My birthday just past. 39 Years erratically racing around this rock. I seem to have one speed and even when I think I’m slowing down, thanks to go pro, I know I am not. Its hard for me to take a breath and look back. I don’t know how well I have done navigating, but I’m happy with where I have landed. Christopher Columbus left for the New World, Germany and France declared war to begin World War I and Fidel Castro began his raid on Bautista on the date of my birth. Kind of ominous. The US submarine “Nautilus”was the first undersea vessel to reach the North Pole on August 3rd. That’s my favorite event. Sounds pretty awesome to me.
South to North and now North to South, California is my home. Love it or hate it, California has a substantial influence over various cultures and industries world wide. I have to admit I love California. Not the government over reach or various other socioeconomic problems I’m sure are meme’d and listed all over social media platforms, but the pockets of differences littered across different cities and regions. I grew up in the Inland Empire for the most part until I was 16. My parents are from the Los Angeles area. Our family is strongly rooted in SoCal but the move to NorCal was a breath of fresh air. For unknown reasons it seemed to be the catalyst everyone in my family needed to grow in an ultimately positive direction and I welcomed the Bay with open arms. The CA Delta in my backyard can only be described as a blessing and from 97 I have been obsessed with fishing AND the water system.
Fast forward to 2020 and here I am fresh off a trip back to Southern California for the LA Fishing Alliance soft opening. Every trip down for events like this get me excited. Bay to LA stays LIT. Events back home are killer and the home turf always shows out to support but meeting new groups of people from other areas is the juice. Exposing the brand IN-PERSON is invaluable in my opinion. Traveling for events is definitely a foreign thing for me and the family as neither my wife or I have ever had to consistently leave town for multiple days for work but we are getting the groove of things.
Dean, the owner of the new LA Fishing Alliance shop and also LIquid Assassin’s Clothing, welcomed us down with open inviting arms and allowed us to cram our products all over the shop. That was much appreciated. Ive never spent any time in San Pedro before this trip but every diner and business we entered was very cool. Definitely has the feel of a tight knit community. The show popped off and there was a line down the block. Holy shit that’s dope. Sold a pile of various baits and apparel but more importantly strengthened old bonds and made new friends the whole day. The fishing community seems to unite as one for the most part even though the usual consensus is that fishing is “Drama”. Well I say save that shit for your Mama, we got work to do and a community to build.
As I type this that drama is rearing its ugly head for a friend of mine and it breaks my heart. I don’t really get the smack talkers but I have empathy for whatever is fucking them up inside that makes them like that. Hopefully they eventually fill that void and cheer up. Maybe come on out to an event like the one I just attended at the LA Fishing Alliance in San Pedro. No one was hating or talking shit. Just a bunch of anglers from all walks of life and backgrounds, people targeting different species with different measures of success, bonding over some great food (my dudes from BARYO always bring the fire) and even better company. We all ate, we drank, cheers’ something I already forgot, gave away free stuff, got exposed to new tackle brands and techniques and overall forgot the shit storm that seems to be 2020. August 8th we forgot about all the B.S. that has been weighing us down this year and just hung out with friends, whether they were new ones or old ones, as fishermen we already had a bond. I love this community. I cant wait to see what the next 39 years will hold.
