Transcript: PODCAST SERIES: The Chocklett Factory with Blane Chocklett
Transcript
Marvin:
[0:04] Hey folks, it's Marvin Cash, the host of the Articulate Fly, and we're back with another episode of the Chocolate Factory with Blaine Chocolate. How you doing, Blaine?
Blane:
[0:12] Good, man. How are you doing?
Marvin:
[0:14] Oh, as always, just trying to stay out of trouble. And I know you're scrambling to get out of town because it was just not hot enough for you in Virginia, so you got to go down to Florida, right?
Blane:
[0:24] Yeah, yeah, for sure. So yeah, man, you know, I've been traveling a lot here lately, so it's been good getting experienced some really good fishing.
Some of the best red fishing I've ever had in my life.
World record after world record if I was into documenting that stuff, but I'm not really into that. I enjoy catching big fish, but I'm not into the record chasing.
But I experienced some of the most epic giant red fishing that I think anybody could ever see.
I mean, average fish was over 50 inches, which is unheard of for, for a redfish and it got some up in the upper 50 inch range.
And, uh, not only that also got them on top water at times. So not going to kiss and tell where I was, but it was, uh, unbelievable and, um, very blessed to be able to see that kind of stuff.
Marvin:
[1:16] Yeah. I can't remember. Uh, did you tell me that was it, it sounded like they were dropping golf balls in the water? Cannonballs.
Blane:
[1:22] More like cannonballs. So it was pretty amazing.
As the bite increased, I went from using game changers kind of underneath to seeing fish blowing up on top and then just decided to switch to a floating line and move from the sinking line and then just doing topwater stuff.
It was pretty easy to see that they were eating giant blue crabs and it was pretty sick.
I've been very blessed in my life to be able to see some amazing fishing and this is definitely one of the best.
Marvin:
[1:58] Got it. were you able to give the new blitz rod a little bit of a workout?
Blane:
[2:05] 100% it probably got more than it wanted, you know after after a while after you landed a couple of these giant fish It's kind of like let's let's see what the rod and the reels I was using.
I was using a Nautilus and the CF2 and Also was using that new reel that they have available as well It's a real I've had a lot of fun with it's the new GTX And I was locking the reel down, and I was able to use really heavy leader material playing around with.
Just wanted to see, you know, that's part of my job, you know, being an ambassador for these companies is testing equipment out and seeing how much it could take and fighting them the way they were intended to be used as well, right?
So using 11 weights on these fish and using those reels and locking them down with 50-pound fluorocarbon or 50-pound regular tippet from scientific angler, I was able to kind of see what everything was made of.
And I was able to land these giant fish in less than probably two minutes, two or three minutes, just breaking their will and making the fish happy and let it survive and not wearing it out.
And I'm a big proponent of conservation and protecting these giant fish that I'm fishing forward and I don't want to wear it out, wear them out to where they're exhausted and then become.
[3:30] Easy targets for sharks and whatnot. So for me, it was a great pleasure in testing these rods and the 11 weight and the 10 worked flawlessly.
[3:41] I mean, it was making some crazy noises, but I mean, when you're putting the brakes on a fish that's over 50 pounds, that's not very happy with you.
And some moving in that upper 60 pound range or more, I don't know how much they weighed.
If you do the numbers, you know, when you do that, that length and girth measurement kind of stuff. These fish are as big as they get.
[4:03] So, by doing that and locking the drag down and really putting the heat on them, it really tests the equipment.
Not only the hook, but the tippet, the fly lines. The fly lines for SA, I couldn't ask for better.
I was using some of their heavier core lines designed for big fish.
So, I was was making sure I didn't have the weakest point was at the fly and the tippet, you know, so we didn't, I wasn't breaking down in the backing and breaking down the fly lines.
Right. So I didn't want to leave a fish with a fly line, you know, moving around with for however long it took it to get caught on something else or whatever.
So trying to look out for what's best for the fish and making sure we land them healthy and seeing these rides, rods, man.
They just, they perform flawlessly, not only delivering these big flies to these fish, but once hooked up with these fish, I was able to apply the pressure with the brakes of the reel and change angles on them and, you know, bend that rod all the way through the bud and into the cork and almost straight lining them and then getting them broken and then lifting on them and feeling that power and the weight of those fish and having.
[5:20] That fish be subdued. And like I said, no more than three minutes at the max.
I mean, we weren't timing it, but I know it was like, just, you know, my buddy was fishing too.
