Check Out Patrick Mapes’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Patrick Mapes.

Hi Patrick, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
Urban Anglers USA started in 2015 in an effort to promote urban fishing and river cleanups in the Denver area. In an effort to avoid I-70 traffic on the weekends, I started looking in the city for places to fish. I was able to fish a lot more often when I targeted water that was closer to home, and I wanted to share stories on fishing the South Platte River through Denver. The brand was launched in an effort to connect urban anglers around the U.S. who fish the amazing, yet overlooked waterways in major cities.

The website grew to include information on the different species, rivers, locations, and countries that we fished, and share biographies and details on other anglers and groups dedicated to fishing in urban fishing settings. We write and recap all the adventures that have taken us across the world fishing in major cities (Denver, Chicago, L.A., Miami, Portland, Phoenix, Amsterdam, Rome, Florence, etc) as well as share all major articles, info, and videos produced by other anglers and major fishing companies that focus on fishing urban environments.

After a few years of river cleanups, and continuously finding sporting equipment in the river, we invented the RiverRat Recycled Racketnet in an effort to repurpose the junk we were finding. As the upcycled RacketNet became more and more popular, we increased our efforts to find rackets before they end up in landfills, and have converted and sold over 700 RiverRat Racketnets in 44 states.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Urban Anglers USA has grown pretty smoothly over the last 7 years with the help of social media. Our Instagram has a decent following and we are always happy to share content from our followers and other urban fishermen.

You do need to be careful with image backgrounds when dealing with urban fishing. Nobody wants to give away a good fishing spot or blow up a spot on social media. It can be too easy to identify locations with buildings or road signs in the backgrounds of your images. We want to promote urban fishing, but we also want anglers to get out there and put the work in themselves. Get out and explore your city.

The only major road bump we have run into over the years is a handful of people have seen our RiverRat Recycled RacketNets and then ripped off the idea. They saw our product and started selling their own. I can’t be too upset since we are glad to see items being up-cycled, but unfortunately, they have produced lower-quality nets. It’s sad to see inferior knockoffs of our product being sold.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Besides running Urban Anglers USA, I also volunteer for Denver Trout Unlimited. DTU has done a lot of restoration work to the South Platte River through Denver over the last 15 years, and I have been in charge of their annual Carp on the Fly fundraiser tournament (CarpSlam) for the last 2 years.

We fully rebranded and redesigned the event 2 years ago and had record donations this last year. It is a great event that raises funds for our yearly river restoration projects of the DSP. I am very proud of the CarpSlam event, and the competitors, donors, fly-fishing brands, and funding that it brings to Denver and the South Platte river.

So maybe we end by discussing what matters most to you and why?
I think it is extremely important to inform and change people’s minds about carp in the urban fishing scene. Carp are looked down upon and considered “trash” fish by a lot of fisherman and even people who do not fish. This is unfortunately only a stigma they have in the United States. They are eaten all around the world and are the biggest prize fish in Europe.

Carp are capable of living in less-than-perfect conditions, so they are almost always abundant in urban waterways. People think the carp have pushed out the other species, but in reality, with the pollution of the water itself, the carp is the only species that can flourish in low-oxygen/high-temperature water.

They are beautiful fish that grow big and strong and can put up a great fight on a rod & reel. It is a challenge to catch them and they deserve a better reputation in the fishing community.

Pricing:

• RiverRat RacketNet $60

Contact Info:

• Website: www.urbananglersusa.com | www.carpslam.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/urbananglersusa/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/urbananglersusa