Another one bites the dust

Every year at about this time (Read: after May 1) this is a common sight. And for what? I just don't get it.


The significance of May 1st? The opening of taking roughfish by spear, harpoon, or archery. One day we will wake up to find out that all of Earth's viable resources have wasted, spoiled, and shriveled up and died. And surely, man will be to blame.

The Chimes of Freedom

It has come to my understanding that there is a small faction of my viewership, or should I say former viewership, that is unhappy with my recent posts on firearms. To all you folks out there who don't believe in our right to bear arms, well, you can all go and fuck yourselves. That's right, I said it; I don't really care if you don't follow the blog anymore. The Second Amendment is a core of the foundation of our great nation, whether you choose to believe it or not. I'm not going to go into a rant on here on why the Second Amendment is a necessary component of our freedom, or of the merits of gun ownership, but I will give you a virtual bitch slap for comparing my responsible ownership of a firearm to a violent crime committed by some dipshit who disrespects life.

This is not an issue of Left or Right. Gun crimes and deaths unfortunately occur across the country every year, but so do malpractice deaths, vehicular accidents, lung cancer deaths, poisonings, falls, etc. Yet, if you look at the actual numbers, gun deaths are one of the lowest causes of death. Don't believe me, then take a look at the facts. So how can some "hippie fly fisherman who listens to the Dead", support guns and gun ownership? Because I am an American first and foremost, and transcend above labels and stereotypical ideology.

For those who may ask why a fly angler needs guns, the answer is simple, I like to harvest my own fly tying materials as well as provide the occasional meal to my family. While I don't feel obligated to justify the needs nor defend my rights to gun ownership, I will say that a game animal taken in the humane manner of hunting suffers far less in providing its flesh and hide than any livestock slaughtered from a feed lot. For those fly anglers or tyers who think that they are above the need for guns or weapons of any form in order to participate in this sport, think again. Hand over those flies. Hell, handover those gotdamned $50 Abel nippers hanging from your vest, as the TSA likely classifies that as a weapon too.

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

I don't tolerate violence of any form, but in the course of preserving freedom, understand that sometimes it is a necessary evil to bear arms in order to defend the rights that made this great nation what it is today. The very fact that we are able to voice opinion in an open forum without fear of persecution or even death (unlike the folks in Libya, Egypt, Turkey, the list goes on and on) is a very testament to the rights many have served and died to protect. For all those servicemen and women and members of the law enforcement community, I want to thank you for your service. To all of the men and women who have died while in the line of duty, there is nothing that I can do or say other than to proudly honor your memory for sacrificing your lives defending the freedoms of our great nation. You will not be forgotten.

FUBAR

WTF is up with gear these days? Manufacturers complain about recruitment and the often high barrier to enter this sport, yet they release stupid ass shit like a pair of goddamn nippers for $50 bucks. For fifty bones, that babdboy better be sporting a Class 4 laser that'll cauterize your tag ends of tippet. Recently read was a conversation debating the merits of zippered waders. No offense, but the items brought up for comparison were a couple of high buck models topping the charts at $425 and $450. $450! For a pair of waders!? What the hell has this industry come to? $450 waders puncture on barbed wire just as easily as a pair of $150 breatheables. Between angling, guiding, and my other occupation (fisheries management), I spend a lot of days in the water. Alot. I've been wearing the same beater pair of waders for going on 6 years now and not one hole or leak has sprung. Not one patch in those badboys. They aren't a pair of Patagucci or Simmps, but rather a $150 middle of the pack model store brand that didn't break the bank. What's the secret? I take care of them.

I'm not the only who's refusing to drink the kool-aid; I know of a fellow blogger and angler who'll soon be ditching his Simms for a similar performing "generic" at a quarter of the price. I'm not saying that the innovation or the technology that gear companies are bringing to the table are unappreciated, because I love gear. I'm a gear junky. But I don't believe that the bar for a mid-level piece of equipment should be set so high. Retail markup on soft goods are ridiculous. The same goes for hard goods in this industry; every "pro" knows the general rule of thumb for wholesale that a fly rod or reel is going for. Times are tough on everyone right now, but a $500 fly reel from a start up company is no way to enter the marketplace. Perhaps take a look at cutting profit margins a bit or ditch the no-fault warranties to move more product. I suppose you'd need to first move out of the Neolithic Age in order to begin embracing the principles of micro and macro economics in the Digital Age. All I know is that an $1100 spey rod isn't going to curry much favor with recruiting folks from the bait dunking and gear tossing crowd. Bubba ain't gonna pay $1100 for any gear but a new compound bow or an AR-15.

