craftsmanshit in leather

a few recent products from ye olde rod shoppe

angling tools by design 

perfect stocking stuffers for the angler in yer life...

this is a lanyard pouch that'll hold a small flybox and carry yer clamps



pliers holster



steripen sleeve



plane garage

blood on the tracks

some daze it goes like this...

rooftop rod rack

from the inventive and creative mind of jason jones 

put together very professionally

for less than fifteen bucks and a trip to harbor freight

which ohsoconveniently is right down the street

that ladies and gentlemen is cold beer and ammo

and angling tools by design

very well done

now it's time to build mine

truth in advertising

looks like it could be another post w/out a pic

almost even a state of the craftsmanshit address '12 edition

people have told me that I don't advertise much or enough

I don't at all actually and there is a reason for that

nor I do much in promoting bamboo as a material 

there is a reason for that as well

why advertise when I simply cannot produce any more rods per year than I currently can?

I guess I could invest a couple g's in some sort of ac

and produce oh maybe a half dozen more rods

but why?  

I am quite happy building six or eight rods a year

I'm not sure how much more wear and tear my fingers and hands can take

I mentioned it in passing below but arthritis is working its black magic in my hands

which means I have to take a lot of breaks to let my fingers relax

especially when I'm planing

which has been a lot this past week

and my hands ache haunt me

I'm more likely to direct a guy toward a nice $200 graphite rod

or the best rod you can afford

than suggest that they get a bamboo rod

why?

that is a decision that is made by the angler himself

a moment when he knows it is right in his soul

to fish bamboo and find out what it is like to fish with a tool that lives

*a couple hours later I was talking on the phone
to just such a guy
nice coincidence?*

wheatley

I've got three wheatley flyboxes

a couple of which I have a love/hate relationsip with

those cool little glass lids stink out loud

they either open too easily or not all

this one happens to be filled w/ flies sent to me

by my good friend roy christie 

I do treasure those and it is why they are kept

in theis fancypants box

disclaimer: of the three I have I purchase one

the cheap one (and the one I use most often)

the other two were gifts

and very nice ones

thank you.

is that so?

I was surprised and semi-shocked this morning

to read that beagles are listed among the dumbest of breeds

while p-nutt is called ding dong or little dumbass

about as often as he is called his name

I'm a bit stunned to hear he's quite dumb

he does play dumb games I'll give him that
he barks like an idiot as well

but whenever he hears the word dumbass

he looks up at the speaker in expectation

I suppose I'd like to think that he is smart

because he is mine

I'm afraid that might not be the case

he does have his mamma wrapped around his finger(?)

fishing the cathedral again

this will be my fourth trip to the ferry this year

and to be entirely honest about things

I've fished like shit

my head and heart haven't been in it

too lazy or stubborn

jrunk and stoo-pit

to adjust my tackle accordingly

distractions

fatigue?

a lack of interest?

I dunno

what I do know is that I don't like it

  that all changes tomorrow

last time up I was on the colorado river

for nineteen daze 

and picked up a rod maybe twice

nearly traveled the river from dam to dam 

and didn't even bother trying to fish

that's pathetic at worst

lame at best

my head hasn't been in the fishing place

it's been elsewhere...

on what again I dunno

it just hasn't been on fishing

I look at this as an opportunity to regain my fishing mojo

it doesn't matter how well you tie flies

or build rods

if you don't put them to proper use

anyways...let's get it on

thanks chad and van ness flyrods for the invite

I appreciate it

full circle

we're dusting this off and bringing it out of retirement

over better than ten years

if you've followed my struggle w/ carrying gear 

this may surprise you

I've taken care of some of my "vest" issues

note that nothing dangles from the vest

it and I will still carry too much
nor would it surprise you that I made a few small improvements (?)

