Jobs that probably don't suck...Trout TV Hostess

Wherein we realize that we have some pretty talented and cool friends in the fly fishing industry... More info soon about FlyfishMagazine contributor, Hilary Hutcheson's latest media project.

VS back on Direct TV

VERSUS Field & Live Sports Return to DIRECTV:
DIRECTV and VERSUS Reach Carriage Agreement

El Segundo, CA, and Philadelphia - DIRECTV and Comcast have reached an agreement to return VERSUS to the DIRECTV programming lineup today. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.VERSUS will return to the same DIRECTV programming packages it was in at the end of August 2009.

"We are pleased that both sides were able to work out a satisfactory deal to bring this programming back to our customers," said Derek Chang, executive vice president, Content Strategy and Development, DIRECTV."We're excited that we were able to come to a fair agreement that puts VERSUS back in millions of homes with DIRECTV in time for our busy spring programming schedule," said Jamie Davis, president of VERSUS. "We look forward to super-serving these fans with NHL regular-season and playoff coverage, our first live UFC event and much more."

Fly Fishing Quote Of The Week

This week's quote comes from a Robert Streeter / Timesunion.com article about the yearly onslaught of gear catalogs.

"I was scanning through the pages of a 2010 fly-fishing catalog when I realized that there really are not a whole lot of things that leapt off of the page and grabbed me by the wallet. There were some innovative new items, but the question that kept coming to mind was how much of this stuff is a really great improvement, and how much is pure hype?"

Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=899551&category=STREETER#ixzz0fHuiV0UR

Piscatorial Carpet Baggers Welcome

Jason Puris of TheFin.com fame dropped us a note about an article in his local paper.

New York Times reporter, Christopher Percy Collier spent some time fishing in the Old North State and even visited a few of our friends then gave up all the details in print.

As trout fishing destinations go, western North Carolina has long remained relatively unknown on a national level — and some contend this has been by design. “Locals used to be pretty tight-lipped about how good the fishing is,” said Kevin Howell, a guide and the owner of Davidson River Outfitters and a third-generation fly-tier.

He even managed to spill the beans about the National Park that we share with Tennessee. and Jackson County's Fly Fishing Trail. The article is well written and might remind you local boys and girls of a few places we probably take for granted.

***Update**** Don't follow the maps in the article. Fly fishing legend Hugh Koontz discovered that doing so might just lead you astray by 2500 miles. From his blog post on the subject:

My guess is that some copy editor daydreamed his way through the story, misnamed the fish and put the deceptive inset map with the article.Being a copy editor, I am not going to come down hard on the Times for those slips.It may not have been a slip. I’m thinking in the back of my mind, it was a trick, and that copy editor is probably casting dry flies now near my cabin.

Put & Take Friday: Quote of the Week

From CapeCodToday.com comes this Friday's Put & Take Quote of the Week:

"Smoked trout taste like salmon, and, best of all, the fish are free! That is, unless you are factoring in the cost of a freshwater fishing license, which helps to support the 'farming' of the gorgeous, pink-fleshed fish the hatcheries stock our ponds with. And unless you add up the costs of rods and reels and tackle and waders and aerators and jars of Power Bait and hours of watching bobbers or flipping spoons and more hours of gutting and brining and smoking... oh, and, of course, the smoker. And splitting and curing maple and apple and even cedar."

Everything I know about selling I learned from fly fishing

Mark Stevens of Entrepreneur.com about sales lessons learned from his fly fishing father.

Be yourself. Even if you smell like fish

I couldn't imagine how we could visit the CEO of a company in fishy clothes, but I had no choice but to trust my father. And sure enough, when we arrived at the client, a Patrician organization with early American antiques and grandfather clocks ticking away, I thought for sure the man in charge would be appalled by our attire.

Instead, he wrapped his arms around my dad and hugged him, shook my hand vigorously and invited us into his office as if we were royalty.

