749 | Tales of the 48: Fly Fishing Every State with Ryan Burch – Four Wheel Campers

Dave (2s): I feel like one of my favorite things to put together is a good road trip, whether that’s a few hours across the state, a few days across the country, or maybe all the way up to Alaska. There’s nothing like being on a road trip. Today’s guest has a large goal to catch a fish in every state in the lower 48, and today you’ll find out how he plans on doing it in his four wheel camper this year. By the end of this episode, you’ll have a few great travel trips and inspiration for your next big journey and fishing trip this year. This is the Wet Fly Swing podcast where I show you the best places to travel to for fly fishing, how to find the best resources and tools to prepare for that trip, and what you can do to give back to fish species we all love. Dave (42s): Hey, This is Dave host of the Wet Fly Swing podcast. I’ve been fly fishing since I was a little kid, grew up around a little fly shop, and now have created one of the most inspirational podcasts out there. Ryan Birch High School teacher by day Tales of 48 traveler by night in an off season, is going to describe why he created his ambition plan and why Orvis four wheel campers and other big brands are supporting his mission. This year, you’ll hear about his first camper, his first camping trip with the camper, his family, how this thing kept breaking down. I love this drive behind camper story, and we find out why he got into the popup camper, why he’s loving the four wheel camper. We’re gonna get a little bit nerdy on that, and also which species he’s gonna be excited about. Dave (1m 25s): He’s gonna be connecting in a bunch of east coast states and species this year, so we’re gonna find out about that and this documentary film, how You Can Be a part of it. Plus you’ll get his four big travel tips this year, and you don’t wanna miss that. Let’s find out how he does it. Here he is, Ryan Birch from Tales of the 40 eight.com. How you doing, Ryan? Ryan (1m 48s): I’m good, Dave. Thanks for having me on. I really appreciate it. Yeah, Dave (1m 51s): Yeah, this is gonna be a good episode. I’m fired up because you got a couple of things I’m interested. First of all, you’re traveling around the country, the, the tails of 48, you’re, you’re making your way around the lower 48 and trying to fish, I, I think, and probably do some other stuff in every state. You’re doing this in a four wheel camper, which is one of my other loves. I’ve got a four wheel camper as well. Ours is a little different than yours, but I’m really interested to, I kind of pick your brain about the camper and you know, all the details there, but maybe before we get into it, let’s, we like to take it back to fly fishing, kind of the starting point. Have you been doing this a while? How’d you get started? Ryan (2m 24s): Yeah, I have. I’m not sure, but I, I have a feeling that most of your listeners kind of we’re introduced to fishing through fly fishing, and I’m, I’m a little bit of an outlier in that regard, where I grew up with conventional gear, spent a ton of time as a, as a teenager out my kayak around New England. And it wasn’t until right after college I moved out to Colorado and the guy that I, I moved out there to work for, kind of took the spinning Rod outta my hand and, and handed me the fly Rod. And he’s like, Hey, we, we don’t do that here. Right? You know, you’re gonna, you’re gonna use this instead. And yeah, it was really like, I kinda define it as like the second chapter of my, my love of fishing and really just like reinvigorated my, my love of the sport. Ryan (3m 12s): And after that time in Colorado, I moved back to the East coast, and I’m sure a lot of people who make that move who love to fly fish have that similar kind of disappointment of, you know, it’s a different trout population here. So the past 10 years or so, I’ve been kind of combining those interests of warm water species, salt water species that I grew up with, but now, you know, bringing the fly Rod to those fisheries and it’s incredible. It’s wild what you can do with a fly Rod and how kind of versatile it can be depending where you are. Dave (3m 50s): Right. And where are you again? Exactly. Now, Ryan (3m 53s): I I am born and raised in southern Vermont, and I’ve been back here for about the past 10 years or so. And then in the summers, you know, I’m a, I’m a high school teacher, that’s my day job. So in the summers I’m kind of all over the place. Yeah. Got three months off or so to dedicate to travel and fishing. Oh, Dave (4m 11s): This is good. Yeah. And we have been, well, to answer your original point, I think we’ve had people from all different, right. Whether that’s starting from, you know, couldn’t walk, starting fly fishing to people that just got started, you know, this year right. And everything in between. So it’s kind of cool. I think that’s what’s great about fishing is that, I mean, I, myself, in fact, I just did n episode with an old friend, Jim Tini, and he just sent me a, texted me a photo of me as a little, like probably a 6-year-old holding a croppy, you know, with a spin Rod. Right. So, yeah. Yeah. Like a lot of us, you know, definitely got that start. But, but it’s cool. So now you brought into the tales of the 48. Now talk about that. Where does this idea, because this sounds kind of ambitious, you know, you’ve got travel into every state and catching, you know, fish. Dave (4m 52s): Maybe talk about what this is and how it came to be. Ryan (4m 55s): Yeah, so I, I think in general I’m kind of an all or nothing person. So, you know, I had, as I kind of got back into fly fishing on the east coast, I had just fallen in love with exploring, you know, new saltwater fisheries and, and freshwater fisheries. And I just kind of like kept this list of like, you know, checked off Maine Fish, New Hampshire Fish, Vermont. And this list kind of kept growing. And at some point, it was actually right at the beginning of Covid, oddly enough, kind of a strange time to decide to make a a, a road trip documentary. But this, this idea just came to me of like, I’m, I’m gonna try to catch a fish in all of the lower 48 states and just see, see where it brings me. Ryan (5m 40s): And I kinda like pitched this idea to some friends and it very quickly became clear that it was an idea and an adventure that was kind of worth documenting and sharing. So it’s been a couple years now pursuing that and, you know, getting the rig all dialed and we plan to, to really hit the road kind of full-time starting this summer. Dave (6m 1s): Okay. So up to this point, how many states, it sounds like you’re kind of new in, into the States. How many do you have checked off or have you started the journey yet? Ryan (6m 8s): Yeah, so I, I’ve definitely, I would say I’ve, I’ve fished probably 15 to 20 over the past couple years in terms of the actual filming and the, you know, the official road trip yet that is kind of yet, we’re yet to embark. So that’ll, we’ll hit the road starting in June. Dave (6m 25s): Okay. And are you, when you hit the road, are you starting back from scratch from 48 or are you counting those 15? I Ryan (6m 30s): Think we’re gonna start from scratch. I, I, it doesn’t take take much to convince me to revisit some of the places we’ve already been. Right. You Dave (6m 38s): Know, which are mostly the north northeast or have you been around the country a bit? Ryan (6m 42s): Yeah, and in the past couple years, mostly the Northeast, I spent some time in Missouri and California and then back out in the, in the Rockies. But yeah, most of my time in the summers recently has been in New England. Dave (6m 55s): Okay. And the other cool thing about this is that you’re doing it in a four wheel camper, and we’ve been talking a little bit about it. I just got a, a project M which I was