Dead Drifters Society: A fly fishing podcast

Chasing Dreams: A Global Fly Fishing Adventure with Brian Oakland

• Andrew Barany • Season 2 • Episode 90

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Have you ever wondered what it's like to travel the world, fly fishing in the most exotic and breathtaking spots? Join us as we sit down with Brian Oakland, the founder of a travel agency that specializes in world-class fly fishing adventures. Brian shares his personal journey from conventional fishing in Montana to the heart-pounding world of fly fishing. You'll learn about his early beginnings on the captivating rivers and lakes of Montana to his thrilling escapades on Rivers around the world. His passion for fly fishing is infectious and may ignite a similar desire in your own heart.

Brian's fly fishing agency, Got Fishing, is more than just a travel agency. It's an experience curator. We discuss the pivotal role such agencies play in crafting the perfect fly fishing experience. Got Fishing's strong focus on customer service and its boutique approach to curating top-tier experiences for clients are highlighted. Brian delves into the intricacies of planning and evaluating fishing trips and offers insider tips on understanding species seasonality, ensuring you find them in rivers at just the right time.

International fishing in Patagonia and Argentina. That rolls off the tongue so nicely, doesn't it? Brian shares unforgettable experiences from these exotic locations and the exquisite food they offer. We also chat about dream fishing trips and payment plans, offering invaluable insights to help you maximize your fishing trip and truly understand the value it provides. Whether you're a seasoned angler or a novice, Brian's insights and experiences are sure to leave you longing for your own fly fishing adventure.

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https://instagram.com/gotfishing?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

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https://gotfishing.com/

Brian Oakland :

I can't say enough about fishing over there. Obviously, the fishing is incredible. First fishing as well. It's world-class places such as Jurassic Lake They've got rainbows, they've got Golden Dorado, they've got a world-class brown trout, roped trout, rainbow trout they have incredible fishing. They have a very diverse fishing, from extreme like the Rio Sea, Run, Browns, cold, windy. End result is amazing all the way up where you're in Northern Argentina and you're catching very similar to what we have over here in Montana and Idaho Rivers, creeks, still water, fishing, rainbows, browns, etc. What I think is unique is the people you know. I want to say to all people these people are super cool and these people are not under nine to five.

Intro/ out :

Welcome to Dead Drifter Society, a fly fishing podcast to share information, our adventures and our opinions. We want to see where everyone is at in life and on the water. We'll ask questions and get answers so we can learn everything there is to learn about fly fishing. And now here's your host, andrew Barony.

Andrew Barany:

Welcome back, dead Drifter. On this episode we sit down with Brian Oakland. Brian is an avid angler that has always been chasing the tug and the experience. Who better to start a travel agency that dedicates to world-class fly fishing adventures and making sure that you get the experience you're looking for and to fit inside the budget? So Brian is just such a passionate person and his whole goal with his agency is to ensure that you get the actual trip that you wanted and the kind of stay that you're expecting when you arrive. So we get to know Brian a little bit more. What kind of drove him to starting his agency, and then we get to know all the different levels of experiences that you can reach through him. So really awesome guy. I had a lot of fun chatting with him, so I really hope you enjoy this episode and I will see you down at the end.

Brian Oakland :

Yeah, that one was from the spring run. Yep, okay.

Andrew Barany:

That's a spring run. Yeah, that's not a small spring run. That's crazy.

Brian Oakland :

No, I think he did. Most of the fish that we catch in the spring do enter into the system in around October, november, yeah, winter in the bigger rivers, our Clearwater and our Salmon River and then they start to shoot up the smaller tributaries, south fork of the salmon, the little salmon and so we fish for them on the bigger rivers, starting here in about a month, month and a half, and then in the spring they start running up these tributaries where they spawn and that's when things get, you know little off the hook.

Andrew Barany:

Yeah, yeah, oh, steelhead, keep me up at night, I do enjoy it. My friend just sent me a video. I really reposted it. But it was just this beautiful summer run, just in a big deep pool, just there, and I was like, oh yeah, that's what I'm seeing. I haven't actually landed a summer run. I really like, by the time I was getting good into steelhead I had a kid, so number of days getting out went down. But I find them Cooking them is the other. Usually they're pretty. I swear I get them on the worst days, you know, the days I got to go fishing or the days that fish don't want to play with me.

Brian Oakland :

You know, that's the intrigue about steelhead A fish of a thousand casts, they can be in the water, you can see them in the water. They can turn on, they can turn off, they can be there, they cannot be there. Yeah, they're definitely an interesting fish to chase, for sure, and super rewarding. You know, I definitely think that's where my passion lies is those difficult to catch fish, steelhead permit, you know, things like that on a fly where you may walk away day after day without actually getting it done, but on the day that you do get it done it's pretty rewarding. And then obviously there's those days when everything just lines out, and last spring we certainly had that with the steelhead, where we were in the right place the right time. They were there and the bite was on and it was not a fish of a thousand casts, it was a fish of 50 casts and you were hooked up. So definitely a special moment in the steelhead In my steelhead journey. Those were some great days.

Andrew Barany:

Yeah, well, just because you started that so beautifully, well, the podcast has already started, I just decided. So welcome aboard, brian. Thanks for coming on. Yeah, so I want to kind of know where you started. Where did your fly fishing career kind of start, and how did that all unfold?

Brian Oakland :

You know, my fly fishing career started in Montana, where I was born and raised. I grew up fishing in Sealy Lake, montana, where my parents had a second home, just a small little cabin on a little mountain lake right outside the Bobmore's wilderness. Then I grew up like a lot of anglers did, bait fishing, bobber, marshmallow worms, throwing treble hooks and daredevil and meps and stuff in the river. So I really grew up conventionally and then when I was in my late teens I started fly fishing, a little bit because of some friends that I had over in Missoula, and then, probably about my early to mid-20s, I really got serious about it. The addiction kind of began to take hold, started fishing some really unique rivers that you hear about all the time, like the Blackfoot or the Bitterroot or the Moe, and I just had the luxury of having those out my back door and I kept hearing all these stories about people out there that are fly fishing. I jumped in headlong and the rest is history.