NC Magazine Cuts Staff

Even North Carolina Magazines are feeling the effects of the slow economic times. The Raleigh News and Observer reports that North Carolina Sportsman Magazine is cutting back.

"It's the turn in the economy," said Ty Conti, publisher of the magazine. "The magazine is selling less advertising, just like any other publication. We're just reducing our force right now."

"Boat dealers, which are our staple, if they're not selling boats, they're not buying ads," Conti said.

Check out the current issue North Carolina Sportsman here.

Monday Fly Fishing Photo Zen / Caption Contest

Roscoe, NY AKA Trout Town USA where the trout are as big as the gas prices. Best caption wins a copy of Fish Bum I: Mongolia - River Wolf the guys at AEG Media. The editor's Trophy Wife will be the inpartial judge. Leave a comment and get some righteous Schwag.

Photo Credit: Midhudsonnews.com

Fly Fishing Quote of the Week: Barack Obama

Via the Great Falls Tribune:

"It's good to be in Missoula," he said. "You guys have a good deal around here. This is some pretty country. I think I need to learn fly fishing, get myself some waders."

This leads us to ask who might win a Fips / Mouche style fishing tournament beteween Obama and this guy?

Check out the video of his speech via our pals at Moldy Chum.

Fly Fishing Media Reference of the Week

Today's out of place fly fishing reference comes via FairLady Magazine and makes us cry out a resounding "WTF." pardon our Françoise. The article with the title "When he's got a headache" offers ladies advice on what to do to entice their husbands to give it up. Apparently there are men out there for whom the mere suggestion of a roll in the hay is not enough.

"if talking to him about your frustrations or wearing slinky underwear doesn't help, then accept that you may have to try another route. For instance, if you're the one who always initiates sex, stop. Instead, try to relate to your partner on a new and unexpected level: if he's mad about fly-fishing, show some interest in that."

Ladies, if you want to get the really good sex we have a few words for you..."learn to tie flies." Nothing gets a red blooded angler more in the mood than a sexy lingerie clad lady sitting at the vise in front of a a dozen freshly tied bead head pheasant tails. Not only will we give it up, we will probably wash your car to boot.

This is Fly: Vindication

In the latest issue of This is Fly, page 21 points out that anglers of the species Piscus Gitrdunus drink Jack or Jim, Listen to Areosmith or Marley, and drive Tundra's or El Caminos.

We feel vindicated and feel for those anglers on page 23 that drive Lexus or Minivans and drink zima.

If you haven't checked out "This is Fly" be sure to do so. It's the sort of publication we would put out were we younger, talented, and had more time.

Here comes the Judge!

but now according to ABC News he may well have to pay for his own fly fishing junket.

Often called fact-finding missions or educational seminars, critics say many of these trips are little more than judicial junkets which often cause serious conflicts of interest.

"They take judges to western resorts and they instruct them how and why to strike down environmental laws," said Doug Kendall, the executive director of Community Rights Counsel, a public interest law firm.

"Best" Fly Fishing Media Reference of the Week

Headline in the sports section of the Plain Dealer via Cleveland.com:

A.K. Rates 'Best' in Fly Fishing World

A gem of wisdom from the article:

Most credit the movie "A River Runs Through It" with rejuvenating fly fishing.

"Everyone says the movie was the cause of double-digit growth in fly fishing," he said. "We were enjoying double digit growth before the movie came out - but the movie got the blame.

"Because of the movie we thought we'd have more people to protect the resource. All we got was crowds, a feeding frenzy on the western streams. It might be the old timer in me speaking, but fly fishing was better when things were much simpler."

Fly Fishing Smokies Style - Jim Shepherd

Yesterday's article about fly fishing the Smokies by Jim Shepherd appears to be your standard fishing article fare but dig into it and you will find some great one liners.

"Once, when I flicked an effortless cast out and then realized I'd hung my line in the tree, Tony smilingly looked at me and said "they don't usually roost until closer to dark."

and...

