Posts
Lets talk about what motivates the man, off the water. Were all witness to your dedication to kayak fishing on the water but what about what makes you tick, off the water and away from a kayak?
A: Actually, when I'm not on the water, I'm usually thinking about the next trip, the next episode of War on Fish, the next article and the next kayak fishing personal milestone. It's pretty safe to say that kayak fishing permeates my life in every way. I try very hard not to think of much else these days, because the other things I'm otherwise forced to think about are not very pleasant. Kayak fishing makes up for that wholesalee. But I do switch off some nights at some hour, usually to watch mixed martial arts (cage fighting), or play a video game every now and then - currently I'm into a bit of Left for Dead 2 (multiplayer zombie slaying mayhem).
I think you’re misunderstood by many, due to your passionate nature toward the sport. Have you a clearer understanding of what you’re trying to represent now as compared to when you first created ‘Yakabout’?
A: Yes, for sure. When I started yakabout I had completely different motives for starting up, yet the end goal wasn't so dissimilar. That started as a journal for my coastal kayak fishing odyssey, which I embarked on to escape the previously mentioned unpleasantness. But even from the start I knew that I'd build it into an online homage for kayak fishing and there was always the underlying theme of promoting the sport. Yakass is far more ambitious really and it's primary purpose is to entertain, educate and inspire. Its secondary purpose is to serve as a platform for other related projects and it's all coming together nicely. I'm a lot more experienced now than what I was back then, so I'm more qualified to speak about more facets of the sport with conviction.
In the situations you find yourself and the waters you frequent we can safely assume you’re pretty tough on your gear. Is there however a massive turnover of products from your personal arsenal we don’t know about?
A: Surprisingly, I don't turn over as much gear as one might think. My Nitro rods, for example, have been with me for years. And although I am tough on my gear, I'm also incredibly vigilant in maintaining it, so that helps me get away with being so rough with it. I've never had a single failure on my mirage drive believe it or not and I've only had 2 of them - one of which has done over 10,000km on the water. A lot of the gear I have upgraded or handed down I have done so not because it fell apart, but because I found something better. I'm a serious gear freak and am always looking for the very best product I can find, from a simple sharpening stone right through to fishing rods, reels and kayaks. I have, however, been through a hell of a lot of lures!
Apart from yourself there are some great Kayak anglers coming out of Melbourne and surrounds (IMO Most notably Scott Lovig and Jason Price). What other areas of Australia are perfect breeding grounds?
A: Port Phillip Bay (my old stomping grounds) is a fabulous kayak fishing destination, because although it's really quite large, it's still enclosed water. No wonder there's some well-practiced guys coming out of there. It's a great place to get started in salt water kayak fishing, but it does get really cold down there - Vic based fishoes are harder than most... especially those that do it in Winter. Loads of really good talent coming out of Sydney and surrounding areas as well. Jervis Bay is another great spot for kayak fisho spawn. It's also really difficult to beat the location I'm based in now (Clarence coast). But really, there are so many quality kayak fishing spots nth of Sydney. I don't think I'd want to live Sth of Sydney ever again though - there's simply more 'glory fish' up this way and I'm all about the tougher fighting fish these days!
Hervey Bay would probably be my pick for the best potential kayak fisho breeding ground in Australia. Loads of options, remarkably calm water a lot of the time and plenty of great fish. Its made for it.
What do you think of Australia’s commercial media commitment towards Kayak Fishing? With all that fucking footage your amassing using your video cameras surely a DVD is coming out soon?
A: Actually, I'm dissapointed with commercial media commitment to kayak fishing in this country. For most of them it's liker fitting square pegs into round holes. In a nutshell, they simply don't understand it. There's plenty of room for a high quality content-rich magazine to come along and steal the show. As for visual media, Rob Pax is doing a fine job introducing kayak fishing to beginners, but there's no other commercial efforts aimed towards intermediate and veteran users. My online kayak fishing show War on Fish was established to help address that and yes, I am not so slowly and surely amassing a plethora of content that will soon be released on DVD. The War on Fish DVD volume 1 is coming, although I can't yet offer an accurate ETA.
