nearly twenty years later

these remain the coolest shades ever

it was also around that time that I started playing golf

and teaching maybe my third year?

a long time a go

as you can see I still have them...

almost

I drew a fish

doodling while dipping

I drew my very first ever picture of a trout

I'd kinda like to add a little color to it

I've got a 60 pc prismacolor pencil dealio laying around here somewhere...

I'd also kinda like reduce it to just lines

guess where we went

well actually it's just a pic I really like

and a photodump

and beta test of this crappy new blogger interface

I hate it

finishing touches

this week we take care of all the little things

the little things that go into finishing a rod

you almost get reluctant to finish the damn things

you've lived them for so long

I'm sure I've stated before that I split rod building into two phases

first stage is the gruntwork or preparation 

this basically put is building the blank

after that is all finishing the rod

sanding out of the glue

setting ferrules

building grip

wrapping rod

varnishing wraps

varnishing and polishing the rod

I will prolly polish up the rods I've got ready and glue up a couple reelseats

possibly preparing for a final dip en la manana

after that we closed for summer

I've got a couple blanks built on hold for myself

and absolutely nothing in or going into gruntwork

there should be something...

sneak preview

these two are racing for the finish line

is this the one?

I doubt it but so far I'm pleased

it is yet to be field tested though...then we'll see

I saw this bag at best buy
it was black and ran $61.00
it stuck in my craw I guess

picked it up for $45 plus fucking shipping
don't get me started
got $20 worth of retractors hanging off it
and another inside for the camera
it holds both cameras a large water bottle
as well as all necessary fishing tools

we like it so far

I have to do it because it is true...

a useful gadget

this sure is one nifty little package

fits comfortably in any pocket

holds four reels of tippet

fortunately I took note of what's on where

in case I forget...

a reminder

beneath the cheat sheet are some strike indicators of all things?!?

I actually really like the frog hair ones in there

know what?

it even floats

tell ya what though 

loading this thing is an exercise in patience and dexterity

one false move and the whole thing'll collapse on ya

and yer gonna make more than one false move

remember be patient

fishin' not fashion redux...

my fishin' buddy josh coined the phrase

"it's fishin' not fashion"

and it is

 we don't dress to be seen we dress to disappear

to become one w/ our surroundings

not stand out

like the guy geared up head to toe in simms gear

w/ a brand new >$1000.00 rig
a spotless fedora and costa del mar shades
ironically, I guess it seems that most of our fishing wardrobe (if you will)
is in various shades of simms grey
or I've read/heard it called sage
the color not the rod company

  does any of this matter?

I've said in the past that no it doesn't
and kind of set out to prove myself right
regularly fishing in brightly colored clothes or at least a hat

whoopsie!  I thought that was the yellow shirt!

there we go!  jrunk nimpin'

nevertheless I'm usually wearing some variation of the simms grey or sage sage color scheme
even though my favorite fishing shirts are yellow or what I call rawhide
and they say columbia or cabela's on them
even though I ruint one of the pockets on the yellow one w/ a cigarette cherry burn


I've also commented on how lotsa fishing specific packs
make you look like yer going to do battle w/ aliens
rather than fish
most of these packs are you guessed it simms grey or sage sage
 (which we could call light olive perhaps)
and here we go again w/ yet another trial run w/ a pack
this time a sling
of course we'll let you know how things pan out


our clothes/gear need to be functional and comfortable and versatile
it needs to stand up to adverse conditions we encounter in the backcountry
it's pretty rugged out there
yer clothes need to handle that

all that said, a fedora is still pretty stylish...

hey!

shut up and fish!

things I've been thinking about while varnish cures

I've been wearing knee pads for years now 

through various indoor construction and remodels

even painting

why not use them while fishing?

why hadn't I thought of this earlier

but I'm doing it

I've got two sets the good ones and the shitty ones

shitty ones won't cut it so the good ones it is

I think I've posted a pic of my kneepads

back when I was painting the house

thing number two

we carry way too much shit

it's absurd

which is why my experiment w/ the filson chest pack is likely over

I carry too much shit when I have it

I am gravitating toward a sling

before I even saw the sling in question 

I'd decided that everything we carry

should be carried in a camera bag

see the sense in that?

relatively inexpensive

everything that needs to be protected is

and if you've got a camera in there

(which you likely will)

yer limited as too what else will fit

that way yer not a walking flyshop

whatever floats yer boat

tied some wool headed streamers w/ doll eyes the other day

doll eyes are a pain in the ass plain and simple

one of the flies came out pretty sharp

it took four at least applications of superglue to get those eyes to stay put

I have to tie a half dozen muddlers for a swap

I'm not sure I have turkey feathers

and that's just lame

finally as I research things a bit

outfitting yerself for hammock camping or hanging

in the vernacular

is everybit as expensive as getting yerself 

a large strong and easily erected tent

suitable for long stays in inclement weather

you know it happens

unless...you do it yerself

we'll see...

I guess this is done

I may put another coat of spar varnish on it

once I finish a rewrap

whenever that will be

my new rod wrapping stands

nothing fancy

a few glitches

working well so far

it's not often

that p-nutt cooperates with me trying to take his picture

agate porn again

wrapping stand

for some reason I cannot explain

I decided I needed another (or new) wrapping stand

not that there's anything wrong w/ the old one

there isn't

the kicker is that beyond a couple simple refinements 

the damn things are nearly identical

old one - made of poplar

foam lined blank notches

notches cut so \|

includes mending plates (determined unnecessary)

new one - oak base cedar uprights

leather lined blank notches

notches cut so \/
no mending plates
since they're unnecessary

this would be finished butcept I have no 1 1/2" wood screws

I've got 1" and 2" but as usual not what I need

anyways, we'll sand things down

throw on a couple coats of spar varnish

and we'll be rolling...

wrapping ferls and wrapping things up

sort of...

there's more yet to be done

from one place to another just like that

don't ask me how we got here

this rods at least three years old and pretty well used and abused

notice how nicely the wraps have nearly vanished

aged nicely, que no?

and here's where we got...

what I call a western grip
all day music
spalted maple w/ bellinger garrison style blued nickel silver hardware

the grip I want to use on the restoration below...

the damnedest thing

you can see how much cork blew up with one pass of the razor

I just peeled the rest off by hand kinda like an orange

there was no to very little glue on the blank way down there

the stuff was unusually brittle in any case

and it needed to go

interesting though the coke bottle grip may be it ugly

nor very ergonomic

next project

restoration (of sorts) of an old pflueger goodyear