PDF - Angling Trade

Transcription

PDF - Angling Trade

®
INSIDE
THE SUMMER 2013 ISSUE
Leaving the Rat Race for the Fly Shop/
The Industry Gets a Facelift/Scuba Business
Lessons/Retro Chic/Knockoffs/Carp Book/
Show Talk... and more.
June 2013 AnglingTrade.com
CONTENTS
®
Features
Departments
Editor
30 Life After Corporate Death
6 Editor’s Column
Managing Editor
Moving from the Fortune 500 to the fly
shop... What lessons/insights can be brought
along the way to improve a retail business?
By Will Rice
Opinions, Opinions. New show season,,,
new venue... same situation? Have we finally
turned the corner on the “big show” debate?
Or can we accept that trade shows are like,
um, opinions? By Kirk Deeter, Editor
8 Currents
The latest people, product and issues
news from the North American fly fishing
industry, including previews of the trade
shows, a new carp book we hope you’ll
all sell, and discussion on the latest
environment and access news.
Kirk Deeter
kirk@anglingtrade.com
Tim Romano
tim@anglingtrade.com
Art Director
Tara Brouwer
tara@shovelcreative.com
shovelcreative.com
Editor-at-Large
Geoff Mueller
Copy Editors
Mabon Childs, Sarah Deeter
Contributing Editors
Tom Bie
Ben Romans
Steven B. Schweitzer
38 Knock it Off...
They say imitation is the sincerest form of
flattery. But you might not feel so if you
develop a product, and someone duplicates
it to sell at a lower price. Where are the
boundaries (and pitfalls) for the retailer who
wants to build his/her own brands?
By Morgan Lyle
Contributors
Kirk Deeter, Morgan Lyle,
Geoff Mueller, Will Rice, Tim Romano
28 Book Reviews
Fishing Stories. Everyman’s Pocket
classics edited by Henry Hughes, may
well be the finest little collection of fishing
essays ever produced.
44 Bubbles, Wetsuits, and
the Rocky Mountains
Why is it that some of the most successful
retail scuba-diving shops are in the greater
Denver area, literally hundreds of miles from
the nearest salt water? Hint: It ain’t because
of the coral reefs in local reservoirs and
rivers. By Kirk Deeter
50 The Five-Year Facelift
By Geoff Mueller
Retro Refuel By Geoff Mueller
Angling Trade is published four times a
year by Angling Trade, LLC. Author and
photographic submissions should be
sent electronically to
editor@anglingtrade.com.
Angling Trade is not responsible
for unsolicited manuscripts and/
or photo submissions. We ask that
contributors send formal queries in
advance of submissions. For editorial
guidelines and calendar, please
contact the editor via E-mail.
Printed in the U.S.A.
Advertising Contact: Tim Romano
Telephone: 303-495-3967
Fax: 303-495-2454
tim@anglingtrade.com
Mail Address:
PO Box 17487
Boulder, CO 80308
Street Address:
3055 24th Street
Boulder, CO 80304
AnglingTrade.com
3
AnglingTrade.com / June 2013
Is the fly fishing economy really turning
around? Only for those who decided to
double down during tough times, rather than
pulling back and riding things out.
54 Backcast
Photos unless noted by Tim Romano
CONTRIBUTORS
www.anglersaccessories.com
Kirk Deeter is the editor for TROUT magazine
and an editor-at-large for Field & Stream magazine
in addition to his role with Angling Trade. He is
the author of five books, including The Little Red
Book of Fly Fishing and The Orvis Guide to Fly Fishing
for Carp, released in June 2013.
You supply
the fish!
477
0
0
69
3
0
3
Call
Morgan Lyle is the assistant director of public
relations at Long Island University/LIU Post,
and the fly-fishing columnist for the Daily Gazette
and New York Outdoor News. He is a frequent
contributor to many fly-fishing magazines; this
issue marks his first feature in Angling Trade.
www.mountainriverlanyards.com
Geoff Mueller is Angling Trade’s editor-at large
(and regular “Backcast” columnist, as well as the
senior editor of The Drake. He is the author of
the new book What a Trout Sees, and was recently
married on the banks of the Bighorn River in
Fort Smith, Montana.
Will Rice is a frequent contributor to Angling
Trade, and a contributing editor for The Drake.
His work has also appeared in Fly Rod & Reel,
the Denver Post, and elsewhere. In this issue he
talks about the bold leap he took from a “real
job” with a major corporation to working with
a fly shop.
Tim Romano is the managing editor of Angling
Trade, meaning he makes this machine run. But
when he’s not doing that, he’s an accomplished
fine arts photographer. His work has appeared
in a variety of publications and websites
(including Field & Stream and TROUT), as well as
numerous advertisements and catalogs.
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EDITOR’S COLUMN
Nothing
Wrong
with
Opinions
Fortunately (and I mean that... well,
usually I do) the online world has
facilitated even faster, sometimes
more candid, feedback.
But what I like best, in the context
of writing about fishing and making
magazines related to fly fishing—
business or otherwise—is going out
on the water and rubbing shoulders
with other anglers. Sure, I just
plain like to go fishing. Yet I often
learn more in a day on a drift boat
or a flats skiff than I can by talking
on the phone or trading emails.
Anglers, as a group, are passionate people. It’s a tricky audience.
Opinions range as wide as the
waters we ply. What lights your
candle, when it comes to fly fishing,
might not necessarily light mine,
and vice versa… but in the end,
it’s all good.
One of the great aspects of being
a magazine editor is that you get to
hear opinions and ideas from a wide
range of enthusiastic people.
One of the great drawbacks of being a magazine editor is that you get
to hear opinions and ideas from a
wide range of enthusiastic people.
That is, of course, meant to be
tongue in cheek, but I can’t close
that thought without relaying a lesson my first boss, Jay Nagel, sports
editor of the Intelligencer (a daily
newspaper in Doylestown, Pennsylvania) shared with me on one of my
first days on the job. He said that I
should always remember: “Writing a
letter to the editor is the first outward symptom of insanity.”
That’s not to say, of course, that I
don’t value feedback. I don’t think
any editor could do his or her job
without healthy, regular doses of it.
6
As a real example, I’ll offer a recent
conversation I had with a gifted
fisherman. He had wanted to catch
a permit his whole life. (I’m using
permit as an example, though that’s
not really the fish he was after...
I’m doing so to protect a particular
fishery/outfitter). He’d read about
it. Tried on his own, and had no
success. Found a guide, and had
marginal success. Then decided to
shell out the big bucks for a once-ina-lifetime trip. And indeed, on this
trip, he caught more permit than he
had imagined in his wildest dreams.
Only to decide, after it was all
done, that he wouldn’t come back,
and probably wouldn’t permit fish
anymore because it proved to be
too “easy.” Maybe the resource was
too plentiful. Maybe the guide was
too sharp. That seemed odd to me,
knowing how some anglers will pay
top dollar to fish for giant, “easy”
stocked trout, even though they
know in the backs of their minds
that that is exactly what’s going on.
Here’s the kicker, though. In the
end, I couldn’t fault the guy. Fishing is what you make of it. If it’s all
about numbers and pounds, if it’s
a simple “pass-fail” test, then that’s
a bit sad, at least in my mind, but
that’s your prerogative. It’s the layers of opportunities, and the chance
to plot your own course that make
fly fishing as alluring as it really is
for many of us, but nobody has to
buy into that ideal.
And I would say the same about the
fly-fishing business, and specifically
trade shows. Alas, once again we
find ourselves on the cusp of the
show season. Some of us are no
doubt enthusiastic about the prospects of an IFTD show co-located
in ICAST, or the Outdoor Retailer
event to follow weeks later (or both).
Will this be the “breakthrough”
year, where we all get on the same
page and revel in the success of our
trade events? I doubt it. Sure, some
will be thrilled, and some will complain. That’s fishing. And that’s
business. That’s definitely the fly-fishing business. In the end, everyone is
going to get exactly what they make
out of their involvement, or lack
thereof, wherever and however that
takes place.
As an angler, and as an editor, I’ve
decided that that’s perfectly okay.
But maybe writing a column that
says so, for the record, is the second
outward symptom of insanity. at
Kirk Deeter
Editor
CURRENTS
Product News
Redington Launches “Vapen”
Redington’s introduction of the
Vapen Collection is touted (by the
company) as a modern twist on
technologies. The Vapen rods
feature a proprietary graphite
construction called X- Wrap. This
construction method involves
wrapping one layer of super-high
density carbon ribbon inside the
blank, and another counter-wrapped
on the exterior surface. It is a
departure from traditional graphite
construction that apparently affords
maximum vibration-dampening
properties, along with a blank that
is both stronger and lighter at the
same time.