And I was, he was fishing normal, you know, with regular drag set up on it.
And I mean, I would hook a fish before him or after him. And I mean, I was literally landing these fish and he's still fighting them and just like, I need a net dude, help me out. You know, stuff like that.
[5:46] So it's like, you know, but, but, you know, with the recoil guides that you have, you could hear that home of the line going through and that tension with the current and the fish fighting against it and feeling that feeling everything being put to its limits really.
And uh, it just waiting to see if it was going to explode. Did not.
I tried different angles to see how much pressure I could put on the rod before it broke down. It didn't do it.
Um, I didn't high stick it, but you know, when you got a fish, it's 50, 60, seven, almost 70 pounds and you're lifting to put them in a net.
That's where the rods at a disadvantage. And, you know, at no time did it break down on me. So I could not save more for the blitz, the power in the butt, uh, the finesse and the tip.
Um, it, it worked out perfectly for me and, you know, I couldn't recommend it highly for anybody else.
I mean, that's probably not the right way to say it, but it's, I would highly recommend that rod for anybody that's going to chase big fish, throwing big flies or whatnot, because it's designed to be a little softer in the tip, even though it's a fast action rod, it really absorbs, um, everything throughout the cast and the fight, and you can really feel the power that it has in the butt with that Axiom 2 technology that we've had out for a little bit and the design of the rods and the new resins and everything that's being used, it really works well together.
[7:14] It's not as fast of an action rod as the A2X, for those that are interested in knowing more about the Blitz, it's not as fast as that rod is.
It's designed, like I said, in my opinion, more for sinking lines, not that you can't throw floating lines or whatnot.
I mean, these bigger taper lines like SA has, like the Titan tapers and whatnot, with bigger flies or more wind resistant poppers or whatnot.
[7:42] It handles them well. It bends a little bit deeper. It recovers nicely.
It's done everything I've asked of it.
I was in Cape Cod earlier this year, fishing for big stripers up there, throwing big stuff, it handled everything up there nicely.
I've been testing it for everything from tarpon to, you know, Big cobia, you know, um, but you know, it's done everything I could ask of it.
False albacore in the fall and the eight weights and whatnot, non-weights, um, last fall.
It's, um, you know, it's a great ride for those that are interested in it.
You can go check them out. It's your local dealer.
I know TFO is proud of it and I am too. It's been a great ride. It's a beautiful ride.
So it's, uh, I can't say enough good things about it.
Marvin:
[8:31] Yeah, very, very neat. And so what do you hope to, uh, to introduce, uh, which fish do you hope to introduce that ride to you down in Florida.
Blane:
[8:37] Um, you know, whatever comes our way, you know, one of my favorite fish is snook.
You know, I love snook. Uh, we're getting ready to come into the mullet run.
So I'm sure there'll be, might be some tarpon, um, around, uh, hopefully in the next couple of months, I'll be able to go targets and permit.
Um, so just, you know, a little bit of everything, you know, me, I'm kind of, I'm into whatever's available to target at the time.
So, uh, whatever we can get into, I'll be happy to try to catch.
Marvin:
[9:05] Yeah, absolutely. We mentioned before we started recording that you wanted to give folks a heads up on an important conservation issue with respect to Stripers.
You want to let folks know about that?
Blane:
[9:16] Yeah, yeah, so, you know, I've been for those of you that's following me They know that I've been working with the ASGA, the American Saltwater Guides Association, and Tony Friedrich and our team there and you know, we're doing everything we can to kind of to be on the front lines, to really share light.
To those that don't really know what's going on with our policy makers, whether it be state or federal.
We've been getting in the trenches in Louisiana with the redfish issues down there and trying to have better management for the red fishery.
For one example, they had this 30-year plan to have the redfish recover, which was totally ridiculous.
And, you know, there's so many things that can happen in 30 years to a fish, to a fishery and whatnot, to have that kind of a plan was totally unacceptable for us.
And I think those in the fly community and the conventional community that are truly interested in conservation of fish and leaving something for our kids, right? So that's huge.
So we were able to get a small win there, and we're waiting for that to go to Louisiana legislature.
[10:39] So we've got it down to a 10-year plan. Not getting into the legalities of it all, but we got it down to a 10-year plan, which is a whole lot more acceptable.
[10:51] In my opinion, it should be shorter. It's like, let's make a huge sacrifice for a shorter period of time to get a fishery healthy again.
