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Steward of the Week: Ian White
By FishRecycler | February 21, 2012
When I ask people I meet on the water what they most hate to see when they visit their favorite fishing hole, one of the more common themes has been litter. Specifically, used and discarded fishing line. Besides making sure you, as a conscientious angler, take care of your own used line, have you ever pondering what else could be done to reduce this waste? Ian White did.
Back in 2006, He was fishing and kept noticing how much waste monofilament fishing line was just lying around. Ian did what a lot of stewards of our waters do and picked up what he could, ending the trip with pockets full. Not content with his effort, Ian began researching monofilament. What he discovered disturbed him.
“I found out the stuff is almost completely indestructible,” Ian said. “In fact, most typical mono can last over 600 years when discarded in the environment and the newer fluorocarbon lasts much, much longer.”
He immediately began his search for something on the market that would help, but nothing existed.
“I sat down one night with a bottle of wine to try to think up a product that would provide a solution for this,” Ian explains. “After much trial and error using bits and bobs I had picked up from a hardware store, I put the cork from the wine bottle into a camera film case I had sitting around, cut a hole in the side and the concept for the monoMASTER was born.”
The monoMASTER is a small and lightweight tool that collects waste line you generate while changing flies or rigs. It can hold inches of line or a few yards and you can hang it from your vest, keep it in your pocket or in a tackle box. It’s been featured on TV, radio and fishing magazines, including a feature in the 2009 Field & Stream “Best of the Best” issue. Today, the monoMASTER is carried by most outdoor retailers in the United States and abroad, including Europe, Japan and Australia. It’s been endorsed by the Federation of Fly Fishers and Richard Friedenberg, who wrote the screenplay for “A River Runs Through It.”
The monoMASTER was the beginning of what would become Grasshopper Outdoor Products, a company Ian would start while he was at graduate school as a way to bring his product ideas to the market.
“It’s basically a one man show that I run in what spare time I have from my day job as a research scientist,” he states.
Ian has since developed such products as the seatMASTER, a portable seat that has found a niche among anglers, hunters, golfers and hikers and Fishn’Clips, an innovative type of clip that helps secure rods and other tackle during portage to prevent damage.
While his product ideas have been well received by consumers, Ian had one that got away.
According to him, “As a naïve undergraduate I invented a product that I “pitched” to an invent-help company. Not knowing anything about the business back then I did not protect the idea properly and I lost it. It was called the Snor-no-mor” and you can now see it under a different name in every inflight magazine aboard most aircraft. It’s a small clip that attaches to the septum in the nose to alleviate snoring. I swore back then I’d not make a mistake like that again and this then spurred me to “go-it-alone” with the monoMASTER.”
Suggesting that Ian has learned much over the years would be an understatement. Born in Oxford, England, he graduated from Liverpool John Moores University with a bachelors degree in Biology before studying for his Masters in parasitology at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. In 1999 Ian flew to the U.S. with what he describes as a suitcase full of clothes, a few books and a much larger suitcase full of fishing gear. He worked for a year at Dartmouth College as a research assistant and then two years at Harvard University before accepting a position at Cornell University where he graduated in 2008 with a Ph.D. In Genetic Medicine. Ian is currently working on his postdoctorate at the University of Georgia, working on heart cell regeneration.
Obviously this makes him a very busy man and Ian admitted to me that he wasn’t able to get out and fish as much as he’d like in the past year.
“I hope to be able to get out more in 2012 and always love good company,” Ian explains.
He works closely with groups such as Trout Unlimited and the aforementioned Federation of Fly Fishers and hopes that anglers think more about what they do with their waste monofilament and help to educate the new generation in ways to protect the beauty of our waters.
“I hate littering of any kind, but fishing line is both unsightly and hazardous to the environment and wildlife,” states Ian
He threw this fact at me: “In the U.S. alone, anglers generate enough waste mono to go around the Earth 45 times! While most anglers are conscientious and try to discard the waste they generate appropriately, much of this line still ends up in the water or tangles in bushes.”
Ian wants to get products like monoMASTER in the hands of as many anglers as possible.
As he explains, “If we allow waste mono to keep building up we’ll end up with a situation where it becomes almost impossible to fish under the surface without snagging.”
Ian sited the Salmon River as a current example of this.
The monoMASTERS can be customized as well, with club logos or even contact information. They can basically be business cards! Many state parks carry them in their gift shops with the name of their park on them.
Ultimately, he wants anglers to think about what happens to their fishing line once they’re done with it.
“I’d love to be able to reach more anglers so it would be great if folks would help me spread the word and encourage others to think about what they do with their waste mono,” Ian states.
The items made by Grasshopper Outdoor Products can be found on Facebook where they have their own pages. You can also find more information about the monoMASTER, seatMASTER and Fishn’Clips at www.grasshopperproducts.com. Get in touch with Ian and encourage your local Trout Unlimited chapters to do the same!
His ideas are striking a chord with anglers everywhere. It started with a cork from a wine bottle but could end up cleaning miles upon miles of valuable water resources. Take a look around and see what you can do – maybe it starts with ordering a monoMASTER.
Just make sure your idea doesn’t end up in an inflight magazine under a different name.
Topics: Steward of the Week | 1 Comment »
February 21st, 2012 at 11:46 pm
Great idea, probably works great but the price is just too high. I’m all for someone making a profit but this is plastic….there are other mono bins out there that will accomplish the same thing for half this cost. I appreciate the brainwork behind it and the stewardship but can’t afford it at this price. Now maybe Fish Itch will offer it for 50% OFF…then I”ll consider buying it.
Thanks