Speaker:

Intro: Hey folks, it's Marvin Cash, the host of the Articulate Fly.

Speaker:

Intro: On this episode, I'm joined by Scott Wilday of LidRig.

Speaker:

Intro: Scott shares his LidRig story, a deep affinity for Coors Light,

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Intro: and some cool new products.

Speaker:

Intro: I think you're really going to enjoy this one. But before we get to the interview,

Speaker:

Intro: just a couple of housekeeping items.

Speaker:

Intro: If you like the podcast, please tell a friend, and please subscribe and leave

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Intro: us a rating review in the podcatcher of your choice. It really helps us out.

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Intro: And don't forget to check out our Patreon community. It's a great way to support

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Intro: the show and our partners.

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Intro: We have everything from discounts on tying materials and guide trips to small group classes.

Speaker:

Intro: And a quick public service announcement. If you'll be in East Tennessee this

Speaker:

Intro: weekend on March 9th, I want to give you a heads up about the Tailwater Roundup.

Speaker:

Intro: It's a cleanup event on the South Holston and the Watauga from from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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Intro: If you want to help on the South Holston, meet at the Bluff City Boat Ramp.

Speaker:

Intro: And if you want to help on the Watauga, meet at the Ingalls and Elizabethton.

Speaker:

Intro: There will be an after-cleanup celebration at the Watauga River Lodge.

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Intro: If you have any questions, reach out to at Flying Soho on Instagram.

Speaker:

Intro: And now, a shout-out to this episode's sponsor. This episode's brought to you

Speaker:

Intro: by our friends at Artisan Angler.

Speaker:

Intro: If you're looking for a better way to organize your flies, tippet,

Speaker:

Intro: and tools, you should check out the Flytrap at artisananglerllc.com.

Speaker:

Intro: I've dropped a link in the show notes. They sell direct through Amazon,

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Intro: so you get prime shipping and free returns.

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Intro: It doesn't get any easier than that. Make your time on the water more productive

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Intro: and check out the Flytrap today.

Speaker:

Intro: Now, on to our interview.

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Marvin: Well, Scott, welcome to the Articulate Fly.

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Scott: Hey, thanks for having me, Marvin.

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Marvin: Yeah, I've been looking forward to it, and I appreciate your flexibility on

Speaker:

Marvin: the reschedule. I think you understand

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Marvin: sometimes they're just kid logistic issues you have to deal with.

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Scott: Hey, anything for you, Marvin, you know?

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Marvin: I appreciate that. So we have a tradition on the Articulate Fly.

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Marvin: We like to ask all of our guests to share their earliest fishing memory.

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Scott: Earliest fishing memory well uh

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Scott: you know son i i mean i grew up on a

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Scott: lake out here i live in denver uh littleton

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Scott: but um so i grew up fishing for

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Scott: bass pike catfish that kind of thing um and

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Scott: i'm the oldest i've got two brothers so we

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Scott: were out there every just about every

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Scott: day in the summer and uh there was

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Scott: this bass we called it we called it the one-eyed bass

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Scott: and i'm pretty sure i we've

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Scott: caught between me and my brother we probably caught this thing at

Speaker:

Scott: least 100 times every summer and uh

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Scott: it just lived under this bridge and uh

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Scott: yeah it just had the one eye and and that's

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Scott: just how we spent our summers so and you

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Scott: know that was coming from an early age and didn't really

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Scott: get into fly fishing until later in life um i've probably been heavy until probably

Speaker:

Scott: six or seven years now so um but yes i'll i'll do it all i'm an equal opportunity

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Scott: uh angler so been fishing is is okay in my book yeah.

Speaker:

Marvin: Well there you go so what was the impetus for you to come to the dark side of fly fishing.

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Scott: Yeah. So, you know, man, where to start?

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Scott: You know, my background, I guess, is, you know, sales and I started a health care tech company and,

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Scott: you know, it's just a grind and health care tech is not very fun.

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Scott: I'll put it that way and and it's

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Scott: software so it's it's not a tangible physical

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Scott: product but um you know learned a lot after you know selling that it was just

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Scott: thinking you know what do I want to do next what can I be passionate about and

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Scott: um that was about the time my uh my brother had been and just dragging me along, sly fishing.

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Scott: I actually hated sly fishing starting out.

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Scott: And I just didn't get it. Mainly because I stunk at it.

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Scott: So, you know, getting stuck and tangled and it just, yeah, it didn't resonate with me.

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Scott: But I equate it to golf, right? It just takes one good fish,

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Scott: one good golf shot, then you're a golfer.

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Scott: It's your life, right? So it was a shame. Same for me, one big brown trout.

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Scott: And uh the rest is history.

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Marvin: Yeah well i would say i never had the golf shot so i never never got,

Speaker:

Marvin: don't save yourself save some money yeah so uh my my junior clubs are in the

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Marvin: garage and i probably haven't touched a golf club in 35 years so yeah.

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Scott: Good for you yeah.

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Marvin: Yeah so so you you got serious curious about fly fishing six or so years ago?

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Marvin: Are there some kind of fly fishing mentors that kind of stick out in your mind?