The Vapen Red features two newto-market technologies, PowerGrip
in conjunction with X-Wrap
graphite. PowerGrip was created
in collaboration with golf club
grip company, Winn Grips, and is
intended to amplify casting power.
The advanced polymer won’t slip
when wet, feels soft in the hand
and reduces fatigue. It also cleans
easily, and doesn’t chip. Vapen Rod:
$299.95; Vapen Red Rod: $349.99.
Smith Optics Earns Magazine
Kudos
Smith Optics received the coveted
Editors Choice Award from Outdoor
8
Life magazine for the Chief
Techlite Glass Sunglass (MSRP
$179-$219). The Chiefs were
tested and scored by Outdoor Life
editor, Todd Kuhn, as well as two
commercial fisherman based in
Gulfport, Miss., who spend the
majority of their lives on and
around the water. Graded for
durability, lens quality, comfort,
hinge quality, fit and finish and
impact resistance, the Chiefs were
the only sunglasses to score all A’s
in every category.
RIO Products Introduces
Perception Line, Adds Four
Tippet Materials:
RIO products has introduced the
much anticipated “Perception” fly
line, which is designed for trout
fishing, and billed to enhance
control and feel. This is a floating
line built with the company’s
ConnectCore Technology, which
features very limited stretch.
The company says this enhances
sensitivity, which benefits casting,
mending, and detecting strikes.
This new line also involves the
company’s SureFire tri-color system.
Different colors on the line indicate
specific distances to the angler, which
helps with accuracy. Perception lines
also feature MaxCast hydrophobic
coating, MaxFloat Tip technology,
and the AgentX slickening formula, all
designed to keep the line riding high
and lasting longer.
Perception lines are available in WF3F
through WF8F in green/camo/tan
and camo/tan/gray color options, and
suggested retail is $89.95.
The new tippets include a Flouroflex
Freshwater, Fluoroflex Saltwater,
RIO Saltwater, and Steelhead/
Salmon variations.
Simms Plans Strong Array
Simms Fishing Products is planning
what could arguably be described as
it’s strongest across-the-board product
launch in years. The company, which
will have a presence at both ICAST
and IFTD in July, is planning to
introduce a redesign of its popular
G3 Guide Stockingfoot waders, as
well as two new footwear platforms—
RiverTread and VaporTread. The
latter is particularly interesting because
the Vapor boot is designed for the
angler who wants to hike distances, as
well as wade in the river.
Also of note, Simms plans to launch
new series of outerwear (jackets and
pants) as well as sportswear (hoodies,
shirts, shorts, etc.). The company is
also wading in with new packs (chest
and slings), as well as a new line of
American-made pliers and nippers, a
new PFD, and Foam Fly Box.
In all, Simms will be bringing more
than 50 new products to market
in 2014.
continued on next page...
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Mega Retailer Grows Again:
Fishwest, Inc. to merge with
Grizzly Hackle Holdings, LLC
Representatives from Grizzly
Hackle Holdings, LLC (GHH) and
Fishwest, Inc. (FWI) announced
recently that the two companies
merged on May, 17.
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Grizzly Hackle Holdings, LLC is
expanding its brick-and-mortar
retail sales footprint, with locations
in Fullerton, CA (Bob Marriott’s
Flyfishing Store), Sacramento, CA
(Kiene’s Fly Shop) and Missoula, MT
(Grizzly Hackle Fly Shop). Fishwest,
Inc is a leader in global e-commerce
and marketing fly fishing products on
an international scale.
Fine Rod Components and Cases
Providing innovative solutions to the fishing rod industry since 1968
President and Founder of Fishwest,
Inc., Dustin Carlson will remain
fully engaged in all aspects of
the merged operation, and he is
assuming the role of Director of
Operations with Grizzly Hackle
Holdings, LLC.
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Grizzly Hackle Holdings owns and
operates an expanding network
of world-class fly shops, presently
serving greater Los Angeles, centralCalifornia, and western Montana.
The network shops provide both
experienced and novice anglers alike
with extensive product inventories,
CURRENTS
full-time staff for its ecommerce
operations that include customer
service, social media and marketing,
web development and shipping/
receiving personnel.
Orvis Buys SA and Ross
expert advice, educational
programs, local guiding, and global
travel services. Steve Jensen,
Managing Director of Grizzly
Hackle Holdings, said “our brickand-mortar shops are dedicated
to providing customers with an
unsurpassed range of products
and detailed practical advice in a
hands-on retail buying experience.
We are incredibly blessed to bring
Dustin and his Fishwest team into
our organization. In addition to
adding another great store front
to our pod of shops, Fishwest will
expand our network globally with
its ecommerce operations and
make us more efficient through its
warehousing, customer service and
shipping activities. There is an old
saying that 1+1 doesn’t always equal
2, sometimes it equals 11. I believe
that this is one of those situations.”
Founded in 1999, Fishwest, Inc.
has grown to be a leader in multichannel e-commerce sales. In
addition to a brick-and-mortar
retail location, Fishwest operates a
warehousing facility for online order
fulfillment. Fishwest has a dedicated
The Orvis Company, Inc.
of Manchester, Vermont has
acquired the Scientific Anglers
and Ross Reels businesses from
3M (NYSE:MMM). Orvis
plans to continue to operate the
Midland, Michigan-based business
independently under the Scientific
Anglers brand. Ross Reels will also
continue to operate independently
under its brand name from its
Montrose, Colorado headquarters.
Terms of the transaction were
not disclosed.
Jim Lepage formerly vice president
of Rod & Tackle of Orvis, will
move to Midland and from there he
will be dedicated to running both
SA and Ross as president of those
companies. Jeff Wieringa, who had
managed the SA and Ross brands
in recent years has announced his
retirement.
Both businesses will maintain
their current operations, facilities,
employees and independent sales
representation.
“There is no plan for Orvis to carry
Scientific Anglers-brand fly lines
12
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Open Air Demo | July 30, 2013 | Jordanelle Reservoir, Utah
Find out at outdoorretailer.com/Fly
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Exclusively in the fishing and outdoor business since 1990
in its catalog, stores or website,
nor are there plans to more widely
distribute Orvis products through
SA’s established wholesale accounts.
Each brand must remain focused on
being the leading innovator in their
respective product categories and
distribution channels,” Lepage said.
“Maintaining that clarity will be the
key to our success.”
ICAST was ranked number nine
on the list. The Trade Show News
Network placed ICAST on its
Top 25 Fastest-growing Shows by
Attendance for 2012.
Outdoor Retailer Launches
Upgraded Website
Sport Fishing Worth as Much
as Commercial Fishing
A report released recently by the
American Sportfishing Association
(ASA) makes a powerful case that
from an economic perspective,
recreational fishing is just as
important as commercial fishing,
despite a much lower overall
impact on the resource. According
to the report, anglers landed just
two percent of the total saltwater
landings compared to ninety-eight
percent caught by the commercial
fishing industry.
This first-of-its-kind analysis Comparing NOAA’s Recreational
and Commercial Fishing Economic
Data, May 2013 - provides an
apples-to-apples comparison of
recreational and commercial
marine fishing from an economic
perspective using NOAA’s National
14
Marine Fisheries Services (NOAA
Fisheries) 2011 economic data.
The report was produced for ASA
by Southwick Associates. The full
report and executive summary are
available on ASA’s website.
ICAST Among the FastestGrowing Trade Shows
The International Convention
of Allied Sportfishing Trades,
better known as ICAST, has
been recognized by Trade Show
Executive and the Trade Show
News Network as one of the fastestgrowing trade shows by attendance
in the U.S. Produced by the
American Sportfishing Association
(ASA), ICAST is the world’s
largest sportfishing trade show
To make it easier for attendees
and exhibitors to find information
relevant to their individual needs
and interests, Outdoor Retailer
today announced they have
launched a redesigned website at
www.outdoorretailer.com.
The new site features a more
organic look and feel with intuitive
and consistent navigation. For
attendees, information about the
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show’s Zones - market-specific
neutral territories highlighting
the latest news, technologies and
events taking place at the show -are separated into seven different
categories for Summer Market
under the “Show Info” tab.
To help exhibitors and attendees
pre-plan their trip, the site features
ground transportation information
with interactive maps of the Salt
Lake City area and a complete shuttle
schedule. During show time, it will
also include time schedules for the
TRAX light rail system that services
the convention center and hotels.
Intended to be a destination
for exhibitors and attendees to
find show and industry-specific
information, the Industry Resources
section contains industry news,
association and advocacy news and
downloadable PDFs of past and
present O.R. Dailies.
interactive online experience that
allows visitors to join “groups,” add
their own content and become a
more active player in TU’s online
community.
Show organizers switched to a new
website platform with an easier-touse content management system
allowing them to update and add
new content as it becomes available.
