July 24, 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Legendary “Walker’s Cay Chronicles” Angler, Flip Pallot, launches new website, blog

Saltwater fly fishing pioneer’s site boasts a “playgroup” of angling icons, including Lefty Kreh, Stu Apte, Chico Fernandez, and many more

For a self-declared technophobe who thought the Internet was likely a “passing fad”, angler and consummate outdoorsman Flip Pallot is surprisingly excited about his new web presence, www.FlipPallot.com.

                “No one could be more amazed than myself by the fact that I’m getting to announce the opening of my own, full service website,” he said in a release. “FlipPallot.com...  I just love saying it. Not one to have welcomed or accepted the World Wide Web, I find myself, like everyone else on planet earth, knee deep in its allure.

“I think I’m going to say it again. ‘Www.flippallot.com’ –  feels good!”

Pallot worked closely with angler, guide and outfitter Brian Flechsig, owner of Mad River Outfitters in Columbus, Ohio.

“I had plenty of help and encouragement in the launching of the site,” he said.

The site itself is a virtual ‘who’s who’ of legendary fly anglers, and users can expect to glean angling wisdom from the likes of Stu Apte, Lefty Kreh, Rob Fordyce, and many more.

The site’s kick-off also includes Flip’s first ever blog, “Tall Tales”, a compendium of fishing adventures and insights from Pallot and friends, which is available as a RSS feed. “FlipPallot.com isn’t just a portal to booking Pallot for appearances: it presents a reckoning of the history and relationships of a master,” said Flechsig, whose encouragement was a catalyst for the site. “And, importantly, this site will provide him with a vehicle for sharing the wisdom and knowledge he’s accrued over the years. I don’t know of any anglers who couldn’t benefit from the opportunity to virtually sit at the master’s knee.”

Flechsig, who’s spent the last several years mastering his own brand of web-retail strategies, has piloted his outfitting business around the onslaught of big-box outdoors retail, in part due to his commitment to providing anglers and customers meaningful web content and avoiding “clickbait”-style web content that promises much but does little more than confuse customers.

                “Flip and I both believe that, if you provide your customers with good information and steer clear of bullshitting them, they’re going to stick around,” he said. “This website will equip anglers to make good decisions when it’s time for them to break out their wallets.

“And, if they want to break their wallets out then and there, well, we’ve got them covered,” he laughed.

For his part, Pallot himself is looking forward to the site’s evolution, and welcomes feedback from friends, fans, and anglers everywhere.

“…After it’s been around for a couple of weeks, it will begin to take shape as a truly unique place to visit – that’s a promise,” he said. “Meanwhile, please slip around the site and let me know your thoughts; I’ll be right pleased to hear from you.

“And…‘FlipPallot.com’. Damn…just had to say it one more time.”

For press inquiries, please e-mail, info@flippallot.com or call Brian Flechsig at (614) 451-0363 and of course....please visit the new website at www.flippallot.com

Here is a story I wrote about my friend John Havlicek. Not exactly sure when I wrote it and it wasn't ever published anywhere. I hope you enjoy and stay tuned for more.....much more!!- Flip


"Pals" by Flip Pallot

Twenty five and thirty years ago the name John Havlicek was well known to every basketball fan on planet earth. John played for the Boston Celtics when they were THE team to beat..........when basketball was a game, when fans not only idolized, but really loved the players. In spite of the passage of all these years and the coming and going of many great players there are still NBA records with Johns name on them.

Twenty two years ago John spent his last day in a Celtics uniform and I spent my very last day in an office wearing a coat and tie. We retired within days of one another from careers followed since school days......his having been much more illustrious than mine!

Our television fishing debuts took place on exactly the same day and place. We teamed up to film and episode of the Outdoor Life television series which was the successor to the throne of the ABC American Sportsman series.

We were filming a bonefish and permit show in South Florida. Right in South Biscayne Bay. John flew in from his Boston home and stayed at a motel in Homestead along with the film crew. I met them each of five mornings with my skiff at the Homestead Bayfront Park launching ramp. Although John's basketball skills were legendary, his fishing skills were not. He was however, eminently coachable, had great eyes for spotting fish and was as fishy as they come. His nearly seven foot height made him resemble a great blue heron perched on the front of my small bonefish skiff.

