S8, Ep 24: From Tattoo to Trout: Aaron Chine's Dual Passion for Art and Steelhead Guiding

Hey folks, it's Marvin Cash, the host of The Articulate Fly. On this episode, I'm joined by Aaron Chine. I first met Aaron five or six years ago on a rainy November afternoon on Steelhead Alley.He guides for Steelhead Alley Outfitters and when he isn't on the water, is busy tattooing at The Box Gallery or painting in his studio. Join us as Aaron shares his fishing and art journey and tells us what's next on the water and at the easel.I think you're really going to enjoy this one, but before we get to the interview, just a couple of housekeeping items. If you like the podcast, please tell a friend and subscribe and leave us a rating and review in the podcast app of your choice.In the age of AI, it's more important than ever and it really helps us out. And over the last eight years we've organically built that means we haven't purchased, likes or listens.A dedicated community of Fly anglers and tiers and have worked with some of the best brands in the business. If you think your community is a good fit for ours, you should consider advertising with us. Drop us a line and let's start a conversation today.And finally, as the season ramps up, just a reminder for our industry friends that The Articulate Fly offers consulting services.Whether you need help with strategic planning, help figuring out how AI can boost your bottom line, or just need help with some old school blocking and tackling, we would love to hear from you. Check out the link to our consulting page in the show Notes. Now on to our interview. Well, Aaron, welcome to The Articulate Fly.

Yeah, thanks for having me, man.

I'm looking forward to it. And you know, we like to ask all of our guests to share their earliest fishing memory.

Oh, that would definitely be out on Lake Erie drifting for walleye with my dad and my brother. We started doing that when I was little, little kid, man. Some, some early, early memories doing that.

Very, very neat. So when did you come to the dark side of fly fishing?

Yeah, I, I would say I was probably like 11 or 12 somewhere in that area. And I, I had a buddy who had, he was a couple years older than me, had his license.So we would go, we would find our way down to Valant Ashana Creek just across the border into Pennsylvania. Pretty cool little trout stream. And that week I met a guy named Bob Schue who owned the shop down there.And he was, you know, super cool to young kids that were down there exploring and kind of got us into.

The fly fishing world very Very neat. And so, you know, as you kind of walk down the path on the dark side. Who are some of the folks that kind of mentored you on your fly fishing journey?What'd they teach you?

Yeah, probably one of my earliest mentors was, was a kid named Travis McAllister. He worked for Captain Don Matthews. I think they, I think it was Deficient fool they went by.It was one of the earlier outfitters over here and I met him. I was looking for a john boat. I posted on Facebook or something like looking, you know, looking to buy a john boat.I wanted to put a flat on the top and make it like a casting platform for fishing for muskie and his. I think his wife posted like my, my husband's got a couple john boats, you can come over and check them out.And ran over and was looking at him and yeah, we became pretty good buddies, pretty quick buddies. And he really taught me a lot about the steelhead fishing and the steelhead fishery up there.He was probably, he was probably my earliest guy that really showed me quite a bit of the alley. And then Jeff, Jeff Blood really took me. I was fortunate enough he took me under his wing and showed me a ton of.Ton of really, really cool stuff and really helped me out on that journey.

Yeah, he's the, he's the O.G. You know, I did a two part interview with him a few years ago and dude, it blows up every steelhead season.

Yeah. Yeah, he's the man. He's awesome. I still fish wet. You know, we don't get to fish together quite as bit, you know, quite as much as we used to.We're both pretty busy during season but we always try to find a day or two where me and him just get to go out and fish and it's cool to see how recognized he is on the rivers and you know, people stop fishing, come over and just take pictures with him and stuff and it's really cool. He's. He's just a great guy.

Yeah, it's interesting. I mean it's been a million years ago since I fished with him. I was lucky enough the, the shop here in Charlotte.I don't know, not too long after I got into fly fishing maybe four or five years. That was back when Jeff was with frog hair and there was like a frog hair regal trip that was in kind of housed in Fredonia, New York.And I can remember going up there and fishing for two or three days. I think we fished the cat the whole time.

He loves the cat.

Yeah, the. That shale is Pretty damn slick, though.

Yeah, no doubt. Did you go down? I did.

I went down and, you know, almost punched a couple Canadian center pinners who wouldn't reel up when I had a really big fish on.

Yeah, that sounds like the cat for sure.

