WEBVTT - Ep. 19: Sheefish in Tropical Storm Steve Austin 0:00:02.759 --> 0:00:08.080 Which in Finnish actually translates to mud tropical stomp. Steve Austen, 0:00:08.520 --> 0:00:11.280 that would have been bad as yo, bro, I'll bring 0:00:11.280 --> 0:00:13.840 the case of Miller. You got the asparagus? Like, why? Who? 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:16.520 Why is there asparagus and fishing? I just feel bad 0:00:16.600 --> 0:00:19.080 for the fish because it already lost most of its 0:00:19.079 --> 0:00:27.040 dignity getting caught by this dude and blind drunk. Good morning, 0:00:27.160 --> 0:00:30.800 degenerate anglers, welcome to Bent the Fishing Podcast. That can't 0:00:30.800 --> 0:00:34.320 even feign mild enthusiasm anymore when you hand off your 0:00:34.320 --> 0:00:36.479 phone and make a scroll through thirty five frames of 0:00:36.560 --> 0:00:40.120 your p B large mouth. I'm Joe Surmelli A Miles 0:00:40.200 --> 0:00:43.080 NULDI and and just wait a second, was that that 0:00:43.240 --> 0:00:46.080 PB thing? Was that just for Stephen Hella's benefit, because 0:00:46.680 --> 0:00:48.320 you know that's a pet pe of his right, you know, 0:00:48.400 --> 0:00:50.960 he kind of hates that. No, No, I actually had 0:00:50.960 --> 0:00:52.960 no idea he had a problem with the acronym PB. 0:00:54.080 --> 0:00:55.880 He's the boss, so I probably should have known that, 0:00:55.920 --> 0:00:58.920 but I don't know. I didn't. It never really bothered me. 0:00:59.000 --> 0:01:01.200 But just what bothers me is having to pretend I 0:01:01.200 --> 0:01:03.600 want to see tons of photos of it on your phone. 0:01:04.000 --> 0:01:06.520 This this right here, This, right here is why I 0:01:06.520 --> 0:01:08.200 don't go to barbecues with a bunch of people I 0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:10.959 don't know. Hold up, that's there's a legitimate bright side 0:01:11.040 --> 0:01:13.399 for the past ten months, because an barbecue is going 0:01:13.400 --> 0:01:16.399 down right like and and now these days when I 0:01:16.480 --> 0:01:19.520 run into people right as opposed to sometimes in the past, 0:01:19.520 --> 0:01:21.920 they don't just start handing me their phone to show 0:01:21.920 --> 0:01:26.080 off picks. Ever since, ever since that run on lisol wipes, 0:01:26.240 --> 0:01:28.240 that kind of that behavior just sort of shut down. 0:01:28.600 --> 0:01:36.520 You don't know, I'm not trying to be a dick, 0:01:37.000 --> 0:01:42.240 like I'm not, but I don't totally get it either, right, Okay, 0:01:42.240 --> 0:01:45.039 you caught a big fish. I'm honestly happy for you, 0:01:45.120 --> 0:01:48.400 Like legitimately, I'm happy for you. But unless the photos 0:01:48.440 --> 0:01:51.600 that you're showing me, like unless they're super unique in 0:01:51.680 --> 0:01:54.040 some way, or or you're using them to illustrate a 0:01:54.080 --> 0:01:56.520 point in a really good story that you're telling me, 0:01:56.880 --> 0:02:00.600 I just don't care. I don't I'm sorry. Okay, listen 0:02:00.960 --> 0:02:03.760 before I retort with a steaming cup of counter argument 0:02:03.800 --> 0:02:05.840 on what you're saying right now, just a quick friendly 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:08.040 the reminder that the band podcast is fueled by Black 0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:10.960 Rifle coffee. If you like coffee and fishing, head on 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:13.760 over to Black Rifle Coffee dot com back slash mediator 0:02:13.760 --> 0:02:16.919 to sign up for their coffee subscription service, then use 0:02:16.960 --> 0:02:20.560 the code mediator at checkout to take off your order. 