Over the course of the filming's five days John's skills improved hourly and at the end of the shoot John had caught numerous bonefish and a permit or two. I remember that one night we all repaired to my house where we ate one of John's permit and gained it's power.

For a number of years after making that film I corresponded with John but our fishing paths never crossed. Finally, one evening I was speaking at the annual banquet of a fly fishing club in Boston. John, although not a member, learned that I would be there and showed up to visit with me during the cocktail hour. We vowed to fish together soon........It didnt happen.

A few years later I ran into John again in the Florida Keys. John was a regular participant in the Redbone Charity Tournament series and I was fishing the Redbone that year with my friends John Donnell and Mitch Howell. Havlicek and I had a chance to catch up on what one another was up to and we vowed to fish together soon...........It didnt happen.

Over time, John's fishing skills did become legendary (no surprise to me). He even started his own very successful, annual,  charity tournament in New England and invited me to fish it one year.......It didnt happen. I was traveling and not able to make it.

Several years ago I was planning to film a sailfish show for the Walkers Cay Chronicles on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. I thought of John and what a great fishing reunion it would be for us to do the show together. I phoned him and extended the invitation. I’ll check my schedule he said...........It didnt happen. He was traveling and not able to make it.

Finally and at long last, after twenty two years,  in the Summer of 2000, the planets aligned themselves. John Havlicek and Flip Pallot found themselves together in a canoe, deep in the Everglades, once again filming a fishing show. It was amazing to witness how far John had advanced as an angler. It caused me to think of one of my favorite movie lines uttered to Robert Redford in the film Jeremiah Johnson.......You’ve come far pilgrim.

We made an excellent film and John got his first look at the wild heart of the Everglades. He caught snook, sea trout, and redfish and encountered an alligator at much closer range than he might have liked. John and I had plenty of time each evening during the filming to catch up on one anothers lives and we vowed to fish together again soon..........And it happened!

 Yesterday evening at dark, John pulled out of my driveway and headed back to South Florida where he spends his Winters. We had spent the fishing day together in absence of cameras. John got his first airboat ride and his first look at the St. Johns River (one of my very favorite places). We fly fished for American Shad , another first for John. I sat on the bank at one point and watched John destroy shad on a three weight rod and some shad flies tied by John Turcot.

We ended the day by walking the marsh and shooting some snipe. Yet another first for John. As the sun slipped away, west of the house, we enjoyed an adult beverage, cleaned the snipe which John would take home and eat, and vowed to get together again real soon.......... It will happen!

I have been working with the guys over at Howler Brothers for 3 or 4 years now and our relationship just keeps getting better! I LOVE their stuff!

Here is an article that was posted on their website back in May of 2012. Read it over and then be sure to check out the selection of Howler Brothers stuff on my website!

Long before the Fly Fishing Film Tour, luxury lodges, large arbor reels and nano technology, there was a small band of bad asses who were out there trailblazing and pushing the sport of fly fishing beyond chalk streams and creel baskets.   If you ask anyone involved with the sport to name these guys, Flip Pallot would be either the first or second name you’d hear.  For good reason.   Flip has done it all.  He’s an author, TV personality, guide, casting instructor, rod designer, skiff creator, fly inventor, product consultant and all around cool guy.

We could not be happier, or more proud, to have Flip join up with us as a Howler Brand Ambassador.   We caught up with him recently to welcome him aboard and peer into his brain.  Here’s what we found out:

We’ve read a few comparisons between your mentor and good friend Lefty Kreh and Yoda from Star Wars.  If that comparison is accurate, who does that make you?   Obe Wan Kenobe perhaps? 
The "Lefty"/Yoda comparison is a good one...up to a point. Lefty has been Yoda to us all for decades and we're hoping to squeak another decade (or more) out of him!!!!!! I'm simply a fortunate acolyte! 