What’s more, it gives TU’s
communications team the ability
to “elevate” content created by
members—everything from blog
posts, photos and even videos—to
the front page of TU.org, and share
it with the world.
The above are just a few examples of
the changes to the site. To see more,
go to www.outdoorretailer.com.
TU Expands and Enhances
Website
In May, Trout Unlimited went into
the technical launch phase of its
brand-new website, a much more
“It’s an immersive experience,” says
TU’s Director of Online Operations
Amanda Thacker-Heidtke, who
helped gather a team of consultants
and technical experts to create
and launch the site. “I think TU
members and people who just love
to fish will find the site useful. In
one place, they’ll learn everything
they need to know about TU’s trout
and salmon conservation efforts,
and they’ll be able to connect with
anglers all over the country and just
talk fishing.”
The new site, thanks to its “Go
Fishing” feature, puts much more
emphasis on angling and helping
anglers interact with one another.
For instance, one group on the
new website is focused solely on
the pursuit of big brown trout—its
members converse via the group,
and discuss locations, tactics and
tips for chasing big browns on the
fly. Other groups are region-specific,
like the Greater Yellowstone group,
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years ago. “It took us a few years to
get it right, but thanks to our web
team and the dozens of volunteers
who helped, we think we’re on the
right track.”
whose members share information
about fly fishing in and around
Yellowstone National Park.
“Our new website will provide
a place for people who love to
fish to come together and share
information, photos, video, stories,
fly patterns and stories with other
anglers,” says TU’s President and
CEO Chris Wood, who came up
with the idea for the site several
Not only does the new website—still
located at TU.org—include new
features that encourage interaction,
it’s bolder, more colorful and more
focused on the people who make
TU work, whether it’s TU staffers
or TU volunteers who are making a
difference in their own communities.
The site features great ways to
connect with TU, be it through the
organization’s blog, or through local
chapters and state councils.
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People News
TRCP Taps Perkins to Chair
Board
Conservation Partnership elected
David Perkins, vice chairman of
The Orvis Company, to chair the
TRCP board.
At its spring meeting, the board of
directors of the Theodore Roosevelt
“As one of the only conservation
groups to focus on federal policy
and funding that affects millions of
acres to conserve habitat and access
for hunter and anglers, the TRCP
has the platform to make one of the
biggest differences in preserving our
natural heritage,” said Perkins.
mtc at tp ad third quarter 13.pdf
1
6/10/13
7:38 PM
Perkins joined Orvis, the family
business, in 1979 and has held
numerous positions in the company.
Besides his executive duties, Perkins
oversees the Rod and Tackle Product
Development Group and the
Sporting Adventures Department. An
avid fly fisherman and wing shooter,
he sits on the board of the National
Fish and Wildlife Foundation as
well as the TRCP. He also is past
chairman of the Tall Timbers
Research Station in Tallahassee, Fla.
C
“I am very proud to serve as chairman
of the TRCP board,” Perkins
continued. “I look forward to working
with our very capable president and
CEO, Whit Fosburgh, and our board
to make TRCP the most valuable
asset to all our conservation partners
in changing policy and strengthening
funding to benefit fish, wildlife, hunters
and anglers.”
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
Perkins takes over as TRCP board
chair from Katie Distler Eckman, a
consultant who served as executive
director of the Turner Foundation.
“Dave’s unique experience in the
outdoors industry, his leadership in
20
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the conservation community and
his passion for hunting and angling
make him an ideal leader for the
TRCP board – and for America’s
sportsmen,” said TRCP President and
CEO Whit Fosburgh. “He knows the
history of the TRCP and understands
how to work effectively within the
hunting, fishing and conservation
community. Ultimately, his dedication
to conservation, the outdoors and the
TRCP mission is unequaled.”
Backcountry Hunters and
Anglers Hires Tawney
Backcountry Hunters and Anglers has
hired longtime Montana conservation
leader Land Tawney to be the
organization’s new executive director.
for Sportsmen’s Leadership for the
National Wildlife Federation.
Environment News
New Federal Fracking Rule a
Step Forward on Public Lands
An updated rule regulating hydraulic
fracturing practices on federal
public lands was welcomed by the
Sportsmen for Responsible Energy
Development coalition, which
commended the Bureau of Land
Management for moving forward
with regulations that will improve
transparency and the management
of all fluids in the drilling process.
The Department of the Interior’s
Land lives in Missoula, Montana,
rule establishes safety standards for
and will open an office there. He is
fracturing, or “fracking,”
leaving
his061113
post as
senior1 manager
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and would update current regulations,
which are more than 30 years old.
The current regulations are outdated
and do not address modern fracking
activities, including their impacts on
water quality and quantity.
“New technologies for extracting
oil and gas pose new challenges
for conservation of other resources
on our public lands,” said Kate
Zimmerman, public lands policy
director for the National Wildlife
Federation. “Fracking fluid waste
must be properly contained and water
quality must be monitored to avoid
negatively impacting fish and wildlife,
as well as our water supplies.”
The National Wildlife Federation,
Theodore Roosevelt Conservation
Partnership and Trout Unlimited
Four Reasons Why TROUT
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It has the largest sustained
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2
Its readers are the most
motivated anglers (they
spend and act).
3
TROUT offers by far the
best CPM value of any
publication that covers fly
fishing.
egacy of
shable water.
4
Money spent in TROUT
supports the organization
that protects the resources
that sustain fly fishing.
If you haven’t checked out
TROUT lately, make a
point to do so. We don’t
do how-to. But we’re also
not strictly a conservation
publication. TROUT is a
lifestyle publication that
covers the conscience of
angling in America. And
we’re growing...
For advertising
information:
Tim Romano;
tim@anglingtrade.com.
TROUT UNLIMITED • W
W W. T U. O R G • S U M M E R
2013
CURRENTS
are lead partners in the SFRED
coalition.
April Vokey Launches IF4
Ambassador Program
Bird Marketing Group and Vantage
Point Media House are pleased to
announce that April Vokey of Fly Gal
Ventures has joined the International
Fly Fishing Film Festival as a member
of the Festival’s newly formed
Ambassador Program. The program
has been implemented to facilitate
some of the significant growth that the
IF4 has experienced since inception
and will play a key roll in its growth
and promotion moving forward. The
deal will also see Fly Gal Ventures
included as an official sponsor of IF4
effective with the 2014 screening cycle.
“April is a modern voice for the sport of
fly fishing and brings with her a passion
for the outdoors steeped in tradition.”,
says Bird Marketing Group President
Chris Bird, “She possesses the rare
ability to reach across a wide spectrum
of demographics finding common
ground with both young and old. April
is a valued member of Fly Fusion’s
editorial staff and we are excited to
connect these dots and have her join the
IF4 team as Lead Ambassador.”
“I have closely followed IF4’s
introduction and progress in the
fly-fishing world over the past few
years and never have I been so sure
that I wanted to be part of such a
great team”, says Fly Gal Ventures
President April Vokey, “Integrity,
professionalism, entertainment and
ambition lace the festival and I am
comfortable attending the films
whether it be with a ten year old child
or a fellow fishing bum; the festival
is geared to entertain and inspire all
ages, levels and viewpoints. Every year
this great event grows and there is no
question that IF4 is sure to be a global
leader. I am thrilled to be a part of
this flourishing and inspiring team!”
April Vokey operates Fly Gal
Ventures and is an avid angler and
steelhead, salmon and trout guide.
She is passionate about Spey casting
to wild steelhead, the environment
and tying Atlantic Salmon flies.
April is a Federation of Fly Fishers
Certified Casting Instructor, Fishing
Ambassador with Patagonia, Field
Editor for Fly Fusion Magazine
and cast member with the popular
television series Buccaneers & Bones.
For additional information about Fly Gal
Ventures and April Vokey: www.flygal.ca
For additional information about
the International Fly Fishing Film
Festival: www.flyfilmfest.com
Nobody Does Flats Like Turneffe Flats
Email: reservations@tflats.com
Web: www.tflats.com
Toll Free: 888.512.8812
CURRENTS
Business Tip:
Why You Should
Use Google+
By Nick Hoover
Last week, Google held its annual
I/O conference and released a slew
of new products. I thought it would
be a good excuse to review three
reasons you should be on Google+
1) Google+ is the second-largest
social network in the World
According to recent stats put out
by GlobalWebIndex, Google is
now the second-largest social
Reel Smart.
Where you fish is your business.
Getting you home is ours.
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network outpacing Twitter and
trailing only Facebook. Google+
has more than 343m active users.
This is surprising news in the
social media realm as Google+ is
often compared to a ghost town.
But after introducing a slew of
very impressive features at their
annual I/O event the number of
active Goolge+ users is sure to
increase. More active users means
more eyeballs looking at your
social stream and potentially more
customers.
2) Authorship rankings are
coming?
