Traveling Non-Angler Tuesday

Announcement: Launch of Traveling Angler Tuesdays

I am very excited to announce the launch of Traveling Angler Tuesdays here at 411#3, starting this Tuesday (June 26th)

If you caught the Out of Alaska post yesterday, you might recall seeing mention of a new path (or, more accurately, a widening of an existing path) for the site. Well, this is it.

I travel a lot. I fish a lot. I carry gear with me when I travel. I know I can share a few tips, tricks and gear reviews to help out both beginner and experienced traveling anglers alike.

So starting this Tuesday, and every Tuesday after it, there will be a new post to inform, entertain and enlighten you, the Traveling Angler.

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To kick off Traveling Angler Tuesdays, I enlisted the help of Dylan Rose of Fly Water Travel LLC and proceeded to pester him with lots of questions about fishing, traveling, working at Fly Water Travel, guiding Gierach and playing jazz.

So click over on Tuesday, June 26th to read my interview with Dylan!

To find out more about this tarpon & the guy holding it, check out the interview with Dylan on Tuesday!

Enter your email address to subscribe (I will never, ever spam, sell or trade your email address):

Out of Alaska

After numerous attempts, I discovered proper form for redeye flights last night: I fell asleep before we backed away from the gate in Fairbanks and was out cold until the descent into Minneapolis. Brilliant.

Thus closing this Alaskan chapter of my life.

It was a good trip, but the lack of sleep from working night shifts did me in, and yesterday's hunt for pike on my 7wt ended up being more of a snipe hunt.

But there were highlights...

Highlight #5:

• Working night shift that far north was cool and it made for some pretty combination sunsets/sunrises.

Highlight #4:

• Catching my first grayling on the fly. It isn't a technical fishery by any stretch, but they were fun for a diversion. Small flies, light leaders, etc. Pretty fish, too; though I didn't take any pictures save one. I needed the pic for the Species Journal, after all...

Highlight #3:

• This is more a personal thing than an Alaskan thing: I decided on new path for this site. Maybe not a new path; perhaps widening the path is more apt. More on this in a very-near-future post.

Highlight #2b:

• Finding this cabin in the middle of nowhere down a random dirt road while looking for a fishy spot. Something about it brought a smile to the cockles of my heart.

Highlight #2a:

• Seconds after finding the cabin, the realization that I sometimes can't believe I get paid for this.
• This also ties in with Highlight #3...but hours later, while being chewed alive by bugs and being busy as hell, this upbeat attitude diminished slightly. I was still excited about Highlight #3 and the cabin, however.

Highlight #1:

• Being present in the precise moment in space and time to be able to see this:

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So that was Alaska. 

Quick shout-outs to:

Matt H - may he have good fortune with his new Sage Largemouth rod & not have anymore minor incidents with company rental trucks.

JR at Big Ray's fly shop - thanks for the help. My inability to roll-cast that robin-sized diver on my 7wt in no way diminished the appreciation I have for time spent giving me directions for the pike hunt.

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Here's a tune.

Appropriate title, considering I'm on the verge of wandering over to the complimentary bar to fix one for myself. Aeroplan Elite status has its perks.

Bipolar

That whole sunset-sunrise thing that happens in the span of 35 minutes here in Alaska confuses the hell out of me: I know not whether to take warning, or feel delight.

Meh, last time I checked, I'm no sailor...especially with the dry-docked-in-my-friend's-driveway Aluminum Bastard as my vessel of choice.

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Still no fishing to be had. The joys of night shifts.

Random Nunavut post, S01E02

NOTE: I'm trying out a new layout on this, via Blogger's Dynamic Views. I'd really appreciate your input on how it looks/acts/feels/etc. 


Some of you who follow along on my Instagram & Twitter feeds (both '@mattrevors') or tumblr page (or even the dreaded Facebook) may have seen these pics already, but I thought I'd post a few here.

As I frequently make public, I'm an ardent anti-winter person. Hate cold, hate ice, wish to live in Florida with white pants pulled up to my armpits & fish all the time, and so on & so forth.

