Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
And welcome to the Weekend Shirp a podcast Take it Outside.
(00:21):
I'm brad Day, I'm holly cool, and we are right
in the thick of summer.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Happy July.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
It's awesome good.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Isn't it? Great?
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Love summer? I mean really, it's the best season. What
can we say, it's it's amazing. And as a matter
of fact, we're celebrating with the Weekend Shrip Adventure Challenge. Now,
you may have seen some posts from us about the
Adventure challenge and what is it exactly?
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Well, it's you know, it's an.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Easy way to get outside this summer and you get
a free T shirt.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
So here's all you gotta do.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
You go onto Weekend shirp our website, you look up
three adventures that you want to do. It could be
a hike, a bike ride, camping, overnight escape, going on
a walk with your dog, literally anything that we've written about.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Do three of them.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Take a photo of yourself doing your adventures and post
it on the socials. Now, make sure you tag us
at weekend Shurpa or hashtag weekn shirp whatever you prefer,
just so that we can see what you're up to.
And then you email us Adventure at weekn surp us
saying Hey, I've done my three adventures, I want my
free T shirt, And indeed you will get a very cool,
(01:26):
very custom T shirt for the twenty twenty five we
can Shirp Adventure Challenge and you can find all the
details on making this happen on our website. You just
scroll down a little bit to the do the twenty
twenty five weekn Shrip Adventure Challenge and you'll find all
the details. Plus, we are proudly supported by Reno Tahoe
Tourism and they are generous enough to be offering a
(01:49):
two night adventure package to one lucky participant for people,
for two people to go to Reno for an adventure package,
which is going to be really cool. So really happy
to have Reno Taha on board supporting us for the
Adventure Challenge this year. And you know, it's been a
few years since we've done this.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
I know, it's really exciting. It's so fun. We're already
getting people writing in a lot of people who are like,
I'm so glad the Adventure Challenge came back. Super fun
to see the photos. It's really good.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
It's so easy.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Too, Like literally anything on our site anything, so it
doesn't have to be hardcore. You could see like a
picnic spot or like just anything and take some photos
because you probably do that anymore when you get outside
and enjoy yourself.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Right, and now you get a T shirt.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
On, and our T shirts are very cool. This year
we had this whole debate about the front and the back,
how it all looked, and well, what was the debate?
What I felt like. I felt like the logo should
be on the front, like we've done, you know, all
the years, probably so just.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Like kind of like a big logo front and center
on the tea.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Yeah. And then I was convinced by you that that
wasn't so cool anymore, although I still think it's cool.
Let's face it, we still have shirts that have that.
But you decided we need a smaller logo on the
front and then a bigger one on Yeah, that's that's this.
It's just weekend sure, right, and then the back has
the Adventure Challenge twenty twenty five, right, and then on
(03:11):
the sleep Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
And we ran this idea by some of the younger
generation and they were all about the small on the front,
big on the back.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
It was looking sharp I know. It was actually a
conversation at dinner with some twenty somethings. We're telling us.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Now it happens, okay, so it will be cool.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
It's a great looking shirt, it really is. And we
are also supported by Topo Designs in San Francisco and
Los Angeles. A beautiful store. How would you describe Topo Designs? Oh?
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Yeah, and clothing, yeah there.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
They are a lifestyle brand, kind of outdoorsy lifestyle brand
for getting all kinds of your gear, whether it's clothing,
whether it's backpacks, packs, just a really well curated store.
They got a couple in San Francisco one in La.
So yeah, how it works. And when you get your shirt,
you go into the Topo Design store and either San
(04:00):
Francisco or a LA to pick it up. Plus you
get some special stuff from Topo design including a little
mountain accessory bag that are really colorful and useful and
we think they're pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
Yeah, they're super cool. You can attach them to your backpacks.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
Yeags.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
They're really neat, and but you do have to write
in first to get your confirmation emails before you go
in there.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
So go outside, take photos of yourself, post it on
the socials and tag us email us that you've done
your things and then you go get your T shirt.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
Well, write you back and you go to your shirt.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Yes, it's all all the steps one, two, three are
on our website under that.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
That kind of sounds like, you know, we try to
make it three.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Yeah, but it might be easy as one, two three, Yeah,
but fun.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
It is fun.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
And you know what else is fun is the conversation
we had with Jim from the Reno fly Shop that
is going to be coming up in the second half
of this podcast. Now that guy knows adventure, I mean,
has been all over for the planet and all over
North America fishing, finding rivers. Just he's a river guy
(05:08):
and really fun talking with Jim. We had the experience
of going fly fishing in Reno a couple of months
ago through Renal fly Shop and through one of his guides,
Aiden Breckner, which was really a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
And I know you kind of were really looking forward
to that one.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
I was because I've always wanted to fly fish, Like
I think I've mentioned that too before. I've just it's
always seemed so interesting and beautiful and like just I
wanted to try it. I'm like, I just want to
try out this sport and Rena Fly Shop was the
perfect literally the perfect place to be able to do it.
And being in Reno in the scenery was just gorgeous
and we were just right in the Trucky River which
was pristine. But they lead trips. You know, you'll hear
(05:46):
about it when we talked to Jim. But they have
a whole variety of guided options and don't be afraid
if you're new to it, like, it doesn't matter. It
was just such a great experience. I love putting on
the waiters, getting in the water. You can stay on
the shore or if you want, getting my catch, and
it's catch and release, and they're very oriented towards sustainability.
(06:07):
It was just a great experience.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Yeah, And did you like going into it? Did you
know anything about No?