really excited about because it’s just open, right? It’s the camper, it’s got the pop top, so it’s got the full king size bed on top. And I think when we both have tundras, so we got both full size, but what you have is the actual, maybe you could talk about that because you have like the full camper, right? With everything inside? Ryan (7m 20s): Yes, yes. Yeah. So we’re so, so fortunate to be partnered with four wheel campers on this, and we have the fleet model camper with the majority of the options just because, you know, when you’re, when you’re full-time both traveling and trying to produce a documentary, there’s not that many hours in the day to run into restaurants or to kind of like, you know, reenter society. So having everything at our fingertips, you know, like the stove fridge, shower outside, enough space for me and my dog and a videographer to, you know, comfortably film and hang out and, and sleep has been, it’s been huge. Ryan (8m 4s): And we just, we just got that camper, I think July 1st, 2024. So it’s still pretty new to us. I’ve had a many, many different iterations of Homes on Wheels over the years, and for the first time ever, I really feel truly dialed and kind of ready, ready to, to be on the road full-time. Dave (8m 24s): That’s awesome. What, what have your other homes on Wheels been that you’ve had over the years? Ryan (8m 29s): Yeah, there’s been, there’s been many, I think probably the first one, which I, I’ve actually kind of past couple weeks been thinking back about, you know, where did this idea come from and, and kind of why do I love life on the road so much? When I was nine years old, my parents purchased this old 1980s Ford, like 30 foot rv, and we spent, I think it was about three months on the road. And, you know, the thing was not great by Dave (9m 1s): Was this like a, like everybody driving behind, like it’s not a pole. You’re like, everybody’s in this Ryan (9m 5s): Big, everyone’s in it. Exactly. Exactly. Dave (9m 7s): Oh, well see, that’s the one that, that’s the one that I’ve never had. I, and you know what I mean, like my entire life, I still don’t, even though we have a camper, I’ve always wondered like, man, that would be pretty cool to have the drive behind. Ryan (9m 17s): Yeah, it’s, it’s pretty cool being able to, you know, like I obviously wasn’t driving when I was nine years old, but kind of being able to finish your driving shift and just like stand up and turn around in your kind of in, in your home. And we, I learned a lot about kind of the trials and tribulations of road trip travel and the, you know, highs of how incredible an adventure like that can be. And then also the lows of breaking down. And, and I think that kind of like put a little seed in me that once I got my license 10 years later, so I, I had a Subaru Impreza that I, I fully built out with, you know, a bunch of rooftop stuff and platform in the back. Dave (9m 60s): So you had a, you had a Subaru Impreza, which is like a, a sedan, isn’t it? Or is that like a hatchback? Ryan (10m 4s): It was a hatchback, yeah. Dave (10m 6s): Oh, so you had hatchback and then you made that into kind of a, a camper by what’d you do exactly. Ryan (10m 11s): So I had a platform in the back for gear storage and everything, and then I had a bunch of roof rack systems up top, you know, I was fresh outta college and paying back student loans and stuff. So it was a, it was a budget, a budget operation. And then from there I made the jump to a Tacoma, early two thousands, one of those first gen Tacomas. And for a couple years I was under the, just a cap, like a, a bed cap, which was Dave (10m 40s): A step up. Ryan (10m 41s): Yeah, it was a step up. But also when I was in my, my younger twenties, I didn’t mind being so crammed. So kind of as the years went on, being able to stand up is huge when you’re inside. So I purchased another early eighties sunlight camper, super vintage, and I was in that for a year. But it, it just became clear that in order to do a trip like this, we really need full charging capabilities for camera gear. So from there I was in a, a four wheel camper eagle, another early two thousands model before finally landing on this 2024 fleet, which we picked up about, about six months ago. Dave (11m 23s): Okay, so you had a four wheel camper. The eagle before that was just an older version. ’cause four wheel campers, that’s a cool thing. They’ve been, they’ve been around forever, right? Like 50 years or something like that. Ryan (11m 32s): Yeah, it’s pretty, pretty wild. Kind of, I feel like it’s rare where you see it an industry leader like that that just has been kind of crushing it since their beginning. But yeah, I, I listened to the episode with Stan he did recently, and he’s the best. He’s awesome. Dave (11m 48s): He is. Yeah. I, I ran into Stan at a show too recently. It was cool to connect. He’s a super good dude, so. Awesome. So, and what was the name of the, the first four wheel camper you had? Ryan (11m 59s): It was an eagle. Dave (12m 0s): And what year was that one? Ryan (12m 2s): I think it was like 2003. Yeah. And, and those, that first four wheel camper was on a Tacoma as well. And then when the opportunity arose to kind of upgrade to the, the fully loaded fleet, that’s when I shifted from a Tacoma to a tundra. And that’s a little bit more power. I mean, a fleet can totally go on on the Tacoma, but just with gear. And I like to drive fast, so I went with a V eight, just a little more power. Sometimes I have a boat behind me, you know, can never have too much power. Dave (12m 37s): No, that’s right. So you went from the, from that one to your newer one. What’s the difference between the two, that one that was 20 years old versus the new one you got? Is there, are there a lot of different features on it? Ryan (12m 46s): I think it’s technically different model names, but I, I, I think it was a pretty, pretty seamless transition from the eagle to the fleet. My understanding is that the fleet is about four inches wider and maybe like three or four inches taller as well. So you have a little bit more interior room. And then just with the development of the different amenities over the past, you know, 20 years, those are obviously very, very modern and very, very updated. Right. Dave (13m 17s): The batteries and all the power, right. That’s all. Yeah. Yeah. That stands said that people want more, they want more power right now to run all their stuff. Ryan (13m 24s): Yes. Yeah. It’s funny looking back like five years ago before embarking on this project, I, I didn’t care at all about battery life and charging capabilities and I’m a little bit of a, of a battery hound now. So having like, you know, power charging capability in the cab of the truck as well as basically endless power in the bed in the camper has been, it’s life changing for, you know, a project like this. Dave (13m 53s): Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Which is, which is what you’re doing with the idea being is that you guys are gonna be on the road all summer, you know, travel and state by state. Do you have that all planned out? Is this something where you’re, you got it all planned out or you’re more thinking like, you know what, this is roughly where we’re gonna go and we’ll see what happens? Ryan (14m 8s): Yeah, I think it’s a little bit of both. We definitely have some states and some stops selected already, but that’s actually kind of part of the reason I was really pumped to, to hop on here and talk with you, is to just kind of like, put the word out that, you know, we will, we’ll be traveling the eastern half of the country this year and if there’s anyone out there that would, you know, love to show us their home waters and just kind of make that type of introduction, we are, we are all for it. We really, we’re aiming for as much variety as