Yeah. So it's kind of funny, right? So you got the guide bug. When did that happen?

Well, I. I was, you know, just. I probably like most people, I. I just kind of started posting some pictures and I was, you know, signing some.Some success for myself in this, you know, steelhead fishing world and catching a bunch of fish and just kind of figuring out the fishery for myself. And just social media wise guys would just start reaching out, like, hey, man, where are you fishing? You know, that kind of thing. And.And then it kind of just kind of got in my head, like, wow, man, maybe there is, you know, money to be made doing this, and how. How could I spend a bunch of time up there without my wife wanting to murder me? So making money, doing it definitely was.Was something that I was really interested in. And I ran into Justin Shalacy up on the. On Conneaut Creek one day.I was just out fun fishing around, and I think he was scouting water for a trip the next day. And we ran into each other and just started bullshitting on the side of the river and ended up fishing together that day.Exchanged numbers and kind of became buddies and did a little bit of fishing together here and there. And that was right around the time that he. He bought him and Patrick took over. Still had alley outfitters from Senyo.And as soon as Shalacy came on, that was one of the first thing he did, was reach out to me and ask me to come on staff. So that was. That was kind of the start of it for me.

Yeah, it's kind of like getting made in the mafia, right?

Yeah, it really was. I always tell. I would make the joke. I tell my wife, like, I was standing next to my son's crib. We just had my son. He was like six months old.And Shalacy called, and I was like, standing next to Lou's crib, and he was like, dude, you want to come on staff? And I was like, yes, I do. I'll never forget that moment.

It was really rad. Very, very cool. And so, you know, that's a totally different game.And it's kind of interesting the way you guys do it at SAO where, you know, you guys kind of have your home waters and then you kind of share information kind of based on, you know, where you're fishing and how many folks you have. But, you know, who are some of the folks that kind of helped you grow as a guide when you kind of became official?

Yeah, when I came on staff, probably the person that really helped me out the most was Nate Miller. He's still our guide coordinator, but he was really active on the water at the time, and I did a bunch of shadowing with him.Steelhead Alley Outfitters had a bunch of different guys on staff at the time. I was fortunate enough to come on, you know, before a lot of these guys left to go and do their own things.You know, Dan Bennett, who's out Florida doing saltwater stuff, he was out doing smallmouth stuff with Schultze. I got to shadow with him.And Nate Miller really took me under his wing and let me, you know, follow behind him and shown me a bunch of water that I'm sure at first he was, like, a little skeptical to share, you know, with some new guy. So, yeah, those. Those guys really helped me out quite a bit. Coming on. I still. You know, Nate's still one of my good buddies.Anytime we get a chance, we still fish together, but just. Just a wealth of information, you know, he knows. He's.He knows the water so well each river, and he just knows the fishery and steelhead, how they behave so well. So I. I still learn from him anytime I get to fish with him.

Yeah. And he swears a lot, too, right.

Nate is as. As straight as they come, man. So. Yeah, I always try to watch my P's and Q's when I'm around Nate.

Yeah. Shucks and darn.

Yeah. I always end up apologizing quite a bit for my. For my swears when I'm with Nate.

Yeah.

And Patrick. Yeah.

Yeah. It's.It's funny because I guess I think the first time we met was kind of when we got rained out that afternoon, and everyone was kind of soaked and drying out. I can't remember the name of that tavern we all ended up.

We went to, the Home Tavern.

Yeah. And I remember.

I think.

I think you had a commission for. For Steven that you gave him when we were there, if I remember correctly.

I did. Yeah. It was. I think it was a fish that he caught in one on one of his trips to Patagonia.And that was really kind of the start of when people were like, oh, wow, cool. Like, I'm gonna. I could send you a picture of a fish that I caught, you know, and you could do a replica on canvas of it.So, yeah, that one I Did for Steven was really cool, and I got to give it to him in front of. I think that was the. What was that? The Norvice group trip?

Yeah, it was. There were a lot of folks in there.

Yeah. Like, Braden Miller was there, and all the. You know, Tim and all the Norvice people. So. Yeah, that was a really cool one.I think the next painting I ended up doing was for Tim in trade for a Norvice setup, a big steelhead painting. So, yeah, that was kind of like a really cool kick off of it.

Yeah. So what color is your Norweiss?

I got the green one with the silver accents. Yeah, it's like a dark. Like a hunter green with silver on it.

