Adventures With Janie #1

Janie and I have started adventures together. It is really easy to get her to go out. I just have to ask if she wants to go on an adventure and she runs and gets her shoes and socks on, even if she is only wearing a diaper. Our first adventure was around the Provo Airport on a dirt road that is not well kept. These are some of the stops we made along the way.
This is an old abandoned boat ramp and barge. Basically the closest we could get to the water.

A better picture of the barge and how cute Janie is. She loves here gloves and hat. So do I.

Some farm equipment we found along the way.

Down by the water Janie had to put her stick in. I think she might be ready to go fly-fishing with me when the run off is done.

A view of the mountains from the trail we were on. This was the first kind of nice day and we got a good view of the mountains.


Janie's first 4 wheeling/mudding experience. The road is really rutted out this time of year and the wholes are filled with mud. I like how she has to grab her hat to keep it from flying off. She loved how the road threw here back and forth.

The road usually continues right through here but the ice from Utah lake blows up and piles up over the road so this is a dead end. That was okay because we got to turn around and drive through the same fun road the came in on.

Kind of looks like Iceland. These mounds were 10 feet high.

The mud. It wasn't a ton but enough to spray the sides of the car. Janie liked to see the water shoot up by here window. Overall it was a great little adventure. We got to see ducks, swans, minnows, and bugs. And don't forget the rocks! Keep your eyes out for the next adventures of Janie and Daddy.

Dewalt 12 volt Drill and Impact Driver

I have been looking at this drill set since Christmas. I read reviews and messed with them at Home Depot many times. Well, I finally bought them and I could not be more pleased. I will admit that I was a little nervous about the 12 volts not being enough power but these little drills out-power my Ryobi 18 volt drill.

Tamara wanted a sewing table for Christmas so this was my first project with the new drills. I put a drill bit in the impact driver and screw driver on the drill. The drills are so tiny that switching back and forth was a breeze. The lithium ion batteries are great. I have had this set for about a month and have done multiple projects and still have not needed to charge the batteries.
The table has fold out legs that more than triple the table top. Tamara can fit her serger and sewing machine on the bottom shelf and thread and all the other sewing stuff on the top shelf. It is on four casters so she can sew while watching a show.
Another one of the projects I did. I bought some guitar wall hangers at Bert Murdock Music and put my guitars on the wall. This cleared up a lot of floor space in the room and looks pretty good. Anyway, I put the hangers onto studs but my drill bit didn't reach the stud so I decided to test out the impact driver and drove 3 inch screws into the studs with no pre-drilling. The little 12V impact driver drove the screws in smoothly with no slowing. It was loud but all impact drivers are loud when they start driving.

Rod and Case Finished

Apologies, It took me way to long to get this picture of the ferrule up. Sorry it is not that close but my camera is getting old. This was as close as my point and shoot would focus.

This is the butt section along with both tips over the beautiful soft case Tamara sewed for me and the blue spruce hex case Ben made for me.
This is the hex case that Ben made for me. He is an amazing craftsmen. It is blue spruce. I put 3 clear coats on it and now this rod and case are complete.

Bamboo Rod with Flexcoat Wraps

This is my first wrap. I am wrapping on the stripping guide. He I am using Ben's ultra sophisticated thread tensioner, a bobbin for tying flies stuck trough and eyelet. It worked perfectly.
A little close up of the stripping guide and the wrap. You can see I have put on a jade agate stripping guide. I like the green on green look.
This is one of my snake guides before gluing. I tipped it with olive but when I applied epoxy they olive went transparent and you could not tell so I ended up cutting all of the tipping off of my tip section snake guide wraps. Unless you knew it you would not be able to tell.
The stripping guide now that it is all glued up nice. I used flex coat lite for the wraps and it turned out beautiful. This rod is by no means traditional but the guides will stay on forever.
And there it is. The completed bamboo fly rod. Being taught how to make this was my Christmas present from my brother Ben. He is one of the most amazing craftsmen I have ever met and I constantly am amazed at the beautiful works of art he creates. This rod is spectacular Ben so thanks for the hours and hours of lessons. Now lets go fish this bad boy! I will soon be posting a picture of the ferrule and how I wrapped it but my camera is not working right now. Keep your eyes peeled for a quick post.

Fish Can Be Caught in the Winter

Went fishing today and had a pretty good day for it being the middle of winter. Caught quite a few browns and actually more bows than anything. My hands were frozen but it was worth it.



Catching a little brown. The fishing action isn't great but I just like to listen to the water in this video. This sound is why I love going fishing.



