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?*

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

playing again w/ the tubes

if these big fat things work 

it may change everything I think I know about fly tying

they are interesting

why we do it

photo credit by chris hutchison

fishing his new cane rod on a stream in colorado

love it

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

because it's badass

169%

ganked this badass shot from the website that doesn't exist

first of three poore girl rods

photo by befuddled angler matt poore

thanks mang

a fly tying project

this book...

well don't try clicking the link it won't work

I'm gonna tie up several of every fly shown in the book

first four I can knock out in no time

quill gordon check pt check grhe check

baetis nimp

anyways it'll be some pretty good practice 

resulting in a very nice set of flies

plus it'll prolly take me all year to finish

(assuming I do)

I've long admired harrop as a fly designer

and I had read and given away his earlier book trout hunter

I find reading the above pictured book neary insufferable

though there are a metric shitload of lovely flies

two more out the door

these two are on their way out too...

rod on the brighter pink sock - driggs river special

the other cattanach 7ft 4wt

the poore girl rods are finished...

bittersweet blues

truly tis a bittersweet moment

after all the time we've spent together

to put you into the hands of your destiny

you always worry

will it be good enough?

it nearly always is...

sir d

finally...it's back - twelve dollar tuesdaze (and thursdaze)

the question remains...

do I play or maintain my self imposed for the sake of my golf swing hiatus

more old school shades

sheesh these things look kinda ridiculous

huge lens/frames

cateye!

looks like I'm a child of the 70s or 80s or something

bottom line is that these are the finest skiing glasses ever made

my hog riding buddy jesse sez the same for mootorcycling

seems those great big lenses are coming back if fashion eh?

not enough that I'll be regularly sporting these

vuarnet pouilloux

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

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

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!

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