So what to do about those extravagant markups? It used to be in the past that the industry just held us all hostage. Unless you were on a pro plan, you had to pay full retail for gear. It took a great deal of time and resource to become outfitted with enough gear to meet your needs and interests; likely more than you paid for your first car, for some, maybe your first house. It seems the prices of these items just kept rising with the times, often higher than the rate of inflation. Where did the profits all go? Aside from a handful of companies, I can tell you where they didn't go: back to the resource. Likely, those huge margins went to stock fridges full of Nestle bottled water and wild PNW steelhead in more than a few executives' guest ranches on a reach of private water on some stream that we all wished we could afford to fish. Lucky for us consumers, a few folks fed up with the whole scene had the balls enough to put themselves out there and found companies that stand for something. Companies like Rise Fishing Co. are selling high end rods at guide prices and donating 20% of their proceeds to fishy causes. These are the guys that are making a difference. They are building a nice user base that will be around long after the old schoolers die off, likely taking a few of the aloof, apathetic companies with them. I say good riddance. Either change with the times or die off. It's called survival of the fittest; natural selection.

If you're in the industry, do me a solid and check out this piece on Angling Trade about the Bristol Bay Academy and see what you can do to help. If you're not, check out organizations like fishy kid, the TU conservation and fishing camp, or the National Fly Fishing in School Program and help get our youth involved. It's up to us because clearly, the mainstream industry isn't doing anything about it. All they care about is whether or not they should get their next pair of nippers in the Brook Trout or Cutthroat Trout graphic finish.

roughfisher's vault 2010.08.05

Because I can...

Fuck you Right Wing America. This is my country too. Dog Bless....

Throwing Stones

Fuck you BP, fuck you corporate America, and fuck you all you fucking fucks who have sold the environment short just to make a fucking buck. FUCK YOU.

Picture a bright blue ball, just spinning, spinnin free,
Dizzy with eternity.
Paint it with a skin of sky,
Brush in some clouds and sea,
Call it home for you and me.
A peaceful place or so it looks from space,
A closer look reveals the human race.
Full of hope, full of grace
Is the human face,
But afraid we may lay our home to waste.

There's a fear down here we can't forget.
Hasn't got a name just yet.
Always awake, always around,
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down.
Ashes, ashes, all fall down.

Now watch as the ball revolves
And the nighttime falls.
Again the hunt begins,
Again the bloodwind calls.
By and by, the morning sun will rise,
But the darkness never goes
From some men's eyes.
It strolls the sidewalks and it rolls the streets,
Staking turf, dividing up meat.
Nightmare spook, piece of heat,
It's you and me.
You and me.

Click flash blade in ghetto night,
Rudies looking for a fight.
Rat cat alley, roll them bones.
Need that cash to feed that jones.
And the politicians throwin' stones,
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down.
Ashes, ashes, all fall down.

Commissars and pin-stripe bosses
Roll the dice.
Any way they fall,
Guess who gets to pay the price.
Money green or proletarian gray,
Selling guns 'stead of food today.

So the kids they dance
And shake their bones,
And the politicians throwin' stones,
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down.
Ashes, ashes, all fall down.

Heartless powers try to tell us
What to think.
If the spirit's sleeping,
Then the flesh is ink
History's page will thus be carved in stone.
And we are here, and we are on our own
On our own.
On our own.
On our own.

If the game is lost,
Then we're all the same.
No one left to place or take the blame.
We can leave this place and empty stone
Or that shinin' ball we used to call our home.

So the kids they dance
And shake their bones,
And the politicians throwin' stones,
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down.
Ashes, ashes, all fall down.

Shipping powders back and forth
Singing black goes south and white comes north.
In a whole world full of petty wars
Singing I got mine and you got yours.
And the current fashion sets the pace,
Lose your step, fall out of grace.
And the radical, he rant and rage,
Singing someone's got to turn the page.
And the rich man in his summer home,
Singing just leave well enough alone.
But his pants are down, his cover's blown...

And the politicians throwin' stones,
So the kids they dance
And shake their bones,
And it's all too clear we're on our own.
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down.
Ashes, ashes, all fall down.

Picture a bright blue ball,
Just spinnin', spinnin, free.
Dizzy with the possibilities.

