00:00:02 Speaker 1: He's like, I told you it's a lose, which seems appropriate because if you buy this, you're gonna lose. We only shrimp boil and ported directly from Palermo. I'm so sorry to get you all excited chain pickerel, but it turns out Pennsylvanians still don't really like you. You cannot fish into bad past. Good morning, degenerate anglers. Welcome to Bent, the fishing podcast that's only interested in gas money trips because it can't afford to pay full charter rate. I'm Joe Surmelli a Miles Nulty, and as a former guy, I resent that intro that you do. But you rode there was no gas money. It would have been a lunch money trip for you. No. No, we still had to drive to the river. There was gas involved, and you're forgetting about paying for shuttles. Shuttles, shuttle shuttle money. I throw you some shuttle money. It's not I hated. I always hated that. Oh you guys just river goods. You don't have any overhead anyway, moving on, so there's no rowing your shelves involved. But I did get away for a long weekend with the family recently, which was nice on some hikes up in the mountains, did some small creek fishing, which I love, uh, And it was, man, it was just gorgeous. The cotton woods were all like lit up yellow, and it was like that water that's so cold it almost feels like it's hot, like it burns your feet, you know, And and tying a little brick streams and the brookies were brookies were like full on fall colors. To man, they were just glowing with the white rim fins and the black line gums you know, you know how they get this time of year. And and I mean they were brookies, so they ate everything we threw at them. It was just I was gonna say the best thing about a wild brookies it'll eat anything. Adams doesn't make any difference. No, I literally was changing changing it up, just to see what will they eat this too, Like I found this thing I found at the bottom of the bag. Will ate that. It was great. But I gotta say, for as great as the week, it was, and we had a blast, you know what sucked coffee? Ah, yeah, No, we were staying in this cheap little airbnb and we forgot to bring our own coffee and it was one of those moments where my wife and I, like, we looked at each other and we never thought of ourselves as coffee snob people, but we had this realization that we have become them, and that we've just gotten totally spoiled because every day we get up and we drink Black Rifle coffee. And as much as we didn't want to come home from the trip, we both genuinely missed waking up to like an excellent cup of brew. That was that was the one good thing about coming home. I'll concure with that. And maybe I am a coffee snob. Now. I never thought i'd say that, But my house, just like this podcast, runs on Black Rifle coffee, and aside from the fact that they make a damn fine blend, they also have a coffee club that you can join. Just sign up and the coffee legs shows up at your front door. Man, it's freaking magic, magic, very very subscription boxes. You know, you never have to worry about waking up to a house full of screaming kids, sometimes with a mild hangover to boot and uh, realizing other ship we're out of coffee, because it's just always there, you know, it's beautiful. It is, it is, it is kind of magical. I like what you said that and not that, but Black Rifle supports the wild and firefighters who were out on the front lines battling those unprecedented fires of ridge across the West this year. So their company you can feel good about giving your money to in addition to having good product, which I was like, So, go to Black Rifle Coffee dot com slash meat Eater to get set up with your own coffee subscription. If you use a promo code meat Eater at checkout, they will give you an additional off first order. I just gotta throw this out there. Man here at Bent we uh definitely need to throw a shout out to the women and men sweating their respective genitalia off and literally putting their bodies in front of walls of fire, which I can't imagine, because like I feel heroic after mowing the lawn on a hot day, you know, like sit down and survey the property and I'm like I did some some real ship here today. But you know, like one thing to note about those firefighters, They're not only out there saving homes and businesses right there, also protecting watersheds, so in Oregon, California, Washington, Idaho, they've saved some critical salmon and steelhead spawning grounds in the process, and we greatly appreciate their work and sacrifice. Speaking of spawning grounds, word has at the famed Salmon River in Plaska, New York is now roid raging with kings salmon teaming with mud sharks as I like to call them, which means the sleepy hamlet is once again overrun with jabrones from NYC, in Philly and Jersey and Boston, places where all my friends live. They're just out there slinging lead gobbs, the yarn for a giant, tired fish that are rotting from the inside out. Personally, I avoid salmon season like the plague. I don't I don't go for the salmon run. I just wait for the steelhead to show up a little later. But um, I know many of you can't wait to be one of the fifty people flexing around a fifty ft long hole. So this week our friend ray Leota has the skinny on what's happening up there. And yes we do mean that ray Leota, who quit smoking using chants and then replace that addiction with salmon fishing. Hey, how are you doing? This is Ray at ray Leota's Bait and Tackle in Pulaska in New York, calling in this week's salmon fishing report. Based on what customers and a few trusted sources are telling me, the salmon are generally being assholes right now. They don't want to eat nothing but fancy flies presented on those long rods the kids hold like a Louisville slugger with two hands. You stow the group I'm talking about out there waving that ship around like ballet dancers. Spay casting I think they call it. Anyway. Word on the street is if you drift an egg sack past these sam and they're like you spay me. You bounce a piece of yarn right off their nose and they're like you spay me. I'm just with you. We all know that fly fishing is ship. Last week a kid got too close to me waving one of those rods around at the muskrat hole, and let's just say he can barely hold the call button next to his I see you, bed let alone a fly pole. The kings have been running strong, but the silvers are slow to start. Those big bastard Kings, though, haven't been able to resist a wat of kitchen sponge soaked in raylio to this famous salmon sauce only available here at the shop. I got Nikki and some kid named Wayne or Dwayne or whatever something cooking up more than sauce in the back. Right now. We use only shrimp oil imported directly from Palermo, and Nikki slices the velveta soa thin it melts instantly. The crowds have been so out of control. I've been sending little Jimmy Bennelli out in the middle of the night to lock up a hole for me and the guys. He just sits there until sun up. In his fisherman show up, he gently explains why it would be a good idea for them to fish elsewhere. He's a good kid, and it's been working out real well. Two weeks ago, during the first big push of the Kings, I showed up at the Lower Clay Pool at one pm after a few deliveries and breakfast with Karen, and there was nobody there, not one angler. I was like, oh, Jimmy, you sort a bit. You did it that afternoon it was like we were the Kings of the River. We landed forty seven salmon on yarn and pom poms dipped in sauce before Tommy went home to get his spinner box so we could start snagging them in the assholes, just for fun. Anyway, I'll check in with you is next week, and remember, Radiots, Bait and Tackle is here to serve us seven during salmon season. If the shop is closed, beat my pager and we can arrange