Speaker 3 (06:14):
I didn't know it. I just knew, okay, I did.
I knew the movie and the book runs through it
and the movie because Brad Pitt was in that way
back in the day and I thought it was pretty cute,
and so that movie is very good. It's a very
good movie. I highly recommend it. And then I had
read the book. I don't think I was into the
book initially and then after going on this experience, I
(06:37):
reread it and I think it's also time in your
life when you read something, you know, I just had
such a deeper appreciation for it. So for a book
recommendation to people, over runs through. It is a beautiful,
beautiful read.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
It's a great read.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
And Jim Litchfield from Renal fly Shop is a great
guide and business person to open up that fly shop
because they're doing great business. They know everything about fly
fishing in northern Nevada and eastern California. They just keep
on expanding different places of where they go fly fishing.
So we'll have a great conversation with Jim in the
(07:12):
second half of this podcast.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
But you know, the.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Adventure challenge is on it's summer, like what what do
you got going on?
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Like, what's what? What have you done? What have you done?
What's upcoming?
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Well, I have upcoming some camping in and that'll be
in actually early fall, so that's still a little bit ahead.
But I'm really looking forward to that at Salt Point
State Park because I can take my dog.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Yep. That's a great one. Card camping, that's card.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Camping it's tough to beat. Yeah, it's really it's so
beautiful there. It's hard to get a reservation, but you.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Can do it, just like any place that's good in
the Bay Area exactly.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
So I have that upcoming. I've been doing some hikes,
like I have friends who are doing the Adventure Challenge
and so locally here, I have been doing some beautiful hikes,
like around vineyards with friends and then i'd just like
in Sonoma, yeah, up at bart Park. Also dog friendly,
a little bit hot, though you have to like you
have to go early and enjoying local events the farmers market.
(08:12):
There's this beautiful thing called acoustic sunsets at the Sonoma
Botanical Garden.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Well what's that all about.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
You basically show up with like friends or your dog.
It's dog friendly, and you enjoy the beautiful gardens with
live music from five point thirty to eight, Yeah, and
you hang out. You can bring your own food and drink.
They do have winery, a winery a week that goes
and like you can purchase their wines and they're outstanding.
(08:40):
But you can also just bring all of your own stuff,
go picnic, listen to great local live music in this
end that Botanical garden is beautiful. It's absolutely gorgeous. They
have a new exhibit right now about birds and sculptures
of birds. It's really pretty. I can't remember the name
of it, but I'll put it in the show notes.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Okay, that sounds really cool.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
How about you, I think you've been. You look awfully
you look awfully fit fit.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Yeah, well, I mean locally i've been.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
I was at Tunnel Top.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Park in San Francisco recently, which is one of my
favorite urban parks. It's a great I mean, they did
such a good job with Tunnel Top and they're opening
up a new section of it, I think in the
next few days here. Yeah, it's kind of near the
sports basement in the Presidio. There's gonna be a new
picnic area that's that's opening up. But I mean, just
(09:28):
like all the native plants that are there, the layout,
just that whole section, even beyond Tunnel Tops, just kind
of that main post the Presidio where the Disney Museum
and those nice hotels are, the Lodge of the Presidio
and the inn at the Precidity. There's two. Didn't know
that that there's two. There's two hotels in there. Sister
properties both really cool. Both like just little boutique beautiful hotels, right,
(09:52):
and a very cool part of San Francisco, not your
typical kind of San Francisco stay. I mean you're you're
looking kind of out at a lot of nature, you know,
and you can it's not too far to walk to
a view of Golden gate Bridge or Alcatraz or the
Bay or maybe you're lucky enough to have it from
your room or something. It's some really cool spots. But yeah,
(10:14):
it was just there and that was that was remarkable.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
And they have that gorgeous grand lawn that everyone can enjoy, right.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Yeah, yeah, I think that's the main post. So yeah,
they also.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Have a great visitor center. I like the stuff there.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Yeah, the picnicking there and the barbecue stuff I saw.
I looked into, like reserving one of those barbecue spots.
Yeah they're not cheap. Oh really yeah, I think it's
in the three digits. Oh oh, have to reserve a
barbecue spot if you.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
Want to go serious one. I mean, do you think
they'll do they offer sales if they're not selling out?
Speaker 2 (10:46):
I don't think so.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
Well. I got takeout and went to I guess not
one of those, but they have like little seats and
then like tables nearby, so I think if they're not
being I mean all of them are reserved, is my point. Right,
you can just get some take out locally and go.
Plus they have the lawns and the chair, a bunch
of sunset, and it's dog friendly. I'm really into dog friends.
(11:10):
Notice it's because Sonoma's Plaza is not dog friendly at all.
They put out like signs that are so unwelcoming. I
find it. I love Sonoma, but I think it's if you're.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Coming here with your dog, you might want to think twice.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
Well, yeah you should still come, just think yeah, yeah,
there's a lot of restaurants and wineries they are all
dog friendly. But yeah, the plaza like the central place,
and you know, I just kind of find it. I
constantly hear, well it has playgrounds and kids, and I'm like,
but you allow alcohol on the plaza.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Mm hmm. How does that work? I don't know.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
I mean that's you know, it's like I'm not complaining
about that, but I'm just saying, so alcohol is okay
with kids.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Right, somehow they are able to make that work.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
But that dog Yeah, I just think Yeah, everywhere.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
I've changes hard. Once people change is hard, you know,
once people get this idea and bed it in it
that like, oh yeah, dogs shouldn't be allowed here because
of whatever, then getting people to change their minds is
just incredibly hard.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Actually, that's just a really good point because it's just
like I go so many places, these beautiful parks, tunnel
tops included, and they do allow dogs and people are
generally speaking responsible. Yeah, anyway, that's on a side. I
do have some sort of fun news about our podcast,
but take it.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Outside big news. Big news.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
We were named a top one hundred California podcast.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
But if you drill down, we're actually in the top twenty.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
We're number nineteen.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
There you go.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
So isn't that cool?