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Marvin: And, you know, if so, what did they teach you?

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Scott: Yeah, so mainly my brother, who he's the true angler in the family, I would say.

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Scott: He had the most passion for it, and he just kind of got one of those contagious

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Scott: personalities and rubbed off on me.

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Scott: But, you know, through him, I learned pretty much everything I needed to know

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Scott: and the basics, you know, as far as knots and depths and that kind of thing.

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Scott: And then, you know, littering, it's been a whirlwind, but fun.

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Scott: But I've been traveling all over the place, fishing, you know,

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Scott: down in Belize and Mexico, Louisiana, up north.

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Scott: So a little bit of everything. And so it's an interesting question,

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Scott: but everywhere fish is different. Everybody fish is different.

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Scott: And I think that's kind of reflected in what I'm trying to do with LidRig and the products.

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Scott: So it's a long answer for simple questions. I apologize.

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Marvin: No, no, no, it's all good. And I mean, talking about LidRig,

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Marvin: I mean, tell us a little bit about, you know, the story behind kind of the genesis of the company.

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Scott: You want the real one? Yeah, I'll take the real one and the fake one.

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Marvin: You can do it all.

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Scott: Well, speaking of golf, we were at my youngest brother's bachelor party.

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Scott: We did it up in the mountains. It was like a weekend deal.

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Scott: It was a little gift. He got us golf ball markers.

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Scott: It's a magnetic clip you wear on your hat. It was customized and all that.

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Scott: Um next day we went fishing and as

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Scott: i mentioned i'm horrible at fishing so i was

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Scott: stuck in the tree couldn't reach my brand new expensive nippers uh as i'm dangling

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Scott: out of the tree so i ended up using my golf ball marker to uh get my fly back

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Scott: so then you throw six cores lights in there and uh,

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Scott: And I've got a company with multiple products.

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Marvin: So it was a drunk fishing, climbing experience, is what you're saying.

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Scott: Yeah. Yeah. I owe a lot to Coors Light, I think.

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Marvin: Oh, well, yeah. I was going to say you owe a lot to some IPA,

Speaker:

Marvin: but we'll just stick with the Coors Light.

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Scott: I'm not a big IPA guy. Don't judge

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Scott: me. But, you know, and if I'm being honest, I'm more of a scotch guy.

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Marvin: Yeah, I was going to say. Yeah, my recollection was you were drinking bourbon in Edison.

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Scott: It was a good memory.

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Marvin: Yeah.

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Scott: I'm sure I was totally coherent, right?

Speaker:

Marvin: 100%. Yeah, good. And so you've got kind of the bachelor party genesis,

Speaker:

Marvin: but, you know, how much did your kind of prior professional non-fishing life

Speaker:

Marvin: kind of feed into the LIDREG idea? Yeah.

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Scott: Oh man. So yeah, I've always kind of had the inventor's bug, I guess you could say.

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Scott: So I should, I remember back to like third grade invention convention,

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Scott: uh, creating these things, swarps, I call them.

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Scott: It's like sweats that turn into shorts.

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Scott: Um, you know, I made these, these gloves for surfers being in Colorado makes sense. Right.

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Scott: But it was like webbing in between your fingers.

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Scott: Fingers as a glove so you could paddle better and

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Scott: you know later on in life I just

Speaker:

Scott: kind of carried on to the healthcare tech

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Scott: side I've been involved with startup companies and then

Speaker:

Scott: broke off did my own and um just

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Scott: kind of making the process better between and

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Scott: the communication better between physicians and patients

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Scott: to so it's kind of 3D body parts that Docs

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Scott: could interact with and explain what the heck's going on and uh so yeah i i

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Scott: just it's in my blood i guess to uh kind of see a problem and try to come up

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Scott: with a solution but one thing to have an idea a whole nother beast to uh,

Speaker:

Scott: make it a reality and and bring it bring it to market so yeah.

Speaker:

Marvin: 100 and so but you know why did Did you not just go start another tech company

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Marvin: after you sold the last one?

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Scott: Yeah, so tech is, I think I wanted to take a stab at something tangible,

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Scott: like a physical product.

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Scott: So in the tech game, that gets lost, right?

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Scott: So you're selling, in the healthcare tech situation, I was selling to hospital

Speaker:

Scott: systems. And, you know, it was a long sales cycle.

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Scott: Once you sell it, you got to come in and implement it.

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Scott: You know, there was just a lot more to it.

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Scott: And I don't know,

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Scott: I think just on a personal level, it was, you know, what can I,

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Scott: and at the time I was going through some pretty heavy stuff on a personal level as well.

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Scott: So, you know, I think I wanted the cell grind itself.

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Scott: I was kind of over that and I'm just looking for something I could really enjoy

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Scott: doing and be passionate about.

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Scott: So, yeah, fly fishing fit the bill.

Speaker:

Marvin: Yeah, there you go. And so, you know, your magnetic nippers are your flagship

Speaker:

Marvin: product. you know, what opportunity did you see kind of in Nippers and kind

Speaker:

Marvin: of what was the problem that kind of your entrepreneur and vendor eyes saw that needed to be solved?