a delivery off your tackle needs to one of our many off site drop locations. I had no idea that Ray got into the tackle business. It seems like a really poor choice. You know, the impression I get it's it's it's one of many businesses he's into. I think I bumped into him up there at the river House, but only on the nights when they got to reveal parm special. You know, he's a he's a good guy. It's really it's a good d It's almost enough, almost enough to make me want to go there and fish, but not quite. I gotta say, though, dude, I am I'm genuinely surprised that he was willing to give us a report. I mean, considering that we ripped off one of his lines and we use it in a segment intro all the time, like we just steal his stuff. And he's like, it's fine, I'll work with those guys anyway. But speaking of which, I I do believe that it is time for that segment. Why it is that time again for probably my favorite segment that we have at Smooth Moves, where we call up guides and captains and mates and pretty much anybody who is dependent on taking people fishing to make their living, and we get them to tell us ridiculous stories about things the clients have done. And today we are talking with my good, good friend Steve Daly, who is the only Tasmanian guiding for trout in Arkansas that I know of. Steve, what's going on? Man? Well, you'd be right for the first time, wouldn't he, Buddy, there's the first up for everything. Man. I'm good, I'm good. It's it's it's nice to hear your voice. Even though we don't get to hang out that much anymore, do us a favorite? Man? Tell us the Smooth Moves you got we're looking forward to this? What what? What? What's your story? Well, you know I got in the White River and bus. You guys have been to our area on our water chasing big fish, and probably about the customers we have come in want a big trophy trout at about the customers can actually physically and mentally get it done. And and for those of you who don't know, the White River does grow freakishly large brown trap. It just does. And there's a lot of them, but they're incredibly hard to catch too. Like you need more than just you need a skill set, you need attitude, you need luck, you need weather, you need the right guide, and everything's got to come together, and even then you can dick it up. Okay, so knows I know that have this customer, Sherman. I'll keep his very secret. Sherman. Sherman comes to visit and sermon, can fish right. Serpent's got it all, He's got good skill set, good guy to hang out in the boat with, prepared to put in the work. He does it all. And we have this trip lined up and the weather conditions were looking really honest. He's like, man, I don't know if I can come and fish in the rain. I'm like half day, give me a half day. In the morning, the water looks good, everything is lining up and we get out there and like everything's just coming together. It's got that whole gosthic low cloud. You know how old of the basket bills howling off in the hills. The water is really greasy, you know that as porters. Lucky Porter says, it's greasy water and the fish are biting and he's put ten brown trout in the boat from and we're doing we're doing a six mile float. It's on right. We haven't got a big one. Yeah, I know that's really sick that the fact that isn't a big fish. We're looking for a two ft and we came unbuttoned on one and we've got to the last bank and we're like four yards in the ramp and we know we're coming out. It's like, man, I think we can get one here. This ledge is just the ledges just covered tied on one of my flies. Let's just roll down here and Sherman's are left in I don't on that bank. He's fishing behind me in the driftboat and he puts the fly up onto the ledge, gives it one strip off, and this behaviors just comes up. And if you it's that pretty pretty eat right, fish mouth opens inhales. The whole six inch fly, yes, six inches, just takes the whole thing. It's gone. It looks tiny going to this more and it sucks into the corner of the mouse and I'm just like, oh god, it's it's right. I'm seeing I'm already seeing the front page of fly Fish in the magazine. It's gonna be on Flying Fish, it's gonna be on the drake. I'm going to be I'm going to be holding it to okay in this vision. But I haven't said anything right because I know it's all good, and Sherman has been so good all morning. Right, this is meant to happen. And you can remember he's sitting here behind me fighting this fish, and I've looked over my shoulder and this fish has come back and it's just rolled next to the boat and has rolled sideways. So we've seen the forward to the fish, and I've seen at least a foot of fish. Okay, so that's like a girl. That's a fifteen pound fish right next to the boat. Tired, and I reached down, I grabbed the net and I stood up and I remember thinking in my head, I'm going to say, Sherman, next time around, we've got this fish, he's going in And I heard those fateful words, Steve. What do I do? What I do? I jerk it in the boat. I'm trying to process this ship. It's like Jesus, is this is this like bass fishing stuff is not connecting. And I watched his leap sorry his right hand is lefty right hand for each up on the rod and grabbed the blank. And at this point I'm like, I'm like, all I can say is no, no, And he has he's tried it. And let me tell you, a gentleman, I can assure you you can pole jerk. You cannot pull jerk a fifteen pound fish into a boat on fifteen bound pairs. Oh no, that was it. And I didn't even get a caim of away. It's on the bottom minute it's blow. Oh no, that's that's It was such a magical story when you were just talking about to eat, because I was thinking, every big brown I ever have come after my fly happens when I pile cast and ships wrapped around my legs. Like it's never on the perfect cast where he's like he's going to eat that one. Sometimes the fishing. God's reached down and put a little light on your forehead and that was our moment and apparently burned out right at the end game for this guy. Oh dude, I've spoken it was numerous psychologists try and figure this ship out. How does this never happen again? So and I've heard the first thing I've heard from Sherman because I just can't speak. I can't even look at the guy right He's broken off the fish of a lifetime, so I can't look at him. And I just hear the one word of fall later and starting with f just ringing off the heels of the im sacks because he said it, and then he turned him and he said, this is about five minutes later. I've got my head out of my Anti said, Steve shipped my pants, didn't I? I said, I cannot tell a lie. It was all over So sad I christ As Dally and his fellow azzies would say that story was gutting. Gutting, I'm gonna start using that word. I wasn't even there and I'm still gutted. That's one of my favorite Commonwealth phrases. I am gutted. And just for the record, I've I have known Steve Daly for a long time, and I will vouch right here and now for the fact that he is more likely to underestimate the size of a fish than overestimated. So I believe every word. Yeah, I mean, I know Steve only by reputation. I've never met him, but I've been hearing about him for years, and I will say that man just knows how to tell a good fishing story and not not everybody can do that. So I vote for bringing him back on the regular second that, and there are only two votes here, so I think he's coming back whether he wants to or not. And the guy, he's just a storyteller, like period, full stop. Yeah. I imagine that's part of what makes him a good guy, because if the fishing sucks, you better be able to tell a good story. People aren't coming back. I've listened to that dude tell stories about cricket matches and been completely enthralled, even though I do not