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Wait? Who's one through eighteen? Who do we got?
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Oh? We got so La Time ones. Oh I like
La Times. I have great respect for them. I'm just
saying it because they got number one.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
But this is like specific to California.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
This is specific to California. It's the top one hundred
California podcasts. So the La Times think it's called The Headlines,
which I should listen to, got number one. QVD was
seven and was nineteenth.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
There we are coming in hot I'm.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Very honored and exciting. That's cool by that. I think
that's really cool because we started this during COVID, like
I'm sure so many people did huh, and just sort
of thought, well, let's just see and and it is
really nice to hear from people and to you know,
have people write in answering something that we talk about
or whatever. It's it's a lot of fun. Yeah, what
(13:27):
else is new, Brad.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Well, Uh, you're going to be heading out of town
for a little bit. Got a big race out in Colorado,
a mountain bike race called the Leadville one hundred Mountain
Bike Race, and it's it's kind of a big daddy
on the mountain bike racing scene. It's it's a whole thing,
like with like a lottery to get into it because
(13:49):
it's quite popular, or you can qualify by doing some
other qualifying races around the country and you when you
get there. I did it last year and I'm going
back this year to try to to beat my time,
So I'm kind of chasing that rabbit hole and uh, yeah,
I don's it's a whole event. Like there's thousands of
people that do this I don't know, three thousand and
(14:11):
four thousand people or something like that. You set up
like they have you in corrals for a start, So
based off of your time at one of their qualifying races,
you're either in like a gold corral, a silver corral,
or I think they have like eight or ten different corals.
And then a lot of pros are there and you're
racing your mountain bike for one hundred miles and you
(14:34):
start at ten thousand feet. So like the town of Leadville, Colorado,
is at ten thousand, two hundred feet.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
It's wow.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
Yeah, it's the highest elevation incorporated city in the United States.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
Oh wow.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Yeah, so that's their claim to fame. There used to
be a mine there several decades ago. It's shut down.
So some really kind of creative locals were like, well,
we need to do something to bring, you know, some
kind of economy to Leadville. Yeah, and so they came
up with this idea, originally as a running race to
go run one hundred miles up into the mountains, and
(15:13):
then that took off and they're like, let's do a
mountain bike race.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
So now there's both's cool. It's been going on the mountain.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Bike race for over thirty years, and uh yeah, it's
a I mean it's it's gnarly, it's it's full on,
like you're going anywhere from seven hours to twelve hours,
depending on how fast you you mountain bike at twelve
thousand feet or ten thousand.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
Feet, And what's the time that you have to beat?
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Last year, I did it in seven hours and eleven minutes,
so I was eleven seven eleven. I'd love to break
seven hours. That would be my number one goal.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
Wow, that's shaving off eleven minutes. Yeah, I get at maths,
that's a lot like that'll I'm treating it.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
But I mean if you break it down own, you're
talking about maybe a little over a minute per hour.
Can you go a little like a little over a
minute per hour faster?
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Right?
Speaker 3 (16:06):
That's a lot. Yeah, I mean it said than done.
I know you can do it, but still, holy smoke.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Yeah, So I'm like been ramping up for that thing,
and then I'm not going to ride my bike for
a while.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Oh sure, Okay, where do you ride locally? Like, where
do you like to ride? If Kate doesn't have to
be like epic because I know you do long training rides.
But where do you recommend people let's do this, where
do you recommend people who are pretty experienced riders, like
just meaning you know, a road awareness or mountain bike awareness, whatever,
Where do you recommend people go, Like, let's say it's hot,
(16:42):
where can people go on a nice ride that you
recommend that's scenic?
Speaker 2 (16:46):
That's scenic?
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Yeah, I mean if it's really hot, then you're kind
of your two choices or to go to the coast
or go up to the Sierra Nevada. Oh, you know,
both of those are probably going to be cooler than
some of these places in yeah, down here at sea
level in California. But the coast, I mean, yeah, there's
a lot of good stuff over outside of Half Moon Bay.
(17:10):
There's some really great cycling. You just Highway one is
is kind of touchy because it's so busy, But you
can go inland just a little bit and still get
some of the cool weather up by Parisma Creek Redwoods.
That's really beautiful. If you have a mountain bike or
a gravel bike, that's that's a great place to go.
H to go riding Sonoma Coast. That section of Highway
(17:32):
one isn't as busy as some of the other sections
of Highway One, and that can be a good road
bike ride if you're kind of interested in doing that.
You can veer in a little bit from Salt Point
and go up this Cruise Rhododendron Preserve, which is really
beautiful out.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
That I've always wanted to go. It's like, is it.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Spring really, that's more of a spring, yeah, But like
for gravel biking or mountain biking, that's a great road.
You kind of go over by the king Ridge area
which gets a little bit a lot of elevation climbing.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
Are the places to stop and eat?
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Yes, Stuart's Point, that's uh, thet Yeah, that's a.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Great spot, which is and the stores really yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
The bakery is really good. That's a great spot.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Jenner also is a great little spot. Cafe Aquatica.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
I have live music on the weekends. Like you're looking
out over the Russian River. That's super cool.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
For wine. Do they stuff a wine? I'm sure they
do next door?
