Birth of a 'yak angler

Random redfish picture, just so y'all know where my head is at.
(Taken at SC Aquarium, which is an awesome place)

Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing- absolutely nothing- half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. - Kenneth Grahame

Bringing home my new Diablo Paddlesports' Chupacabra marked the end of an era: the Magnificent Basstard is for sale.

Note #1: I reverted back to calling it the Magnificent Basstard from The Aluminum Bastard since it's for sale.
Note #2: selling the boat would be a lot easier if I wasn't in Nunavut until late August.

A little piece of my brain was whispering about the adventures I could have with both The Magnificent Basstard (henceforth "the MB") and the Chupacabra paired up as part of an amphibious fly fishing strike force of awesomeness.

Common sense (and a promise to my lovely girlfriend) has won out; I will bid adieu to the MB as soon as a buyer is found. In fact, a few interested souls have already come forward.

I weighed the options of buying a fishing kayak last year, but the summer slipped by way too fast. I was away working a fair bit and next thing I knew it was September. And when October rolled around, I ended up buying the MB...and then promptly went to Idaho to work for the entire month.

Desires for a fishing kayak reared its head again in the spring, but having the MB and a trip booked to Belize in September kept any and all kayak delusions in check. It came down to simple economics: kayaks are sort of expensive.

A boat owner is a special breed of person. I battled with truck repairs, learning to back up with a trailer hitched, boat covers that collected more rainwater than they shed, parking issues, and a trailer that requires a little bit of servicing to pass inspection. As the summer once again started sliding past, I very calmly*, with no cursing whatsoever**, concluded I am not that breed of person. Not yet, anyway.

* - This is a lie.
** - This is not a lie, but replace 'doghouse' with 'boat trailer' in this video here.

Owning a powerboat, with the associated time, money and responsibilities that go with it just isn't for me at this current stage of my life.

Note #3: Without question, the MB itself is a great boat. My truck and the boat trailer have caused me all of my boating woes, with my work schedule being the main contributing factor to why the boat lies fallow.

Sea trials on Lake Sebago, Maine

But I still wanted (needed?) to be on the water.

The kayak had definite merits (many of which I told my lovely girlfriend). No trailer to worry about towing, parking space or government inspections. No gas bills. No possible future mechanical failures. No insurance. No lower unit to worry about in shallow water.

Less worry. Less hassle. Less money. All possible in less water.

Plus excuses for (lots of) physical activity under the guise of fishing and to build and rig things like storage out of milk crates and push-poles out of PVC.

Note #4: the word 'accessories' takes on whole new levels of awesomeness why you combine the words 'kayak' and 'fishing.'

Yes, I think a kayak is more my style.

Note #5: Especially if your talking about living room style:

Boat parking issues are SOLVED!

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!

The Aluminum Bastard

"Boats are holes in the water, into which one pours money." - Anon.

The Magnificent Basstard

Within a few days, I'll be moving into the space where boat ownership is actually fun.

The day I decided to buy it was pretty fun. And the day I brought it home to reside in the driveway was fun, too. Even the 2 hours I took it out for a spin with my buddy Andrew (the previous owner) on a cold-as-f**k day in November was alright as well.

For the most part, it's been an expensive pain in my asshole.

Boat covers, miscellaneous safety accessories, online boater safety courses, tools, registration transfers, trailer tires, towing packages & trailer hitches & wiring, spring tune-ups, so on & so forth.

And then there's bailing gallons of rainwater off the damn cover that I'm too lazy to tie down properly.

What started as a simple text message conversation back in early October has turned into a seventeen-foot, money-sucking aluminum bastard in my yard.

And I love it!

I want to get it into the water. I want to catch fish with it. I want it to stop sucking money from my pockets every time I look at it.

Two outta three ain't bad...

Why I'm glad to own an Evinrude Boat Motor

Becky told me about this....it has to be seen to be believed:

 

Yeah. Ok, then...

Boat Bass Bike Beats

Time/Date: 1320, 01-Dec-11
Location: Fredericton, NB

Anyone & everyone who is reading this should take 20 minutes & totally clean their email inbox. Delete all the unnecessary, and archive the necessary.

Or just go & declare email bankruptcy, and delete all of them.

JFDI. You'll thank me for it later.

Onto the good stuff.

Boat

I can't remember if (or how in depth) I mentioned my boat.

Right before I went to Idaho for work, a friend sent me a text saying he was selling his boat & looking to upgrade. I replied back, "how much?" My next text message was "Sold!"