understand a single thing about the sport of cricket, like nothing at all. It's like baseball with flat bats and knickers. I think you have to wear knickers. I don't. I don't really know dude, I'm not in a much of anything British. I don't get cricket or rugby, riverkeepers, parliamentary government, why people think Oasis was so great? Me wrong? But I do know that our word for this week does have something to do with the Brits, and I don't want to steal your thunder, so I'll let Miles take it from here with the weekly word. Webster's Dictionary defines fish as this week's word is angling, as in another word for fishing, as in while angling for halibit, the angler had an unfortunate encounter with a harbor seal and is now missing a few digits. Those of us who write about fishing, like Joe and I, find angling a useful term. It offers an alternative to fishing or fisherman, which is nice for a couple of reasons. One, writers get sick of using the same word over and over again, and two the term angler's gender neutral, as is fishing, and as you're about to learn, it has been for a very long time. But where do we get angling? Is it actually a synonym for fishing? And would you believe its origin is entwined with the beginnings of the English language. To answer that, I have to go back a very long way, like the fifth century way, back to the Anglo Saxons, you know, the Germanic people's who colonized the British Isles after the Fall of Rome and invented English. This language I'm speaking right now. Well, the Anglo part of their name comes from the Angles tribe, whose original homeland, which they called a was a peninsula in Denmark with a vague hook shape to it if you really squint hard. The Angles were fishing people, and they carried their language and culture with them when they migrated west. Quick recap. English comes from the root Anglo, which got its name from the tribe Angles, who were named for a fish hook. So, in a weird way, are very language is rooted in fishing. By the time English became an actual language several hundred years later, the word angle referred to any curved object that could be used to hook a fish. The earliest known written work about fishing, titled Treatise on Fishing with an Angle, published in four is often attributed to a badass hunting and fishing nun, Dame Julianna Burners. The book details how to make rods lines hooks and lures, and even delves into concepts of ethics, private land, and conservation. Some historians disagree about whether Burner's actually penned that work or if she even existed, but no one has a better answer, so we're just sticking with the badass nun writing the first how to book on fishing. Anyway. My point is in that title, Treatise on Fishing with an Angle, the noun angle stands in for fish hook, somewhat confusingly, In that same book, Burners also uses angle in the geometric sense. She spends a whole lot of time talking about the importance of the angle of rod to line for effectively casting and hooking fish. Though that word choice may have muddied her meaning a bit, it also might have helped transition the noun angle as in fish hook, into the verb to angle. Over the next couple of centuries, the language evolved as languages do, and angling became a well established term. By the time Isaac Walton published his iconic book The Complete Angler in se angling was just a common term for fishing, and it stayed that way ever since. So that pretty much covers where the term came from, and if you think about it. You can see that angling and fishing they're not exactly the same thing. An angler fishes with an angle or hook. A fisherman just catches fish. Noodling for catfish doesn't count as angling. Neither does throwing a cast net, flinging a spear, setting a fish trap, or gathering shellfish. But all of those are fascinating in skillful ways of trying to capture fish. What I'm trying to say is, by that definition, I'd rather be known as a fisherman than an angler. But it still doesn't solve the problem of what to call badass women who are good at all types of fishing. I'm stuck on this one because I really appreciate specific and accurate language. I think we need to come up with a new word that describes all people who like to pursue fish in all possible ways. But I don't have it yet. Fishers, fish, people, awqua lungs. I really don't know, but I want to know what you think. Let's figure this out together. Maybe we can come up with a new word and have it catch on. Hey, what the hell was that man got a little carried away? That was some rambling Russell Crowe beautiful mind ship. I don't. I don't know if any part of that was true, but I respected I guess either way, um, it's weird. And either way, you spent way too much time researching the roots of that word. Or you're more creative than I thought. It's one or the other. I don't know, both actually both. I will say though, that I like the idea of coining a new gender neutral term to replace fisherman. If we actually ever pulled that off, we'd have to report on ourselves for fish News. But that's not happening this week. Fish News that escalated quickly, So welcome to fish News, the part of the show where we queue you guys into all kinds of recent fishing and fish related happenings out there in the world. For those of you who have not been following along, this is a competition, and a serious one at that very serious. Friendly reminded that Miles and I do not know which news stories the other dude is bringing to the table, and our magical engineer Phil at the end of each news segment ways in to declare one of us a victor and one of us a complete and total loser. Last week, that was me so um, maybe I'll maybe I'll bring it this week. We'll see. But before we actually get to the news, Miles, I do believe you. You have a few comments. You want to make a about some some some tools you have to you have tool issues. Based on last episode, well, I may have have technically one fish news. Last week. I also kind of proved myself to be a loser. So I told the story of a musky angler who freed to fish in Wisconsin from a diving ring using bolt cutters, and and in doing so, I made a snide comment wondering, well, who carries bolt cutters on their boat? Apparently the answer is serious musky anglers. Listener Jeff von Holtam writes Musky anglers routinely carry bolt cutters in order to cut hooks during a difficult release. Jeff goes on to say, you try cutting in eight oh four x strong mustad with a side cutter, you will struggle. So thanks for keeping me honest there, Jeff, And uh and calling it out when I screwed it up. Anytime we screw stuff up, we want to hear from and I gotta jump in and say that I deserve it to be called out. As a dang guest for that one too, because listen, people like when you're recording this stuff in the heat of the moment, like how many times we get down and I'm like, oh, I said some clearly idiotic stuff. I've posted videos of people using bolt cutters on muski boats to cut musky hooks out of themselves. I freaking knew that too, and it was just nowhere in my brain. And then I just went to the default make fun of of dirty people from Jersey like me. So I I failed there too. Um, you know, we all fail sometimes. Hopefully I will not fail today, though it is a little bit more possible, because the leadoff man in in any newsday tends to have a leg up and this week that is used, sir, it is it is, And hopefully I won't. I won't make an ass of myself this week. But we'll see plenty of opportunities for that happen, all right. So last week, the Army Corps of Engineers announced that they will open a public comment period for a fish farming pilot project proposed off the coast of Sara Sota, Florida. This comes after the e p A issued the Aquaculture developer, ocean