When Ocean Andrew started his popular On the Hook Fish and Chips food truck in Laramie, Wyoming, he had no intention of franchising the concept.

He had always expected to grow the business beyond Wyoming, but thought keeping On the Hook a corporate chain would be the way to go.

But as his territory has grown over the past 10 years with 13 trucks that operate in 17 different states, including Wyoming, Andrew said he’s realized something else — something that made him change his mind about franchising.

“Building that infrastructure, building the whole organization, is very, very difficult,” Andrew told Cowboy State Daily. “And what we’ve done so far, I think we’ve done well. But we felt that it was out of our capacity to keep doing that. It would just become more and more hard, and we were worried that the quality might suffer.”

As he thought back to what made the business fun in the beginning, it was having boots on the ground in a community, and getting to know customers well.

“That’s really what franchising does,” Andrew said. “You have people who own it really close to what’s happening and close to customers.”

So, Andrew’s company is taking the plunge to get to the next level, and will soon offer franchises in states all across America.

Right now, the franchise is only available where the company is duly registered, Andrew said, but he is pursuing registration across the United States, and eventually he envisions the company having franchises in every state from New York to Texas, California and Wyoming, and all points in between.

In the meantime, the first franchise has already been sold in Northwest Montana, and discussions are already underway for other new locations.

There will be two kinds of franchises. The main type will be a district with two trucks, with a building to park in at night and an office. The other will be more of a rural setup with just one truck.

Skipping The Summer Walmart Job

On the Hook Fish and Chips started as a way for two University of Wyoming students to avoid working at Walmart for the summer.

The original concept was simple. They were going to sell one basic thing: Andrew’s father’s fresh, line-caught Alaska cod, beer-battered with thick-cut French fries — classic fish and chips.

The concept didn’t only get them out of working at Walmart. It was such a big hit, it ultimately became the career Andrew had been dreaming of when he decided to pick the University of Wyoming to earn an energy-related degree.

“I was trying to do that so I could make good money to start a business eventually,” Andrew told Cowboy State Daily. “And that was always kind of my passion was owning a business and running something on my own.”

So, he and a college friend went into business together with a refurbished FedEx truck they bought in Denver.

As co-founder Hunter Anderson tells it, Ocean asked Anderson what he was doing for the summer. When Anderson said he’d probably work at Walmart, Andrew said he had a better idea.

Start a food truck with him, selling the wild Alaska cod his father line-catches in Alaska.

At first, Anderson refused, fearing the food truck would probably fail. But eventually he came around, and he helped Andrew taste test more than 50 recipes for what is still their signature crispy-crunchy, beer-battered fish.

Although Hunter and Anderson have continued to try different recipes, even visiting England and coastal cities to try the fish and chips there, they have yet to find a better recipe.

Their original has stood the test of time.

Nearly Over After A Day

Their first day of business was almost the last.

The truck’s propane tanks went out, and they had seriously underestimated just how many people would want to buy fish and chips from their fledgling business.

With some help from other local food trucks, they made it past the first day, barely.

Right off the bat, they decided they needed to simplify their menu if they were going to stay in business.

“We were trying to do tacos and coconut shrimp and fried shrimp and all this stuff,” Andrew recalled. “And we found out it’s a lot harder to run a kitchen than it looks.”

So, they cut the menu back to just fish and chips, all day every day.

However, now that they’re franchising, Andrew said the company is rethinking a few things. That includes the menu.

“As things are being very well run right now, I think the franchises will be able to manage doing a few more things,” he said. “So, we’re starting to add a couple of things, like we’ve just started releasing coleslaw at a few limited locations to test that, and we’re doing private-labeled sodas. We have a strawberry soda that we’re going to have on all the trucks as well. So, we’re testing a few things. We’re trying to have a bit more variety, but in a way that we can manage and not ruin the quality of anything else.”

Fresh, Line-Caught Alaska Fish

One of the things that won’t be changing is the thing that truly sets On the Hook Fish and Chips apart from all others. That’s the quality of the fish, and that’s because of how these fish are caught.

All of On the Hook’s fish are individually line-caught, and every fish is processed and flash frozen within an hour of being caught.

Nets are never, ever used. The problem with net-caught fish, Andrew told Cowboy State Daily, is that the fish often go into rigor mortis before they can be processed. In addition, the fish are subjected to more stress before dying, which affects the taste and quality of the meat.

There’s something else that makes these fish particularly special though.

