Side Project

Time/Date: 2220, 02-Feb-12
Location: Fredericton

You may or may not know this already, but I love side projects.

They range from bars, social media consulting, the fly shop, conservation groups, carpentry, and, yes, even geology. Be it for cash, future considerations, fun or altruistic reasons, it's good to be busy.

Besides, it can't be always about catching fish, right?

This side project runs a little on the fun & altruistic reasons. Fun because I like causing shit, and altruistic because I think this shit is bad.

So I give you....

The Little Page of Aquaculture Horrors

facebook.com/saveourwildfish

The aquaculture industry, with the farming of Atlantic salmon in particular, is doing some bad shit. This bad shit is happening in Canada, USA, Chile, Scotland and Norway. And in order to save our wild salmon, it needs to be addressed ASAP.

This has been brewing within me for a few months. It started when I attended a fundraising dinner of a local salmon association and saw one of the main sponsors was an aquaculture company. The same company that very recently had charges brought against it for illegally using pesticides in the open ocean. This got me thinking, reading...and angry.

This page will NOT be preachy; in fact, I'll only be linking to existing news bulletins, peer-reviewed journal articles, presentations and more. Heck, I'll even link to positive stories about the aquaculture industry (if I can find them).

Comments will be strongly moderated, too; no matter what side of the aisle a person's viewpoint is, I won't be tolerating hateful shit & conspiracy theories.

So if you care about this kind of stuff, I hope you 'like' it: www.facebook.com/saveourwildfish

Here's another side project...but not of mine:

Beginner Bass Bugs...

Time/Date: 2235 AST, 16-Jan-12
Location: My tying bench

I decided to plunk my ass at my tying bench to give myself a crash course in spinning deer hair for bass bugs...and try out my new Peak Rotary Vise in the process.

My lovely gf gave me a gift card to the bookstore for Christmas so I ordered up Bass Bug Basics by John M. Likakis to help speed the self-taught crash course up a little bit. If you're interested in tying bass bugs, it's definitely a handy resource to have on hand.

For my first tie, I decided on trying my hand at Tap's Bug, which was declared the "best bass bug ever" in the Nov/Dec 2008 issue of Fly Rod & Reel magazine. You see step-by-step pics & instructions to tie the bug on Fy Rod & Reel Online here.

This is what the finished bug is supposed to look like (from the Fly Rod & Reel article):

And, after a few thread-snaps, a lot of trimming and minor cursing, this is what I ended up with:

I'm usually pretty critical of my tying...but realize bass aren't typically as critical & selective; if they're eating, they'll eat that. So I'm ok with this first effort. I'm not going to fish it; instead, I'm keeping it as a benchmark to measure up future bass bugs to. And yes, there will be many future bass bugs.

A few things to point out if you're going to start tying deer hair bass bugs:

• make sure your tying scissors are sharp;
• pick up some old-timey, flexible razor blades for trimming the deer hair. I found a package of Wilkinson Sword Classics at Shoppers Drug Mart. Ten double-sided blades = 20 razor blades for sculpting bass bugs; just snip 'em in half with a Leatherman or similar;
• get a strong thread. I'm using UNI BigFly thread...and snapped it a few times while tying my first bug
• be patient! I ended up cutting off my second bug of the night to start over due to trying to rush. Take your time & follow the steps;
• be prepared to make a mess. I don't think I have ever done a recreational activity that makes a mess like this. If you're married, do NOT do this at the dining room table if your better half is within a three hours' drive radius of your home. Bass bugs are that perfect excuse to set up a personal tying area, far from any potential marital disputes.
• In addition to the razor blades, other items that are handy to have are: rounded-tip tweezers (for pushing thread/knots along the hook shank) and a fine-toothed comb (for cleaning underfur from deer hair).
• If you want to put on those rattling, googly doll eyes, you can pick up packages of 300 for cheap at craft shops. A drop of ZapAGap or similar cyanoacrylate adhesive will keep them on the bug through most battles with bronzebacks...or bucketmouths...

Once I improve spinning/packing/sculpting these bad boys, I'll post a few more.

Enjoy some music: