PB Bass, POMA '24, Aurora Borealis
Here's the latest dispatch.
Good afternoon,
Apologies for straying off my regular Friday posting schedule. I had a busy week and am playing catchup. Back to normal posting schedule this week.
For you newbies out there, welcome to Outsider on the Inside. I hope this dispatch from in and around the nation’s capital on underreported topics finds you well.
If you’re just discovering my musings, here’s a backgrounder and make sure we’re connected on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
Quick Thoughts
Support and follow the work of IWF’s Center for Energy and Conservation today if you haven’t already.
Pittman-Robertson funding, adjusted for inflation, hit $28 billion recently. That’s a lot for a 1930’s-era law. And the firearms industry is responsible for $17B of that.
Lainey Wilson is opening a bar on Nashville’s famed Broadway Street, Bell Bottoms Up, later this summer. Her bar will occupy the former FGL Bar that recently closed. Wilson’s new venture makes her the second woman, after Miranda Lambert, to have a bar on this famed Nashville street.
I’m digging Post Malone’s country crossover “I Had Some Help” alongside Morgan Wallen and the heavy use of the American flag is awesome. Haters gonna hate!
Instagram will start favoring original content again? Say it ain’t so!
Bumble’s CEO wants AI to play a role in dating. Online dating, today, keeps people chronically single with the endless choices and burnout. Can we just bring back good ol’ fashioned dating and meeting people through friends? Is that hard to ask?
Climate change isn’t a major issue for voters across partisan lines this cycle. Imagine that?
That’s all for this week. Stay tuned for next Friday’s update!
POMA ‘24 Roundup
I’ve just returned from our yearly Professional Outdoor Media Association Annual Meeting in Pinewood, South Carolina. This year’s event took place at the South Carolina Water Association grounds and was a howling good time. Our event went back to our outdoorsy roots. POMA- I serve as secretary and have been a member since 2018 - went through some growing pains recently, but is charting a VERY positive course now. Consider joining today.
A couple of us stayed at a lodge down the road that was replete with cozy accommodations, taxidermy art, and some armadillo and water moccasin sightings.
This conference, I had to do work since I’ve returned to W-2 work (and part-time freelancing) but I still managed to have some fun in the mix. But I couldn’t pass up doing one of our POMA Field Trips. Naturally, I chose the bass fishing trip on Lake Marion. I’ve driven over Lake Marion, South Carolina’s largest lake, several times on road trips to Low Country and Florida, but never fished it before. This place is renowned for some lunker largemouth bass, grass carp, and monster catfish.
I was paired with Kyle Austin, a local fishing guide and winner of the most recent winner of the 2024 St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Santee Cooper Lakes, and Jim Curcuruto, executive director of Outdoor Stewards of Conservation Foundation.
Our group enjoyed some world-class fishing. We used spinning rods retrofitted with an artificial worm pattern. The predominant structure Lake Marion bass like and gravitate towards is cypress trees. This is optimal for spring bass fishing. Casting directly to the base of these trees proved challenging at times, but I eventually got into the groove. I’m used to a Texas rig for bass fishing in ponds, so I absorbed this new technique like a pro.
The first fish of the day was a literal and figurative catfish—not a bass. This guy/gal proved feisty and fought hard. The sucker had some sharp teeth and left me with some battle scars. Still, a memorable catch.
After celebrating the catch, I then hooked up an actual bass with Kyle’s help. I must confess this: I was not prepared for this fish’s girth and size. In the end, we weighed it and it came out to be 5 pounds and 10 ounces - well below the record 16 pound, 2 ounce bass caught here in 1949, but my personal best bass yet. I earned bragging rights for landing the biggest fish of the day/conference.
Our welcome event took place at the nearby gorgeous Blackwater Lodge.
The networking at POMA Conference is top knotch, as I’ve made many friends and business contacts this way since my first conference in 2019. This year, I introduced two new friends to our rowdy and fun group: IOTR’s Kenia Link and UF student Peyton Chandley.
And I checked out this year’s offerings at our Product Showcase. This tent set-up and Pulsar products were standouts to me:
Did my pictures convince you to attend? Well, the good news you can attend upcoming POMA and POMA-adjacent events! Next week, POMA will have a presence at the NRA Annual Meeting in Dallas and we will host a similar meet-up at the 2024 ICAST Trade Show in Orlando, Florida, this July. Mark your calendars for June 23-25, 2025, as we take our Annual Meeting to Maumee Lake State Park in Ohio. It promises to be a VERY fun conference!
Historic Solar Storm Triggers Aurora Borealis - Even in DC Area
I woke up this morning to my social media news feed filled with Northern Lights pictures.
Because of poor cloud coverage, the DC Metro area was initially thought to NOT get any sightings. But between 4am -6am EDT, lucky folks spotted the aurora in Reston, Arlington (a nearby city), and even faintly in Washington, D.C. Gorgeous, atypical solar fares were captured as far south as Florida here in the U.S.
This is the most consequential solar storm since 2003/2005 measuring at G5 - the highest score possible- on NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC). The center shows a G4 score as the light show reportedly continues tonight. And we might get an opportunity for a better showing here in DC Metro if the rain and clouds stay at bay.
As I write this, the sun is shining. I don’t know how that bodes for tonight, but I’ll have my Sony Alpha and iPhone 13 Max Pro ready between 10pm-2am. Fingers crossed!
ICYMI
Articles/commentary/media appearances from the past week.
MEDIA MENTIONS
n/a
ARTICLES/BLOGS
Townhall: Americans Are Rejecting Climate Alarmism
District of Conservation
Catch up on District of Conservation episodes below.
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—Gabriella