This is the first fish I caught. Most of the fish were around 9-10 inches. They were starting to loose their color. One brown I caught was very dull all the way till the last 2 inches of his tail which were still a bright vibrant color.

An example of one of the bows I caught. Not many big fish but plenty of fish this size. And who can argue when it is freezing outside and there is snow on the ground. I was glad to land any fish today.

The water slashes up and freezes on over hanging grass and trees causing these beautiful upside down ice sickles.

The water from my line froze to my snake guides. I had to have de-icing breaks every now and then. Did I mention it was cold outside?


Snow bank. Didn't catch any fish here and actually not so many in the usual spots. The sun being out was a nice touch on such a cold day up the canyon.

Took this on my walk back to the car. This is from the road looking down on the creek. This canyon is so close to the house and I am glad to have so many beautiful things so close to home.



On a closing note I thought everyone would enjoy seeing me do what I do best. First cast snag. Second cast stuck. You can hear my exhale of annoyance as I walk back to turn the camera off. Luckily I saved both nymphs. The only difference between fishing now and when I was younger is how many flies I go home with. Flies lost this trip...zero. I am either much better at retrieving my flies from the trees or more aware of how much it will cost me ($) if I leave it behind. Until next time.

Fishing Hobble Creek

These pictures are from a while ago. Hobble creek is one of my favorite places to fish in Utah. Small water, lots of overhang (this keeps the poser fly-fisherman out), and some nice sized fish. I went fishing by myself this trip which I tend to do often. I enjoy the quiet and taking my time switching flies until I find one that works. This video is from my phone. There are a few holes I know I am going to pull at least a few fish out of so I held the video camera and cast with my right hand so I could still set the hook and land this fish with my left. Not the best video but you do get to see how catching a fish on a nymph looks. At the very beginning of the video you can see the line move, that is me setting the hook. A second or so later you see the fish as I pull him up to the surface. These are strong fish and you can see at the end of the video as I try to land him in my net he takes off and you can here the drag on my reel letting out line. I had to put the camera down after this because he took off into some tree roots and I wanted this fish in my hands. Like I said, small water but good sized fish. The picture following the video is the fish that I have on the line in the video.





This is a beautiful fish. I can't wait to fish this water with my new rod I am building.



A little rainbow but the picture came out so nice from my phone I threw it in here. A 12 inch bow feels like a 16 inch of any other fish. I love the fight.



This is one of the bigger bows I caught that day.



I love the color on this fish. This fish and the next three pictures all came from the same hole. It really is just three fish but there are two pictures of one of them. I could see all three of these fish in a little riffle about 15 feet in front of me. They were all within about 12 inches of each other and side by side. I cast in front and let my nymph bobble past on the rocks under them and sure enough one move a fraction over and inhaled it. I quickly landed him hoping not to spook the other fish but seeing as the water was only about 6 inches deep assumed when I looked up that they would be long gone...but there they were. Two nice sized browns sitting and waiting. I repeated and caught the second and was just as shocked to see the third right where I had left him.



This is just a picture of the same fish that is below on my arm. I thought I would throw this is to prove that these are good sized fish between 15 and 17 inches. You can see on my net that this fish passes the 11 inch mark on one side and is almost to the 5 inch mark on the other. That puts him somewhere between 16 and 17 inches. They are all nice and plump too.





Well anyway, if you are ever out in Utah and would like to try some fly fishing come on out to hobble creek with me. Don't be afraid, you'll probably spend most of the time in the trees but I have got quite a skill at untying knots. I am very patient as my Grandpa was with me so I'll just give you my rod to fish as I work out the mess. I can almost guarantee you will land a fish so call me up. I look for any excuse to get out on the water.

I Know You Missed Me

Well I am back with a picture post. I have not blogged for one year. I am a loser. Apologies. But I am back now and will try to do better. This is a very random post but the captions for each photo should explain well. Some of my readers might not get the posts. To you, I feel sorry, because I am funny. If you didn't know ask my sister. She will tell you. So enjoy these great pictures.



"Daniel Fail" This is what I saw when I went out to my car after working today. Yep, I parked smack dab in middle of the motorcycle parking, didn't even know. I did wonder why such a good spot was open. I am so cool.



This shot was from my window on my flight back from Houston. That is a rock climbing bolt in the wing. I though, man, that is some extreme rock climbing.



This one you might not get unless you know the Murses. There is nothing I really need to say except BEST LEADER EVER. If you don't get it, you don't want the explanation.