possible in terms of species and the type of people that we’re meeting along the way. So, yeah, I’d love to hear from folks. Dave (14m 48s): So roughly what is the area you’re gonna be covering this summer? It’s right, right now it’s 2025. Ryan (14m 53s): Yes. So we, we plan to do roughly the eastern half of the country. I have a, a wedding in Iowa at the beginning of the summer. That is gonna be kind of the, the jumping off point. So I think we’ll drive out there and then meander back. We have a connection down in Florida and the keys. And then in Mississippi as well. I have a, a fishery scientist friend who will spend some time down there fishing with, but other than that I have some bucket list destinations, but it’s, it’s very much, it’s very much flexible. Yeah. Dave (15m 26s): And what does that look like? Are you gonna, you’re starting Iowa and as you head down towards Florida, are you just gonna kind of missouri’s next, so hop in there and just grab a map and say, well, where do we wanna fish? Or, because Right, there’s a lot of different ways to do this. Ryan (15m 39s): Yes, there, there definitely is. And I think kind of the plan over the next four or five months or so is to hopefully cross off about half of those in terms of, you know, meeting people in these different states that, that are excited about taking us out and kind of showing us around. But then also having the stops in the states that are just me kind of solo fishing, these bucket list waters. So it, it is definitely lots to develop in the next six months before we, or the next five months before we hit the road. But a little bit of both. I think it’ll, it’ll be some pre-planned and then, you know how it is sometimes you stumble upon some of the, the best days of fishing that you know that you’ve ever had. Dave (16m 21s): Yeah, exactly. What are some of your bucket lists out of the, I mean there’s roughly about, If you cut Iowa, cut the country in half, that’s about 30 states roughly on the east. Are you, what are some of the big bucket list states? Ryan (16m 32s): That’s a good, good question. I definitely, I’m, I’m particularly excited about the Florida Keys and kind of just Florida in general. That’s, that’s one of the top states. Dave (16m 43s): And Florida’s not easy. That’s the thing you hear about Florida. A lot of people talk about permit and other species. It’s maybe the hardest place in the world maybe to catch one of those, right? Ryan (16m 52s): Yes. Yeah, definitely. Definitely. So that’s, I’m, I’m really looking forward to that challenge. And then if a friend in Missouri who lives right on Table Rock Lake, which is, you know, not thought of traditionally as a fly fishing destination, but I am, I am pretty dead set. I have fished there before. I’m pretty dead set on bringing the fly gear this time and trying to figure it out. Catch some bass right Dave (17m 18s): Now, is this a, is this a fly only deal, lower 48 or is this like any type of fishing? Ryan (17m 23s): It’ll be predominantly fly fishing. I’ll have spinning gear along for the ride. You know, I feel like sometimes you need that tool in your toolbox. Dave (17m 32s): Yeah. Just in case. Right? ’cause you don’t want to hit go through Indiana and then feel like, Oh man, I tried fly, I can’t get a fish and just have something in the toolbox Right. In case you need it. Ryan (17m 41s): Exactly. Exactly. And I, and I’m, I definitely am predominantly geared towards fly fishing just in my, my leisure travels. And I think that’ll, that’ll be the case for the documentary as well. But I, I do love both. I view them as kind of separate things to me it’s an excuse to fish twice as much. So I generally, whenever I’m out on the boat or in the truck, I’ve got flag gear and conventional gear with me. Yeah. Dave (18m 6s): Gotcha. Okay. And as you go, is the plan to start in Iowa, you have the camper, just, you know, is it gonna be challenging finding places to stop or are you gonna kinda say, try to get all campgrounds, or are you gonna do like pull off the side of the, the, you know, highway and just pop it up and go? Ryan (18m 21s): Yeah, I think, I think there would be very few campgrounds. That’s one of the beauties of the four wheel campers that you’re, you’re pretty stealthy. I am a big, big fan of a, a Walmart parking lot in a pinch. And as you know, it’s just so quick to set up camp. You know, you can pull off the highway and be laying in bed two minutes later, you know, with everything popped up and, and ready to go. So I, I’m hoping to do a as little of that as possible kind of if it takes us in that direction and we need just roadside stops, but also trying to, you know, with these people that we connect with driveway to crash in or someone’s backyard Oh, sure, Dave (19m 3s): Yeah. Whatever it takes. Yeah, that is kinda the cool thing. When we, we did a little road trip out to Wisconsin from Oregon and, and we, yeah, we, we, we, it was like four days out, four, you know, back and we definitely a couple nights popped over just on the side of the highway and it was so nice just to literally pull, I mean, you could hear the freeway, right? I mean, we were in the middle of Montana somewhere, but it popped it up, you know, and it took, like you said, a couple minutes we were sleeping, had the kids up there, you know, in the morning, you know, nothing’s out. Literally popped down and, and we were eating breakfast at a local diner, you know what I mean? And I just remember the days when we didn’t have it or when we, we still have a pull behind, right? We still have one of those pole behinds, but you know, the pole behinds, it’s like a 20 footer. Dave (19m 44s): It’s just, it’s just a nightmare pulling that thing around, right? Yeah. It’s just a and that’s what’s the, that’s why the four wheel camper is so cool because it’s compact, it pops down. So it’s not like you got this giant, you know, whatever you call the ones with the full size camper on the back, which is like swaying back and forth, right? Ryan (19m 59s): Yeah. Dave (19m 60s): Yeah. And I couldn’t imagine, I’ve never driven one of those, but I’m just guessing down the highway that that couldn’t be that fun. Right. With the wind pushing against it. Ryan (20m 6s): Yeah, I I I’ve owned the hard sided. Dave (20m 10s): Oh, you have? So you had one of those big ones. Ryan (20m 12s): Yeah, I mean it was, it wasn’t huge. It was, it could fit into a, a Tacoma still, but it was really, you know, those things are tall because they’re not popping up and down. And I just, between the gas mileage getting chopped in half and then yeah. Getting blown between lanes whenever it was windy in 2022, I drove out to California in a friend’s four wheel camper. Dave (20m 38s): Oh wow. Ryan (20m 39s): And that was my initial introduction. Dave (20m 41s): So you drove across the country in a four wheel camper? I Ryan (20m 43s): Did, yeah. It was not my eagle model, but my friends. And, and that was really a wake up call of like, oh, you can get very similar gas mileage to, to what you normally would, you can go 75 miles an hour and you don’t even notice this, this camper’s back there. And so since then I, I’ve, I just like, there’s so many, so many benefits to the pop down style that it’s just, it’s a no-brainer, a no-brainer for me. So I was kind of converted on that, that trip when we drove out to California. Dave (21m 13s): Yeah, yeah. Me too. I I, I can’t remember where it first came to us. I think I was seeing him out there and then, yeah, it’s just cool because again, it just puts, I, I am always the one that I, I, you know, I I like convenience, I love the in, you know, I guess dirtbagging it, right? That’s, that’s old Yvonne sch. I think he said that when we had him on the podcast. Yeah. We were talking about the dirt bagger. Right. It’s, there’s something about that, you know, but, but