Andrew Barany:

Yeah, that's an addicting thing, isn't it it?

Brian Oakland :

really is. Yeah, there's just so many different avenues with fly fishing that you can get into whether it's just enjoying a day out there catching fish, pretty much knowing how to cast, knowing the right bug, all the way down to some of these guys that really, really understand even some of these flies that are being tied right now. I mean, they're artists, they're not just fly tires, they're truly artists. So some of these fly rod makers that are making incredible bamboo rods, and so there are a lot of different levels to fly fishing and you can dive into it as much as you want. I mean, it really is a sport that so many people can take to different levels, kind of depending on where they're at in life and how passionate they are about the sport.

Andrew Barany:

Yeah, yeah, and it's really cool too to see, like when I was a little bit younger and I learned about fly fishing in the sense of hearing about it, it was something that was almost unattainable for my price range at the time, but then, as I got older, things were a little more affordable because we had a job.

Andrew Barany:

But also now you're seeing companies that build different tiers for pricing so like anyone can get into fly fishing, where I feel like you know, when it was talked about when I was younger, it was, you know, either someone that was retired or wealthy or whatnot. And yeah, so now you're just seeing all these like young kids, like I had a 13 year old on my raft the other day. He was decent and he was just fired up the whole time. And like seeing that kid, just, you know, hooking into a fish and like, instead of setting the hook, he would just jump, you know, like with pure, pure excitement, on like a 16 inch cutthroat, which to me was like I was just breathtaking. It was so fun to see that. But yeah, what was your? Do you remember your first fish that you targeted with a fly rod?

Brian Oakland :

You know, I don't necessarily remember the first fish, but I definitely remember the first river that I was on. It was the Bitter Road River up outside of Hamilton. We were right between Darby and Hamilton and the Arnav Drift Boat and we were catching Westlope cutthroat and great ones too, like really nice 16, 18 inch cutthroats. And that's where probably the addiction are not win. But why the addiction set in was because, yeah, the take it was a trestle season, it was late August and the fishing was incredible that day. The fish were amazing, the scenery, I mean the whole nine yards. And so, yeah, that was my first real fishing experience. I may have caught one or two or three small ones hiking or something on a fly rod, but my true fly fishing, my first true fly fishing experience where I really was like this is a sport for me, was on the Bitter Road River.

Andrew Barany:

Yeah, right on. So you've had where. You know, that's what I'm fishing for right now is the Westlopes, and they're an interesting fish. They're so cool and the way that they take your eyes when nothing's happening and yeah, they're pretty aggressive too. Like I love when you can see like you don't even see the fish, but then all of a sudden you see him, like take two takes at it, or like come back, go away and then like smash it all of a sudden. You're like how aggressive is that? That's so cool. I agree, yeah. And then so from there, like roughly, how old were you when that was that experience was happening?

Brian Oakland :

You know, like I said, probably mid-20s I was going to school in.

Brian Oakland :

North Sea, montana and my couple of my roommates were really into fly fishing. They've grown up in Hamilton. They were good at it. It was something that they were doing as a weekend hobby and, you know, it just drugged me along on day and said we're going to do this. And I was big into rafting and other water sports, like I said, grew up fishing, so it wasn't like they had, you know, pusher, pull me too much. But yeah, that was probably my first experience was mid-20s grown to school at the University of Montana and not on the river that day and never looked back.

Andrew Barany:

Yeah, yeah. And then you basically like got into it and so you're in Montana. I mean, that's not a bad place to be if you want to do some fly fishing. Yeah, I got pretty lucky. Yeah, what was the kind of progression in species? Like, has it always been trout or did it kind of? Because I know you said like saltwater stuff, but I'm assuming that came a little bit later.

Brian Oakland :

Yeah, it did, it did. Yeah, it was primarily trout. You know that's what we have over there rainbows browns cutthroat, like you were talking about a little earlier. You know there are both trout in the river. We don't target them down here in the United States like you guys do there up in Canada, but yeah, primarily targeting still water fisheries, a lot of creeks, a lot of rivers and you know those fisher hold and your rainbows cutthroat brown. So that was pretty much what I was fishing after.

Andrew Barany:

Yeah, I mean that's, I haven't been to Montana yet, but it's definitely one of the destinations on the list. There's now so many. With this podcast. I just you know there's so many states that I wouldn't have even thought were a fly fishing state or like a. And then I'm like, wow, you know, pennsylvania for some reason was one of the bigger shockers for me. When I started talking to people out there I was like that's insane, the amount of you know waterways that they have out there East coast has a ton, yeah, yeah, there's a.

Brian Oakland :

There's a lot of cool fishing out there. Obviously, montana, idaho, wyoming has a reputation, but there are a lot of fisheries out there that people don't necessarily think about. Arkansas, yeah, and having incredible fishing.

Andrew Barany:

Yeah, and then I guess let's talk a little bit about steelhead, because it's both of our little bit of a passion for us. Where did that all start?

Brian Oakland :

That started when I moved to Idaho. I was born and raised in Montana. I moved over to Idaho in the late nineties and I lived in a town called McCall, which is about central Idaho, and it is located about 45 minutes from the Salmon River. Salmon River trace it back, well, it's from salmon to the snake snake to the Columbia, columbia to the ocean. So we do have a connection for salmon and steelhead to get into Idaho, something that Montana does not have, so really unique to Idaho.

Brian Oakland :

And being 45 minutes away from the Salmon River, I just naturally got drawn to it and had a buddy of mine take me out there one day. We grabbed some eight weights and again just lucky you know caught it on that day. They had moved into a small river. We could see them. I never landed one, but definitely you know kind of thought the power of of we were. We were chasing what to call them a run fish at that time. So they're roughly about 22 to, although get as big as 28,. These were 22 to 26 inches and just a ton of fun.

