S6, Ep 22: On the Salt with GotOne
Set sail on a new episode of The Articulate Fly with host Marvin Cash as he dives into the salty depths with Captain David Blinken. As the promise of spring warms the air, the pair discusses the timeless joy of transitioning from the tying bench to the beckoning waters.
Marvin and David share their tried-and-true systems for gearing up for the season ahead, from checklists to packed bags, ensuring they're ready to hit the water at a moment's notice. David, a seasoned saltwater sage, offers his wisdom on maintaining a streamlined process for both gear and boat, emphasizing the importance of preparation for a seamless start to the fishing season.
The conversation takes a practical turn as they address a listener question from Brent, who seeks guidance on transitioning from freshwater to saltwater angling. David generously provides insight on selecting gear, the value of experience over expensive equipment and the benefits of learning from seasoned guides.
Listeners will also glean tips on boat and trailer maintenance, a critical but often overlooked aspect of pre-season prep. As the episode wraps, Marvin reminds us of the joy in the journey, whether you're watching Masters of the Fly or simply enjoying the anticipation of spring fishing.
Tune in for a dose of saltwater savvy and get ready to cast off into the new season with confidence. And remember, tight lines!
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Speaker:
Marvin: Hey folks, it's Marvin Cash, the host of the Articulate Fly,
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Marvin: and we're back with another On the Salt with Got One with Captain David Blinken.
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Marvin: David, how are you doing?
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David: I'm great, Marvin. How's it going this late February?
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Marvin: You know, it's kind of almost officially spring here in the southeast.
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Marvin: I mean, it's crazy. I probably saw my first robin three or four weeks ago.
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Marvin: The red buds are blooming.
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David: The daffodils.
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Marvin: Are up it was almost 80 degrees today.
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David: Oh my gosh i don't think the robins ever left the northeast i see them from
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David: time to time where the weather warms up and all i know is there's a bright red
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David: spot on my calendar for march 10th because that's when daylight savings time
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David: begins so i'm like counting the days yeah.
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Marvin: It gets to get you to shift away from uh show season and tying to actually think
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Marvin: about getting back on the water.
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David: Oh yeah yeah and we got stuff to talk about regarding that as as as we get into our chat tonight.
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Marvin: Yeah, and it's interesting. You know, last time we talked about cleaning fly
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Marvin: lines, but I think an even more important topic we were talking before we started
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Marvin: recording was kind of getting ready for the upcoming season.
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David: Oh, yeah. I mean, I'm sort of a creature of habit, so I kind of have a checklist
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David: of stuff I like to make sure I have that I can't do without.
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David: You know, there's always a couple of things you forget, and you're like,
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David: darn it. But there's those important things that you can never forget.
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David: So I kind of have the checklist and then I've got two bags that are always packed.
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David: I got my freshwater bag and I got my saltwater bag.
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David: So as long as the checklist is set and I've got those bags ready,
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David: I can just grab and go and not worry about forgetting things.
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David: You know, the right reels, the right lines, which fly boxes I'm going to go grab.
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David: And that's kind of me. I'm a creature of habit. So there's, you know,
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David: getting into those habits, setting an intention,
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David: so to speak, for how I'm going to approach the beginning of the season so I
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David: don't, you know, leave out some of the most important piece of equipment is really important to me.
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Marvin: Yeah, it's funny you say that. So I guess my system is, and I'm surprised,
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Marvin: you know, I've talked to the guys at Umpqua, I'm shocked that they stopped selling
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Marvin: these, but they said no one wanted to buy them.
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Marvin: I have a huge, big plastic tub with one of those skirts on the outside of it
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Marvin: that holds all the tools and all the goodies.
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Marvin: And everything goes in there except for boots and waders and rods.
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Marvin: And I have actually, despite having nicer boot and wader bags,
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Marvin: I actually like an Ikea bag just because it's big and easy to deal with.
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Marvin: And that's kind of my system. So everything goes in the tub.
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Marvin: I do a little bit of seasonal changing. So, like, you know, I've taken out the
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Marvin: stocking cap and the gloves and the chemical hand warmers and,
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Marvin: you know, maybe put back some sunscreen and things like that.
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Marvin: But that's kind of how I get ready for the year.