there’s also something about as you get older, I don’t like sleeping on the ground as much as I used to, you know, and I, I like having the, you know, we still need to work, we’re gonna get a new pad. But, you know, having the pad with the memory foam up top is, I mean, it’s pretty hard to beat right. When you’re at and, and your elevator, there’s some benefits to being up higher too. Do do you find that that’s kind of a nice thing sleeping up high versus say on the ground? Ryan (21m 56s): I do, yeah. I, I only 31, but I, I definitely agree with you of like, that, that shift once your, your twenties are, are up of like, man, I, I don’t really wanna be on the ground anymore. So I, I love being up off the ground. And it’s funny actually every single time I, I hop up into the, the bed area, I get this like feeling of nostalgia of that trip that I took when I was nine in the big 30 foot long rv. ’cause I would, I would sleep in that same, like, over the cab area up there. And it’s just a, I don’t know, it’s a special, a special invention that kind of like, it is, isn’t it? Ryan (22m 40s): Bunk bed style. God, it’s, yeah. I love it. I sometimes I’ll just, even if I’m at home, I’ll just go sleep out there, load, load the dog up and crash in the camper. Dave (22m 51s): Totally. No, I hear you man. That’s, that’s pretty cool. What was the, did you guys have some memorable breakdowns on the old back with the old one? Ryan (22m 59s): We definitely, definitely did. I was actually just looking through the old, old photo album and it’s, it feels like one out of 10 of those photos is my dad or my older sister, like half under the RV fixing the muffler. And probably one of the most memorable ones is, as you were saying about your Tobin, you know, it’s just difficult to maneuver. But we, we backed into the Hoover Dam. Dave (23m 24s): Really? Ryan (23m 25s): Yeah. As much as that sounds like it’s out of a comedy movie. We do. We, well you hit, you Dave (23m 31s): Hit the Hoover Dam. Ryan (23m 32s): We did, we did. Luckily, you know, we didn’t know no leaks formed or anything like that. Right. But yeah, the camper or the RV showed signs of it for sure. That’s one that sticks out in my memory. Dave (23m 45s): Yeah, that definitely, definitely. Yeah. Well that’s another kind of the cool thing about it is that I always felt the Yeah, those, those drive behinds are, yeah, you got an engine in there, you know, it’s like, that’s a whole thing that could have all sorts of problems with versus say, you know what, with the four wheel camper, it’s literally like a canopy put on the back of your thing. As long as you got a solid truck, you’re probably pretty good. Right? Ryan (24m 4s): Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. And, and being in Vermont, we get tons of snow and mud season is always a nightmare. So four by four capability is, it’s kind of non, non-negotiable. So yeah, it’s, it’s, it’s, it really like, checks all the boxes for just like the versatility that I need. The, the other thing that I, I definitely need to mention, I’m just pretty rough on stuff. I use things thoroughly and I feel like I can really, I don’t have to be super, super cautious with this camper. They’re illegal to last and Dave (24m 36s): No, and I’ve done that too. I, I love, I, well, and we’re doing, we’re not gonna cross past this this summer, but we’re heading up to Alaska, we’re driving up there now, so we’re gonna do a similar amount all the way up to past Anchorage Ryan (24m 46s): That’s Dave (24m 47s): Awesome. In the camper. So we’re gonna be camping along the way and doing our thing. But yeah, man, I’ve done this, I just happened the other day. I backed into a, a parking lot and it’s, you know, it sticks up a little bit. So, and I just rammed a tree or, you know, it was a big branch, a big heavy branch. That’s something you gotta be careful of because you don’t always hear ’em or see it. Yes. And, and I’ve done that a number of times, been like, oh my God, what did I break? And I get out there and I’ve got the branch just totally smashed and I look at the camper, I’m like, damn, nothing. There’s like some scratches, but nothing big. And the other thing, the other question I was gonna ask you about was, you know, have you ever done this? I asked Stan about this, so, well, I don’t think I told Stan I did it, but you know, you forget to latch your latches. Have you done that yet? Ryan (25m 27s): I have not on this newest one, but on the, the last four wheel camper, I own the Eagle man, it’s a terrible, terrible feeling. You’re just driving down the road. You’re, you feel confident in what you’re doing. I know. And then you look over and some, some dude next to you is like, man, stop, you know, waving their arms and yeah. So yeah. I, I actually, I remember from your interview with him, he was saying, you sometimes run into trouble where half of them are latched in, the other half are not. That is exactly what I did. Dave (25m 58s): Oh. So it bent, it bent a little bit. Ryan (25m 59s): It didn’t bend it. I think I caught it, caught it soon enough. But yeah, I, I, for me it was a lesson i, I learned once, you know, and, and me Dave (26m 9s): Too. Well it was such a bad thing because as soon as nobody flagged me down, but I just realized it. And we drove, we drove for probably 20 minutes going 55 to 65, somewhere in there. Yeah, yeah. And I just got out and I was like, oh my God, I just paid money for this thing and it’s gonna be destroyed. You know what I mean? I was just like that. And as soon as I got out there, I, I didn’t even wanna say anything to my family. I was like, oh, not that I’m just checking this out. Ryan (26m 31s): Yeah, Dave (26m 32s): Yeah. And, and I just got out there, I looked around, I was like, God, wow, it looks fine. And and sure enough talked to Stan, he verified like, those things can go, you know, you don’t wanna do it, but of course they can handle up to highway speeds with them popped up. Ryan (26m 45s): Yeah. It’s, it’s pretty, it’s a impressive feat of engineering to say the least. Dave (26m 50s): That is because what it is, it’s a, it looks like a canvas, right? It looks like it’s just a canvas pop up. And you’d imagine if you’re doing that on the highway, just rip the whole top off. Ryan (26m 57s): Totally. Yeah. You just go back there and there’s, there’s no roof anymore. Dave (27m 1s): Yeah. And stuff’s flagged right. Waving in the flag. But it’s something right. It’s just the engineering. So, so that’s a four wheel camper. I mean, I think that, you know, obviously we both love this thing. I, I would love to hear, you know, again, getting back to species wise, ’cause this is gonna be a big thing for you. You’ve got, you know, bass and trout and you name right pike. Are you thinking also, not only fishing, but like, I’ve got these lists of species. I’m gonna try to catch as many, I’m not sure If you ever heard of Jeff Courier, but he’s, he’s from up in Wisconsin now, and he’s caught like 400 species around the world Ryan (27m 30s): On the fly. Oh man. That’s so cool. Dave (27m 31s): Are, are you trying to start thinking there? Like, Hey, I’m gonna get my species count going too. Ryan (27m 35s): That’s, that’s definitely, I, I don’t think it will be built into the project, you know, in terms of like that being a part of it. But in terms of my personal bucket list, 100%, I would so much rather catch a four inch fish that’s a, a new species than, you know, another really good size trout or bass or, or a striper. And yeah, I think with a project like this, there’s definitely viewers out there that could watch someone catch 48 trout in, in every state. But I think for the people that are a little bit less fishy, you know, that variety is, is what’s gonna really draw them in. Ryan (28m 17s): I really wanna try this, this is kind of silly. I really wanna