Bottom Dwellers Emerge on Discussion Boards

I am an idiot. So there you have it. Anyone who participates on discussions and threads on fly fishing boards is probably not reading this. That’s because the vast majority of them prefer the perceived safety and simulated power they think they have on discussion boards. I know there are those of you who are exceptions to this – there are people and boards that are exceptions to these generalizations! And if you participate constructively on boards, and stop by here to read occasional stories by me and Chet (ChatGPT), I deeply appreciate you and the messages and letters you send me about the topics I cross here, and on a GOOD discussion board, like www.texasfishingforum.com .

However, I am talking about bigger FLY boards, like www.theflyfishingforum.com and the poisonous trolls living there – in this particular instance. And there’s a number of trolls on another board, I used to post on occasionally www.microskiff.com , a Florida-based board. That board, laden with popup ads is facing some good competition these days.

But I am an idiot. And that is because I actually take the time I have, the valuable minutes I have, to participate on boards that, I now know, are minefields full of trolls, who pop up from underground and gnaw my toes off when their fingers get bored from fondling themselves, and they take to their keyboards. 

So why do I participate in masochism? First, let me say, every single time I start to comment on a thread, especially in places I suspect could turn toxic, I do HESITATE before I press that “Comment” button. But I participate because I want to share – share information that could be helpful to new fly fishers, or revealing to the most experienced fly fisher. 

Chet is Here (Until You Start Writing)

And nowadays, in an attempt to go deeper, having no one wanting to write words anymore, much less write only for the love of writing (anyone besides myself here), I use Chet to write some stories that are deep and narrowly focused. It’s the content that I hope will appeal to people who are good with numbers, science, biology and perhaps environmental topics … the topics that are way too involved time sucks, that suck away fly fishing water time. It is worth remembering: If you don’t like Chet? Don’t want to read Chet generated stories? DON’T READ THEM. PLEASE DON’T READ THEM. My stories are always better! See, that’s what ego looks like.

Such was the story by Chet about ORVIS, and the problems the company faces going forward. Chet wrote clean copy, and I had nothing, in my fly fishing business experience, that lead me to red flag the profit margin numbers in that content. I would have had my financial editor take a look, but …

If you read the story just previous to this one – ORVIS What Went Wrong – you will find the mistake in numbers, a relatively minute fraction of that story content, and the correction. But what you don’t see is the mine field. Courtesy of some real head case trolls that popped up and started chewing on me. I landed with a huge thud, in the middle of a troll minefield.

It seems fair to defend myself, if you want to call it that, right about now. THE ONLY REASON I participate in discussions – is to attempt to enlarge interest in fly fishing. I try to leave my ego in check, but obviously some others, with damaged troll-sized egos, see an opportunity to lower the intelligence level and raise the dissonance – for their gain and other’s pain. In short, they live and love shit talk. They love to inflict pain, probably because they have been pained in their lives.

Sticks and Stones

Words are probably more important to me than they are to others? The trolls have had their souls hurt by words, and they use words to try and hurt others as deeply as they can possibly hurt. They did it instantly, without any kind of equivocation, on this thread – https://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/index.php?threads/change-of-direction-for-orvis.965191/page-11 And now their wise Mr. moderator has deleted all my posts there. I wonder why? What a loser. This is the worst of the worst, the dark side of fly fishing psychology most have seen, and been smart enough, unlike me, to avoid. Old white man elitism, racism, fear, power and pain.

Thank you Mr. moderator, FOR DELETING me from that shit hole. All traces thankfully gone, and soon enough forgotten. All I can say is BLESS YOUR HEART.

END NOTE: I am OBVIOUSLY inspired! And I want to inspire you, who are subscribed here to up your “Comment” game HERE. So, I will be sending you password resets for your subscriptions, unless I get a comment from you below. It seems like a good time to trim sail. Thank you for subscribing in the first place, some of you seventeen years ago! But I know interests and time and tastes change over a much shorter time span than that. SOUND OFF if you will …