Michael Gracie

Or your month

Last but not least:

And finally…

Adieu.

I’ve decided to take a break from traditional winter sports to spend more time (what else?) fly fishing. So I have a little beer-induced pow pow with my friendly neighborhood Craigslist wunderkind Tim, and he gives me some tips on how to unload my finely tuned cliff-hucking gear (and then passes me a card for a really good hip replacement surgeon just in case I back out).

I dive head first into the anguish, and my gear was sold in 24 48 72 hours flat…aw hell, some of the stuff is still here. Here were the ads anyway…

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In retrospect they probably had plenty of life left in them on my own feet. But last season I picked up a new pair of wading boots, and had recently begun feeling like a selfish bastard for having three pairs in the closet. So I gave this fine fly fishing footwear to a pal of mine who really needed some studded soles.

I would have tossed them on Craigslist at the $0 price, but they bring back old memories so I wanted to keep them in the family. They’ve done at least a dozen trips to the San Juan, more than twice that in Wyoming and Idaho, and literally hundreds of excursions across Colorado and Utah. They spent so much time getting wet, and then laying in riverside sun or near campfire warmth, that the uppers cracked behind the big toe. The thought of bitching at Simms never crossed my mind – these boots have to be a decade old, so I more than got my money’s worth out of them. No, at first I applied duct tape (the universal patch), and finally laid globs of Aqua-Seal across the wounds. No problems since.

They’re moving on to greener pastures, even if the guy who’s feet will be in them needs a little help with his roll cast.

Then again, don’t we all?

The Madoff scandal put the phrase ‘ponzi scheme’ back on the tips of everyone’s tongues, and the concept of stealing/losing/burning gargantuan sums of money in everyone’s mind. Since that time we’ve seen…

Who cares about the fraud, the deceit, the disappearing millions billions trillions. If anyone was really concerned about that, all they’d have to do is check out the latest bailout plan. Or better yet, take a gander at their annual Social Security statement. I mean the [taxpayer] money given to banks, to keep them from falling face first into some supposed abyss, is being managed prudently as ever – they’re buying $50 million corporate jets with it.

It’s all good. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.

Well worth the lines

I whizzed by the International Sportman’s Exposition last Thursday afternoon, and spent the better part of the day there the following Saturday. The first round was consumed primarily in ‘closed door chats’ – at this event it meant stopping every ten seconds for someone to say hello to the subjects (as well as mumbling “who’s that dude with the tape recorder”) – you can find summaries of those here and here. It was not particularly calm, but still cool and collected. Saturday was a different story, time was spent mostly fighting crowds. Good crowds – the place was jam packed.

Miscellaneous notes derived from non-existent notepad

I bumped into an old friend, Greg Pearson, who is representing Waterworks-Lamson and Scientific Anglers in the Mountain West with San Miguel Mountain & River Products. We spent some time reminiscing, and the rest arguing which was better, Greg’s trophy Atlantic Salmon catch from Nova Scotia (a life sized picture of which was now strewn around on the backboards of manufacturers’ booths), or the boat full of schoolie yellowfin tuna I ran into one fine day in Mexico (which only Greg ever saw pictures of). Greg won. Also, this guy is not only one hell of a fisherman, but an accomplished artist too – you can check out his finer work here, and the creativity he invoked on my behalf while jazzed up on Steve Schmidt’s coffee here.

My good Australian buddy Craig Berg succumbed to peer pressure and picked up a closeout Sage Fli 6-weight for a spring trip that’s now securely past the planning stage. Blue Quill Angler made the deal, and their cash registers were not otherwise hurting for some ringing. In fact, I noticed both a lot of deals to be had and a lot of people taking advantage of them. The fly fishing industry may think it is on shaky ground (or maybe it’s just the mainstream media trying to kick everyone after blowing their credibility in the real estate market), but there is certainly some pent up demand for new fly fishing gear if the price is right.

Continuing on the wheeling and dealing front, John Mazurkiewicz, also working with Scientific Anglers, gave me the scoop on SA’s oft-labeled ‘overpriced’ line, the Sharkskin. He said it not only was selling well – it was selling out! This didn’t surprise – the product was described by my friends at local Denver purveyor Discount Tackle as a big step above anything else on the market. And when I opted for a Rio Gold as a recent replacement they took me in the back, under the guise of showing me some pictures from a redfish hunt down in Florida, and proceed to kick my ass for the decision. While the bruises are still healing, I tried stopping by the Discount booth during my visit. It was three deep with people picking up product, meaning not only is innovation still alive and well in fly fishing, but commerce has not hit a brick wall yet either. One of my 6-weight WF lines is on its last leg – I’m opting to test the latest and greatest come spring, thereby avoiding another beating AND contributing to the economy.