This has been a hot topic in the
SEO world and signals are starting
to emerge that you should at least
pay attention to. In a great video
posted by Google engineer Matt
Cutts he describes several areas that
Google is working on to refine their
search algorithms. Around minute
4:40 Matt talks about new features
that will identify an “authority” in
a topic and rank their posts higher.
You’ve probably already seen the
connections between Google+ and
search results.
Have you noticed search results
with headshots next to them?
That’s Google+ displaying
authorship. Now becoming an
“authority” in a specific field will
mean your posts will show up
ahead of others. The only way
you can get that is through your
Google+ profile. Large brands
should tread carefully here. Ask
yourself if it’s acceptable for an
employee to retain authorship/
authority for your brand. Google
has not identified how it will deal
with a transfer of authority should
someone leave a brand.
3) It’s Google
Google continues to dominate
search engine land, with
approximately 66% of all searches
taking place on Google. If being
found via search is important to
your business model you should
absolutely be on Google+. Goggle
is the largest search engine in the
world and pours tons of cash into
Google+. The more they intertwine
Google+ with search, the more
imperative it will be for you to be a
part of their community.
Nick Hoover runs Niby Design
Group, and consults with Angling
Trade (and many others in the fly
fishing industry) on issues related
to websites and growing business
online. See Nibydesigngroup.com
at
RECOMMENDED
RECOMMENDEDREADING
READING
Fishing Stories
Edited by Henry Hughes
Everyman’s Pocket Classics, Alfred A.
Knopf, $15
writing, like Thomas McGuane, Ted
Leeson, Nick Lyons, and David James
Duncan. There are also classic voices,
like Ernest Hemingway, Zane Grey, and
Roderick Haig-Brown.
The excerpted section of Norman Maclean’s A River Runs Through It isn’t the
part of that novella you might assume.
Indeed, the choice shows far more
precision and purpose than most editors
might muster, and as such, should be
rightfully appreciated.
I carried this book as I travelled via 11
flights through 10 time zones to Russia and back home, picking and piecing—sometimes re-reading—as I went.
And in the end, was left with the strong
impression that fishing is a cultural art
form that transcends time and geography. This book is a glorious work
that rightfully belongs in any thinking
angler’s permanent collection.
-Kirk Deeter
I’ve never been a big fan of compilations.
They’re like “greatest hits” albums. Sure,
they’re perfectly useful and they offer
great bang for the buck. But there comes
a point when you wonder how many are
made specifically for that purpose. Publishers can recycle and repackage tried
and true material with little risk, and
sometimes that lack of fresh sizzle shows
in the finished product.
Fishing Stories, however, is a notable
exception. It may, in fact be the most
compelling collection of stories on fishing that I’ve ever read. It’s an outstanding mosaic of fishing literature, clearly,
carefully selected by editor Henry
Hughes, who is a professor of English at
Western Oregon University.
While the subjects range on all forms
of fishing, from “The Dream Carp,”
penned by Ueda Akinari in 1769 to
tales from literary icons like Washington
Irving, and Rudyard Kipling, fly fishing
does indeed play a prominent role. The
book rightfully includes masters of fly
28
The Orvis Guide to
Fly Fishing for Carp
By Kirk Deeter
Stonefly Press, $22.95
Okay, so this isn’t a “review” so much
as it is a shameless plug, begging friends
in the fly-fishing industry to sell my new
book. Or at least read this book. I’m
honest about that, if nothing else.
So what compels the editor of TROUT
magazine (and also Angling Trade) to
write a book on carp fishing? Have I
completely lost my mind?
Don’t answer that.
Let me simply explain that, for those
of you who have read my opinions,
in here, in Field & Stream, on the Fly
Talk blog and elsewhere, I have been
very consistent with my affection for
the world’s most notorious “trash fish.”
For two reasons: They are found
almost everywhere, and you have to
learn to be a good fly angler in order
to catch them on the fly.
This might seem a stretch to some, but
I happen to think that fly fishing for
carp can take angler pressure off of
trout.
I also think fly fishing for carp can help
fly fishing retailers, particularly those
that aren’t nestled on the bank of a
blue ribbon trout stream, or adjacent
to the saltwater flats. I believe that the
more we as an industry embrace carp,
the more opportunity we can offer to
anglers, and the more we can improve
their abilities.
So I set out, with the help of Stonefly
Press, and later, Orvis, to produce
a new book on carp that covers the
“why” of carp fishing, as well as the
“how” as thoroughly as I could. Am
I the most savvy carp angler in the
country? Hell no. But I’m a decent
writer, and I know who the best carp
anglers in the country are… so I asked
them about the nuances of carping in
fine detail.
I must say, I am proud of the finished
product. I like how it looks. I am
very grateful to the many people who
helped pull this together. And I think
it will be a win-win for those who sell it
and read it. at
feed your ƒddiction
proudly mƒde in the usƒ
orvis.com/h2ƒTsƒlt
feature
stories about fly fishing on the side
and fished... a lot.
In a turn of events that I’ll put under
the category of “being in the right
place at the right time,” I was given
the opportunity to leave my job in a
comfortable way after my company
was purchased by a competitor. I
found myself out in the real world
again. I hadn’t had a job interview in
over 10 years, I wasn’t registered on
LinkedIn, and the only copy of my
resume I could find dated back
to 2004.
Was March 2012 scary? Hell yes.
Change is scary.
Fly Life After
Corporate Death
Written by Will Rice
“TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both..”
- Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken
In March of 2012, I stood at a
crossroads. Go left, and continue
down a corporate career path that
had me feeling burned out. Go
right... and, well, the right path
looked like a dark and scary abyss.
After 17 years and three different
companies, most recently working for
the third-largest telecommunication
provider in the country, I was
cooked. I had worked in a number
of sales, sales support, product
30
marketing and business development
roles, and I had hit a wall. I was
good at what I did, but I had no
passion for it anymore. My gut
told me that I needed a change.
Corporately speaking, I was a dead
man walking.
I never thought my first entry-level
job after college would turn into
a career, but it had. I was now
a “technology guy” with other
interests. I also wrote freelance
I could have applied for jobs in
the technology field and found
employment fairly easily, but that
is not what I wanted. The thought
of restarting my career at a similar
company depressed me. I wanted
something new. I wanted to apply
what I had learned over the years in
an environment I was fired up about.
Don’t get me wrong. There are a
lot of great things about working at
a company with 40,000+ people.
The company invested a significant
amount of time and money in
education, exposing their employees
to other really, really smart
business folks. I received training
and consulting education from
organizations like Miller Heiman,
McKinsey&Company, Gartner and
Accenture. There was no doubt,
working at a company with 47,000+
employees had unique benefits and
perks.
The problem was, I wanted to get
into the fly fishing business.
The question at that point was,
would what I learned from the
corporate and technology world
transfer into the fly-fishing business?
How would selling wide area
networks, servers, online data storage
in the cloud, and hosting space to
companies like eBay, Amazon, Wells
Fargo and Facebook translate to
selling fly rods, reels, waders, and
guided fly fishing trips in a local and
global consumer market? Is it going
to transfer at all or will I have to
completely hit the restart button?
I did have one thing going for me—a
slew of new ideas. I had spent
enough time in fly shops across the
country, in drift boats, with local
guide services here in Colorado
and Wyoming and fishing lodges in
Bozeman, the Bahamas and Belize to
know what works and what doesn’t.
Not too long after I left my corporate
job, I began working few hours a
week at Trouts Fly Fishing in Denver.
I spent time creating, procuring, and
re-purposing content on their web
site and social media applications.
During my years in technology, I
had traveled extensively at home
and abroad and written magazine
and newspaper stories, first for the
Denver Post and The Drake magazine
and others like Angling Trade and Fly
Rod & Reel. I knew my way around
creating content about fly fishing.
Things progressed at Trouts and
soon I was working on a number of
different projects at Trouts including
customer/demand generation events,
collateral design, and revamping
sections of their website.
I had an important lesson from
my corporate experience: Being
an individual contributor is great
and valuable, but being on a
cohesive and effective team gives a
business leverage and power. One
really helpful thing when I started
was that Trouts already had a
successful business infrastructure in
operation. The team I joined was
solid: everyone had unique skill sets,
worked hard, and communicated
effectively. There was a very solid
foundation to build upon.
Eventually I was offered a fulltime position on the Trouts team
by owner Tucker Ladd. At last, I
had a full-time job in the fly fishing
business.
I noticed four attributes over the
years when I came across successful
business leaders. These four things
were a constant, almost like a law
Archival quality. Limited ads.
Iconic voices; stunning images.
Conservation, adventure and travel.
Tablet and collectible paper editions.
Become a Flyfish Journal retailer today.
