Tag Archives: Behind the Trip

Trip News

02.04.21 South Louisiana Behind the Trip Part 3

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The South Louisiana Behind the Trip series continues…

Series Posts

One of the best parts of this trip for me personally was getting to meet some of the Fish Village pro staff in person. 2020 robbed us of just about every opportunity to meet with our team, our customers, our partners… basically humans. We were not alone with this… we know that everyone was basically in the same boat. So the opportunity to see even a handful of the team members was certainly one of my highlights.

The team members present for this event were:

  • Jesse Landry (Nor Cal)
  • Billy Centrone (So. Flo)
  • Sean Rigby (Mississippi)
  • Brian Nelli (So. Flo)
  • Derrick Benton (Pandhandle)

Why do we have a team? Why is that important to us? Because a team is considerably stronger than one. This trip wouldn\’t have happened without the support of a team. Every member of this group regardless of their affiliation to Fish Village acted as a member of a team. It was super cool to see.

This is why I have been taking the time to write my story about this event because everyone made it happen and I want to share my appreciation with all of you.

You guys know about my boy Jesse Landry already… I mentioned him in Part 2. Never met anyone that has a bad thing to say about Jesse… the dude is as solid as they come.

The Fish Village crew came to play, but they also wanted to help in any way possible. Billy without hesitation offered to pickup the Cali boys from the airport and then run them back at the tail end of the trip. Sean worked his ass off with Ivy to secure our incredible, custom Louisiana/Fish Village topwater lures from RD Fishing Tackle. These lures were part of the Redfish tackle packs provided by Fish Village and our partners.

I don\’t think anyone would argue that Brian Nelli was our pro among pros on this trip. His fishing knowledge leads his clients to the promise land year after year, all while competing in kayak fishing\’s biggest tournaments… and often finds himself on the podium. The best part about Brian is that you can just ask for some help and he won\’t be shy with sharing his tactics. Multiple people commented on how fishing with Brian makes them a better angler. Heck of a testimonial.

Our friend and tournament partner in crime, Derrick Benton actually wasn\’t that excited about the fishing aspect of the trip… I mean can you blame him when 3 Mile Bridge is just minutes away? Though the fishing wasn\’t foremost on his mind… the \”hang\” was. The opportunity to mingle, share ideas, talk shit, and laugh with some good kayak fishing minds was the golden ticket for Derrick. The best part about his journey was that he LOVED the fishing despite incredibly challenging conditions AND the social aspect was equally as rewarding. Why mention all of this… because I feel the same way. I wasn\’t hooked on redfishing in the marsh and I just wanted to see some of the people I respect and care about. I ended up walking away with such an appreciation for marsh redfishing and all of these human interactions on and off the water. Ohhh… he also got up before the sun rose and made sandwiches for the group, produced some BEAUTIFUL custom Fish Village rods for yours truly, my Pops and Joe. And if that wasn\’t enough, he and Ivy surprised me with an insane acid wrapped Fish Village rod just to say thank you for being a part of the journey. Simply incredible.

Thank you all for showing up in your own ways and making our team stronger.

The story continues…

Trip News

01.14.21 South Louisiana Behind the Trip Part 2

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The story continues…

Our trip had kayak anglers from all over the country including some of our friends from Central Coast and NorCal. Throughout our trip we referenced our friends from up north as the Cali boys. The name stuck and it was appropriate.

Let\’s start with the Above the Hook Productions crew… Ryan Arguello, Paul Williams and Alex Casillas. We have been on a few adventures together including Panama, San Clemente Island and now South Louisiana. These guys love to kayak fish and film which is perfect for us because we needed to have solid camera coverage all throughout our eighteen (18) person crew.

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Ryan from the ATH crew relaxing with the rest of the team our first night in Louisiana.

The Above the Hook crew did an outstanding job of covering the trip despite the challenges that were thrown at them. The new territory, the stupid relentless winds and a new fishery make for challenging filming conditions, but did that stop them… NOPE.

At one point I had the privilege of bowfishing with Ryan, Paul and Alex (master drone operator) and got to watch them do their thing. From capturing the experience on cell phone videos and bad ass cameras, live social media updates and some of the baddest nighttime drone footage I have ever seen… these boys came to play. Watching them work as a team while we bowfished for redfish in the Louisiana marsh was rad. This moment stood out for me as a moment to remember.

Check out this teaser video they put together and released on Facebook… we love it and we want more!

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Jesse rigging up before our first day on the water.

The other member of the Cali boys crew was our teammate Jesse Landry. Jesse has been a Fish Village ambassador before it was a thing… he has been on a number of our adventures and knows the Above the Hook guys well.

Jesse is the definition of chill. He looks out for others and is a heck of a fisherman. When we were loading up the kayaks into the trailer in Oceanside shortly before we took off for Louisiana, Jesse handed me multiple coolers full of beer and fish. Not just any beer or fish… but good beer and freshly caught and processed salmon, yellowfin tuna, wahoo and halibut. Are you kidding me?

His instructions were simple… share and enjoy. So we brought that beer to Louisiana and shared with our friends and my family has some damn good fish to eat over the next few months.

The funny story behind this generosity was that he was basically a zombie as he didn\’t sleep for 24 hours+ and was hopped up on Red Bull. First thing he did when he saw me was talk shit about my shoes and then hand me a bunch of beer and fish. It was like being slapped and then hugged right after.

Ryan, Paul, Alex and Jesse… thank you for being a part of our village.

To read the first installation of this South Louisiana: Behind the Trip series, click here.

Trip News

12.10.20 South Louisiana Behind the Trip Part 1

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I wanted to focus on my experience and the people that made this trip what it was… this was just as impactful as my first redfish from a kayak. When talking about my fishing travels I often find myself saying that the fishing portion is just a bonus. I sincerely mean that. The joys from my travels most definitely include fishing moments, but the most meaningful and fulfilling are the experiences and relationships that I wouldn\’t otherwise have.

Let\’s start with my road dogs… Joseph Martinez and Steve Ponce aka Pop\’s. Joe worked his ass off to help us advance our web capabilities and drive one hell of a marketing campaign during some trying times. What he accomplished over the last nine (9) months is remarkable and is the reason why we are in a better position to succeed. He did all of that + helped us cover this entire adventure via his Canon R5, iPhone and shared with all of you via Facebook and Instagram. He also ensured that we would only eat the finest food, he figured out gas stops and planned hotel stays. The dude was and is a beast! Thank you homie… Fish Village also says thank you.

So… I call my Pop\’s about two (2) months before the trip and start talking about long drives, good eats… and ummm a 24 ft. trailer. He asked who was gonna drive? I balked and then asked… do you have two (2) weeks to go for a drive? The rest was history. See… my Pop\’s was a truck driver back in the day and is probably the best driver I know. He saw an opportunity to do something cool with his son and driving comes easy to him and I saw an opportunity to do something cool with my Dad and show him what Fish Village is really about annnnnd drive a 24 ft. trailer 4,100 miles across the south. Crazy to think that we rarely played music in the car, we never argued, we never ran out of stuff to talk about and we got to experience the south together. At the end of the day… this road trip was priceless and something I will always cherish. Thanks Dad for driving us wack-a-doodles to Louisiana and back, everyone benefited from your efforts and loved your company.

Before I even knew that this trip was happening, there was a force of energy stronger than my own that refused to lay down when COVID was ruining everyone\’s plans. Ivy Harris started putting a plan together when I wasn\’t even sure that Fish Village had a future. Soon he informed me of this plan and it resonated with me immediately. He got me fired up… he got Joe fired up… he got Sylvia fired up… he got Rob fired up… and that most definitely meant he got Nic fired up too. We needed a kick in the ass and Ivy had the right size boot for the job.

