Friday Post of Randomness

This one's covering a lot of topics, so grab a coffee, sit back and relax.

I'll do y'all a favour & put the music first, so you can click that on to enhance to your reading pleasure.

Without further ado...

The Dirtiest, Greasiest Blues I've Heard in a Long Time Award goes to...

...A band called Crooked Saws.

It was love at first listen for me, as you can see below:

I came across them in Field & Stream's Hook Shots video blog (which happened to be on fly fishing for redfish in Louisiana...double-win for me).

You can go to Crooked Saws's Bandcamp site to listen their album...and buy it for $5, which I did, because it's awesome.

Here's a track off their album:

You can follow along with the band on Facebook here.

The 'Roommate in the Desert' Update

Since I introduced my roommate to the blogosphere earlier this week ("My roommate is tougher than you"), he's been what we call "givin' 'er shit" in the Jordanian desert.

The first day & a bit were pretty rough, with his teammates having difficulty acclimatizing to the heat and all three of them having jet-lag issues.

Unfortunately, both of his teammates withdrew from the race on day 2, early in the stage, leaving the roommate to compete alone.

And compete he has. He's moved up approximately 50 positions in the race over the past few days and just completed the 89-kilometre-long fifth stage. All that remains is Stage 6, which is a relatively minor 10-kilometre hike to the ancient city of Petra.

Congrats, Capital O. You've done well, and the city of Fredericton is really proud of you...well, maybe it's just a dozen or so of us, but either way...good job!

I know your success is due to my recommendation to get a Katy Perry song stuck in your head, over & over again.

The Unofficial Blog of the Aluminum Bastard

Three trailer tires: $204.51

Having a truck awaiting parts & repairs, resulting in not being able to tow the aluminum bastard: priceless.

(*writer sticks face into crook of elbow and swears repeatedly*)

Moving

Though I often mention my desire for living simply and all that other shit, fly fishing gear provides you with a solid nut-shot of reality to counter those claims.

Sure, I can move all my clothes & books & most worldly possessions in one load of my '03 Sport Trac. And I am able to pull off day-to-day life with a pair of 'casual' Carhartts, a pair of newer/cleaner 'dress' Carhartts and my awesome Prana shortpants (don't judge me...).

But when you're looking at 11 fly rods & their reels (and spools), waders, boots, jackets, accessories & several milk crates full of tying material, a half-dozen or so fly boxes, stripping baskets...the word hypocrite comes to mind.

Then again, we're am moving to a small downtown apartment that will:
a) allow my lovely girlfriend & I to walk for groceries, coffee, restaurants, etc.
b) require all of one candle to heat comfortably in the wintertime.
c) allow us to pay off student loans & save some money for future adventures due to lower rent.
d) allow me to bike 10 minutes to go fishing.
e) put me at the boat ramp in 6 minutes...if I'm ever able to put the Magnificent Basstard in the water.

At least I'm doing better than the McMansion crowd.

Fishing

Yes, this is a fly fishing blog, but you wouldn't really know it of late. That's because I was stuck within a degree of latitude of the Arctic Circle for four weeks and came back to boats & trucks requiring maintenance and an apartment that need moving into.

I'm hoping to remedy this lack-of-fishing situation tonight.

(*writer clasps hands, looks at the ceiling and mumbles something about needing to go fishing interspersed with a lot of swearing*)

More music

If you made it all the way through this dribble, you deserve some more music.

It's Friday, after all. Enjoy your long weekend, Canada!

Friday Redfish Fix

An oldie* but a goodie.

* - Old as in 4 years. Which isn't that old, but it appears the guys at WorldANGLING were, much like me, redfishing before it became super-cool** at last year's IFTD show in the Big Easy.

** - I call this hipster fly fishing: fishing for a species before there's a massive video collection of people fishing for it. It's probably the reason I'm the only person in New Brunswick fishing for smallmouth bass with a Hardy reel...while drinking from a Cuppow.

Drum preview by WorldANGLING from WorldANGLING on Vimeo.

POST-SCRIPT
Another little note for y'all here: This is my 200th post since I started this (semi-illiterate) literary journey.

Thanks to everyone who has stopped by, and especially those of you who read along regularly. I would never have imagined over 100 people subscribing or following along to this dribble I spew out, but now that it's happened, it's pretty damn cool.

I know this month has been pretty lame for regular updates, but that'll be fixed soon, that I promise: twenty-twelve will see more fishing than ever before...which is goddamned insane, once you think about it.