The fish are caught by Ocean Andrew’s dad, Shaun Andrew, who is captain of the 187-foot Northern Leader and owner/operator of Alaskan Leader Fisheries. The ship was featured on an episode of Discovery Channel’s “Mighty Ships.”

During the episode, the crew fished right through a hurricane.

Andrew told Cowboy State Daily the show was meant to showcase the high-tech aboard modern, seafaring ships like the Northern Leader. But it also offered a glimpse into just how dangerous a job it is to catch fish for American tables.

Another television show that offers a glimpse into the seafaring life of the Northern Leader and her crew would be Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch,” which follows the life of Alaskan crab fishermen. They fish some of the same waters as the Northern Leader.

Andrew told Cowboy State Daily that his parents had always talked about doing a restaurant that served fish and chips using their own line-caught Alaska cod.

“But we never did it,” he said. “So, we were sort of in the middle of when food trucks, there was just this huge upwell in popularity, and there were even people doing it in Laramie.”

That made shifting the idea into a food truck a natural.

No More All Blue Trucks

One of the other changes customers are going to notice now that the company is franchising is that the color of the trucks will change.

While they had been two layers of sky and ocean blue, now they’re going to be bright sunshine yellow over an ocean blue wave at the bottom. That will make the trucks much more visible.

The logos will be a little bit different too, to bring more focus to the brand.

But one thing that will never change, Andrew told Cowboy State Daily, is the line-caught Alaska fish that his company uses.

“We are one of (Alaskan Leader Fisheries) largest customers, but we don’t even make a dent in all the fish they catch,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “I mean, their boats are huge and there’s four of them, and they work year-round.”

That means there will always be plenty of line-caught Alaska cod to go around, no matter how big On the Hook gets.

Reaction to On the Hook’s Facebook announcement it is now offering franchises was overwhelmingly positive this week. Many of those commenting recommended their own states and towns for a franchise.

“When are you coming to Grand Forks, ND?” Kristine Stanislowski asked.

“I sure hope someone in Sioux Falls takes this great opportunity, it’s a sure thing here!!!!” Linda Olson Elhassy wrote.

“Franchise to Texarkana, Texas ….. We need a good fish and chips here!!!” Yvonne Danielle Rivers wrote.

Customers waiting in line for fish and chips in Casper on Tuesday seemed equally excited about the announcement.

“I first found them at the eclipse,” Laurie Fletcher told Cowboy State Daily. “They were so good and fresh. We try and see them when they come to town.”

Fletcher felt the food is a “cut above” what others serve.

“And they are really nice people,” she added.

Devon Hay and Karen Kling were trying the fish and chips for the first time after seeing the post on Facebook.

“It looks really good,” Hay said.

Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.

It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming! I’m Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom, for Thursday, April 25th. 

A Wyoming company with international clout that’s bolstered the state’s energy industries for decades is jumping into the nuclear business.

Gillette-based L&H Industrial Inc., a 60-year-old industrial machinery company in the coal-rich Powder River Basin, has partnered with nuclear technology innovator BWX Technologies Inc. Energy reporter Pat Maio says the partnership is part of a blockbuster deal to launch a multibillion-dollar industry in the micro nuclear reactor field.

“What they’re trying to do together is build an infrastructure in the Wyoming State, specifically doing nuclear components that would be used to manufacture them here, to assemble and build nuclear reactors that can be sold anywhere, the small ones, but they want a US industrial base.” 

The partnership also has plans to provide consulting services, operate and lease energy generated from the micro-nuclear reactors.

When the black bear population increases in an area, so does the number of people reporting they saw Bigfoot.

A new study reports that in other words, more often than not, people who report seeing a sasquatch probably saw a bear, according to outdoors reporter Mark Heinz.

“That kind of establishes a connection with something that a lot of people have said for a long time, that maybe not all, but certainly a high percentage of Bigfoot reports are actually bears just standing up and walking around doing things that bears do… You know, we still have some compelling Bigfoot reports from Wyoming that might or might not be easily explained away as bears. So we’ll just keep that as an open ended question for now, whether we’ve got Sasquatch in Wyoming.” 

Retired federal ecologist Chuck Neal of Cody said he is certain there’s no such thing as Bigfoot – he says it’s just the product of people’s overwrought imaginations.

Over the weekend, Sen. John Barrasso supported President Joe Biden’s approval of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which continues the federal government’s authority to conduct warrantless surveillance on U.S. citizens.