Brian Oakland :

And then from there the real addiction on that one started. I really fished hard for steelhead for probably six or seven years Any way that you could, whether it was, you know, starting off swinging in early fall, moving to a Bobrin jig in the wintertime January, february and then picking an eight weight rod back up in spring and fishing for them in the smaller rivers when they moved up. So I don't do it quite as much just because I'm venturing into kind of some other stuff and traveling a lot more. But yeah, steelhead was my thing for a very long time, still is, as you saw from the, from the picture that that was just put out, we still really enjoy steelhead and do it every year. Try to get up there two, three, four times a year to the different rivers that we fish. Yeah, I'm a steelhead junkie, for sure.

Andrew Barany:

Yeah, yeah. And they're just such a unique species in terms of, like you know, numbers, and like the dedication it really takes and the understanding of your watersheds, and then, like that day that it finally happens, and no matter how prepped you are, your heart's pounding, you're scared for your life. You know it's a yeah, it's a special species for sure. So, moving on from steelhead, you got drawn to what next? What was the next kind of venture after steelheading?

Brian Oakland :

You know because I've got fishing. I was really introduced to saltwater. It wasn't something that I had done a ton of, but we were now carrying saltwater adventures and so that was something that I needed to start getting figured out a little bit. So started going down to the Ascension Bay probably a decade ago and immediately fell in love. And for the listeners that don't know where Ascension Bay is, basically it's a Punta Island is what you would look up, and it's about a three, three and a half hour shuttle from Cancun, half of it by van, half of it by boat if you're lucky, or if it's during the day, and then in the evening it would be all by van or shuttle. And a very unique place, kind of a third world-ish location, and just the people there are amazing. I'm just really really cool. People Guy's are amazing and the fishery is world-class. And it's world-class for both beginners and experts. Experts can catch what's called the Grand Slam. You know, a permit, a tarpon, a snook and a bonefish all in one day. And for the beginning beginner saltwater angler, it just gives you a lot of opportunities. So you're probably not going to catch a permit right off the bat, although it does happen. It gives you a lot of chances where a lot of the locations you go to seeing a permit you know is lucky, let alone being able to cast to it, let alone multiple casts or multiple opportunities when the Ascension Bay really, over a six-day period, is going to give you numerous typically numerous shots of permit. You're going to crush the bonefish. If it's May, june, july and August, you've got the shot of the big tarpon. Other seasons you're catching the baby tarpon and snook, so you've got a full menu there. It really is a cool place, easy to get to, and so that turned into my next addiction and passion and so we went down down there seven years in a row and then started going down twice a year in February and May, and then last year was the first year that I didn't go only again because just other things that you know, other places that I'd love to that I need to get to and get back to, such as Argentina, patagonia. We're heading over to Christmas Island, we can talk a little bit about that.

Brian Oakland :

But, yes, love the saltwater fishing, love the challenge that it presents. You know very much like, like trout fishing there's the opportunity to catch an easy fish and then there's the opportunity, you know you can really chase that elusive giant brown, using different techniques, you know. Or going to a still water fishery and targeting some large fish that may not be easy to catch but they're there and that's kind of the way it is with saltwater where you can go catch a bonefish. Pretty much anybody can catch a hungry bonefish. Feel the power, go into your backing and have a blast. It's great time.

Brian Oakland :

But then this other opportunity to go, you know, really target a permit, kind of the bull elk, of archery, you know, I can see, you know, when people say, well, what's it compared to Michael, if you have an archery hunting for elk, it's similar. Right, it's very exciting, lots of opportunities present themselves, but actually getting it done is very, very difficult. And so, yeah, just like kind of steelhead fishing, this is just a different level, very, very similar as far as the difficulty and you know obviously completely different styles. But getting it done is, you know, fishing with a thousand casts for sure. Oh, man, on the permit. But yeah, I love the diversity of fishing.

Andrew Barany:

Yeah, you name so many of the places too that are on my list, so we'll talk about a few of them, but I am kind of curious about how got fishing started off, and is it you that started it off, and the history.

Brian Oakland :

Yep. So got fishing is a booking agency for fishing adventures around the world. We also do some hunting as well. We're not the only booking agency out there, you know. I'd say the 800 pound gorilla in the market would probably be Yellow Dog, and then there's other you know great agencies out there as well. Tailwaters is another one that I'm a big fan of, and really the essence of using a booking agency, whether it's got fishing or any of the others, is we are your insurance policy to make sure that you're on the exact fishing or hunting adventure that you're looking to be on. You know, at least with got fishing, everything that we do for you is 100% free. You never spend a dime extra for the adventure that you're going on. So if you get on a website and the price is three grand or five grand or 5300, that's exactly how much you know we charge. So how do we get paid? You know the outfiter takes care of us on the back end because they see the value of us working with the consumer. You know dispersing information in a quick manner, being able to get on the phone and go over detailed questions.

Brian Oakland :

Outfitters lose a lot of business because of their inability to address people's questions in a timely manner. People are out there on Google, they're googling Alaska lodges or Argentina lodges or whatever it might be, and they're just built out information and if you can't get back to those people in a timely fashion, you know about something that they're excited about. Someone else will, and so that's what Godfishing does is make sure that when you're looking for a fishing trip, we're there to answer any questions that you have, and really our goal is to make sure that you're on the exact trip that fits your budget, your skill set, you know, and your desired experience, and we're not really we're divorced from what lodge you want to go to, you know, or what lodge we have available, which lodge you would like to go to and what which lodge experience best fits what it is that you're looking for. So that's what Godfishing does, and how I got you know why I why I got involved in it was I am an entrepreneur. I've had developments and helped other companies, really you know, take their companies to next levels, and through that, I always kind of wanted to have a hobby company, something that I really enjoyed. I also wanted to build something literally from scratch, you know, have to build the database, have to build the Instagram, have to build the trips and reach out to the different outfitters and go actually experience them, and so really build something from the ground up. And so, you know, I also wanted to provide a service that was of true value.