try noodling for catfish. Dave (28m 21s): Oh no, yeah, with your hand, you stick your hand in a hole, right? Ryan (28m 24s): Yeah. Yeah. So just, I want as much variety in terms of species and technique as as possible. Dave (28m 31s): Wow. So noodling, noodling seems to me a little bit scary. Is that, can you get hurt noodling at all? Or could there be a potentially, maybe it’s not a catfish and something else that might do more damage? Ryan (28m 40s): I, I’m not sure if there’s alternative species, but I think you can tangle with a fish that’s so big that it kind of wins the battle and, and takes Dave (28m 52s): You down. Ryan (28m 52s): Yeah. It doesn’t end well. Oh, I know, I know. Very, very little about noodling. Right. But Dave (28m 57s): It’s, can you imagine that? Ryan (28m 58s): It’s, it’s always fascinated me. And I think it’s, you know, when I’m, when I’m in the south on those big rivers, I think it’s kind of gonna be a a when in Rome type of situation. And I, I think it’s one of those activities that you just, it’s bound to be enjoyable to watch someone do. Dave (29m 17s): Oh yeah. You’re gonna get that on video. That’s good. What about, you know, as you look up, we’ve done a number of episodes up north in Canada. Canada is probably, I mean, bigger than the United States. Have you thought, did you ever think along the way, like, Hey, I could just cruise up through Canada and do the same thing? Or maybe that’s part two on this thing? Ryan (29m 35s): I think, I think there, there’s a part two, the concept is out there, you know, to do, to do Alaska and Hawaii. I have Fish Canada very, very limited. Just a couple days on. Dave (29m 47s): Yeah. ’cause you’re right there. I mean, you literally are adjacent to Quebec, right? Ryan (29m 51s): I am, yeah. Montreal is probably like two and a half hours from me. Right. You’re right there. Yeah. Yeah. So I think it’ll definitely happen, but I think that’ll be a, a separate, separate endeavor. Dave (30m 2s): Gotcha. Okay. So right now you’re planning, so you got this summer you’re gonna be hitting the east, you’re gonna do as much as you can. And then are you then the next summer gonna do the rest? Or do you think this is gonna be like more than just a couple years? Ryan (30m 14s): I think that’s kind of the loose plan now is like 50%, probably more than 50% of the states this summer, east coast states are so much smaller. And then whatever is remaining in summer 2026, there’s also also potential like a sabbatical program at the school that I work at. So maybe take the big leap and take a full year off of work and, and really Dave (30m 38s): Oh, is that, that’s how sabbatical works. You take a full, what, what, what does that mean exactly? You take a full and then you go somewhere and experience something else? Ryan (30m 46s): I think technically, like at the college level, that’s a, that’s what it is for, at my school. You can basically just take like a pause of of employment where you obviously don’t get paid, which is, which is a bummer, but I’d keep my health insurance and you don’t lose my job. Have something to come back to afterwards. So I’ve, I have, that’s still a long ways off, but that idea is, is charming to, to say the least. Yeah. Dave (31m 13s): And, and what about your, your wife or your partner? Is she, is it, so it’s gonna be you two or now who is, who is on this tour? Because there’s some video people too, right? Ryan (31m 22s): Yes. So the main co-pilot is my dog. He, he will be along for the entirety of it. And then my little sister is photographer videographer. She will be joining for a chunk of it. And then I have two other good lifelong friends that also, one is, one is an editor and one is a videographer, will also be along for the ride for different segments of it. There will definitely be some chunks of time where it’s just me and my camera. Dave (31m 51s): Oh, you and your camera. Gotcha. Yeah. And and your dog. Ryan (31m 54s): And my dog, of course. Dave (31m 55s): And what kind of dog do you have? Ryan (31m 56s): He is a boxer lab mix. A little, little bit of everything, but he’s, he’s definitely loves life on the road as much as I do. So good. Companionship. Dave (32m 6s): All right, cool. So you got that going. Anything else you’re thinking about that’s gonna be, you know, challenges or planning? I mean, have you done up to this point, have you done a lot of travel around just, just without the cam, you know, have, are you, do you have some travel tips or is this all new? The big travel? Ryan (32m 22s): I definitely, I’m, I’m very well-versed in road trip travel. You know, I’ve spent never full-time for like a year or anything like that. But generally I’m pretty close to full-time in the rig for those summer months. Trying to think of any, any tips and tricks. Dave (32m 38s): Yeah. What are you, you’re out there with the camper, you’re gonna be doing this. What are you telling somebody if they were gonna be doing a similar thing, like, okay, we’re going out. What are a few things that they should be thinking about? Ryan (32m 49s): I think packing as light as possible. And Dave (32m 54s): Like, does that mean, does that mean one your clothing and one change of clothes or like, what is packing as light for, because Right. There’s a lot of ways you could do this. Ryan (33m 4s): So I’m a big tote person, like storage totes. Dave (33m 8s): Oh, these are like the, the almost like bags sort of thing where you put stuff in, Ryan (33m 12s): They’re like hard sided with plastic, plastic totes with a, with a Oh yeah. Dave (33m 16s): Plastic to Ryan (33m 17s): Toes. Sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so I, I have the camper and the truck, and then I buy totes that fit within those areas. And so, you know, I have a tote for clothes, I have a tote for dog food and dog stuff. And it’s packing light to me is, I just am only allowed to fill those designated totes. And then I, I can’t bring any more stuff. So, you know, I have a couple totes for camera gear, small tote for clothes, small tote for, you know, other miscellaneous stuff. And then also kind of along the, the line of the toast. Just I think when you’re combining travel and productivity, it’s super important to stay hyper organized, especially in a really, a smaller space like a camper and a truck. Ryan (34m 14s): So I’m, I’m a big believer in everything has its designated place. And then, then I guess my overall travel advice would just be, just be like open to serendipitous moments. Some of the most incredible things that have ever happened to me were opportunities that right at first were like, oh, I, I don’t know about this, this seems sketchy or what’s going on? And then, you know, they’re, they’re kind of came, came to fruition. And had I not just been down and gone along with them, I, I probably would’ve missed them. I think that’s what life on the Road is, is kind of all about, you can have plans and have your story outlined, but you’ve gotta be open to letting it, taking you in whatever direction it it wants to. Dave (35m 2s): That’s right, yeah. Keep open. For some you might see a, a, a river, a waterway you didn’t know about, right. You might stay there a little extra time or you might find something you never even thought of. Right, Ryan (35m 13s): Exactly, exactly. Yeah. But both with kind of what nature has to offer you and fisheries have to offer you. But also, yeah, some of my favorite people in the world are people I met in a gas station or when traveling abroad or, you know, and had I been AirPods in or in a little bit more of a hurry would’ve, that would’ve totally passed you by Dave (35m 35s): On your camper. So you have like everything, you’ve got solar panels on top, do you have the batteries, you have a stove? Is is it like, what does that look like? Describe that a little bit. The inside. Ryan (35m 47s): Yeah, so we have pretty much every, every option that that 2024 models came with. So we have the bars up top with, I have a river smith, the, the river quiver up there for all of my, all of my rods generally I have like a, a three weight, a five weight, a seven and a 10 or something like that. Just you, you never know what you’re gonna stumble upon. And then on the interior we have a propane stove, fridge sink with the on demand water heater and then queen size bed and a, and a couch. And then on the exterior is the, the shower, which is, is really great. Ryan (36m 32s): There’s a little curtain thing that can surround you and I, I mean I definitely will, will utilize that, especially fishing salt water and stuff after a session. But I, I really loved it for my dog as well, just ’cause If, you know, if he’s romping around the water, he’d never really want your get Dave (36m 49s): Some warm water. That’s right. That’s pretty, Ryan (36m 51s): Yeah. Yeah. I never want like a, a cold wet dog up in bed, bed with you in a small space. So I love it for that fact. He, he definitely loves it as well. And then in terms of power, we have 235 vamp power batteries, the dual lithium batteries. And I mean, I, I have every possible thing plugged in that you could imagine. And I think that the lowest I’ve gotten those batteries down to probably 70%. No Dave (37m 23s): Kidding. Ryan (37m 24s): Yeah. And, and I, wow. I definitely, I generally don’t do long stays, like I’m, I’m not in the same place without driving Dave (37m 33s): And the driving charges, the batteries back Ryan (37m 35s): Up Exactly. The driving charges and then also the solar charges Dave (37m 40s): Solar. So when you’re sitting there, If you were to stay there for multiple days, the solar would charge it. Ryan (37m 45s): Exactly. So the, the only situation where you would potentially run into trouble would be if there’s no sun for many consecutive days and you’re not driving anywhere. And I, I have yet to stumble upon that situation. Dave (38m 3s): Well, you gotta come out to Oregon. Ryan (38m 5s): I Dave (38m 5s): Know, I know occasionally, but no, so that’s it. I mean that’s amazing. So you haven’t had these things down below and that’s because of the technology, right? The batteries have gotten so good with these lithiums now that they’re just, they what they hold the charge and they can power more stuff. Is that kind of what it is? Ryan (38m 19s): Yeah, exactly. They’re, I think they’re just super efficient and I actually don’t, don’t know if with the extra horsepower and the extra power being generated by a V eight engine, if that charges the batteries faster. But I’ve, I’ve been blown away. You know, I can use power overnight, get down to 70, 80% and I hop in the truck and drive for 30 minutes and get back in the camper and I’m back to a hundred. Dave (38m 45s): No kidding. Yeah. And what is the battery powering other than, so the stove, is that all propane? Like what, what are the big things that, like the fridge, right? Isn’t that battery powered? Ryan (38m 54s): Yeah, I believe so. Yep. And then it also, I think the stove is propane, but I believe the spark is coming from the battery. And then the, the big one, at least from my usage is the fans. I have the dual dual roof fans in there, which are, it’s incredible what you can do with, with no AC and just with proper ventilation and, and moving around the air. So those are with the dog especially back there, those are huge. And then, you know, there’s USB and plug, you know, 12 volt plugs that we use for, it’s pretty, pretty common that we have like two computers being charged back there and as many camera batteries as we possibly can. Ryan (39m 40s): And yeah, for, for what we need, it’s the power system is pretty, pretty perfect. We do also have Dakota Lithium kind of portable 135 amp power charger, which that is really great if we are gonna be out on the boat for like a, a 12 hour day. Dave (39m 58s): And how are the Dakota lithiums? These are, these are just portable, like just portable battery power packs? Ryan (40m 3s): Yeah, exactly, exactly. So it’s like we have two batteries in the camper and then one external battery that it’s the same exact battery, 135 amp power that travels with us if we’re ever out of the camper for an extended stay. Dave (40m 19s): Okay. And this is just like a, like a normal, like a deep cycle battery? It like, looks like a car battery. It’s Ryan (40m 24s): Inside a power box, so Dave (40m 26s): Oh, inside the power box. Okay. Ryan (40m 27s): The, the battery is wired to basically like a little display that tells all your, all your data of the battery. And then it has I think five USB and a couple USBC plugs in it. So you, you basically like open it up and then you have all these ports to charge kind of what whatever you need. Dave (40m 48s): Gotcha. And that’s it. So yeah, there’s your portable, you pull that thing around wherever you need to plug stuff in. Exactly. Ryan (40m 55s): Yeah. Yep. Dave (40m 55s): Those are cool. Yeah. Awesome. So you got that. So you got the power and then what, what else? Anything we’re missing on, on the camper? It’s pretty, it sounds like, did you just roll up and did they just throw it on everything up or is it all just ready to go, you just pop it on and go? Ryan (41m 9s): They, we got it installed at Mainline Overland, which is kind of a, a partner or a shop retailer that that four wheel works with. They’re based out of Bo New Hampshire. But yeah, it was, they, they wired it into the truck and I haven’t taken it off the truck since it’s, it’s on there pretty much full time. The other thing, the other amenity in there is the heater that’s propane and that’s been a dream generally. I, I am kind of limited in, in Vermont with how long I can be car camping. So this was the first winter that it really, really extended my season. It was, you know, 70 degrees in there when it was 20, 15 degrees outside. Ryan (41m 51s): And that, that makes all the difference in terms of like energy level and excitement level about putting the wet waiters back on the next day. So that’s, that’s been, yeah, Dave (42m 1s): That’s, that’s been it. Have you seen the, the Orvis edition of the four wheel camper? Ryan (42m 5s): I have, yeah. It’s pretty cool. I’ve never been in one in person, but it’s, it seems pretty dreamy for someone that loves to fish and just when, whenever you have a product that’s great to begin with and then you have someone that comes from kind of a, a different realm and tweaks things and makes it more fly fishing oriented, it’s, I think you’re just destined, destined for success. I’d love to see one of those in person someday. Dave (42m 32s): Yeah, that’s pretty cool. They got the, the waiter, the wet room compartment, the drains and yeah, it’s, it’s kinda cool. Yeah. Nice. So, so that’s pretty much it. So you got, you’re dialed and ready to go. When do you kick off this year? When, when are you hopping over towards Iowa? Ryan (42m 46s): It will be the last week of May. Dave (42m 49s): Last week Ryan (42m 49s): Of May. The plan. Yep. My school year wraps up I think the 25th of May. And I’m generally, I’m the type of high school teacher that like the next day I’m jumping into adventure mode. Dave (43m 1s): You’re gonna be ready to go. Your car’s gonna be packed and ready to go to leave that next morning. Yes. Ryan (43m 4s): 100%. 