Era, a wastewater discharge permit for the project on septemb Now, this is not the standard inshore net pen fish farm that we're all accustomed to, Dubbed the Valela I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing that right, Laila, something like that, Leyla Epsilon project. This is the latest outgrowth of ocean Eras development of open ocean aquaculture pens. For the past decade plus in Hawaii, ocean Era has been developing what they call aquapods, large copper alloy mesh orbs that can be deployed in the open ocean and house several thousand fish. The idea is that this could be a sustainable form of fish farming. Because the pens are an open ocean, tide and swell activity could theoretically disperse waste instead of concentrating it in bays and estuaries, which is what happens with traditional aquaculture. And uh, I gotta say, the engineering on these things is pretty mind blowing. So what they're talking about doing is is they're going to drop this pen forty five miles out to see in the Gulf of Mexico and leave it there for twelve to eighteen months to test it out. It would be secured with what they call a multi anchor swivel mooring system. The pen would be attached to three different three ton drag anchors by two insteel chain in about a hundred thirty ft of water. So most of the time the pen is just would be floating there on the ocean surface, but when a storm approaches, the flotation system can be flooded with water so that it sinks to the bottom, and the theory here is that the pen itself will be safer from wind and waves and surge in the middle of a storm. If it's down on the bottom, it's below everything. All of this, the whole thing is controlled remotely and just requires a one single weekly technician visit to refill the fish feeder and recharge the generator. Ocean Era claims that their previous tests of similar pens and hawii produced out standing fish while leaving no significant impact on ocean ecosystems, but local critics of this project are not buying it. They argue that the area is already struggling with massive red tides exacerbated by elevated levels of nitrogen and Phospherson. That's what I was thinking about. That part of the world is red tide central exactly, and and they're saying like these pens could add to the problem. Additionally, like any other aquaculture right the fish in these pens could carry infectious disease. And so if this kind of untested technology were to fail and the fish could escape, they might do harm to to local fish populations. As of right now, commercial fish farming in federal waters is prohibited. Ocean Era is working to secure EPA permits for this test, but for right now anyway, they can't go any further than that. A federal Court of Appeals held that offshore fish farming and federal waters cannot be permitted under current policy. That just happened in August, So large scale offshore fish farms remain illegal unless Congress passes new legislation. So why is ocean Era even bothering with all this research and testing if the scaling up of this technology is just not allowed, Well, because it might not be illegal for long. Senator Marco Rubio, the from Florida recently introduced the Advancing the Quality and Understanding of American Aquaculture Act, or the aqua for short. That was how many times out some aid in paperwork. I already forgot it. I just go BAA. If that passes, it would open up offshore federal waters to fish farms. And that follows a Trump administration executive order mandating an expansion of American aquaculture. All right, So that's a lot. I know. I just wanted to step in here at the end and say I'm not going to claim that this issue is simple, because it's not. We we know that current fish farming practices are detrimental to ecosystems and wildfish populations. We've seen that happen. We also know that global demand for fish and seafood isn't sustainable. We are we are literally fishing out the oceans right. So in theory, sustainable aquaculture like that offers a potential solution that the idea of sustainable aquaculture is is really attractive. If we can figure out how to raise fish on an industrial scale without destroying habitat, I mean, I'd be all four it. That'd be great. But I'm wary of fish farming in general because it has a terrible track record. And and you know, I gotta say, like I have to clear one thing up. I'm talking explicitly about fish, not mollusks or bivalves. Oyster farming scenes to be working pretty well, but you know, much like sulfide mining near sensitive watersheds, this strikes me as the wrong place to test this technology out, like you were saying earlier, Joe, like the of Mexico, that whole area is already dealing with a lot and adding more potential stress to that marine system. Just that just it seems really risky. It just does. Yeah, So this is one of those deals were on paper, it sounds like a good idea, but I mean, I have so many questions which you might not have the answers to. I mean, first and foremost, like what kind of fish are we raising in a in a copper bubble forty five miles offshore? So they've done it with a few different kinds of fish, the ones that they did in Hawaii or are compete it's a it's a type of fish that's out there, but the ones that they want to do in Florida test this out, or Jack's which kind of blewe Yeah, that's that's that classic fish that like one in fifty guys is like, oh are you talking about them? Kraval is delicious. I wish I could remember the exact but yeah, it goes exactly. That's exactly what. I actually just caught some almicos here in Jersey a couple of weekends ago. How about that? Um? I mean, I feel like, you know, when when you're talking about farm salmon and things, a lot of times you have these farms and places where those fish don't naturally exist. Therefore, when something goes wrong, it's it's it's catastrophic, right, So I mean, if we're raising a fish that if hypothetically all got released forty five miles off shore, wouldn't make any difference anyway. I mean, I feel like that's that's a little safer in that regard, except for one thing. Right, Yes, they're native to that area, but they've been pumped full of all kinds of ambiotics and stuff, so them getting out could potentially there there could be a problem there. It's not like there's no risk. Yeah, and and and and for anybody you know this, this is like a new idea too. So Hawaii had a version of this, And I've only ever fished in southern California one time, but I don't want to get off on it. But I was so blown away once we got into Mexican waters. They weren't in US waters, just these miles of pens out in the open ocean, and I'm like, what is that? And they're like their tuna pends. They're full of blue fin tuna. And that was the first time I ever saw any sort of open ocean pen farm whatever you want to call it. So it's it's I think the the the method here, uh is new, but I mean stuff like this to some degree has been done before. Um. I will say that if they put it out there, I mean, if you're a mahi fisherman, that's your spot. I mean, can you just imagine? Can you just imagine? I mean, that's the world's biggest what is it called a fit fabricated whatever they're they're illegal fat fat fish, Yeah, attracting device. So you know, um, I think it's an interesting idea. I get what they're saying to about the wastewater. That does make sense because a lot of these issues stem from the wastewater that that farms produced. So yeah, you have the tide naturally flushing out all the fish. Ship it's it's I don't, I don't, I don't know, man Like, it's it's such a it's such a big picture thing. There's no right or wrong right now, there's the whole deal and and this like this one pen right, you're talking about like a pretty small scale