Yeah, very, very neat. So that's probably been five or six years ago. So I'll ask you the next question, which I always like to ask guides.You know, what do you think's the secret to being a good guide?

Oh, geez. Honestly, for me, in. In.I think it's been proven this season, and, you know, in the fall last year, with tougher, you know, tougher seasons and more fish kind of spread out, not having, like, crazy number of games is just showing people a good time. You know, for. For us, I think we get really caught up. I don't think it. I know it.We get caught up with our egos of like, I want to put 100 fish in the bag for this guy today.You know, you really want to show people a good time, and you want to kind of, like, be able to brag a little bit to your buddies about finding some fish. But, you know, I think people just really want to see our fisheries.Of course, they want to get a fish in the net, you know, get that hero shot to send to their buddies or whatever. But I think the trick is just showing people a good time. Let them have fun, showing them how to cast, run good drifts.Hopefully they could learn, you know, to be a little bit better of an angler. But just have a good time on the water with you. That's. I think that's the trick.

Yeah, it's an interesting thing. You know, I think people that haven't done a lot of steelhead fishing may not kind of appreciate that.You know, the technique is important, but so much of the game is just finding the fish if they're there.

Dude, they're. They're migratory trout, right? They're. They're moving, so we move with them.And, you know, where you leave off one day and hit a bunch of fish, you're like, Start here tomorrow, you know, they'll be here and then you get there in the morning and it's a ghost town. So yeah, the, the trick is definitely putting miles on the boots.And like I was saying earlier about, you know, these seasons that were they fish are a little bit more spread out, gotta get after them. They just gotta go and find them.

Yeah, very neat. And so, you know, you know, what's the kind of the arc of your.

Guide season look like you're looking at it? This is. Yeah, we're kind of, we're kind of in it right now. So our spring season, our busiest time is probably March.You know, March, April falls probably November and early December and then just weather dependent if we're able to fish. January, February. This year we weren't able to. Things froze up. But. But yeah, we're in the thick of it right now, man.I had yesterday off because of my son's birthday, but I'll be back on the water tomorrow and pretty much every day until mid April. Ish. I think I have one off.

Yeah. And I would say, I guess in the fall you guys kind of quit, crank up maybe like middle to late October and you fish until it freezes.

Yes, sir.Yeah, November is usually kind of the prime time, but those fish will start, you know, start creeping in, you know, October, September, even into September, October sometime.

Got it. You know, and it's interesting too because I suspect a lot of folks don't know this, that you're an artist as well.And I was kind of curious, you know, what came first, your work as a tattoo artist or your work as a mixed media fine artist?

Definitely as an artist.I like, I started drawing when I was really small and I was fortunate enough that my parents kind of noticed it and encouraged it and you know, kept me going and signed me up for different art classes outside of school stuff.And, and yeah, I would say probably six or seven years old is some of my earliest sketchbooks that my parents have saved that I still have that I'll look back and be like, man, I was only seven when I drew that. You know, there's an elephant that I'm like, damn, that's pretty good.You know, See I was always kind of drawn and tinkering with, with art since I was a little kid. And then I didn't start tattoo until I was, I think I was at 20, 22 years old, 23 years old when I started tattooing.See, I had a, I had a lifetime of art in before I actually started tattooing.

Got it so between seven and tattooing, you know, you were doing kind of classes. I imagine you probably took every drawing class in art class in high school.Did you do any kind of more formal training or are you largely self taught?

Mostly self taught, but I did go to Y. I went to Youngstown State for art.I was down there for like two years and I just got frustrated because I was still having to take, you know, English class and whatever, you know, all these outside classes. And at that point I was just, I was amped and determined to just do art.You know, I was still fishing all the time, but like, guiding wasn't even something that I was considering at that time. It was always a dream, but it wasn't something that I even thought could ever be, you know, a real situation.So I was just chasing that art dream really hard and I just felt like college, which just wasn't for me art wise, so dropped out of college and I got into the pipe trade as a pipe fitter just to kind of like pay the bills. And it was an early job and I got done early. I was done at like three o' clock every day.So that was when I really started tattooing and pursuing that after, after the day job, in the evenings and on the weekends.

Very neat. And so, you know, do you have a favorite medium?Like would you rather tattoo or is there a specific type of kind of mixed media artwork that you like? You know, if you could only paint one last thing, what would it be?

