May 16, 2025 • 23 mins
In this episode of The Articulate Fly, host Marvin Cash reconnects with the legendary Blane Chocklett for an engaging discussion about recent adventures and upcoming events in the world of fly fishing. Blane shares his experiences since Tie Fest, including a thrilling trip chasing giant redfish in shallow waters, where he landed record-sized fish that will soon grace magazine covers.
The conversation shifts to the premiere of Lefty's documentary, "Lefty Kreh: The Greatest of All Time," highlighting the emotional impact of the film and its portrayal of Lefty's remarkable life journey. Blane reflects on the camaraderie and shared memories at the premiere, emphasizing the importance of honoring those who paved the way in the fishing community.
As they dive into the details of Tie Fest, Blane expresses his pride in bringing the event back to life, honoring the legacy of Bobby Popovics and Lefty Kreh while focusing on conservation efforts for Jack Crevalle. The duo discusses the community's support, the successful fundraising initiatives and the ongoing research to protect vital fish species.
Listeners will also get a sneak peek into Blane's upcoming product launches from The Chocklett Factory, including new fly patterns and materials designed for both fresh and saltwater fishing. With a busy travel schedule ahead, Blane's passion for the sport and commitment to conservation shine through, making this episode a must-listen for any angler.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
Hey, folks, it's Marvin Cash,the host of the Articulate Fly. And
we're back with anotherChocklett Factory with the man himself,
Blane Chocklett. Blane, howare you? I am here, but for how many
more days?
For a day and a half. And backon the road.
Yeah. So you've been home,what, since Tie Fest, right? So you've
(00:24):
been home for almost two weeks?
No, I was home for a coupledays, maybe three days, and went
down to had another trip, youknow, to go chase some giant redfish
that I was notified about andtry to do that every year, and was
(00:46):
able to get out and get onsome super shallow water, biggest
redfish in the world and had agreat time. It was a good couple
days. So I got back from thatand packing to hit the road again.
Yeah. Rumor has it that youmight have a cover photo in your
future.
(01:07):
Yeah, I've been blessed thisyear. I've got two record size fish,
one striper, and now a redfish that's about as big as they
get. So just trying to changethat game one fish at a time, you
know what I mean?
Yeah. So. So before we talkabout your, your next set of junkets,
(01:28):
why don't we back up a littlebit? And I guess it probably really,
you know, I guess your lastslug of travel really started with
the premiere of Lefty's movieup in Maryland. You want to talk
about that? And then we cantalk a little bit about Ty Fest.
I was down there with you forthat one.
Yeah. So I guess starting intoMarch, you know, I ran up to Pennsylvania
(01:51):
and did some work with FlyFisherman magazine and then stay
with my buddy Jay to kind ofgo over some book stuff with my,
you know, book that we'retrying to get moving again so I can
get that out on the market.And that was a good trip. And then,
you know, Jay worked onLefty's film that everybody's starting
(02:12):
to see now that they had theworld premiere in Maryland, where
Lefty grew up in the theaterwhere Lefty met his wife. And it
was a very special event. Youcould feel Lefty's presence there.
People came from all over tosee it. It was sold out and, you
(02:35):
know, Jay knocked it out ofthe park and, you know, Fly Fisherman
magazine with Ross and, andeveryone. I mean, it was, it was
a very special evening. I gotto see a lot of people I hadn't seen
in a long time and had a lotof memories, not only of Lefty, but
people I'd spent time withover the years. And it was just One
(02:59):
of those things that makes youappreciate, you know, where you've
been and where you're goingand never forgetting those that came
before you. And, you know, ifyou haven't seen Lefty's film, the
Greatest of All Time, it's.It's pretty amazing. Is a documentary,
but it really kind of speakswho Lefty was. And, you know, Jay
(03:24):
Nichols, I think he did anunbelievable job and had a task that
to me would be unbelievable totry to even take on. But knowing
Jay and. And who he is and hischaracter was, it was not surprising,
(03:45):
but still something that wasvery emotional and it captured who
Lefty really was. And only afriend of Lefty and knew who he truly
was would be able to capturethat. And. And, you know, Jay did
it. You know, it was. It wassuper special and now jumping forward,
(04:06):
but I know you got to see itdown in Florida, and I. I think it
was pretty amazing. And, youknow, it was world class, to be honest.
Yeah, I would say, you know,it's probably so. The runtime's probably
40 minutes, give or take. Iwould say, you know, I think Jay
did an amazing job and it'snot just a great fly fishing movie.
(04:29):
I think it's a great shortfilm just in.
