Last month started off right with a fishing trip to the Crooked River in Central Oregon. The weather was good and we caught some nice fish, but none anywhere near as big as Dave Vedder’s STS cover shot, a Lake Trout from the Great Slave Lake. Congrats Dave!
John Kruse reports the spring Sportsmans Show circuit went pretty well, running at about 60% capacity. Hopefully many of you were able to make it to a show, pick up some good deals plus get some trips & story ideas lined up.
Besides the Sportsmans show, I went to a local fly shop that I hadn’t been in in way too long and caught up with a couple of the guys, talking about a variety of topics from urban deer on cameras to carp fishing. Actually talking to people always produces a wealth of information. The challenge is to get it recorded then incorporated into blogs and articles.
The NOWA EIC contest went very well. We had over 100 entries and the top prize winner was Brad Trumbo, who took home $450 in prize money and then generously donated back to NOWA. Thanks Brad!
Working on the EIC Contest with Matt & Alan Liere served as a reminder that I’ve let my photography slide but this has also me motivated to put in a stronger effort to get more and better photos this year.
We had the NOWA business meeting on Zoom this year. Being new to Zoom and I wasn’t sure about hosting the meeting but got a boost in confidence from NOWA’s newest member Garrett Lesko, who understands this new technology. He’s also a very talented fly tier and outdoor writer. Check out his website and contact him if you need a Zoom presentation, he’s got lots of great subjects to choose from.
Some housekeeping regarding NOWA’s website & communications: Email updates go out once or twice a month and most of you are already on our email list. If you’d like updates in real time put your email in the SUBSCRIBE TO BLOG VIA EMAIL option and you’ll get an email notice every time a new blog is published, which averages 3 to 5 times per month. If you’re on a PC this option is just to the right of this post, but if you’re on a smartphone you’ll need to scroll down a ways to find it.
In closing, it’s been very interesting to watch the Simpson Proposal to remove the 4 dams on the Lower Snake River begin to take shape. In my neck of the woods the Association of Northwest Steelheaders thinks it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread, while my favorite environmental cause WaterWatch Oregon thinks it’s Trojan Horse designed to suspend nearly all the legal environmental protections on the books. For the record I’m not trying to get anyone to change sides (if you’ve picked one) but point out it’s a big deal with lots of potential to produce compelling outdoor journalism no matter what side you are one.
Have a great month!
Dave Kilhefner