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David: I dig it i love the big blue ikea bags you
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David: can fit like two weeks worth of stuff in one of those
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David: and you're ready to go yeah you can always add more
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David: i mean that's great and the other thing you're talking about buckets i mean
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David: even though they're not a sponsor like a little shout out to yeti and cool because
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David: they have these great five gallon plastic buckets and you can put lids on them
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David: or not and you can just throw everything in there and just kind of leave it
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David: in the garage and and just grab it when you're ready.
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David: You're right fresh on one bucket and salt on the other.
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Marvin: Yeah, it's an amazing thing. But I mean, I think that process thing is a huge
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Marvin: deal because I think that, you know, first of all, you don't want to leave,
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Marvin: you know, things out that are important like boots and waders and reels.
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Marvin: But the other thing is the easier it is for you to get out on the water and
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Marvin: not have to think about it, the better it is.
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Marvin: I mean, literally, if someone called me, I could be out the door in like 10
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Marvin: minutes with all of my stuff.
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David: Oh my God. It is so important. I mean, so, so this, here's my system. So I have my checklist.
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David: I have, um, uh, the rod, uh, rod cases by either like fish pond or Patagonia,
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David: wherever you prefer using.
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David: I've got my six whole water rods in one and six freshwater rods in the other.
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David: So, you know, I always go with extra rods cause I'm always worried I'm going
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David: to break one. I never do, but you never know.
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David: And if a friend joins you, you want a spare stick.
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David: And then I got my reels and my flies and my leaders, my tippet.
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David: Um i keep my extra sunglasses and my
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David: rod case and and a buff and gloves and
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David: all that stuff and then and and and
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David: that's where i keep sort of the hard goods and then
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David: the soft goods are just like like uh like
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David: you said a little uh ikea bag or
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David: or just a small duffel that you
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David: just keep stuff in and you know but here's the important thing when you get
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David: back from fishing at the end of the the day just don't leave it scattered make
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David: sure you get it back in there so that so that when you're you know so that when
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David: you go back to get the bag again and you go fishing again,
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David: everything's there don't say to yourself well let me take this box of flies
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David: out and you know because i gotta add some more flies if you add those flies
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David: don't forget to get it back in the bag,
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David: you know so the end of the day is almost as important as the beginning of the
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David: day to make Make sure that stuff is on the ready as soon as you want to go.
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Marvin: Yeah, I actually will confess that I've been to Montana with empty rod tubes before.
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David: Oof, that hurts, doesn't it? I had a rod a number of years ago.
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David: It was a broken rod, and it was in the seam, like a little slip case is the good rod.
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David: And I said to myself, well, I'm going to send this back to the manufacturer
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David: when I get back, you know, so they can replace this tip section or whatever it was.
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David: I put the wrong rod into the right case and I show up at the destination.
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David: Of course, I had an extra rod, but I show up at the destination and I'm missing
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David: the rod I really wanted to have. So there it goes.
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Marvin: Yeah. And I would say, folks, you know, the important thing is not to have David's
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Marvin: process or my process, but to have a process and make it your process.
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David: Absolutely. I mean, we all do it, you know, you got to do it the way that it suits you.
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David: And, and, and I would just say to everyone, find that process so you don't make
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David: those mistakes that we've all made.
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David: Um, you know, preventative maintenance, so to speak.
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Marvin: Yeah, 100% and got an interesting question for you, David, from Brent,
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Marvin: and he wanted to get your thoughts on getting started on the saltwater for someone
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Marvin: who is primarily fished freshwater.
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David: Water well you know friend
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David: if you're just like dabbling i would say
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David: in the beginning see if you can borrow something and just you know give it a
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David: go and see what it's like but if you're really committed maybe in the beginning
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David: you know inside first of all you got to figure out what species you're going
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David: to go for and you know you'll talk to a million people and find what rod so
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David: i'll say striped bass, for example,
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David: because it's my area of greatest expertise.
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David: If you're going to have one stick for stripers, maybe grab a nine weight.
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David: And in the beginning, while you're trying to figure it out, don't go expensive
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David: or better yet, go online to one of the auction sites and get used equipment.
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David: Equipment um you can get you know you can get you know twelve hundred dollars
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David: of what was twelve hundred dollars a couple years ago you could pick it up for
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David: you know maybe six seven hundred dollars now rod reel line everything you need
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David: so i would say in the beginning.
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David: Be conservative about your approach and take your time to learn the equipment
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David: and to get familiar with whatever rod you want to use.
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David: And then you can go and say, all right, I want a hardy rod and reel.
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David: And you go and you buy that or you want another manufacturer's rod and reel,
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David: you go and buy that. that.