thing. It's it's not this, it's not the test that's the issue. It's what it opens the door to on a bigger scale that's the thing that's potentially an issue. So I mean, I recommend everybody was out there who's concerned with this, like, do your own research, come to your own conclusions. The public comment period is not open yet for the Army Corps of Engineers, but it will be soon. And and contact them, let them know what you think, give them your thoughts, make your voice heard. Uh. And one of the things before we move on, Joe, I totally mispronounced a Hawaiian word in there, and all my my people will hate me is the name of that fish not compa Compachi. Okay, you've right it, You've righted your wrong this time. I will just tack on that. I feel bad for that one loan dude who ask to make the forty five mile run there and back. Once a week to to feed the fish. That's a terrible job since everything else is remote. But anyway, so well, i'll transition is here from growing them growing fa to slaughter in them in an interesting story here And and I feel like we've tried pretty hard to keep the covids out of our news because like who like we're all hearing it, right, But this one was just too juicy for for me to let it go. So this story comes to us from sky News headline coronavirus colon half a million sharks could be killed for vaccine. Experts warn I heard about this. I didn't dig into it, but this I heard about this, all right. This is one I was legitimately. I was worried that you were going to grab because I could see either one of us. This is this has to it for scept it sharks. So it's pretty you know, it's pretty much jo story. Yeah, So from this story, half a million sharks could be killed for their natural oil to produce coronavirus vaccines. According to Conservationist, one ingredient used in some COVID nineteen vaccine candidates is squalling. Squaling squalling, I slip slappy samsonite we'll go squaling because I'm gonna say it a million times. Uh so whatever, uh And that which is a natural oil made in the liver of sharks. British pharmaceutical company Glaxo smith Klein currently uses sharks squaling in flu vaccine, and the company said it would manufacture a billion doses of this adjuvant for potential use in coronavirus vaccines in May. Now, according to this story, around three thousand sharks are needed to extract one ton of squalling, and Shark Allies, a California based group, suggests that if the world's population received one dose of a COVID nineteen vaccine containing the liver oil, to make that happen, around two hundred and fifty thousand sharks would need to be slaughtered, depending on the amount of squally used. Now, we're all following the news on COVID, how do you not? It's crammed down your throat. And what we're here, and at least from a lot of sources, is that if and when there is a vaccine, it's probably gonna be a double dos er. You know, you go back for your booster shot. So this story says if two doses are needed to immunize the global population, which is likely according to researchers, this would increase the shark death to half a million. Sharks would have to die to provide enough squalling for all those vaccines. Damn right. So um, this goes on to say, to avoid threatening shark populations, scientists are testing on alternative to squaling, a synthetic version made from fermented sugarcane, which which is cool now. According to estimates made by conservationists, around three million sharks are killed every year for squalling, which is also used apparently in cosmetics and machine oil, and there are fears that a sudden rise in demand for the liver oil could threaten populations and see more species become endangered, as many species rich in squalling, such as the gulper shark, are already vulnerable. Um. Sorry, gulper shark, I've never heard of you. I had to look that I don't. Then it's so. It's a member of the dog fish family. Uh, and apparently lives in very deep, murky water all around the world. Um, it's got like these weird green eyes. Gulp er shark. Never heard now of course? Right. This piece is illustrated with stock photos of Great whites and such, and I don't think anybody is hunting Great whites down for their squaling. But I gotta be totally honest, man, this is legitimately news to me. I was not hip to the use of any shark byproducts um in vaccines. However, I will say that sadly right, I feel like this is your classic COVID story that's just simply like not likely to make the impact certain people are hoping it will, you know, because like we're so beaten over the head of COVID numbers and vaccine news and now the President's got it and blah blah blah, and you don't have the same impact as those buried COVID stories like science confirms Yorkshire terriers most common carriers among dogs. You know, It's like there's so many bigger picture COVID things going around that I just don't know, you know, if this is going to have the impact. Um But to throw in a little Devil's advocate just to keep it unbiased. Unlike the real news, we keep it unbiased. Here. I found another story about this on echo watch dot com. And here are just a couple of interesting fact toys from that one. Squaling has been used in flu vaccine since Boston News reported and has a quote excellent safety record according to the c d C. And that was in the Miami Herald. It could also help reduce the amount of vaccine needed per person. Squaling, so you could have it can help there. And then in a popular online campaign, Shark Allies outlined the non shark alternatives for squaling already in existence. Plant based oils can be harvested from things like yeast, wheat, germ, sugarcane, and olive oil. Um. But the problem with these alternatives is that they are about thirty percent more expensive and harder to extract than shark based squaling. So if this is all accurate, right, this is a This is a dilly of a pickle, now, isn't it? Because you and I and everyone a mediator and everyone pretty much in the outdoor industry aligns themselves with conservation efforts. We've talked on this show before about how you and I agree with shark conservation in particular. But then, like, given the circumstances, I feel like most people's reaction to this story in this country right now would be like, hey, if killing a shipload of sharks, gets me a safer vaccine faster, and we get through this bullshit like just kill them like anything that we'll get us back to normalcy right now. So the organizations fighting against this and trying to push these synthetics, man, you've got a hard fight ahead of you right now, you know, especially because exactly exactly, it's not like it's not like we're gonna pause this process of developing and disseminating a vaccine so that we can have an argument about shark populations. Yeah, that's that's that's not gonna happen. And I'm not even arguing that it should. I'm in the same boat. It's like, on one hand, you want to be like, no, this is ridiculous, But on the other hand, look like, look what we're dealing with, this unprecedented pandemic. And at first, like I said, I I didn't even know that that was such a thing. Using shark liver oil as an additive to vaccines. Who no, I mean, there are all kinds of weird additives in vaccines and other injectables and medicines. Right Like, I don't want to go to too far around the rabbit hole, but the you know, the harvesting of of horseshoe crabs in order to produce basically every single fact, and damn near wiped him out. In certain places, we don't see horseshoes on the beach like we did when I was a kid. That's a good point. Yeah, so you know it's there. There's a long standing precedent for this, and unfortunately they're there are two forces that are just going to be stronger or maybe fortunately, I