benchcleaning

well, we're getting there

it's a two day process at least

it is more organized and cleaner than it's been in two years...

hotdamn bent rods

mighta been the first fish of the day

see it?

grip and grin idiot shot

she approves

photo credits due - eric austin aka mudbug

thanks mang

cool like bob dylan

bob dylan and his crackerjack band put one one helluva a show last night at the dodge theater

going to church - a fishing narrative

we arrived after dark saturday night

desperately seeking a campsite

an open site w/ reserved sign beckoned

I say stop and check out the sign

reserved 7-16 to 7-19 it reads

we'll take this one

it starts to rain

I checkout the campsite

raingear is buried in closed truck bed

I'll live - pull on hoodie

site is great - lotsa shade and right alongside the rio

I return to truck cab and say you gotta check this out it's perfect

interior cab light queers my night vision and I tumble ass over tea kettle on a boulder

doesn't hurt badly though I lose some bark

we scramble to set up tent and sleeping quarters in dark and rain

we manage w/out getting too wet and gear remains mostly dry

next morning neighboring angler comes over and says

"pretty tough setting up in the rain - we sat in the cab of my truck eating dinner and watched you guys"

it wasn't too bad

it's sunday morning - rig rods eat some captain crunch

caddis start to gather among the pines

this tells me it's time to go fishing

since it's sunday - where else to go but church

the church of the dry fly and finest spot on the river

there are bugs everywhere

caddis pmds sporadic yellow sallies and little brown/black stones green drakes

fish are rising here and there

those of you who've been fortunate enough to fish here know that the whole run can erupt

try caddis - nope
pmd - nope

this guy lands on my flybox...

so I tie on this...

finally it's bingo time and I stick a couple handfuls of 13 to 15 inch browns

all things considered a great morning/afternoon fishing
return to camp for late lunch and nap

mudbug dicks around nimping the camground water

eventually back to church for dusk caddis hatch and fishing is lights out
leave before full dark w/ another couple handfuls of nice trout

to be continued and supplemented w/ pics as I receive them...

awaiting

as I wait for delivery of some fishing shots

I share some scenic pics of the san juan mts backcountry

the rio was wrocking in the gorge pictured above

survival here is questionable at worst

downright uncomfortable at best

beautiful nevertheless

a lovely run approaching the headwaters

as usual pics do not do this justice...

fingers

or a castle

iconic shot of rio valley

beagles!

oh yes we love beagles

ran into these two cuties up in colorado

they're half siblings (shared father) born a day apart 

blues

while it is always nice to get back home

it kinda sucks to leave when the fishing is so got am great

I predict that simpler times will soon become the hipster beer of choice

drake cripples were the fly du jour day one

goddard caddis was just the ticket for the evening caddis hatch

pmd sparkle duns and parachutes result in all day music
bingo!

gone fishing

catch ya on the flip side

hey baby!

it's the fourth of july!

happy independence day

why not...

"the skinny" - chapter fourteen - random bits and pieces of shit

just  a pretty agate stripper shot on my plane

must be late spring early summer as we've moved indoors

I try not to do this work when I can get "shoppe" stuff done

when it's too hot to work in the garage we move indoors

bench turned 90 degrees as was the overhead lighting

a move that began the current setup of the shoppe

we've added another bench and a sharpening station since

vise got moved to the other bench

but this remains pretty what it's like in there

toss in a couple chairs a couple swamp cooler type fans
and you may as well be there right here and now
except it's hotter than a fresh fucked fox in a forest fire out there
so we try not to go there

finally got an oven built I felt kinda comfortable with
although pumping 1000+ degrees in there always makes me nervous
rod shoppes have a history of burning

tormek sharpening system got moved to a small bench underneath the oven
freeing up benchtop space
foreground bench is usually used for gluing and binding
node pressing and if I've got to wrap a rod during the season it happens there

depth gauge
couldn't set the forms without it

lathe and rod support stand
that lathe gets turned 90 degrees when not in use
again freeing up benchtop space...

and there you have it
a photo essay on how the shoppe evolved from nothing to its current half assed state

maybe I'll clean things up in there (it's a mess as usual)
and get a current shot...

it's really about time we wrap up this narrative
w/ a few thoughts of what we see the future bringing (it ain't promising)
design philosophy and preferences
random bits and pieces of shit

stay tuned for the conclusion

"the skinny" - chapter thirteen - beginnings again

when I first started doing this at home 

I worked for a bit in the backyard

on the patio table

as pictured earlier

eventually I moved thing indoors

from the kitchen counter bar

to the dining room table

where to this day I still work wrapping and varnishing

 pic above is from august 31st 2007

I'm assuming that that's chueco I'm planing

my first lathe was an electric drill duct taped to the bed of my pickup truck

I stopped doing that after my shirtails got caught up and snapped a rod in two

tuning up the forms - this was back in november or december 2007

working at night splitting cane

loved doing it then love doing it now

a cabinet maker buddy of mine built my drying cabinet

workbench got moved over to this wall

prolly to improve the overhead lighting