Yes, it is. I mean, it tellshis life. It tells kind of the history
of our country, too. I mean,going into, you know, the Battle
of the Bulge in World War IIand, you know, what we dealt with
as a country with the GreatDepression and what Lefty grew up
(04:52):
in and how he overcame all theobstacles because he came from nothing.
He didn't have anything. Helost his dad when he was younger
and pretty much grew up, likehe said, in the ghetto. Couldn't.
Couldn't rub two nickelstogether and basically was only able
to go to school if he earnedenough money on the streets and,
(05:15):
you know, hunting and fishingand gathering enough stuff to be
able to pay, to be able to goto school, you know, and that says
a lot about who Lefty is andwas. And it also is an example of
how America's. How why it wasso great and why it is and where
everybody kind of needs tonever forget, because that's what
(05:37):
got us to one of the greatestcountries in the world.
Right.
So that hard work anddetermination and never give up type
of deal and just gettingthings done and doing what you're
supposed to do and, you know,doing what you say you're going to
do too.
Right.
So. And that just speaks aboutwho Lefty was and, you know, my Grandfather,
(05:59):
you know, that that generationwas, was super amazing and you know,
I think we could all learnfrom that.
Yeah, 100% and you know, tokind of, you know, fast forward.
So I saw the movie with youFriday night, but then that Saturday
we spent, you know, all dayat, you know, I guess you'd really,
you know, it's not just ahome. I mean, Carter Andrews has
a huge piece of propertybecause he's got horses and all kinds
(06:21):
of stuff. And we were there,you know, for Ty Fest and then for
the fundraising dinner afterwards.
Yeah, I mean, I can't sayenough about that event. You know,
that that event to me meanteverything in the world. You know,
I've spoke about it beforewith you and I think we did it on
one of the podcasts before.But you know, losing Bobby back in
(06:45):
November and you know, meworking with ASGA and Tony and Cody
and Sue and Nick and the wholeteam, it meant a lot to me to try
to bring back, you know, whatwe used to do with Ty Fest, which
was all Tony and you know,eventually it was called Lefty Craze
(07:07):
Tie Fest. And it really, itjust brought out the best in what
we love about our sport. Thecamaraderie, the caring about conservation
and making the sport betterand just making everybody feel a
part of it, you know, andsharing knowledge and what better
way to do that, you know, withthe Jack Crevel science that we have
(07:32):
going on. You know, workingwith Florida International, Mississippi
State and the Lower Keys Guysassociation and trying to figure
out the science that needs tobe done for Jackerville conservation
because they're not protectedanywhere in the country, which is
a shame. And what a chance tome talking to Tony's like, we got
(07:58):
to bring this back andbringing it into Vero beach area.
And Carter Andrews, who wassuch a gracious host and an amazing
person reaching out to the flyfishing community. Yeti. I mean,
I can't say enough about howYeti stepped up and just brought
(08:18):
everything to the table.Chefs, you know, that thousand gallon
mill scale pit smoker andhaving an amazing dinner for everybody
and doing that for two days,preparing all that stuff for over
250 people that were at thatauction dinner and you know, Costa
and, and all the other brands,I mean, I don't want to leave anybody
(08:40):
out but you know, scientificangler, all of them, all my, all
my family came to be there forthe community and for conservation
and you know, people like RobFordyce who just did an amazing job
with, with his seminars andstuff. That he did. And you know,
(09:02):
Hillary Hutchins Hutchinsongetting out and hanging out with
me and coming all the way fromMontana to be there and Oliver White
and of course, I can't sayenough about Larry Dollar being there
and you know, he doesn't likedoing events like that. But, you
know, it's super special forme to see someone that meant so much
(09:23):
to me and was such aninspiration in my life and got me
where I am. Based on his showand what he's done for the fishing
community in general.
Right.
I mean, you know, he's wellknown in the conventional world,
but you know, as a fly anglerand designer with the Dahlberg diver
and all that kind of stuff, Imean, he's so iconic. And then having
(09:45):
Andy Mill there and doing hispodcast with a lot of the legends
and even Yellow Dog and JimKlug and Brian, they, they came out,
you know, I mean, we, thecommunity showed up for us. I mean,
Duck Camp, you know, all, allthese companies were there for us.
And to be honest, I wanted itto be a festival and a celebration
(10:09):
of Lefty and Bob andconservation in general. I mean,
it, to me, it was an amazing,amazing event and it made me so proud
to be a part of it. And weraised a lot of money for Jack research,
which this is a five yearproject. So we're going to try to
get all that science puttogether with the biologists so we
(10:33):
could give this topolicymakers to make sure that we
can get some kind ofregulations on Jax because they deserve
the protection. They deserveto be recognized as a game fish.
