YETI Presents 120 Days

I don't know how I would define my obsession with the fish. I think throughout my life, anytime I've really gotten into something or really was interested in it, I was like all in every freaking thing about it. I just charge at 100% and tarpon certainly has kind of, you know, grayed out everything else, more so than anything else in my life that I've kind of pointed myself at. And it seems to be getting worse, you know. I think of the 120 days of my year that are coming up all year long. It's, I don't know if it's healthy. It's, it just is who I am. Hold on, hold on, timeout. Push the red button. Can I spit every once in a while? You want me to take my dip out? Or is that good character? What do you mean, what's the story? Well, how do you know David? I threw tarpon fishing. That's all he thinks about. Wakes up in the morning thinking about tarpon, going to bed thinking about tarpon. 24-7 just spinning the wheels in your head about, okay, what's going to happen with this weather change and knowing that the tide's going to be at a 1-8 and the water's warmed up just enough and I know I need to be 20 miles that way at a very specific time to be able to go there and there they are. Boom. Yeah. That gets my blood pumping. He's serious all the time. So I don't really have any funny David stories. He got a paraglider to try to fly around to find tarpon and he crashed that thing. That resulted in a messed up knee. You wouldn't see my white ass in that thing, but that shows you how hardcore he is to find fish. And a lot of people, they get caught up in a routine where they're just like, okay, well we can go do this and this will work. This will make my day. It makes you a guide, but it doesn't make you a fisherman. That just means stay the f*** away from me. Nobody owns the ocean, but you own the intellectual capital that you have earned with your blood and sweat over the years. Some places need to be guarded. Don't nobody mess with Mangum on his spots. I promise you. Because he will run them out. Don't cast. Don't land on her body when we shoot. Make sure you get this sign. Wait till I tell you. Bring it. Now. Tiny slide now. Tiny, tiny. It's too much. Tinier. Slide, slide, slide, slide, slide, slide, slide, slide, slide, slide, slide, slide, slide, slide. Keep coming, come, come, come, come, come. Keep coming. Slow it down. Keep coming. Touch it. Touch it. Wait. Now move it. Just sit here. He has a fun personality, but it doesn't always show up in the boat. And he'll get upset, like some guides do, you know, when you blow the shot, but it's just because he wants the best for both of you. Now strip, strip, strip, strip, strip, strip, strip, strip, strip hard. Strip. F***. Kyle. I don't think he's overly a dick. It doesn't matter what happens, never raise the rod. Yes, you may chat their ass a little bit when they mess up, you know, but you also have to fill out the client. Some clients don't want to be told what to do. I make a million dollars a year. You ain't going to tell me ----. Do something, anything. He's looking at the fly. Stick him, stick him. You have to be intense. You have to be serious, because if you're out there lollygagging, they probably ain't coming back to you next year. I mean, it'd be hard to imagine creating a better fish. I mean, they're hard to hook. They're hard to fight. They, I mean, more often than not, you don't catch that fish, you know. The thought of a jumping tarpon or the visual of a jumping tarpon on the end of a line has probably brought more people to saltwater fly fishing than anything else out there. They're lazy fish. We all know that. I mean, they're a piece of ----, really, you know, but hold on. Y'all getting me cluttered up a little bit. I'm trying to flow, but I can't hardly flow. Are you getting anything good? Oh, yeah. It's about the initial hookup. It's one of the most exciting moments anybody can have ever. When you see something that size, you freak out. You strip it, strip it. He's bigger than you. It's 150 pounds. Giant-eyed, overgrown minnow. They could have come from a spacecraft. You get tight with it. You've got a hold of a huge creature. Something in your heart stops. You know. I love it. You can see them kind of looking at it. Freaking aliens. But that eye gets to that. In the initial surge of the fish, you know, you really can't explain it. Lines clearing, jumping everywhere. Line wraps around the rod and breaks off and you're done in half a second. It does something to your heart, your brain, everything. Everything stops. And I think that's why you get addicted to it. Gloves, I never wear gloves. I feel like we get to, you know, it's a little fight, you know, and you want to let him beat up on you a little bit. Yeah, he deserves it. He dedicates his life to it, to one species, tarpon. And for him being hungry and always wanting more, that makes him a better guy. And I think if you do that for 20 years or however long, when that's all you think about is one certain species 24-7, I think you will become the best. This ain't going on, like, internet, is it? Seriously?