Oh, geez. I mean, I probably would have to be a fish.I don't know what kind, I don't know what fish, but it would probably be a fish if I could only paint one last thing.I really enjoy doing murals, honestly, it's, it's cool because I love painting, but a lot of times when you're painting on canvas, you're just in your studio by yourself, listening to music. It's really, it's great.But if you have an art show or you post that picture or you sell that painting, like only a handful of people really are going to get to see that thing. Whereas the murals, they're cool, they're big, they're striking, you know, they demand attention and a lot of people get to see them.Even those school murals that I do, you know, in gymnasiums for schools, I just love the idea of seeing, thinking like all those kids are going to get to see it. They're all going to be so proud of it. You know, just more people get to enjoy the murals than anything.

Yeah, that's Interesting, too, because I would imagine kind of the planning, I mean, well, it's. You don't even have to imagine. The planning's gotta be radically different. Right. And just kind of spacing and how to lay everything out. Right.

Sure. Yeah. Just all just. Just larger. Right. So my. When I'm doing those murals, I basically pretty much just do a grid pattern like the one I did on.On Sa's building. It's. It's huge. I think it's like 130ft long. But I just broke it into two foot by two foot blocks. Right.So it was just kind of the same way you eat an elephant, just one bite at a time. I just treated each one of those blocks, you know, as its own piece, just to keep everything in proportion and keep that scale.

Yeah. It kind of reminds me of doing that in middle school in art class, Right. Where you draw things and you would, like.They'd make you draw the grids on the paper.

It's the same thing, but instead of doing like a 2 inch by 2 inch, you do a 2 foot by 2 foot block. Right. Just. Just a larger scale of it. Same principle.

Yeah. And so when you're at the easel, you know, are you acrylics guy? You an oil guy? Like, kind of. What's your jam there?

Yeah, oils, for sure. Oil on canvas. I kind of made the switch over from acrylics to oils probably about 10 years ago. And.And just like anything, it's almost like I've made. I've made the reference before. It's almost like making that switch from conventional gear over to fly fishing. Right. It's just like a.You just got to get over that hump, that confidence, Humphrey. So you.You just got to get a little bit of confidence behind you, whether it's catch a couple fish on the fly and, you know, make that transition or bust out a couple really cool oil paintings and just kind of figure it out.

Yeah. Interesting. I know some people started with oil and had to switch to acrylic because they got allergic, I guess, to the solvents.

So I. I don't know if you even know this, Marvin, but. So three years ago would have been. Yeah, three Christmases ago, I ended up. I have. I popped up with cancer on the inside of my nose.And that's kind of what they're thinking. It's from more the brush cleaners than the paint itself.

Wow.

Yeah, man. That's what got Bob Ross.

Yeah. I mean, it's. It's interesting because I know, like, I know Derek Deyoung. Doesn't paint oil anymore, right?

Yeah.

Yeah. And he's like, dude, just one day, it's kind of like people were solar as, like, they're like, I was tying streamers, and then one.One day, I hit the resin with the light, and I. My face puffed up, and I look like a chipmunk.

Yeah, I. I don't know, man. When I went through my.I. I had ended up having to have 35 rounds of radiation and kind of going through all that, I just kind of came to the terms with, if it takes me, it takes me, but it's just something I'm just not willing to give up. I try. I try to keep a good ventilated room and windows open and fans going. You know, I try to be cautious and careful of it, but I'm just.Just can't give it up, man.

Got it. How would you describe your style?

Partially surreal, partially realism. Like, I don't. I don't know. It's hard to explain.I'm kind of walking around the studio looking at some of the stuff that I got going for this next art show, and it's. It's very, like, nature surrealism. Almost like if Salvador Dali did, like, a Shield and Stream magazine cover. Right.So it's fishy, it's outdoorsy, it's nature. But it's also, like, kind of weird and trippy and cool color patterns. I'm working on one right now. It's actually a landscape. It's pretty big.It's all oils. It's a landscape, but it's. I'm calling it native ground. So it's basically a brook trout landscape.There's, like, a sunset and mountains and rolling hills, and on the rolling hills has, like, brook trout markings and spots. So it's just, like, just kind of weird, man.

I don't know.

It's really cool. It's different.

Yeah. You don't have any trout, like, melting off any tabletops or anything, do you?

Nope. No, sir.

And so, you know, who are some of the artists you follow or folks that have kind of influenced your work?

