Monday, April 30, 2012

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...

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Thursday, April 26, 2012

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

Monday, April 23, 2012

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...

Saturday, April 21, 2012

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

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

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

Sunday, April 15, 2012

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!

Friday, April 13, 2012

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...


Thursday, April 12, 2012

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





Monday, April 9, 2012

it's not often

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




Wednesday, April 4, 2012

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...

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

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...

Monday, April 2, 2012

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

Sunday, April 1, 2012