And what better way to do thatthan have a celebration of our sport
and those that came before usand those that are here now, I mean,
(10:55):
we, we celebrated those thatare past, those that are present
and those that are coming up.I mean, I invited people that were
that are, you know, peoplelike Chase Smith, for example, a
great talent and fly tying. Wewanted to represent everybody that
we could with a very shortwindow. We only had four months to
(11:17):
put this together and the factthat we did it without having any
hitches and getting thecommunity to come and be a part of
it was unreal. I couldn't askfor a better weekend. And you were
there. I mean, I felt like youcould feel it. I mean, Lefty was
(11:38):
all over that show. Or I wouldsay festival, not a show. I mean,
he was all over that.
Yeah, it was really neat. AndI would say too that, you know, if
you missed the event, you canstill support the Jack project. If
I Remember correctly, Blaine,there probably, there's still some
of the limited editionSightline bracelets that actually
will fun tagging a particularjack. And I think, I think if I remember
(12:01):
correctly, Tony said you wouldget updates on its location. Kind
of what happens to the jackover I think five years, right?
Oh, yeah. Yep, yep. And Edgarat Sightline, great friend. He's,
he came in big doing theseunbelievable like he always does
with his cuffs and his artworkand whatnot, with the, you know,
(12:24):
the way he carves out theseamazing metal pieces or the leather
bracelets or cuffs or whateveryou want to call them. Yeah. So basically
you could buy one of those.You can go on the ASGA site and you're
basically adopting a jack. Andas we tagged them and we did, I mean,
Hillary and I with YETI andsome of the captains down there went
(12:45):
out and we caught Jax, wetagged them. Not just pit tags, but
acoustic tagging where we, thebiologists were out there with us
and basically did surgery onthe boat while we had the fish in
the live well, their heads inthe live well, while they cut them
open, put an acoustic tag inthem, basically stapled them back
up. And that way when they goanywhere in the country around a
(13:10):
buoy, it pings and they'll letyou know where they are. It gives
a bunch of data back and wherethey've been and where they're going
and where they're come fromand all that. So when you buy one
of these, you're. You'rebasically adopting a jack and you'll
get all that information as wecollect it over the next five years.
Yeah, very, very neat. I willdrop a link to the ASGA site because
(13:33):
I know they'll always takemoney and if I remember correctly,
there might have been a coupleor maybe one really high end destination
trip that didn't make theminimum bid. So Tony still has that
and we'll, we'll talk toanyone who wants to actually buy
that trip to help fund theresearch as well.
Yeah, yeah. Overall it wasreally good, but there was a couple
(13:54):
things that, you know, youlearn from and you know, we, we tried
to cram a bunch of stuff in atone time and with a not as much notice.
But I mean, overall it wassuch an amazing event and you know,
the communities just asked usto please do it again, which we're,
you know, forever grateful andhumble that, you know, every, all
(14:18):
the momentum that we've kindof gained through this process and
doing the right thing, whichis what it's always been about. You
know, it's always been aboutthe fish. And 100% of the proceeds
go to Jack Harvell research.And, and ASGA's got their foot in
a lot of things. I mean, wewant to start working in Florida
(14:39):
with Snook. We're killingourselves trying to fight for stripers,
you know, in the mid Atlanticand Northeast and, you know, redfish
in the Southeast, and they'renot doing great. So we're, we're
constantly battling to try toconserve and save these fish species.
(15:01):
And we, we, you know, Tonyworks tirelessly as. Along with the
whole team, we, we are on.We're on constant meetings with as,
asmfc, the Atlantic State'sMarine Resource Commission, where
they, they're the ones thatkind of decide on what policy and
what is going to happen withthese fish. And we try to give them
(15:23):
the best science that we canto make sure that they have it, the
best educated decision to makeall this stuff happen. And we work
state to state from Texas allthe way up to Maine, and we're making
sure that, you know, ourfisheries are going to survive. So
my kids and my grandkids andyours and everyone else's are going
(15:45):
to be able to see some of thestuff that I've been very blessed
and grateful to see in mylife. You know, I mean, it's been
a whirlwind. You know, I wasin six states in five weeks, you
know, from Texas to Georgia,Florida, you know, all up and down
the East Coast. And, you know,that's what I want to do. You know,
(16:07):
you know, I miss my family,but I want to. I want to do what
I can to make sure that. Thatwe do everything we can to save all
the different fish speciesthat we can and also, you know, make
the fish, make the sportbetter than what it was before I
came around. You know, I just,you know, not saying I'm picking
(16:27):
up Lefty's torch, but he wasdefinitely that beaming light that
you couldn't not see it ifyou're around him. So, you know,
I want to make sure that. Andthat was, that. That was what the
whole event was about. Youknow, we want to make sure that everything
that those that came before usbuilt that we keep moving forward,
(16:48):
right? So if you want to havea fishing industry, a fly fishing
industry, or a conventionalfishing industry, we gotta have fish
to catch and we gotta havehealthy fisheries. If you don't have
that, you're gonna. You'regonna have people that lose interest
in fishing. And we want tomake sure. We say that, you know,
could be selfish or whatever,but it's, it's important to me that
(17:10):
we do all that stuff and youknow, and you know, with all the
designs and flies andmaterials that I have, I want to
make sure that we haveopportunities to fish in salt and
fresh water. And my businesscan't be successful if we don't have
good fisheries to fish to.
Right.
So it's might be self serving,but it's also something that, you
(17:35):
know, means a lot to me infuture generations.
Absolutely. And speaking ofyour business, we were talking before
we started recording. You'vegot a lot of nifty stuff kind of
coming down the, the pipe atthe Chocklett Factory. You want to
clue folks in a little bit?
Yeah, so, yeah, so a lot ofthe micro changers and a lot of the
(17:55):
crawl changers and microcrawls and you know, leeches and
the smaller bugger changersand the hellgramites and I've got
shrimp and crab patterns thatare going to be hitting the market
here in the next couplemonths. But the factory's getting
super ramped up to startdelivering a lot of new stuff here
(18:18):
in the next three to fourweeks. So I'm super excited about
that. And you know, it's just,just keep marching on, you know,
just, you know, saving fishand you know, trying to make sure
that we have a place for myproducts in the future.
Right.
(18:38):
I mean, you know, I want tosupport all the fly shops that I
have very blessed to have someof the best shops in our country
behind me. And you know, likeBrian from Mad river came down to
that event in Florida and wasshooting video and all that to bring
out more awareness to whatwe're doing. And you know, a lot
(19:00):
of, a lot of people were doingthat so that you're going to start
seeing a lot of stuff that wewere doing in Florida. Starting to
hit the, hit the social mediascenes and all that. And super exciting.
And you know, the chocolatefactory put in a lot of work. Not
just me, but all my team,Jason and Christy and Isaac and you
(19:23):
know, the whole team, man. Imean we, we Zach and I mean the Chopka
factory is a family and we,we're all in it. You know, we're
in it to the end. I mean,we've got our hands on a bunch of
different stuff, you know,from our shanks to all our time materials
and the flies and you know,working with our factories overseas
(19:44):
and making sure everything'sright. And you know, we've got a
couple cool iterations of thefinesse changers and the feather
changers coming out this year.You know, in the original chocolate
factory release we have thevery realistic finesse changers with
(20:05):
the realistic tail. But forme, I like that fly. It's great.
But to me, some of the bestflies in the, in the finesse, I guess
platform is the mop tails. Imean, you want the best swimming
action, the best results fromfish and fishing. Those mobtail changers
(20:27):
are unreal. And those are up.They're up next and they'll start
being available here, like Isaid, in the next three to four weeks
along with the, you know, thecrawl changers have been holding
off because the, all the newbody parts that I have on those and
I'm really excited about itand it's, it's tireless effort on
(20:48):
the whole team. You know, latenights, early mornings, meeting with
the overseas factories andmaking sure everything's right and
sourcing materials, dealingwith all the other crap that's going
on with tariffs and all thatand figuring all that stuff out.
It's herding cats, buddy.
There you go. Well, you betterput a couple nitrous canisters on
the struggle bus then, right?
(21:11):
That's just part of it, man.
Yeah. And so before I let youhop, you're getting ready to in the
next day or so, load up yoursuitcase again, you know, where can
folks see you on the road kindof heading into the early part of
the summer?
Yeah. So getting ready to headup back up to Pennsylvania, go see
PCO and State College inBoyland Springs. I'm doing a fly
(21:33):
tying event at State Collegeon Saturday from I Think Noon to
4 and Boiling Springs TCO sametime on Sunday. And then I'm heading
back down to the coast,working with ASGA and the chocolate
factory, getting some goodfootage of some pretty amazing stuff.
(21:54):
You know, I told you aboutsome of these record size fish I've
caught over the past couplemonths and we're going back down,
try to get some of thatfootage on drone and professional
cameras and working on a jerkchanger article with fly fishermen
(22:14):
that's going to highlight someof these record size fish that I've
caught here in the past couplemonths and you know, then moving
on, man, just my schedules.I'll be in Michigan a couple times
this summer. I'll be inLouisiana, Montana, South Carolina,
(22:36):
back down to Florida, back upto the Northeast. So I'll be all
over the country here in thenext three or four months.
