Recently, the question of what this blog is and is becoming was posed to me.
Words like....
Impact. Sensitive Fisheries. Guides. Secret Spots. Internet Hype
Were thrown around. I was taken aback that this was even thought of in how I work at developing this little outpost on the internets.
It made me feel like I should have a fur coat, swinging gold chains and a pinky ring.
Like I was a fish pimp.
Now I have taken a few days to think about these charges and here's what I think.
It's bullshit.
Originally I started this blog as a way to develop my writing voice and chronicle my fishing adventures. Over the years it has evolved from fishing reports to my overall view of the fly fishing world.
If I was to write a blog manifesto, a mini one at that, I feel that words like
Conservation. Ethics. Good Stories.
Would be resounding themes.
If you dont think so. I'm cool with that.
I know where my heart is.
I know what I am doing for the good of our fisheries, fish and sport.
Hopefully the people that read this see that as well.
Keep writing dude! Don't let some loser's ruin what you do. Stick to your guns and keep bringing it. You write well and I have never read anything that shouts "fish pimp" on here.
ReplyDeleteThe cool thing about blogs is you have a great record and history of the goings on in the fishing world. A great record of your feelings and experiences etc. When I am 70 I will have a digital record of a great part of my life fishing. That's part of why I blog. A blog should be fun to write and recapture some of the energy and emotion of a good trip afield....yours does that.
I think the criticism was a bit heavy handed but had some good points.
ReplyDeleteI like reading your blog and appreciate that you took the time to think about the criticism.
Internet hype is real, and I think we should all take the time to think about our impacts before posting.
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ReplyDeleteGamby called you Mr. Mills......:)
ReplyDelete"Aint no river a secret anymore..."
ReplyDeleteThat's the spirit! Keep up the self love. It's all for you.
god love anonymous comments...?
ReplyDeleteEmbrace a little mystery. It goes along way.
ReplyDeletehaters gonna hate, keep on keep'n on.
ReplyDeleteYou are confusing hate with a simple statement of objection. All these things are not yours alone to "share". Please respect others.
ReplyDeleteJosh, I've been following your blog for the last 6 or 8 months. Obviously you are a caring, conservation-minded person trying to do your best. But you're also seeking attention, like any writer, and when you name rivers/towns/whatever you're going to piss people off. There's a fine line between telling a story and directing people to a special fishery. So, don't be surprised when folks get pissy.
ReplyDeleteGamby is misleading you by tempting you to rationalize. Your critics offer much more value in this case. You don't need validation, you need to progress as a writer, right? So ignore the back-patters and remember that anyone who read your blog and took the time to respond is already handing you a true compliment. Often times the most vile critics are asking you to be better than they are. It's a tall order. They want you to live by a code that almost nobody can, but they're right to expect it since you've placed yourself in a pulpit of your own making.
People are desperate for good, meaningful, stories. That's what you need to focus on. And you can have some fun building in a taste of mystery, leaving readers to fill in the blanks.
Yours hypocritically,
RR
your blog is pimping out fisheries the say way the moron bead chucker douches from montana do for steelhead on the peninsula...keep your bobbers and keep fishing for trout
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ReplyDeleteWow, Gamby. I doubt you're as thoughtless or simple-minded as your comments suggest. But maybe I'm wrong?
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ReplyDeleteThe discussion is about talking not fishing behavior.
ReplyDeleteJust because you have a "right to talk about it" doesn't mean you should.
A blog is a public place. This is not a little campfire. If you truly value the outdoor life, you might "share" your experiences in a more personal setting rather than the most public of settings. At the very least shared with the respect for those who you may not know that love a piece of water.
RJ
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ReplyDeleteGamby, you're falling all over yourself. It's no fun arguing when you repeatedly fail to read or comprehend what's being conveyed. Your comments are incoherent at best, and you have rekindled my conviction that our system of education is failing miserably.
ReplyDeleteThis discussion isn't about bloggers' rights, and it's sure as hell not about locals having to learn to share. What arrogance! It's about being thoughtful and avoiding conflict when blogging about places that mean a lot to a lot of people. Every fishing writer has to come to terms with it, and often.
Josh, you have handled yourself pretty well on this front. But I'm not at all surprised that some OP devotees were upset about yet another blog pointing all arrows to Forks. If those were your bread and butter fisheries, you might get sick of it, too. And you might get sick of seeing guides selling off the fisheries like they owned them. And you might get really sick if you saw some tourist promoting the rivers AND the guides. Put yourself in the other guy's shoes for a moment.
I've been the guy selling off fisheries, and the guy writing magazine features about fisheries, and the guy getting bent about "unfair" comments. Many times over. When I stopped guiding a few years ago my perspective shifted. Slowly at first. And the longer I've been away from guiding, the more I resent the exploitation of a public resource by a desperate few who will take what they can get for a buck. As the new wave of young guides moves into my favorite places (not in WA), it's a constant challenge to temper my protective instincts with compassion for these folks. I was the same as them when I started, and I resented the lip and attitude I got from established guides and others. Unfortunately, the young can't be all that retrospective. They just feel entitled and/or picked on. Now I know why the old guard was so protective, why they tried to enforce rules of conduct. It's because they had learned to care.
Bottom line here: if you blog, it's because you want a readership. You can shape your readership by offering the best possible content and by being sensitive to the protective feeling people have for their own special places. Simple, right? And try to see those negative comments for the compliments they really are.
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