The Awkward Angler Podcast

In fishing culture, there is a strong belief that social media and geotagging is “killing” fishing, there are oftentimes guides or other anglers will get bullied for geotagging. And part of fishing culture is to never ask or tell fishing spots. As fishing is growing in popularity, I noticed an increase in gatekeeping, and online bullying as well.

I find there is complexity in geotagging when it comes to fishing especially with overcrowding and vulnerable areas and fish. I am looking to break the barrier as it’s oftentimes “taboo” to even talk about and I observe strong opinions and fixing blame take over.

I found it necessary to have multiple perspectives and I am so thankful the following folks carved out time to have this discussion. I am excited to have my good friend, Jaylyn Gough, founder of Native Women’s Wilderness, and Vasu Sojitra, professional athlete, Diversity Strategist, and your friendly neighborhood disruptor. Also stoked to welcome back Anna Le, Fish Biologist, and Marco Kamimura, owner and founder of Xicanx Fly.

There is an article titled, 5 Reasons Why You Should Keep Geotagging, and we reference this article throughout our discussion. All links and resources are on awkwardangler.com

Thank you again, Jaylyn, Marco, Vasu, and Anna for your time and sharing your perspective. While we’re not all avid anglers in this panel, we all share the love of the outdoors and I encourage all folks, no matter your preferred activity, to talk to others that recreate outdoors too.

We are all better when we can talk about issues and ultimately the protection of our sacred places.

Resources:

As I am getting to know my fisheries and watersheds, as well as my local fly shop better,

I am recognizing there are some additional responsibilities as an angler when it comes to conservation and protecting the health of the fish.

So often I hear solutions that “gatekeep”, meaning - the activity of controlling, and usually limiting, general access to something (Wiki)

I observe guides and locals fix blame on newbies, social media, geotagging, spot blowing, and we’ll get into geotagging on part two. Join me and Marco Kamimura, Fly Fishing Guide and Fly Tyer, that speaks to his experiences in Iowa. We discuss the difference between gatekeeping and protecting vulnerable fisheries while advocating for change and being an agent of change for your home waters so that one day we won’t have to keep fisheries on the “downlow.”

Resources:

https://www.fws.gov/wsfrprograms/Subpages/AboutUs/ItemsTaxedJan2018.pdf

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/laws-and-policies/national-standard-guidelines

People of Color have been demanding racial justice well before 2020. Why did it take the murder of George Floyd for companies and CEOs to publicly take a stance on anti racism? And on the other side, why are some companies afraid to even speak out?

People of color have also experienced racism and discrimination within the workplace, so now that their companies are making statements, how are they being held accountable?

This week we discuss “Performative Activism” that has been observed within the fly fishing industry that began around June 2nd, also known as Blackout Tuesday, and we’ll discuss the impact we see today in the angling community.  This is a conversation between a Black woman and an Indigenous woman and we share our personal perspective and observations as avid anglers in this space.

Performative activism is a pejorative term referring to activism done to increase one's social capital rather than because of one's devotion to a cause.

As we move into a new year, I would like to call in the outdoor industry to consider responding vs reacting and doing it authentically.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CA8I4D2FVxt/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

https://www.gofundme.com/f/brown-girl-outdoor-word-gear-library?utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet

https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/DemieshaDennis

https://browngirloutdoorworld.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performative_activism#:~:text=Performative%20activism%20is%20a%20pejorative,activism%2C%20referred%20to%20as%20slacktivism.

On this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking and laughing with Anna Le. We get to hear about her career as a fish biologist.

I realize I risk sounding like a fool sometimes, however, I didn’t learn how to fish till I was 31, and my outdoor adventures didn’t begin till I was in my mid 20’s. So to me, all fish looked the same and the conversation industry gets a little confusing...on so many levels but this episode speaks to hatcheries and fisheries.

While there’s something for everyone to learn on this episode, my target is for beginners to let them know it’s okay to not know everything about fish and various species at first. I also encourage you to keep at it and over time, you’ll start to understand different types of fish.

We discuss the fish spawn cycle and dating. Be sure to take the poll on this episode's instagram post. We also dive into the beauty in transgendered people and fish. Please note: I am not perfect, neither is Anna, and we still make mistakes. I’m always learning and even find myself fumbling through terms working in social justice. It’s work that’s ever evolving...it can definitely get awkward!

https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/8-things-you-should-know-about-two-spirit-people-294cNoIj-EGwJFOWEnbbZw