Friday Music Post

It's grey, wet and gloomy.

Stuck indoors - I'm working on something cool, but would rather be elsewhere.

This track comes on.

I dig it. It fits the mood.

Enjoy, and have a great long weekend.

- MT


(Can't see the embedded music track above? Click here)

Happy Hump Day

I realized a moment ago today is the third anniversary of 411#3.

Send out the clowns.

Or, enjoy this track instead. Either way is fine with me.

(Can't see the embedded video? Click here)

Big things are going to happen over at the other site this weekend. 

Trust me. 

Details will be here on Tuesday, after the long weekend.

You've been warned - I'm aiming to amaze with this change.

Keep it real.

-MT

Friday Music Post

This one screams summertime - enjoy!

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In other random news, having found myself now sharing a pretty friggin' large apartment with only my fishing gear and Awesome the Dog, I'm in downsize mode. And also in saving for #VanFund mode. Details to come...eventually...but here's a sneak peak

The goal of #VanFund

Friday Music Post

I first heard this track on a replay of the Strombo Show on CBC Radio 2 on a long, lonely nighttime drive back home a couple weeks ago.

The drums and guitar are goddamned powerful.

Some hints and tones of Explosions in the Sky (a personal favourite) in this tune, me thinks...

Enjoy.

(Can't see the embedded video? Click here)

Gear Review: Columbia's Powerdrain Cool water shoes

After three months of extensive testing in the day-to-day exertion of my life, I've (finally) come to a conclusion about Columbia Sportswear's Powerdrain Cool water shoes.

They're good.

Read the full review over at my other site here (or click the image below).

Friday Music Track

Evernote + Fishing

That whole Evernote + Fishing post I eluded to a while back is now complete...

...but it's over on my other website. It's the first of two (possibly three) posts on the subject; I'll update this post when other posts are written.

Click here or the image below to view it.

The Great Fishing Book Library Downsizing Event!

I have a stack o' fishy books requiring a good home.

This is partially due to my new geographic location but mostly because, once in a while, I feel it's totally possible to suffer from an anxiety attack when I see too much "stuff" around me. That's why I love this so-called 'ebook revolution:' I can have lots of books within reach, but not have to see them. Brilliant.

(EDIT, 21-Aug-13: I've another, newer reason to downsize - I'm giving up my apartment and buyin' a friggin' van so I can travel around, chasing fish. Proceeds from selling these books will go directly into my #VanFund.)

So it's time to downsize a little bit. Some of these books have been extremely helpful in my (ongoing) development of an angler. And most, if not all, of these books have entertained me during various fishless stretches due to work or winter.

I hope they all find a good home where they can provide knowledge and entertainment to their next readers.

Note: Prices INCLUDE shipping. If you live outside of Canada & the USA, expect shipping charges to be higher, however. Use the contact page to order or for more information; I can accept PayPal or Interac Email Transfer.

Warmwater Books

• Fly Fishing for Smallmouth by Bob Clouser. Hardcover. $35. - SOLD
• Bass on the Fly by A.D. Livingstone. Paperback. $15. - SOLD
• Smallmouth Fly Fishing by Tim Holschlag. Paperback. $25. - SOLD

Trout (& Chrome) Books

• Trout Bum by John Gierach. Paperback. $15.
• Still Life With Brook Trout by John Gierach. Paperback. $15.
• No Shortage of Good Days by John Gierach. Hardcover, signed by John Gierach and Bob White. $25. - SOLD
• Mist on the River by Michael Checchio. Hardcover. $22.
• Charlie Craven's Basic Fly Tying by Charlie Craven (duh!). Hardcover. $37.

Books for the Salt!

• The Orvis Guide to Saltwater Fly Fishing by Nick Curcione. Paperback. $18.
• Fly Rodding the Coast by Ed Mitchell. Paperback. $20.
• Fly Fishing the Saltwater Shoreline by Ed Mitchell. Hardcover. $25.
• Striper Moon by J. Kenney Abrames. Paperback. $15.
• Saltwater Fly Patterns By Lefty Kreh. Paperback. $18.
• Of Wind and Tides by Stu Apte. Paperback, signed by author. $25.
• Redfish on the Fly by John Kumiski. Paperback. $18.

Fiction Titles

• Ninety-two in the Shade by Thomas McGuane. Paperback. $12. - SOLD
• Saltwater Summer by Roderick Haig-Brown. Paperback. $12. - SOLD

The Summer Reading List

I find myself with a lot of content suitable for my other website but also fitting 411#3. Reggae music can certainly be equated with saltwater, and blue lobsters would fit in well with whatever the hell it is I do on this site. I think it's called crossover.

Books are definitely a big crossover item between the two sites; I like books a lot, fishing or not, and a lot of them are salt-related. Even if they're not salt-related, name a better place to read a book than beside saltwater. So with that, I present my recommendations for your summer reading list...located on the other website here.

So check it out. You might like it.

That link again is right here.

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In other news, I think I'm an introvert now. Maybe I've always been and just hid it really well, and, if so, that task was most likely completed with a lot of help from dark rum from 1994 to 2001, and premium vodka from 2001 to 2010.

But those are stories for another time. I'm off to hide away in a lonely hotel room with one of the books on that reading list.

Hawg

The first fish (& only fish, so far) in my new Jackson Kayaks Cuda 14 was a personal-best smallmouth bass.

It measured a shade under 23", putting it in the 7lb range.

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I was casting into extremely heavy cover - a lot of fallen trees & such; for an extremely pregnant pause of 3-4 seconds, I thought I was hung up on a branch. Then the line moved.

For what seemed like eternity, the bass stayed deep. I didn't see it but the bend in the 6wt told me it was big. Finally seeing it gave confirmation; the bass jumped once then dove deep again, running for cover of the downed trees. I couldn't afford to give it any line, so the bass was towing the kayak and the rod was bent almost double. Once the line pointed vertically below the kayak into the mess of branches, I thought all was for nought.

I switched the rod to my left hand and, keeping the rod pressured, I paddled one-handed to horse the bass out from under the branches, hoping all the while the #8 fluoro tippet would hold up.

The tippet did its job: the bass was free of trees and soon at the side of my kayak. Having lost a ~5lb smallie (which would have been a personal-best at the time) boat-side a few weeks back, I didn't f**k around: I lipped the fish, bringing it aboard & dislodging the fly almost simultaneously. I then snapped some quick pics with my Camera+ app, took a fast measurement of its length, and sent the bass on its way.

I drifted aimlessly in the 'yak for the next half-hour, mumbling prayers of thanks to both the bass and Bob Clouser, shaking too much from excitement to make another cast.

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Gear:

• #4 chartreuse & white Clouser minnow
• Redington Predator 6wt rod 
• Redington Rise 5/6 reel 
• RIO Smallmouth taper line
• Blue Sky furled leader with Maxima #8 fluorocarbon tippet

Location, time & date:

• Name Redacted Lake, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
• ~1545h, 04 June, 2013