We reviewed our past season, both from a fishing perspective and a business perspective. Business was a little tough. We still had supply chain problems and inflation. We really dropped the ball with our website and Ecommerce store. Our number one comment from customers about our website is the importance of keeping our fishing information current. We have some great links to streamflows, reservoir storage, snowpack and other information. We completely dropped the ball with important information like fishing reports, blogs, newsletters and Ecommerce. This year we will do better.
New Ecommerce Site
We have completely rebuilt our online store. The old one was impossible because it didn’t track our inventory. Check out our new online store. We’re adding more products every day. it will take a lot of time putting photos and product information. We hope you’ll keep checking back because we will constantly update it. Also, it could be a good benefit for customers to provide contact information so that they can receive specific current information and online product specials. Let us know which products you would like us to feature.
Rivers Graded
For the most part, fishing in 2023 was pretty good but not great. Most rivers have ups and downs. You may disagree with my opinion on this. My conclusions are based on the reports from our guide staff, shop employees, store customers and guide clients. As a former school teacher, giving a grade to measure results can be very helpful. With that in mind, this is how I would grade some of these great waters. Every one of these great rivers had terrific fishing at specific times of the season. My grades were determined by averaging the fishing compared to specific conditions throughout the season
Henry’s Fork
- Box Canyon B-
- Harriman Ranch D+
- Warm River to Ashton C+
- Lower River B+
Madison River
- Wade Section B+
- Float Section B-
Teton River
- Upper Section D
- Lower Section B-
South Fork of the Snake
- Upper River A-
- Canyon Section A-
- Lower River B
Overall this is a GPA of about 2.75, slightly above average. Weather conditions, water conditions, angling pressure and other factors will determine if our upcoming 2024 season can top 2023. I hope so. We need to get our GPA above 3.0 or at least a B.
Divisiveness
I grew up at a time when you could speak candidly with friends or family members about every subject. You didn’t need to worry about offending someone because you used the wrong word. Political divisiveness was as simple as whether you watched Saturday Night Live or All in the Family. You didn’t make an enemy or become an enemy for having the wrong political view. We didn’t watch specific news channel only because it followed our own political view. In fact, there weren’t any news channels. It was all network news and they reported the news. Not the news as they saw it but simply, the news.
Today is different but I don’t believe anybody likes the terrible divisiveness that is happening today. That’s one of the major reasons I love fly fishing. We’re all the same, with a common goal. Trout have no agenda. They don’t care about our social, political or financial status. It doesn’t matter whether you are a CEO of a giant corporation, a movie star or a pro athlete. We all dress pretty much the same in the same boring clothes. Over the fifty years I have been in the fly fishing business I have met them all. General Norman Schwarzkopf fished with one of our guides not long after the end of the Gulf War. He had the same anticipation and expectation of any other angler. He wasn’t much different than the local guy wearing a John Deere trucker hat who saves all year to purchase a new fly rod.
Lately I’ve become troubled and concerned that the divisiveness is making its way into fly fishing. With more and more pressure on our rivers it is tempting to worry about what others are doing rather than what we are doing. There are more threats to our resources than ever before. I believe we should put social issues on the back burner, like whether to float fish or wade, blind fish nymphs, and so on. It doesn’t matter if you wade or float if the resource is shot.