Fly fishing is the ultimate sport for hoarders
I joined Rachel Kramer Bussel on the Finders and Keepers podcast to talk fly fishing's peculiar penchant for gear acquisition. Also: Casting session this Friday in Portland, Ribbon Map updates and more!
CFStraterrestrials,
I think fly fishing is the ultimate sport for hoarders. The important question to me revolves around doing things differently: In a world of hyper-consumption, where the appetite for "more" has us eating our home alive, is this something we can change?
That was my pitch to Rachel Kramer Bussel, of Open Secrets, as she put out a call for guests for her new podcast, Finders and Keepers. Finders and Keepers bills itself as a pod about "the emotional attachment to our belongings," and that felt very apropos to fly fishing, where we name our rods as if they were beloved children, and stockpile hooks from obscure manufacturers, yet at the same time decry the loss of our wild places to growth, development, and all the underpinnings of an advanced consumer society.
But first: Come cast this Friday in Portland
Before we get into the (rare, Wagyu) beef of the podcast, here's a little interstitial, like one of those mattress ads. Join us at SE Portland's Westmoreland Park this Friday, June 5 for the second installment of our casual casting events.
Our little Portland casting club (PCC?) crew will be playing fun casting games, working on our form, trying out each various rods, and generally doing casting nerd stuff.
Whether you're looking to knock off the rust before summer really gets kicking, or you're just starting to learn about casting, come on out. If you have a rod, bring it, if not, we have plenty to share.
June 5: Casual Casting
Join us at at a free Friday night casting practice co-hosted by me and fellow CI candidate Lisa Amato. All are welcome, and rods will be provided.
Why fly fishing is the ultimate sport for hoarders
OK, back to the podcast. Despite having zero knowledge about fly fishing (something in common with a lot of beginners who are curious about the sport) Rachel agreed to have me on. We had a lovely chat. You can listen to it here, or on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your poddage (I'm a Pocket Casts kinda guy).
Here's a slight edit of my original pitch email to Rachel because I think it's actually a pretty good attempt at getting at the "gear vs. go" tension. We've talked about Gear Acquisition Syndrome. The materialist aspect of the sport is a topic area I really want to explore more. Let me know if you enjoy the conversation. (Just reply to this email; I read all the responses I get.)
So here's the gist: Fly fishing is the ultimate sport for hoarders. There’s an incredible amount of fiddly bits of equipment, multiple rods, reels, lines, tools, apparel, etc. Add in tying your own flies, which entails a mini-Michaels-level commitment to buying thread and fur and feathers and hooks and all sorts of new sets of tools to start a little cottage industry devoted to making more gear for yourself, and things get even more out of hand.
The average fly angler spends $1,200 a year on gear, and that’s not even starting to count all the hand-me-downs from parents and aunts and uncles and club-mates.
I’m interested in this because a new generation of anglers are re-evaluating this over-acquisition pattern. They're fishing spots closer to home, rather than going abroad. And there have been subsequent industry moves to think more sustainably about all this, with companies like Patagonia weighing in continuously toward minimalism in fly fishing.
What drives the hoarder mentality among fly anglers?
I have a couple of ideas about contributing factors. Here they are:
Buying stuff as a fantasy and substitute for actually fishing, e.g. I can buy a $120 fly line today, and get a fantasy of fishing, even if I only ever fish with it once or twice several months from now, or even if it never leaves the closet.
A weird inverse-scarcity mindset, the notion that limited experience in the sport (i.e. I only go fly fishing for one week a year in Belize) induces a sort of “must have everything to be ready” mentality. It's an acquisition pattern that’s fear-based, versus “eh, we’ll figure it out, we don’t need to bring everything”. I’ve heard this described in survivalist circles as “Two is one, one is none.” But we're not trying to survive, we're just trying to have every possible pattern and combination necessary to fish. Need an eight, nine, and ten weight for bonefish, permit, and tarpon on that Cuba trip? Better bring two of each.
Competitive aspects tied to being “the best” at consumption Growing up, when we went to Montana with the Michigan Fly Fishing Club, there’d be two informal prizes: Top Rod, for who caught the most / biggest fish, and Top Wallet, for who spent the most money. The same sort of acquisitive mindset that drives people toward quantity in fish-catching drives them to consume more gear.
A “horses for courses” false need for precision tools. Golfers can have one or two sets of golf clubs that work around the world, at every golf course, give or take a few clubs. But anglers are told they need a different rod / reel / line setup to fish for trout in the Catskills, salmon in Newfoundland, bass in Georgia, musky in Wisconsin, carp in Oregon, etc. It wasn't always this way. Anglers in the past used a smaller range of rod sizes for a larger range of species (and since populations were more bountiful, bigger fish).
Are you an angler-hoarder?
What do you think? Are you hanging onto a lot of gear you don't use, for sentimental, or other reasons? Let me know in the comments. And give the pod a listen!
Ribbon Map updates
We've sold over 300 Ribbon Maps so far, and velocity is still high. The community response has been incredible: People love this little map. It feels really good to hear such positive feedback.
If you're here because of the map, thank you! Welcome. If you haven't gotten your hands on one yet, you can pick one up here.
Six feet long, with hundreds of features, the Lower Deschutes Ribbon Map is your passport to adventure on one of Oregon's blue ribbon fisheries.
100% of every map sold goes to benefit the Deschutes River Alliance!
That's it that's all! Current Flow State is a weekly newsletter from me, Nick Parish.
What's one piece of fly fishing gear in your closet that might qualify you as a hoarder? Tell me on Bluesky 🦋, Instagram 📸, YouTube 🎥, or the Fishcord 💬
If you enjoyed this, please share it with a friend. We all need more fishing buddies. 💌
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