I chatted briefly with Brian O’Keefe, one of the Drift movie anglers who is also co-founder of Catch Magazine. He noted that producing great content and drawing advertisers is a 24/7 endeavor, and they’ve got their noses to the grindstone – O’Keefe’s ability to teleport himself around the exposition floor (with the machine he stole from Dr. Who no doubt) is a good sign that the working pace was accurately described.  I personally love the online magazine format they’ve put together – in my opinion the future is bright there. Of course, I’m biased – Catch’s latest release included an outstanding piece by Adam Barker, centered primarily on Utah, and with emphasis on several waters I frequently got skunked on frequented while there. Oh, the memories!

Finally, I swung by the American Fly Fishing Trade Association booth. David Phares was running a raffle when I arrived, and getting through was impossible while David stood on a chair, disguised in a wig and playing to the crowd. We finally got to speak after the audience dispersed, and I’m only saying this for the benefit of women attending the remaining ISE events where Mr. Phares will be: Dave is going to try convincing you ladies that he’ll tie up a beautiful fly with a lock of your hair – he tried this on the female friend with me (bad choice – she doesn’t fish), and above the warning calls of the lovely gals working beside him. He’s a charmer, and you’ve been warned!

Wrap-up

I received an email this morning from a friend who attended Saturday. He’s a bit older than me, and dropped fly fishing years ago when work consumed his every waking moment. I’ve been taking him out over the last few seasons, hoping to reinvigorate his interest (and get him to subsidize my stream-side lunches)…

Nothing has fired me up as much as Lefty’s lesson.

My free sandwiches are in peril!

Everyone was in great spirits, and despite the economic difficulties facing our world right now. In one respect, however, the show got lucky. We had balmy weather the first of last week here in Denver (highs in the upper 60’s are enough to make anyone happy in January), but by the time I left Thursday a cold front was moving in. Nevertheless, I did get to meet several of the folks working the event, and they were asses and elbows keeping things running smoothly. Which it did, so they deserve like 99% of the credit – mother nature gets the rest.

Bottom line – the show was a resounding success, and I’m already looking forward to next year.

Sarah Perez:

TinyURL, one of the most popular URL-shortening services (although not our favorite) is now being used by cybercriminals to redirect web surfers to pages that contain viruses, trojans, and other sorts of malware. According to Finjan’s Malicious Code Research Center, these criminals are using the service to avoid having their web sites flagged by the Safe Browsing mechanisms built in to modern web browsers like Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.

Of course, even if the sites were otherwise safe from infectious files, the URL shortening services can still be used to obscure phishing attempts – people don’t pay much attention to URLs they click on as it is, let alone what winds up in the address bar. Further, I look at the safe browsing services as a crutch for prudent internet use – much as anti-virus software is only as good as the definitions within, the same goes ’safe browsing’. A few warning messages later people think every site without one is safe. But they don’t call them ‘drive-bys’ for nothing.

I don’t click on shortened URLs from anyone I haven’t shaken hands with, or doesn’t have a lot to lose in terms of the interwebs popularity contest if they slip up. And that goes for links in emails, websites, and on services like Twitter.

It felt like spring around here last week. Now it’s time for flurries.

Adieu.

Brewing on Colorado’s South Platte River

I took the afternoon off yesterday, seeing as I worked until after midnight Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. At first I felt compelled to throw some gear in the truck and head up to the South Platte to do a little fishing. Then it hit me – I suck – what I really need to do first is kidnap a couple of top notch fly fishing guides, pull the Vulcan mind meld on them, and THEN go fishing. Visions of Colorado State Troopers chasing me down 285 attempting to rescue ‘the victims’ soon put the kibosh on that idea, so I decided to wander down to the International Sportsman’s Exposition and see if I could find a few guides willing to spill the beans (sans the kerfuffle I’d previously cooked up in my weary little mind).

As it turned out, good choice. I wound up spending time talking with Pat Dorsey of Blue Quill Angler, and Chris Ramos of Angler’s Covey, two of the most knowledgeable fly fishing guides there are when it comes to Colorado’s South Platte River. And as I soon found out, they are both great guys who exude genuine passion for the sport, and a forthright desire to pass that knowledge on to their clientele. That I’ve been skunked at Deckers once this year, combined with the fact they just shrugged their shoulders when I told them I’d forgotten my wallet, only added to my glee.

The guts of our discussion follows…

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Words of wisdom from a fly fishing icon (and maker of fine lemonade)

I thought I was about to meet a man jaded by attention. Lefty Kreh is certainly a fly fishing legend, and today he was deep in his realm – an outdoors industry convention. But the person I sat and chatted with was a kid in a candy store, eager to share his insights on more than half a century of throwing fly lines, an economy and industry seemingly in flux, and embracing family.