Retail and adver tising:
questions@thefly fishjournal.com
or call 360.752.5559.
www.thefly fishjournal.com
Still, I needed to build a marketing
plan.
feature
that always proved true. Whether
these business leaders were in direct
sales, product development, product
lifecycle management, product
marketing, IT management or
customer care, four distinct qualities
always stood out.
1) They had a plan that was
customer centric
2) They communicated their plan
effectively with those around them
(up the chain, down the chain, to
customers)
3) They were focused and disciplined
4) They were willing to experiment
with new ideas and take risks
So I set off on a course to leverage what
I had learned on a new playing field.
Developing a Plan
The first thing I did was create a
business-wide marketing plan. The
plan had goals. It had strategies,
and very specific tactics on how to
attain the goals. Most importantly,
it focused on our customers. The
marketing plan had to align directly
with the overall plan of the business.
To understand all the goals of the
business, I worked closely with
the other stakeholders (namely,
the business owner) to understand
those goals. In our case, the goals
were pretty simple: grow in-store
revenue, grow the online store
business, and grow our guiding
and outfitting business. All of this
depended on having a strong focus
on our customers and their overall
satisfaction with the products we sold
and the services we delivered.
The marketing plan was aligned
around these three efforts and from
there, we made sure everyone on our
team understood the plan.
Communication
One downfall I had seen in larger
companies was poor communication.
It was the Achilles heel of
some really smart and talented
people. When I use the word
“communication” I’m really talking
about how people convey their
thoughts, ideas, intents, and actions
with both customers and sometimes
more importantly, the people they
work with. After I built my plan,
I met with everyone on the team
to make sure they understood the
From the editors of Angling Trade…
feature
Projet2:Mise en page 1
24/05/13
14:55
Pag
Focus
I wanted to avoid a trap that
I’ve seen individual contributors,
managers, and C levels fall into: a
lack of discipline and focus. I have
seen people and teams operate in
environments where no one kept
score of anything and there was no
way to tell if progress was being
made or ground was being lost.
Each day would begin as a series
of reactions to different situations.
Without focus and discipline a
business can start to feel like a bad
version of Groundhog Day.
plan and how they could align to
it. Effective communication is most
beneficial when it is bi-directional.
This meant I had to listen. We
talked about different roles and
responsibilities. I wanted to be clear
about what I was going to do, how
I was going to do it, and what the
goals were. Everyone on the team
needed to know what was expected
of them. It was also important for
everyone to be included. I made
sure to listen to everyone’s feedback.
I tweaked the plan accordingly
where it made sense. If we came
up with and interesting idea but
couldn’t map it clearly back to one
of the three business goals, out the
window it went.
The second focus-related issue
I’ve seen is what I’ll call “focus du
jour.” It is the inverse of the first
situation yet just about as ineffective.
Sales are down? Focus on getting
new customers through the door.
Revenue from existing customers is
a problem? Figure out a retention
plan. Average sales per customer
is going down? Come up with a
program focused on up-selling. It is
ineffective to put short-term plans or
BandAids on a problem. Granted, it
feels good to react to bad situations
or alarming data and take action,
but if you don’t give programs time
to work and create discipline in the
entire business to see things through,
you are most likely going to spin
your wheels.
• Do you look at your business
from a brick and mortar perspective as well an online business?
• Do you have different customers
with different buying habits and
needs based on whether they are
buying from you directly vs. online?
• What type of content will be
valuable to your customers?
• What types of events will your
customers want to join?
• Do you create ways or forums for
your customers to communicate
with you or other customers?
• What type of information about
your products or services will your
customers find compelling?
• Are you a subject matter in a
certain facet or niche product?
Do your customers fully understand your level of expertise?
• Do you have a standard dashboard of metrics that you can update easily and review and analyze
on a weekly/monthly basis? There
are a LOT of things you can look
at to gauge the effectiveness of
activities in addition to a monthly
sales report.
Our team talked about the metrics
we were going to focus on. These
metrics would be driven directly by
the tactics and programs we agreed
upon... and if the plan worked, it
would all tie back to accomplishing
our original business goals.
• Are you looking at month-overmonth metrics as well as yearover-year monthly comparisons?
What are the important metrics
to focus on? Until you lay out
the overall goals of your business,
business unit, product or sales plan,
it is hard to say. I recommend
• Do you have a process or forum
for your employees to discuss new
ideas?
34
Here are questions to think
about when it comes to building
a cohesive marketing plan, communicating with your team, and
focusing on metrics and results:
• Are there industry metrics from
similar businesses that you can use
as a benchmark to see how your
programs or activities compare?
• Are you willing to take risks...
and possibly fail?
feature
investing considerable thought into
deciding on the specific metrics you are
going to focus on and then creating the
discipline within your business to follow
those metrics diligently. Then pay
attention to what those metrics tell you.
Risk
You also need to create a culture where
risks can be taken. You are not going
to change your business or significantly
grow sales, revenue or your customer
base unless you are willing to take
calculated risks, of which - some will
succeed - and some will fail. The
important thing is to come up with a
forum of discussion where new ideas
can be discussed openly, and then be
efficiently implemented or kicked to
the curb.
New ideas and approaches to business
usually have upsides and downsides.
The first thing you need to ask when
evaluating an idea - does it map back
to the original plan and the goals that
we all agree are the most paramount
for the health of our business? If yes,
what is the upside if the idea is wildly
successful? What is the downside risk
if it is a complete failure? Are we
going to lose time that could be spent
on more effective programs? Are we
going to piss off customers? Are we
going to damage our brand? Lose
money? Go out of business? Are
those downside risks worth the upside
potential? The important thing is
to have an open system within your
business so these questions can be
asked and you have a team that is
willing to go through the exercise.
Without taking risks you are never
going to evolve - and if your business
doesn’t evolve... it will most likely die.
One year after taking the road less
traveled, I’m happy to say that although
those first steps toward the dark abyss
were a bit scary, they were well worth
it. I’m even more fired up about fly
fishing and getting other people excited
about the sport then when I first started
- that’s hard for even me to believe.
Have there been bumps along the road
on the way? Of course. I’ve learned
new things, evolved professionally and
changed. All those things are scary
but it feels good to say that there is the
possibility of making a radical career
change and applying skill sets learned
in seemingly different businesses - and
seeing positive results.
And as Robert Frost put it so eloquently
back almost 100 years ago... “Two roads
diverged in a wood, and I— I took the
one less traveled by, and that has made
all the difference.” at
Life Off the Chart
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feature
Daniel Galhardo with his “Ito” Rod.
Knock It Off ! (Or Not)
When Does Imitation Exceed Flattery and
Fair Business?
Written by Morgan Lyle
It’s not hard to have fly rods manufactured in Asia, or
at least not nearly as hard as it used to be. If you’re
interested in becoming a rod-maker, whether as a startup brand or a fly shop looking to market your own
private label rods, you have ready access to rods that are
comparable to those being sold by your competitors.
In fact, it’s possible to get too comparable. So thinks Daniel
Galhardo, founder and owner of Tenkara USA, who singlehandedly introduced Japanese-style telescoping, fixed-line fly
rods to the west in April 2009.
38
As tenkara has caught on, many small competitors have
sprung up, all Internet-based. Galhardo says he’s had to issue
a couple of cease-and-desist letters a month to tenkara rod
companies, in the U.S. and Europe, mostly for appropriating
his marketing copy or photos. But when he saw the following
ad for the Denver Fly Shop, Galhardo called his lawyer, and
the matter is now in U.S. District Court.
“We looked at all the Tenkara rods on the market and did
some research and found one particular rod that outsells
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every other Tenkara rod combined and had our own
version made by the same manufacturer as the leading
Tenkara company,” Denver Fly Shop told customers in
its e-newsletter. “Getting this rod without the use of a
distributor is allowing us to sell this rod at far less than half
the market price.”
The rod, which looks and works an awful lot like a
Tenkara USA Ito, was advertised for $100. The real Ito
goes for $235.95. Galhardo sued, alleging trade dress and
trademark infringement, dilution, unfair competition, false
description and false advertising.
Galhardo says it’s not true that the Denver Fly Shop rod is
made by the same manufacturer that makes the Tenkara
USA Ito. The shop is also mistaken in suggesting the
Ito is the top-selling rod, he said; that honor goes to the
company’s Iwana model.
And he notes that a lot of work and investment went into
developing the Ito – long trips to Japan to study tenkara
rods and consult with veteran tenkara anglers, more trips
to China to find the right manufacturer, and eventually
buying into the ownership of the rod factory. No wonder
the fly shop can charge less, he said.
“This was one of the first that was a clear attempt to copy
a rod, and a rod that I spent a long time designing—and
it was right here in my neighborhood,” said Galhardo,
who moved Tenkara USA from San Francisco to Boulder,
Colo., last year.