Brian Oakland :

And, having grown up in Montana, my dad was a lucky enough to be a fishing game commissioner for the state of Montana, and so I was lucky enough to be connected with a lot of different ranches and outfits and least land and kind of see how these different operations ran, and I got to see how they were well run and how they were not well run and heard the horror stories of guys at these trade shows and gals. But guys and gals who were looking for a great experience would go to these different trade shows and drop four to $10,000 on a hunting and fishing adventure and get burned, burned a variety of different ways, whether it was, you know, not a great camp or a lodge that was, you know, run down, or the staff wasn't up to speed, or the food wasn't or, worse, you know, the fish or the animals that you're looking for aren't there, you know, as it was sold to you. So these things are not inexpensive, as a matter of fact, in many instances they're very expensive and going on a trip that you have prepared for and planned for and all this excitement goes into it and it doesn't meet your expectations awful, and so you know. I thought, wow, what a great company. I'd heard about these other agencies. I come from a customer service background and so really that's what I would like people to think of when they think about.

Brian Oakland :

Godfishing is not just a booking agency, but a customer service agency that happens to sell fishing and hunting adventures. We truly are there to take care of you. Our goal is to make sure that you're on the best experience possible period, and I wouldn't say that we have a ton of reviews. You know we don't have hundreds of them, but if you get on our Google review or if you get on Facebook, you'll see that we have nothing but five star reviews and you can tell from our clients that they know we really do care, you know.

Brian Oakland :

So I think that's the biggest difference about us and maybe the competitors is just our level of care and how we provide that is. We're a boutique agency. So I always joke. We're not the red robin like some of these other booking agencies out there where they're selling any and every trip out there. We have a select few. We have a nice menu of Alaska to Argentina, to Mexico, to Montana and Idaho, so something for every budget out there. But we try to keep things, you know slim down to the best of the best, not necessarily the most expensive, but just the best experiences you know possible to make it easier for the end consumer to help them decide, you know, what's the best for them.

Andrew Barany:

Yeah, you brought up a lot of good points that I've kind of thought about, because, you know, I haven't been guiding for very long.

Andrew Barany:

But sometimes people come in with expectations and they're like, oh, you know, this is the situation I want and I'm like you're not in the right season for it.

Andrew Barany:

Or, like you know, there's something in my mind that's like, oh, 100%, and that's going to be very tough to fulfill. I haven't had many of those, but there's always you know the high expectations and when I always think about it, I'm like, well, especially for Vancouver Island, either that person flew or they took a ferry, and maybe they're not extremely wealthy, so like the money they've spent that could have been saved up for who knows how long. So, like if I wanted, let's say, a tarpon trip, and I was like no, I want to see, like I don't even care if I land it, but I want to see one of these, like you know, 80 plus pound tarpon, and I said I want to go in this time, but it was not the time, then you would be like, hey, that's not the time for it and you'd maybe send me the right way kind of thing, versus just taking the paycheck and call it a day?

Brian Oakland :

Yeah, 100%. We actually obviously joking a little bit around there, but we run into that with salmon all the time. Like people will say you know, I want to get up to Alaska in early June to catch salmon. You know, can you have something? That's? You know, a lot of lodges are open in early June but there aren't a lot of salmon in the system in early June. It's just the way it is. And so knowing when the salmon are going to be there, knowing when they typically have arrived in years past, it's not, it's not science, but it's damn close and every river is a little bit different.

Brian Oakland :

So you'll hear guys say, oh, my body was up there up in Alaska, which is huge, and you know they were catching pings in early June at this place, where maybe on the Knack-Knack River they're not arriving in early June, maybe it's mid June to late June, and so there is a lot of educating that goes on and you know it's just the truth. There's a lot of lodges out there that are open every single week during the season and there are not salmon in the system or a lot of salmon, or your what you would be, what you would expect to, you know. See, when you get up there every single week, it's a traveling fish who is there today. It's gone. You know. It was there yesterday, gone today, and so here today, gone tomorrow.

Brian Oakland :

Whatever that is the point is is that, yes, you could have a body that was there last year on a particular river catching it, and now you're on a different river and there's a lot of outfitters that are out there that are just selling weeks, it doesn't matter, and they just make it happen with a couple silvers or a couple of soft guy and a rainbow here and there. And those are the horror stories that we do hear about all the time, because, a Alaska is the dream trip. You know, that's the one that everybody dreams about going to. And B Alaska is now very expensive. I mean, your inexpensive trips are expensive. So you definitely have to be careful in Alaska. And I would say, yeah, that's where we earn it. There's a lot of people up there that if they're heading up there to get burned and you know, luckily we got our hands on them and help them get weeks that we're going to fulfill their expectations.

Andrew Barany:

Yeah, yeah, oh well, no, and that sounds just perfect because you know sometimes it's really like you said. You know, like on Vancouver Island, for example, you know we know windows of times where fish will be somewhere and either it's the rain we're waiting for or something. But if you're traveling for Vancouver and you don't have a friend on the island, you could show up you know two days too early or you know a week too late or something. So it's fishing, like you were saying, it's a window, especially salmon, who are? You know they get in the rivers and they're heading to spawn. So you know, and you don't really want to be like, hey, $10,000 catch or spawn to fish, that's not exactly what people are looking for. But yeah, that's good. And then the passion that I can hear from you is really like that's important, like you were saying, and that's clearly it's your little baby project. Well, I guess. So how long have you had got fishing? How long has that been around?

Brian Oakland :

You know, got fishing has been around since 2000, late 2017. I would say, you know, really it came around 2018.

