bills, and hopefully an upcoming one, have had long and lasting impacts ranging far from crumbling roads. The Biden administration is now turning its attention to infrastructure with a recently unveiled $2 trillion infrastructure proposal: The American Jobs Plan. The ambitious and expensive plan aims “to create jobs, rebuild infrastructure, and out-compete China,” according to the White House text. And while the bulk of the bill does deal with the more traditional conception of infrastructure, it will provide a tremendous vehicle for conservation and outdoor recreation priorities. Follow along to learn about how Biden’s proposed infrastructure package and future iterations can improve fishing and time spent outdoors–hypothetically, of course.
What is in the Current White House Proposal
It’s important to note that President Biden’s American Jobs Plan is just a proposal at this point; it will undoubtedly go through a series of revisions and negotiations, especially as politicians and advocacy groups lobby the White House for specific projects and priorities. Additionally, it’s worth highlighting that this plan is not the all-encompassing plan that many within the environmental community had hoped for and that Biden campaigned on. The plan at this stage has already taken the expected partisan turn. The Biden plan does, in fact, include many provisions that would have a positive effect on fly fishing and the outdoors as whole. However, through negotiations, an infrastructure plan could be bipartisan and contain important environmental provisions–or the Biden administration and Democrats can push it through with the reconciliation process, but that’s getting deep in the weeds.
Some may ask: how are public lands, fly fishing, and the outdoors related to infrastructure? Improving watersheds can have natural flood prevention benefits on top of improving essential fish habitat. There are 370,000 miles of roads and 13,000 bridges in just the National Forest System, Yet there is currently a roughly $5.2 billion maintenance backlog in the National Forest System. In testimony to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee, former Associate Chief Lenise Lago said: “Infrastructure is the physical link between Americans and their public lands—without it, we cannot fulfill our mission or effectively uphold our core value of conservation.” Infrastructure is key to our Nation’s economy, and outdoor recreation is too.
These harmful discharges at Lake Okeechobee have devastating effects on South Florida’s ecosystems. Everglades restoration is included in the proposal. @CaptainsforCleanWater
“With the release of this long-awaited plan, the Biden administration is taking an important, bold step toward making needed investments in the nation’s infrastructure,†said Backcountry Hunters and Anglers’ Conservation Director John Gale. “The president’s proposal can put Americans back to work while prioritizing the conservation and restoration of our public lands and waters, including efforts that make these landscapes more resilient and accessible to hunters and anglers.†The Biden proposal includes provisions that would:
Maximize the resilience of land and water resources to protect communities and the environment. This includes restoring and protecting nature-based infrastructure, investing in wildfire protection, coastal resilience, and the western drought crisis, and restoring major land and water resources.
Prioritize the protection and restoration of the Florida Everglades, which has suffered for decades from chronic water mismanagement, and the Great Lakes. “Right now, we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fully fund Everglades restoration and save a national treasure. Restoring the Everglades is truly a mom-and-apple-pie situation,” said Captains for Clean Water Executive Director Daniel Andrews. “It’s a unifying effort because the benefits to everyone are undeniable. It improves water infrastructure, creates thousands of jobs, restores habitat, protects public health and safeguards recreational opportunities for generations to come. After decades of delays, there’s finally a historic opportunity on the horizon for the Federal Government to recognize the will of the people by fully funding all of the authorized projects in the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan through the infrastructure package. Once complete, these projects will alleviate over 60% of the harmful discharges to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie Rivers and provide the desperately needed clean water to the Everglades and Florida Bay.â€
You can tell your representatives to support Everglades restoration though this LINK courtesy of Captains for Clean Water.
Formalize the administration’s support of the Outdoor Restoration Force Act, which would fund state and local governments, tribes, and others to plan and execute restoration and resilience projects, preventing catastrophic wildfires and restoring watersheds.