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Yeah, yeah, that whole Boat Rock area, Russian River area,
Bohemian Highway, Monte Rio, Duncans.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Mills, Like it's just like it's beautiful. You go up
Willow Creek.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
That's another great gravel bike ride or mounta bike ride.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Just there's so much good stuff.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
I mean, Sonoma County is one of the best places
for road biking or you know, kind of in the country.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Really there is mountain biking.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
It's not I mean, there are some great spots, like
Anadel State Park is one of the few state parks
that allows mountain biking. It's a bit rocky, it's a
bit more technical, kind of for more of the intermediate
advanced writers, I would say, yeah, but it's a great
place to go mountain biking.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
China Camp and Marine County is a great place.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
I like, because I'm not a great mountain baker. I'm
pretty like average, I'm novice. But you can find routes
there that are perfectly fine, totally and coastal, like you said,
really pretty.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Yeah, And if you go to the Sierra Nevada, the
East Shore bike Path Lake Tahoe, that's on the Nevada.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Side, not too far from Reno.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
Yeah, that is a great spot, a nice kind of
like multi path paved, don't have to worry about the
cars on that.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Oh, it's so beautiful. That is a good one. I
should put that on my list because I'm going to
try to get out there maybe in of August. Yeah, yeah,
but that would be that's a great ride. I've only
done it once and I didn't do a lot of it,
but that's a good one.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Mm hmm. Yeah. There's a dog is sleeping at my
feet right now.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
It's just the bulldog.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
You might be snoring and you might hear that in
the I just realized it.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
It's been pretty quiet. He likes to be in the
office under desks. Well, you're doing. I wish you all
the luck with them with Leadville. Thanks, I'll be cheering
you on. I'm sure you're gonna need a really good
water person to make sure that you stay hydrated. Everybody
(20:20):
really out and feel free to email too if you
want some ideas on the invasion. I mean, you're going
to find so many of them on our website, but
if you're like, I'm wondering about this or this.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Yeah, and get your friends to do it too.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Yeah, it's more fun the more people you have doing
it with you, and then you all get a cool
T shirt.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
Styling T shirt styl All right, should we talk to Jim.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Yeah, let's talk to Jim. Litchfield from the Reno fly Shop.
We are very excited to have Jim Litchfield on the
podcast today from Reno fly Shop.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Good to see you, Jim.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
Thanks a lot, you guys. I appreciate I've been looking
forward to this.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Yeah, well, it sounds like you're no stranger to podcasting.
You've been You had a podcast back before the pandemic.
It sounds like you were telling us what Yeah I was.
Speaker 4 (21:05):
I did.
Speaker 5 (21:06):
I for quite a few years, I ran a podcast.
It came out relatively frequently called Reno fly Shop Podcast.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Cool and just talking about like what's biting right now
and we're a good place to go, or just like
adventures or Yeah.
Speaker 5 (21:19):
It was kind of a it was a mixed bag.
I tried to kind of mix it up and keep
people interested. The most listened to episodes annually was this
the podcast that I did with a biologist from the
Novada Department of Wildlife, where he would review and summarize
his annual biological sampling of the trucky Oh Wow, which
(21:42):
sounds just really granular, eat it up. It was just
super popular. People looked forward to it.
Speaker 4 (21:51):
But I did I.
Speaker 5 (21:52):
Did international travel, local knowledge, just kind of a kind
of a shotgun blast of fly fishing related topic.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Yeah, you seem to be the adventure ambassador in Reno.
You got, I mean, you go, you're on adventures all
the time.
Speaker 4 (22:07):
I yeah, I do like it. I I uh, I do.
Speaker 5 (22:10):
I like travel. I like exploring rivers. It's been a
big part of my life for a long time.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
Yeah, what was your latest one?
Speaker 4 (22:19):
You know?
Speaker 5 (22:19):
I you know what qualifies as an adventure, it's you know,
it's a trip that doesn't go quite as planned if
they will. We did a great trip just recently just
to the state of Montana to visit my younger son
who lives in Bozeman, and so while based out of Bozeman,
we ran around for about a week and a half,
running different rivers and fishing them and being there living
(22:42):
there like he does. We tried to kind of go
kind of somewhat off the beaten path and explore areas
that maybe I don't to see as many anglers in
June in Montana.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Yeah, are and are these places? Are you rafting to
get to these places? Or are you hiking into some
places or all the above?
Speaker 4 (23:02):
All the above.
Speaker 5 (23:04):
Both my son and I like boats, so I'll bring
my rubber raft and then he has a drift boat,
so depending on the river, Well, we have both those options.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Well that's awesome.
Speaker 5 (23:16):
Well did you camp not on this trip, but we
have quite a bit and we do. We do trips
at least, you know, every every couple of times a
year where we'll spend multiple nights on the river.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Well that's amazing.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Now let's talk about your business, the Renal Fly Shop. Now,
you guys offer of course everything the angler would need
for fly fishing locally in northern Nevada. But also if
somebody and we had this experience, if you weren't, if
you're not super experienced in the world of fly fishing
but you kind of want to dabble in it.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
You're the go to guys to do that.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
You offer half day, full day, kind of like getting
to understand how fly fishing works for somebody wh's never
done it before.