Yeah, I think there's a JohnnyCash song in there somewhere.
Yeah, right.
Well, maybe everywhere, man.There you go. Maybe our. Our paths
will cross around the 4th ofJuly. We can have a couple Cronus
(22:57):
together up in the. Up in theOld Dominion. But I hope you have
safe travels. And folks, asalways, say this time of year, before
it gets crazy hot, you owe itto yourself to get out there and
catch a few. Tight lines,everybody. Tight lines. Blane.
Thanks, you, too.
Hey, folks, it's Marvin Cash,the host of the Articulate Fly. And
we're back with anotherChocklett Factory with the man himself,
Blane Chocklett. Blane, howare you? I am here, but for how many
more days?
For a day and a half. And backon the road.
Yeah. So you've been home,what, since Tie Fest, right? So you've
(00:24):
been home for almost two weeks?
No, I was home for a coupledays, maybe three days, and went
down to had another trip, youknow, to go chase some giant redfish
that I was notified about andtry to do that every year, and was
(00:46):
able to get out and get onsome super shallow water, biggest
redfish in the world and had agreat time. It was a good couple
days. So I got back from thatand packing to hit the road again.
Yeah. Rumor has it that youmight have a cover photo in your
future.
(01:07):
Yeah, I've been blessed thisyear. I've got two record size fish,
one striper, and now a redfish that's about as big as they
get. So just trying to changethat game one fish at a time, you
know what I mean?
Yeah. So. So before we talkabout your, your next set of junkets,
(01:28):
why don't we back up a littlebit? And I guess it probably really,
you know, I guess your lastslug of travel really started with
the premiere of Lefty's movieup in Maryland. You want to talk
about that? And then we cantalk a little bit about Ty Fest.
I was down there with you forthat one.
Yeah. So I guess starting intoMarch, you know, I ran up to Pennsylvania
(01:51):
and did some work with FlyFisherman magazine and then stay
with my buddy Jay to kind ofgo over some book stuff with my,
you know, book that we'retrying to get moving again so I can
get that out on the market.And that was a good trip. And then,
you know, Jay worked onLefty's film that everybody's starting
(02:12):
to see now that they had theworld premiere in Maryland, where
Lefty grew up in the theaterwhere Lefty met his wife. And it
was a very special event. Youcould feel Lefty's presence there.
People came from all over tosee it. It was sold out and, you
(02:35):
know, Jay knocked it out ofthe park and, you know, Fly Fisherman
magazine with Ross and, andeveryone. I mean, it was, it was
a very special evening. I gotto see a lot of people I hadn't seen
in a long time and had a lotof memories, not only of Lefty, but
people I'd spent time withover the years. And it was just One
(02:59):
of those things that makes youappreciate, you know, where you've
been and where you're goingand never forgetting those that came
before you. And, you know, ifyou haven't seen Lefty's film, the
Greatest of All Time, it's.It's pretty amazing. Is a documentary,
but it really kind of speakswho Lefty was. And, you know, Jay
(03:24):
Nichols, I think he did anunbelievable job and had a task that
to me would be unbelievable totry to even take on. But knowing
Jay and. And who he is and hischaracter was, it was not surprising,
(03:45):
but still something that wasvery emotional and it captured who
Lefty really was. And only afriend of Lefty and knew who he truly
was would be able to capturethat. And. And, you know, Jay did
it. You know, it was. It wassuper special and now jumping forward,
(04:06):
but I know you got to see itdown in Florida, and I. I think it
was pretty amazing. And, youknow, it was world class, to be honest.
Yeah, I would say, you know,it's probably so. The runtime's probably
40 minutes, give or take. Iwould say, you know, I think Jay
did an amazing job and it'snot just a great fly fishing movie.
(04:29):
I think it's a great shortfilm just in.
Yes, it is. I mean, it tellshis life. It tells kind of the history
of our country, too. I mean,going into, you know, the Battle
of the Bulge in World War IIand, you know, what we dealt with
as a country with the GreatDepression and what Lefty grew up
(04:52):
in and how he overcame all theobstacles because he came from nothing.
He didn't have anything. Helost his dad when he was younger
and pretty much grew up, likehe said, in the ghetto. Couldn't.
Couldn't rub two nickelstogether and basically was only able
to go to school if he earnedenough money on the streets and,
(05:15):
you know, hunting and fishingand gathering enough stuff to be
able to pay, to be able to goto school, you know, and that says
a lot about who Lefty is andwas. And it also is an example of
how America's. How why it wasso great and why it is and where
everybody kind of needs tonever forget, because that's what
(05:37):
got us to one of the greatestcountries in the world.