So I would say, like, as far as, like, painting goes, I love Salvador Dali. I've always been drawn to his stuff, like, color palette and just that kind of, like, weirdness of it. You said Derek DeYoung. I love his stuff. Drew.Drew Wilson. Drew Ella. I love Drew's stuff. So, yeah, I like all sorts of art. I don't really have one particular style that I like or that I'm drawn to.I've always kind Of I like street art. I like classical oil painting. I like portraiture. Yeah, I like all of it.I can appreciate it all too, because I just know how hard all of it is to pull off.

Yeah, absolutely. What about on the tattoo side?

I'm more of a black and gray tattooer. Me personally, I do a lot. I do a little bit of color, but most of my stuff is large scale black and gray. Mostly, like realism stuff.I do a lot of large scale back pieces, full sleeves. I very rarely am doing smaller stuff. I do stuff that's multiple sessions.So people will come in, they'll spend six or eight hours here, not necessarily getting tattooed straight through that. You know, we'll tattoo for a little bit.They'll go grab something to eat, come back, but we'll spend a couple of days doing it, and then they'll come back a month or two later and we'll work on it, you know, for another couple of hours. And it's just kind of a process. But, yeah, larger scale, black and gray realism stuff.

Very, very neat.And so tell me a little bit, like, obviously fishing is very important to you, and you were in art school unhappy because you were in English and fishing. Talk to me a little bit about kind of how fishing winds through your art and your tattoo work.

Yeah, when I was, you know, when I was younger, like I told you, I started going down to New Sienna Creek down to. Or there was an Orbis store down there in Plant. And it was. It was weird. It was, you know, it was. It was different times then. There was.There wasn't like a ton of, like, really cool artwork on fly fishing stuff. Like, it was pretty monotone, pretty old guy base. Everything was like hunter green and tan, you know. So for me, I just kind of seen the need for it.I had a bunch of buddies that were in the fly fishing world that were younger, and we wanted, like, cool hats and, you know, cool to wear when we went fishing, and it just kind of wasn't there. So I don't know, just like in tattooing, there was. There was kind of a need for.For that black and gray realism end of things, like the custom end of things. I think there was a real demand for, like, young, cool, fresh art in the fishing world, in the fly fishing world.

Right.

So that's where like the Derek de Youngs came from and the Drews came from, and guys started putting out really cool, fresh artwork. And I was really influenced by it too. And it was just kind of obvious.For me, it was the two things that I love the most art and fishing, so why not pig fish? Right? So that was kind of how that all happened.

Yeah. And you kind of mentioned this a little bit, but, you know, your art's found its way onto, like, hats. Like, I know you've got hats for sa.You've done hats for sao and other merchandise. You know, talk to me a little bit about. And I remember talking to Derek about this, too.Like, this intersection of art and commerce and, you know, kind of being true to your artist's voice. But, you know, you got to get paid, too, right?

Sure. Yeah. That's. I've. I think every artist, they, like. I don't want to be a sellout, but I still want people to see my.You know, for me, I don't know, I. I want to share my art with people. Like, I was saying earlier about, like, I really enjoy murals because people get to get to see it.So when I got asked to do, like, a Scientific Angler hat, I was like, oh, my gosh, this is so cool, you know, like, because more people are going to get to see it. So. Yeah.And I don't think, like, there's no real way to, like, I don't know, I guess someone might be able to do it, but for me, there's no real way to, like, get rich or have, like, sustainable living. Just, like, selling a design to Orvis or selling a design to Scientific Angler. Right.You're going to get a little bit of money for it, but it's not going to be like, a long, sustaining career over time.You know, they're just going to buy a design or two off of each artist, whoever, whatever artist is kind of cool that year, and then the next year, they've got a couple different ones. So I kind of. I don't know, I make my money fishing and tattooing.Like, it's cool if I make a little bit of money on those hats, but for me, the reward is just, like, being able to put a hat with my design in it and a keepsake box for my son one day. You know, it's just. I think it's just so cool.

Yeah, it's interesting, too, because, you know, while you were talking, made me kind of think, too, about how AI is intruding on the kind of creative visual arts. Right?

Oh, yeah.