Needless to say, I was completely horrified a little apprehensive about coming within a degree or so of the Arctic Circle in mid-April.

Surprisingly, the project location wasn't all that nightmarish. I missed home (as usual) and its mild weather (as expected), but food was good, accommodations ok, and people onsite were extremely pleasant & friendly...unlike other jobs I've been on (*cough* Saskatchewan *cough*).

I'm hoping to get back in the summer at some point, with fly rods in tow. I fly through Yellowknife, which is situated on a decent-sized lake and apparently has some pike that need introducing to my Redington 10wt. And there are grayling, trout & char present in the vicinity of this project site.

Hopefully the company I'm contracted to doesn't mind me being seconded to the client as official fishing guide/gear-lender for VIP tours of the property. Conveniently, one of the helicopter pilots has just started fly fishing & tying, too. A few flies and casting & tying lessons might be bartered for flight time.

Here are some pics...

This thing is almost cool enough to make winter enjoyable

Ample fly tying materials available, should I run low

C-130 Hercules on landing strip if lake ice, unloading bulldozers at sunrise

Any fans of the show 'Ice Pilots' will recognize this bird

Feel free to check out lots more travel & fishing pics on The Angler's Android and look me up on twitter.

You can also subscribe to this feed via the Feedburner subscription box on the pop-out sidebar on the right.

Tumblr + Instagram & Lightbox

Time/Date: 0130, 05-Feb-12
Location: the intertubes...

First up: a new Facebook page for my local shop, Fredericton Outfitters & Anglers (webpage).

Facebook is apparently making some changes to how they handle groups...which kinda sucks, as we had over 875 members in the group, with loads of photos & other great content. I'll slowly be moving the best of it over to the new page, one pic at a time, and have asked the group members to repost some of their photos & videos as well

I've been posting regularly (spamming?) on the various channels to let people know about the switch, but the group has been a regular habit for more than a handful of the members for a couple years now, so I anticipate it being a slow & steady process.

The new page is located at facebook.com/frederictonoutfitters; click on over & give us a 'like.' We're not all that bad...

Next up...Tumblr (that's not a typo).

Tumblr is a micro-blogging platform that is not as micro as Twitter & its 140 characters.

I'm sure Tumblr is totally awesome & lots of things can be done with it, but I signed up for it for one main reason: it's a one-stop online home for my Instagram & Lightbox photos from my iPod Touch and Android phone.

Since taking the (mentally-refreshing) step of giving my D-SLR camera, lenses & accessories to my dad (thank you for freeing me, Dave Bruno!!), I've become even more interested in mobile-device photography, but the platforms for having these photos were not the greatest.

• Uploading here? Too many steps: take pic, get pic from device to computer, upload & publish a post accompanying the pic.  
• Instagram is awesome on my iPod as an app, non-existent on the web.
• Lightbox is on the web & good as an app, but only about 4 people, including myself, know about it.
• Flickr works...but is cluttered with albums & shit like that (in my mind)

Enter Tumblr. Each of my preferred photo apps allow me to share directly to my Tumblr page, and formatting of the 'posts' happens automatically.

I like it.

(Don't worry, loyal readers; I won't be quitting here. Tumblr is essentially a nice photo album.)

I whittled away the evening sorting through which pics I already have on Instagram & Lightbox to share on Tumblr (great way to procrastinate, btw...) and set up the photo apps to post automatically.

Check it out at mattrevors.tumblr.com/ or click the image of my Tumblr page below:

The Guatemalan Chronicles - Rest of the trip in pictures

Click here to see all posts in the Guatemalan Chronicles

I'm taking the lazy way out: the rest of my Guatemala trip will be displayed in the pictures below. I figure I've stretched this out for long enough.

I'll say it again, though: it was an awesome trip, from start to finish (minus the whole baggage kerfuffle at MEX).

Anyone who wants to do the sailfishing-in-Guatemala thing should definitely contact Captain Tom Boice (@panamaxsailfish) at Panamax Sailfishing.

And you couldn't have asked for a better crew to fish with than Jon from iFished.com and Salty from SoCal Salty, so if they organize another trip, just go!

