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

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.

*          *          *

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.

*          *          *

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

Book review: Clouser's Bass Book

Fly Fishing for Smallmouth in Rivers and Streams by Bob Clouser

Pros: Lots of tips, tricks, techniques, flies & pics of big-ass smallies. Plus there's something about the bluntness of old timers trying to teach you something, as in "you can't catch anything if you can't cast to it, dumbass" (I might have paraphrased that).

Cons: it's a little spendy, and it's a bitch for carry-on reading material (trust me on that) due to size.

Overall: Love this book. I've read it cover-to-cover a few times, and pick it up very often just to re-read certain sections. Worth the price.

Ask for it at your local fly shop or local independent bookstore.

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As you're probably all tired of reading, I had a little techno-brainfart with regards to my domain name, RSS feed, links to earlier posts, etc, etc, etc.

I managed to get a redirect in place, and I've gone back 90 previous posts to update links to other posts...and will complete the task on the other 100 posts in the very near-future...yeah, I was as surprised as you are about having 190 posts...

However...those of you who were subscribed to RSS to the old 411number3.net domain: there ain't nuthin' I can do about that.

If you could resubscribe using the link on the upper right of the sidebar, I'd be honoured (if you haven't subscribed before, you can do it via FeedBurner RSS or email at the top right of the sidebar).

You fine folks that have me on your blogroll: I would be eternally grateful if you updated the domain name so the current post would be listed.

Thanks, everyone!

********
Here's some music.

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: