By Kirk Deeter

We've been covering the proposed Pebble Mine and its potential impact on Alaska's most prolific salmon fishery in Bristol Bay for many years now. The situation has reached another critical juncture, and by voicing your concerns—and encouraging others to do the same—you can now be entered for a chance to win a trip for two (four days/nights) at Dan Michael's Crystal Creek Lodge.

You can do so by visiting this page and hitting the "tell a friend prompt"

By Kirk Deeter

Please read the rest of what I have to say here before you rush to answer this question. This post isn’t meant to instigate an opinion poll and I’m not trying to trigger an impromptu website debate on semantics.   

I just want to tell you a story about how fishing with a young man named Joey Maxim and his father Joe on Montana's Blackfoot River has forever changed my own perceptions of fly fishing.

By Kirk Deeter

Now that Tim Romano has given away a pair of the new Cabela's Guidewear BOA Wading Boots, I'm going to tell you how they work.

They're great. If you like the Boa lacing system.

BOA laces are wire, and they can be wound on a circular dial knob. Crank the dial and the laces come tight. Pull the knob out and the system loosens up, and you slide your feet right out. The lingo from everyone who markets boots with BOA laces is that the easy-on, easy-off advantages are especially valuable when it's muddy, or icy, and so forth. But let's be really honest. Boa laces work really great for people who have a spare tire around their middle, and don't like squishing themselves when they tie their laces. (I have a friend who told me this.)

By Kirk Deeter

The other day I got a phone call from my credit card company asking for feedback on customer service. Thing is, it was an automated call, as in "press 1 if you are happy with our customer service." I'm not kidding, although at the time I thought, "you must be joking," and simply hung up. I don't think it takes an MBA to figure out that having customers talk to a recording is probably not the best way to assess customer service satisfaction, but I may be wrong.

I don't think I'm wrong, however, when I say that customer service is the key to a successful fly shop.  I've been covering the business of fly fishing for many years now, and during that time I've seen a number of fly shops close their doors throughout the country.