Right.
So that hard work anddetermination and never give up type
of deal and just gettingthings done and doing what you're
supposed to do and, you know,doing what you say you're going to
do too.
Right.
So. And that just speaks aboutwho Lefty was and, you know, my Grandfather,
(05:59):
you know, that that generationwas, was super amazing and you know,
I think we could all learnfrom that.
Yeah, 100% and you know, tokind of, you know, fast forward.
So I saw the movie with youFriday night, but then that Saturday
we spent, you know, all dayat, you know, I guess you'd really,
you know, it's not just ahome. I mean, Carter Andrews has
a huge piece of propertybecause he's got horses and all kinds
(06:21):
of stuff. And we were there,you know, for Ty Fest and then for
the fundraising dinner afterwards.
Yeah, I mean, I can't sayenough about that event. You know,
that that event to me meanteverything in the world. You know,
I've spoke about it beforewith you and I think we did it on
one of the podcasts before.But you know, losing Bobby back in
(06:45):
November and you know, meworking with ASGA and Tony and Cody
and Sue and Nick and the wholeteam, it meant a lot to me to try
to bring back, you know, whatwe used to do with Ty Fest, which
was all Tony and you know,eventually it was called Lefty Craze
(07:07):
Tie Fest. And it really, itjust brought out the best in what
we love about our sport. Thecamaraderie, the caring about conservation
and making the sport betterand just making everybody feel a
part of it, you know, andsharing knowledge and what better
way to do that, you know, withthe Jack Crevel science that we have
(07:32):
going on. You know, workingwith Florida International, Mississippi
State and the Lower Keys Guysassociation and trying to figure
out the science that needs tobe done for Jackerville conservation
because they're not protectedanywhere in the country, which is
a shame. And what a chance tome talking to Tony's like, we got
(07:58):
to bring this back andbringing it into Vero beach area.
And Carter Andrews, who wassuch a gracious host and an amazing
person reaching out to the flyfishing community. Yeti. I mean,
I can't say enough about howYeti stepped up and just brought
(08:18):
everything to the table.Chefs, you know, that thousand gallon
mill scale pit smoker andhaving an amazing dinner for everybody
and doing that for two days,preparing all that stuff for over
250 people that were at thatauction dinner and you know, Costa
and, and all the other brands,I mean, I don't want to leave anybody
(08:40):
out but you know, scientificangler, all of them, all my, all
my family came to be there forthe community and for conservation
and you know, people like RobFordyce who just did an amazing job
with, with his seminars andstuff. That he did. And you know,
(09:02):
Hillary Hutchins Hutchinsongetting out and hanging out with
me and coming all the way fromMontana to be there and Oliver White
and of course, I can't sayenough about Larry Dollar being there
and you know, he doesn't likedoing events like that. But, you
know, it's super special forme to see someone that meant so much
(09:23):
to me and was such aninspiration in my life and got me
where I am. Based on his showand what he's done for the fishing
community in general.
Right.
I mean, you know, he's wellknown in the conventional world,
but you know, as a fly anglerand designer with the Dahlberg diver
and all that kind of stuff, Imean, he's so iconic. And then having
(09:45):
Andy Mill there and doing hispodcast with a lot of the legends
and even Yellow Dog and JimKlug and Brian, they, they came out,
you know, I mean, we, thecommunity showed up for us. I mean,
Duck Camp, you know, all, allthese companies were there for us.
And to be honest, I wanted itto be a festival and a celebration
(10:09):
of Lefty and Bob andconservation in general. I mean,
it, to me, it was an amazing,amazing event and it made me so proud
to be a part of it. And weraised a lot of money for Jack research,
which this is a five yearproject. So we're going to try to
get all that science puttogether with the biologists so we
(10:33):
could give this topolicymakers to make sure that we
can get some kind ofregulations on Jax because they deserve
the protection. They deserveto be recognized as a game fish.
And what better way to do thatthan have a celebration of our sport
and those that came before usand those that are here now, I mean,
(10:55):
we, we celebrated those thatare past, those that are present
and those that are coming up.I mean, I invited people that were
that are, you know, peoplelike Chase Smith, for example, a
great talent and fly tying. Wewanted to represent everybody that
we could with a very shortwindow. We only had four months to
(11:17):
put this together and the factthat we did it without having any
hitches and getting thecommunity to come and be a part of
it was unreal. I couldn't askfor a better weekend. And you were
there. I mean, I felt like youcould feel it. I mean, Lefty was
(11:38):
all over that show. Or I wouldsay festival, not a show. I mean,
he was all over that.