Speaker:

Scott: So I probably have a unique take on fly fishing, just being newer to the sport,

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Scott: if you want to call it a sport.

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Scott: But, you know, I just didn't understand why guys were carrying so much gear.

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Scott: And that really stuck out to me. and

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Scott: then uh you know as i progressed and nippers

Speaker:

Scott: kind of grow with your fishing game it seems

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Scott: like right you start out with the the fingernail clippers

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Scott: and and you know shoot i've

Speaker:

Scott: seen some lid rig knockoffs being sold

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Scott: for for like 200 to 400

Speaker:

Scott: bucks so um that that

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Scott: was jaw-dropping to me um that people

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Scott: would spend that amount of money on such a

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Scott: small simple tool so when i

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Scott: kind of dug in on it from a

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Scott: business perspective you know there

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Scott: was only a handful of players and and um

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Scott: yeah i just felt like i could

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Scott: i could make a play and went out

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Scott: and made some prototypes to uh to experiment with

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Scott: so and i think i had what was

Speaker:

Scott: it 50 prototypes made and the

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Scott: first two shops i walked into bottom all so at at that point i kind of figured

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Scott: uh i might be on to something here and and those were horrible i mean they were

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Scott: they had springs and ball bearings and uh i mean I mean,

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Scott: they were ugly and I mean, it was pretty rough.

Speaker:

Scott: But the fact that I could sell my prototypes told me what I needed to know.

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Scott: And, um, you know, from, from that version to what it is today is,

Speaker:

Scott: is basically a whole new product and in a good way.

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Marvin: Yeah. And I guess you got a little bit of a design refresh relatively recently, right? Yeah.

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Scott: Yeah. Um, so lid rigs probably three years, maybe three and a half years now, uh, I've been at it.

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Scott: So it's grown relatively quickly. Um, and that's just how I tend to work is,

Speaker:

Scott: is quick, but, uh, with intention.

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Scott: So the lid rig itself, um, you know, out now is version 2.0.

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Scott: Uh, in reality, It's probably like version 27, you know, with all the modifications that I made.

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Scott: And I'm pretty pumped. I just signed off on the LidRig 3.0 design,

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Scott: which I think is going to be the end-all be-all as far as nippers go.

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Scott: I'm pretty excited about it.

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Marvin: Yeah, the one ring to rule them all?

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Scott: Yeah, hopefully. That's the idea. Yeah.

Speaker:

Marvin: So, you know, for folks that haven't had a chance to kind of put their hands

Speaker:

Marvin: on a set or to see you at a show or see them in a shop, you know,

Speaker:

Marvin: let folks know kind of what makes your nipper design unique.

Speaker:

Scott: Sure. So the most prominent feature is the fact that it's got opposing magnets

Speaker:

Scott: on either side of the nipper. nipper. So there's no springs in the middle.

Speaker:

Scott: So it's the magnets, the reverse polarity that that keeps them open and provides that spring action.

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Scott: And took that and just kind of built on it, created it.

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Scott: So starting out, my initial thought was just to have the nippers

Speaker:

Scott: on the hat so created a clip that

Speaker:

Scott: goes on the the brim or bill of your hat or lid

Speaker:

Scott: i should say and um yeah it's

Speaker:

Scott: kind of the golf ball marker version uh

Speaker:

Scott: for fly fishing so easy access but now uh we've added in like a bottle opener

Speaker:

Scott: a hook sharpener eyelet poker you can't actually wear the lanyard or wear the

Speaker:

Scott: nippers on a lanyard if you if you want um so it's just kind of a,

Speaker:

Scott: a good all-access tool so depending on how you fish and where you are and they'll

Speaker:

Scott: uh get the job done for you yeah.

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Marvin: It's neat i mean i uh i like the sharpener and everybody needs a bottle opener right.

Speaker:

Scott: That's you know that's what i'm saying although although.

Speaker:

Marvin: My recollection is Coors Light bottles or twist tops, so you wouldn't need the

Speaker:

Marvin: bottle opener, but I know for the IPAs, you would.

Speaker:

Scott: No glass on the rivers, right?

Speaker:

Marvin: Yeah, exactly. So, you know, you were talking about kind of a little bit earlier

Speaker:

Marvin: about kind of the challenges of the startup.

Speaker:

Marvin: You know, what were some of the biggest challenges and surprises as you were

Speaker:

Marvin: working to bring the nippers to market?

Speaker:

Scott: Yeah, the biggest surprise was the fact that people liked the idea.

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Scott: You know, and everybody's got an opinion.

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Scott: So, you know, there's a few people that said this is the dumbest idea I've ever

Speaker:

Scott: heard. No fly fisherman's going to buy this.

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Scott: And to me, I'm the wrong guy to say that to.

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Scott: So challenge accepted. but yeah challenges

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Scott: now that it's more established so

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Scott: I guess out of the gate I was

Speaker:

Scott: thinking I could license the product which I've done

Speaker:

Scott: and the companies

Speaker:

Scott: I worked with they started getting emails from folks

Speaker:

Scott: saying hey screw you guys you're stealing Blitter Egg's idea

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Scott: and you know

Speaker:

Scott: it's like no we're all in the same team here but to.