Andrew Barany:

Right, on, and so you've just been, like you said, you kind of go to these places as well and actually get a feel for them and make sure you understand the whole system and what's really at play.

Brian Oakland :

We don't sell one trip that we have in someone on our team hasn't experienced so slept in the beds, caught the fish, ate the food so that we can really give a firsthand view to the you know, to their consumer, the person who's interested in the trip, of what that experience is about. So, yes, where we've gone to every single launch before we'll actually sell it or represent it. So, in addition to that, we do hosted trips to. You know, we haven't been to every large, but we try to do hosted trips to most of the lodges We've gone, you know, we've done them in Mexico, we've done them in Alaska, we've done them in Argentina, we've done them in Sweden, we've done them all over. Are we still have? We're doing one in Christmas Island, may 7th through the 14th 2024.

Brian Oakland :

There's a little pitch. So, yeah, we do do hosted trips where we rent out the entire lodge for that week and then bring a bunch of got fishing clients or people that are interested in traveling with us and we go to these different lodges and just have a blast. So yeah, we make sure that's part of being a boutique booking agency as well, is we really have a great relationship with every one of our lodges. So I think that makes a huge difference too with the clients that we bring. I mean, all of the lodges that we represent. Take care of all of the clients to show up with. You came up, came through, got fishing or not, but you know, I would like to think that the clients have got fishing. The carpet is a little bit redder just because of how many people that we do book at these different lodges and the relationships that we have with the owners.

Andrew Barany:

Now finish, yeah, yeah, I can understand that it's yeah, that's good.

Andrew Barany:

And then so, like when you're because obviously, like you said, you have a short list of like destinations that you've made very good connections with and then so now you're kind of looking for the others, but they don't all make the cut. When I think of like a guiding experience you know, before I started guiding it was like oh yeah, getting fish, but you've mentioned it now a couple of times like where you're sleeping, the food, and those are some pretty important aspects to the whole journey, because you know, if you get somewhere and it's good fishing, but then you got terrible food, like that can really put an impact on your whole mental state, let's say, about the trip. So would you find that like to make the cut if I was like a lodge or something? The things you're looking for is just like a good, solid, clean area that's, you know, nice or beautiful, and then the food and then the staff, like you were saying. That's that kind of the tears you look at when we're talking, not about fishing or outside. Yeah, yeah.

Brian Oakland :

So I mean Godfishing. We represent, you know, kind of that all inclusive experience, right? Yeah, so typically lodge base although we do have to do some rafting and, you know, under the starch type trips but yes, it's an all inclusive trip where the food, the lodging, the equipment, the boats, the planes, whatever it might be, is provided. So yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That being said, what makes the cut or not is you can have terrible food if you have really great fishing. Or and the customer knows, the client knows that the food is not the best but the fishing is outrageous, like it's worth it.

Brian Oakland :

Or Christmas Island has definitely changed, but that's a great example of a place that the lodges didn't necessarily have air conditioning, the water was a little bit subject, the food wasn't real great because it was a third world country that had first class, world class fishing and so people knew, going over there, what to expect. And I think that that's what's most important in what God fishing really strives to do is make sure that you know exactly what this trip entails. Yes, most of them. You don't need to have comfortable lodging, good food, great guides and good equipment. But we do have some places where you know you're going to travel a little bit to a special location and all of those factors may not be there, but the big factor, you know, the worse some conditions are, the better the fishing is going to be. That's always the case, yeah.

Andrew Barany:

I guess that's true. As long as the fishing, you know the whole reason we're heading out to these places. Yeah, it's got to be decent. So Patagonia, that's something that I'm like planning to make my way out there in the next year or two. I have a couple of friends there while they're here, but they want to bring me back with them when they head back. What's the experience like for you? Like when you went out there for your first time or you know however many times you went?

Brian Oakland :

I can't say enough about, you know, fishing over there. I mean, obviously the fishing is incredible. And first, fishing as well. It's world-class places such as Jurassic Lake you know, they've got rainbows, they've got. Golden Dorado, they've got, you know, world-class brown trout, brook trout, rainbow trout. I mean it's they have incredible fishing. What? And they have a very diverse fishing, from extreme like the Rio Sea, run Browns, cold, windy, and result is amazing all the way up. You know where you're in, like Northern Argentina, and you're catching, you know, very similar to what we have over here in Montana and Idaho rivers, creeks, still water, fishing, rainbows, browns, et cetera. What I think is unique is the people. You know, I went and I said, oh, these people are super cool and these people are not on a nine to five clock like are like no offense to you, but like a lot of the guides and outfitters are in the United States. Man, maybe it's different up in Canada, but certainly in the US it's a nine to five type deal. You know, it's a nine to three type deal.

Brian Oakland :

And then when I'm done, I'm in my Toyota with my Labrador and my Yeti Cooler heading on down the road to the local bar to drink some IPA. You know that I can't pronounce. Over there they'll literally sit down and have a beer with you, like after hours. They hang out. They ask those second, third, fourth layer questions. You know it's not just you have kids. What are your kids do? How old are your kids? What sports do they play? Do they fish? They genuinely engage in conversation.

Brian Oakland :

I'd say that's one of the things that makes the place really special, and every place I've been to has been that way. I'd say the other thing that makes it unique is the food. Maybe it's just that I'm so used to the food you know in the United States and Alaska and stuff, and it's fish or steak or whatever some pastas, but over there it's just unique. It's just different food. You know, lunches are a big deal over there, so it's kind of your main course light breakfast, big big lunch and then a lighter dinner. Yeah, just exquisite stuff.

Brian Oakland :

And then the things that they, you know, think are important versus you know, what we see is important over here in the United States. There's a lot more things that are not taken for granted over here, where I think they do get taken for granted over in the US, and so there's just a lot of high attention to detail over there and just a sense of gratitude to have you as a client, and that would be the one thing I would say. That disappoints me about some of our US guides is that, like it's a privilege to be in my boat, it's a privilege to be on this river, and you know people don't like that. That's just not a good attitude to have. And we have that over here in your Montana's in Idaho.