And, you know, where, you know, that story becomes so important.So the difference between, like, a manufacturer buying a design versus people, kind of like knowing your jam and knowing your story and be like, hey, man, like, I like this piece of art. I Like this hat, you know, I like this sun hoodie, whatever it is.You know, that's an interesting thing, too, because to me, I think the stickiness for all this is like, your story, right?

Yeah. Well, that's the thing, right? With, like, an AI design, you could.

You could get a.

Probably a pretty cool design pretty quick and not have to pay an artist for it, but there's no soul behind it. Like you said, there's a. You know, there's no story behind it. Just. It's just kind of an image.And I don't know, I think that people could probably spot it. I know for me as an artist, I could spot an AI image in a second. Right.If I'm scrolling down through and it's an ad for a place, I could tell instantly if it's an AI image or someone actually created that thing.

Yeah, absolutely. And so, you know, it's interesting, you're recording this in your tattoo studio and gallery, which is the box gallery, if I remember correctly.And you're in downtown Warren, Ohio, right?

Yes, sir.

Yeah. And so tell me a little bit about kind of the vibe you've got going on there.

Yeah, it's. It's really cool. I was fortunate enough to be able to buy this building off of the guy that I was renting from.When I first moved out here, my tattoo shop was actually in Austintown, Ohio, which is where I grew up, and I was just kind of renting a little apartment in this really big building. But these buildings are cool, right? It's like these old historical buildings that used to be, like, doctor's offices. And then they got.They were vacant, and then these guys, like, restored them into cool apartments. So they got, like, high ceilings and skylights. You know, they're pretty cool. And I was renting the apartment, and then the guy.I think he just kind of got sick of having to deal with all the bullshit of it. He was like, ever think about buying one of these buildings?And, you know, and long story short, we discussed it, and I was able to get this building from him. So I just restored the whole downstairs. The whole first floor is the tattoo shop. And it's really cool.I popped some ceiling tiles just to run some lights, and there was, like, old decorative tin ceilings. So we restored all that, exposed a bunch of brick. It's just a really cool, cool vibe when you walk in. A lot of.Most people, when they walk in, they're like, holy shit. This doesn't even look like a tattoo shop. You know, like, it's. It's very nice. It's upscale and it's downtown, so, yeah, it's a really cool vibe.I'm really proud of what we've got going on here. Yeah.

And you were telling me, like, you've got apartments upstairs, so. Yeah, kind of a neat thing. I mean, how's it set up? Is there sort of like a main entrance and then there's maybe like a side door that goes upstairs?I mean, what is the layout like?

Yeah, so from the front of the building, we're actually in downtown Warren. We're at a courthouse square, they call it. So it's just like one little square that's based around the courthouse.And then there's just like, restaurants and there's a comic book shop down here. Coffee place. Like, it's just, like, real cool and young and trendy and artsy.So you come in from the front of the building on the first floor to the tattoo shop. There's another door that goes upstairs to the second floor, second and third floor. In the front of the building is a combined.It's a large apartment, and then there's a smaller apartment in the back of the building. That was the one that I was living in that I was renting from when the opportunity came up to buy the building that.That's what I'm actually in now that I use as my painting studio. I'm gonna have an art show next year at a gallery down here, so I'm just kind of using it to paint and get all that stuff ready for this show.

Very cool. And do you have any other folks tattooing with you?

Yeah, I have three other guys that tattoo with me full time.I'm in the shop for six months, and then I'm out of the shop for six months when, you know, steelhead season rolls around, and these guys hold down the fort for me.

Very cool. And kind of going back to the mural thing, you know, you.You mentioned it earlier, but I suspect most people didn't know until they started listening that you did the mural that's on the SA building in Midland, Michigan, for the 80th anniversary. That had to be a pretty surreal experience, dude.

Yeah, it's. That's one of those ones. It's, like, kind of hard to even now, all this time later. It's hard to even put into words how.How freaking cool it was, man. It was. It was something super special.

Very neat. You want to tell us a little bit more about it?

Yeah. So I was doing this small mouth mural on Schultz's at demo days, a Couple years ago and met a guy named Joe that worked for Scientific Anglers.He came over and we were bsing all day, and he kept talking about this giant wall they had out in Midland on Scientific Anglers. And I'm like, dude, like, give me a call. Like, I would love to do it, you know?So probably three or four months went by, and then Joe finally reached out and he called me. And I was so excited thinking about this mural. And here he was actually calling about two designs for hats, which was really cool.We ended up doing them. It was. I did a rainbow trout for them and then a small mouse that they put on hats.And then it was probably just a couple of days after those got released that Brad Befus from Scientific Anglers reached out to and me, him and Joe started really talking about. They started sending pictures of the wall.We really started kind of like getting a little bit more serious about a design and species of fish, what we.