Speaker 4 (24:00):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 5 (24:01):
You know, we're a full service outfitter and retail shop
based in Rena, Nevada. We have guides that you know,
kind of more on a regional basis, so we will
guide down the east side of the Sierra down towards
as far south as the as the Walker River, and
then we've recently expanded some of our guiding into the
(24:25):
northeastern portion of California. So we offer as you as
you said, Brad, we offer half day guide trips, full
day guide trips, and then we also offer float trips
where in the rivers that we have we outfit in
rubber rafts, whitewater rafts. They can they can have two
anglers and one guide, So we run those kind of
(24:48):
on a regional basis.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
What and what rivers are you running on those those rafts.
Speaker 5 (24:53):
The vast majority of our our our offerings are on
the Trucky River right here, both in California and Nevada,
which the is based really right on the Trucky River. Yeah,
the border of the Nevada California border is just upstream,
so that's where we focus the vast majority of our guiding.
And then of course, you know, winter offering is Pyramid Lake,
(25:15):
which is interestingly the terminus of the Trucky River. It
originates in Lake Tahoe, flows one hundred and ten miles
to Pyramid Lake and that's a winter fishery and we
guide that throughout the winter for you know, one of
the largest trout species in the world, the lawn and
cutthroat trout.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
I was visiting Pyramid Lake recently and I just found
I thought it was I mean, I guess it's not
necessarily a hidden gym, but it sure felt like one
to me. I thought, there's so many people who don't
know about this beautiful quiet spot. I mean, you, you know,
drive quite away to it. I stopped at the museum,
the Pyramid Lake Museum there and then they told me, okay,
I just follow this map and you can go check
(25:56):
it out. And there were some people fishing and just
gorgeous beaches. I think you a day pass to hang
out there for a while. Some of the beaches are private,
but it was just beautiful.
Speaker 5 (26:07):
The whole west side of the lake, if you will,
is open up to non reservation members, so you can
with a day pass or a fishing pass, you can
access any of those beaches, all along the twenty seven
mile length of the lake. And it's relatively large. I
think it really surprises a lot of people. Twenty seven
miles long, about ten miles wide, I believe, depending on
(26:29):
how you measure, so it's a really big lake.
Speaker 4 (26:33):
It's slightly alkaline, so being a terminal lake.
Speaker 5 (26:36):
There's only way the water can leave as evaporation, so
it minerals remain. So it's a slightly alkaline lake. Is
that unique biology?
Speaker 2 (26:46):
And is that why those trout are getting so big there?
Speaker 3 (26:49):
Like?
Speaker 2 (26:49):
What why is that?
Speaker 4 (26:52):
Well?
Speaker 5 (26:52):
I think, you know, that's a great, great topic of debate.
I think that it's partly genetics. The long cut through
of trout have been in that in and around that
lake for a very very long time and as a
result not having any other natural predator besides, I think
non aquatic predators, or they don't have aquatic predators, only
(27:14):
non aquatic they they just had the opportunity to grow big.
You know, like many alkaline lakes, there's a great food
source both in macroinvert bugs, insects as well as other
bait fish.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
And you said you described it as a terminal lake.
Is that right?
Speaker 4 (27:34):
Yeah, terminal lake.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
Yeah, so like it doesn't go anywhere like that the
lake end, like the water ends there, the lake.
Speaker 5 (27:40):
The river ends, the river ends, yeah, absolutely, and and
it fills up Pyramid Lake and the water can only
leave the majority of it leaves through evaporation.
Speaker 4 (27:53):
I'm sure there's a component that is.
Speaker 5 (27:55):
Seeps into the ground, but the vast majority just as evaporation.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
That's so cool. When I was so you know, I
was lucky enough to be able to go with you
and have Aiden Breckner, he guided my kind of personalized
trip when I shut up. I had never tried fly fishing.
I always wanted to because it just always appealed to me.
It seemed like such a beautiful art form in so
many ways. And so we went to the Truckee, which
(28:22):
was absolutely beautiful, and I was commenting on just how
pristine it is, and he said, well, it's such a
it's such a dedicated community effort, which I was so
impressed by to keep it so clear and clean, and
I mean, these beautiful fish that come, and I just
feel like you guys are doing such terrific work there.
Can you talk a little bit about that, you know.
Speaker 5 (28:43):
It's I feel fortunate to be involved in the river
community at large, not only the Angling community, but there's
a Whitewater community, and then just a river appreciation of.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
River advocate community.
Speaker 5 (28:56):
Having been here and lived here in this area for
quite a while that I've been involved in it. It's
it's really it is as as you say, hally, it's
it's a dedicated community that recognizes the limited resource that
we have. It is somewhat unique that this river doesn't
flow to the ocean, that it is kind of self contained,
if you will. And as a result, I think it
(29:18):
creates a really impassioned group of advocates and supporters and
so we there's many community efforts throughout the year, both
in just special events which are as important as as.
Speaker 4 (29:32):
As you would a traditional clean up day.
Speaker 5 (29:34):
I feel that those special events are really good to
bring a general understanding and appreciation socially and culturally to
the to the resource, and you can get great benefit
from that as well. But the an organization called Keep
Trucking Meadows Beautiful hosts to cleanups a year that we
we try to we try to be involved in and
(29:56):
it's it does come up in September when the water
is a little bit lower and gives us better access.
Speaker 3 (30:00):
So dedication to the catch and release as well, which
I think is really cool. I think Aiden said like
he said, he made a comment about fisher part of
our business or something like that, there's a freezer.
Speaker 5 (30:13):
Yeah, yeah, there are business. Yeah, we recognize as a
business partner. We do practice catching release as opposed to
catch and kill, which so many people do and as
many of us do, and I I do in certain situations.
