Yeah, I should learn to fly fish too. You can cheat and use a casting bubble with your non-fly-fishing tackle, but that doesn't have that whole fly-fishing snooty factor.
RobertB wrote: Too cold for me to do it now, but I did a lot of fishing last year, and will probably start up again this spring. I have a fishing kayak that dumps me into the water more often that it should, because I'm a rank beginner at kayaking. I might have talked the missus into buying a fishing boat, except it turns out I have to help the transmission shop owner with his boat payment.
You might want to check out Jackson Kayak's new Bite fishing kayak. They make a very stable platform and the best seating system out there.
Oh I'm pretty sure the stability problem is due to the loose nut in the seat.
I bought a Perception Striker 11.5 (actually the very last West Marine Cayman that they had for sale). I can put my fat ass and every piece of fishing gear I own in it, and it doesn't even notice. But that Jackson does look nice for the money.
I'm 253 (now) and 6'2" and I have the Jackson Cruise 12 and it is very stable for me and my coolers. I had to get used to the higher center of gravity of the sit on top.
I was surprised at the nice price point of the Bite. The seating system though ...… I haven't had a more comfortable paddle.
Being Canadian as all hell, I’m an avid outdoorsman. Paradise to me is paddling off in a canoe, carrying all our supplies and camping gear with us. We are fortunate to live close to some of the most beautiful parks in the world, and take full advantage of it.
I’m als the designated family cook, especially when winter breaks and the smoker comes out. Nothing beats a brisket or pork butt smoked long in sugar maple. Screw the south and their post oak and pecan wood, we’ve got the good stuff up north!
I used to have more hobbies but I'm slowly discarding them to focus on gaming and writing about gaming.
Here's the thing, there's a very limited amount of time I have and a limited amount of money. And the more hobbies I have the less fun I have with them. And look, I had too many hobbies already. Do I really need a "backup"? I actually want to get rid of my books because they do nothing but pick up dust.
The only other hobby I might want to keep is my train set. It's currently on stand by because I don't fancy working on it and I've realized that I mostly want to see trains run, not operate.
I have leveled up on fishing a couple times since my last post in this thread. Tomorrow I'm taking delivery of my first fishing kayak, an Old Town Topwater 106. I'm getting a hand-me-down fish finder from a friend so I'll be wiring that up, and I've got a crate and a net and bunch of other gear bits to fit on it. At this point I've amassed a collection of 2 nice spinning rods and 3 baitcasting rods so I can cover many of the basic techniques (dropshotting/other finesse, frogging, heavier jigs, crankbaits, jerkbaits).
There are a TON of nice sized lakes in the far western suburbs and within an hour's drive to the northwest and I've been using the Minnesota DNR's lake data to try and pinpoint which ones I want to prioritize. At some point this summer I want to do a float on the Upper Mississippi too, since it's an amazing smallmouth bass fishery.
I'm jealous. That was the sort of thing I was looking for, but that's much nicer, for not crazy more money.
If/when the weather clears, I might spring for a fish finder.
For me, the biggest upgrade was going to a good spinning reel, and changing from mono to braided on most of my reels. I should get a baitcaster and learn how to use it, or get a flyrod/reel and learn how to use that, or both.
Mono still has its place though...I've got it spooled on the casting rod I'll use for jerkbaits, because it has stretch that you need to help drive treble hooks in. And it floats, which helps with topwater stuff like a Whopper Plopper.
I have braid on both my spinning rods tied to a fluorocarbon leader. My frogging/flipping rod has straight 50 lb braid, so you can wrench fish out of thick grass/weeds. That's the big benefit of casting rods, depending on the design they just have so much more backbone and power. I admit I'm still not an expert and I'll get the occasional backlash but a few sessions of practice pitching a jig into a bucket in the basement or out on the front lawn really helps.
Ebay is a great place to look for reels, especially when they have one of those 15% coupons you see from time to time. I started with a Pflueger President on my first nice spinning rod, but I got a Daiwa Tatula CT that is a huge step up for not that much more money. My casting reels are all Daiwas or Lews.
I have been wanting to get into screen printing for years and finally (after scoring a US National commercial) I took the plunge. This has been an amazing experience as it has been trial and error. I have had to make adjustments and modifications to my bedroom to make my own tiny print studio.
The first piece I completed was a three colour Galactus poster for my son's 21st birthday.
The third ink glows in the dark.
The next project is to print my group's Halloween Horror Fest Day poster from last October.
SaMoKo wrote: Being Canadian as all hell, I’m an avid outdoorsman. Paradise to me is paddling off in a canoe, carrying all our supplies and camping gear with us. We are fortunate to live close to some of the most beautiful parks in the world, and take full advantage of it.
I’m als the designated family cook, especially when winter breaks and the smoker comes out. Nothing beats a brisket or pork butt smoked long in sugar maple. Screw the south and their post oak and pecan wood, we’ve got the good stuff up north!
Wow. These are also my favourite things after gaming. Except vegetarian and I live in an overcrowded island where "outdoors" means you can walk two hundred yards without bumping into a house.
SaMoKo wrote: Being Canadian as all hell, I’m an avid outdoorsman. Paradise to me is paddling off in a canoe, carrying all our supplies and camping gear with us. We are fortunate to live close to some of the most beautiful parks in the world, and take full advantage of it.
I’m als the designated family cook, especially when winter breaks and the smoker comes out. Nothing beats a brisket or pork butt smoked long in sugar maple. Screw the south and their post oak and pecan wood, we’ve got the good stuff up north!
As a southern boy at heart, I about cried the first time I was offered "Barbecue" when I moved out west. Freaking ground beef in tomato sauce isn't 'cue.
Dr. Mabuse wrote: I have been wanting to get into screen printing for years and finally (after scoring a US National commercial) I took the plunge. This has been an amazing experience as it has been trial and error. I have had to make adjustments and modifications to my bedroom to make my own tiny print studio.
The first piece I completed was a three colour Galactus poster for my son's 21st birthday.
Nice work! Screen printing stuff for my old man was one of my first gigs, and it made me realize I really wanted to be back in school. Getting the registration on a multi-color job correct is an art in itself.
It was always a lot more fun when I was printing something for myself, instead of endless logos or (shudder) jersey numbers.
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