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:23.760 Plug done. Back to your little rant here, are you 0:02:23.840 --> 0:02:26.840 hating on gripp and grins in general or just when 0:02:26.880 --> 0:02:31.120 people show them to you uninvited? I'm confused? Uh, I 0:02:31.160 --> 0:02:33.880 guess it's a little both, if I'm being honest, all right, Like, 0:02:34.440 --> 0:02:37.520 I have a complicated relationship with gripping grids, right, and 0:02:37.560 --> 0:02:42.000 it's changed, it has changed over time. At this moment, 0:02:42.040 --> 0:02:45.760 like at this moment in time, I I can't believe 0:02:45.760 --> 0:02:47.280 what it says. I kind of think about them the 0:02:47.320 --> 0:02:49.600 same way I think about dick picks. All right, I 0:02:49.600 --> 0:02:53.120 have no problem. I have no problem with people taking 0:02:53.240 --> 0:02:56.920 all the grip and grins they want for themselves or 0:02:57.080 --> 0:03:01.080 loved ones or posterity or whatever. Would you superimpose the 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:03.360 word dick picking that statement, like you, I have no 0:03:03.440 --> 0:03:07.760 problem how many dick yourself. This is all intentional, and 0:03:07.840 --> 0:03:11.480 if someone asks to see your grip and grins, then 0:03:11.480 --> 0:03:14.920 by all means share. But like I think, maybe we 0:03:14.960 --> 0:03:17.880 need to rethink this practice of just showing our grip 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:20.360 and grins to people who have expressed no desire to 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:22.760 see them. That's what I think. Yeah, but what you 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:25.240 to find at the end there is social media and 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:27.760 we and we know you don't like social media. And 0:03:28.120 --> 0:03:30.919 while I don't want to be subjected to random phone scrolling, 0:03:31.240 --> 0:03:32.960 I don't know. I you know, I feel beholding the 0:03:33.000 --> 0:03:36.200 social media to some degree, you know, and the Okay, look, 0:03:36.240 --> 0:03:39.640 you're right, I don't love social media. But here's where 0:03:39.640 --> 0:03:41.880 your analogy breaks down from me, right, because social media 0:03:42.000 --> 0:03:45.520 is it's voluntary. I can unfollow you if if I 0:03:45.640 --> 0:03:48.520 find your gripping and grinning like two egregious or or 0:03:48.560 --> 0:03:51.000 better yet, I can choose not to go on social 0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:55.680 media at all. Right, you're right, You're right, But I also, man, you, 0:03:56.080 --> 0:03:58.440 I think you're kind of not being realistic about this 0:03:58.600 --> 0:04:01.720 because just because you don't love hero shots, it doesn't 0:04:01.760 --> 0:04:04.920 really change the fact that big fish turn heads, right, 0:04:05.040 --> 0:04:08.680 Like our business is kind of about turning heads with 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:12.160 big fish at times. Right, So I I get tired 0:04:12.160 --> 0:04:14.840 of both looking at and taking grip and grins. But 0:04:15.360 --> 0:04:17.840 like it's that or a close up, neither of which 0:04:17.880 --> 0:04:21.360 are original. And the gripping grins get way more attention 0:04:21.839 --> 0:04:23.839 and look like so I get annoyed with it too. 0:04:24.120 --> 0:04:27.360 I get annoyed with myself because I pose the exact 0:04:27.560 --> 0:04:31.520 same way in every grip and grin, whether it's shot 0:04:31.600 --> 0:04:34.279 by someone else or via the camera timer. And I 0:04:34.360 --> 0:04:37.920 hate myself for it. And I want to be creative 0:04:38.080 --> 0:04:40.600 and do something different. But after all these years, like 0:04:40.640 --> 0:04:43.360 my muscle memory goes right to rifle pose, I just 0:04:43.440 --> 0:04:48.520 go up, how just come out, just come up? And 0:04:48.520 --> 0:04:51.120 that's and that and that's my problem, you know. But 0:04:51.200 --> 0:04:53.400 my point is that you're not being realistic. And you're 0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:57.080 also forgetting about captains and guides, which is ironic considering 0:04:57.120 --> 0:05:00.040 you were once both of those. We had we it 0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:03.960 overlook that. And and they make money showing showing gripping grins, dude, 0:05:04.000 --> 0:05:06.640 like they do have more value than dick picks in 0:05:06.680 --> 0:05:09.239 my opinion, though maybe someone makes money off those two. 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:12.599 I don't know. So yeah, all right, yeah, okay, look 0:05:12.680 --> 0:05:16.520 the Dick peck analogy, Uh maybe it's a little flowed. 