“In my mind, that really diminished the value of our
product. Essentially (the fly shop) was saying that our rods
weren’t worth as much as they are.” (Denver Fly Shop did
not respond to requests for an interview.)
Established brands have watched a steady parade of new
rod companies and fly-shop brands enter the market in
the past decade, practically all of them taking advantage
of the low manufacturing costs (and rapidly improving
quality) in Asian factories. There’s a vast amount of
manufacturing capacity in China and South Korea. The
city in China where Galhardo’s rods are made is home to
300 factories that make fishing rods, he said.
These original equipment manufacturers aren’t shy about
approaching American brands, or would be brands, and
offering to provide rods for far less than the wholesale cost
of well-known American brands.
“I think the first trend was the outsourcing of U.S. brands
to Asia,” said Jim Bartschi, president of Scott Rods, which
makes its own products in Montrose, Colorado. “The
second trend I saw was the explosion of new rod brands
that don’t make anything. I’m shocked that there are four
new rods brands that have come out in the past year.
Black’s Fly Fishing has something like 98 brands now.
“Now, retailers are saying, ‘I can buy a rod from Asia
for half of what I pay wholesale, and I can sell my own
product and make twice the margin,’” he said. “What’s
happened, of course, is a lot of these Asian factories
sort of reverse-engineer Scott and Sage and G. Loomis
products, and they have a portfolio of rods. The retailer
can pick the blanks they want and have them finished
according to their component and cosmetic specifications.”
Years ago, selling your own brand of fly rod would require
laying out big money for a domestic factory, and building
a distribution network, one fly shop at a time. Even
outsourcing to Asia used to be difficult; one had to be in
the know, and there was a lot of travel involved.
Today, the Asian OEMs roam the halls at the IFTD
show, handing out business cards. But a start-up brand or
private-label-minded retailer need not even go to the show
to find a factory. It’s as easy as logging onto alibaba.com
and scrolling down the list of manufacturers.
Not every private-label brand of fly rod is bought off the
rack. A larger fly shop with the cash and the customers to
flies | tying materials | tools || accessories | reels
MFC_AT_halfpage.indd 1
6/13/2013 2:09:53 PM
do so can design a custom line of
rods that competes with the large
and growing marketplace of lowand mid-priced rods.
“From a business perspective, I felt
driven to make the leap and the
investment into that market in order
to compete with saturation of the
‘less expensive’ fly rod category,
respond to the difficult economy,
and to deal with the fact that
California has a sales tax that has
driven the consumer to out-of-state
purchases for their big ticket items,”
said Mike Michalak, owner of The
Fly Shop in Reading, California.
The Fly Shop sells its own line of
rods alongside the Sages, Scotts,
Winstons, Hardys and Echos—
at the shop and from the store’s
website. Michalak may have been
forced into the “less expensive”
category, but he proudly defends the
quality of The Fly Shop-brand rods.
“Our rods often took nearly a year
in design, depending on the model,
and are unique,” he said. “They’d
get a lot more attention if there was
anyone else out there with the same
product because folks would quickly
recognize them for more than the
obvious cost-benefit advantage.
The Fly Shop’s rods are unique and
excellent fishing tools. Period.”
Of course, The Fly Shop itself is a
brand in itself – one of the country’s
biggest and best-established fly
shops. It has the wherewithal to take
on the development of a private
label. Not every retailer does,
Michalak said.
“The long-term commitment is
huge, the inventory investment is
beyond the reach of most shops,
and to just slap a label on one more
Asian knock-off offers no benefit
to the customer beyond price, and
is a difficult sell to what is a very
42
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sophisticated clientele,” he said.
“Most shops are better advised to
invest in established brands that allow
more reasonable minimums and don’t
tie up so much working capital.”
Indeed, Bartschi said he’s seen
retailers get in over their heads with
private labeling.
“What I’ve seen at a number of
retailers that have gone private label
is they’ve started at $350 rods and
they’re on sale for $125 now, because
they’re desperate to get their cash
back out of it,” he said.
“I think some of the retailers are
realizing that they don’t know
anything about manufacturing.
Just like we don’t want to retail our
products, we want specialty retailers
to do that for us. When you meet one
of these OEM guys and he’s showing
you a great product at a ridiculously
low price, I think once people
actually get into the realities of it,
their viewpoint’s changing a little bit.
There’s a lot more to it.”
to five that could make decent rods and
three that could make very good rods,
and would work on them and refine
them and get the idea. There was a lot
of ground to cover before I found the
company I wanted to work with. And
it’s also easy to not do that work.”
Galhardo has a tentative plan to
put an end to worries about knockoffs of Tenkara USA rods, and to
the headaches of long-distance rod
designing.
“I’m looking at opening a factory here
in the U.S. now,” he said. “It might be
two, five years off, who knows. But I’m
very interested in opening a factory
here in Boulder. It’s very challenging –
I’ve got to start selling more rods. But
I like the idea of doing it here. It’s a
good way to innovate and keep control
of it. Part of the reason I moved to
Boulder, besides the fishing, is its home
to one of the largest concentrations of
outdoor businesses, and there’s a huge
manufacturing base here.”
And then there’s the risk that your
research and development will end up
in a rod bearing someone else’s logo.
He knows it will cost more, “but I think
we could get pretty close.” And he likes
the idea of tinkering with rod designs
in his own factory.
“It’s incredibly easy to get a rod
or any product copied in China,”
Galhardo said. “I went through about
30 manufacturers, to narrow it down
“It will be fun to play around with
it,” he said. “I think it would be quite
boring, to be honest, just to keep the
same thing going.” at
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feature
An A-1 Operation…
How is it that one of the most successful scuba diving
retail stores in America is found in Littleton, Colorado…
literally thousands of miles from the nearest coral reef ?
Written by Kirk Deeter
Scuba diving is worthy of comparison
to fly fishing. The total number of
certified divers in the United States is
estimated between 1.5 and 2.5 million, which falls in line with the most
realistic estimates of serious fly anglers
in America. Divers, like anglers, are a
motivated demographic: They travel,
spend money on quality gear, and tend
to be well educated.
Sea turtle encounter off Maui, photo by Paul Deeter
I have long said that the fly shop that
truly lives up to that “fly shop” moniker
(meaning it is located near a popular
river or lake, and fly sales comprise the
foundation of its revenue) is almost bulletproof, even in a slowed economy. So
long as there’s water, and fish that live
in that water, and anglers who want to
catch those fish (and, of course, some
savvy behind the cash register) things
tend to work out.
But when we look at the fly shop attrition that’s happened over the past decade, a significant number of those that
have closed their doors were “lifestyle”
shops that catered to anglers in more
urban and suburban settings, farther
away from the trout water. Some were
eaten up by big boxes. Some lost ground
to Internet retailers.
44
Some shops, on the other hand, have
clearly figured out a formula for success, which often includes a healthy
Internet presence of their own, and/
or a strong travel support program.
Others, however, are still searching
for answers.
Angling Trade decided to look outside
the fly-fishing world for an example
of an outdoor retail business that is
prospering despite being physically
located far away from the best natural
resources that support the sport its customers are interested in enjoying. And
we had to look no further than in our
own backyard—in Littleton, Colorado,
where A-1 Scuba & Travel Aquatics
Center is found. A-1 has been in business for 53 years and now occupies an
impressive 11,000-square-foot facility.
There are some notable differences,
however. Scuba diving requires
certification, and fly fishing doesn’t
(which stands to reason, since you can
kill yourself if you don’t dive properly,
while, unless you wade in over your
head, the downside risk of fly fishing is failure to catch fish). There are
credible governing bodies that handle
certification of divers, perhaps most
notably the Professional Association
of Diving Instructors (PADI), which
is headquartered in Rancho Santa
Margarita, California, and includes
130,000 certified diving professionals.
Still, on the whole, fly fishing enjoys
the benefit of far more premier natural
resources worthy of exploring within
the United States. Diving, while it
can be enjoyed in lakes and reservoirs,
etc., is best experienced in warm, clear,
coral reef-laden waters, and there are
scant few of those in America (Florida
and Hawaii). California diving is cold
and “kelpy.” Great Lakes diving is
even colder, and more devoid of natural flora and fauna.
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And Colorado diving is nothing to
write home about—even if you do
spend time watching trout from below
the surface in an effort to figure out
what you’re doing wrong when casting
at those fish from above the surface.
Yet, oddly enough, there are more certified divers in the greater Denver area
than any other “non-coastal” location
in America.
What gives?
One cannot help but be impressed
when they walk into the A-1 facility.
It’s bright. It’s exciting. And most
importantly, it has absolutely everything to service the interests of any
diver—from the learner newbie to the
advanced veteran—all under one roof.
