Real Salty and a Juggernaut Van

I got this salt coating for free!!! Four hours up to Jersey and four hours back down to Northern Virginia after the roads have been salted to melt the last snowfall - I got plastered with salt. It was on pretty thick - I'm going to need to wash the Taco head to toe and inside out. Lastly - this van belong to the organization stickered on the side (Teen Fly Fishing Trips) - but ISN'T IT COOL????!!!!????? I bet it has an eternal smell of french fries....

Somerset NJ Flyfishing Show

I made the drive up to Northern Jersey to catch the Flyfishing Show. I got to check out Mystic Rods, Hatch Reels, the Orvis H2, all kinds of tying material and some more or less famous dudes. Lefty was demonstrating casting. Enrico was tying flies. And most of the East Coast fly tiers were showing off what makes their craft unique. I also got to check out the new Shimano Tenkara rod that Chris Stewart at www.tenkarabum.com recently wrote about on his blog - OMG that thing is SWEET!!! Zooms from 340 to 380 cm (I think) and the balance was perfection. I needed to buy Marlon's birthday present, so I couldn't bring the Shimano home - maybe for our anniversary... So the opportunity to check out and compare the rods and reels, finding some hard to find materials and getting ideas for just about everything in fly fishing (where to go, what flies to tie, gear to be cooler - or at least make me think I'm cooler), made the drive worth it.

Other Virginia Beach Activites

These were taken last Monday - I got busy at work so I didn't have a chance to post these timely. Just some more views of what we did - went to the North End to check out what was up; then went to WRV on 19th and Cypress to get the bearings changed out of Marlon's Bamboozle (shorter cruising skateboard), and to pick up two new ones - a drop nose/drop tail and a shaggy top for Noe. Now that we have new skateboards, it snows - how typical.

Tiny Surf in Frigid Water... I'll take it!

So after many months of NOT surfing, I finally got a session in!!! And although it was small and cold, it was clean, offshore and long enough to make me smile and forget about the worries of life for 50 minutes (after which my hands were too cold to bend around the paddle). The ULI FAQ was tons of fun on this beach break (South Gate in Virginia Beach). I had 10 waves during this short session - and it made me realize "it sucks to live inland!!!" For those of you who live close to water where you can surf - do not take that for granted. Thanks to La for taking the pictures!

Potomac on the Fly

http://vimeo.com/57194663 - cut and paste into your browser. A short film about urban flyfishing - specifically on the Potomac in DC. Like I wasn't already hard up to get on the water - spring can't get here soon enough.

Visit to 4 Mile Run

Saturday's weather was nice for mid-January. Highs in the 50's and the sun out, but lightly diffused by the wispy clouds.

We paid a visit to 4 Mile Run Park to check out the fishing action. A bunch of flyfishers wading both banks. A couple of spincasters were chumming the water and brought in a decent sized carp. I was not inspired to pull the waders and boots on - maybe if the fish were biting a little more aggressively... Not to mention the flu is finally catching up to me (I'm deep into the nasal congestion and body aches phase).

There were a bunch of other people out enjoying the good weather - riding bikes, jogging and just walking. In between the foot traffic, Marlon and Noe transitioned from the kneeling skateboarders they were, into full fledged stand up boarders!

Nice day! One last thing - if you were out there fishing on Saturday, try false casting a lot less than you did - fish hit flies in the water, not in the air. And you are probably not going to get as many wind knot in your line either. Two false casts should be good - if you still think you need to get the line out further, try to double haul (youtube has tons of how to videos - once you get it, it will always be with you). Just some advice from someone who has been there.

Number Two Done

I got in the mood to continue carving out the kickboard.

The rails turned out sweet!!! 50-50 fading into a hard downturn edge.

I put a pretty significant (relative to the proportion of the board) concave in and it balanced out well with the rest of the volume distribution.

This thing turned out better than I had conceived. Now I have to go back to the handplane and fix it (a lot rougher compared to how I finished this kickboard - a sharp mini block plane, another couple of hours of elbow grease and it'll clean up nicely). Next will be strap placement and polyurethane coats. I've got time - the water temps are about as cold as they'll be this season... it would be nicer to test these when I'm not having to wear a 4/3 suit with all the additives (booties, hood, gloves) - but well see if I wait for Spring or not. Productive shaping day!

Number Two Underway

I did some bulk removal today trying to get the foil in place. Probably got 50% done today. In case you were wondering - just a block plane, a microplane and elbow grease are being used to shape this (and a jig saw). I already bought the hardware (1/4" x 20 bolts, 1/4" lock and plain washers and T nuts all in stainless steel or zinc) from Home Depot. I've got several old windsurfing straps that will get to see action pulling duty as hand holds on this. Carving the kickboard out, I could imagine taking a drop with this... should be AWESOME!!!!

Happy New Year!

Despite the overcast skies, we got out of the house and made the drive to Kent Narrows in Maryland. I brought my 10' surf rod, some poppers, my 8wt flyrod with an intermediate sink line and a box full of streamer/saltwater flies. This turned out to be more of a reconnaissance trip - the water wasn't moving much and there were little signs that fish were in the area. We did find the public boat ramp as evidenced by the fee posting. After rereading some forum posts about flyfishing Kent Narrows, I think I know where I need to go to make some casts. I also see coming back with the kayak to try when the water warms up. On the shaping/surfing front, I haven't touched the kickboard yet... I am a little intimidated by the amount of wood I have to thin out to get the right foil on it. And without a surf trip scheduled, my motivation is a little on the dormant side. I'll get off my lazy ass when the Sun starts shining again. A nice, low key New Year's Day for us!