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Scott: Me that indicated that i might be

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Scott: i might have a brand um that

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Scott: i can build on with uh obviously people

Speaker:

Scott: wild enough to go out of their way and send emails

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Scott: like that so um you know

Speaker:

Scott: then i met with another large company and because

Speaker:

Scott: i was just one product we couldn't really do

Speaker:

Scott: much so you know

Speaker:

Scott: coming out with uh product

Speaker:

Scott: number two was it's kind

Speaker:

Scott: of a flyer to be honest and and today that's

Speaker:

Scott: it's one of the most successful products that

Speaker:

Scott: i've launched um and it's it's simple

Speaker:

Scott: but effective and um but

Speaker:

Scott: getting getting out into the market it

Speaker:

Scott: um you know i'm pretty heavy on the

Speaker:

Scott: social media space but getting

Speaker:

Scott: into shops and whatnot um it's harder

Speaker:

Scott: than than you would think so you

Speaker:

Scott: know and a lot of that's because guys are out fishing and guiding and you know

Speaker:

Scott: you gotta and i was new to the retail game so figuring out you know sales cycles

Speaker:

Scott: and and all that so um yeah but now i've got shoot i don't know probably.

Speaker:

Scott: 20 or so different products all with the magnetic vein and that's a hurdle in itself because,

Speaker:

Scott: you know anything coming in revenue-wise is going to new products new innovations

Speaker:

Scott: and so it's just trying to it's a delicate balancing act you know as far as

Speaker:

Scott: scaling bringing bringing new stuff out and uh trying to grow so.

Speaker:

Marvin: Yeah interesting and does anything kind of stand out in your mind in terms of

Speaker:

Marvin: like the differences with lid rig and like your your healthcare tech startup.

Speaker:

Scott: Yeah well actually what stood out to me i was listening to some of your um last podcast,

Speaker:

Scott: would be uh waiter guys i don't know if we should drop names or not but yeah the grunman's guys,

Speaker:

Scott: there you go um and and i

Speaker:

Scott: thought that was pretty interesting their their approach to getting into shops

Speaker:

Scott: and whatnot i mean there's direct competition right where there's a there's

Speaker:

Scott: what two other main players so that a fly shop could sell so yeah they're.

Speaker:

Scott: They're directly competing so from a literate standpoint um i just do it a little

Speaker:

Scott: different i guess right like i don't have i i can walk in and and they can sell

Speaker:

Scott: my products pretty much without any issues, right?

Speaker:

Scott: And even if they do sell some other companies or similar products,

Speaker:

Scott: you know, side-by-side, they'll end up going with GlidRig.

Speaker:

Scott: So I just thought that was pretty interesting. Their approach is kind of slow

Speaker:

Scott: rolling to get into shops where I'm more of a shotgun approach, I guess.

Speaker:

Scott: And, you know, I can walk in and walk out with a check to

Speaker:

Scott: a fly shop so um yeah it's and a lot of it i'm i'm learning as i go too so then

Speaker:

Scott: shoot now i've got distributors overseas and we're in my japan canada europe

Speaker:

Scott: um just signed south africa,

Speaker:

Scott: so you know just trying to to keep up at this point yeah.

Speaker:

Marvin: It's interesting though i mean it's It's been a while since I've like really

Speaker:

Marvin: kind of drilled into kind of the nipper space, but I would think you kind of

Speaker:

Marvin: sit at a really nice kind of price point and feature benefit point to kind of

Speaker:

Marvin: the spectrum of nippers that are in the market, right?

Speaker:

Scott: Yeah, on purpose too, because there are, and that's another big hurdle I've come up against,

Speaker:

Scott: you know, by and large, the space is friendly and everybody enjoys.

Speaker:

Scott: It's long and seems trustworthy, but I've had some larger companies come in

Speaker:

Scott: and knock off some stuff.

Speaker:

Scott: I've only been at it three and a half years, so people are watching what I'm

Speaker:

Scott: doing, which I guess is a good thing.

Speaker:

Scott: Uh, is something you, you gotta be cognizant of and, you know,

Speaker:

Scott: you can spend a bunch of money on a patent and all this.

Speaker:

Scott: And, uh, you know, I've had interesting legal conversations.

Speaker:

Scott: I'll put it that way, but, um, yeah, I digress.

Speaker:

Scott: I, sorry, I got sidetracked. What was the, the question?

Speaker:

Marvin: Really the price points. I mean, and I think the patent thing is an interesting

Speaker:

Marvin: thing too. I mean, because it's like, you know, it's a patent plus the money to go sue somebody.

Speaker:

Marvin: So it's kind of a different game. But, you know, my recollection is,

Speaker:

Marvin: you know, I would say, I don't know, the, let's just say the air quote high

Speaker:

Marvin: end of the nipper market is like 200 plus, right?

Speaker:

Marvin: Yeah. And then I don't really think of, you know, and then I,

Speaker:

Marvin: you know, you're at 75 and then, you know, everything else to me is,

Speaker:

Marvin: you know, and I'm not trying to offend anybody who's got some stellar or nipper

Speaker:

Marvin: that I haven't seen because I don't purport to see them all.

