First Fish of 2011

If I didn't say so yesterday, Happy New Year everyone!

That bit of business out of the way, I was actually able to sneak out for a few hours on New Year's morning and do some fishing.  Yeah, that's right, I do fish every now and then...

2011 License...Check!

Let me start by saying what a beautiful day yesterday was.  50 degree temperatures in Pennsylvania in January is a rare treat, and it was fortunately on a weekend to be taken advantage of.  With a little bit of a later start than usual, I hit Valley Creek running around 9:00 AM.  Upon arrival, most of the snow from last weekend had melted, leaving footing a bit squishy, but flows in good condition.  A quick check of the water temperature showed the creek at a brisk 36 degrees.

Valley Creek Winter Wonderland

I was planning on finally fishing the new Fountainhead 330 Caddis Series tenkara rod, so it was the weapon of choice this AM.  Wanted to get a few good hours of water time, so I could give a better "review," and finish off what I started a few weeks back.

Fountainhead 330 Caddis Tenkara Rod & Arsenal of Flies

Well it took about a half an hour, but my first fish of 2011, a wild 8" brown, was landed at about 9:30 AM.  It felt nice to start the new year off on the right foot.  A size 16 zug bug was its meal.

Bet he didn't know he'd be an internet celebrity this AM

I brought a few more fish to hand after that, and particularly liked this spirited little guy.  Lot's of wiggle in a 4 or so inch fish.

Another Valley Beauty

At around 11:30 AM I decided to pack things up and head over to Stony Creek (about a 15 minute drive) and christen my new Redington Classic Trout 3-weight fly rod (an unexpected Christmas gift from my awesome wife).

This rod casts like butter.

Unfortunately, unlike Valley which is spring fed and stays relatively ice-free, the majority of Stony looked like this...

Anyone got a pair of skates?

I did find a few ice free runs, but the fishing was non-existent.  There were to be no fish for me at Stony on this day, a big difference from New Year's 2010, when I did very well.  I will say that Redington rod casts like a dream.  It's graphite, but has a slower action and loads like a gem.  Was dropping casts 25 feet and in on a dime.  There may be better fly rods out there, but at an MSRP of $150, I'd sure like to see them.

So that was my New Year's Day.  I'm at home now typing up this post and watching some bowl games.  I was out fishing while Florida beat Penn State in the Outback Bowl so I missed that one.  But I did see TCU squeak by Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl, and it looks like Oklahoma just posted a 7 spot on UConn in the Fiesta.

Joe Pa should have punched a little harder.

On the water catching fish by day, watching College Football bowl games by night, I even think I'll run out to the beer fridge in the garage and grab a few cold ones.  I'll take another 364 days just like this one please.  Life is good.

Weekend of Shopping, Flies, Eagles, & Cookies

So no fishing last weekend.

Finished up some last minute Christmas shopping at the King of Prussia Mall on Saturday.  Man, that place was an absolute zoo...and I'm just talking about the parking lot!  Dodging SUVs piloted by cell-phone talking, adrenaline rushed, sale-crazed soccer moms should become an Olympic sport.

Did spend some time unwinding on Saturday night by tying up some flies while listening to the 76ers play the Orlando Magic.  Here's a pic of some of the flies, but honestly nothing really worth posting recipes for or anything.  Just killing time.

Unidentified Nymph, could use some more dubbing

Reverse hackle tenkara fly

Sunday afternoon meant Eagles football.  What a f'n game.  The Eagles came back from down 21 in the 4th quarter, and to be honest simply embarrassed the Giants on their home turf.  Nice collapse G-Men.  Yet another swift kick to New York's collective crotch by Philadelphia.  Not that I'm gloating or anything.  No, I'm actually slapping Cliff Lee a high five while gloating.

Sunday evening brought family.  Made some pizzelles (Italian waffle cookies) with K.C. & Lilly.  It was the first time Lilly ever made (or I believe even ate) these.  Mangia!

In go the eggs...

...and the smiles...

...hot off the press...

...finished product!

We'll see what the weather holds for this week.  As of right now there's some snow being forecasted for Christmas (oooh, a white X-mas!), if that holds off maybe I'll be able to sneak out and get a line wet.  If not, some more fly tying and perhaps some furled leader twisting might be in the cards.

