This has nothing to do with fishing, rather more to do with something else I dig... Bigfoot. You may better know him (or her) as Sasquatch, Yeti, or the Swamp Ape, but you better believe that it's big, real, and out there.
He sells them through his eBay store, Chainsaw Carving Critters, and I think one will be making its way from New York down to Florida soon. I'm just not sure which one to choose!
For a lot more, check out Jim's Instagram feed HERE.
Decided to pull the plug on the Tenkara Sasquatch blog and Facebook page. Haven't used either in quite some time. It was long overdue. While he's still out there, fixed-line fishing and eating beef jerky, I simply will no longer be chronicling his whereabouts in those places.
As such, let's reminisce with some of his more popular sightings...
The original encounter...
The spinoff t-shirt... (there's one XXL still available in the store...) EDIT: The last one has sold out!
A sighting, when what appears to be a stick in his hand ends up being something else...
Squatches don't mind the grip, but hate the grin...
Proof of purchase, provided by a Tenkara USA customer service informant...
A sighting on the surface of Mars...?
While fishing, look off in the distance...
I don't even remember what this is a photo of or from...
That time the Squatch & Chupacabra teamed up to take on Nessie...
These "Outta Compton" memes were all the craze a few years ago...
Last, but not least, the time we thought we were just looking at April Vokey...
Going forward, keep an eye out for any Tenkara Sasquatch or other fishing cryptid notes here on Troutrageous! (And all the old ones have been ported over, you can see them using the "Sasquatch" tag). Because they're still likely catching those trout in the shadows and simply can't be ignored.
The truth is out there... you just need to know where to look...
Over the past few days there has been a lot of buzz about a photo from Mars that appears to show a ghostly woman, just kinda standing in the middle of nowhere...
Now if you're into outer space and extraterrestrials (like I am), it's kind of a no brainer. Of course it's a woman on Mars. Are we as Earthlings ignorant enough to think we are the only lifeforms in the galaxy?
The thing that is REALLY notable about this picture is if you actually find the raw image file from the NASA website and zoom out a bit...(the woman is still about center)
What, don't see it yet?
Let me zoom in for you...
BOOM! A Tenkara Sasquatch, unmistakably fishing a run on a crystal clear Martian stream.
The truth is out there people...you just need to know where to look...
The shorter, less evolved version of the Tenkara Sasquatch utilizes a reel and waders in its pursuit of fish. It has far better dance moves than we do though...
"A Mandarin [FL] man appears on a Bigfoot hunting reality show that premieres Friday evening. David Lauer appears on “10 Million Dollar Bigfoot Bounty,” which is on the Spike network at 10 p.m. The show pits two-man teams against one another in a search for irrefutable proof that Bigfoot or some similar creature exists."
Was fortunate to be given the opportunity to spread the word of the Tenkara Sasquatch today on TenkaraTalk. Looking forward to 2014 being a big year for Tenkara Sasquatch research.
Yesterday, the stupid little brother site of Troutrageous! (aka Tenkara Sasquatch), posted an exposé of an overlooked tenkara sasquatch sighting in an April Vokey photo. (Original post HERE).
I love the resulting comments & speculation this received over on Google+ (far more than on Facebook BTW)...so I embedded the post below with comments just for entertainment. You can click on the little comic-book looking comment bubble to see them. Evidently everyone's an amateur squatcher. Heck, if you have thoughts, feel free to add to the growing list...
This picture of April Vokey fishing is not new. But people have clearly been too distracted by her deadly combination of good looks and fishing acumen to take notice of what is going on right behind her...umm...behind...
Don't see it? Let me zoom in...
Yup, clear as day.
Yet another Tenkara Sasquatch sighting...
Around last Tuesday or Wednesday the weatherfolks on TV started bragging that the weekend weather was going to be unseasonably warm for January. Temperatures in the mid 50s they boasted, making one's mind immediately wander toward outdoor pursuits.
What they didn't say was that the weekend was going to also be a pea soup of misty rain, low visibility, and zero sun. After sitting Saturday out on the bench (secretly hoping Sunday would be better), when I awoke to identical conditions, I decided at least a little fishing had to be done.
Foggy morning small stream fishing....nothing out of the ordinary...
With two Valley Creek trips already under my belt this new year, I thought I'd hit up my "not so secret water" to see how the resident native browns were doing in that locale. I usually never catch great quantity in rain soaked conditions, but the fish I do catch are much larger than normal...I assume the smaller fish are seeking refuge from the swifter currents and not worried about feeding.
First fish of the day...picked in some slack water behind two large rocks
In about 3 hours of fishing, I ended up coaxing two "flashes," one extended follow, one long distance release, and two to hand with my copper banded kebari. I really should have landed the one that snuck away, but as happens from time to time with small stream fishing an 11 foot tenkara rod, I got the tip of my rod caught in an overhanging branch during the fight, and in doing such created enough slack in my line to allow the trout to kick the barbless hook. Oh well, we always tend to think about the one that got away more than the ones we landed...at least I do.
Some more pictures of the day.
Copper banded kebari with Grizzly Hackle. This is quickly becoming my favorite fly.
Another healthy brown taken a bit further upstream
All in all, I guess the weatherfolk didn't totally lie. It was in fact warmer creating a nice opportunity to get out fishing this past weekend. Let's just hope they are lying about this upcoming Wednesday...I can do without any snow...
One side adventure I didn't mention about our trip to New York was our quest to find the ever elusive Bigfoot. Using the skills obtained from watching untold hours of the popular TV show Finding Bigfoot, Lilly & I went deep into the woods to an area prime for Sasquatch habitation.
