The sixth edition of three items/subjects/places/people worth checking out to make life as an angler and global citizen far more enjoyable.
Random, somewhat-out-of-context photo of me & my first bonefish. Yes, I'm proud of it.
(Photo by Dylan Rose of Fly Water Travel LLC)
1. SCOF Issue #5
Yes, I'm late to the party. It was released on Sunday. I even read it on Sunday. Things of Three comes out on Thursdays. It's the 'th- th- th-' thing: THings of THree on THursday. It's a principle THing.
Anywho, back to SCOF, aka Southern Culture on the Fly. I think it's their best issue yet. It's the one-year anniversary issue. The redfish footage from Louisiana is cool as hell. Definitely watch both videos, especially Captain Gregg Arnold discussing the strip-strike. Right to the end.
And note my pumping out a little promo/review of SCOF #5 has little to do with the editor rowing my girl & I around on a lake one fine Sunday afternoon a few months back in what turned out to be a guided trip. The issue stands on its own. If Grossman & Co. ever put out a shitty issue, me promoting it will be part of the payback for the fishing trip. Well, that & the case of PBR I left in the boat cooler.
Check out SCOF #5 by clicking here or the image below.
2. Clear Cure Goo Brushable
Clear Cure Goo's brushable UV-epoxy is an absolute joy to use: simple, clean, effective. I've yet to scratch the surface for its many uses, but I've used it on Clouser Deep Minnows for both fresh & salt, for stiffening up deer hair collars on a few different patterns, as well as on the Clear Cure Charlie (which happens to be the unseen fly stuck in that bonefish's mouth in the pic above).
Brian Carson of CCG is a cool dude; he's developed several different types of CCG UV-epoxy, plus the CCG eyes and bodies. From reading along on their website, they put the different formulas & products through the ringer to perfect them before making them available to fly tyers. I haven't tried any of the CCG epoxy besides the Brushable, but I will be real soon. And I'm looking forward to it.
Note: That's called foreshadowing in the literary biz...
CCG's pro staff features some of the rising stars in the fly tying world right now, too; guys like Thomas Harvey, Brad Bohen and Pat Cohen. It'll definitely be worth your while to be checking in on CCG's blog page in the very near-future to see what those guys and many other CCG's pro staff will be up to.
Note: That's also foreshadowing. Trust me on this. Let's just say the next time I write about CCG, I'll need to add in the standard disclaimer. But not yet. The Brushable was purchased on my dime. And worth every penny. web: clearcuregoo.com
3. The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer
Last Friday I threw out a request to the twitterverse for some new music to listen to.
I received a few replies featuring a lot of good bands.
But this one is my favourite.
Blues rocks. Especially blues that rocks.
H&AM has three albums. I now have all three. They're good. Check 'em out.
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!
Time/Date: 1130 AST, 06-Mar-12
Location: Fredericton, NB
When I was trolling around on the intertubes a few weeks ago during a shift of standby in Mexico, I found a link to ShallowFish, a website/e-store dedicated to "gifts inspired by angling."
I would be lying that if I said I was casually browsing the site and stumbled upon some cool redfish art; redfish was the first species I clicked on. Within a few seconds, I found exactly what I was looking for:
Soon appearing on a wall near me.
Gyotaku is a very cool art form originally developed in Japan to keep fisherman from bullshitting about their catch. No joke. You can read more about gyotakuhere and here.
I liked that print the best of the few featured on the page but I didn't want to rush to buy it & end up with buyer's remorse; $70 + shipping isn't something to scoff at, after all. I saved it to Instapaper (one of my favourite apps ever, btw) to wait it out & think it over.
Last night I popped on again to take a gander at it...and pulled the trigger.
I'm really looking forward to having it framed & on my wall
One other gyotaku print that caught my eye was one I cannot fathomably order until I catch one, but when I do, you better believe this badboy is getting shipped to Fredericton & hung:
One of the prime tenants of hypermiling is “do not accelerate quickly or brake heavily.”
According to the folks at cleanmpg.com, accelerating quickly or braking heavily can reduce fuel economy as much as 33 percent at highway speeds and 5 percent around town.
Here are three scenarios that you might encounter during your everyday drive and three suggestions on how you can reduce accelerating and braking.
Uphill leading to a stop light/sign: Travel as far up the hill as possible before stopping. Maintain a steady pace and attempt to crest the hill when the light is green. If there is a stop sign at the top of the hill, you have no choice. You have to stop. Unfortunately, accelerating from a dead stop facing uphill is one of the worst fuel efficiency situations that you will face. Often, there is a relatively level piece of ground at the top of a hill. Try to stop there if possible. If the hill is part of your regular commute, try a different route so that you can avoid the hill.
Downhill leading to a stop light/sign: Slow down well before the light. Coast on the downhill and try to time your descent so that you hit the intersection when the light is green. This will allow you to coast through the light without having to accelerate. Even if you do have to brake on the intersection when the light is green. This will allow you to coast through the light without having to accelerate. Even if you do have to brake on the downhill, you have gravity on your side. You can continue to coast after applying the brakes.
Level ground leading to a stop light/sign: Continue to slow your vehicle before actually coming to a stop. Think of yourself as moving half the distance to the goal line and then half again. You can accomplish this both through braking and by coasting into your buffer.
Why it is important to the fish: All vehicles produce Carbon Dioxide (CO2) when they burn gasoline.
Why it is important to you: Burn less gas, burn less cash. I'll repeat that:
BURN LESS GAS, BURN LESS CASH
The 2000 RPM Challenge
For the current tank of gas in the High Plains Drifter, I have vowed to NOT drive over 2000RPM, to see how much more mileage I can crank out of it.