Speaker:

Marvin: But, you know, the rest of it's sort of that kind of utilitarian stuff that's,

Speaker:

Marvin: you know, with zingers, right?

Speaker:

Marvin: And at a different price point. So, yeah, it's an interesting thing about being kind of copied.

Speaker:

Marvin: Like, I mean, you know, back to kind of talking about the Grundon's guys,

Speaker:

Marvin: like, you notice how this year now everybody's got to, like,

Speaker:

Marvin: tweak their suspension system on their waders?

Speaker:

Scott: Yeah, yeah.

Speaker:

Marvin: Right?

Speaker:

Scott: Exactly.

Speaker:

Marvin: It's the exact same thing. And, you know, you know this, right,

Speaker:

Marvin: from being in the tech company background and making stuff, you know,

Speaker:

Marvin: not everything is patentable.

Speaker:

Marvin: So that's an interesting thing, too. And, you know, the only way you win is

Speaker:

Marvin: you got to outrun people and also be nicer, right?

Speaker:

Scott: Yeah, exactly. Or you can try and outpay them.

Speaker:

Scott: But, you know, as a startup, that's hard to do when you're going up against the big guys.

Speaker:

Marvin: Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker:

Scott: But yeah, I mean, but that's to me, and part of where the idea came from,

Speaker:

Scott: I guess, is, you know, I watched a guy in a river with expensive nippers that doled out on him, right?

Speaker:

Scott: So they were pretty much useless as he's standing in the middle of the river in May. Yeah.

Speaker:

Scott: Air quotes have replacement blades but they're

Speaker:

Scott: going to charge you for them so that didn't make sense to me

Speaker:

Scott: um at all so you

Speaker:

Scott: know and so they get you twice and you

Speaker:

Scott: know it just wasn't doing my job so um you

Speaker:

Scott: know 75 bucks i i

Speaker:

Scott: get is it's not the cheapest but um

Speaker:

Scott: you know the lid rig is is

Speaker:

Scott: a multi-tool and it does

Speaker:

Scott: a lot so um you know

Speaker:

Scott: that helps and it does not have replacement blades so

Speaker:

Scott: you can just sharpen them and uh kind of

Speaker:

Scott: like a knife right with with the uh the clip

Speaker:

Scott: itself so you know long lasting

Speaker:

Scott: it's not the prettiest but it's a

Speaker:

Scott: tool it's made to be used it doesn't have have the pretty

Speaker:

Scott: trout patterns on it or anything like that but

Speaker:

Scott: uh and i think that resonates with with

Speaker:

Scott: people so and i i

Speaker:

Scott: don't know from an outsider's perspective still consider

Speaker:

Scott: myself kind of an outsider but um you

Speaker:

Scott: know it seems like the industry is changing a little

Speaker:

Scott: bit too um you know getting

Speaker:

Scott: it's getting younger right and and more accessible

Speaker:

Scott: so um people have.

Speaker:

Scott: Different tastes different needs and and like i said earlier everybody fish

Speaker:

Scott: is different so i want to make tools that uh work for how you fish and and that's

Speaker:

Scott: the fun part for me i you know i just make stuff and guys like you tell me how they use it.

Speaker:

Scott: So, and usually post about it on Instagram, which is fun.

Speaker:

Marvin: Yeah. And my use case is, you know, unless you lose your hat,

Speaker:

Marvin: you're not going to lose your nippers.

Speaker:

Marvin: Cause I mean, I would, I would be seriously crying if I had lost a pair of $200 nippers in the river.

Speaker:

Scott: Yeah. Well, and actually, cause, uh, so I was down in, uh, fishing at the X

Speaker:

Scott: flats and there was a doctor down there fishing as well.

Speaker:

Scott: Uh, so, you know, gave him the lid rig to use. And that was,

Speaker:

Scott: it was just kind of a negative Nancy maybe.

Speaker:

Scott: And, uh, he's like, well, you know, what if I lose my hat?

Speaker:

Scott: And I'm like, well, that'd be impressive. So, of course, he ends up losing his

Speaker:

Scott: hat, sinks to the bottom, but they were able to get his hat back.

Speaker:

Scott: So they stuck the metal rod down to get his hat back via the lid rig and magnetic connection.

Speaker:

Scott: So, you know, there's two ways to look at it, I guess.

Speaker:

Marvin: Yeah, well, it's also easier to find your hat on the bottom of a river than

Speaker:

Marvin: it is to find a pair of nippers.

Speaker:

Scott: Yeah, that's true.

Speaker:

Marvin: So, you know, do you, you know, at this point, Scott, have you kind of,

Speaker:

Marvin: you know, you've got multiple products and we'll talk about the rest of them

Speaker:

Marvin: in a minute, but do you kind of have an overarching design philosophy at LidRig?

Speaker:

Scott: Yes well so i guess the i like magnets and that's kind of been.

Speaker:

Scott: Um my mo so to

Speaker:

Scott: speak with any new product that i'm

Speaker:

Scott: coming out with but um more so

Speaker:

Scott: um use cases so you

Speaker:

Scott: know i've got a i've built a pretty substantial i'd say

Speaker:

Scott: over 100 professional anglers

Speaker:

Scott: that i'm in contact with anglers and tires

Speaker:

Scott: i'm in contact with almost daily

Speaker:

Scott: and uh you know

Speaker:

Scott: i i'm i'm good at knowing what i don't know and uh listening to what people

Speaker:

Scott: need and and and want and if i can solve that problem with magnets i'll do it

Speaker:

Scott: and so like i live on a lake down here in Denver.

Speaker:

Scott: So, you know, I've got all my bass stuff that I'm fishing with.

Speaker:

Scott: I just got back from the X Flats fishing down there with the salt flies.

Speaker:

Scott: And then I'll be up in the mountains, you know, fishing for trout.

Speaker:

Scott: So to me, it's just, I can have 20 different fly boxes or I can have one that's

Speaker:

Scott: interchangeable magnetically.

Speaker:

Scott: And so, you know, less is more.

Speaker:

Scott: I guess in a nutshell and, and I accomplished that with magnets.

Speaker:

Marvin: Yeah. Which is, uh, as we've joked is awesome. If you don't have a pacemaker.

Speaker:

Scott: Yeah, exactly.

Speaker:

Marvin: So you, you want to kind of walk, uh, our listeners through,

Speaker:

Marvin: you know, some of the other products that are in the lid rig universe.

Speaker:

Scott: Sure. Um,

Speaker:

Scott: I think the most interesting one, or funny, I'll say, but you remember the slap bracelets?

Speaker:

Scott: I think I showed it to you at the show, the toy show.

Speaker:

Scott: Picture that, but it's like a magnetic watch.

Speaker:

Scott: So I made it originally to slap around a boat frame, but now I've seen guys using it.

Speaker:

Scott: They'll stick it to the side of their car and all your rides up

Speaker:

Scott: for you i saw a guy he lost a streamer

Speaker:

Scott: uh tied on the mag band

Speaker:

Scott: threw it out got a streamer back so you know it's just a lot of different cool

Speaker:

Scott: creative ways um that that that's used and a lot of the tires seem to like it

Speaker:

Scott: they'll They'll wrap it around their, basically their vice.

Speaker:

Scott: And then, shoot, what else?

Speaker:

Scott: Just came out with the Stash Tray. So, which is a magnetic plate, hat clip.

Speaker:

Scott: It'll also have a linear detachment.

Speaker:

Scott: Just launched those a couple weeks ago. Seem to be pretty popular.

Speaker:

Scott: Another one's called the Flywheel. It's just a heavy-duty magnet, 56-pound.

Speaker:

Scott: Pull force, literally it'll hold a shotgun if you need it to,

Speaker:

Scott: but you can put that on your waders, your straps, it'll hold forceps, flies,

Speaker:

Scott: actually works with some of our other products as well. So, yeah.

Speaker:

Scott: Everything kind of works together in the Wittrig universe.

Speaker:

Scott: I won't make something if it can't be used with something else, if that makes sense.

Speaker:

Marvin: Yeah, got it. How big is the stash box? I assume it fits on the brim of your hat, right?

Speaker:

Scott: Yeah, it's pretty small. Think of it as it's similar in size to the existing clip.

Speaker:

Scott: A little bit bigger and uh with the magnets inside of it so your i mean the magnets on the existing,

Speaker:

Scott: lid rig are super strong but uh yeah with this mag tray um i mean you could

Speaker:

Scott: take a branch to the face and and that literate's not going anywhere so um and

Speaker:

Scott: if you're not using it for For, to hold your wood rig,

Speaker:

Scott: I typically use it to hold real small flies if I'm trout fishing.

Speaker:

Scott: So it'll hold, shoot up, you know, 10, 15, probably even 20,

Speaker:

Scott: you know, smaller flies.

Speaker:

Marvin: Yeah. All kinds of good stuff for like Cheeseman and 11 mile,

Speaker:

Marvin: right? All midges and stuff like that.

Speaker:

Scott: There you go. Yeah.

Speaker:

Marvin: Look at you.

Speaker:

Scott: Oh yeah.

Speaker:

Marvin: So I also saw, I think it was on Instagram that I guess you,

Speaker:

Marvin: you know, you mentioned this a little bit earlier, But I guess the modular Flybox

Speaker:

Marvin: is a relatively new release for you, too, because I saw the video on your Instagram page.

Speaker:

Scott: Yeah. So I'm super pumped on them.

Speaker:

Scott: And it's just a new concept. So how do I describe it?

Speaker:

Scott: So instead of a foam, typical foam insert, I have these magnetic rubber pads,

Speaker:

Scott: stronger than anything else on the market.

Speaker:

Scott: That's a guarantee. um and then so you can actually just throw your flies right

Speaker:

Scott: in there and they'll stick,

Speaker:

Scott: which is what i'll do or we also

Speaker:

Scott: have these um foam insert with

Speaker:

Scott: a metal bottom that stick to it so you can just swap them

Speaker:

Scott: in and out of uh out of boxes so and then we also have what's called a mag dad

Speaker:

Scott: so it's just that same magnetic rubber material but you can stick that you know

Speaker:

Scott: to the the side of your boat um if your time flies basically your vice wherever you need it dashboard.

