Marvin: Hey folks, it's Marvin Cash, the host of the Articulate Fly,
Marvin: and we're back with another On the Salt with Got One with Captain David Blinken.
Marvin: David, how are you doing?
David: I'm great, Marvin. How's it going this late February?
Marvin: You know, it's kind of almost officially spring here in the southeast.
Marvin: I mean, it's crazy. I probably saw my first robin three or four weeks ago.
Marvin: The red buds are blooming.
David: The daffodils.
Marvin: Are up it was almost 80 degrees today.
David: Oh my gosh i don't think the robins ever left the northeast i see them from
David: time to time where the weather warms up and all i know is there's a bright red
David: spot on my calendar for march 10th because that's when daylight savings time
David: begins so i'm like counting the days yeah.
Marvin: It gets to get you to shift away from uh show season and tying to actually think
Marvin: about getting back on the water.
David: Oh yeah yeah and we got stuff to talk about regarding that as as as we get into our chat tonight.
Marvin: Yeah, and it's interesting. You know, last time we talked about cleaning fly
Marvin: lines, but I think an even more important topic we were talking before we started
Marvin: recording was kind of getting ready for the upcoming season.
David: Oh, yeah. I mean, I'm sort of a creature of habit, so I kind of have a checklist
David: of stuff I like to make sure I have that I can't do without.
David: You know, there's always a couple of things you forget, and you're like,
David: darn it. But there's those important things that you can never forget.
David: So I kind of have the checklist and then I've got two bags that are always packed.
David: I got my freshwater bag and I got my saltwater bag.
David: So as long as the checklist is set and I've got those bags ready,
David: I can just grab and go and not worry about forgetting things.
David: You know, the right reels, the right lines, which fly boxes I'm going to go grab.
David: And that's kind of me. I'm a creature of habit. So there's, you know,
David: getting into those habits, setting an intention,
David: so to speak, for how I'm going to approach the beginning of the season so I
David: don't, you know, leave out some of the most important piece of equipment is really important to me.
Marvin: Yeah, it's funny you say that. So I guess my system is, and I'm surprised,
Marvin: you know, I've talked to the guys at Umpqua, I'm shocked that they stopped selling
Marvin: these, but they said no one wanted to buy them.
Marvin: I have a huge, big plastic tub with one of those skirts on the outside of it
Marvin: that holds all the tools and all the goodies.
Marvin: And everything goes in there except for boots and waders and rods.
Marvin: And I have actually, despite having nicer boot and wader bags,
Marvin: I actually like an Ikea bag just because it's big and easy to deal with.
Marvin: And that's kind of my system. So everything goes in the tub.
Marvin: I do a little bit of seasonal changing. So, like, you know, I've taken out the
Marvin: stocking cap and the gloves and the chemical hand warmers and,
Marvin: you know, maybe put back some sunscreen and things like that.
Marvin: But that's kind of how I get ready for the year.
David: I dig it i love the big blue ikea bags you
David: can fit like two weeks worth of stuff in one of those
David: and you're ready to go yeah you can always add more
David: i mean that's great and the other thing you're talking about buckets i mean
David: even though they're not a sponsor like a little shout out to yeti and cool because
David: they have these great five gallon plastic buckets and you can put lids on them
David: or not and you can just throw everything in there and just kind of leave it
David: in the garage and and just grab it when you're ready.
David: You're right fresh on one bucket and salt on the other.
Marvin: Yeah, it's an amazing thing. But I mean, I think that process thing is a huge
Marvin: deal because I think that, you know, first of all, you don't want to leave,
Marvin: you know, things out that are important like boots and waders and reels.
Marvin: But the other thing is the easier it is for you to get out on the water and
Marvin: not have to think about it, the better it is.
Marvin: I mean, literally, if someone called me, I could be out the door in like 10
Marvin: minutes with all of my stuff.
David: Oh my God. It is so important. I mean, so, so this, here's my system. So I have my checklist.
David: I have, um, uh, the rod, uh, rod cases by either like fish pond or Patagonia,
David: wherever you prefer using.
David: I've got my six whole water rods in one and six freshwater rods in the other.
David: So, you know, I always go with extra rods cause I'm always worried I'm going
David: to break one. I never do, but you never know.
David: And if a friend joins you, you want a spare stick.
David: And then I got my reels and my flies and my leaders, my tippet.
David: Um i keep my extra sunglasses and my
David: rod case and and a buff and gloves and
David: all that stuff and then and and and
David: that's where i keep sort of the hard goods and then
David: the soft goods are just like like uh like
David: you said a little uh ikea bag or
David: or just a small duffel that you
David: just keep stuff in and you know but here's the important thing when you get
David: back from fishing at the end of the the day just don't leave it scattered make
David: sure you get it back in there so that so that when you're you know so that when
David: you go back to get the bag again and you go fishing again,
David: everything's there don't say to yourself well let me take this box of flies
David: out and you know because i gotta add some more flies if you add those flies
David: don't forget to get it back in the bag,
David: you know so the end of the day is almost as important as the beginning of the
David: day to make Make sure that stuff is on the ready as soon as you want to go.
