too little water

this is a 6'8" 2wt

digger degere ice cream parlor hole special

ready to dip and it's a sweet casting tool

once again though I'm held hostage by the weather

merry Christmas

lest we forget amongst all the festivities

the reason for the season

simplify

my current smallstream flybox

weighs next to nothing and fits easily in a pocket

more than enough for a daze fishing

jeopardy

the answer is "52"

the question is "what is the population of mexican gray wolves in arizona?"

this question has been on my mind ever since encountering this sign earlier in the fall up on the apache rez

the answer to me is an indicator of the resounding success of the reintroduction program of over a decade ago

the earth is a more magnificent place where ever these predators roam and I am grateful that arizona is one of those places

now on the bench

on the left - thomas streamer special 9'0" 7wt 3/1

right - thomas 6'8" 3wt 2/1

both these blanks have been a bit of a bother

it will be nice to get them glued up and move on to something else...

yay me!

new toy came out to play today. 

no pics for now, but they're coming...

built a support stand out of poplar and two 1/4" cork rings

7012 butt section chucked up to remove shitty grip

wherein we're wrapping again...

you've seen these pics before right?

wrong

degere ice cream parlor hole special

6'8" 2wt

tip section wrapped and ready for varnish

wow

nearly nine years a go now a buddy and I planted this thing in south mountain park

looking over east valley from the cache site

stuck it down in here if I remember correctly

ammo can cache

if I remember correctly we placed some risque items in there

I do know this cache is still going strong

and should be family friendly by now

must have been a good day

loud plowed and live

was the partial soundtrack to yesterday's labor in the shop

mmm...beer

yet another boring shop picture

curls galore

13/18 strips rough planed - my wrist was sore by the time I quit for monday night football

four! games thanksgiving four!

pinche nodeworks

streamer special ready for soup

here we go again

second try on the "streamer special"

9' 7wt 3/1

flamed and split

staggered and read for rough cuts

thunder creek streamers

I'm never this well organized

fishin' not fashion

fire on the mountain

popping the cherry on gin clear and skinny

I swallowed the fish whole and alive -  yumm sushi

"this is fishing not fashion"

indeed - josh smith gets credit for a new buzzline

old-time prospectors scratching for fossils at mogollon rim paleo site

where the dinosaur tracks?

the road into bear flat

josh fishing a riffle 

gin clear and skinny

happy veteran's day

we thank you

pomeraug

this is the rod that used to live in that tube....

old timey as hell

this old school rod tube (circa 1920's) now houses a modern bamboo flyrod

that wrocks

gin clear and skinny

this rod is finished and ready to fish

I think I'll do that now

workhorse

holy guacamole!  another rod ready to glue!

fe thomas 6"-8" 3wt

lotsa shit today

well today I set up a new dip tube w/ some fancy new varnish

and dipped gin clear and skinny for the first time

I'm not real happy w/ the results

we'll see tomorrow and w/ a second dip

whatever the case I'm prepared to strip it all down and go back to the old standby

I also roughed out the strips for the next rod

fe thomas 6'8" 3wt

woo hoo

plus I turned forty fucking nine today and had a right fine busy birdie

housekeeping

yesterday I spent the day cleaning out the garage/workshop

to accommodate a stainless steel topped bench

courtesy of brother shay

essentially doubling my workspace

tuesday evening adam and I assembled an oven

oven hoisted above for convenient storage

welcome back

ready to dip

gin clear and skinny

wraps varnish and ready to dip

what a mess I've made of our dining room table

gin clear and skinny

is beginning to look like a fishing pole

glue day is over

for the time being...

witches brew

success