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David: After you played with different tapers, both in line and rods,
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David: and of course, there's many different real brands out there.
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David: It's like anything. It's like golf clubs. You got to swing a couple of sets
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David: before you figure out which the right one is.
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Marvin: Yeah. I would say, too, to your point, there's no reason in spending money on
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Marvin: gear that's not going to make a difference where where you are at that,
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Marvin: you know, point in your journey in the sport, right?
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Marvin: You know, take that money and spend it on instruction or fishing with a guide
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Marvin: like you, David, or someone else, because, you know, that's going to help you
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Marvin: get better a whole lot faster than starting out with the most expensive gear on the market.
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David: Yeah. I mean, if you're just going to go saltwater fly fishing,
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David: you know, now and then, you know, don't buy the gear.
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David: You know, if you can fly cast, you know, five, you know, six and seven weights
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David: for trout, you're going to be able to fly cast, you know, seven,
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David: eight, nine weights for stripers or bonefish or something.
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David: And again, it goes back to what we talked about a couple weeks ago.
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David: Go practice, then get a guide and do it and see how much you like it before
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David: you really make that big investment into equipment. equipment.
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Marvin: Yeah, certainly before you buy a boat, right? Yeah.
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David: Well, you know, you know, the two happiest days in a boat owner's life is right.
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Marvin: I do not.
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David: Uh, the day he buys his boat and the day he sells his boat.
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Marvin: Yeah, there you go. And for folks that are, uh, you know, on the salt,
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Marvin: I mean, what's part of your kind of spring process on the boat front?
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David: Well, my boat's wrapped up right now. I've got a nice cover on it.
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David: I'm going to uncover it. I'm going to charge the battery. I'm going to start
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David: the engine. I'm going to fill the gas tank.
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David: I'm going to put some stuff in the gas tank that might help burn off carbon.
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David: So I use Yamaha. So I'll use some ring-free and just make the engine happy. happy.
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David: Then before the first client even gets near me, I'm going to scrub the whole
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David: boat down and get all that winter dirt off it.
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David: And that's what I'm going to do. And then the next thing is,
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David: because my rods live on the boat all summer long, is I'm going to make sure,
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David: as I did it at the end of the season, make sure the rods are still clean and
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David: not full of winter cobwebs.
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David: Going to get those on the boat, all the flies and get the boat set up.
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David: So, you know, I can just sort of go on automatic and not worry about what rods are there for clients.
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David: I can worry about the guiding portion.
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David: And it's funny, I'm kind of regimented. So I keep the right-hand retrieve rods
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David: from the right side of the boat, the left-hand retrieve rods on the left side
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David: of the boat, from Port and Starboard.
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David: And I keep the sinking lines and the bottom two racks and the floating lines on the top two racks.
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David: So I know where everything is. So if a client's asking me for a particular rod,
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David: I can tell them right away and they're not jumbled up.
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David: And that's me. And I know it's a little bit, you know, it's a little bit,
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David: you know, for lack of a better term, it's a little OCD on my part.
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David: But that's, you know, that's kind of where I am.
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David: I have to make sure everything is in its place so I can worry about the guiding
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David: and not worry about, you know, where the equipment is.
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Marvin: Yeah, I can certainly dig it. And, you know, anything on the trailer front that
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Marvin: folks should think about?
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David: So you definitely want to make sure if you didn't repack your hubs in the fall,
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David: definitely repack your hubs.
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David: Make sure the tire pressure is good.
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David: Make sure your bunks are in good working order, whether or not you have roller
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David: bunks or you have fabric bunks.
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David: You want to make sure there's no tears in that um because uh if there is or
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David: if the rollers aren't working or you're missing a roller you can you can you
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David: know put a pretty good dash in your hull,
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David: so that's important you want to make sure your trailer tongue
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David: isn't good operating order in your
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David: jack which is probably what your trailer's
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David: been sitting on all winter so just give it all
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David: good going over um um and
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David: hopefully everybody who's been using their trailer and saltwater washed it down
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David: thoroughly before the winter so there was no corrosion and you know if you have
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David: an older trailer I would definitely check check it for corrosion and make sure
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David: it's not affecting the integrity of the trailer.
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Marvin: Yeah, got it. And of course, you know, make sure you have a valid fishing license.
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David: Well, that's really important. And renew your license plate.
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David: You know, in New York, every year we get a little sticker we have to put on
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David: the plate that says our trailer's good to go. So you got to make sure of that.