Brian Oakland :

These young kids who are lucky to get a job on the Madison or some special river and honestly they think their shit does in the stink because of it and really they only know how to fish that river. You know, they're just good at it because they fish it every day. It's that kind of an attitude versus just a real grateful attitude to have you in my boat or to be able to fish with you that day and you feel it. You definitely feel it.

Andrew Barany:

I work with someone from Chile and everything you're saying just describes how he is. You know, we've worked now with two and they're just such genuinely amazing people. You know, one sort of you moved on to a different job, yet we still talk and we still like genuinely cares about how. You know, like how are you doing and I'll be like good, and he'll be like no like what's going on with you right now, and it's you know, it's. I know what you mean, so yeah.

Brian Oakland :

To us. We're polite, it's all good and it's not like we don't mean. You know the question that we're asking, but we're quick to move on. Yeah, we're quick to move on and they're they value time with you. Yeah, okay, social media and some of those other things don't seem to be as big a deal as it is for us here in the United States. There's a lot of distractions for us over here. A lot of appreciation over there, yeah, Amazing.

Andrew Barany:

So, yeah, that's Patagonia, now Argentina. That's a pretty. I guess that's close to there.

Brian Oakland :

right yeah, Patagonia is just a region of Argentina.

Andrew Barany:

Yeah, exactly so that's kind of in the same wheelhouse all of that. That whole area of Patagonia, you feel is the same kind of vibe 100%.

Brian Oakland :

Yeah yeah, just different territory, different terrain, same people, though.

Andrew Barany:

Yeah, what was one of the cooler places you've been that let's exclude Patagonia now that like it was kind of just draw dropping. I know Christmas Island is one of them, so we'll exclude that as well. But what's another kind of destination place that you went to and we're just blown away at the whole atmosphere and being there.

Brian Oakland :

You know, the number one place that I have been to is Jurassic Lake in Argentina. That is the most mind-blowing place that I've been to the location of it, getting there, how remote it is, how big the fish are, the people, how cool the lodge is, considering how remote it is. I would definitely say that of all of the experiences that I've been to, jurassic Lake Estancia Laguna Verde is the lodge is by far my favorite trip. For sure. I went to a very special place in Alaska Intrace Bay Lodge, and what makes them unique is the diversity of fishing opportunities that they do.

Brian Oakland :

Brian runs an incredible operation. He has two lodges over there. One of them is an Orvis and Dorse Lodge and then right across the bay, right on the other side really of the island, is a little bit more rustic setup. That's just absolutely incredible. It's actually my favorite of the two lodges. That place is incredible because you can either do flyouts every day or they have this package, which is my favorite, which is called the Lodge and Stars.

Brian Oakland :

You basically show up in your Florida and the back country. You spend three days on these remote rivers that are just pretty much untouched, although you do see some people. You really get an opportunity to spend time in the deep back country of Alaska, just like you see in the magazine or on the Discovery Channel. Then you fly back to be pampered in one of the lodges and do flyouts or jet sleds up some of these cool rivers and chase giant rainbows and pods of salmon. That's definitely a special one because of, again, one many year in a boat the jet sled, next many year in a raft, next many year in a beaver Definitely a cool place. My good friend Abe Blair is the manager up there. They have a really, really amazing team as well. I think that that's one of the things that makes them special.

Andrew Barany:

Yeah, I had someone on from Alaska a dry fly, john Johnson. He was explaining how you get to the lodge and you basically get to choose Do you want to go fly somewhere, or do you want to go on a jet, or do you want to do a drift? You got options which, to me, that's almost hard to fathom. It's such a cool thing to be at one lodge and just be like I'm doing that today, tomorrow I'm going to do this, next day I'm going to take a day off, then I'm going to go do that. Such an experience, wow. I'm fired up right now just thinking about it, just making my brain a little hazy, but that's good. Then out in Europe. I think he said something in Europe. I don't remember what it was. What was it Did?

Brian Oakland :

you say We've done two hosted trips over in Sweden.

Andrew Barany:

Sweden.

Brian Oakland :

Yeah, I actually was not the host on those. We had partnered up with a guy that is an amazing angler and skier. He does some trips over in Italy, in Argentina, on the skiing side. He's also a culinary chef. We partnered up to do this Sweden trip. That's an incredible deal. It's kind of a culinary tour. We got helicopters, sweat lodges, catching, keep brown trout that you're keeping and then preparing in a really, really cool way. Very special trip First year that we did it. It was such a hit that we ended up bringing it back. They actually just got back two weeks ago. We'll probably end up doing that trip a third time. For any listener out there that's interested in doing a very unique hands-on culinary fishing tour to another country, stay tuned, we might have that back up in a few months, wow.

Andrew Barany:

I know I've talked to someone that was from Italy and talking about the fishing out there, but you got saltwater as well. There's quite a bit of fishing opportunity out there. From what I gathered, is that trip, mostly on trout, that you're talking about.

Brian Oakland :

That one is yeah, 100% on trout, okay, yeah.

Andrew Barany:

That's super exciting. In this next year or two coming, what's the other destinations you're going to check out yourself?