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Part of it has to do with the “outdoorsy” culture in Colorado. People
who live here love to explore nature,
and they are predisposed, perhaps,
to pick up scuba diving as another
adventure sports interest. Part of it
has to do with the fact that Denver
has a great international airport and
within a few hours of flying you can
find yourself in the Yucatan or diving Cozumel, or reef diving in Cabo
Pulmo in Baja, Mexico.
But another big part of it is that the
Denver area is home to some incredibly savvy retail stores. (On a recent
dive trip to the Bahamas, for example, the dive master, after learning
that I was from Denver, gushed about
A-1 Scuba as one of the best stores
in the country).
We sat down with A-1 owner Scott
Taylor to find out what makes the operation tick. And he said it boils down
to three things:
46
1.) One-Stop Shopping (and
training… and service…)
That may, quite literally start with the
training facilities. Diver certification
is understandably a lot more complex
than fly fishing 101, with good reason—to be a diver, the first thing you
must do is learn how not to severely
injure or kill yourself. A-1 covers the
gamut in that regard. The facility has
classrooms and its own pool—basically
everything needed to get a noob ready
for their final certification dives—right
on premises.
The retail showroom has all the latest
gear and gadgets, from wetsuits and
buoyancy control devices, to sophisticated dive computers, masks, fins, snorkels, and underwater cameras (there is
a special GoPro display). Scuba diving
may indeed be one of the few sports
that eclipses fly fishing in terms of
“gizmo-ology,” but then again, personal safety, as well as performance, is
a driving factor that prompt divers to
invest in quality gear.
(Interestingly, scuba manufacturers have instituted minimum pricing
There’s a full service center on premises, with expert technicians who can
fix any dive gear.
“People come to use our pool for
different reasons—like swimming
lessons, or triathlon training, and
of course diving training. Many of
them aren’t even divers, but they
get exposed to the diving and many
inevitably grow interested, and
eventually learn to be divers.”
There’s a bona fide travel agency onsite, with agents who can sit down with
you and explain, for example, which
of the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire,
Curacao) is best for you. (For the
record, the best bonefish-dive combo
option may be Curacao, as that island
has good flats, though the beach diving
is best on Bonaire).
A-1 hosts destination trips on a monthly basis, reaching all the world’s best
dive locales, from the Red Sea to the
Philippines.
“What we want to do—and have to
do—is be able to service the needs and
interests of anyone who walks through
our door,” explained Taylor. “If you’re
a complete newcomer, and want to
learn how to dive, of course, we can
help you get started. If you are an experienced diver, and you want to travel
to find adventure, we can do that too.
And we can help you keep your gear
functioning properly. In other words,
there’s no reason to go different places
to find different things. You can find it
all here.” Near Denver.
2) A Family Focus… With “Crossover” Appeal
This naturally creates a family focus
for A-1. In fact, Taylor estimates that
90 percent of his customers fall into
some sort of a “family” category. Diving is known for its “buddy system”
(you never dive alone, you always have
someone watching your back, and
you are always looking out for your
2014
DENVER, CO
JANUARY 3, 4 & 5
MARLBOROUGH, MA
JANUARY 17, 18 & 19
PHOTO BY BARRY AND CATHY BECK
standards which help brick-and-mortar
retail operations compete with online
retailers that seek to promote discounted—usually older model—products.)
SOMERSET, NJ
JANUARY 24, 25 & 26
WINSTON-SALEM, NC
FEBRUARY 7 & 8
LYNNWOOD, WA
FEBRUARY 15 & 16
PLEASANTON, CA
FEBRUARY 21, 22 & 23
LANCASTER, PA
MARCH 1 & 2
You’ll notice that the business has a
rather lengthy and descriptive name:
A-1 Scuba & Travel Aquatics Center.
“The ‘Aquatics Center’ part is a
relatively new addition, but it really relates an important part of
our business,” explained Ryan
O’Connor, assistant retail manager.
Fly Fishing is
NOT part of the show
IT IS THE SHOW!
flyfishingshow.com
feature
partner), and that also apparently
translates to dry land. People learn
to dive, then travel and dive, as
teammates—fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, sisters, boyfriends
and girlfriends, and so forth.
Imagine the fly shop in this context.
What percentage of your business
do you estimate to be “family-driven” and what percentage (honestly)
is the solo-shopping, white male, age
40 and above? How many fly-fishing classes are family classes? How
much effort is invested in teaching
anglers to teach others, rather than
the straightforward one-on-one?
People like to learn together, and
A-1 has on-site classrooms with
certification courses of all levels to
foster divers along.
O’Connor related an interesting
story that captures the family appeal
of diving.
“We have one family that travels
together to dive, but the dad does not
swim,” said O’Connor. “He still goes
on the trip, but he sits in the boat.
The funny thing is, he’s now come
into our shop to take swimming lessons, and he hasn’t told anyone about
it. He’s planning on going on the
next trip and just jumping out of the
boat and surprising everyone.”
The pool also serves as a magnet
to grab the attention of outdoor
aficionados who make good scuba
candidates. For example, a triathlete might come to A-1 to train in
the “endless pool” (the pool has
a propulsion system/flume that
allows athletes to swim in place…
an aquatic treadmill of sorts), or to
purchase a wetsuit for training (and
who can offer a better array of wetsuits than a scuba diving store?), and
they are inevitably exposed to diving
so much, they inevitably convert,
almost by osmosis.
48
3) Partnerships
The unique selling proposition—the
ability to offer customers something
unique—is powerful for any business.
A-1 is able to offer an experience unlike any other—the ability to dive with
sharks and other tropical, saltwater
fish in a reef environment… in the
Mile High City. This is made possible
through a partnership with the Downtown Aquarium.
It’s actually a win-win. Who’s more
enthusiastic about visiting and supporting an aquarium than the dive
demographic? And if you’re diving in
Denver, would you rather do so in a
chilly, cloudy reservoir, or spend a few
bucks and enjoy a realistic simulation
of a reef environment?
“Our partnership with the Aquarium is
really important to us, and it’s been key
in attracting customers,” said Taylor.
“People go to the aquarium and all the
sudden they see divers mixing in with
the fish, and they wonder how they can
do that. We can put them there.”
Still other partnerships are more
altruistic in foundation, but no less
important for building and sustaining a
customer base.
For example, as with fly fishing, the
scuba community is heavily involved in
supporting disabled veterans. A-1 hosts
regular programs for wounded warriors, and through another partnership
with Craig Hospital (which specializes in severe brain and spinal cord
injuries), helps many disabled people
discover and enjoy diving.
Taylor was formerly a physical
therapist before he and his wife Lynn
acquired the business from her father
over 20 years ago. He now offers
Handicapped Scuba Association Instructor training—again taking the extra step to teach others to help others.
It all ultimately folds into the familyfocused, comprehensive resource thinking that makes A-1 more than a scuba
diving business. It is a community
resource that happens to be based on
scuba diving.
And there’s no doubt that this type of
thinking has worked well where it has
been applied in the fly-fishing world.
The real question is, how deep can all
this go? at
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feature
Fly Fishing’s
Five-Year Facelift
Seeking blue skies beyond the economic collapse
Written by Geoff Mueller
In the fall of 2008, major financial markets spiraled off the cliff.
Spurred by mortgage and credit
crisis and followed by bank collapse
and government bailout, businesses across the board prepared
for apocalyptic outcomes. Casualties abounded, while the flyfishing
industry took a beating under an
inclement economic climate.
Five years later the dark clouds have
dissipated some. Talk of downturn
is being replaced with uptick optimism, while farsighted businesses
evolve the blueprint to maintain relevancy and spur growth amid fierce
50
competition. One such company on
the leading edge of the post-collapse
evolution is Orvis. Having made significant investments in the rebranding department over the past several
years, its flyfishing facelift presents
an entirely new animal.
“We knew we needed to brand
ourselves more inline with who we
are in flyfishing. Most of our product developers, shop managers, and
guides are young,” says company
marketing czar, Tom Rosenbauer.
“I’m the oldest one here by probably 10 years. The changes are
really more about who we actually
are than the image we projected in
the past.”
The transition has been a long time
coming for a brand that’s been in
the game for more than 150 years.
Orvis’ new look began its metamorphosis in the form of enlivened
ad messaging—both online and in
print—targeting a demographic
more focused on fun and adventure
than nostalgia and graying hairs.
Similarly, the company stepped up
its involvement and investment in
film, catering to a new breed of
anglers on the move.
feature
For those who took in the Fly
Fishing Film Tour 2013, Orvis,
although not a headline sponsor,
managed to impregnate the big
screen with savvy product placement and individual film support
throughout. Taking a cue from
Coca-Cola and Doritos, Steve
Hemkens, the current head of
Orvis’ Rod & Tackle department,
has been instrumental in getting the
brand seen and in the hands of new
audiences. Simon Perkins, heir to
the company throne and a talented
filmmaker in his own right, has also
helped ramp up company energy.