Some basic stats:
I filled up yesterday, 11-Jan-12 at 2:40PM; the truck was almost empty (~80L gas tank)
It took 78.751L of mid-grade gasoline...that's 20.803 US gallons
The total price was $96.00
That's $1.219 per litre...that's $4.614 CDN per US gallon, or $4.531/gallon in US dollars
Driving normally, I drove 424.6km (263.8 miles) on the previous tank of gas
Approximate mileage calculation: 5.39km per litre, or 12.68 miles/gallon
90% of my driving on the previous tank was in the city
(Note: the Canadian economy hasn't screeched to a halt with these gas prices or public health care...something to think about)
I will update this once I fill up again. I'm hoping it's not for a while.
Here's what I've noticed following the first afternoon of my 2000 RPM Challenge: Fredericton has some steep-ass hills, and it is friggin' hard to get up them at or under 2000 RPM. Also there's a lot of old blue-hairs that accelerate slower than I do.
Think about that: I'm trying to accelerate my (automatic transmission-driven) truck from a dead stop, on an uphill grade, at under 2000 RPM, and I'm accelerating faster than granny in a Toyota Corolla.
No wonder people develop ulcers & eye twitches from commuting to work every day.
I'm glad I don't work every day.
The Tweet
I was interviewed by our regional newscast on Friday because of this:
Long story short: I was waiting in my truck (not idling, btw) for my lovely gf, saw this dude walk around his van with buckets in hand, I assumed (correctly) that he was going to dump them down the storm drain, snapped a pic, tweeted it.
The tweet got shared a bunch of times, a city councillor sent the photo to the public works department, and the mayor weighed in.
The company told the reporter it was just water.
But, if it was just water, why did he have to rinse his buckets multiple times, dumping them down the storm drain each time?
The newscast was more about "the power of Twitter" than it was the actual incident (you can watch it here; the segment is at 7 minute-mark); and the reporter didn't want to dive into what the company did/didn't do for legal matters; in fact, they enlarged the photo & cropped out the company van on the newscast.
Few things the news left out that I felt were important: while the reporter stated I was an "avid fisherman," they didn't mention anything about me being a geologist that works partly in the field of hydrogeology. That's somewhat relevant, me thinks. They also left out that I'm Vice-President of the Nashwaak Watershed Association...though I did manage to get the Association's logo pictured in the background. But still, also somewhat relevant.
Instead, come off as an unshaven, festively-plump busy-body, lurking in a parking lot with a camera phone...who is an avid fisherman...
They also didn't quote my off-camera best quote ever:
"I'm not in the marble business, so I can't tell you exactly what they were dumping. But I'm pretty much in the water business, and I can tell you it wasn't clean f**king water."
Speaking of the Nashwaak Watershed Association....
Our man in the know is cranking out the new website & we're getting our new & updated social media presence ready to rock; expect a launch in the very near-future.
If anyone is interested in learning more about the organization, or becoming a member (it's only $10/year!!), please get in touch with me!
And now some music
I've mentioned Ross Neilsen a few times before on the blog. Like here. And here.
I'm a big fan of his hard-rocking, whisky-chugging, grinding dirty blues (and his other stuff, too).
Ross and some special guests are playing at Dolan's Pub (King Street) on January 18th as a fundraiser for his upcoming trip to compete in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN.
Here's a little taste of what's been playing on my iPod while I've been slaving away on the rock pile:
Ross & his bastards are local guys, and they bring the rawk. Without a doubt, at any given time those guys are on a cross-country tour (tour dates here). They are musicians that work hard at what they do, and they're definitely worth going to see.
We all bonded over the booze back in the day, when I used to sling drinks at Lava Vodka Lounge. In fact, we hosted the after-party for his CD release bash for the Redemption album.
It was a pretty easy friendship: I made drinks, they drank them; I like hard-rawkin', whisky-chuggin', bar-brawlin' type blues, and that's what they play. A match made in heaven...if heaven was full of this type of people...
I arrived on the client's project site earlier today after a 2-hour ride in a Caravan & spent the day getting the lay of the land. I don't have too much to say about anything (yet) but the 'camp' is pretty damn cool (it has a bar...I have mixed feelings on that).
Here are a few pics with some tunes (get used to this style of post for the next little bit).
First up is my absolute favourite song from 2010 (can't see the video below? Click here to rock out). Just try to not bop your head or do some sort of pelvic thrust to this tune.
I was grooving along to this while sitting in the back of the Caravan...which probably made the guy next to me a little nervous. At least he gave me some space.
Side note w.r.t aeroplanes: I like Beavers & Otters better. Go Canada!
Here's my view from my seat in the Caravan. I didn't have a chance to shoot any aerial shots of Dakar, unfortunately (click here to see a shot I wish I snapped). It's a pretty cool looking city from 2000 feet up (not so much on ground level, at least where I was last night). It even looks like it has some surf breaks, if that kinda thing floats yer boat.
Next up is the operations manager jumping off the roof of his truck after frantically searching for a cell signal.
You might notice above that I've been reunited with Toyota's Hilux, my favourite discovery in all of West Africa (other than les patisseries are alive & well in the former colonies). After returning this past fall, I searched eBay trying to locate one. Love 'em. Almost as much as les patisseries...but only because croissants are more affordable.
Another pic of the Hilux.
A couple more random shots from the quick site tour:
And some more tunes (click here if you can't see the video below). Enjoy!
Oh, Black Keys, how do you play your blues so, so dirty?