Invest $16 billion in jobs that restore and reclaim the hundreds of thousands of abandoned coal, hardrock, and uranium mines, reducing pollution contamination in our Nation’s waterways. An estimated 23,000 abandoned mines exist in Colorado alone. Pollution from these sites can have devastating effects on our watersheds and vulnerable fish species. Abandoned mines threaten human health, the environment, and our economy. They contaminate groundwater, discharge acid into waterways, and harm the water quality that trout and other aquatic species need to survive. However, current federal laws prohibit groups that are not directly connected to an abandoned mine from engaging in reclamation efforts. Trout Unlimited hopes that Good Samaritan legislation, which “provides bona fide Good Samaritans carefully tailored liability protections” and is a necessary component of any effective abandoned mine project, will be included in a final package.
Invest $10 billion to create the Civilian Climate Corps, a program that will employ thousands of Americans and at the same time conserve public lands and waters and improve ecosystem resilience. This program will bolster the “outdoor economy, which was fueling some of the fastest job growth in rural communities before the onset of the pandemic. The new CCC members can also make vital contributions to restore the health of American landscapes and improve our resilience to climate impacts like more extreme wildfires and floods,†said NM Senator, Martin Heinrich.
An abandoned mine site in New Mexico, courtesy of the Bureau of Land Management
Other Priorities that Might Find Their Way into a Package
Snake River Recovery
Representative Simpson’s groundbreaking plan to remove the four lower Snake River dams and recover wild salmon and steelhead was, unfortunately, not a part of the President’s infrastructure proposal. Rep. Simpson’s plan is the culmination of years of work that seeks to end the seemingly endless fighting and actually make progress on recovering the imperiled anadromous fish–all the while making stakeholders whole. The Energy and Salmon Concept is expensive, $33.5 billion, but we’re talking about a $2 trillion package. Simpson’s concept is our best chance to recover Snake River salmon and steelhead, and folding it into an infrastructure package is the best opportunity to make the plan a reality.
The plan has not garnered the effect that many had hoped for. Generally, both Democrats and Republicans in the PNW have been lukewarm on the topic. “It is extremely disappointing that we have not seen anyone from across the aisle support his good work,” said Trout Unlimited President and CEO Chris Wood. “I think the administration would be well-advised to take Congressman Simpson’s vision under consideration and play a role in helping the Pacific North West to both recover salmon and steelhead and revitalize its energy and agriculture infrastructure.”
Reconnecting Watersheds
While there was mention of restoring watersheds, greater efforts and allocations to reconnect watersheds should be discussed further. Reconnecting watersheds is an example of nature-infrastructure and has positive effects for humans and communities–as well as ecosystems. Reconnecting watersheds to their historic floodplains can mitigate the destructive impacts of floods and significantly improve a watershed’s resilience to our changing climate.
Gulf Restoration
The Gulf of Mexico is a cornerstone when it comes to outdoor recreation. Whether it’s offshore fishing, waterfowl hunting, or chasing bull reds deep in the bayou, the Gulf has it all. But between oil spills and large scale wetland loss, this ecosystem needs help. The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership is hoping that Gulf restoration can be achieved through an infrastructure package. “If Congress can put aside partisanship, we believe an infusion of cash into the Gulf can put people back to work, create habitat for fish and wildlife, increase coastal resiliency, combat climate change, and build more equitable communities,” according to a TRCP article. The story highlighted several priorities: Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities and fully funding the North American Wetlands Conservation Act and the National Coastal Resilience Fund.
Climate Change and Conservation
The topic is certainly a contentious point in Congress, but climate change will need to be addressed at some point. There is strong evidence that a proactive approach to dealing with the impacts has substantial upside–economically speaking. As such, common-sense climate measures that make our infrastructure more resilient to our changing climate and improve our lands and waters seems like a no brainer. Whether it’s restoring wetlands and mangrove forests, decommissioning unused roads on public lands, or investing more in public lands and outdoor recreation, the infrastructure package is a great opportunity to improve our lands and waters for today and years down the road.
Now, remember, this is just a plan, and lawmakers have indicated that real movement on a final package may not come until early July. Until then, however, as fly fishermen and women and advocates of the great outdoors, we have a great opportunity to help guide this vehicle. Be sure to keep an eye out for developments on this package on our channels and the dozens of great sporting and conservation advocacy organizations that are working for our passions.