Brian Oakland :

Well, I am going to Christmas Island. I have not been there yet. We are totally going to Christmas Island. It's been closed for three years. I'm working with a new lodge. That is a two owners one out of Montana, one out of Idaho that have a background in destination lodges, purchased a rundown lodge in Christmas Island, remodeled during the pandemic and really took care of a lot of the third world issues that Christmas Island comes with, and so it is an incredible place. Obviously, the fishery has always been incredible, and now this lodge is completely remodeled fresh food, filtered water, everybody has their own bungalow, air conditioning, and so we've been doing a lot of bookings for a Christmas Island trip, and then we've decided to do a hosted trip over there as well, but we're taking 10 guests actually nine over there May 7th through the 14th 2024. And people can jump on our website to learn more about that. There's an introductory pricing as well. Everybody's saving about 750 bucks. So there's a lot of kind of cool reasons to jump on this, whether it's through our hosted trip or just get it booked here in the next few months. And then we also did a live webinar that we can also share with people to give them a real good idea and some insight as to what the lodge looks like and the bungalows and location to water. So I'm really excited about that. That area, that location, was closed for the past three years and it just opened up a few months ago. So super cool place, really unique. Again, haven't stepped foot on the island, but I'm really looking forward to it. So that's on the agenda for the next year.

Brian Oakland :

We'll be back up in British Columbia, your neck of the woods. We're just in the north at Sand Spit Island on the Higway. Yeah, chain up there, jason Sam in the halibut and Linkard Probably one of our more popular trips, for sure. It's a low cost, high value. It comes home with 50, 60, 70 pounds of fresh fish. We did a hosted trip up there last June, took out the whole lodge. It was a really great experience and I've had a lot of plans Say, let's do that again. Yeah, so back up to Canada.

Brian Oakland :

We will be back in Argentina in January of this year for a hosted trip and then I'm also going over to what's called the River Cruiser and that's also in Argentina and that's a live aboard Lodge on a Paraná River and that pulls four to six skips behind it and then during the day, you go chase Golden the Rado. So you live on the boat, sleep on the boat, you get on the boat and then during the day, you jump on your skiff with your guide and Go chase Golden the Rado. I'll be doing that in January as well. So that's what we got teed up, and then I Probably end up, you know, hanging out around here chasing steelhead. We got some stuff going on a pyramid lake. I'll put the batta yeah and we'll be bringing a trip out any day now. So, as this podcast launches, people can jump on our website and learn about this new trip that we'll have at pyramid lake, and that's gonna be super cool.

Andrew Barany:

Oh man, yeah, pyramid lake. It's drastically like whoo let's get me my blood boiling for sure. Big fish and just fiery. It's so cool. Like you're saying at the beginning, you know there's so many different tiers and levels and you know when your experience grows and you're want for bigger or more More intense or whatever it be, there's something out there for you which is just truly incredible. I get to do, I've done salt water off the island and I Actually was doing commercial fishing in Haida Guay, so I do know the areas you're talking about. That was the first time I ever thought I need to be a guide, because I would watch the guides go back and forth.

Intro/ out :

Yeah, that's your fish.

Andrew Barany:

Well, I'm like slaving out there, you know, doing my thing, but no, it's. It's all incredible and you know, you start now and you start saving up for these things and you can make just an incredible dream Come true. And so I guess we talked to you and we we get that dream going. That's beautiful.

Brian Oakland :

And I'll say, since you brought it up, the dream is not as difficult as many people make it out to be, like you really just Contact us and and figure out how to do it, because not only like just just a couple tips and tricks. Right now Most people are booking like three to six months out. I booked people out a year, a year and a half. It helps them get prime dates. It also helps them spread payments out and also, you know, give get plain tickets less expensive. It's a lot of us have significant others jobs, kids and so it just helps us better for plan and prepare for stuff like that. Instead of six months out all seems to happen real fast. It's a lot of money to put out in that short period of time. So one of them is extend the trip out, don't go next season, go the season after and a lot of people will say, oh, that's such a long ways out really.

Brian Oakland :

How long have you been wanting to go on this trip that you haven't gone on? Yeah, years and so years are only going to continue to go by. Mark my word if you don't book a trip, I tell people all the time the best way to make this happen is to just do it like that Nike commercial. It usually most, most experiences are a 50% down and then the other 50% Doesn't do. Tell you about 16 days out from the experience. So it's a great way of spreading it out.

Brian Oakland :

And then what Godfishing did because, again, we truly, truly want you to be on that experience is for the right people.

Brian Oakland :

We do have a zero interest payment plan to help make sure that you're on that trip, and that's obviously a conversation we need to have.

Brian Oakland :

But we do have a program for certain people and know you don't have to have amazing credit and we don't do credit checks and all that other stuff. It's it's a conversation and then, based on that, we make something happen. But we do have a payment plan that we've designed a zero interest for the list, or zero interest payment plan for people that are, you know, maybe don't have that month-to-month Cash flow but have an ability to put a little bit aside and really, really want to make this dream happen. We are going to work with you to make that happen. Yes, most of our clientele have the money in the time, but our most valued customers, most valued clients, are the ones that are really trying to make this experience happen. And, you know, it just seemed to value it a little bit more, and so we love the father and sons, the mother daughter, we love the graduation and we love the once in a lifetime to Alaska's and we really take it serious.

Andrew Barany:

So, yeah, I was some real words of the wise. How many trips I've went and cooked in my head but never actually did, because you know, and then same like you said, you know it's always next season, oh I'm going to go there, and then you know, don't actually set anything up, and then you know I'm still sitting here not doing that trip. So yeah, that's a really that's a big one, right there.

Brian Oakland :

They're not inexpensive. They're more affordable though than people think, if you do it right. Yeah, that's another thing. I think us fishing consultants do that and we're better at than the outfitter is kind of figuring out how to make this trip happen and, just with a little bit of creativity, and discussing what would work for you, your significant other, your schedule, your vacation, your budget, and then work backwards and Put something together that's going to work for you.

Andrew Barany:

Yeah, is that straight, like no matter? You know well, not no matter. But when you put something in your mind and you've actually put it, you know, in effect it always happens. It always starts to go like always. You know, I used to think when I was young, before I really had a job, I mean I might have just started my job, but I always seem to have money for the things I really wanted, but then never really had money. So, like you can always make things happen, but you actually have to, like you said, figure out the plan, how you're going, when you're going to get there, and then Slowly pitch at it and then next, you know, years go by, like you're saying it will happen. So you're on hundreds and hundreds of trips.