don't know. There are two forces are going to ultimately outweigh anything that has to do with shar shark conservation. One is public health and to our market forces. Right, if it's if it's cheaper and more effective to take it from the sharks, that's where it's gonna come from. So hopefully they keep it to the golfer sharks. Sorry golper SLOs, but you know, at least it's not makos or black tips on the flats, at least not yet. So if we can get if we can get through this with the golfer sharks, all the other sharks will be okay, my minus the shark finning and all that stuff, you know, for the next story I've got I'm I'm working through a little self loathing over over the second story I chose in general, bring it on good and and it is a far cry from from net pens or or shark killing or coronavirus. Anyway, my next story it's a far cry from being worthy of being in news. But well, and this was so like to call what I'm about to report on news really is stretching the bounds of anything remotely journalistic. But screw it, here goes. So you know that old axiom if you give a room full of monkeys typewriters in an infinite quantity of time, they would eventually produce the works of Shakespeare. Have you heard that? I have? So this story is kind of like that, except instead of monkeys with typewriters, there their fish in a tank, and instead of the words of Shakespeare, it's a terrible video game. A gamer in Japan who goes by the handle mutak Madu his pet beta fish that's so smooth, like perfect, dude. I took Japanese lessons as a kid, Come on, did you really as part of the curriculum? And yeah, grew up in Hawaii. Lots of Japanese, lots of other other languages, we had to speak. Uh anyway, So so this mutak Madu guy taught his pet beta fish how to play the video game Pokemon Sapphire. Kind of now, yeah, now these gamers like this. He did this as a stunt to attract people to his channel, which worked, but it produced some unintended results that are actually kind of interesting, at least to me anyway. So we take him out to gritted out his fish tank, and through a mechanism that I truly don't understand, he somehow connected it to his game Boy advance. When his two fighting fish named Maurice and Lala entered a certain part of the tank, they tripped a button on his game Boy, thereby allowing the fish to play the game and uh. The first interesting result of this experiment was proving that Pokemon Sapphire does not require any intellect at all. In fact, apparently one doesn't even need basic sentience because the fish were able to advance pretty far in the game. The second interesting result, however, is that these fish found a bug or a glitch in the coding that no one else has been able to find in the eighteen years that this game has existed. So this jumped out at me because my dad was a video game designer. And when I was yeah, really, dude, your dad's a video game designer. You speak jap. I'm learning so much about so many things, but I don't speak. I took some lessons when I was in elementary school. Maybe count to ten um. But yeah, when I was a kid, my friends and I were conscripted as beta testers. And basically what that means that we sat around for hours playing early versions of video games, looking for bugs or situations where the games didn't work like they were supposed to. This may sound like fun, but I was never very interested in video games, and I was never very good at them at all. So you know, like some kids disappoint their fathers because they're two into video games and too good at them, and I was the exact opposite. And it was so funny. Do I gotta cut in for one second? Because like every video game system I had growing up, my dad bought like for himself. Like, I played them a little bit, but I was never enthralled. I play my original Nintendo more now than I did when I got it. Like my dad beat Resident Evil in three days, you know what I mean? Anyway, we no I mean, like literally, when I was a kid, there'd be situations where my dad would be like, hey, son, you want to go play some video games and be like, no, not really, you play side He's like not really. Anyway, My point back to what I was talking about there are My point is that thousands and thousands of hours go into beta testing video games before they even go to market. This game was released way back in two thousand two, so in addition to that, god knows how many hours of actual like gameplay time it had, and yet no one found this game crashing bug until Maurice and La La the Fighting Fish got a crack at it. I guess. I guess that's why they called them them beta fish, right, because they're so good at the beta testing bump. Dang uh. Well, so the first question I have, um, what is the COVID status in Japan? Has this poor man been in quarantine in his apartment in Japan since December? Because I mean I didn't look into that aspect of this. I just saw something pop up online the other day that was like, thirteen year old figures out nuclear fission or cold fusion in his garage. It's like, dude, if you have this much time to train beta fish to play Pokemon Cure cancer. Man. There's created, there's no trade, just like create a little grid system in their tank and when they swam in that area, it would push buttons and that would make the gameplay. It was. It was a total gimmick. And he this is again, that's why I used the monkeys with typewriters, making Shakespeare think, because give the fish enough time pushing random buttons and things happen. It's dude. It is funny though, because this man taught to fighting fish how to play a video game. And I'm in the basement now with a five year old like trying to explain why she's not killing the ducks and duck Hunt. I'm like, you have to look, you have to put that little thing on the tip of the gun on the duck. Don't just fire wild like I can't. I can't get my kid to consistently shoot ducks and duck Hunt. But this man has taught fish how to play a much more advanced game than duck Hunt. It sounds like that, yes, yes, oh well he has a lot of nothing to do. I will say that's that's he needs some other hobbies. Um, there's some great fishing in Japan. Can I can I suggest, well, record large mouth came out of there, But put your mask on, grab grab a leather swim bait and go down there and see what happens. Teat yourself to catch those. Uh, this man deserves a metal. I don't have one for him. But how about a pin? Okay, here comes my ridiculous be comes my ridiculous story. This is a goofy one. And I actually I debated it, but I just had to because I just laughed very hard. Um. And before I get into this story, a couple of things. So back in the day, and by back in the day, I mean like the fifties and sixties and such, some of you might be aware that many states used to issue a button as a fishing license. You know what I'm talking about, right, Like they're they're collector's items now, Like if you get antique stores and flea markets see all these old pins, you know, ohio, um, and you know they're super collectible. But instead of a paper license, you'd get a sweet button to put on your fishing vest. Well, the state of Pennsylvania's still offers buttons. Of course, these days it's just a novelty. Um. You know, most people are just go with the paper license, but if you want to pony up an extra ten bucks, you can still get a collectible fishing license button. So there's that now. The next thing. I love chain Pikeroll. I am all about the littlest member of the Esox family, and I have sung their praises for years and videos and written works and so forth, and I target them often. But for the most part, I think it's fair to say people find pickroll to just be a nuisance, right, especially bass guys, because chain Pickerell clip that wacky rig sinko off real