The Trout Unlimited Costa 5 Rivers Program is a community of over 140 College conservation–focused angling clubs around the country that seeks to engage the next generation of outdoor enthusiasts through recreational fishing and advocacy for the fisheries that unite us. In this TU Costa 5 Rivers Angler Spotlight, we highlight Rachel Brinkley the founder of the fly-fishing club at Idaho State University.Â
Rachel is a graduate student and current president/founder of the fly-fishing club at Idaho State University. Her graduate research project is looking to identify the historic populations of sockeye salmon in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho.
This work is critical to understanding the holistic picture of what is needed to be done to bring back native salmon to their historic numbers in the region. She has recently founded Red River Co, an apparel company that seeks to fundraise money to help restore native salmon in Idaho.
To find out more about Rachel, follow the RedRiverCo (@redriverco) and the Idaho State Fly fishing Club (@rachelbrinkley) on Instagram. For more information or to start your own TU Costa 5 Rivers college angling community on your campus, visit www.tu.org/5rivers or email andrew.loffredo@tu.org! Â
Hucho, Huchen even called Danube salmon (Hucho Hucho) are one of the biggest river resident salmonids. They are closely related to Taimen (Hucho Taimen) and Ito (Hucho Perryi). Hucho is present in Europe, predominantly in tributaries to Danube, Mur and Sava river, they are not migratory and behave a bit more like huge trout.
One of the last strongholds in Slovenia where this fish was caught by Harald guided by @lustrik_flyfishingslovenia.
They are spring spawners so fishing for them is allowed from October to the middle of February. Due to conservation reasons, it is only allowed to go with a guide or club member.
We usually fly fish for them with 9 to 12wt rods with heavy sinking lines, preferably 10+ IPS sinking tips. Flies are similar then what would be used for Pike or Musky but a bit more natural color (see below).
On bigger rivers like Sava, Mur, Krka fish can grow to 90 lbs, but fish around 50 lbs are caught regularly.
This season with clients caught 4 fish over 50 lbs on 8 guided days, but success for such fish is not guaranteed on daily basis.
On smaller rivers for smaller fish, the success rate is a bit higher with generally 3-5 takes a day, resulting in 1 to 2 fish landed but probably around 10 lbs.
While fishing with his 4 WT for bass and panfish, Joe Selover spotted two giant orange fish meandering beneath the surface. After casting at the pair for a bit near the mouth of a small feeder tributary, his line came tight to this 14.5-inch football of an overgrown Goldfish. After fighting the fish for a few minutes, Joe snapped a picture and released the fish.
Image courtesy of Joe Selover
Although NY does not have bounties on carp, many midwestern states have put bounties on carp caught and culled to attempt to prevent the exponential spread of the Asian carp species.
Members of the Asian carp family, goldfish have become more and more prevalent as aquarium owners continue to illegally “aquarium dump” these fish into local waters. Just like the rest of their carpy cousins, goldfish can outcompete many native species due to their overall heartiness and ability to survive in wide temperature ranges and low-oxygen content.
“You’re either a permit fisherman or you’re not and if you are a permit fisherman then you understand more times than not the permit win. If you want advice don’t be a permit fisherman.” – Wil Flack. In this week’s segment of video of the week, we catch up with Wil Flack on an Anchored Outdoors fishing story portraying the life of guiding and fishing for permit. Wil Flack is originally from Vancouver island surrounded by trout, salmon, and steelhead. After high school, he began traveling around the world and after his second day of being in Belize, he knew someday that it would be his home. Wil puts it best, “the water, the fishing, there are moments in your life when you’re just affected by something and it changes you as a person, and Belize did that for me.” So sit down and enjoy as Wil touches on the finer points of fly fishing for permit and well the not-so-finer points as well.
Belize has the second largest barrier reef on the planet, it’s about 200 miles long and creates a fantastic inshore fishery for Bonefish, Permit, & Tarpon. Wil Owns and operates the Tres Pescado fly shops based out of Ambergris Caye and Hopkins village in southern Belize.
Check out more of Anchored outdoors “Fishing Stories” as well as their podcasts including the podcast associated with this story!
Make sure to give these other articles a look as well!