Wednesday Nibbles - Holy Cr@p Cliff Lee Edition

Wednesday means nibbles.  Sorry, but I have to get something off my chest.
I'm still in disbelief after Tuesday morning's totally non-fishing news.

CLIFF LEE!  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!

Yes...it's OK to be afraid

I'm not sure when the Phillies actually woke up and decided they were going to be a big spending franchise, but as a kid who really started to fall in love with sports around 1984-85 a few years after their Mike Schmidt/Steve Carlton led run of greatness - this is a total 180 degree turnaround to me.  After all, the Phillies were the first major league baseball franchise to lose 10,000 games.  

The Phillies teams I know are supposed to have el-cheapo players like Don Carman, Floyd Youmans, Bruce Ruffin, and Wally Ritchie toeing the rubber.  Not four #1 pitchers with Cy Youngs and playoff MVPs on their resumes.  I know championships are not won in free agency...but for at least for now it feels good to say...screw you Yankees.

By the way, I know this post totally alienates probably 75% of my readers that are not Phillies fans.  Sorry.  Drink your Haterade and come back again tomorrow.  (BTW - If you are a Phils fan, and are not familiar with the blog "Zoo With Roy," go there now.  K.C. & I've got some R2C2 & Phour Loko t-shirts on order.)

That out of the way, I bring you the rest of the nibbles, in video form.

1.  Some Gear - Echo Rod Break Test - 'cuz breaking other folks' rods is fun.

2.  A Stupid Video - Don't Bother Me When I'm Watching TV...

3. And to close, a fishing song...

Enjoy.  And see you in the World Series.

In Enemy Territory

As a lifelong Philadelphia Eagles fan, it's very hard to compliment the Dallas Cowboys...other than their cheerleaders.  The Cowboys suck and deserve every profanity, snowball, & D-cell battery that has ever been thrown at them by fellow Eagles drunks fans.

Don't worry, Jimmy's hair didn't get messed up

That noted, one of the perks of my day job afforded me the opportunity to go on a behind the scenes tour of "The House That Jerry Built" this past Thursday.  Got to go in the locker room, some of the various suites, and of course stand on the turf and look up at the canyon walls of seating soaring up around me.

2-7, brought to you by Ford

The Battle of Evil vs. Evil - The Cowboys vs. Brett Favre

In two words - F*#@in' Amazing!...and the pictures above certainly don't do it justice.  However now that I'm home, that should be the last compliment you ever expect to read about the Cowboys coming from this blog.

A somewhat complimentary post about the Cowboys & a Duke basketball player in the same week - what is wrong with me?

Want to know what's worse?  I'm heading up to the International Fly Tying Symposium in North(ish) Jersey later today...which means I'll be in the midst of New York Giants fans. Why do I torture myself like this?

Wednesday Nibbles - The Duke Sucks Edition

STOP...Nibble Time!

Let's kick off this week's installment by mentioning the International Fly Tying Symposium this weekend in Somerset, NJ.  All signs are pointing to my attendance on Saturday (no autographs, please) & I'm looking forward to checking out some folks that can really tie, and who knows...maybe take some mad scientist-like ideas (& supplies) back to my vise.

So if anyone out there is going, drop me a line.  I'm always open to putting real life faces to some of my blog buddies.  Especially if you're sporting a kick-ass handlebar mustache like this guy.

Non fishing subject, but did anybody notice that college basketball started sometime over the past week?  Don't worry, I missed it too - but I'm glad it's here.  I'm a hoop-head at heart with a mean 3 point set-shot.  I would have been deadly in the early 1950s NBA.

Anyway...saw this crazy video of trick shots from pre-season All-American Kyle Singler from Duke on YouTube.  I hate Duke, I hate Coach K, and Kyle certainly walks in the tradition of annoying Dookie ballers like Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley, Wojo, & J.J. Redick.  That said, I can appreciate some trick shots, so check this out.

After all that Duke stuff, I think I need a bath.  Yuk.