quick right there, pain in the as. But to me, they are under appreciated underdogs. So imagine the twinge of the light I got when reading this headline on the website of Chester County p A my Chess code dot com. Voters select chain Pickerel design for pennsylvanias one collectible license button no way, And I thought, finally, finally, the lowly chain Pickerel is getting some respect, And I thought, geez a vote. There was a vote, which means enough people respect the chain Pickerel and p A that it's legions of fans trumped all the other options. How terrific, And here's what the story said. During an online poll held from September sevent a total of four and fifty three voters cast their ballots to choose between four different options. The fish skin design featuring the scales of a chain pickrel was the runaway winner, earning six hundred and seventy six votes, nearly fifty Good for you. That's isn't that terrific? And that's like if we had one out here, the equivalent would be if someone put the white fish on it instead of a trout. And I would be very happy if that were to happen. But wait, just because I was so proud right at that point in the story, I was so proud, and then I I read on and says A single color conservation green option was the second most popular choice votes. A classic red and white bobber design placed third with two. A design featuring a life jacket rounded out the field, collecting two votes. So to rehash that, the measly amount of people that voted had pickerel skin, green bobber, and life jacket to pick from, which means nearly of the barely voters went well, shit, at least that one's a fish. I'll go with the fish. You could have put it like the dull gray sides of a bow fin as an option, and it would have beat out life jacket. I mean, nobody wants to wear a life jacket, let alone sport a piece of flare with a life jacket. Look at life jacket button that I've got on my life jacket, and I just I thought that was comical. On the flip side, though, you know, at some point there's a discussion at p A Fish and Wildlife about pin options for that year, and and the boss is always like Brooker Brown Trout, you know, but there's a one dude like me, the intern, that's like, how about a Pickerel? And finally this year they were like, Timmy in the mail room has been saying pickerel for eight years now, can we just give it to it? I'm exactly But anyway, I'm so sorry to get you all excited, Chain Pickerell, but it turns out Pennsylvanians still don't really like you. Uh. The only reason you want is because you're an actual fish. I might have to buy the button just because will you buy me one too? And and you know what, if you're smart, you will also buy one fulfill the engineer, because he is the decider as to who will be the grand Champion winner this week. And as soon as Phil has has issued his his validation and his vanquishing, we will then move on to see what kind of tasty items we have found this week in the sale band. And I think we're going to take a dip in the sheer stupidity that we are. Joseph Mellie is the winner this week. Look, I surprised even myself. Normally I would gladly take a Pokemon story over a COVID story, but those shark vaccines are just too interesting to ignore. But don't worry, Miles, You're still the very best, like no one ever was. Why did you put the hand to pay? You don't know what I'm getting? Man? What you didn't have to be so hurtful with me, so angry? Okay? So to preface this item, which I found on offer up, it's a little complex, okay, but that's it. It might be the most fabulously stupid attempt at shady private online goods dealing I have ever seen. Right, So, the seller is located in Barrie, Texas, which is the middle of nowhere. And remember that because it's gonna make this funnier when when we get into the meat of what we're dealing with here, right, and I feel like I feel like I got a prevace before you dive in too much, Joe by saying that when you first brought this to me, I was totally confused and I didn't get it. So but now that I do get it, it's pretty ridiculous and it's pretty damn funny, and I cannot believe that this guy is trying to pull this off. Well, that's what makes this complex, because to just look at it face value, like if you if you're not if you don't have the inside track on this, you probably skip right over it. But but once we we divulge the crazy, right, you guys will understand. So the title of the post is lose fly reel. That's it, okay, and lose l e w apostrophees not oh so leeah lose As many of you know, uh, they are long time makers of conventional bass rods and reels, but they do not make fly reels. So I will do my best to explain this idiocy Okay, picture of fly reel loaded with line, but the real has no middle. There's nothing, nothing in the middle, so it essentially looks like a giant ball bearing with a real foot. Okay, there's there's nothing in the center. There's no drag nob, none of the usual support structure that tie a normal fly reel together. Um, and this struck me as odd. Even more so when I read this very short and sweet description brand new never used not cheap, will trade for a lose bait caster. So, in a very cryptic way, the title of the post is actually saying, will trade lose bait caster for this fly reel. Okay. So I'm looking at all the pictures trying to figure out what's going on here because something is not right. And then it hit me right. I do not use chewing tobacco, but a good friend of mine does, and a few years ago he presented me with a special edition tin of Grizzly long Cut. Now why did he do this? Because he knows I love fly fishing. And there is a very pretty trout on the actual tin, and that tin is nestled right in the center of a fake, non functional, decorative fly reel. Okay, So I raised to my closet to dig this this tin out to confirm my suspicion, and I was right on the money. You pop the tin of actual dip out of the fly reel and are left with what this momo is trying to trade for a lose bait caster. Uh On some level you gotta respect that hustle. I mean it's it's terrible. But no, there's there's hustle, and then there's like scam artists, and this is pure and simple. This is my best guess right, I will never know. Uh So back up, I reached out to the gentleman with a simple question what brand of fly reel is that? And oddly got no answer that never got back to me, which seems appropriate because if you buy this, you're gonna lose banger love that. This is my guess right. He needed a fresh tint of dip, and the one gas station in Barry, Texas was out of his regular grizzly long cut, which forced him to buy his favorite shawl in this commemorative fly fishing tin, So he choose the dip while bass Fishing realizes the tolerance in his Johnny Morris signature series Bait caster aren't as tight as they used to be, looks down at the now empty, useless fake fly fishing cradle and has his Aha moment. But do you think about this or hold on? Maybe I'm just being the least cynical. Maybe I've just given this guy's benefit of the doubt and I'm wrong. But maybe he knows so little about fly fishing or fly fishing reels. He was like, huh, so this is what a fly fishing real does. Huh, don't turn it. There's no function. It doesn't turn. It's got fake line on it. What do you do with that? Yeah? You're I know, I know, trying to give the benefit the data. I shouldn't. Here's the part that I want to know, right, what if somebody had actually bit on this, Like what if somebody was like, hey man, I gotta lose laying around and that's a real sweet looking fly real what would this dude have done, grabbed debait caster and ran like hell, how would the transaction have gone down? Yeah, that's a good question. How are you gonna how are you going to do that? I don't know, because