It wasn't planned for a redfish video to be the 200th post, but it's pretty effin' appropriate. Once I knew this was my 200th post, I figure this music video was most appropriate. I would've been in Canadian artist fan-boy heaven at that show.

Another Redfish Fix

(aka another lazy-ass video post)

Here's two vids, both topwater redfish, one on the fly rod, the other on spin gear.

I wonder, since I can obviously spend an entire winter watching redfish videos, if I could ever spend an entire winter chasing reds I.R.L...

...I'd like to think I could...

- From probably the only Canadian (in Mexico or not) wearing a hoodie with a redfish on the back (thx again, Cameron!)

Enjoy the videos!

BULLS ON TOP from SHALLOW WATER EXPEDITIONS on Vimeo.

Tuesday Redfish Fix

I was bumming around on the Drake's website & stumbled onto this little gem.

It was submitted in 2006 (pre-fly fishing film tour, I think...?) by Mikey Weir (Burl Productions); he of Soulfish & other great videos.

Redfish are awesome.

Enjoy.

Into the Red Zone from 7 Weight on Vimeo.

Post of randomness (& 2 cases against hero shots)

First off, I would like to thank everyone who checked out the site for my last post and posted comments & shared the link on twitter, facebook & their own blogs.

I'm trying to get back to my old-timey method of keeping posts to ~250 words (we'll see how that works out).

Today I was helping out at Fredericton Outfitters while the boss was outta town...to bring in a new line of gear!! I can't say what brand yet, but it's some pretty epic stuff. Trust me.

Capt. John Iverson emailed my hero shot from the redfish trip. It's a good thing I'm not all about the hero shot, because I suck at it. I'm not talking about taking it, either; I have that down. Let's review.

First up is the hero shot I snapped of Capt. John. Notice the stance, facial expression, how the red is held, etc...

(shot with Hipstamatic, on an iPod)

And then there's the shot of me. Though I look like I just failed a calculus exam and about to fall over, I'm actually really pumped up about catching this fish. Honestly.

In conclusion, not only do I agree with Davin Ebanks (Flatswalker) regarding being bothered by "countless grip & grin heros shots on the average fish porn blog" (which I'm really trying to stay away from on 411#3), but I have another good reason to dislike hero shots: I'm just not that effin' photogenic!

All said, it was an awesome trip. Highly recommend it. Capt. John Iverson can be booked through his email here or through Uptown Anglers, just next to the French Quarter in the Big Easy.

Click here for a video of Capt. John giving some tips for sight-fishing for reds on WFN. Here's another video with Capt. John talking about the effects of the Gulf oil spill

All for now. In an upcoming post, I'll write about what I learned during my first saltwater fly fishing experience (i.e. you can learn from my f**k-ups).

Here are some tunes:

Saltwater Chronicles, Vol. 1 - Teaser

Time/Date: 1930, 22-Nov-10
Location: The Big Easy

Abstract:
Made it into New Orleans yesterday after being up for ~36 hours straight. Grabbed a quick shower & hit the streets for a self-(un)guided tour, found a big ol' greasy burger place staffed by a bunch of (self-proclaimed) queens that called everyone "baby," wandered around a bit more. Lost money playing blackjack, bought a bag pretzels, went back to hotel, and was in bed by 10PM.

Judging by the 18,000 people wandering around (drunk) wearing football jerseys with their faces painted with fleur-des-lis, I made the assumption there was some sort of sporting event going on.

I haven't had a drop of alcohol here, but I love the fact that when I choose to do so, I can wander the streets with my beverage of choice, as long as it's in a can or plastic cup. Hey New Brunswick, is that so wrong?

First day chasing redfish can be classified as a success. Here's the fishing report I gave to Bucky via Facebook:

Spooked a billion, gave 4 fish a concussion by hitting them on the head with weighted flies instead of "presenting" flies 1-2' in front of them, hooked 9, landed 5. Smallest ~5lbs, biggest ~10lbs. And they fight like bulls. Saw my backing twice, even w/ 20lb leader on...pics to come, the guide used his camera.
Had two "mat wants to drown himself" moments: 
1. cranked the guide in the back with a weight fly when starting my forecast. 
2. guide was running the outboard motor, randomly picked up his rod & hooked a 12lb-er on first cast 2 min after I flubbed a cast to a group of 6+ fish & spooked them all. I repeat: he caught it while driving the boat with the motor on. I suck.