Speaker:

Scott: And uh yeah so you can just pull pull

Speaker:

Scott: that set out put it right next to you where you

Speaker:

Scott: actually need it so you're not digging through 20 different boxes trying to

Speaker:

Scott: to find the next fly so just a little more efficient and like i said you can

Speaker:

Scott: everything works together so you can also wear Wear those inserts,

Speaker:

Scott: you know, on the flywheel or the mag band if you need to.

Speaker:

Scott: So it's, it's cool. I'm, I'm excited for it.

Speaker:

Scott: And, uh, yeah, a lot of the shops have been picking them up.

Speaker:

Scott: So I'm thinking you'll, uh, start to see them in the market a little bit more here.

Speaker:

Marvin: Yeah. And is the box, I mean, I know the one on the Instagram feed was relatively

Speaker:

Marvin: large. Does the box come in multiple sizes? Yeah.

Speaker:

Scott: Yes we have a small medium and large um type box so like the streamer streamer size box down to,

Speaker:

Scott: uh you know as a smaller day day

Speaker:

Scott: box so we and then we have not quite the streamer size box but it's a little

Speaker:

Scott: bit thinner we call it the mag book and i freaking love these things i mean

Speaker:

Scott: And they're waterproof,

Speaker:

Scott: indestructible, super versatile.

Speaker:

Scott: And that's been my go-to is the MagBook.

Speaker:

Scott: So it's got the see-through top, thick plastic, and the magnetic concept as well.

Speaker:

Marvin: Got it. Yeah. So it's kind of like a magnetic Oompa box, right?

Speaker:

Scott: Yeah. There you go.

Speaker:

Marvin: Yeah. Yeah. So that's super cool. Cool. And so, you know, as you kind of look

Speaker:

Marvin: in your perpetual motion entrepreneur startup eye, you know,

Speaker:

Marvin: what's your vision for LidRig in the next five years?

Speaker:

Scott: So you know who knows at this rate i'm going day by day but you know i think um,

Speaker:

Scott: i've got the the product suite kind of where where it needs to be um so now

Speaker:

Scott: it's more expansion mode so getting into more shock uh different parts of the world and yeah,

Speaker:

Scott: kind of stabilizing on the business side and kind of take it from there.

Speaker:

Scott: You know, I've been approached by a few people about acquisition and stuff like that. So yeah,

Speaker:

Scott: You know, who knows, but it's cool to see the, the started as one product and,

Speaker:

Scott: and I feel like now it's a company, you know, a brand.

Speaker:

Scott: So it's just cool to see that grow. And so I think, I think I can make it larger

Speaker:

Scott: and, and, uh, yeah, who knows five years is a long time for a startup.

Speaker:

Marvin: Up so yeah i could scale it back to three if that helps there you go i mean.

Speaker:

Scott: I'll talk to anybody put it that way but right now i'm having fun growing.

Speaker:

Marvin: Yeah i mean it's interesting because you can clearly see the community because

Speaker:

Marvin: you know if you go uh to your website into your store i mean you have you can

Speaker:

Marvin: tell there's a lot of community because you have an unusually,

Speaker:

Marvin: large number of kind of apparel type things right hats shirts and that doesn't

Speaker:

Marvin: happen you know There are two choices, and I know you wouldn't make one of them,

Speaker:

Marvin: which is to make a lot of shit and not sell it.

Speaker:

Marvin: Or you have an active community that wants to wear your hats and hoodies and

Speaker:

Marvin: stuff and let people spread the word for you.

Speaker:

Scott: Yeah, that's what littering is. And I think that's what I'm most proud of,

Speaker:

Scott: actually, is the community surrounding it.

Speaker:

Scott: So it's kind of by the people for the people. and and

Speaker:

Scott: like i said i'm i'm not joking when i'm when

Speaker:

Scott: i say i'm not a i'm not an ex-guide and

Speaker:

Scott: i'm horrible at fishing so um you know

Speaker:

Scott: i but i i learn from people right i

Speaker:

Scott: don't tie flies but i appreciate the heck out of it

Speaker:

Scott: so um but the the community

Speaker:

Scott: is just phenomenal so you know

Speaker:

Scott: and going one of these like fly fishing shows it's amazing

Speaker:

Scott: guys will come up and you know

Speaker:

Scott: professional tires they'll just post up start tying flies and

Speaker:

Scott: you know i've got people coming into

Speaker:

Scott: the booth just to hang out and they'll people will

Speaker:

Scott: walk up wearing a lid rig and they'll sell to people staying in there and i

Speaker:

Scott: just kind of sit back and you know drink a beer so it's uh and luckily it's

Speaker:

Scott: It's kind of one of those products where once you use it or touch it and feel

Speaker:

Scott: it, it kind of solves itself.

Speaker:

Scott: So, and you can tell by my rambling, that's exactly what I need.