Figured if I was going to break down and write a week of posts, it would only make sense to include this semi-regular segment. I know, I know, it doesn't have the allure it used to...but let's give it a go anyway...oblige me.
First off comes some gear. Well, not exactly gear but a t-shirt. No, not a T! Shirt, I said a t-shirt, duh. Well actually two t-shirts. The first one is a collaboration tee from Allen Fly Fishing and artist Jake Keeler. Allen's put out some very cool tees to date in their "artist series" and Rainbows In the Dark is no exception. Only $19.99. Pretty sweet. Jake the artist also has a blog, found HERE.
Oh, the second shirt? Well blog buddy Ben from Arizona Wanderings is having a bit of a sale on his Arizona-centric tees to celebrate his blog's birthday. Check out his blog HERE to pick one up for only $10 or $12 (depending on design), or click these links HERE to see yours truly awkwardly modeling one.
What's next...ummm...did you hear about the Bigfoot sighting in Pennsylvania? Yeah, no surprise, I mean we all know he's out there. The ol' Squatch evidently was sighted molesting some dude's crappy camper.
There's no reason to doubt the guy above, right? Watch the video for yourself. If nothing else, his Bigfoot calls are extremely authentic....I guess....ummmm.... Oh, and evidently female Bigfeet are "top heavy," I hope Moldy Chum has made note of this.
You've proabably heard by now that Apple is unleashing a smaller iPad called (duh) the iPad Minion the world. Yeah, it's a bit smaller, and Android fans everywhere are laughing...but you know legions of people will line up to get one. Makes me wonder what you could shrink in fly fishing that people would still want to buy. Sub size 20 flies are a reality. The Unaccomplished Angler evidently already comes in fun size. I'm not even going to talk about tanago for fear of riling up the tenkaraians.
Personally, I vote Spey Rod Mini. Get on that manufacturers. Not a switch rod, not a fishing rod pen, legit mini-Spey. I wanna take Spey to small streams ASAP.*
*Honestly, I have no comprehension or understanding whatsoever of Spey rods or casting. All the cool fishing kids say it's rad and I want to be cool like them.
Close call...or good editing, interestingly enough, somebody posted this "video reply" of Russian idiots dropping live grenades off the side of their boat. Like what did they think was going to happen? That said, might be interesting to see some drift boat jockeys emulate their antics.
To close, some blog love. Well, actually love for Wally the Wonderdog.
I don't plug The Subterranean Trout here all that often, but THIS POST is a very worthwhile read. Judging by the comments, most of you appear to have already read it, but for the few of you that might have been internetless for the past few days, or heck, anybody who's ever befriended a dog (I miss you Caesar), check it out. It'll warm the heart of anyone. Well put TC, and godspeed Wally.
Before I begin, I need to apologize for all of the tenkara posts lately. For better or worse it's what I do probably 70% of the time I go fishing these days, so it also fuels a lot of the inspiration for the posts around here, no matter how silly a method of fishing it appears. It's probably fitting that I fish with an obscure type of fishing rod, that way I have an excuse when I don't catch fish.
Anyway, with that out of the way, it's Wednesday, so let's do the Nibbles.
Just to temporarily remove the smell of tenkara from my hands, here's a pic of the CLS reel, the "Best Freshwater Reel" at the recent IFTD Show out in Reno. It's a cassette reel from Hardy, who, well, I've always had a total gearcrush on. It's also a back to back win for them after they won the same award in 2011 for their Ultralight DD reel.
I've always dug Hardy's design aesthetic, from classic to modern, even though my wallet protests a purchase. I should really give in someday and just pay the $$$ and do it up right. Heck, their North American HQ is only about an hour drive from my house, maybe I can just go beg at the doorstep. Perhaps when they make a tenkara rod...just kidding...or am I?
Actually, I had several people send this story to me via Twitter earlier in the week, heck, even one asking about MY safety. My fondness for all things 'Squatch must not be much of a secret anymore, huh...?
Speaking of Twitter, do you have a Twitter account? Have you harassed Jimmy Kimmel today? You know, the comedian and late night talk show host... If you answered yes to the first question and no to the second, please reconsider on behalf of everyone's favorite animated piece of fishing tackle.
Yeah, the latest tactic by Olive's creator Kirk Werner is evidently to stalk celebs on Twitter and send promotional messages to them based on their innocuous tweets regarding technology. Actually, it's not as creepy as I just made it sound, it's actually kind of fun.
It's much easier just to read about it over at the Olive blog, so go there by clicking HERE, and then get to copy and pasting and harassing Jimmy Kimmel. It only takes a few minutes...or an hour if you do it over and over and over again...
The wife & I have planned a mission for the weekend. I have to take her to the fabric store...and a winery...and then I get this...
...well I get the burger. Maybe two. That's right, beef, pulled pork, and onion rings...with cheese and barbecue sauce. We're driving almost an hour away from home to git 'r dun...because they don't have Carl's Jr. or Hardee's near us. Yes, I'll do anything for science.
To close, time for some blog love. I'll be totally honest, I haven't been reading a lot of blogs lately. I click on a few of my longtime favorites and then maybe one or two that migrate toward the top of my blogroll after they publish a new post, but on the whole, I haven't been seeking out new reading material like I used to.
That said, I've somewhat recently added High On The Fly to my blogroll. It's not a blog that writes terribly long posts, but to be honest, it's pretty much tuned to the length my current attention span. A couple paragraphs, a picture or two, and done. Check out Jeff's blog some love when you have a free minute and see what I mean. I think you'll like it.
The Tenkara Sasquatch was recently sighted in Salt Lake City at the Outdoor Retailer show. Rumor was he was trying to hide in the Subaru booth, laying low before going over to check out the new tenkara rods, but his trademark oversized sunglasses may have given his presence away.
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