Yeah, it was really neat. AndI would say too that, you know, if
you missed the event, you canstill support the Jack project. If
I Remember correctly, Blaine,there probably, there's still some
of the limited editionSightline bracelets that actually
will fun tagging a particularjack. And I think, I think if I remember
(12:01):
correctly, Tony said you wouldget updates on its location. Kind
of what happens to the jackover I think five years, right?
Oh, yeah. Yep, yep. And Edgarat Sightline, great friend. He's,
he came in big doing theseunbelievable like he always does
with his cuffs and his artworkand whatnot, with the, you know,
(12:24):
the way he carves out theseamazing metal pieces or the leather
bracelets or cuffs or whateveryou want to call them. Yeah. So basically
you could buy one of those.You can go on the ASGA site and you're
basically adopting a jack. Andas we tagged them and we did, I mean,
Hillary and I with YETI andsome of the captains down there went
(12:45):
out and we caught Jax, wetagged them. Not just pit tags, but
acoustic tagging where we, thebiologists were out there with us
and basically did surgery onthe boat while we had the fish in
the live well, their heads inthe live well, while they cut them
open, put an acoustic tag inthem, basically stapled them back
up. And that way when they goanywhere in the country around a
(13:10):
buoy, it pings and they'll letyou know where they are. It gives
a bunch of data back and wherethey've been and where they're going
and where they're come fromand all that. So when you buy one
of these, you're. You'rebasically adopting a jack and you'll
get all that information as wecollect it over the next five years.
Yeah, very, very neat. I willdrop a link to the ASGA site because
(13:33):
I know they'll always takemoney and if I remember correctly,
there might have been a coupleor maybe one really high end destination
trip that didn't make theminimum bid. So Tony still has that
and we'll, we'll talk toanyone who wants to actually buy
that trip to help fund theresearch as well.
Yeah, yeah. Overall it wasreally good, but there was a couple
(13:54):
things that, you know, youlearn from and you know, we, we tried
to cram a bunch of stuff in atone time and with a not as much notice.
But I mean, overall it wassuch an amazing event and you know,
the communities just asked usto please do it again, which we're,
you know, forever grateful andhumble that, you know, every, all
(14:18):
the momentum that we've kindof gained through this process and
doing the right thing, whichis what it's always been about. You
know, it's always been aboutthe fish. And 100% of the proceeds
go to Jack Harvell research.And, and ASGA's got their foot in
a lot of things. I mean, wewant to start working in Florida
(14:39):
with Snook. We're killingourselves trying to fight for stripers,
you know, in the mid Atlanticand Northeast and, you know, redfish
in the Southeast, and they'renot doing great. So we're, we're
constantly battling to try toconserve and save these fish species.
(15:01):
And we, we, you know, Tonyworks tirelessly as. Along with the
whole team, we, we are on.We're on constant meetings with as,
asmfc, the Atlantic State'sMarine Resource Commission, where
they, they're the ones thatkind of decide on what policy and
what is going to happen withthese fish. And we try to give them
(15:23):
the best science that we canto make sure that they have it, the
best educated decision to makeall this stuff happen. And we work
state to state from Texas allthe way up to Maine, and we're making
sure that, you know, ourfisheries are going to survive. So
my kids and my grandkids andyours and everyone else's are going
(15:45):
to be able to see some of thestuff that I've been very blessed
and grateful to see in mylife. You know, I mean, it's been
a whirlwind. You know, I wasin six states in five weeks, you
know, from Texas to Georgia,Florida, you know, all up and down
the East Coast. And, you know,that's what I want to do. You know,
(16:07):
you know, I miss my family,but I want to. I want to do what
I can to make sure that. Thatwe do everything we can to save all
the different fish speciesthat we can and also, you know, make
the fish, make the sportbetter than what it was before I
came around. You know, I just,you know, not saying I'm picking
(16:27):
up Lefty's torch, but he wasdefinitely that beaming light that
you couldn't not see it ifyou're around him. So, you know,
I want to make sure that. Andthat was, that. That was what the
whole event was about. Youknow, we want to make sure that everything
that those that came before usbuilt that we keep moving forward,
(16:48):
right? So if you want to havea fishing industry, a fly fishing
industry, or a conventionalfishing industry, we gotta have fish
to catch and we gotta havehealthy fisheries. If you don't have
that, you're gonna. You'regonna have people that lose interest
in fishing. And we want tomake sure. We say that, you know,
could be selfish or whatever,but it's, it's important to me that
(17:10):
we do all that stuff and youknow, and you know, with all the
designs and flies andmaterials that I have, I want to
make sure that we haveopportunities to fish in salt and
fresh water. And my businesscan't be successful if we don't have
good fisheries to fish to.