His plan was to construct an incredible team of anglers, assemble in south Louisiana, fish n film and build a lasting program in Louisiana for our customers to enjoy. His plan became a reality on Sunday November 15th, when all eighteen anglers gathered at Deep Delta Bowfishing camp in Plaquemines Parish. At one point I found myself smiling and looking over our group realizing that this wouldn\’t have been possible if it weren\’t for Ivy. I know Ivy sacrificed his free time, made countless phone calls, connected us with incredible people and pushed me to build the best product and customer experience possible. Ivy Harris… thank you for driving this effort and making this incredible experience possible. And one more thank you for the King Cake and for the absolutely over the top custom 85th Day fishing rod. I was floored when you presented that to me.

This trip created opportunities that I just haven\’t had over the last decade. Opportunities to take an awesome road trip, to eat new food, to learn about our country, to experience our country, to meet new people and to fish new waters. This trip pushed my comfort limits, yet I was never uncomfortable. Sure I have heard about southern hospitality and have experienced it through my travels… but not to this extent. It was like a welcome mat was rolled out for us and everyone wanted to talk to us. It was good soup for the soul.

I am going to keep coming with the Behind the Trip posts until I finish my story… sooooo sorry, not sorry.

Louisiana Road Trip 2020 Trip Recaps

Trip News

10.13.20 B.T.T. Louisiana Trip Planning Pt. 2

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If you were to ask me what is at the center of this Louisiana effort, I would say that we are trying to put our best foot forward in our own backyard and connect people from all over the United States to incredible fishing adventures. This means more to us now than ever. Let\’s re-connect with the great fisheries America has to offer.

COVID has been a curse to many, very few have positive things to say about it. With all of that negative comes a few positives. We saw an opportunity to take our trip development program and rapidly build out new domestic locations with everything we have learned over the last few years.

This trip is the culmination of our \”pivot\”… yeah just like Ross said in Friends. This is setting us up for a very interesting 2021 which could see multiple new location and trip offerings.

The Fish Village way dictates that we live the experience. So that is what we are going to f\’n do! We are going to live up the opportunity as if it were our last trip. This means we are going to cram in as much as possible on the road trip, visit as many great people and operations as we can, fish as much as humanly possible and EAT!

We have some incredible partners getting behind this Louisiana program… NRS, Z-Man, BerleyPro, Tasline, Matrix Shad, Buggs Fishing and ActionHat have signed up to make sure that we can provide the best gear for our locations… what a team! This is just the beginning.

To keep up with our Louisiana Road Trip 2020… click here.

Thank you for your continued love and support.

Photo: We want the redfish equivalent in Louisiana… look at Brooks\’ stud snapper, from his recent trip to New Zealand.

Trip News

10.07.20 B.T.T. Louisiana Trip Planning Pt. 1

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This segment is a three (3) part series containing behind the scenes (B.T.S.) information regarding the planning that is going into our Louisiana adventure.

We are getting a lot of questions about what we plan on doing while visiting Louisiana. Are you going to New Orleans, are you fishing the Mississippi River, are you only fishing for redfish and the list goes on and on.

In short, we have worked out just about every detail we can consider ahead of this trip. This means that our focus on this trip is to simply live the experience for ourselves and capture amazing content so that we can tell our story. This is crucial to our process. Most of our customers tell us… we watched you guys on Field Trips w/ Robert Field on YouTube. This is all the motivation we need to keep making great Field Trips content.

We have a lot of California guys coming on this trip to help us connect with the West coast audience. We want to inspire our left coast anglers to get out on the road or to jump on a plane and live the same experience we did.

Fishing Agenda

  • At least three (3) days of fishing with the core team.
  • Up to two (2) additional fishing days with various folks.
  • Primarily inshore fishing for redfish, black drum, sheephead, speckled trout and flounder.

Keep Up With Us

Follow along with Fish Village as we head to Louisiana for a week of marsh fishing with 15 of our closest friends. Joe and Mike will be heading to Houston first for a visit with some friends. We will be posting updates, videos and pics along the way.

Louisiana ROad Trip 2020