0:05:16.560 --> 0:05:18.919 Maybe I went too far with that. I'll give you that. 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:23.320 And man, like, just to clear this up, I take 0:05:23.400 --> 0:05:25.800 and I post gripp and grins Okay, Like I do 0:05:26.000 --> 0:05:29.440 understand that my my grape is my grape. Really, I 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:31.760 think lies in the handing off the phone deal that 0:05:31.800 --> 0:05:34.160 we were talking about, like the being forced to see it. 0:05:34.720 --> 0:05:36.160 But to your point, like, let me get back to 0:05:36.160 --> 0:05:38.560 your point on on on guides and captains. I I 0:05:38.720 --> 0:05:41.280 struggle with that when I was guiding, Like I I 0:05:41.360 --> 0:05:44.320 actually hated gripping grins way more when I was a guide, 0:05:44.360 --> 0:05:47.760 I think than I do now, because I feel like 0:05:47.800 --> 0:05:51.799 they set people up for disappointment, right, Like all anyone 0:05:51.880 --> 0:05:54.800 sees on social media or anywhere in fishing media at all, 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:58.160 really are these just huge giant fish? And so they 0:05:58.200 --> 0:06:00.800 show up, they show up to their day guided fishing, 0:06:01.279 --> 0:06:05.480 and their their expectations are dictated by Instagram accounts instead 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:08.640 of reality. And let's just be let's just be honest. 0:06:08.640 --> 0:06:10.560 If you if you think your first day of trout 0:06:10.600 --> 0:06:12.520 fishing for the season is going to look like the 0:06:12.520 --> 0:06:15.599 fly Lord's page, you're setting yourself up for disappointment and 0:06:16.360 --> 0:06:18.920 it just makes for a terrible trip from the guide, 0:06:18.920 --> 0:06:21.159 for the client, for anybody. Look, all right, I'm gonna 0:06:21.160 --> 0:06:23.560 get off by soapbox and and be done with this. 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:25.520 I think I think we've reached some sort of conclusion. 0:06:25.560 --> 0:06:28.760 Maybe I don't know. I don't know, but I think 0:06:28.839 --> 0:06:30.600 we need to move on to the fishing report. And 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:35.559 this particular contributor does not care at all about this debate. Yeah, 0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:39.000 he isn't posting anything to promote himself because his guiding 0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:42.080 business is not what you would call legal. That is correct. 0:06:42.320 --> 0:06:45.640 You won't see picks of down the Road Darren anywhere. 0:06:45.920 --> 0:06:47.880 I mean, how we just bleeped his last name. He's 0:06:47.920 --> 0:06:51.400 so under the radar because he's got warrants out or something. 0:06:51.640 --> 0:06:53.800 But we're still gonna kick it over to our favorite 0:06:53.839 --> 0:06:57.120 South Louisiana Black Ops charter captain who's trying to keep 0:06:57.200 --> 0:07:01.359 himself moving forward despite the seemingly endless streams of hurricanes 0:07:01.480 --> 0:07:08.320 this season. Hey, y'all, it's down the Road Darren with 0:07:08.400 --> 0:07:12.080 the South Louisiana Fishing Report. Holy Mary, Mother of God, 0:07:12.240 --> 0:07:16.240 was that hilacious hurricane season. We had so many storms. 0:07:16.280 --> 0:07:19.280 They went through the whole alphabet with names and started 0:07:19.320 --> 0:07:22.560 picking some kind of weird Greek sound of names. They 0:07:22.560 --> 0:07:25.480 should have named them after the WWF rats. It was 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:29.720 like Hurricane Hulk Hogan and Tropical Storm Steve Austin that 0:07:29.760 --> 0:07:33.640 would have been badass. My damn trailer got all torn 0:07:33.760 --> 0:07:36.560 up during hurricanes A to last month, so I'm currently 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:40.320 shocked up in a tent and max old Lady Shantell's backyard. 0:07:40.560 --> 0:07:44.800 It's a less than ideal situation, but it's got it's perks. 0:07:44.840 --> 0:07:47.200 Sometimes I come home with a case of bush heavies 0:07:47.240 --> 0:07:48.960 and if I give her a few, she lets me 0:07:49.080 --> 0:07:52.640 use her microwave to warm up a can of ravioli. Anyways, 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:55.920 the hurricanes did mess some things up, but the fishing 0:07:56.360 --> 0:07:59.760 is better than ever. The specle trout of gorging themselves 0:07:59.760 --> 0:08:01.920 on shrimp right now, and if you can find a 0:08:02.000 --> 0:08:05.200 good falling tide, you can catch a nice mess of fish. 0:08:05.600 --> 0:08:08.200 Head down the four Horse Lake when the tide's ripping, 0:08:08.440 --> 0:08:10.960 and toss some plastics anywhere you see your buy you 0:08:11.360 --> 0:08:14.560 emptying into the lake, that trot will be stacked up. 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:17.160 It's gonna be a boat parade, So try to stay 0:08:17.200 --> 0:08:20.320 at two cast distance away from other boats. Some people 0:08:20.400 --> 0:08:23.120 got no respect these days, and they come up right 0:08:23.200 --> 0:08:25.600 next to you. My little pot in the Austin been 0:08:25.640 --> 0:08:27.560 going out to the lake front in the Wallans and 0:08:27.640 --> 0:08:29.840 throwing a cast net for shrimp. I went with him 0:08:29.840 --> 0:08:32.640 one night. Before we could finish a bottle of Taka vodka, 0:08:32.960 --> 0:08:35.320 we had already filled the ice chests up with shrimp. 0:08:35.440 --> 0:08:38.520 Chantel was pretty happy balled them shrimp the next day. 0:08:38.640 --> 0:08:40.320 She would have let me sleep on the couch that 0:08:40.400 --> 0:08:42.320 night if I hadn't got into an argument with her 0:08:42.320 --> 0:08:45.560 neighbor after my pit bull bit his laboratory retriever. Red 0:08:45.600 --> 0:08:47.559 fish are stacking up too, and you can find them 0:08:47.559 --> 0:08:50.240 all over the place right now. Get this, I saw 0:08:50.280 --> 0:08:53.160 a dude fly fishing for red fish the other day. 0:08:53.440 --> 0:08:56.800 That poor dude kept waving his own back and fourth 0:08:56.840 --> 0:09:00.360 and back and forth. I can't believe somebody will go 0:09:00.360 --> 0:09:02.840 through that much trouble when all you gotta do is 0:09:02.880 --> 0:09:05.840 toss out a dead shrimp under a popping cord and 0:09:05.920 --> 0:09:09.000 let the fish come to you, poor sucker. So that's 0:09:09.040 --> 0:09:11.960 the report for the fall fishing down here in South Louisiana. 0:09:12.240 --> 0:09:14.120 I still got some days available if you want to 0:09:14.160 --> 0:09:17.040 go fishing this fall. The damn mayor in New Orleans 0:09:17.160 --> 0:09:20.120 canceled Marty Guard this year due to the phony coronavirus, 0:09:20.240 --> 0:09:22.160 and I normally make a lot of money that time 0:09:22.200 --> 0:09:24.880 of year, so I gotta book as many under the 0:09:24.960 --> 0:09:27.640 table charter trips as I can. I'm trying to get 0:09:27.640 --> 0:09:29.920 my mama a new dryer for Christmas, and I may 0:09:29.960 --> 0:09:32.680 or may not have promised my boy Joey Campo i'd 0:09:32.679 --> 0:09:35.760 buy a jet ski. Anyways, I'll see y'all next time. 0:09:35.960 --> 0:09:41.640 I'll at me. So listen, all our stupid bsing aside. 0:09:41.800 --> 0:09:45.720 South Louisiana and much of the Gulf Coast is really 0:09:45.760 --> 0:09:48.959 coming out of what was a brutal, brutal hurricane season. 0:09:49.280 --> 0:09:51.840 And while while we know that's just kind of the 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:54.560 way of life down there, life in the cone as 0:09:54.559 --> 0:09:57.200 they say, um, you know, people are dealing with some 0:09:57.240 --> 0:09:59.720 serious ship and trying to put the pieces back together. 