it's gonna be heavy face it everything is

I can remove it and stow it on the bank as I often do anyways

plus everything I will need is in one place

and should stay there

more boxes

seems I've got at least a dozen working boxes

that's not really counting streamer boxes, bass boxes, salt boxes

I feel like rene harrop or something

this one was set up specifically for lee's ferry

ferry box incomplete w/out ridiculous thingamabobbers
(which I do not use - they just perfectly complete the picture)
spaghetti and meatballs and scuds
it's really rather gross

is there anything more lovely that is not a woman
than a box full of well tied soft hackles?

taking a close look we see that they're not so neat and orderly after all

midges and shit

boxes like this mean one thing to me

tailwaters

new school scuds?

opening gifts

wouldn't you like to open something like this

Christmas morning?

you know you wanna

it can happen

attn: jerry siem re: circa flyrods

like it or not sage drives the flyrod business

and they do produce fine fishing poles

there marketing lost me years ago 

as did the trend for faster and faster rods

making casting a chore rather than a mindless simple pleasure

as goes sage others follow

one is very hard pressed these daze

to find a proper dry fly action in a modern graphite rod

the onliest one I know of is the scott g2 (want one too)

until now

I haven't been excited about a sage rod release in a century

actually it's been over a decade

they lost me when they replaced the sp

and a lotta others when they extirpated the ll line

at one point I had three sage flyrods and loved them all

so why is a bamboo rodmaker writing about effing sage?

because jerry siem has developed a retro dry fly action rod

the circa is what I'm talking about and I'm dying to fish one

I cannot afford at this point in the game to fork out sage $$$

nor can I justify buying yet another rod

so really what we have here is my desperate plea

a shoutout if you will to jerry siem and the sage team

how about cutting a brother in bamboo some slack

and let me fish that rod

I'll try a short 3wt and a long 4wt fwiw...

just because it's badass

wherein we spill the beans

last weekend I got the invitation of a lifetime

I was asked to join a scientific expedition through the grand canyon 

w/ the usgs

look fishy que no?

my expenses?

how much do ten cases of pbr cost?

oh yeah babe

little things and simple tools

entomology or bugfuckin'

look like a wasp fucked a spider

under the cloak of anonymnity

looking again at hoodies I suppose

you can go totally anonymous w/ a hoodie

watch cap large dark shades

you look like anyone

or no one

all of which makes me think some one is hiding when they have they hood up
it ain't even cold here...

it almost brings into mind the criminal element

how do you describe that guy above?

he's wearing a slobberbone hat

(I'd turn that around were I up to no good)

no eye color hair color beard?  can't tell

he had a mustache and shades

the only distinction I guess you could make

is that I'm obviously not an african american

beyond that it's a crap shoot

dude looked like a terrorist mang

state of the craftsmanshit address - spring '12

I suppose it's that time again

the shoppe closes its doors

w/ the job board cleared for the season

and two new rods on the list...unsure of everything else at this time

just know that there will be something to do when the doors reopen...

meanwhile there's this...

a pflueger goodyear awaits refinishing

fortunately beyond the grip it can be done mostly indoors

thee good...

new planing forms - though I've yet to plane a full rod on them

I have planed out a putter shaft on them

looking forward to building a rod on them

stylin' smith polarized shades behind...

spring fishing?   - I've been to the ferry a few times

that's about it

all my camera shit - cameras are tools hereabouts not toys

I need all that shit

hell I need more...

there is no bad believe it or not

I anticipate a long hot and boring summer

anyways...that fly tying project described below?
too ambitious- I'll settle for one or two patterns per chapter...
that'll be plenty plus I'll hone my chops again
it is time to get serious about tying flies again

as a matter of fact, "it's something of a small cannon."

indeed...
"Thanks Mikey, this rod really kicked some serious ass on a windy as hell stretch of Co water, and really tied the trip together."

that's a granger 7030
and a repeat photo...

a look inside

my midge boxes

don't be tricked there are plenty of teeny weeny dries in there as well

y'all remember the f-150?