But it's a finite resource. The fish hally that you
(30:34):
were catching that day, the rainbows and browns spit. The browns,
the brown trout specifically aren't stocked anymore on the trucky,
So having the opportunity to interact with those, while maybe
not native, they're wild. They're self sustaining populations. So those
need to, you know, just do everything that another cell
moned would do. Find find viable habitat in the right time,
(30:59):
in the right season, and to spawn into rear and
and to grow up to a catchuple size.
Speaker 4 (31:03):
So those those fish are are unique and u uniquely hours.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
Mm now this time of year like midsummer, are you
when you're going fly fishing, are you thinking a little
further upstream or a little further downstream? Does it matter
based off of the time of the year where you
know the fish might be biting.
Speaker 5 (31:22):
No, that is Brad and and we do we we
we monitor it very closely.
Speaker 4 (31:27):
We this you know, as we record this in the middle.
Speaker 5 (31:30):
Of July, we're going right now through a gnarly heat
kind of a heat wave, and uh, it's just it's
just hot. Everything gets sleepy, even the fish as the
temperatures rise, and.
Speaker 4 (31:43):
They'll they have the they do have the ability to
find deep water.
Speaker 5 (31:49):
They'll they have the ability to move up and downstream
quite freely, and so they'll find springs coming in off
the see our front, so they'll find that cool water.
Speaker 4 (31:57):
But they'll usually kind of concentrate in those location.
Speaker 5 (32:01):
And we really kind of focused most of our efforts
upstream into the canyon towards California this time of year,
where the water is a little bit more protected, deeper,
running in a more narrow channel, so it be cooler
for the fish and for the angler.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
Right.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
Yeah, And of that, I mean when we went and
Holly was doing her introduction to fly fishing, I mean,
it was beautiful we went up there that we went
to a couple of places.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
One was not far at all from your fly.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Shop, as you said, like pretty close to the Trucky River.
But then we went a little further up Interstate eighty
towards California. I forget the name of the town that
we little town we went through, but it was it
was absolutely beautiful.
Speaker 5 (32:41):
Yeah, you know, it's about you know, I'd say it's
probably from the shop about fifteen miles maybe a little
bit less now it's about fifteen miles to the California border,
and the guides have all of their spots in between
there on the Nevada side, and then of course they
can jump. All of them are licensed in California, so
they can jump into California as needed.
Speaker 4 (33:00):
And then we have tribute.
Speaker 5 (33:01):
We have tailwater tributaries coming in which are all so
really good in the summer because those are controlled releases
from upstream reservoirs and so it keeps the water very cold.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
That's yeah. Well, I was so lucky to be able
to do it in such a beautiful place. I mean,
you know Reno and Tahoe area. It's just so beautiful.
And I know Aiden said, you know this fly fishing
will take you all over the world, and so I'm
curious some of your favorite places internationally to fly fish,
like some of your adventures or you know, within within
(33:34):
the US beyond California and Nevada.
Speaker 4 (33:39):
I really really love rivers.
Speaker 5 (33:41):
I do, and I've I've been fortunate to take an
avocation and change it into a vocation by opening the
fly shop eleven years ago. And I really I like
to think of fly fishing as a way to animate
my travels, and it gives me something something to do
around a destination.
Speaker 4 (34:01):
And I love the fly fish, so I'll often look.
Speaker 5 (34:03):
For places that are already kind of I have a
gravitational pull to moving water, so I'll go those.
Speaker 4 (34:09):
And to answer your question specifically, I have a special
place that.
Speaker 5 (34:13):
In Bolivia that I've had the opportunity to go to
quite a few times and develop friends with the guides there.
Speaker 4 (34:19):
It's in the in the highlands of the Amazon Wow.
Speaker 5 (34:24):
Kind of western central western Bolivia, and we're one specific
species and it's a very remote, remote, pristine environment, and
it's it's just special right because the people are beautiful
and they're just really wonderful and gracious and meeting meeting
them year after year that s many people are just
(34:46):
just a really amazing culture to experience.
Speaker 3 (34:50):
So is it an annual sojourn that you go on?
Speaker 4 (34:52):
Then I try to. It's it's really hard to get spots.
Speaker 5 (34:56):
I do go to an organized destination, so it's it's
hard to get spots, and I I go about every
other year and that I can, I can find a spot.
But I talk my friends, the guides there there Argentine
and they they guide, they're all all season, and I
speak to them, you know, several times a week just
to see how things are and how they're doing.
Speaker 4 (35:17):
And yeah, it's really fun. Yeah, it's really fun.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
Do you have to worry about piranhas down there?
Speaker 5 (35:23):
No, not so much. No, No, there's I mean there's
the jungles, the jungle, right, and so it's it's piranhas.
There aren't as as like they are in different in
the lower parts of the Amazon basin. There's definitely hazards
that you would want to watch out for. Uh, it's
not it's not the most accommodating ecosystem.
Speaker 4 (35:46):
But that's what makes it wild. It makes it diverse.
Speaker 5 (35:48):
And you know, you can come walking around the corner
and there's not many places that you can stumble upon
a tappier drinking from the water nice, you know, or fishing.
Speaker 4 (35:58):
These are experiences that I've had.
Speaker 5 (36:00):
Or a sloth, a three toed sloth falling out of
the tree right next to me.
Speaker 2 (36:05):
Wow, what how did you find out about this place?
To begin with?
Speaker 5 (36:08):
It's it's very popular it's a very limited inventory of
a number of people that get to go there. But
in the fly fishing space, it's it's pretty well known.
In Yeah, it's it's it's really it's cool, it really is.
Speaker 2 (36:22):
What about going up north to Alaska?
Speaker 1 (36:25):
How was the if you ever do like a king
salmon run or anything like that.
Speaker 4 (36:30):
I haven't done the king salmon.
Speaker 5 (36:31):
My my son guides in western Alaska, and I was
able to go up on his trip last year and
we were able to float the good News and then
which was just a great trip. And when we went
we actually went this week last year. Uh So you
have king salmon and kind of the early sucky returns
(36:53):
up there in Alaska.
Speaker 4 (36:54):
It's all an adrimus fish that really the primary targets.
Speaker 5 (36:57):
There's there's rivers that you'll target, you know, resident rainbow
and resident vollyvardens. But the the you know, the big,
the interesting ones that the anadromous fish, the salmon that
live in the ocean or born in the river, live
in the ocean and then come back to spawn in
the rivers and that's where the anglers have the most
the greatest opportunity to interact with them. And those are
all seasonally in flow dependent. Right now the kings are in,
(37:20):
they shouldn'to ex salmon.
Speaker 2 (37:22):
Mmm, that's I bet that would be cool. I'm sure
it was a great trip.
Speaker 5 (37:26):
It's wonderful trip. Yeah, you know, it's it's it's Alaska.
And for people that haven't had the opportunity your listeners
to go there, it's it's hard to prepare for the
immensity of it, the immensity of the landscape and the
fish and the wildlife, the flora and the fauna, just
everything is big. Yeah, it's pretty easy to get into
(37:49):
an unspoiled, touched upon ecosystem or habitat and it's just,
you know, it's just it's amazing. We still have that
as an opportunity to get too relatively easily.
Speaker 2 (38:01):
And what a.
Speaker 1 (38:02):
Couple of flights and you're there, Yeah, and then more
flights you're right, and then your everybody has their pilot's license,
it seems like in Alaska.
Speaker 5 (38:09):
Yeah, for sure, you know, and it's uh, we we
have a great outfit. He works for an outfit called
Wild River Guides and we uh they do wilderness float trips.
Speaker 4 (38:19):
So it's a little atypical.
Speaker 5 (38:20):
From your tip, your your normal Alaska experience where people
will fly in and base out of a lodge.
Speaker 4 (38:25):
Have chefs and staff and the whole thing.
Speaker 5 (38:29):
This is actually kind of a you know, very wild
experience where they fly in with you know, floatplanes on beavers,
havel in beavers, and then drop you off. You you
construct your raft and spend anywhere from six to ten
days floating down these different rivers. Yeah, it's it's it's
really fun. It's definitely it's it's a hearty experience.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
Yeah. I know, Well you have to be back and
reno and run your business, right.
Speaker 4 (38:57):
Yeah I didn't.
Speaker 5 (38:57):
I'm not going this year. Maybe it'll go every other year,
depending if he still goes up there. But I've been
to Alaska one other time, way up north on a trip,
and it's it's really fun. You could probably spend a
lifetime going there every year and never go to the
same place twice.
Speaker 3 (39:13):
I bet you're right. Yeah, what's the other trip? Fly
fishing or were you trucking or.
Speaker 4 (39:18):
We were rafting.
Speaker 5 (39:21):
A good friend of mine was doing getting his pH
d at Stanford and he needed someone to help row
a boat. So I supported his PhD research by moving
a boat down river on a river called the Alatin. Wow,
I do like I do like boats, and so we
(39:42):
did fish. Had to answer your question.
Speaker 4 (39:44):
We fished.
Speaker 5 (39:45):
Fishing wasn't a primary objective, but we certainly took the
opportunity to fish. It had really great fishing grayling and
rainbow rainbow trout, and yeah.
Speaker 4 (39:55):
It was it was really a ton of fun. We
spent them just about a month up there.
Speaker 2 (39:59):
Wow, that's amazing. And do you have any other trips
like coming up in the near future.
Speaker 5 (40:04):
I don't really, you know, I actually kind of stepped
away a bit, admittedly from my international travels, supporting my
staff that are continuing to pursue either.
Speaker 4 (40:16):
Trips that I established and they.
Speaker 5 (40:18):
Are stepping away from or kind of letting them Aiden
who you mentioned, Hollye. He hosted trip to Argentina to
the Upper Parana River and for Golden Dorado, and then
and then a trip that that one of my staff
is doing to Christmas Island, which is in the Central Pacific,
(40:39):
which I did for I hosted for years.
Speaker 3 (40:41):
Really Christmas Island.
Speaker 4 (40:44):
Yeah, yeah, Christmas Island.
Speaker 5 (40:48):
It's a it's a it's a big a toll as
the tolls go, but it's very, very remote. It's about
fifteen hundred miles due south of Hawaiian.
Speaker 3 (40:57):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (40:59):
And you fly in there and it's it's a very
much a fishing destination.
Speaker 4 (41:03):
There's really not much else going on on.
Speaker 3 (41:06):
The is it Christmas year round.
Speaker 4 (41:11):
It's very dry.
Speaker 5 (41:13):
It's it's about forty miles north of the equator, so
it's very very dry climate.
Speaker 2 (41:21):
And where are you fishing down there?
Speaker 5 (41:24):
You fish inside the atoll, so you can kind of
think of the atoll as former like a cavity on
a volcano holds on the outside of it, and the
volcano erodes away over over millennia and then that coral remains.
And so that's what the people live on the coral
these atolls, and so you fish the inside of them,
(41:45):
typically shallow environments for bone fish and trigger fish, travolli, ladyfish.