0:10:00.200 --> 0:10:01.800 And I think it's just a good time, a good 0:10:01.840 --> 0:10:04.000 jumping up point to remind you guys that now is 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:07.120 the perfect time to book a fishing trip. If you've 0:10:07.120 --> 0:10:11.000 been down there, you know the fishing is outstanding. That's 0:10:11.000 --> 0:10:12.520 so good. I mean, you spent more time than I 0:10:12.679 --> 0:10:15.480 but it's it's it's amazing. And even for those of 0:10:15.520 --> 0:10:17.200 you who aren't traveling right now, which I know a 0:10:17.200 --> 0:10:19.400 lot of you aren't, this is a great opportunity to 0:10:19.400 --> 0:10:21.920 put down a deposit with the quality captain and you 0:10:21.960 --> 0:10:24.080 can use that when you are traveling again, right, It'll 0:10:24.120 --> 0:10:27.439 it'll really help out some folks for scrambling, and it 0:10:27.480 --> 0:10:29.839 will give you something to look forward to, which is 0:10:29.880 --> 0:10:33.040 also beneficial. Absolutely, And we get hit up all the 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:36.280 time by listeners looking for for captain recommendations, and we're 0:10:36.320 --> 0:10:38.920 always happy to help in that arena. Uh So, if 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:41.040 you need a recommendation for a captain or guide in 0:10:41.080 --> 0:10:42.920 that area, hit us up. We'll be happy to point 0:10:42.960 --> 0:10:45.560 you in the right direction. I've spent so much time 0:10:45.559 --> 0:10:47.480 down there, I miss it dearly and my heart really 0:10:47.559 --> 0:10:49.720 does break for all my buds down that way after 0:10:49.760 --> 0:10:53.439 this cane season. Likewise, Yeah, and uh and since we're 0:10:53.520 --> 0:10:56.360 we're talking about traveling to fish, I feel like it's 0:10:56.360 --> 0:10:58.840 a good time to jump on over to fin Clips, 0:10:59.000 --> 0:11:02.120 the segment where we tell you everything you never wanted 0:11:02.160 --> 0:11:04.680 to know about fish you may or may not have 0:11:04.720 --> 0:11:07.880 heard of. And this week, Joe's diving into the details 0:11:07.960 --> 0:11:11.439 on a mythical whitefish that only lives in the Far North. 0:11:15.000 --> 0:11:18.079 She fish have been called the tarpin of the North, 0:11:18.760 --> 0:11:21.080 not only because they jump and pull like tarpin, but 0:11:21.080 --> 0:11:23.560 because they kind of look like them too. They've got 0:11:23.640 --> 0:11:27.120 dime sized, bright silver scales and a strong, extended lower 0:11:27.200 --> 0:11:29.880 jaw that, when unhinged, can suck up prey with a 0:11:29.920 --> 0:11:34.160 forceful vacuum, just like those poons. But tarpin are kind 0:11:34.160 --> 0:11:36.640 of sort of big gass herring. She fish, on the 0:11:36.640 --> 0:11:39.480 other hand, are members of the whitefish family. Matter of fact, 0:11:39.679 --> 0:11:41.720 they're the biggest member of the white fish family in 0:11:41.720 --> 0:11:44.440 North America, and I have been enamored with them since 0:11:44.480 --> 0:11:47.400 I was six years old. That was the year someone 0:11:47.440 --> 0:11:49.720 gave me a North American Fishing Club book all about 0:11:49.760 --> 0:11:52.560 the freshwater species in you guessed it in North America, 0:11:52.640 --> 0:11:54.840 because that's kind of their thing. But they're in the 0:11:54.880 --> 0:11:57.600 first few pages was a photo of a gent mean 0:11:57.720 --> 0:12:01.520 mugging on a pristine river with a sheaf fish. The book, however, 0:12:01.520 --> 0:12:04.439 said they were primarily known as in canoe, which translates 0:12:04.440 --> 0:12:08.439 into unknown fish and was coined by early French explorers, 0:12:08.440 --> 0:12:12.080 and the sheafish is native range. Per that book, where 0:12:12.080 --> 0:12:15.520 every species featured that little map of North America shaded 0:12:15.559 --> 0:12:18.760 to show you where said fish lived, she fish only 0:12:18.840 --> 0:12:22.480 lived way up at the tippy top of Alaska and Canada, 0:12:22.600 --> 0:12:25.400 and this made little me even more intrigued by them. 0:12:25.600 --> 0:12:27.959 According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, today, 0:12:28.000 --> 0:12:30.600 she fish are most abundant in the kuska, Quim and 0:12:30.679 --> 0:12:33.839 Yukon River drainages, though there are a few other populations 0:12:33.880 --> 0:12:37.280 here and there in drips and drabs throughout Alaska, some 0:12:37.480 --> 0:12:41.560 of which over winter in brackish estuaries, technically making shea 0:12:41.600 --> 0:12:44.560 fish a nadromus, even though not all of them will 0:12:44.640 --> 0:12:47.800 end up in briny water. In fact, she fish don't 0:12:47.800 --> 0:12:51.640 really seem to follow any set plans. Many populations winter 0:12:51.840 --> 0:12:54.079 in the low ends of rivers within deltas and bays, 0:12:54.120 --> 0:12:57.680 than travel thousands of miles upstream in summer to spawn 0:12:57.720 --> 0:13:01.920 an eat. Meanwhile, other populations stand one place year round 0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:05.600 or migrate within a relatively small area. While long runners 0:13:05.600 --> 0:13:08.360 and homebodies are genetically identical, it is important to note 0:13:08.520 --> 0:13:10.800 that if you want to catch a true behemoth, like 0:13:10.840 --> 0:13:14.360 a fifty plus pounder, you're going to want to target 0:13:14.360 --> 0:13:16.959 the ones that winner closer to the coasts and make 0:13:17.040 --> 0:13:20.160 those monster runs in and around the coastal city of 0:13:20.200 --> 0:13:23.800 Seliwick just above the Arctic Circle in the northwest Arctic Borrow. 0:13:23.960 --> 0:13:27.559 As an example, sixty pounders are caught with relative frequency. 0:13:28.120 --> 0:13:30.599 Just you know, dress warm and if you insist on 0:13:30.640 --> 0:13:33.559 a Wendy's baconator after you fish, you won't find one 0:13:33.600 --> 0:13:36.280 there now. A rare trade of the shea fish is 0:13:36.360 --> 0:13:39.560 their rapid growth rate. Usually fish that live in icy 0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:43.559 cold water grows slowly, but inland fish can reach sixteen 0:13:43.600 --> 0:13:46.720 inches by the age of two and fourteen pounds by 0:13:46.800 --> 0:13:50.440 age eight. Meanwhile, while the coastal fish grow slower than 0:13:50.480 --> 0:13:53.439 the inland fish, they can get much bigger, and studies 0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:56.160 have shown that they live much longer than inland fish, 0:13:56.400 --> 0:14:00.200 up to twenty years to be exact. Historically, she fish 0:14:00.280 --> 0:14:03.200 usefulness didn't really go beyond feeding the natives and their dogs, 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:06.400 but their appeal as a target is growing year over 0:14:06.480 --> 0:14:10.360 year among anglers. Alaska Locals target them with everything from 0:14:10.440 --> 0:14:12.920 live bait to lures, and they even get some big 0:14:12.960 --> 0:14:16.240 uns through the ice. Though their popularity is rising with 0:14:16.320 --> 0:14:20.160 the flybros in particular. And that's the segue I'll use 0:14:20.200 --> 0:14:23.480 to get us to Fairbanks, Alaska. In July nineteen, where 0:14:23.520 --> 0:14:26.600 I was doing some pike fishing on Minto Flats with 0:14:26.600 --> 0:14:30.840 my bud, Trevor Smith, I honestly didn't even realize I 0:14:30.880 --> 0:14:33.840 was in she fish territory until Trevor brought up that 0:14:33.880 --> 0:14:36.120 a client had lucked into one on a spoon this 0:14:36.200 --> 0:14:38.920 season before. He'd been guiding the area for a few 0:14:39.000 --> 0:14:41.520 years and it was the only one he'd ever seen. 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:45.560 And I lit up, but was quickly extinguished when Trevor 0:14:45.560 --> 0:14:49.600 told me they were ghosts, man wanderers, very hard to pattern. 0:14:50.000 --> 0:14:52.120 Here in one spot one day and gone the next. 0:14:52.240 --> 0:14:55.200 Yet the next day, while fishing a confluence of two 0:14:55.200 --> 0:14:58.040 creeks high about ship my pants when what I thought 0:14:58.120 --> 0:15:00.560 was a big pike rolled over and revealed those silvery 0:15:00.600 --> 0:15:03.920 sheat fish flanks. Trevor, she had his pants. My friend 0:15:04.000 --> 0:15:06.040 John Frasier, who was along for the ride, ship his 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:09.880 pants and with soiled trousers. We all reveled in disbelief 0:15:09.960 --> 0:15:14.000 at our amazing fortune. We went two for five on 0:15:14.120 --> 0:15:18.240 she fish over all on the fly in that same 0:15:18.280 --> 0:15:21.320 spot during the next hour and the next day, just 0:15:21.440 --> 0:15:25.880 as Trevor predicted, the ravenous school was gone. It was 0:15:25.920 --> 0:15:29.320 a fleeting glimpse, but still it allowed me to finally 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:31.800 close that chapter of the North American Fishing Club book 