The boat is a Grumman 1752 aluminum hull with a Evinrude 50hp two-stroke motor.

And I can't be happier (though I still dream of someday owning this).

Not only did I purchase the boat via text message, I also paid for it via email Interac transfers while in Idaho.

Ain't technology wonderful.

Of course, due to various travel & changing of the seasons, I only got out once in it before we winterized it. But it's ready to rock for next spring!

Bass

Of course, now being a boat owner, the logical next step would be to fish more from a boat. To facilitate that (i.e., having even more of an excuse to fish), I decided I'm going to enter a few of the local bass tournaments next year.

But I'm doing them with the fly rod.

Kicker is, rods must be less than 8' in length for tournament angling.

My 6wt Redington Predator setup, at 7'10" fits the bill nicely, and I've had considerable good fortune fishing with it already. But I wanted another bass-specific fly rig, preferably in the 7/8wt range for tossing bigger bugs and such.

To top it off, Cameron Mortenson of The Fiberglass Manifesto and his unholy army of glass geeks might have been able to brainwash me a bit on the smooth casting actions and fun fish-fighting capabilities of fiberglass rods.

So I posed Cameron the question: recommend a decent 7/8wt fiberglass rod that is under 8' in length.

He came back pretty quick with Cabela's CGR. At 7'6", it does the trick, and at $99, it does said trick quite affordably. Conveniently enough, I was in Idaho & heading back to Boise, where there is a Cabela's located pretty close by to my hotel.

Cabela's CGR. 7'6", 8wt, 3pc. My bass-buggin' rig.

I'm all about supporting your local fly shop. As much as humanly possible. But sometimes you have to bend your own rules. Especially when it comes to a 7/8wt fiberglass rod, under 8' in length, and under $100. Besides, where do you think the reel, backing, line & bass-bug fly tying materials are going to come from?

On top of that, when Chris at Fredericton Outfitters starts carrying the Sage line up this winter, do you think I'll be able to resist this?

So support your local fly shop. 97% of the time, at least.

I did get the CGR out once before things shut down for the year (same day I took the boat out for my one & only ride as a boat owner). The unholy army of glass geeks were right: it does cast smooth...once  I figured out the action & how to cast it...

Thanks, Cameron! And sorry, Chris...I won't ever do that again.

More Bass

I ordered a couple fly fishing for bass books. They should be here soon (edit: I just rec'd a call; one of them is at my local independent book seller awaiting pick up now!!)

Once I dive into them a bit, I'll share what they are & whether or not they're worth your hard-earned time & money.

Ummm....Support your local independent bookstores!

Bike

In my quest to be a cheapskate, burn less gass & save money live a more sustainable lifestyle & lessen my impact, I'm gonna try to become a bike commuter.

(Note: I'm not sure what I'll be commuting to, however. I don't work locally. I'll figure something out.)

I got in touch with Kent, local twitteratti and guru of all things pedal-driven. Never settling for something easy & always looking for something I can leave incomplete (fly tying app? learning photo editing software? building a homemade wind turbine?), I wanted to build my own bike and perhaps learn some (semi-)practical knowledge of bike maintenance.

Kent set me up with a frame, seat, fork, derailleurs, cranks, and a bunch of other thingies I don't know the name of, as well as a shopping list of other do-dads. The two local bike shops, Radical Edge & Savage's, filled out the rest of the stuff on the list. And Kent is gonna learn me how to wrench a bike this weekend.

(Note: I can't say enough about how awesome & helpful the dudes at Savage's were. Go there for all things bike. Seriously.)

Kent's asking price: fly fishing gear & local knowledge.

Mat receives: bike & bike maintenance knowledge.

For the second time this post: "Sold!"

I'll post some pics of the bike build we're doing this weekend in an upcoming post.

Ummm....Support your local bike shop!

(Sense a theme yet? This wasn't planned. Seriously)

Random Cool Thing #1

Using Google Maps to outline the route on an envelope.

Random Cool Thing #2

This piece of graffiti.

Beats

More reggae. Enjoy.

(click here if you can't see the video below)

Once Upon a Time In Mexico, Chapter 2

I'm on a boat, yo!

Time/Date: 2145 CST, 02-Mar-11
Location: Somewhere between the twilight zone & Acapulco

I'm taking a break from eating tortillas y pollo to post how my day started and ended, using only a picture & two videos (and that's not just due to laziness, either).

The truth is out there, people. It could be on a boat or in the skies.

(Please note the skies I write of are located just a few kilometres away)

F**king random.

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