Pics & such to come in a (very near-) future post.

Music by The Subways (who have one of the coolest myspace intro vids ever, btw; see it here).

Update with some tunes

I promise I'm not letting things go here at 411#3, though I admit the number of posts in November is embarrassingly low. I will definitely attempt to fix that over the short-term; I have been jotting down (dozens of) ideas & topics for posts since I started this racket, and I have yet to scratch the surface.

For now, please accept this as a reasonable facsimile of a post, with, of course, some music below.

Here's what's up:

• I decided to complicate my life a bit by taking on an additional contract for a drilling program in Nova Scotia. This came up at the last second (called on Friday, onsite on Monday) but it seemed like the right thing to do (at the time). I'm not entirely sure what's in store for 'Geologist Mat' in 2011 (yet) and I have to finance this (fly fishing bum) lifestyle I'm working on somehow. I'm still finishing up data compilation from the project in Burkina Faso while I'm here, so I'm essentially working two contracts at once.
• This is the second project in a row for me that is predominantly en français. I consider this a bonus as I still need (a lot) of practice. I'm kinda pissed at myself for not speaking the language since returning from West Africa, especially since my gf est une belle francophone.
• I think I figured out this font issue I've been having in some posts. My next task is to learn how to embed a music player. If you rather the youtube versions, please let me know (it'll save me some time).
• The trip to Louisiana for redfish is still on!!! I (somehow) negotiated that into my contract with my client. I'm super-pumped for it (only 5 more sleep!!!) but have yet to cast my new saltwater rig (i.e., old rod & reel with new saltwater flyline; see this post).
• I'm probably going to (significantly) stimulate the economy of the Gulf Coast while I'm there (hence taking this contract I'm on). Some of these redfish flies go for about $10 a pop!
• Two weeks or so ago, I wrote about the latest issue of Catch Magazine being released online. I should have held of for 3 hours on that post as I received the email alert from This Is Fly (daily blog here) about their new issue. Click on the image below to check it out; they have great photography, art, music and, of course, fly fishing.

Current Issue of This Is Fly

Here's some Citizen Cope. I've been listening to the Clarence Greenwood Recordings (a lot) while finishing up data compilation.

Spontaneity: "I have a fly fishing addiction"

Time/Date: 0750, 25-Sep-10
Location: my kitchen

As I mentioned in the last post, I somewhat spontaneously booked a plane ticket. Here's the back story.

Due to that oil spill thing in the Gulf, much of my reading material concerned the spill (& the chemical dispersants) and its effect on Gulf fisheries. I kept reading up on the region and saltwater fly fishing in general, which turned into being inundated with information on bonefish, tarpon, permit and redfish. Warm climates and awesome fish. Hmmm.

Who's a fishin' fashion icon? This guy

In summer Bugslinger released their R3 shirts, with proceeds going to one of the guides' associations in Louisiana. The guides lost almost all of their bookings due to the spill. Good enough cause for me; I ordered three.

Side note: I'm a fan of groups fundraising with sales of shirts, etc. I have to wear something, it might as well be for a decent cause. Alzheimer's Society (who have come to my door 6 times this year), take note; you have some potentially cool slogans: "I remembered to put on this shirt; support Alzheimer's research!"

This past Wednesday, I grabbed my Fly Fusion destinations issue and randomly flipped open a page. A picture of a redfish. Damn it. I had redfish on the brain for the rest of the day. Later on I sat down to do some geo data work (it's coming, Matt!!) and decided to check out Expedia for airfares...out of curiosity.

Within two hours, I had the plane ticket to New Orleans and a guide booked for two days of chasing redfish on the fly.

Redfish propaganda...again

I contacted Uptown Angler and they booked Capt. John Iverson as my guide. It turns out Capt. Iverson was the guide featured in a recent article in the ezine This Is Fly. I just found this out yesterday. I take that as a really good sign.

A lot of the trouble guides are having with their bookings are misconceptions on the extent of the spill on the flats & in the marshes. The fishing season is on & they're ready to put you onto some Reds. The guides in this video tell it better than me.

That's my tale of the lengths I will go to feed my addiction. I'm not proud (actually, I am).

I'll do a separate post on the saltwater rod & reel I'm setting up for the trip...and surprisingly, it's a cheap & easy setup.

Here's some geographically-appropriate music: