Friday, October 31, 2008

fish of a lifetime

Check out my brother's fish of a lifetime! Congratulations! Bryan

Thursday, October 30, 2008

some flyfishing thought

102908
Simple life
(Warning: I drink and write... expect a lot of typo and grammar error)
As far as I know, only few kind of people promote “simple life”. Monk is the one come to my mind first. If restrict the sampling population to the group of outdoors gear manufacturers, simple life must be counter business policy. As we all knows, the latest and newest are the best and provide best outdoors compatibilities. Weird enough, Yvon Chouinard, the president of Patagonia- an outdoor clothing manufacturer, he does promote simple life. He said you don’t need a lot of clothing to fit any single different situation, instead, you need a good one to fit most of the situation. How weird is that! Not prompt consuming, but simple principle. Strange enough, their good products are rapidly recognized by outdoors and also indoors communities.

Simple life in fly fishing community. No way! just read an old article about the generation gap between flyfisherman. The fly rod and reel Magazine interviewed 3 different characters to represent 3 generations and ask them about if there is a generation gap in fly fishing community? Ryan Dave, Kelly Gallop and John Gierach. Interesting enough, two of the younger guys are consistence worrying about the generation gap are forming because of lacking of young new blood in this sport, and this gap is even largely exaggerated by the marketing strategies of the ff manufacturers. “Higher price, better product and of course guaranteed more fun.” John Gierach’s answer are more mild as he cut into this issue in a special angle which is a very refreshing way to think about “things”. If there is one, it’s the people want it that way. And most importantly people fit into the scene that way. It’s inner force that responsible in driving the difference (the gaps is existing within generation AND between generation). “Every morning is different that's why it bother to get off the bed” ha, what a brilliant way to state the issue. Maybe there are some folks are get into the sport by watching certain movies or books, but there should be something different to keep them going other than just the initial force. And those different elements was shaping all the funky or stubbornness on the riverside. You choose what you want to be, young or old. “The only difference is younger guys still have time to grow out of it”. All interesting reads, what I thought is fall into between, and most important it’s echo what I have stated earlier the idea of simple life. OK, keep talk about John, since he become a important character in my FF readings. John was known for his simple attitude of ff. T-shirt, Jeans and stocking boots. Bamboo rod, dry fly and some remote mountain creeks. He is not promoting simple life per se. (Are you kidding me?) How many of us can afford a bamboo rod? Frequent trips to remote mountain creeks? How many of us can fish like trout bum? We dream about it, and that is,pretty much, all about it. We have our daily responsibilities, 9-5 jobs, and most of us are always away from the creek that have beautiful trout live in it. We are weekend worriers. We fish somewhere that is crowed. We fish somewhere that is close to us and can be easily squeeze in between works. Even you don’t want to fish for bass, but you have to, because this is the only fish swim in the creek and they will bite if you stripe the streamer hard enough. Yak. But all of those should NOT be used as a counter evidence to against John’s simple life. Instead, I agree what he has promote is simple life, or more accurately is the "relative principle" of simple life. It’s all relative what you can get or what you have got.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

sexy circles


None of them are no brainers. They catch my eyes when they sit still, the catch my heart when they spin. They are my sexy circles.There is one still traveling with BG now and fighting big browns for him...

Friday, October 24, 2008

I have a wish...


It's really depressed me about the Pebble Mine project in Alaska... so I did this illustration yesterday. The eyes of the fish is hopeless... just like my feeling about the government in AK. relative link,it's a problem of an ice burg. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/us/politics/22mining.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Monday, October 20, 2008

cooling down

weather is cooling down, and the brown trout fishing is pumping hot... I know..I know... I am stocked in a big pile of lab work... but at least somebody is going out and fishing. I will keep dreaming until someday I am actually in the fall hunting team. :o) at least I am dreaming and ...painting...

Sunday, October 19, 2008

steelhead color on the wood

I am an old fan of steelhead, I have been a member of a steelhead website. Washionton Fly Fishing Dot Com. Time after time, those beautiful steelhead images from the Pacific North West are really inspiring me, fueled up all the crazy idea of my painting and my wild dream of being a steelheader. I was able to use some of the "swing" tricks to catch some of the toughest stripers in rivers. Or some of the smarty trout in the western barren land. Yet, haven't any success to obtain any steelhead in close. I decided to do some art for them...however, here is one of my woodcut print from earlier this year. I was amazed by it brilliant color and the massive power. I think woodcut print would be a good meadia to represent steelhead's unique characters. I will do more in this coming winter... The weather is turning in to the winter mode, following the plummet temperature and the smoky chimney flavor in the air... I think I am almost ready for a cup of red wine and do some work! :O)

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Loop Multi 7120 test

This is an amazingly Light spey rod, 7 wt 12 feet, stiff scandinavian action. Good for shooting head system. But I am really into longer head spey line for single spey cast. I match it with Airflo Delta 6/7 line. Sweet light and fast action. It's a joy to cast. A plus!




(Image was modified from random photo, this is NOT my reel...)After reading Ed's explanation about how those old designed "palm plate" work... I realized I have misconceptualized this type of reel and it does work together with fingers to stop the powerful fish run. It's "a big Wow" to me! Here is what he said:
For those of you not familiar with the "Perfect" design, there is no need or advantage to incorporating a palming rim onto this type of reel. There is instead, a completely exposed spool face on the opposite side from the reel handle side (winding plate) of the reel. This exposed spool face provides for a superior "palming" surface than the "standard" palming rim. The spool face has a much greater surface area than a palming rim, plus it is located on the opposite side AWAY from the reel handle, thus reducing the incidence of "rapped knuckles". The spool face is better thought of as a "fingering" surface rather than a "palming" surface. The finger-feathering aspect of this reel design provides for manual application of drag from the lightest of fingertip pressure, to a full-on lockup of the reel if need be. This wide range of pressure can be effected immediately, instantaneously, and with great precision and accuracy. It is a bit different than standard palming, but takes no time at all to get used to - place the heel of the palm onto the bottom of the reel, reach around with the fingertips onto the spool face, apply pressure as needed. The bottom of the reel frame provides a solid "base" from which to direct these actions. Adding a palming rim would remove this "solid base" and thus reduce the range and precision of manual braking.

In my experience, there is a no more effective "light tackle" fish fighting capability than the exposed spool face of the Perfect design. As stated before, the finger-feathering mode is the widest ranging, most precise, and time-reactive method for applying manual drag. I have yet to run across any other method of reel drag that can land fish as quickly and efficiently as the exposed spool approach of the Perfect. I am EXTREMELY surprised that no other reel manufacturer has pursued this concept. I would fish no other type of a reel design if it weren't for the fact that the Hardy Perfects I have are very susceptible to corrosion problems, even in freshwater applications.


There is nothing I would like better than to be able to pursue tide Kings and Silvers with a reel that has an exposed spool face - talk about down-n-dirty fighting tactics! Wooohooo, there would be some burnt fingers!!!

New Year Greeting

upcoming greeting project..

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Book: King of Fish


A great book about salmon history in North Pacific West. The Author,David R. Montgomery, is a geologist professor of UW, a winner of MacArthur award this year. The book is all about the salmon history in this region, geology, biology, politic and history blend in a fascinating way. Great writing, easy read... I start it from the middle part... and it keep attract me back... You can get a used one from Amazon.com. I got one for $1. Is that amazing?! No, it's AMAZON! : )

Christmas wish list?!

I want one!

Friday, October 10, 2008

Cutthroat Trout Greeting Cards

Red Colorado Cutthroat Trout

Think about Wulff...

The idea sparkled from a nice conversation with a good friend. We have talked about those "ancient" great looking JW Young reels for a while. "How they function and perform?" Well... ask our hero - Lee Wulff. Wulff said it's Salmo Salar proven reel... :o)

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

heading japan

the rod, not me...

Monday, October 06, 2008

You are my Catching God


why fish fiberglass? you said
why drink 21 year old whisky? I said
Because they are as good as they get old? you said

Hmmm, you are almost right, but not quite...
They are good but not necessary to be old... I said

Why fish graphite? I said.
Becuase they are light and fast action.
Light in hand and sensitive in fast and accurate delivery! you said.

Are they fun? I said.
Oh yeah, baby! Just like driving a Farrari, you turn whatever you want you feel the power and they give you wings... you said.

Hmmm... I kind of can feel that...
Are they fun when catch a fish? I said.

They might not as fun as the fiberglass, but they do catch fish with authority. you said.

You fish fiberglass? I said.
Oh, yeah. I love fish fiberglass too. You said.

Why fish fiberglass? I said
Hey! that's my original question Dude! You said.
(to be continued)

sun will rise again tomorrow



我有更重要的東西不見了.

停住的手錶你就留著吧.


There is always hope under the sun ray, my friend!
by the way, I saw a opossum running across a street in front of my car tonight. I think he is looking for hope..

Confluence films

http://www.confluencefilms.tv/trailer.php


Finally, there is someone use "real" video camera to shoot flyfishing...I am not complaining, but there are so many guys just published the "home made" quality videos with mini DVs. Needless to say the poor film language... "what's film language?" you said. It's "the thing" make all the sense that flow smoothly though out the video. you can call them "hints". It should be a lot of hints in a film to lend the audience conciously or unconciously... (Felt Soul Media is another good company!) eh... now I have a new hope to this coming film... Thanks Cameron for the link.

The Director: Chris Patterson
Quote from the website: "Best known for his work in the realms of action sports, Chris has worked for the last 16 years as Director / Cinematographer of the Warren Miller Ski Films feature films. Chris's stunning visuals and un-paralleled camerawork have been recognized by the advertising industry as well. As a result, he has shot commercials for Buick, Ford, Nissan, the US Army, Navy Seals, Visa, Jeep, Toyota, and numerous other companies and corporations. As a documentary filmmaker, Chris has produced a number of award-winning adventure films and television programs throughout the world for OLN, Versus, National Geographic and NBC. Chris lives in Bozeman, Montana."

Saturday, October 04, 2008

You are my fish God



"How about set the alarm call around 5:30" I said.
"I don't know, don't miss the first light, they are only biting on the first light"You said.
"I know...I know... I just checked the sunrise schedule, we should have plenty of time"I said.
"Hey, it's 4:30am, about time to go" You said.
"Give me a break...Let's have a nap for another hour" I said.
"OK, I will check the websites though, maybe there are something interesting... you never know" You said.
"Wow...the Lamson reel is for sale now $220, Hard Alox" You said
"OK, OK I am up... let me make some coffee..."I said.
"Well...well.. but I am thinking a meiser spey rod too...if I buy this reel, I won't have enough money for the rod...eh..."You said.
" Coffee is ready, lot's of sugar... you will love it! Oh... don't forget to grab the banana" I said.(to be continued)

Friday, October 03, 2008

Drive

I love to drive. driving around without purpose...maybe the purpose is expecting to see something new...it's a feel of free, I can go wherever I want... stop wherever I want... took a photo or two... drive along and drive without purpose...