The returns, thus far, are mostly
anecdotal. But Rosenbauer says the
buzz has been loud.
“It’s one of those areas where you
know it’s the right thing to do.
There’s no question about it. We
hear it and feel it,” he says. “The fly
fishing industry is small enough that
we’ve found this kind of evidence to
be relevant. And when you start to
see things a few times it’s a trend.”
In addition to film popularity and
tapping into younger audiences
one of the biggest movements
Orvis has encountered since the
collapse has been the falling off
of the barely hanging on. In a
shark-eat-shark battle for survival,
businesses that strived during the
past five years did so by capitalizing
on the misfortunes of less-savvy
coampetitors, especially in the retail
and travel ends of the spectrum.
Jim Klug at Bozeman-based Yellow
Dog Flyfishing Adventures, for
instance, says the downturn hit his
travel-bookings business hard, but it
also provided opportunity.
“My business partner, Ian Davis,
and I saw a lot of our competi-
52
tion pulling back and burying
their heads in the sand. They were
pulling advertising, quit doing
consumer shows, and eliminating
catalogs—Kaufmann’s is a good
example,” Klug says. “Everybody
pulled back thinking they would
ride this out and rest on the laurels
they’d created up to this point. It
was a dangerous gamble and many
companies that chose that path really hurt themselves.”
With a healthy cash reserve and
limited overhead, Yellow Dog did
the opposite and doubled down.
The company increased advertising
and marketing budgets, ramped up
consumer show appearances from
10 to 15 annually, expanded its
catalog print run, sponsored more
events, and took advantage of the
downturn to seize market share.
Those aggressive moves have paid
off. According to Klug, Yellow Dog
began to rebound in 2010 after 12
to 18 months marked by a more
than 30 percent drop in business.
The following year, in 2011, the
company recorded its best numbers
ever, only to trump them once again
in 2012. To say the travel industry
is booming at this point, however,
would be an exaggeration.
“I think our success is a direct
result of doing what we did,” Klug
says, “not necessarily a skyrocketing travel industry. We took a huge
gamble that frankly, if things had
not improved, would have killed us.”
Although the size of the travel pie
has not grown exponentially, it’s an
area that’s rebounded faster than
others. People are booking flyfishing trips at a healthy rate. They’re
traveling to new, exotic destinations
that 15 years ago didn’t have the in-
frastructure and services to support
a clientele. And, oftentimes, they’re
taking their families in tow, whether
domestically to Alaska or Montana
or abroad to South America mainstays such as Chile and Argentina.
As the founder of Confluence Films,
alongside filmmaker Chris Patterson, film, Klug says, has been a
leading factor in inspiring anglers
to experience fishing beyond the
backyard.
“For us it’s really opened up a whole
world of these exotic destinations,
crazy species, a lot of these flyfishing possibilities that people have
never really considered before. And
it’s been phenomenal for travel.”
In the end, whether it’s promoting
far-flung destinations, marketing
new fly rods, or ramping up retail
sales, quality service and customer
satisfaction remain key links in the
chain. But today it’s really about
going above and beyond. Businesses
that have retained relevancy while
weathering potential wreckage have
done so by tweaking the mold and
catering to a smarter, cagier consumer base.
In Livingston, Montana, the gateway to some of the best trout
escapes in the West, retail competition has always been cutthroat.
And while the downturn could have
delivered a nail-in-the-coffin scenario for several flyfishing businesses,
George Anderson’s Yellowstone
Angler fly shop has forged ahead by
bucking the status quo.
“Five years after the collapse ‘normal’ business practices of maintaining great customer service and
having the best guides are no longer
enough,” says shop manager, James
Anderson. “We’ve become more
involved with the community, we
donate several guide trips a year,
as well as tackle to other organizations. We’ve improved our online
fishing reports and worked hard
to update current photos in order
to keep people coming back to the
site, and we’re always trying to
improve our Internet catalog.”
Flies remain the shop’s most
consistent sellers, alongside terminal tackle. And in addition to a
recent uptick in travel bookings,
rod sales continue to progress
due to the shop’s popular online
gear shootouts. The brilliant and
sometimes controversial concept of
providing in-depth comparisons of
similar products like rods, tippets,
or waders has helped change the
game, providing honest, expert
opinions—good and bad—on new
products entering the fold each
season.
Yellowstone Angler hopes to grow
the industry in a healthy direction,
helping people save time by narrowing down options on something
they’re looking for. Ultimately the
goal is to sell more gear to a wizened consumer with very specific
wants and needs. It’s a formula that
sets the shop apart from competitors. And being recognizably different these days is a powerful trait.
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HARD TO PUT DOWN
BACKCAST
barrage of sorry stories and sights:
Disease is on the rise. Tornado season
is especially deadly. The economy
is the shits. So are the politicians
and celebrities. And the 1950s,
unencumbered and freewheeling
down the interstate in a gas-guzzling
hunk of American-made steel never
felt so freeing.
Retro Gets
Active
The rebirth of simplicity
on the river
Written by Geoff Mueller
Minus the copious cigs, lunch-break
booze hounding, and chauvinistic
tendencies, Don Draper of the
50s-/60’s-era TV franchise Mad Men
would feel at home in 2013. Sparked
in part by the show, the rebirth of
retro-modern has sunk its kitschy
home decor, starched linens, and sex
appeal into the consumer mainstream.
And the fly-fishing industry is no
longer immune to the madness.
Perhaps it’s something in the
water—Canadian Club, straight.
Or maybe it’s the innocence of a
generation that took its vices much
less literally than we do today. But
there’s no denying that vintage is
fast becoming a preferred vantage.
Today’s technological wizardry keeps
the deluge of texts, emails, and news
coming, while getting away from it
all becomes more and more difficult.
The media is filled with a constant
54
One reason we’re drawn to the era
is because it represents a time of
relative prosperity. During its span
the economy grew by more than
30 percent. And at the end of the
decade, the median American family
had greatly increased its purchasing
power. Inflation was minimal and
except for a couple recessions
unemployment remained low,
bottoming at less than 4.5 percent
mid-decade. In addition, wages for
skilled labor were relatively high and
inexpensive oil from domestic wells
helped keep the wheels in motion.
From a consumer standpoint there
was cash to burn, which spurred
healthy economic growth. Looking
out the window more than 50 years
later, a general lack of consumer
spending remains a key factor in
businesses going bust. So we travel
back in time to an era where things
just seemed a little simpler.
Fly fishing, as a means of catching
fish, embodies this back-to-square-one
notion well. “Lures” still stem from
feathers. Basic necessities include beer
and water. And the recent resurgence
in Spey, as well as slower graphite,
glass, and cane rods from modern
manufacturers are aiming toward an
easier-going gait on the water. This
endeavor also remains about the
getaway, forgoing the breakneck pace
of our 9-to-5s—at least for a few days
here and there. We revel in campfires,
dories and rafts propelled by river
gradient and human sweat, and we
covet the open road. We are, let’s face
it, a little crusty.
Over the winter I picked up a
rickety, old-as-dirt camper and
have been busy dusting off the
rust for the upcoming season. It’s
1950s vintage, featuring cannedham construction and 50 years
of original wood rot that’s been
replaced with a couple of sheets of
Home Depot plywood. Furnishings
are basic and clean and true to the
era. It holds a Coleman heater that
one hopes won’t poison anyone
with carbon monoxide, a hand
pump-operated sink, and the
old-school convenience of a roof
overhead. And last, but not least,
potential.
The restoration work has been
worth it. It’s meant less time with
keyboard calluses and more with
hands dirty plotting old-school
escapes to not-so-far-off places.
Its retro-modern maiden voyage
this summer will mark a return to
places such as Yellowstone National
Park. Wyoming, Idaho, Montana.
Destinations and rivers that never
grow old. Consider it vintage
insulation against the turmoil
of today.
If Don Draper were to Airstream
it from Madison Ave. to the
American West it’s a tough call
what rod he might choose to throw.
His penchant for Lucky Strikes
could send bamboo up in flames.
And the fast times of Manhattan
ad execs might be too quick for
noodle-like fiberglass action. Several
manufacturers are successfully
rebranding slow as cool with
moderately paced graphite. They’re
smooth like top-dollar booze,
track straight, and for someone as
sideways as Draper, a perfect fit. at
Introducing the CIRCA. Born of Konnetic technology, its radically narrow blank
gives it a hypnotically smooth slow-action tempo that’s still delightfully crisp and
accurate (so you know it’s a Sage). Add greater dry fly proficiency to your arsenal
by daring to go slow. What happens next will surely be a blur.
sageflyfish.com

PDF - Angling Trade

Transcription

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