Were going to use.

And once we locked a design down, then Brad had the idea of having me come out and do it for the week before that 80th anniversary party so that it would be kind of like the last day I'd be finishing doing, like, finishing touches. We still have the list there. You know, I could kind of just like, bullshit with everybody and hang out. And so that's what we did. And it worked out.And it was the scary. It was the coolest but scariest thing ever because I didn't know if I was done in time, you know, for that party.I kind of had a couple oh, shit moments. But, dude, it was awesome. Yeah.

How long did it take you?

I got it done in seven days. I worked from literally sun up to sundown for those seven straight days and got it done. It was. It was close, man. There was a couple.Like I said, there was a couple times that I, like, called my wife from the parking lot in my truck, and I'm like, I'm just gonna take off. I'm just gonna come home, just gonna leave in the middle of this thing. There's no way I'm gonna get it done. I'm just gonna bail, you know, it was.It was terrifying. But, yeah, I got it done. It was really. It was great, dude. Super, super cool.

Yeah. How many gallons of paint?

Oh, God. I think we. What did we figure out? 24. 24 Gallons. I mean, we went. I went through eight gallons of just that. The Scientific Angler Red.Just the background was crazy. That's a big wall, man. It's huge.

Yeah, that's pretty neat.So tell me, you know, you're preparing for a showing later this year, next year, kind of, you know, you got any other kind of like art or fishing projects you're working on you want to share with folks?

Yeah, I actually have three designs coming out for Orvis Hope. Hopefully anytime now. They. Derek from over there just sent me a couple of images of some samples for some patches and on some.Some hats, and they looked awesome. He said they were going to make a couple of little color adjustments, but I think it's.I think it's getting pretty close that and I know for sure they're going to be on hats, T shirts, and I think hoodies with the op, with the opportunity of maybe being on some other stuff if they do well.

Very, very cool. Anything else?

That's it, man.That's all the stuff I got on the block right now and just kind of grinding through steelhead season and trying to paint and tie flies and hang out with my little guy and that's it.

Yeah. What about fun fishing in the summer once steelhead's over?

Yeah, I'm looking forward to that. Very much so.I'm looking forward to getting on the raft in shorts and actually being able to cast for a little bit, not just rowing the whole time myself. Smallmouth, pike, muskie. I can't wait to. Yeah, do some fun fishing.

Neat. And do you get out on the lake and do walleye fishing and stuff like that still?

I do. Not as much. I go.Me and my dad still go up every year we go and we'll go and drift for him a couple times just to, you know, put some meat in the freezer. But I don't know, man. I just. I just. I'd rather be on the rivers. The lake's tough for me. I hate the sun. I hate the sun beating down on me.And I'd rather just have a fly rod.

Yeah, fair enough. Hard to. Hard to cast a downrigger on a fly rod.

No doubt.

Anything else you want to share with our listeners before I let you hop this evening?

That's it, man. I think I'm good.

Yeah.And so if folks wanted to reach out and, you know, get a commission, piece of artwork, or they're like, hey, man, I want like a patch for a hat or anything like that, you know, what's the best way for them to catch up with you?

Sure. I would say probably just my Instagram. It's just @aaronchineart or @theboxgallery_tattoos is the shop Instagram page that you can reach out through there.

Gotcha. And I would imagine that's probably the best thing to do for all of your art and your fishing adventures as well, right?

Yes, sir.

Gotcha. And if they want to fish with you for Steelhead, should they hit the SAO site or should they ping you again on Instagram?

Either way, a lot of people just reach out to me personally and I could kind of see you. You know what? I have available openings, but all the bookings go through Patrick as the Steelhead Alley Outfitters.So eventually I just ship you over there. But either way, you either reach out to Steelhead Alley Outfitters or myself and get you set up.

Very cool. Well, I'm glad we were able to catch up this evening. I really appreciate you making the time.

Me too, Marvin. Thanks for having me, man.

Take care.

All right, my buddy.

Well, folks, we hope you enjoyed the interview as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you. Don't forget to check out the links to all this episode's sponsors in the show Notes. Tight lines, everybody.