Speaker 4 (41:54):
Things like that. But your Pacific near shore game species.
Speaker 2 (41:59):
Wow, that tells like an adventure.
Speaker 4 (42:01):
It is. It's fun. You know, there's there's people, it's established,
and it's doing. The island is doing pretty welldish.
Speaker 5 (42:07):
In the last couple of years they were completely closed
down for COVID for four and a half years, just
completely locked down, and I believe it has the has
the distinction that's one of the only places permanently habited
places on the planet that did not experience COVID.
Speaker 4 (42:25):
Wow, that's I think a confirmed case.
Speaker 2 (42:30):
Right. Well, they're pretty remote.
Speaker 4 (42:31):
It sounds like, yeah, they are living on the edge
of the world. Yeah, really, it's cool.
Speaker 5 (42:38):
It really is a special place, and we host a
trip there for anybody whos an interested. They could reach
out to us, but we host a trip usually in
the second and third week of February.
Speaker 3 (42:48):
Okay, nice one, So you hear you heard it here?
Speaker 1 (42:53):
First take it out if you want to go to
Christmas Island with Jim and the Renal flash shop, Guys,
sign up. I'm sure that it's like limited booking on
that one.
Speaker 4 (43:02):
Yeah, it is.
Speaker 5 (43:03):
It's it's a really it's a fun destination, pretty straightforward
and easy accessible from the West coast.
Speaker 3 (43:08):
Oh, that sounds pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (43:10):
That sounds amazing.
Speaker 3 (43:11):
Broadcast that.
Speaker 4 (43:12):
Yeah, for sure, you guys can have podcast there.
Speaker 3 (43:17):
I have a I have a question. It might be
kind of a cheesy one, but have you read ever
runs through it?
Speaker 4 (43:24):
I have? Oh, it is, it is. It's really enjoyable.
Speaker 2 (43:28):
For sure, it's a beautiful read.
Speaker 4 (43:30):
I've I've gotten back.
Speaker 3 (43:32):
Into reading books over the past few years, you know,
just sort of recommitting to like spending time, and so
I actually read it after going fly fishing with Reno
Fly Shop, just because I was so inspired. I really
enjoyed it. It was it was kind of everything that
I thought it would be with fly fishing, and I
highly encourage people, and like I said, I had no clue,
(43:52):
but I just found you get into this rhythm and
you're in nature and you're wading into the water or
you're on the shoreline if you want to be, and
it's just meditative and contemplative and really beautiful, and you
know when you get that catch and you're kind of excited.
I was glad that it was catch and release personally,
but it's just there. You know, it's just all around
(44:14):
a really beautiful experience and I really appreciated it.
Speaker 5 (44:18):
Well, it's really nice to hear that, you know that
you were able to go out and have that level
of experience, and it's you know, in catching a fish
is something that we're all trying to do, but if
that is your only objective, and I try to share
that even with the people that I travel with. These
destinations are day in and day out in the shop.
That if catching the fish is the primary objective, which
(44:40):
is I totally understand, but there's a really missed opportunity
to so much going on around you, both internally and
then the external environment around you is great just to
slow down and observe it.
Speaker 3 (44:51):
That's exactly it.
Speaker 5 (44:52):
Yeah, that's why I really like to I think of
it fly fishing, Well, it's the it's it animates my
time out in the field. Yeah, just an activity to
pivot around and use as a as a kind of
an anchor to activities.
Speaker 2 (45:11):
Yeah, that's a great way to describe it.
Speaker 1 (45:14):
And also just think about just life in general, just
slowing down and not just always focusing on the one
thing that maybe you're obsessed with.
Speaker 2 (45:21):
Right.
Speaker 5 (45:22):
Goals are really important and I shared with so many
of my I mean, I'm very goal and person and
I do like the discipline side of it.
Speaker 4 (45:29):
But my guests that I take on trips, I try
to encourage them.
Speaker 5 (45:34):
To have kind of a hit list of objectives they
want to go to because they can when you kind
of like slow down for a moment, you can kind
of anchor in that list.
Speaker 4 (45:43):
Of things to do. Yeah, and it can be a
really great.
Speaker 5 (45:47):
Tool to to kind of slow down and be really
present and say, Okay, what's my next task?
Speaker 2 (45:53):
Right? Yeah, beautiful.
Speaker 1 (45:56):
Well, thanks a lot Jim for taking a few minutes
out of your day to talk a little bit about
your adventures and the Reno Fly Shop. And we had
a great time on our trip with you, and we
really encourage our listeners if they're in Reno to come
swing by and say hi and maybe go out on
a trip.
Speaker 4 (46:15):
Yeah we can. You know, there's a ton of information.
Speaker 5 (46:18):
We do trips year round, seven days a week, float trips,
walk trips, Pyramid Lake in the winter, and then any
of the hosted travel I can I can facilitate. If
there's somewhere that someone wants to go, I can usually
help them get there.
Speaker 2 (46:33):
Something like that.
Speaker 3 (46:35):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (46:36):
Jim is your guy.
Speaker 4 (46:38):
Yeah, thanks a lot of you guys.
Speaker 5 (46:40):
All this information can be found at renofly shop dot.
Speaker 1 (46:42):
Com, renofly shop dot com. Perfect great, well, thank you Jim.
Great to see you.
Speaker 4 (46:48):
Thank you, Brad Holly, hope to see you on the
water again.
Speaker 1 (46:50):
So all right, sounds good, take care, thanks all right,
bye bye bye bye.
Speaker 4 (47:00):
Thedyntown's downtown