6:00 AM on May 19th
and I’m drinking coffee in the Great Falls,
MT airport, waiting for my 7:00 AM flight
to Seattle and eventually on to Portland.
Nick from Korkers Footwear had called
me a few months ago to see if I would
be interested in representing North
40 Fly Shop in an outing for dealers of
their footwear. I said, “Where?” (like it
mattered)… He said, “The salmonfly
hatch on the Deschutes.” I asked my
chain of command for the approval
and received the nod to attend my first
guided trout fishing trip.
When I arrived in Portland, Nick picked
me up from the airport, and I could tell
we were both in fast paced business
mode. Nick gave me the tour of the
Korkers’ facility, introduced me to the
team, and showed me the shipping
department. I also got to see workers
riveting the bar boots, and cutting the
foam in the back room, and a gigantic
assortment of prototypes and demos
waiting to be put to the test. It was great
to see, and got me pretty pumped on the
brand, and I picked out a new pair of the
Devil’s Canyon wading boots (Review of
them here).
Finally, after sitting at his desk pumping
out some last minutes emails—and
watching me finish up another one of
mine—Nick turned to me and said,
“Let’s get out of here.”