Marvin: Yeah, I actually will confess that I've been to Montana with empty rod tubes before.
David: Oof, that hurts, doesn't it? I had a rod a number of years ago.
David: It was a broken rod, and it was in the seam, like a little slip case is the good rod.
David: And I said to myself, well, I'm going to send this back to the manufacturer
David: when I get back, you know, so they can replace this tip section or whatever it was.
David: I put the wrong rod into the right case and I show up at the destination.
David: Of course, I had an extra rod, but I show up at the destination and I'm missing
David: the rod I really wanted to have. So there it goes.
Marvin: Yeah. And I would say, folks, you know, the important thing is not to have David's
Marvin: process or my process, but to have a process and make it your process.
David: Absolutely. I mean, we all do it, you know, you got to do it the way that it suits you.
David: And, and, and I would just say to everyone, find that process so you don't make
David: those mistakes that we've all made.
David: Um, you know, preventative maintenance, so to speak.
Marvin: Yeah, 100% and got an interesting question for you, David, from Brent,
Marvin: and he wanted to get your thoughts on getting started on the saltwater for someone
Marvin: who is primarily fished freshwater.
David: Water well you know friend
David: if you're just like dabbling i would say
David: in the beginning see if you can borrow something and just you know give it a
David: go and see what it's like but if you're really committed maybe in the beginning
David: you know inside first of all you got to figure out what species you're going
David: to go for and you know you'll talk to a million people and find what rod so
David: i'll say striped bass, for example,
David: because it's my area of greatest expertise.
David: If you're going to have one stick for stripers, maybe grab a nine weight.
David: And in the beginning, while you're trying to figure it out, don't go expensive
David: or better yet, go online to one of the auction sites and get used equipment.
David: Equipment um you can get you know you can get you know twelve hundred dollars
David: of what was twelve hundred dollars a couple years ago you could pick it up for
David: you know maybe six seven hundred dollars now rod reel line everything you need
David: so i would say in the beginning.
David: Be conservative about your approach and take your time to learn the equipment
David: and to get familiar with whatever rod you want to use.
David: And then you can go and say, all right, I want a hardy rod and reel.
David: And you go and you buy that or you want another manufacturer's rod and reel,
David: you go and buy that. that.
David: After you played with different tapers, both in line and rods,
David: and of course, there's many different real brands out there.
David: It's like anything. It's like golf clubs. You got to swing a couple of sets
David: before you figure out which the right one is.
Marvin: Yeah. I would say, too, to your point, there's no reason in spending money on
Marvin: gear that's not going to make a difference where where you are at that,
Marvin: you know, point in your journey in the sport, right?
Marvin: You know, take that money and spend it on instruction or fishing with a guide
Marvin: like you, David, or someone else, because, you know, that's going to help you
Marvin: get better a whole lot faster than starting out with the most expensive gear on the market.
David: Yeah. I mean, if you're just going to go saltwater fly fishing,
David: you know, now and then, you know, don't buy the gear.
David: You know, if you can fly cast, you know, five, you know, six and seven weights
David: for trout, you're going to be able to fly cast, you know, seven,
David: eight, nine weights for stripers or bonefish or something.
David: And again, it goes back to what we talked about a couple weeks ago.
David: Go practice, then get a guide and do it and see how much you like it before
David: you really make that big investment into equipment. equipment.
Marvin: Yeah, certainly before you buy a boat, right? Yeah.
David: Well, you know, you know, the two happiest days in a boat owner's life is right.
Marvin: I do not.
David: Uh, the day he buys his boat and the day he sells his boat.
Marvin: Yeah, there you go. And for folks that are, uh, you know, on the salt,
Marvin: I mean, what's part of your kind of spring process on the boat front?
David: Well, my boat's wrapped up right now. I've got a nice cover on it.
David: I'm going to uncover it. I'm going to charge the battery. I'm going to start
David: the engine. I'm going to fill the gas tank.
David: I'm going to put some stuff in the gas tank that might help burn off carbon.
David: So I use Yamaha. So I'll use some ring-free and just make the engine happy. happy.
David: Then before the first client even gets near me, I'm going to scrub the whole
David: boat down and get all that winter dirt off it.
David: And that's what I'm going to do. And then the next thing is,
David: because my rods live on the boat all summer long, is I'm going to make sure,
David: as I did it at the end of the season, make sure the rods are still clean and
David: not full of winter cobwebs.
David: Going to get those on the boat, all the flies and get the boat set up.
David: So, you know, I can just sort of go on automatic and not worry about what rods are there for clients.
David: I can worry about the guiding portion.
David: And it's funny, I'm kind of regimented. So I keep the right-hand retrieve rods
David: from the right side of the boat, the left-hand retrieve rods on the left side
David: of the boat, from Port and Starboard.
David: And I keep the sinking lines and the bottom two racks and the floating lines on the top two racks.
David: So I know where everything is. So if a client's asking me for a particular rod,
David: I can tell them right away and they're not jumbled up.