Note that I took all of my pics on the trip with the Instagram app on my iPod. A few of my faves that have already been posted are included in this batch, too.

Captain Tom & the Que Vela! at sunrise

Jon at the helm

Volcanoes remain "cool" to me

Jon's sailfish...after it bit him

Damage from the sailfish "bite"

My rig, locked & loaded. Spent 1.5 hours at the ready on 1st day of fishing

Sailfish on Instagram = awesome

Salty drawing a crowd

Salty with another satisfied street merchant

Salty must have oozed "rich Yanqui" while out & about :P

Volcano & Lake Atitlan, Panajachel

Local fisherman on Lake Atitlan 

The previously mentioned 'Best Goddamned Coffee Shop Anywhere"

Mural on outside wall of Crossroads Cafe, Panajachel

The best friggin' hairstyle in Guatemala, bar none...

World-famous Latin American chicken buses...

...all pimped out

Salty is a fan of the harp, apparently

'da boyz, loitering in the central square in Antigua

Street musicians in Antigua

Antigua, Guatemala

and again...

Sinatra on tour? Nope, just Salty, lovin' life! (Jealous of that hat, btw)

A persistent seller of 'fine' handcrafted (&slightly used) flutes 

Pic of the dorado, via Salty's camera, which looked Instagram-y

And that's it, folks. Hopefully there will be another awesome adventure to drag out over three weeks of blog posts coming again soon!

Keep it real.

Mat

Playing with foam

Time/Date: 1900, 02-Jan-12
Location: F'ton

Seeing this is the first post of 2012, happy New Year, everyone! I hope all had a enjoyable & relaxing holiday season with friends & loved ones.

I'll be continuing with some posts from last month's adventure in Guatemala soon enough (like, tomorrow or the next day).

As a solid form of procrastination from doing anything overly productive (such as cleaning & organizing my tying bench), I tied up a few bass flies using some craft foam. Foam is a material I'll be diving into more over the course of winter for tying smallmouth patterns; it's quite versatile, comes in a wide variety of colours, and it's CHEAP!

This Sneaky Duck fly recipe, by Roger Duckworth, was in Fly Tyer magazine a few months back. It's a pretty quick & easy fly to tie.

Unfortunately you'll have to wait at least 104 days until I can give them a solid run-through on the water.

Here's some music:

The Guatemalan Chronicles - Day 3

Read about day one here and day two here.

Setting: 

The Que Vela, Captain Tom's 34-foot super-panga; 40 miles off the Pacific coast of Guatemala

Cast of Characters:

• Captain Tom, Panamax Sailfishing (@panamaxsailfish)
• Jon, iFished.com (@iFished)
• Salty, SoCal Salty (@socalsalty)
• Fish Allen, expat living in Guatemala (@No_Twitter)
• Victor, non-English-speaking deckhand (@No_Twitter_2)
• Me (@mattrevors)
• Pacific sailfish (@Istiophorus platypterus)

You're either bouncing with anticipation (or sick and tired of waiting) to check out what the fishing for sailfish was like, so here's the first day...plus a little treat at the end.

Enjoy.

Sunrise at Marina Pez Vela

Marina Pez Vela in Sailfish HQ in Guatemala

Captain Tom about to board the Que Vela!

Jon, with Captain Tom at the helm

Jon takes the helm for a bit

Dolphins!

My first sailfish, on conventional tackle

What kind of pompous fool tries to catch a jumping sailfish on Instagram?
Me, that's who...

No shots on the fly gear on day one, but at least it looked awesome...

First day's results:

One sailfish each for Jon, Salty, Fish Allen (biggest of the day) and myself, all on conventional gear. Zero shots for me on the fly rod.

I had the first of the day, and therefore the first in Captain Tom's new boat, which was kinda cool!

Oh yeah...the treat at the end....

Here's a vid of Salty hooking (& landing) his first sailfish. Yours truly was holding the Go-Pro...with a lot of coaching from Salty!

There's some awesome footage in there (not really as a result of me...I just held the camera & hoped for the best).

Enjoy!