I don't know why people want to draw this stuff out to make it a possibility of having environmental issues stuff that we can't control When we can't control how we regulate these fisheries and a prime example of what we're dealing with now was striped bass up and down the the mid-atlantic and northeast um I just got off of meeting.
Uh I don't know six six plus hours of uh The ASMFC, it's Atlantic, basically it's the federal side of what regulates this interstate fisheries management.
So, they kind of are the governing body that makes everything go and they can kind of control on what happens.
And we were waiting for the amendment two to drop and see what we could do there.
And we've had some small ones with stripers this past year and getting this emergency action that happened earlier in May, where they basically changed the regulations on stripers to kind of give this 2015 year class, which is the only strong year class that we have left on the East Coast, right?
So all I'm listening to during this whole meeting is how they're trying to play a.
[12:17] Favoritism towards one group or the other or not be in favor or it to me it's it's complicated it's convoluted it was it was maddening to listen to but in essence what's going on here is they kick the can down the road instead of giving us as anglers and people the public a chance to have their voice heard it was kicked down the road for special interest to um allow the things that that are going on in this, you know, the sector, the recreational sector, I'm kind of babbling a little bit, but there's a lot to talk about here.
The recreational sector has taken the hit over the last few years on what we're allowed to keep and what we can't.
The commercial fisheries have not, especially within the Chesapeake Bay, and they've killed 80% of the commercial, they're allowed to kill, They've killed up 80% of the commercial harvest for striped bass up and down the coast, including the ocean.
[13:22] But they don't want to make a change to any of this stuff. And the fishing in the Chesapeake Bay for striped bass is at an all-time low, because the fishing is horrible.
There's not many striped bass left in the Chesapeake Bay.
Now, you move up to the Northeast and up to Maine, New York, New Jersey, all the way up through Cape Cod, and what they're experiencing some of the best fishing they've ever seen on big fish.
So it's hard for them to realize how in trouble striped bass population is because they're catching all these beautiful fish.
But what they're not seeing are the small fish that are coming.
And we've had four years in the Chesapeake Bay of a very, very, very historic low reproduction.
[14:12] And from what we're hearing, 2023 spawn is going to be another year.
And we've never had five consecutive years in the history of studying striped bass of having five super negative historic low reproductive spawns.
So what we're witnessing right now is an epic spawn of 2015, which is truly the only really good spawn we've had in the past x amount of years.
Now we're looking at this one year class that's gonna maybe help.
Help or break the striped bass, we may lose them. If we don't protect them now, we may not. My son, you know, my son's son or daughter may never see striped bass unless they're stocked, which is not an answer.
Stocking fish is a band-aid and it introduces poison to the system.
What I mean by that is it can introduce disease, it's a poor strain of fish, genetics are not good, So, stocking is not the answer to this stuff.
We need to let Mother Nature go back to what she needs to do.
And for the governing bodies to look at the results and look at the science and not make a good choice for the fish and the fishery is absurd to me.
[15:35] And it's time for us anglers to step up and speak loudly so they understand that these special interests should not get favoritism over what's best for the fish, period.
Marvin:
[15:49] Yeah, got it. And so if folks wanted to kind of lend their voice to that, where should they go?
Blane:
[15:56] ASGA is a big deal, American Saltwater Guys Association. We could use everybody's help, not only for striped bass, but menhaden.
It's a pyramid effect. If the menhaden population is not healthy, the predators don't have anything to eat on. So we do a lot of stuff with that, but ASGA is a huge conservation group.
We're always using science to better educate the people or the governing bodies, the scientists in each state.
We're developing stuff all the time that's making their jobs better and easier so they have more accurate data so they can take it to the powers to be that make these make these rulings.
Marvin:
[16:42] Got it. And on a more positive note, you've got a really cool event with the folks at Mad River and Flip, right? You want to let folks know about that?
Blane:
[16:50] Oh, absolutely. Yep. So, I'm really looking forward to that event.
We have so much going to happen. You know, Flip has always been someone I've looked up to since I was a teenager.
Ryan Fleshing and Mad River Outfitters decided to put this together, put this event together in Florida. And Mims and Flip's home and in Renzetti, who obviously, big fan of their vices.
We decided we're going to do a fly fishing and fly tying weekend.
And you can go to Mad River Outfitters site to look in on that.
I'm not sure how many, if they have any more availability.
But it's the opportunity for me, selfishly, to get back to see my good friend Flip Pallet, someone I've looked up to my whole life.
He's always been a hero of mine.