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David: And the other thing, and I left it out, is definitely hook it up and make sure
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David: your left and right turning signal are in good working order.
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David: That is like super important. That's a very quick ticket.
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David: It so uh just sticking your
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David: hand out the window just doesn't work yeah like
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David: driving home tonight there was there was
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David: a cattle trailer in front of me it had like i don't know six head
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David: of cattle in it and uh the guy slows
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David: down to make a turn no brake lights no
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David: turn signal and uh and then i noticed that
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David: his trailer was listing to the left so uh
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David: so you know clearly uh he had
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David: a uh a broken leaf spring or or or or
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David: missing a shock in the trailer so uh yeah
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David: uh you definitely want to make sure everything
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David: is good good working order because uh you know
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David: your boat's on there and uh you know something you
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David: know you we've all seen it before we've seen trailers that
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David: have thrown wheels on the highway and that's because uh somebody did not make
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David: sure their their uh you know their hubs were properly packed or they didn't
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David: they didn't wiggle the tires to make sure that their hubs were in good operating order yeah so.
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Marvin: Uh you know folks we love questions at the articulate fly you know remember
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Marvin: email or dm me uh make make david's life easier and if we use your question
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Marvin: i will send you some articulate fly schwag and then remember we've got two great
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Marvin: promotions um you know for everyone that sends in a question we're going to
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Marvin: have a drawing for a rise fishing company Rod.
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Marvin: And then if we select your question on the series, we will draw among those
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Marvin: folks and the winner will get a Norvice tying system and a good time to give
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Marvin: a shout out to our friends at Norvice for generously sponsoring the series.
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Marvin: And you know, folks, if you head over to www.nor-vice.com, you can see their
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Marvin: remaining shows for the season.
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Marvin: I know on the East coast, I'm pretty sure they're going to be in Lancaster.
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Marvin: They're going to be in Michigan, but if you go to the website,
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Marvin: you'll see some of the later show season shows that kind of happen out in the West.
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Marvin: And David, what's going on in the Masters of the Fly universe?
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David: Well, I think it's March 17th. I think that's the Sunday.
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David: We have our last show with Blaine Chocolate who is,
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David: Just a master fly tire, and he's going to be doing the game changer,
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David: I'm pretty sure. And we're really psyched about it.
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David: So definitely tune in. It's going to be great.
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David: I mean, we had Jason Taylor on last night, and he is just incredible.
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David: That'll be up on the website and on YouTube in a few days.
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David: And if you didn't get a chance to see Joe Blados, that is up and running on
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David: our YouTube channel right now. He is the originator.
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David: He is the OG of the crease fly, which is an amazing fly that all of us here in the Northeast use.
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Marvin: Got it. And have you got any kind of good Got One app beta testing stories you
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Marvin: want to share with us before we break for the evening?
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David: No, no, but I can tell you LuYan is headed down to the sheepy tournament,
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David: I think down in Louisiana. Louisiana, and a bunch of people are going to be
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David: learning how to use it. And it's just been so great.
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David: And people should, you know, look at any, if you've been using the Got One app,
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David: if you haven't done the updates in the past few weeks, you should really do it.
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David: So, or I should say in the past couple of months, you should do it.
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David: It's really, it's just incredible how useful this app is. So give it a go, everyone.
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Marvin: Work yeah and you know folks uh kind of a great time right spring is right around
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Marvin: the corner you know if the weather's still not great where you are you know
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Marvin: watch some of the recordings of masters of the fly or check out one of the new
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Marvin: episodes you know head to a fly tying show or tie a few flies and if it's nice
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Marvin: where you are you owe it to yourself to get out on the water,
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Marvin: tight lines everybody tight lines david you too.
David Blinken
Guide
David Blinken owner and guide has taken the time to observe the environment in which he guides, and he sees things that others might not, this ability is what separates him from the pack. His clients benefit from this, which allows David to provide them with an experience that they can take home and remember until their next trip.
North flats began as an idea in David’s discussions with friends, “why get trapped in an office” they used to tell him, you need to explore and make your passion your business.
Davids’s passion and desire are what allows him to give people a lasting and fun experience that not only connects them with fish but to the environment in which they live. This not only gives his clients a better understanding of where to find the fish but also a better appreciation of their environment and how to preserve the very thing they love, flyfishing
There is not just great fishing to experience but a passion that brings people together, which is why people keep coming back year after year.
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