Barrasso told political reporter Leo Wolfson he supported the bill because he believes it strengthens law enforcement’s ability to fight terrorism. But members of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus are outraged.

“The Freedom Caucus thinks this has been weaponized by agencies like the FBI, and other groups to unjustly spy on Americans, which in certain circumstances was pointed out, such as some of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests and then the January 6th 2021 Capitol riot, as well.” 

Fellow Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis voted against the bill, as did U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman. 

Casper mountaineer Dr. Joe McGinley’s quest to climb Mount Everest has been temporarily blocked, as the Chinese is prohibiting foreigners from entering the Tibet region. 

But Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that McGinley, who is on a quest  to summit the highest peaks on all 7 continents, has a backup plan through Nepal. 

“Dr. Joe McGinley sent us a text, he said to check out his social media because his plans had to change as he’s pursuing his seventh Summit. So, on his Facebook page about an hour later, we saw that his intent to climb the north face of Mount Everest was not going to be able to happen, because the Chinese won’t allow them into the country. So they’re pivoting and they’re gonna go to the south side of Mount Everest. And he said he plans to be at the base camp probably on May 3 or May 4. Meanwhile, they’re going to climb another mountain about 90 miles from Everest that goes up to 22,000 feet, to keep in shape and their climatization. So, Dr. Joe is definitely having an adventure.”

McGinley aborted his attempt to climb Mount Everest last May after finding crowded and unsafe conditions on the south side of the mountain — one of the reasons he selected the north side attempt this year.

And trees are difficult to grow in much of the state, so people put a lot of effort into keeping their trees alive and thriving.

But Travis Smith of Glenrock doesn’t do anything to keep a centerpiece tree in his yard alive. That’s because his natural showstopper has been dead for a few million years. And for $20,000, it can be yours, reports Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi.

“He’s got a one ton segment of a petrified tree in his yard. It’s just a lawn ornament that has been handed down through the generations in his family. And he said he’s tired of having to mow around it. So he’s hoping that somebody out there will be interested and be willing to come pick this thing up and take it home with them. There’s no shortage of petrified wood in Wyoming, but a petrified tree section of anything is pretty exciting. And this one’s actually hollow in the middle, which, as somebody who is an enthusiast in paleontology, I can’t say I’ve ever seen before.”

Smith is listing the prehistoric piece of tree trunk simply as brown and in “new” condition.

And that’s today’s news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming’s only statewide newspaper by hitting the subscribe button on cowboystatedaily.com. I’m Wendy Corr, for Cowboy State Daily.

Radio Stations

The following radio stations are airing Cowboy State Daily Radio on weekday mornings, afternoons and evenings. More radio stations will be added soon.

KYDT 103.1 FM – Sundance

KBFS 1450 AM — Sundance

KYCN 1340 AM / 92.7 FM — Wheatland

KZEW 101.7 FM — Wheatland

KANT 104.1 FM — Guernsey

KZQL 105.5 FM — Casper

KMXW 92.5 FM — Casper

KBDY 102.1 FM — Saratoga

KTGA 99.3 FM — Saratoga

KJAX 93.5 FM — Jackson

KZWY 106.3 FM — Sheridan

KROE 930 AM / 103.9 FM — Sheridan

KWYO 1410 AM / 106.9 FM  — Sheridan

KYOY 92.3 FM Hillsdale-Cheyenne / 106.9 FM Cheyenne

KRAE 1480 AM — Cheyenne 

KDLY 97.5 FM — Lander

KOVE 1330 AM — Lander

KZMQ 100.3/102.3 FM — Cody, Powell, Medicine Wheel, Greybull, Basin, Meeteetse

KKLX 96.1 FM — Worland, Thermopolis, Ten Sleep, Greybull

KCGL 104.1 FM — Cody, Powell, Basin, Lovell, Clark, Red Lodge, MT

KTAG 97.9 FM — Cody, Powell, Basin

KCWB 92.1 FM — Cody, Powell, Basin

KVGL 105.7 FM — Worland, Thermopolis, Basin, Ten Sleep

KODI 1400 AM / 96.7 FM — Cody, Powell, Lovell, Basin, Clark, Red Lodge

KWOR 1340 AM / 104.7 FM — Worland, Thermopolis, Ten Sleep

KREO 93.5 FM — Sweetwater and Sublette Counties

KGOS 1490 AM — Goshen County

KERM 98.3 FM — Goshen County

Check with individual radio stations for airtime of the newscasts.