Between filming shows, doing casting clinics, consulting with companies, designing skiffs and writing books, do you ever just get a chance to just fish? 
I have the best of all lives in that I get to spend a great deal of time hunting and fishing. It's this time afield that the keeps the creative batteries charged and provides the sparks that ignite high adventure!

The last 5 years seem to have brought a sea change in the film side of fly fishing.  As someone who has been in that game for a long time, why do you think that is occurring?  
The last 8 or 10 years have been interesting to watch on outdoor television. 'So many more programs competing for the same number of sponsor dollars. The scarcity of dollars causes outdoor TV producers to ever find ways to produce programs for less which has given rise to a "sameness" among programs. It has also given rise to the loss of production values and the ability of programs to TELL A STORY!....'hard to expect much more from a show filmed in a day or two. The race for sponsor dollars has also created "on air exposure" as a selling tool to procure those dollars. Many, many outdoor programs have become shameless infomercials causing me to get up from my lounger and raid the ice box....then surf to find some bull riding or a good tractor pull.

Pick one:
Elk or tarpon?
Elk!

Ducks or bonefish?
Bonefish

Quail or trout?
Trout

Bow or fly rod? 
Are you kidding???????? That's a trick question!!!!!

Cerveza o ron? 

Ron! (Pussers' Navy, Habana Club dark of course, Casique and  14yr. old Flor de Cana)

You’re a confessed lover of the Everglades.   Are conservation efforts working and what is the single biggest threat to the ecosystem and fishery?  
Sadly, I don't believe that conservation efforts exist that can save the Everglades. It breaks my heart, and I hope that I'm wrong, but I believe that the water and water quality needed to save the Glades does not, will not, can not exist and if by some miracle it could, we've ruined the delivery system (the south Florida aquifer). It's hard to quit on such a treasure as the Everglades and some of us won't...but it feels like charging windmills.

You’re often wearing a hibiscus flower hat and seem to have taken to our Gaucho shirt with the hibiscus embroidery.  Is there a connection between you and the hibiscus or is this just a coincidence? 
The hibiscus is the flower of my youngerhood and follows me still through tropical travels...Howler Bros. has clearly recognized the importance of the hibiscus to those of us who choose to sweat as we play.

If you were still in the banking business, would you lend money to Howler Bros.?
If Howler Bros. would make the "Gaucho" in sea foam/skiff guide green...why of course I'd lend them money. What could possibly go wrong?????????

Check out Howler Brothers stuff on my website!

www.flippallot.com

Here's a Press release from a few years ago when I joined forces with the team at TFO!

TFO News

Flip Pallot Joins Temple Fork Outfitters

I first met Flip Pallot nearly 30 years ago while he worked as a guide in South Florida—thanks to a recommendation from one of his mentors, Lefty Kreh. My first day on the front of his flats boat in Biscayne Bay, I knew he was a special person. His passion for the species we sought, for the environment and for perfecting the techniques necessary to succeed as both an angler and outdoorsman continue to be an inspriation to me.

Through decades of spending time around a campfire together, sharing hunting and fishing stories, business philosophies, personal successes and tragedies, we became best of friends.  From rigging tarpon leaders to rigging duck decoys, from sharpening knives to cooking, I’ve seen him solve problems with great planning and insight—and I, like so many others, have benefited from his wisdom and willingness to share ideas. From his incredibly successful Walker’s Cay Chronicles, to his works as an author—his casting schools to his personal appearances, Flip complements our goal of increasing participation in, and awareness of, fly fishing by offering the best possible combination of price and performance in rods.

Rick Pope

Lefty sums the relationship up very nicely: “I am delighted that my old friend and fishing buddy Flip Pallot has joined the TFO Advisory Staff. Together I am sure we will come up with some products that will make TFO customers happy and help teach us all how to catch more fish.”

Flip says, “TFO has given me a chance to play in the same stadium with Lefty Kreh, Gary Loomis and the rest of my Temple Fork Family...I must be dreaming!”

Going forward, Flip has agreed to be involved in the design of our rods, to assist in developing casting schools and educational programs, and to participate in general business planning. We are delighted and honored to have him join our team.

Jim Shulin 
Vice President