100%. Dave (43m 6s): You’re ready to go. And then, and you’re gonna, what is that drive? Is that kind of like a, a day drive over there to Iowa? Ryan (43m 13s): It’s a, a full day like yeah, full day probably pushing Dave (43m 16s): 20 hours. Ryan (43m 17s): Yeah, 18, 20 hours, something like that. I love time on the road. I kinda love the, the grueling drive. So Dave (43m 23s): What, what do you do on the road when you’re on the road? Are you, are you listening? This is the common question we ask, but are you listening to podcasts or music or both? Ryan (43m 32s): I’m a big, big music guy. I would say that’s my, my predominant, it just kind of keeps me energized, you know. But I, I do love a good book on tape, love a good podcast. I kind of, kind of all over the pillow similarly to how I view fly fishing and conventional fishing as different hobbies. I think that I view, you know, those, those three audio books, podcasts, and music as as different. So I hop, hop all over the place. Dave (43m 59s): Yeah. What is your, always love to get a podcast. Do you have any that you’re in your queue now that you listen to you love out there? Or what’s your Yeah, what’s your type? Do you have a bunch or do you have like a hundred podcasts downloaded or do you more have like just a couple? Ryan (44m 13s): I’m pretty, pretty loyal to, you know, the specific podcast. I dunno if you’ve heard of stuff you should know. Oh yeah, Dave (44m 19s): Yeah. Stuff you should know. Yep. Ryan (44m 21s): Those, I think Charles, Charles and Josh are their names. So those, they just crack me up and I, I love the, I love the variety, you know, like how seltzer works, how what, just a, a different topic every time. Yeah. Dave (44m 37s): You name it. Yeah, that’s Ryan (44m 38s): A good one. Yeah, fun, fun to learn and laugh at the same time. Yep. Dave (44m 41s): That’s it. So, so you’re gonna be rolling out crossed you’re gonna hit Iowa, you’re going to do the wedding and then after that, are you just roughly planning on heading kind of southeast or what are you thinking? What’s, what’s gonna be your next state after and are you gonna fish in Iowa, hit the drift lists or what, what are you doing there? Ryan (44m 57s): I haven’t quite made up my mind for Iowa. I, my dad’s side of the family is, is from Iowa. So I grew up fishing this small lake called Rathman Lake. That was my introduction to, you know, like catfish fishing and, and so I might just, just for old time sake, that might be my Iowa stop. Dave (45m 18s): There you go. Ryan (45m 19s): Or one of them, you know. Yeah, Dave (45m 20s): One of them. And then you’re just gonna start cruising and going along the way. Are you gonna stop in at any, any fly shops along the way? Or do you have all your gear, everything ready to go? Ryan (45m 29s): Yeah, so we’re, we’re, we have have Orvis support as well on the project. So, you know, they’re, they’ve been very generous with a lot of the gear, but there will 100% be be some fly shop stops in the mix just to, you know, you gotta get whatever flies hot and get some tips, tips and tricks from the locals. Dave (45m 48s): Yeah, that’s it. Support the local fly shop and yeah, that’s probably your best chance to get some of that local knowledge. Right, exactly. Where to go hop in. I mean, there’s a co there’s a bunch of cool states. I mean, we haven’t been to much, I’ve spent more time up north, but I mean, you’re gonna be going in potentially like Arkansas, right? Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia. Ryan (46m 6s): Exactly. Dave (46m 7s): You know, I mean there’s only a few in there. I always think of like Indiana, Kentucky, you don’t hear much about those. Chicago, I mean, other than, you know, there are a few in there that are definitely, well at least for trout there’s other species, right, that you can, yeah, yeah, Ryan (46m 21s): Yeah. I think, I think those kind of lesser known states will be doing a little bit more kinda like niche, you know, niche techniques and, and species as well. Yep. Dave (46m 32s): Nice. Well, anything else you wanna shed light on before we get outta here in a few minutes? As far as the trip itself? Is it, you know, do you kind of, do you think there’s gonna be any big surprises? Is there a chance that something crazy’s gonna happen and you’re gonna be, you know, what, what is the worst thing that could happen? Right. Could your trip be stopped in any way? Ryan (46m 50s): I, I hope not. I’m pretty, you know, when something’s on your bucket list, it’s, it’s, for me at least, it’s there to stay. So I’m, I’m pretty determined to, to make this happen, to complete this goal with travel, you never really know what’s going to happen. I I can almost guarantee that many crazy things will, will likely happen, but that’s, that’s kind of what it’s all about. And yeah, I’m really, really excited to just kind of see what’s out there, meet some really cool knowledgeable people in the fishing, the fishing world, and yeah, cross some more fish off my, my species list. Dave (47m 26s): Nice. And then when does school start in, in September? Ryan (47m 29s): Yeah, last week of August. I’ve, I’ve got a report back for duty. Dave (47m 33s): Yeah, so you’re saying May, so it’s June July, so you’ve got about three months solid months in there. Ryan (47m 39s): Yeah, yeah. I think there will be some windows in there where, depending where I’m at either, you know, drive home and offload footage and, and kind of reset for a week. But yeah, we’ll be on the road for at least three quarters of, of my three month break. Dave (47m 56s): Okay. And what do you for cameras, is this something where, do you have a special camera you’re using for the trip? Ryan (48m 1s): Yeah, so I have a, just a nice Sony video camera, a seven S3, and that’s kind of our main camera body, but just because it’s such a run and gun operation, you know, we’ve got a couple point and shoots as well and, and definitely utilize the, the GoPros and that type of thing. So it’s, it’s kind of, we’re a little bit all over the place, but for the real like cinematic and interview stuff that’s, that’s on the, the Sony camera. Dave (48m 29s): Okay. And then the videos eventually will be on the YouTube channel. I know they’re not there yet, but it’s say in two, maybe 3, 4, 5 years from now, they’ll, they’ll be on, they’ll be able to check this out on YouTube or what, what will that be? Ryan (48m 40s): Yes, I think if not Netflix, then, then YouTube. Dave (48m 44s): Right, right. That’s your goal to get a, get a series out of the, have you been thinking about that to get something? We, we actually had a Ariel Tweer on recently. She’s a Oh, cool. She was the host of Flying Wild Alaska. And it was really interesting to hear the story because she talked about how, you know, she loved the, the, the shows, right. She was the Yeah. Into the producing. But her dad was more, you know, he was just there. He loved the flying. And at some point that show got to a point, I think it was only on for two or three seasons, they got to, a third season was coming up and the producers of Discovery or whatever the channel was, they came to him, they said, Hey, you gotta get this cake from this part of Alaska over to here, but the weather’s gonna be rough. So the producers were like, Hey, you know what, you don’t even have to fly. Dave (49m 24s): Let’s just fake it and we’ll shake the plane around, we’ll fake it, you know, make, make a scene up. And the guy was like, I’m done. And he broke the contract and quit. And he told Wow. He’s like, we’re done. And they totally broke out and he’s like, Nope, not doing it. And so Ariel, Ariel was pissed, you know, she was mad, but then she found her groove and other stuff. Isn’t that crazy though? Yeah. Like the full on it’s, but that could be you guys, right? You guys could find a discovery or a Netflix series, right? Something like that. Yeah. Ryan (49m 49s): Yeah. I, I even just with the connection with Four Wheel and these other brands, life works in mysterious ways and, and I think, yeah, just kinda like be when those doors open, being there ready and, and you know, having your, your passion and your pitch ready to go. Yeah. I’m, I’m hopeful that something like that’ll will line up and if not, YouTube is, it’s a beautiful thing, so it’ll be