Speaker:

Marvin: Yeah, but I mean, it's cool, right? I mean, particularly like you're lucky because

Speaker:

Marvin: I think that, you know, where you are in the Denver area is probably like the

Speaker:

Marvin: highest concentration of fishiness in the country, right?

Speaker:

Marvin: Right, for Trout, you know, in terms of shops and, you know,

Speaker:

Marvin: resource and guides and people.

Speaker:

Marvin: But, you know, to be able to, for example, like, I mean, you were mobbed in

Speaker:

Marvin: Edison. I walked past your table a bunch, right?

Speaker:

Marvin: That's got to be super cool, right? Yeah.

Speaker:

Scott: Yeah, it's humbling, for sure.

Speaker:

Scott: You know, and you're right. I mean, Denver or Colorado is kind of Mecca, I guess you could say.

Speaker:

Scott: But again, it's me being green to the industry.

Speaker:

Scott: And, you know, shoot, I've walked into some pretty big shops.

Speaker:

Scott: Just like Fly Fish Food is a good example. I walked in there with an earlier

Speaker:

Scott: version of the Lidrig, you know, not knowing who Cheetor was and all that and

Speaker:

Scott: how big they were and influential.

Speaker:

Scott: But, you know, they brought in Lidrig, right?

Speaker:

Scott: And they're willing to help and kind of provide feedback and help me grow.

Speaker:

Scott: And so just, yeah, it's humbling, man.

Speaker:

Scott: And I've made some tremendous friends through this process.

Speaker:

Scott: And, uh, now it's cool to see other people connect.

Speaker:

Scott: Like I wasn't down in the, the Texas show, but there was a bunch of,

Speaker:

Scott: uh, you know, people wearing the lid rig and pictures and shirts and whatnot.

Speaker:

Scott: And, uh, you know, I'm sitting at home with my six-year-old looking to myself

Speaker:

Scott: like, Hey, that's pretty cool.

Speaker:

Scott: I wish I was there, but, um, yeah, just getting it out there,

Speaker:

Scott: you know, making stuff people, people like and, and, uh, hopefully I can keep the train rolling here.

Speaker:

Marvin: I mean, I think, you know, we, we have a very, very special community in fly

Speaker:

Marvin: fishing in terms of, you know, openness and generosity.

Speaker:

Marvin: And, um, you know, I always, you know, say that I think the,

Speaker:

Marvin: you know, fly anglers are some of the most generous people you'll ever meet.

Speaker:

Scott: I would very much agree with that. Yeah.

Speaker:

Scott: Until, from a company perspective, I'm much more cautious now versus,

Speaker:

Scott: you know, when I was getting up and off the ground.

Speaker:

Scott: But, you know, I know people are paying attention now just by products that they'll come out with.

Speaker:

Scott: And but, you know, that's life. It's competition.

Speaker:

Scott: It's a capitalist country. So competition is good.

Speaker:

Scott: And, you know, in very few communities outside of fly fishing could a single

Speaker:

Scott: dad with an idea, you know, get it literate to where it is today.

Speaker:

Scott: And if the only reason I, it is where it is, is based on that community and people helping out.

Speaker:

Scott: So it's, I'm very thankful for the whole experience.

Speaker:

Marvin: It's very, very neat. Pete, before I let you go this evening,

Speaker:

Marvin: is there anything else you'd like to share with our listeners?

Speaker:

Scott: No, just keep an eye out for 3.0. Pretty, pretty pumped on it.

Speaker:

Scott: Probably in the next couple of months here.

Speaker:

Scott: So, and I should, you know, speaking of community, give us a follow on Instagram.

Speaker:

Scott: It's just me. I just repost everybody else's cool fishing trips and whatnot.

Speaker:

Marvin: Not so but it's a fun follow and.

Speaker:

Scott: Uh and and you'll learn how to uh pick up a new couple new tricks on how to use lead rig gear.

Speaker:

Marvin: Yeah there you go and so you know you if you want to let folks know like the

Speaker:

Marvin: best place obviously you're on instagram that's your your social media flavor

Speaker:

Marvin: of ice cream but you want to let folks know website uh instagram handle and

Speaker:

Marvin: all that kind of good stuff.

Speaker:

Scott: Yeah just lead rig leadrig.com pretty pretty simple.

Speaker:

Marvin: That is pretty simple uh well listen Listen, Scott, I appreciate you spending

Speaker:

Marvin: some time with me this evening.

Speaker:

Scott: Yeah, thank you, Marvin. We'll have to get out and fish, eh?

Speaker:

Marvin: Yeah, absolutely. I'll be in your neck of the woods this summer for sure.

Speaker:

Scott: All right. Bring that lid, Rick.

Speaker:

Marvin: I'll do it. Take care.

Speaker:

Scott: Cheers.

Speaker:

Intro: Well, folks, I hope you enjoyed that as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you.

Speaker:

Intro: Again, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend and please subscribe and

Speaker:

Intro: leave us a rating and review in the podcatcher of your choice.

Speaker:

Intro: And don't forget to check out the fly trap from our friends at Artisan Angler.

Speaker:

Intro: Tight lines, everybody.