July Slab of the Month Entry: Manistee Brown

T.F.M.'s Cameron Mortenson took a break and headed North.  Apparently the Hex Hatch treated him nicely.

T.F.M. Interviews Reel Pure and Moldy Chum

In T.F.M.'s continuing process to find the story behind how certain fly gear brands came to be, Founder Cameron Mortenson reached out and we discussed the birth of Reel Pure and the evolution of the Chum.

The Chum Nation Has Spoken

Trout it is - new decals will go on sale next week.  Stay tuned.

Letter to the Editor

Here's one that resulted from this post last month

To: Moldy Chum

From: L.M.M., esq (we've used initials in this case - it appears this guy could potentially be a lawyer so we're cya'n it here)

Dear Staff,

re: Steelhead picture

Your steelhead picture is truly disgusting, in fact it so revolting that I will always associate the travesty of other equally disturbing 59 pictures with www.moldychum.com. The pictures are disgusting, revolting and disturbing on many different levels, not the least of which is the depiction of flyfishermen as irrational and selfish. The pictured guide, I do hope that he is not, lacks the tiniest modicum of professionalism, morals and should have his license revoked for being completely devoid of human ethics in treating such a rare and endangered natural resource.

That you, and your site hosted this insulting message severly derogates any, if any thing positive that you may do or may have done. Your site was sent to me as a link, I do not ever plan on visiting your site again. Moreover, I am sending this message to each of your advertisers, since savvy retailers do not want to be associated with such debased, and risky display of what you stand for.

Passionately,

L.M.M., esq

This email had us baffled a bit - but in the end, we really dig this guys passion.  And with that came our response.

To: L.M.M, esq (again, litigation protection - yeah, yeah, we know emails are public domain, but this guy's a bulldog, so you never know)

From: Moldy Chum

Subject: Re: Steelhead picture

Dear L.,

Wicked curveball you deliver sir.  We really respect your passion, but we can only assume you didn't carefully read our commentary on this series of pictures.  It appears we share a similar position and agree that this photo-shoot was indeed disturbing.  It's disappointing that you aren't a bit more familiar with our work - it sounds like we could go to battle together.

In the meantime, you deserve a bit of a spanking on the following:

1) Your "Dear Staff" comment is a bit off - we're two guys and a couple of farting dogs.  No one truly gets paid here and no one is worthy of being called "staff."

2) You have esq attached to your name which tells us you either have a social rank that is like a knight, or a squire or you are an attorney.  We're assuming it's the latter.  That said, don't lawyers usually read between the lines - or read period?

3) We're sorry to have lost you as a reader - or at least a "looker."

4) Modicum is a big word.  We'd respond to it, but have no idea what it means.

5) You forgot to spell check your email - was your paralegal ill that day?

6) Let us know if you need the direct email and/or phone number of our advertisers (that includes marketing team members and/or presidents of said advertisers).   We'd also be more than happy to set up a conference call.  Let's wait till next week though, as we're actually on a 3 day fishing trip with a couple of them right now.  These guys are like brothers - I think you'll like them.

7) Seriously drop us a line anytime - if you applied your feverish passion in the right direction, we could actually impact issues relating to the future of our native runs.  Here's a great piece our good friend Dylan Tomine wrote on the state of Steelhead (which as you can see is hosted, promoted, and supported on Moldy Chum).  There's also some background on other organizations that Moldy Chum heavily promotes and/or makes annual financial contributions to.

Sincerely,

EJR, Chum Editor

P.S. If you are really an attorney, we want to thank you.  It's about time someone actually made us think carefully about what we're writing.

Stay Tuned