Onward…

Mr. Kreh on the expense of picking up the sport of fly fishing:

Yes, there is a lot of expense regarding fly fishing. In some cases I think it’s just too much, but the industry is adjusting. There was a time when really expensive gear was all there was out there – nowadays you and I can pick up just about any inexpensive combo, go out fishing, and have a good time. In fact, just about anyone can.

Following up on the above, Mr. Kreh on fly rods:

There are no bad fly rods out there for sale anymore. You can pick up a rod at a big box sports retailer that does the job quite well, and without breaking the bank.

And Mr. Kreh on reels:

Like rods, where technology worked its way down to the point where all of them do a good job in the casting and catching departments, fly reels are following. The very best are still built for people with lots of money, but even those people are holding back. Now we are seeing great reels come off the shelf that are both very functional and very affordable.

Mr. Kreh on the economy, and how it will effect the sport:

I lived through the Great Depression. And while it wasn’t the best of times, one thing I found that rang true was that the lack of money brought people closer together. Families in particular, banded together. Even if we see similar bad economic times, that one point will make it seem nowhere near as bad. Fly fishing doesn’t need to be a solitary pursuit – more families participating in the sport of fly fishing, together, would be great for our sport. It’s interesting that when ever there has been a recession in this country, the number of fishing licenses issued goes up. That could be the basis of a whole other discussion, but again I find it interesting.

Mr. Kreh, on why it seems kids would rather play video games than go fly fishing:

I think part of the fascination kids have with video games, and computers and the internet, comes from the fact that parents sometime struggle to make ends meet. So they both work, and kids need an safe outlet when the parents are not around – technology like video games may have given kids some of that. But with our economy taking a dip, I think that there may be less work for those parents, and less money for those video games. At least one of the parents may be around more for their kids, and while I wish the best for families in that situation from the money standpoint, I also think parents and children being together more is a good thing whether they decide to spend that extra time together fishing or not. If the parents decide to take their kids fishing, that’s even better.

Mr. Kreh on the start of the International Sportsman’s Expo:

I’ve been to a lot of these events in my day. This is the best Thursday I’ve seen in quite a while.

Mr. Kreh on why women make such great fly fishers:

I can teach any women to fly cast, just as long as I’m not married to her [laughter then ensued between both of us, as well as a couple of folks listening in]. Women are more patient that we are (well most of the time..wink wink). There are groups now to bring them together to learn the sport, which is good for fly fishing. And you also see organizations like Casting for Recovery popping up that help women through very difficult times in their lives, through fly fishing. And I think that is great for both the women that participate as well as the sport.

And finally, when asked how he’s kept it all together for so long, and with such enthusiam, he added:

I thank my darling wife.

I could have spent a month with Lefty Kreh, picking his brain about why he tied this or that fly a certain way, or better yet…how to add thirty feet to my casting range. But as he stood up, acknowledging the folks standing by for his next casting demonstration, those things now seemed so trivial. I left thinking there are few lemons in Lefty’s world, while carrying the certainty that fly fishing had something to do with it.

Editor’s note: As if the time I spent with Mr. Kreh at the ISE wasn’t good enough, I also got the chance to sit down and chat with two of the finest guides in Colorado, Pat Dorsey of Blue Quill Angler and Chris Ramos of Anglers Covey. These gentleman have been fly fishing and guiding others all their lives, and their office, classroom and backyard barbecue is situated primarily on Colorado’s famed South Platte River. I’ll have the text of that discussion up ASAP (probably hopefully by midday Friday) – it is equally insightful regarding the passions of some fine folks who live fly fishing day in and day out (and you might get a few secret tips too), but is also a significantly amount of content I have to parse through. Nevertheless, if you can’t wait that long head over to ISE Denver at the Colorado Convention Center tomorrow, Saturday, or Sunday and meet them in person!

I’ve been working on one of those double-super-secret stealthy projects with my colleague, Eric Winkelman. He’s doing the heavy lifting on the engineering side, and I was tasked with being his research assistant and business planner. I’m learning just how inept I’ve been with non-technical issues i.e. marketing, but it’s coming together thanks mainly to his encouragement. Eric just started blogging too, part for fun, but also with the purpose of documenting some of his thoughts as we work through the mess we’re now deep in to.

This exchange via Skype today pretty much sums up the team (outside of drinking cocktails and laughing about all the nutty stuff we did in our youth):

Michael: EW – geophysicist turned blogger

Michael: MG – accountant turned marketer

Eric: not sure which one is more dangerous

Michael: lol

Eric: be afraid…

We’re keeping our heads down as much as possible until we either launch, or kill each other. But I’ll be following Eric’s writing closely (for hints on what my next homework assignment will be).