as soon as you you've actually held one in your hands, you own one. So you know better than I do. I've just looked at the photos. It's real hard to tell. But you're saying, as soon as I picked this up, I would go, but it's it's it's it's nothing. It's hollow aluminum. It's not it's it's it may as well be a paperweight. I mean, it says zero function. It's not a real it's a it's a freaking dip tin. And it's not even the tin, it's like the housing of the tin. Right. So to that end, because we know this one is a little bit more complicated and some of you might want a better understanding. Um, we put together a little product demo and we're posting that on me and Miles Instagram pages. So that's at Joe dot Smellie one three eight and at water Miles. Um, and we may or may shred this dipshit a little harder and said product video, So check that out. Okay, this may not be the only time that we post photos to our our our Instagram accounts to try and back these up, because sometimes you need a little visual help. Yea, So it's a little visual be ready for that, yes, and UH, as always, if you find something fishing related for sale online that you think we need to see to believe. Do keep shooting those links to us at bent at the meat eater dot com. We've been getting a bunch of great items from you guys. Keep them coming, thank you. We are almost out of time, but before we go, Joe has an end of the line segment that was like, honestly legitimately eye opening for me. No, seriously, man, Like I've I have long been familiar with with that lure, the one you're about telling about, but I had I had no idea about its right coast not so called following. I'm not gonna say aything else because I want to let you tell it. But you know, for those of you out there who are keyed into the East coast striper scene, this wi will probably come as no surprise. But for those who rarely fish east of the Mississippi, you guys, might you know, actually learn something from this podcast for once. Well, that's not loud enough. The musky Mania doc might just be the worst kept secret in striper fishing. But the funny thing is, to the uninitiated, nothing about it would suggest it has any sort of magical abilities. To the untrained eye, It's just an oversized spook, a massive version of the dog walkers that have been calling up green and brown bass the world over since Hank Parker was a boy. In fact, the nine inch dock looks downright goofy, and viewed from the underside, the slightly flared gills make it a dead ringer for a massive male member standing at full attention, which has prompted countless nicknames for the plug I need not get into, and endless jokes when you pull one out of your tackle bag. The joke, however, is on the nonbelievers. Unlike its little cousins that have internal bbes or perhaps a few little knockerballs, the doc has a setimental balls that would make a C d C blush. It produces a clack like no other top order, which is a key element to the dock's ability to call stripers, particularly big girls that chow whole adult bunker out of what you swear is a completely dead ocean. Legendary muskie angler Pete Man is the mastermind behind the dock, and while there has always been some crossover appeal between striper guys and musky dudes, when it comes to loures, without question, no musky lore has infiltrated the stripers scene this deeply since surfcasters in the nineteen forties and fifties latched onto the creek Chubb Pikey minnow Now. Details about who figured out the secret first are hazy and debated, but the dock first hit the striper scene in the early two thousands. What those early pioneers also figured out is that the money is the unpainted natural bone colored blank. Even though the dock is available in ten colors. I've never seen a Northeast salty guy hucking anything but the bone. And what Northeast anglers also learned in short order is that the split rings and bronze hooks that come stock on a dock we're pretty worthless in the brine, which has sparked years of debate, videos and articles on the best terminal tackle hooks and configuration for retrofitting these lures. Now, why you'd be hard pressed to find a striper guy around here that won't tell you the doc is deadly. They'll also I'll tell you the lore is a complete pain in the ass to fish. The most notable problem is that the hooks are space so far apart you tend to only get one of those troubles in a bass's mouth, which gives them leverage during the fight to twist, which can open the split rings. Just pull the hook or bend the hook out put it this way. Many big bass dreams have been shattered because of this flaw. The dock is also so big awkward an o fie that you need a fairly beefy rod to deliver it and to get it walking properly. You're gonna give your arms and shoulders a serious workout fishing it all day, I can tell you from personal experience sucks. The first time I ever saw this lor in action was in a video produced in Massachusetts where a dock with no hooks was being used to tease in big bass so fly anglers could hit them with a bait and switch. The first time I ever actually used one was in Montauk, New York, and we'd caught zero stripers all day despite prior conditions, And then finally my friend Craig can't tell Moo whipped out his dock and we motored tight to the beach and he said, if they don't eat this, this will at least let us know if there are any fish here, and we had ten blow ups and three connections within thirty minutes. This was only about five years ago, But even then Craig asked me to keep the dock on the download, to keep it a secret, because so potent was the ability of this lord to call in bass and trigger fish that seemingly we're not hungry. For many years, just the mention of a dock resulted in lambasting and cries of Doc Burn on social media. Now I've carried a dock with me ever since that trip, and I can't begin to count how many stripers it has made materialize out of the ether when all other methods failed. The heart pounding follows man. The toilet flush boils are all worth the need for icy hot because the beauty of that giant stiffy is that it's usually not a little rat striper that comes up to take that swing. Nowadays, you don't have to call the company to order unpainted blanks or strip all that fire tiger off your dock with about sander. Several outfitters sell bone docks pre fitted with tuna grade split rings and heavy gauge steel troubles, and as it often goes in this game there, even if you knock off docks out there. Now, the two originals I own have been slaying for years, and until I lose them, I'd prefer to just keep letting scrapes and scuffs from striper mouths accumulate because I like a lure with that broken in character. Well that's all we got for you this week. But just to recap, Henry Hill was actually put into the witness protection program in Pulaska, New York. Joe exploits his cousins for lure making materials, and Diptons make terrible fly reels, all at least partially cheerious statements. And hey, by the way, if you want a better understanding of how we managed to get Rayliota on this program, do yourselves a favor and allow at Paradinoia. That's p A r A D E n O I A on the Instagram. And while you're on your phone, fire an email at a bent at the Mediator dot com and tell us all about what we got wrong or what you like if you're feeling complimentary, or maybe just give us a fishing report. Either way, we love hearing from you, we do. And you know, if you're enjoying the show, Please leave us a review or, better yet, send this show to some of your fishing buddies. They will either thank you or cuss you out, so really you win either way, and until next week, thanks for listening and watch your angle.

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