"Throwing Stones" Words by John Perry Barlow; music by Bob Weir. Copyright Ice Nine Publishing.

the brownline 2010.01.07

• Drowning the Beaver. Another AMFF/Cheneyesque type controversy? The boys over at Buster's discover that Donny Beaver's Spring Ridge Club was selected by an independent panel of judges as a finalist in the Investing in Nature program in the Ecotourism category from The Nature Conservancy. In another move of brilliance, Cathy Beck pimps some chrome on their newsletter, then gets thrown under the bus.


• More bullshit news from the home front: The Obama administration Tuesday opposed Michigan and other states that want to close shipping locks near Chicago to prevent ravenous Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes.

"In a host of ways, the federal government has demonstrated its commitment to protecting the Great Lakes from the expansion of Asian carp," she said in a written memo. "Nothing in federal law warrants second-guessing its expert judgment that the best information available today does not yet justify the dramatic steps Michigan demands."

Except for the fact that you've dropped the ball with your head up your ass for the last decade, preventing the spread of these fish from downstream. Different regime in the White House, same bullshit policies. It's obvious that the Feds and the State of Illinois both don't care about the devastation of the Great Lakes' native fish populations and the region's $7 billion fishing and tourism industries.


• More anti-coal sentiment hits the blogosphere over at The FlyFish Journal. Good to see my brothers in arms not afraid to speak their minds on the ravages of coal generated electricity. Thanks for joining the fight. It's apparent the "clean" coal lobby won't rest until we and our children and our children's children are all dead from the ingestion of toxins and heavy metals and lung disease.


• Major flooding possible in the Red River Valley this spring, AGAIN. The most recent forecast issued by the National Weather Service gives the Fargo/Moorhead area of the Red River of the North a 49 percent chance of major flooding and an 80 percent chance of moderate flooding, with near-certainty of minor flooding. I think the solutions to this problem are more ditches, more dams, more tiling and wetland draining, unsustainable development and new construction in a floodplain, and a massive pork barrel proposal to construct a huge non-eco friendly river diversion complex to bypass the cities of Fargo and Moorhead. Oh wait, that's what they've already been doing, and you can see how well that's been treating them the past few years. #FAIL

If the fish are gone, burn the country.

killing in the name of.....

It seems like just about every spring, the fuckheads neanderthals bowfishermen make their way out of the woodwork, and start asking around to see who will take their kill. You already know my stance on those folks. The discussion always gets ugly.

The main axis of discussion always involves around the ignorance that all roughfish are harmful to the environment, and therefore need to be removed by bow and arrow justice. Carp are the only harmful species of roughfish. Agreed that both sides to the debate are firm in their beliefs, I often encounter the opposing party ignorant and unaware to the actual statutes and rules put forth by the State regarding roughfish management. All kinds of arguments and slippery slopes are presented for argument by the other side, yet once statutory language is brought in to the debate, the argument quickly fizzles. So what is the real root of the problem?

The introduction of carp to Minnesota was one of mixed blessing. While originally lauded as a food staple and introduced to waters with fervor, the prolificacy and fecundity of carp proved so successful in Minnesota waters, that these fish quickly became a nuisance. Add to the fact that many native gamefish species had a more desirable taste to the palate, and the carp was no longer wanted as a food source. The final straw adding to the malignancy of carp, was their effect on lake water quality and destruction of aquatic vegetation beds. The fate of the carp was doomed. Unfortunately, anglers and the public in general, had difficulty in distinguishing the non-native carp from indigenous sucker species like buffalo and redhorse, and lumped them all together as roughfish. The problems associated with carp soon became maligned to these native fish. Tradition of assumption and ignorance soon passed down from generation to generation in regards to these fish, and have been ingrained in the fabric of angling society. For decades, innocent roughfish species have been tossed on the bank and left to rot on shore by anglers thinking they are doing the ecosystem good; the cruel fate of injustice.

"To say that roughfish destroy our lakes is ignorance at best. Man is the biggest destructor of lakes"

No one is doubting the ecological harm done by carp on our ecosystems. Other roughfish, however, play a key niche to fish ecosystems and provide a very necessary forage base to other roughfish and game fish species. Removing roughfish (except for carp) from a population would likely result in a large imbalance in an aquatic ecosystem, possibly even resulting in a crash of many aquatic specie populations. Even though carp have a tremendous potential for sport fishing recreational value, they are still a regulated invasive species. They are already naturalized in many waters, and from past history have been proven to be nearly impossible to remove from a body of water. They should not, however, be allowed to spread to new bodies of water. And on the same note, that goes for any other fish species (game or non-game fish) being introduced outside of their native range or to waters that have not historically held a population. That includes the foolish advance walleye stocking program that occurs across the state of Minnesota. If they weren't there to begin with, they shouldn't be in there now. I am a big proponent of native fish species management.

