@Montana State with Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard

BOZEMAN - Anglers and authors Yvon Chouinard and Craig Mathews will discuss and sign copies of their new book, "Pheasant Tail Simplicity: Recipes and Techniques for Successful Fly Fishing," at an event set for Wednesday, Oct. 8, at Montana State University.

Chouinard, founder of the outdoor clothing and gear company Patagonia and a lifelong conservationist, and Mathews, a Montana-based author and conservationist, will speak at 7 p.m. in Norm Asbjornson Hall Room 165 on the MSU campus. The event is free and open to the public. Seating is limited; RSVPs are encouraged and may be made online.

The event is co-hosted by Patagonia and the MSU Library as part of the library's Trout and Salmonid Initiative, which educates the public about angling and its relationship to the environment, water policy and public access. Chouinard and Mathews have worked closely with the MSU Library in support of this initiative, according to MSU Library Dean Doralyn Rossmann.

Before his campus visit, Chouinard answered questions from MSU News about what he learned from spending a year fishing with only one type of fly, his relationship to Montana and his views on capitalism.

MSU News: How did you first become interested in fly-fishing? What are some of your earliest, most resonant memories of being out with a fly rod?

Chouinard: When I was 7 living in Maine, my brother caught a pickerel when I wasn't looking and put it on my line and made me believe I caught it. When you catch your first fish, the fish catches you.

What is your relationship to Montana and to fly-fishing here?

I've been fishing in Wyoming and Montana for 70 years. When the rivers are out with runoff in Wyoming, I go up to the fishable areas in Montana. I've fished all over the state. Patagonia used to have its customer service center here in Bozeman, and one of our most successful retail stores is in Dillon, where I fished the Beaverhead a lot.

At the event at MSU, you'll be discussing the premise of your new book: That although the industry attempts to convince anglers they need thousands of fly patterns, fish can be caught anywhere in the world with variations of just one. We also understand that you successfully spent a year fishing globally, from Montana rivers to Patagonia streams, using only pheasant tail patterns. What else did you learn from your year of fishing around the world?

I actually spent a year fishing with only one type of fly, the pheasant and partridge soft hackle. I caught bonefish, steelhead, salmon and trout in numbers that were the same as always. This proved to me that it's not the gear, it's what you do with it. Perfection is achieved through simplicity and putting in 10,000 hours of effort.

You founded the popular outdoor gear company Patagonia and then later famously gave it away in an effort to defend the planet and combat climate change. How would you describe your views on capitalism?

The extractive model of capitalism is what got us into this mess in the first place. Using up non-renewable resources in a consumer/discard business model leads to a dead end. That's why the lifespan of the average American corporation is now 18 years. It used to be 40 years in 1970.

Along with Craig Mathews, you co-founded 1% for the Planet, a global network of businesses and environmental organizations working together to support people and the planet. Can you talk about the importance of this work and your philosophy behind it?

I don't look at the 1% giving we do as "philanthropy." It's the cost of doing business. No matter how responsible we try to be as a business we are still polluters, still using non-renewable resources. It's our way of doing penance.

What advice would you give to an aspiring angler? And to an aspiring businessperson?

Focusing on simplicity and quality leads to success in both fishing and business. We've lost our way as a society with thousands of junk products, marketing that says we're not good enough without the latest gadget and a throwaway mentality that is trashing the planet. If we want clean waters to fish and a healthy ecosystem in which to run a business, we have to prioritize the health of the planet.

Thousands of individuals graduate from MSU each year. What are their responsibilities to the next generation?

This is the generation that must save our planet. It is more important now than ever before, and they know it. If you believe that climate change is happening and you choose not to do anything about it, then you really don't believe that climate change is happening.