Right.
So it's might be self serving,but it's also something that, you
(17:35):
know, means a lot to me infuture generations.
Absolutely. And speaking ofyour business, we were talking before
we started recording. You'vegot a lot of nifty stuff kind of
coming down the, the pipe atthe Chocklett Factory. You want to
clue folks in a little bit?
Yeah, so, yeah, so a lot ofthe micro changers and a lot of the
(17:55):
crawl changers and microcrawls and you know, leeches and
the smaller bugger changersand the hellgramites and I've got
shrimp and crab patterns thatare going to be hitting the market
here in the next couplemonths. But the factory's getting
super ramped up to startdelivering a lot of new stuff here
(18:18):
in the next three to fourweeks. So I'm super excited about
that. And you know, it's just,just keep marching on, you know,
just, you know, saving fishand you know, trying to make sure
that we have a place for myproducts in the future.
Right.
(18:38):
I mean, you know, I want tosupport all the fly shops that I
have very blessed to have someof the best shops in our country
behind me. And you know, likeBrian from Mad river came down to
that event in Florida and wasshooting video and all that to bring
out more awareness to whatwe're doing. And you know, a lot
(19:00):
of, a lot of people were doingthat so that you're going to start
seeing a lot of stuff that wewere doing in Florida. Starting to
hit the, hit the social mediascenes and all that. And super exciting.
And you know, the chocolatefactory put in a lot of work. Not
just me, but all my team,Jason and Christy and Isaac and you
(19:23):
know, the whole team, man. Imean we, we Zach and I mean the Chopka
factory is a family and we,we're all in it. You know, we're
in it to the end. I mean,we've got our hands on a bunch of
different stuff, you know,from our shanks to all our time materials
and the flies and you know,working with our factories overseas
(19:44):
and making sure everything'sright. And you know, we've got a
couple cool iterations of thefinesse changers and the feather
changers coming out this year.You know, in the original chocolate
factory release we have thevery realistic finesse changers with
(20:05):
the realistic tail. But forme, I like that fly. It's great.
But to me, some of the bestflies in the, in the finesse, I guess
platform is the mop tails. Imean, you want the best swimming
action, the best results fromfish and fishing. Those mobtail changers
(20:27):
are unreal. And those are up.They're up next and they'll start
being available here, like Isaid, in the next three to four weeks
along with the, you know, thecrawl changers have been holding
off because the, all the newbody parts that I have on those and
I'm really excited about itand it's, it's tireless effort on
(20:48):
the whole team. You know, latenights, early mornings, meeting with
the overseas factories andmaking sure everything's right and
sourcing materials, dealingwith all the other crap that's going
on with tariffs and all thatand figuring all that stuff out.
It's herding cats, buddy.
There you go. Well, you betterput a couple nitrous canisters on
the struggle bus then, right?
(21:11):
That's just part of it, man.
Yeah. And so before I let youhop, you're getting ready to in the
next day or so, load up yoursuitcase again, you know, where can
folks see you on the road kindof heading into the early part of
the summer?
Yeah. So getting ready to headup back up to Pennsylvania, go see
PCO and State College inBoyland Springs. I'm doing a fly
(21:33):
tying event at State Collegeon Saturday from I Think Noon to
4 and Boiling Springs TCO sametime on Sunday. And then I'm heading
back down to the coast,working with ASGA and the chocolate
factory, getting some goodfootage of some pretty amazing stuff.
(21:54):
You know, I told you aboutsome of these record size fish I've
caught over the past couplemonths and we're going back down,
try to get some of thatfootage on drone and professional
cameras and working on a jerkchanger article with fly fishermen
(22:14):
that's going to highlight someof these record size fish that I've
caught here in the past couplemonths and you know, then moving
on, man, just my schedules.I'll be in Michigan a couple times
this summer. I'll be inLouisiana, Montana, South Carolina,
(22:36):
back down to Florida, back upto the Northeast. So I'll be all
over the country here in thenext three or four months.
Yeah, I think there's a JohnnyCash song in there somewhere.
Yeah, right.
Well, maybe everywhere, man.There you go. Maybe our. Our paths
will cross around the 4th ofJuly. We can have a couple Cronus
(22:57):
together up in the. Up in theOld Dominion. But I hope you have
safe travels. And folks, asalways, say this time of year, before
it gets crazy hot, you owe itto yourself to get out there and
catch a few. Tight lines,everybody. Tight lines. Blane.
Thanks, you, too.
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