beautiful there. Dave (50m 13s): Yeah. YouTube is pretty powerful too. What is it like on your teaching? Is this something where, you know, teachers write the most important jobs in the country, right? I I feel like teaching the kids, do you love that job? Is that job super challenging? What’s, what’s that like? Ryan (50m 29s): It definitely has its challenges. Teaching through COVID was a crazy, crazy time. Dave (50m 35s): And what grade are you teaching? Ryan (50m 37s): I teach high school, so, you know, ninth to 12th grade, anywhere from 13 to 18 year olds. And I’m a, I dunno if I mentioned this, I’m a pottery teacher, so Oh, cool. Generally my, the kids wanna be there and they’re excited. But yeah, that was a wild one. During Covid we did, did remote pottery for a couple years. And the other element of my teaching is that we have a, a fly fishing team or club on campus, and I lead that in the spring, so starting in late March through the end of May. Yeah. So that’s, that’s a cool way to kind of combine the educational work and, and my true love of, of fishing. Dave (51m 18s): So these are kids that are just found fly fishing through, through you and the school or, or were already fly anglers. Ryan (51m 26s): There’s a wide range. A lot of them have been introduced to it prior by their parents or, you know, extended family. Others are, they’re just looking at the list of sports in the spring and they’re like, I wanna try something new. And so it’s, it’s really fun to spend time on the water with such kind of like a quirky wide range of people that are in some capacity interested in fishing. We have students from all across the world that have never fished a day in their life. We have students that have been fly fishing for 10 of the 15 years that they’ve been alive. So it’s, it’s really fun. Ryan (52m 6s): It’s super, super, super special. We generally stick around Vermont for the first couple of months and then we take a long weekend trip down to Cape Cod and we, yeah, we put the, put the five weights away and get out the eight weights and the kids get to try to catch their first strike bass, which is God. Dave (52m 25s): That’s so cool. Ryan (52m 26s): It’s awesome. It’s awesome. Yeah, a lot of them have, have never been to the ocean before and then they’re, you know, waist deep trying to, trying to catch, yeah. Trying Dave (52m 35s): To get striper Ryan (52m 35s): Catch strip bass. So it’s really cool. Dave (52m 38s): You know, I wonder how many in the country I I, well, you know, there’s obviously, there’s the youth team, USA, but I wonder if this high school thing is common. Do you know anything about that? Are there other high school teams around? Ryan (52m 49s): I don’t, I’ve definitely heard of a couple, couple other schools in Vermont that have programs and I, I was introduced to fly fishing after college, but I do think all the time I’m like, man, this, I wonder where I’d be had I picked up a fly Rod when I was like 10 or 11 because it, you engage with a natural world in such a direct way. It’s, I, I’ve never met someone that’s spent time on the river and caught trout and not been fascinated by what they were experiencing. And I think, you know, as we really come to this, this moment of realizing where things are at with the environment and kind of what needs to be done, in my opinion, it’s like, what a, what an incredible way to captivate the next generation and, and foster that appreciation, then this direct like, go stand in that river, go try to catch a fish. Ryan (53m 44s): I think it, it just inherently builds that appreciation. Dave (53m 48s): Yeah, that is, that is really awesome. That’s, well, like I was saying, the team USA we’re doing a thing with in eastern Idaho in the Henry’s Fork, that’s where the team USA the world championships are this year. Oh, Ryan (53m 60s): Wow. Dave (54m 0s): Yeah, they’re actually in Idaho, Eastern Idaho. So the women’s are gonna be there, the youth are gonna be there this year and then next year it’ll be the men’s, I think both of ’em are gonna be there. So they’re gonna be fishing the Henry’s Fork, south Fork and Snake, or at least some trips in there. And we’ve been doing some episodes helping to get the word out because they’re looking for volunteers to help and, and stuff like that. So yeah, I think it’s cool. I think the youth, you know, for me, I remember my dad, I grew up around a fly shop, so my dad had a fly shop and, but I remember in high school I was the kid that fly, you know, there were a bunch of fly teachers, right? Fly fishing teachers. They always used to hit me up for flies and stuff back in the day. ’cause they knew my dad was, we had to shop. So yeah, a little bit different. But again, I think it’s, it’s a lifelong thing. No matter If you get in and now plant the seed with these kids, you never know. Dave (54m 44s): Right. Just that one kid, even if he’s not totally into it, your influence might make him an angler in, you know, 10 years from now. Ryan (54m 51s): Absolutely. I, I’ve definitely, definitely had a bunch of students where, where that’s the case and you can kind of sense it sometimes you’re like, man, this isn’t, isn’t really jiving right now, but I bet money that when they’re 30 or 35, they’re gonna gonna buy a fly Rod again. And yeah, it’s, it’s cool stuff I teaching in general, it fascinates me and I really believe in it. So it’s, it’s cool to be able to do the clay side of things and then also the, the fishing side of things. Dave (55m 18s): That’s sweet. Nice. Well this has been, this has been a lot of fun. I love that we’ve been able to pick your brain and you know, I think what we’ll do, what we should do is you’re gonna have this journey that’s gonna be going off. We’ll have to catch up with you later, maybe see how it all went after you wrap it up, you know, this fall or something like that. But yeah man, this has been a lot of fun. Appreciate all your time today and we’ll, we’ll be checking in with you and look forward to following that journey. Ryan (55m 40s): Thank you so much, Dave. I appreciate it. Dave (55m 43s): If you wanna connect with Ryan on this road trip, you can head over to tales of the 40 eight.com right now and let him know what you heard. This podcast, you can also go on Instagram Tales of the 48 and let him know if you’re out in the East coast, if you’re in one of those states and you want to connect, maybe get a connection with this documentary, give him some tips, at least, that would be awesome. You can do that right now. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to our YouTube channel. We just launched this. We’re gonna be doing some cool stuff over there. We already have done some cool stuff, we’ve got some great webinars and, and also some short form video content. One is on the top, five Euro NPH flies. Essentially this thing’s kind of going viral right now. You should go check it out and just wanna remind you on YouTube. Dave (56m 26s): All right. We also have a big trip going on the Missouri River trip with on Demark Lodge. If you haven’t checked in with this, we should have a slot or two remaining for this one. This is the Missouri River trip. We’re gonna be fishing dry flies, wet fly swing.com/missouri, M-I-S-S-O-U-R. I do that right now. Sign up, get your name on there. I’ll follow up with you on details. And we got some good stuff coming with Craig and the family. We’re gonna be on the Missouri River Fish, one of the great giant rivers of the west. Don’t miss out on this one. Alright, hope you have a great morning. Hope you have a great afternoon or an amazing evening, and we look forward to seeing you on that next video or seeing you here on the podcast. Dave (57m 7s): Talk to you then. 2 (57m 8s): Thanks for listening to the Wet Fly, swing Fly fishing show. For notes and links from this episode, visit wet fly swing.com.