David: And that's me. And I know it's a little bit, you know, it's a little bit,
David: you know, for lack of a better term, it's a little OCD on my part.
David: But that's, you know, that's kind of where I am.
David: I have to make sure everything is in its place so I can worry about the guiding
David: and not worry about, you know, where the equipment is.
Marvin: Yeah, I can certainly dig it. And, you know, anything on the trailer front that
Marvin: folks should think about?
David: So you definitely want to make sure if you didn't repack your hubs in the fall,
David: definitely repack your hubs.
David: Make sure the tire pressure is good.
David: Make sure your bunks are in good working order, whether or not you have roller
David: bunks or you have fabric bunks.
David: You want to make sure there's no tears in that um because uh if there is or
David: if the rollers aren't working or you're missing a roller you can you can you
David: know put a pretty good dash in your hull,
David: so that's important you want to make sure your trailer tongue
David: isn't good operating order in your
David: jack which is probably what your trailer's
David: been sitting on all winter so just give it all
David: good going over um um and
David: hopefully everybody who's been using their trailer and saltwater washed it down
David: thoroughly before the winter so there was no corrosion and you know if you have
David: an older trailer I would definitely check check it for corrosion and make sure
David: it's not affecting the integrity of the trailer.
Marvin: Yeah, got it. And of course, you know, make sure you have a valid fishing license.
David: Well, that's really important. And renew your license plate.
David: You know, in New York, every year we get a little sticker we have to put on
David: the plate that says our trailer's good to go. So you got to make sure of that.
David: And the other thing, and I left it out, is definitely hook it up and make sure
David: your left and right turning signal are in good working order.
David: That is like super important. That's a very quick ticket.
David: It so uh just sticking your
David: hand out the window just doesn't work yeah like
David: driving home tonight there was there was
David: a cattle trailer in front of me it had like i don't know six head
David: of cattle in it and uh the guy slows
David: down to make a turn no brake lights no
David: turn signal and uh and then i noticed that
David: his trailer was listing to the left so uh
David: so you know clearly uh he had
David: a uh a broken leaf spring or or or or
David: missing a shock in the trailer so uh yeah
David: uh you definitely want to make sure everything
David: is good good working order because uh you know
David: your boat's on there and uh you know something you
David: know you we've all seen it before we've seen trailers that
David: have thrown wheels on the highway and that's because uh somebody did not make
David: sure their their uh you know their hubs were properly packed or they didn't
David: they didn't wiggle the tires to make sure that their hubs were in good operating order yeah so.
Marvin: Uh you know folks we love questions at the articulate fly you know remember
Marvin: email or dm me uh make make david's life easier and if we use your question
Marvin: i will send you some articulate fly schwag and then remember we've got two great
Marvin: promotions um you know for everyone that sends in a question we're going to
Marvin: have a drawing for a rise fishing company Rod.
Marvin: And then if we select your question on the series, we will draw among those
Marvin: folks and the winner will get a Norvice tying system and a good time to give
Marvin: a shout out to our friends at Norvice for generously sponsoring the series.
Marvin: And you know, folks, if you head over to www.nor-vice.com, you can see their
Marvin: remaining shows for the season.
Marvin: I know on the East coast, I'm pretty sure they're going to be in Lancaster.
Marvin: They're going to be in Michigan, but if you go to the website,
Marvin: you'll see some of the later show season shows that kind of happen out in the West.
Marvin: And David, what's going on in the Masters of the Fly universe?
David: Well, I think it's March 17th. I think that's the Sunday.
David: We have our last show with Blaine Chocolate who is,
David: Just a master fly tire, and he's going to be doing the game changer,
David: I'm pretty sure. And we're really psyched about it.
David: So definitely tune in. It's going to be great.
David: I mean, we had Jason Taylor on last night, and he is just incredible.
David: That'll be up on the website and on YouTube in a few days.
David: And if you didn't get a chance to see Joe Blados, that is up and running on
David: our YouTube channel right now. He is the originator.
David: He is the OG of the crease fly, which is an amazing fly that all of us here in the Northeast use.
Marvin: Got it. And have you got any kind of good Got One app beta testing stories you
Marvin: want to share with us before we break for the evening?
David: No, no, but I can tell you LuYan is headed down to the sheepy tournament,
David: I think down in Louisiana. Louisiana, and a bunch of people are going to be
David: learning how to use it. And it's just been so great.
David: And people should, you know, look at any, if you've been using the Got One app,
David: if you haven't done the updates in the past few weeks, you should really do it.
David: So, or I should say in the past couple of months, you should do it.
David: It's really, it's just incredible how useful this app is. So give it a go, everyone.
Marvin: Work yeah and you know folks uh kind of a great time right spring is right around
Marvin: the corner you know if the weather's still not great where you are you know
Marvin: watch some of the recordings of masters of the fly or check out one of the new
Marvin: episodes you know head to a fly tying show or tie a few flies and if it's nice
Marvin: where you are you owe it to yourself to get out on the water,
Marvin: tight lines everybody tight lines david you too.