[17:45] And going back to his Walker K Chronicles and all the other cool stuff he's always done but to be able to over the years as when lefty was still here and kind of be invited into that circle to go do these little private clinics with them was a dream come true and I've seen how flip and that was kind of sitting on the sidelines learning from them when they were doing these clinics And I learned a lot and it showed to me how important it is to be able to share your knowledge.
And you got people that really look up to these guys.
And for me to be invited to, you know, Lefty's gone now, but for me to be invited to go back and do something with Flip, I cherish that.
I'll cherish that for the rest of my life because the stuff Flip has seen and experienced and has the knowledge that we, as anglers, that me, especially because I wasn't around and saw old Florida back in his younger days, you know, one thing I've learned is, you know, especially going back to the conservation stuff, you know, people.
[18:54] They may think what's good is good now But they don't know what it what the potential of good really is if they never saw it when it was better right, so I love listening to flip stories and that's a big part of this this weekend that we're gonna have um well, it'll be like you get there that first day and we'll just do a meet and greet and tell stories and just hang out and and love listening to flip stories about the old days and what's, you know, things that he saw, you know, and just kind of educating people of like, of loving things and not knowing what it real, what the real potential could be or was, right?
That's what I get out of it. But the other thing is, it's just, you know, making memories, man. I mean, being able to hang out with an icon like that is special.
[19:46] And I know there's a few times I got to do that with, with, with lefty and flip.
I'll, I mean, I would never share, I would never change that for the world.
I mean, I would, I wouldn't give it up for anything and to be a part of this and seeing his philosophy on casting and, and, and line selections and fly selections and all the different scenarios that come in with flats fishing, Or, you know, Flip's got quite a bit to offer in the trout world. He got it in Colorado for years.
So there's so many things that he has to offer. And then on my side, I'm gonna, we're gonna be.
[20:23] Obviously tying is one of my big things but also big big predatory fish and throwing big flies is kind of my side of it So that's what I'm gonna be covering.
We're gonna be some doing some fly tying that brings Eddie and I'll be doing some of my flies flips gonna be doing some of his flies with the be telling lies and stories and having fun eating well and You know talking flies talking fly fishing and we're going to do a lot on casting.
You know, I'm going to be talking about casting big flies, choosing right lines.
It's going to kind of be a big weekend on all that is fly fishing, fly tying and everything.
You know, we kind of leave it open. We have it somewhat structured, but we leave it open to kind of cater towards the individuals that came that want to learn certain things.
You know, so it's designed to be fun. It's not designed to be like a hard school that's just so rigid and format and whatnot that it's in structured that it's not not fun.
It's designed to be laid back and just relaxing and I can't wait to go do that.
And it's going to be a big time. And like I said, you know, I don't know if there's any more date days.
I mean, spots available. But if there is go check out Mad River Outfitters.
They have a special site set up there to be able to go to link into that.
[21:53] We've kind of shared it on social media and we could probably put a link in that to this as well when we launch this talk we're having now.
Marvin:
[22:04] Yeah, absolutely. I'll drop links in the show notes and you also told me before we started recording that you've got some new goodies in in your store.
Blane:
[22:13] I do. Yep. So, I did. I've got, you know, I've been working with one of my favorite artists down in the Miami area.
George, he's such an amazing artist.
George Martinez, he's amazing. He's done so many cool things.
He did me a muskie years ago that I've been holding on to and finally got it put on some t-shirts.
We have a few of those. I finally got a new shipment in of those.
So we have some available that I'm going to be putting on the site here in the next day or two.
We also have the Change Your Game t-shirts back in stock, green and blue, which will also be available on the site here. I just got to load them up.
And yeah, so those are great. They're very comfortable t-shirts and you can't beat the art that he does.
I mean, if you haven't ever seen his stuff, go check him out.
He does amazing permit and Snook and Tarpon paintings and has a lot of fun with, you know, comic type art too.
So he's a great guy, love him to death, great angler as well, and more importantly, a good person and a great father.
Marvin:
[23:26] Well, there you go. And I'll drop a link to all that stuff in the show notes too.
And I hope you have a great trip to Florida so you can come back and tell us all kinds of great stories. And, you know, folks, if you haven't gotten out yet, even though it's hot, you know, leave the muskie alone, leave the trout alone, but go out there and catch something.
Tight lines everybody. Yep, absolutely.
Blane:
[23:44] Thanks for having me, man.
Marvin:
[23:45] You bet. Tight lines playing.