0:15:31.800 --> 0:15:38.600 I've been drooling over for thirty one years. I am 0:15:38.720 --> 0:15:44.480 legitimately jealous that you've caught a sheep fish. I'll also 0:15:44.520 --> 0:15:46.720 say you definitely deserve that one more than I do, 0:15:46.760 --> 0:15:48.760 because I have not been dreaming about them since I 0:15:48.800 --> 0:15:51.480 was six. I don't know how like that's amazing, I don't. 0:15:51.480 --> 0:15:53.320 I don't think I even realized they existed tells in 0:15:53.360 --> 0:15:55.960 my twenties. But still they just look like such a 0:15:55.960 --> 0:15:57.960 cool fish. I hope I get to catch one one 0:15:58.000 --> 0:16:01.760 day off. It's super cool and and very strong, and 0:16:01.800 --> 0:16:05.120 it's um If anybody here fishes in the southeast, it's 0:16:05.120 --> 0:16:07.720 a very snook like eat and the water got They've 0:16:07.760 --> 0:16:10.360 got like snoop like looking mouths, don't they do they? 0:16:10.440 --> 0:16:12.080 You know, people call them tarp in to the north 0:16:12.160 --> 0:16:14.560 that I see the similarities there and looks for sure, 0:16:14.600 --> 0:16:16.920 But if you really look at their head, I thought 0:16:16.960 --> 0:16:19.880 it was very snook like jaws right. And the water 0:16:20.200 --> 0:16:22.760 where we were fishing when this creak came in was murky, 0:16:22.960 --> 0:16:25.880 and it was you could just barely track your fly 0:16:25.920 --> 0:16:28.120 a few inches under the surface, and these things would 0:16:28.960 --> 0:16:32.120 ghost up out of the mark and just just suck 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:34.960 it in and go ballistic. And I have no wall 0:16:35.000 --> 0:16:37.040 space left in my tiny home office, which is the 0:16:37.080 --> 0:16:39.600 only room in the house that is allowed to have 0:16:39.680 --> 0:16:41.760 fish mounts hanging in it. But if I did my 0:16:41.880 --> 0:16:45.520 god like that, I'd commissioned a new wood carving or replican. 0:16:45.760 --> 0:16:50.080 So badass, oh so jealous. You have clearly you clearly 0:16:50.120 --> 0:16:52.200 bested me this week in terms of life fishing goals. 0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:54.680 I will, I'll give you that. But uh, let's see 0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:56.840 if I can make up some ground, maybe even even 0:16:56.880 --> 0:17:05.439 the score a little bit in fish news. That escalated quickly. 0:17:06.160 --> 0:17:08.320 All right, Let's do a little housekeeping here, shall we 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:11.440 before we throw down the news gauntlet. Um, we don't 0:17:11.480 --> 0:17:13.119 have much for you this week other than and then 0:17:13.160 --> 0:17:16.520 a holiday message of sorts. Um. That is to say, 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:20.600 we know Christmas is next Friday, but Bent Bent doesn't 0:17:20.600 --> 0:17:24.000 have off for Christmas. So uh no, In case you 0:17:24.040 --> 0:17:28.000 were wondering, Yes, we will be dropping the show next week. 0:17:28.440 --> 0:17:31.240 Matter of fact, we're calling it something along the lines 0:17:31.280 --> 0:17:35.719 of the Bent Christmas extravaganzas special, spectacular, something like that. 0:17:35.760 --> 0:17:39.480 We haven't quite figured it out yet, but spectacularly special 0:17:39.520 --> 0:17:43.919 for sure. Yes, move over being Crosby and the twenty 0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:47.480 four hour you log on TV make way for for 0:17:47.600 --> 0:17:50.040 this bullshit. But we did have a ton of fun 0:17:50.080 --> 0:17:52.639 putting it together. And listen, while we don't expect everyone 0:17:52.640 --> 0:17:55.640 to tune in on Christmas Day because you know it's 0:17:55.920 --> 0:17:58.600 Christmas Day, just letting you guys know it's coming, and 0:17:58.640 --> 0:18:00.520 if you catch it later after Chris is perhaps it 0:18:00.520 --> 0:18:04.800 will extend the good tidings for you or something like that. 0:18:05.359 --> 0:18:09.120 To steal a line from from Scrooged, you'll love it. 0:18:11.200 --> 0:18:14.600 Couldn't help myself, couldn't help myself there, all right, My 0:18:14.600 --> 0:18:17.520 my housekeeping this week is also kind of Christmas Eve, 0:18:17.520 --> 0:18:21.120 but it's it's it is simultaneously a bit of shameless 0:18:21.119 --> 0:18:23.880 self promotion, and that's not something I'm usually comfortable doing. 