Brian Oakland :

I've never ever had a client call and say they didn't have the money for the second deposit. And I think you know what you were saying. There's a whole new, a whole other podcast about you know. You know, cascading that energy out there and everything just kind of you know Comes, comes to make that happen. But it's so true.

Brian Oakland :

It is so true that the only thing that you need to do Obviously you got to be smart about it but get it booked. Get it booked and everything will just come together. You know, do your little Google flight thing and set your price and you'll wake up one morning and your plane ticket will be at that price. That makes you feel good and you'll buy it and you'll you'll have paid cash for it. And now that's done and your deposit's done, and you still have another six, seven months, eight months to for the second deposit. And you know that fly rod that you wanted to get just came on sale from temple for, or your, your, you just got it for your Christmas gift. It happens. And so I tell people all the time just get it booked, you Be responsible, just get a book and you'll be on that trip and you might regret it.

Andrew Barany:

Yep, manifest it, make it happen. I love it. Yeah, so we'll just end Pretty shortly here. But out of all the species that you've got to fish for, what's like kind of the I know steelhead is up there, but what? Some of those ones that you know it keeps you up at night or you just always think of when's the next time I'm going to get to go. Fisher knows.

Brian Oakland :

I would say permit. Yeah, I would say permit. I do love the steelhead, but I've had the luxury of catching quite a few of those and I would say that permit is, you know, just that elusive fish super, super picky, not hard, not not easy to trick and Very rewarding when you do it. I think there, why is it so rewarding? Because it's so difficult, right like there's so many frustrating Things that happen prior to you, looking up so many miscasts too far, too short, you strip too fast, your strip too slow. Oh, he followed, he didn't like it, you know it. There's just again, it's endless. And Then you feel it, and then, and then, and then the line hits the reel and it doesn't tangle around the reel, and Then he's running and you're just like or she's running and there's like oh, my god, you know just putting together so many things. So I'd say it's, it's permit for me right now.

Andrew Barany:

Yeah, the stars have to align. I can't even Think of how many videos of permit fishing or how many people I've talked to where they're, like I've hooked them or like you know, I've had so many opportunities and just like one thing, a A cloud came by and they didn't like that something.

Brian Oakland :

Anglers out there that are like way better anglers than me, way better casters, no, no, no, their setups you know inside now and have not landed their permit yet. So it's, it is something to that to be honored, right, it's? It's a real privilege To have hooked and landed a permit.

Andrew Barany:

Yeah, funny story. I interviewed ladies from Alberta and one of her first fish on the fly was a permit, and of course she had no idea what she was holding and so like. You know what I mean. And the guide was like I can't remember what else happened, but something else happened and she was so excited about it and he was just like, oh, you get excited for that, you know. So, like it's funny, fishing, a fishing, yeah, what a good time.

Brian Oakland :

People steal that fishing, you know, and five casts into it, ten casts into it, you know, we're netting their first steel ahead and you're like, really, this is how it goes. They're like none at all you today, in this moment, yet, but no, how it goes, yeah no, that is not typical.

Andrew Barany:

That's something that I like I do mention to people, like if they get a really big brown. I'm like just so you know, like I appreciate that this is a big moment, like for you, this might be one of your first or handful of fish that you've ever caught on the fly, but like this is this is kind of outrageous that you got that size of fish and you played it properly and you got it to the net. Like right Five years from now, come back and talk to me and be like oh, I understand now.

Brian Oakland :

Yeah, you're gonna go get humbled and schooled out there. This was a great moment.

Andrew Barany:

Yeah, I always joke around that like egg season. I'm always especially when I was first starting on the island fly fishing and I Would be like, oh my god, I'm the best angler out there. And then eggs season would taper off and and then it was just winter and I was like I don't know nothing. When it's easy, you don't learn anything. But, yeah, those moments they stick with you for life. I mean, I remember basically every kind of magical fishing experience that I've ever had, and Sometimes even see the fly that I used. Or you know that thought process of like, well, maybe I'll try this thing, and all of a sudden it was, you know, fish after fish or some. But so, yeah, if people want to find got fishing, it's pretty simple, I know that, but maybe you want to run through that.

Brian Oakland :

Yeah, you know our website is got fishing dot com. So yeah, super easy there. Now I'll give you our menu of trips and A lot of that. We have blogs and all kinds of information on there. And then, if you want to follow us on social media, it's just got fishing on both Instagram and Facebook.

Andrew Barany:

Yeah, beautiful. Yeah, well, I really appreciate you coming on, brian.

Brian Oakland :

I know it's been a while since we were trying to get this going, but look at us now well, yeah, you know I appreciate everything that you're doing and you know I wish you the best of luck. This podcast. I think you do an amazing job and, yeah, I really appreciate and we're honored to be on it.

Andrew Barany:

Oh, lots of appreciation going here. Well, thank you so much and yeah, I'll make sure that's all in the description so everyone can find it. And yeah, best of luck to you and your, your ventures to Christmas Island and all that, and I hope you see some things.

Brian Oakland :

I appreciate it man.

Andrew Barany:

Thank you very much. All right, man? Well, you have a good night and I will talk to you later. Sounds good.

Intro/ out :

Thank you for listening to dead drifter society. Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss any future episodes. In the meantime, keep up with the show and get to know Andrew on Instagram at dead drifter society. Until next time.

Andrew Barany:

And there you have it got fishing, brian Oakland. So if you want to make one of your dream vacations come true, go target some amazing species, go check out, got fishing on Instagram, facebook and on the website and start planning your dream vacation now, as always, if there's anyone else you'd like to hear on the podcast, just shoot me a message over at dead drifter society on Gmail, facebook and Instagram and I will see what I can do till next time. I'll catch you later.