Good Sales Going on

I have been on the fence for quite sometime about getting a pair of waders. Being able to go out (here in the local area) and cast on the weekend early mornings has been on my mind as something to take the place of surfing dawn patrols while we are stationed in DC (away from the ocean). I've looked at the Simms, Patagonia and Redington - but for the low price of $153 (inclusive of tax) I couldn't pass these up. Regularly (before the new sonic sealed version came out) these went for $295. There's more deals out there, but I have to be selective when pulling the trigger (to make sure La and the kids get some love too). Any how - go take a look around, the stores are hungry and you can get into some deals right now (at least 20% off on most everything if you keep looking at the sites you normally would haunt).

Haiku Happy

So I entered a contest recently. The contest was to come up with a haiku (5-7-5) that made the contest sponsor feel like they were on the flats trying to catch bonefish. Here are my entries (none of which were good enough to win - I wonder if I was at least one of the first losers or if these suck and I was at the back of the pack. Ahhh whatever - I didn't need that cool prize anyways - and I bet it was the wrong color (just kidding - I like haikus and I hope YOU like them, mine, too). The positioning of the these are going to be screwed up by this new blogger format (where you can't space paragraphs out anymore, but despite the setback, Enjoy!!! Tan Bonefish Bitter Strong Fluorocarbon leader Smoking eight weight reel // Fly fishing for bones Smiling the entire time Nothing is better // Aquatic mirage I felt you take my fly Now you are both gone // Bonefish I see you All sleek, silver and shiny Three two one fish on!!! // Barely visible I try my best to woo you You laugh at me hard // Peeling off backing You are heading for the rocks I am left broken // Blue sky warm water Light breeze and willing bonefish Simple perfection

Going Home with a Gyotaku!!!

My parents have been up visiting from Florida. I'm sending them home with a gyotaku of a red snapper (or tai if you're Nihongo, or mya mya if you're pinoy). I rummaged around the room in the basement where I keep all my fishing stuff and I found all the unfinished gyotaku I had made before I came back home from my unaccompanied tour of duty overseas. I have caught the bug again to finish these out. So now I'll be preoccupied as winter sets in and the local fish slip further and further into their cold induced slummer - between fly tying and coloring in gyotaku, hopefully the sun will rotate back to this hemisphere faster...

Stopping the Bleeding...

Crap - it's been over a month since I wrote anything here... even though I don't have anything specific to post up, I'll type something to break the silence. If you're out there reading this stuff - my apologies. With the weather getting colder and our distance from the ocean, I've been retreating to inside stuff and things we can do around the area - not so amphibious. I'll be finishing off some of the gyotaku prints I roughed out before I got back home and maybe even get some framed. With that said, we did take a trip earlier in the month to Virginia Beach. First time I had the truck out in sand and the beaches there were as awesome as ever. No fishing or kayaking (La got to SUP with a good friend) and the kids and I built a sand volcano as usual. We love Virginia Beach more than any other place (with the exception of Japan, San Diego and maybe Oahu), and I am looking forward to the return of warmer weather so I can surf and hook fish with the kids and La (3 months until the tide turns on this one). Until then, I'll be tying a bunch of flies. I got stocked up on tying materials and hooks this weekend from a trip to the Hanover, MD Bass Pro Shop. What a zoo the parking lot was (Black Friday). Makes me kinda disgusted thinking that is what America has become - land of the credit card and home of the ruthless shopper. Anyhow - I'll post pictures of the kayak rail mounts that are going to be installed soon and pictures of the flies that I'll be tying up. If a frigid surf trip emerges, I'll post pictures of that too - the water at Virginia Beach can dip into the 40's - crap that's cold....