"So I put my attention on the task of landing my first fish of the day and cranked away. My reward? A small trout. Really small. So small that his parents probably have reported me to the trout police as a child molester."

Media Reference: Fly Fisher = Financier?

In Barron's: an article about financier Scott Amero and looking for bargains in a down credit market.

Bargain-hunting when credit conditions are uncertain and markets relatively illiquid isn't for the faint of heart. But Amero, born and raised in Maine, is the model of an unflappable New Englander. "He seems like a calm, patient, very analytical guy," says Morningstar's Jones. "That will probably serve him well in making his way through the current market environment."

Amero's favorite pastime suggests he's both patient and persistent. An avid fly-fisherman, his idea of a great vacation is a fishing trip with his family, including all four children, ages nine to 17. "You've got to be stubborn and lucky in fly-fishing," he says.

The same is true in today's credit markets, where investment banks are looking for opportunities to convert some $300 billion in bridge financing for leveraged buyouts into longer-term leveraged loans and junk bonds.

Perhaps our skills are being wasted....

AEG: Trout Bums off to Mongolia

The trout bums from AEG Media are at it again. This time they are heading for the waters of Mongolia and blogging all about it. Can you say Taimen?

Fly Fishing is....

In a moment of boredom on the computer and when I should have been taking a nap to help speed my recovery from last nights Finger Eleven, Puddle of Mud, Nickelback concert, I decided to play around with Google's search engine by asking the obvious question that is on all our minds, Fly fishing is... Here are a few of the answers:

Fly fishing is "reeling" in more women (most of whom I know would be extremely angry to think they had been reeled in by any one or thing.)

Fly fishing is easy (I wish they would quit telling people that. It is actually very hard and you can get eaten by bears or panthers so you should just stay home and read about fly fishing on the Internet instead.)

Interest in "fly fishing is not as acute as it was in the wake of the 1992 release of The Movie." (Obviously, this is because it is so difficult and dangerous and you could be eaten by bears or panthers. The better half does however say that we look pretty acute in our waders and fishing vest. )

"Fly-fishing is definitely an art, but it doesn't take Rembrandt to be good at it." (Obviously they have never seen my casting style. I would describe it as impressionistic at best.)

"Fly fishing is just a metaphor for taking control of your life again." How can we argue with that?

Note that we purposely left out all references to fly fishing is "the quiet sport." Obviously the folks who coined this over-used phrase have never fished with any of my pals. Usually the only quiet one is the one who isn't catching fish.

Fly Fishing in the Media

This week's blasphemous use of fly fishing by the media comes from The Moultrie Observer where the author makes comparisons between no less than iced coffee and a $600 fly rod:

"I don’t drink cold coffee. I know saying “iced coffee” is supposed to give it mystique, but it’s still cold coffee. Temperature is temperature. It’s much like a $600 handmade fly rod. It’s still a fishing pole, and if you slam the truck door on it, it will break. I’ve practiced this on a couple of cheap rods."

The Georgia author does give some excellent advice for the person wishing to stay cool and healthy this summer:

"My first thought of this advice was to hang out at the wash hole and don’t walk alone in downtown Atlanta at night. Takes care of cool and safety."

Media Fishing Reference of the week

This week finds an out of place fishing reference in Ed Hardin's article about our own Carolina Panther's draft day experience:

Playing its offseason strategy to the extreme, Carolina almost traded completely out of the first round of the NFL Draft after making no effort to trade up Saturday. While one league prospect went trout fishing and another flopped around like a beached trout, the Panthers decided this wasn't the day to go angling.


One of the benefits of having an office in uptown (it would be called downtown in any other city) Charlotte is our proximity to the Panther's practice field. On some days during the season you might just find us getting a few autographs on our lunch hour right beside the bad kids who are cutting school.

How to start a fishing magazine

"It started with a bottle of Jack Daniels and a 12-pack of Labatt's. We got a designer and a printer and, oh God, it was scary.

Link to the article in the Detroit News (photo credit Charles V. Tines)