0:18:23.920 --> 0:18:27.480 But there's a chance you might still need a Christmas gift, 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:30.600 and if you order like right now, it might actually 0:18:30.600 --> 0:18:34.440 get delivered. Now there's a chance you might get in time. 0:18:35.359 --> 0:18:38.199 The powers to be have asked me to inform you 0:18:38.280 --> 0:18:41.320 of a book title that is now available at the 0:18:41.359 --> 0:18:45.399 Mediator website and nowhere else. This is not a new book. 0:18:45.800 --> 0:18:47.720 In fact, it's it's more than a decade old. But 0:18:48.200 --> 0:18:50.040 it's one that I have a soft spot for because 0:18:50.080 --> 0:18:53.480 I wrote it. The book is called The Alaska Chronicles, 0:18:53.720 --> 0:18:56.560 an unwashed look at life, work and fly fishing. And 0:18:56.600 --> 0:18:59.000 if you've ever wondered what it's actually like to work 0:18:59.040 --> 0:19:02.480 as a fishing guy at a remote wilderness camp, uh, 0:19:02.520 --> 0:19:04.880 this book will answer all your questions. And if you're 0:19:04.880 --> 0:19:08.920 thinking about becoming one, don't read the book, or definitely 0:19:08.960 --> 0:19:12.480 do read the book. Liked the truth? Is this? The 0:19:12.560 --> 0:19:14.840 narrative in that is so honest that I had to 0:19:14.920 --> 0:19:17.879 change all the names of everybody in the book and 0:19:18.000 --> 0:19:22.119 obscure the location. And despite all that, my former employers 0:19:22.119 --> 0:19:24.359 still tried to sue me and the publisher over the book, 0:19:24.680 --> 0:19:28.360 but he failed and his loss can be your game. 0:19:29.040 --> 0:19:32.000 So this is the second and final printing of the 0:19:32.000 --> 0:19:35.159 Elastic Chronicles and all remaining copies can only be found 0:19:35.160 --> 0:19:37.400 at our website. So if you need a Christmas gift, 0:19:37.440 --> 0:19:40.320 go check that one out. There, you go Miles book. 0:19:40.600 --> 0:19:43.359 Check it out, and while you're there, grab a mediator 0:19:43.359 --> 0:19:46.840 fishing sticker, because we already know that the cost of 0:19:46.880 --> 0:19:49.120 a single sticker, when it's the same as the cost 0:19:49.160 --> 0:19:52.320 of the shipping, is prohibitive to you buying a single sticker. 0:19:52.400 --> 0:19:54.960 Some of you have reached out, we know, but you're 0:19:54.960 --> 0:19:58.720 gonna be there buying Miles book anyway, tack one on. Okay, 0:19:58.800 --> 0:20:01.760 so let's get to news. Um. As most of you 0:20:01.760 --> 0:20:04.120 know by now, this is a competition. Miles and I 0:20:04.160 --> 0:20:07.040 do not know which news stories the other dude has found. 0:20:07.119 --> 0:20:10.200 And at the end of it, our engineer, beautiful Phil, 0:20:10.280 --> 0:20:14.200 he's a beautiful man. He's gonna weigh in and declare 0:20:14.240 --> 0:20:16.560 a news winner and and make one of our our 0:20:16.600 --> 0:20:19.520 holidays brighter. And it is your week to lead off, sir, 0:20:19.640 --> 0:20:23.280 so that it is all right. My first story comes 0:20:23.320 --> 0:20:26.119 from the ICE's Journal of Marine Science by way of 0:20:26.520 --> 0:20:31.480 Coastal Review Online, and they dug into a study recently 0:20:31.480 --> 0:20:36.480 conducted on popular fish species off the Carolina coast. One 0:20:36.480 --> 0:20:41.480 of the ways the biologists monitor fish populations is through tagging. Right, 0:20:41.520 --> 0:20:44.800 They catch fish, put tags in them, release those fish, 0:20:45.000 --> 0:20:47.159 and then see if and where they pop up again. 0:20:47.920 --> 0:20:50.280 And this is uh, this is one area where anglers 0:20:50.400 --> 0:20:53.680 actually can participate in meaningful citizen science. Right If if 0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:56.359 you catch a tag fish, whether you harvest it or 0:20:56.359 --> 0:20:59.520 you release it, man just report it, full up your 0:20:59.520 --> 0:21:01.639 local manage an agency. It's not hard to do, and 0:21:01.680 --> 0:21:04.600