Later, Jeff took us to the Ruby River to cast rods and discuss more about the
plans and future of the brand. In the parking lot, a cage fighter from Hardin,
Montana and his girlfriend came up the path to the trucks after fishing. It
was their 30th anniversary and they had a mix of spin rods and a fly rod. He
had been trying to learn fly fishing, but was struggling to understand it, and
he had stopped into one of the big box sporting goods stores to get flies
before the trip. I saw the flies he had in his cup; this is why you don’t go to
those store to get flies.
The two Winston representatives I was with, Brooks and Darren, sprung into
action, asking him about his fighting career and at the same time explaining
how a caddis hatch works. Darren and Brooks got him some flies, showed
him how to tie them on correctly, and we pointed him to an access that
wasn't full of fly shop employees. He was so grateful he offered us a pair of
his practice nunchucks as a trade (I'm not making this up). That guy isn’t
going to go buy a Winston today, but we may have just pointed a new angler
in the right direction, and he was willing to give us his nunchucks because
two guys from Winston Rods were willing to help him out. After my trip, and