Sunday, February 1, 2009

Good company

I get a number of pictures sent my way and it's always appreciated. On occasion I find a shot that ends up on my Flickr site or in a Way Upstream post. Recently I got an email with some share-worthy images from the Langara Island Lodge on Langara Island at the north tip of the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, Canada. Yos "Steelie" Gladstone sent them along and wrote:

"Thought I'd pass on a few pics that you might like. The top and middle pictures are of us Langara Island Lodge guides in our Patagonia gear. It's a pretty neat group of guys. You'd be hard pressed to find a saltwater lodge anywhere with a more experienced, passionate and conservation minded guiding staff. I feel lucky to be working with such good company. The bottom shot is of the women that work at the lodge. They are a pretty cool bunch of babes that we're lucky to work with. The guy sans shirt is one of our dock boys."

Photos by Kathryn Youngberg

8 comments:

Mark said...

that is one lucky dock boy

Anonymous said...

My Patagonia Guidewater Jacket keeps me warm and dry in any weather. The photo of the lodge staff makes me realize that you don't have to be the first person on the water every day. The kitchen at the lodge serves up good coffee 'round the clock, and the company looks mighty fine, too.

Cheers, Topher Browne

Unknown said...

I hope you guys realize that these guys are baitfihsing with downriggers, using large motor boats. Patagonia usually stands for fly fishing and no fossil fuel action!
Why sponsor those guys then?

El Pescador said...

We don't sponsor the lodge Kevin. The decision to purchase Patagonia was theirs. Just for the record, I have no prejudice against any type of fishing (bait, lure, hand line, etc.)and I personally can't claim to have never been in a boat nor can I say that I've never tossed bait or hardware. As long as an angler respects the resource and the fish then that's all anyone can ask.

Anonymous said...

Amen.

Anonymous said...

Kevin, I can’t speak for the company as a whole, but I for one am happy to see some dedicated gear guys (and gals) embracing the quality, performance and company philosophies of Patagonia. When I think about how we, as anglers, have fared in political battles to preserve the fish and waters we care about so much, one thing becomes clear. Our opponents generally have a single mandate: Loggers want to cut more logs. Developers want to develop more houses or malls. Commercial fishermen want to catch more fish... Because of this, and the fact that their efforts are driven by money (they are income making professionals), they tend to have very unified, powerful voices in political circles.

On the other hand, we sport anglers frequently get caught up fighting amongst ourselves—gear vs. fly, bait vs. artificials, dry vs. wet, etc. The result is that we lack a cohesive political message or the unity required to deliver one.

So, when people like the guides at Langara Island Lodge, who, by all accounts have just as much respect for the fish and fishery as any fly angler, choose Patagonia, I take it as exceptionally good news. I believe our only path toward conserving the resource is through forgetting the minor differences in techniques and tackle and standing together against the destroyers.

In other words, hug a bait fisherman today!

We all have our preferences and prejudices—I personally only want to swing flies for steelhead and don’t have much interest in dead-drifting egg patterns or slinging gear for them. But I also love gear fishing for king salmon is salt water, and find it just as challenging and rewarding. Does it make sense? Probably not. Will plenty of people disagree with my preferences or look down at my choices? You bet. But I believe that anyone out there who, as El Pescador says, respects the resource should be welcomed as a fellow angler and ally in the battles we have to fight. We really can’t afford to exclude anyone who’s interested in helping with the effort anymore.

Anyway, that’s my .02.

Peace,

Dylan

Tim Pask said...

Well said Big D,

I'll be hugging a bait tosser soon (I just need to find HER first).

If we could channel all of our voices through one common theme of conserving our resources we would be damn powerful.

yos said...

We do fish with bait but we also release about 90% of the fish over 30 pounds and we fish with all barbless gear and we don't use riggers.