I recently ordered new yoke pads for carrying my Wenonah canoe. Rutabaga Paddlesports had a great sale. So, I ordered clamp-on pads, made by Chosen Valley Canoe Accessories, from them. These particular pads are nice, as they are very comfortable. But they also elevate the canoe a bit, adding some ease to putting it on or taking it off the top of my Subaru Forester (one thing I’m decidely not is tall).
I live in the same town in which Northwest River Sports is based. They are a great company, and they really do a lot for the community. Unfortunately, they don’t sell many canoe-specific products. The nearest store that does stock an extensive collection of canoes and accessories is 90 minutes away in Spokane. So, I sometimes look online to purchase what I need. Rutabaga is always one of the first places I check.
When the yoke pads I ordered from Rutabaga arrived a couple of days ago (picture on right), they came with some decals as well as a small manila envelope. Inside the envelope I found a couple of flies, along with a note from “Brendan” at Rutabaga. Brendan wrote that he had perused this blog and very kindly sent along two of his signature “Greek Freak” flies (left picture). This was a great surprise. So, many thanks to Rutabaga, and also a huge thanks to Brendan! I’ll be trying these out in the next few days! Brendan, if you ever find yourself poking around North Idaho or Western Montana, give me a shout.
To the rest of you, if you need to order a paddling product online, check out Rutabaga. And dig that Rutabaga pirate logo! Aaargh.
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The Literary Fly Fisher 
January 18, 2024 at 9:29 AM |
Howdy, I’m the owner, and I didn’t know this until your blog showed up in my feed. Brendan is an absolute gem and that’s the kind of stuff he would do. My only complaint — it’s spelled RutabAga. 🙂 Catch and release just started in Wisconsin but it’s below zero. Soon…
Gratefully,Darren
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January 23, 2024 at 2:50 PM |
Hi Darren. Thanks for the note and for the great service! Thanks for the spelling correction too. I see I started off right and then changes the spelling. LOL
It must be a pleasure to have such a great employee and co-worker. Such people really make all the difference.
If you weather is like ours in MT and ID, it is probably warming up rapidly (maybe too rapidly). Bad for the snow pack, but good for winter fishing at least.
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