Aside from trying to overcome the negative stigma of roughfish and breakdown the wall of ignorance, my biggest beef comes with the senseless, needless killing of fish. Waste not, want not. My elders impressed on me the teachings of only taking what you will use. I don't believe in senseless killing. I thought that was common sense to everybody, but apparently that is not so. Just because I have the power to kill, doesn't mean that I have to. What's worse, is that many of these offenders proclaim that they love bowfishing because it is fun. Killing animals is fun? Outdoor sports should be enjoyable, but your are crossing the line when you are killing animals for fun. I respect life. I don't believe in killing just to kill. Shooting a bunch of fish and dumping them in a farmers field for disposal isn't a fair use in my opinion. In the letters of the law, this practice is still deemed as acceptable, but that only continues to condone the needless killing of roughfish. I have no problem with any legal harvest of fish, as long as they are used for consumption. I'm not convinced that fertilizer is the best possible use for these fish.


Many "sportsmen" complain about groups like PETA trying to take away our right to hunt and fish. When indivuals and groups make statements saying that they enjoying killing animals for fun, that only adds fuel to PETA's fire, giving them plenty of ammunition to use against us. When making statements like that who could blame PETA, it all sounds so juvenile and unsportsmanlike. The needless killing of animals is a blatant disrespect for life in general, and upsetting. Not to mention an egregious contradiction of the "Christian" teachings many of these people follow. They are far from being shepherds of the flock. I don't want to give PETA even an inch in this battle. Fuck PETA.


Kill all the carp you want, but leave the rest of the roughfish alone.


-the roughfisher

War Between The States?

Is there a widening rift between blueliners and brownliners? Many seem to think so. Ever since the WSJ broke the story on brownlining, blog posts and message boards have lit up on the topic, including a post on Fly Talk. The great debate has even gone global, reaching the shores of South Africa (Thanks to the Trout Underground for the link). So what's the deal anyway?

Critics of the brown line seem to hit upon several points, first and foremost that brownlining has been around for far longer than we have been led to believe. I have no doubts that man has been brownlining since the advent of the fly rod. It's just that few have had the gumption to stand up and admit it in public until someone like Singlebarbed entered the scene. You could call him a pioneer.

Many comments threaded on fly fishing message boards seem to evolve around passé dick and fart jokes, that brownlining = fishing for baby ruths. Even the perception of brownlining portrayed by the author in the WSJ article plays up on this fact. I've done some urban diaper dodging for carp before, but roughfish live in pretty places too. The exploits of carp godfather John Montana clearly attest to the fact that carp thrive in clean water. After reading the published WSJ article, I was clearly disappointed that the "other side" to brownlining was editorially left out, and of the angle that the piece was directed. There are plenty of us out there that choose to fish over salmonids for carp in the same stretch of water. We care about the environment and the waters we fish; in no way do we "sanction nature's destruction".

A stereotype worth reiteration is the fact that trash fish don't require quality gear. I call bullshit. After some snide comments on FlyTalk regarding the gear Gracie, Deneen and Teasdale were equipped with, Drake forum regular Ramcatt jumped in,

if you have quality gear... your nose is turned up?
if you are old... you are the whitehaired stereotypical "orvis guy"
if you are under 35 with good gear... your a "walking ad"
carp are the most difficult in fresh... needing more quality gear than raceway pelletheads...

You could make an argument for gear 'till your lips turned blue. Do spring creek browns, brookies, and 'bows need a machined and ported large arbor aluminum reel with low inertia drag? Shit no. You need one like you need a piña colonic. It still doesn't stop the reel companies from trying to sell you one. The only non-anadromous fish I've caught in freshwater that took me to my backing was a carp. Same with a broken rod: carp.

The final observation taken from the backlash of "the article" involves the accusation that the brownliners are putting up the very same barriers that we sought to take down within fly fishing. I don't believe that to be the case. I think the boundary is being put up for us by others. Specifically the brownline nation isn't a case of exclusion, but merely a band of a few brownliners showing some solidarity after getting kicked around in the beanbag by folks hatin' on the brown lifestyle. To say we are exclusionary is laughable; look at our citizenship. We aren't looking for a trophy or a pat on the back. The Nation of brothers and sisters are solely a vehicle for distributing propaganda to folks interested in our teachings. I'm not looking to include or exclude; I don't even care who you are and what you're fishing for, so long as you leave me alone on the river and let me fish. After all, isn't it simply about the fishing?

- the roughfisher