I got a tour of the new Hobie factory in Huskisson recently and was completely blown away. Tell us what it was like working in such a prolific and savvy environment and how has it changed your approach toward continuing working in the industry?
A: I learned a lot while working with Hobie, which I did for just over a year and I don't regret that side of it at all. Not only did I get to see what goes on behind the scenes at a manufacturing and wholesaling level, I was fortunate to gain a truly intimate knowledge of the Hobie kayaks and the kayaking/watersports industry as a whole. It wasn't all singing and dancing though - while there plenty of really interesting and enjoyable projects that I was involved with, there was also a hell of a lot of hard work involved to - a lot of it extremely physical (such as unloading containers full of kayaks, stacking them, and then packing trucks with them. I got drawn into more of that kind of work than I would have liked and as time went on I felt as if I could serve the company better in other ways (marketing, web content producing, dealer support, etc), but the opportunities to do so were rarer than I was expecting based upon the initial job description I was given. It was always so busy there - and it's very much an all-hands on deck work environment there, so thats just the way it turned out. All of that physical work also helped turn what was otherwise a sporatic re-occuring injury into a permanent chronic one, and eventually it became too much.
KFA seems to take up a hell of a lot of my time, but like the earlier yakabout it’s a true labour of love. How do you view our little resource here compared to other attempts online and such a monolith like yakass?
A: Because I'm so incredibly busy creating content and managing content at yakass these days I get less time to surf other sites as much as I'd like but I do pop into KFA as often as I can. I think the KFA resource is an excellent one, with some very informative articles, a strong focus on the tournament scene, and also taking up the slack where most other sites neglect (including yakass), such as fresh water fishing for those illustrious trout. I think KFA compliments the other worthy websites tremedously and does well to focus on those areas that the others neglect. I also have a lot of respect for the team you have there and I know you guys know your stuff, so I can trust what I read there aren't just the ramblings of in-experienced 'me-to' community journos. Also no painfully overt biases and awkward elitism 'frowning down on others' that I've detected from a few narrow-visioned sitesthat I see from a few other (what I would call narrow-minded blogs. In a nutshell, KFA has enough inteligence behind it to have a broad approach, without patronising the readers. KFA is here to stay and the approach you guys take has everything to do with it.
I nominated you recently as being one of the craziest men in the kayak fishing scene, worldwide. Humbled I am sure; do you ever consider what you do as dangerous and out of the league of many?
A: Had you asked me that a few weeks ago, I would have downplayed the response, even believing that most kayak fishoes - with the right equipment - could do what I often do. But recent events reminded me that this isn't true. Taking to open water - high seas no less - with a bunch of relative beginngers reminded me of how much they had to learn, and how much my own significant amount of training and experience makes all the difference. As a result of this recent experience I'm now very hesitant to go fishing open water with ill-equipped and poorly experienced yak fishoes. Too much can go wrong for those who don't know what to expect, what can happen, and how to deal with it. They can quickly become a liability, to themselves and others. The whole experience reminded me of how much training and experience I've had that has led up to what I do now, and that before getting too ambitious in open waters, others should be doing the same. I've added a disclaimer to the intro of War on Fish to reflect this.
What’s the future looking like for Josh Holmes and the team at Yakass?
A: For starters, the team at yakass will grow significantly, although as the stakes are raised, I'm probably going to have to very picky about who comes on board. Yakass is a tool for those contributors who wish to use it as such. So far it's provided sponsorhip for a few of those contributors and I'm certain more is to come. Its up to contributors to make of it what they can.
Personally speaking, I can see myself pitching War on Fish kayak fishing show to one or more of the networks in the future (with an aim to introduce sport fishing from a kayak to the masses) and as mentioned earlier, a resulting series of DVDs to go along with it. There are a few other related sideline projects on the ball to (one of which I am working with Holger on, although its way too early to reveal what that is.
Finally, and some point in the future (1 year minimum, 3 years max) I'll be looking to travel the coastline of Australia again, armed with a much better plan, this time with a more capable kayak, a far higher degree of support and with a greater deal of knowledge and experience.