I mentioned in a previous post that I wanted to upgrade my 3-wt outfit at some point.  My flavor of the week might be a Redington Classic Trout rod with a Drift series click & pawl reel.  I like the idea of this rod; it's supposed to have a medium action (as opposed to fast) which is definitely appealing.  Another week will probably bring another rod to mind, but anybody have any experience with Redington & their gear?

This is pretty f*cking cool.  Surfing whales in New Zealand.  Is everything cooler in NZ?  Clearly.  The pictures pretty much tell the tale...

Kinda reminds me of hitting the waves in Wildwood Crest, NJ back in the day with my foam Morey Boogie board...except the whales aren't wiping out, doing a faceplant, & getting a bathing suit full of sand.  Yeah, getting sand all up in your junk was always a pleasure.

Finally, figured I'd call out two new blogs to the bloated, ginormous, and eternally growing blogroll over there ----->

First up, Gary Thompson's Silk Lines & Paper Hulls.  In a sentence, it's about catching steelhead and blastin' birds.  To expand a bit - it's some really good stuff.  Fishing, hunting, other intermingled outdoorsy things.  Just go check it out and see what I mean.

Second, Flyfishing the Southern Blue Ridge.  This Owl Jones guy is so off-kilter, he makes me seem normal.  Good fishing, lots of humor, but check it out quick...the blog is having an identity crisis of sorts and might be moving soon...or not...

Owl Jones = Fishing & Cookies

No Fishing This Past Weekend

I had put together a nice little fishing streak for a few weeks, but like Phillies National League Championships, the run was destined to end sooner or later.
Ssor Ydoc Etah I.

I knew I wasn't going fishing on Saturday, and K.C. was a little under the weather on Sunday so I was on full Lilly duty.  No worries, although I was getting accustomed to a Monday morning post of some sort of fishing action.

Lacking the proper inspiration, hope this sick video I found over on new blog buddy Angling Addict will suffice.  It's a little long, but believe me, well worth it. Rob rocks the kayak like no other.

Oh, with my recent fly tying fetish, also added a new fly-centric blog to the ever-growing blogroll; check out cp's fly fishing and fly tying when you get a chance. It's tight.

Fishing for a New QB

NFL Training Camp started this week for the hometown Philadelphia Eagles. This should be an interesting year for the 'Birds, as we've got a lot of young players being asked to step up and fill in roles left vacant by departing veterans.

There's probably no larger a hole to fill than that of QB, with the off-season trade of Donovan McNabb to Washington. Is Kevin Kolb up to the task? Beats me...but I kinda like the guy already. Why? Not only are there rumors that he hunts wild boar with his bare hands in the offseason, but according to this article from the Philadelphia Daily News, the new starting QB is also into competitive bass fishing. Unfortunately, no word on his (or his mom's) feelings toward Chunky Soup.

Excerpt from Les Bowen's Daily News Article:

"I had no desire to get into it, I just kind of stumbled into it," said Kolb, who won a couples competition in Texas' Hubbard Creek Lake with his wife, Whitney. Kevin took fourth this year in an individual tourney that he said featured about 70 boats.

"My dad [Roy] taught me to bass fish a long time ago, but some of my old high school buddies that I ended up moving close to once I moved to [Lake Granbury, near Fort Worth], they said, 'Man, you've got to do this.' My rookie year was the first time I started doing it. Went into it head over heels, too. I like it a lot."

Read the full Philadelphia Daily News article here:
http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/sports/99085579.html

Decision 2010

In tribute to LeBron James' epically overplayed (& extremely excruciating to watch) "Decision 2010" TV special, I think I'm going to contact ESPN about airing an hour long extravaganza about where I plan on fishing this weekend - (brought to you by the Boys & Girls Clubs of America & Vitamin Water, of course).

Hopefully Stuart Scott would emcee.  If not him, maybe Charlie Moore.  It would be phenomenal.

All of the bodies of water lining up courting my services - Valley Creek, Stony Creek, the Schuylkill River, Skippack Creek, and of course the dark horse Darby Creek.  I actually think Darby Creek is currently in negotiations to get fellow free agents Shoreman & Mel Moore to sign up with it in hopes of luring me there.

Oh, wait - BREAKING NEWS - it appears the billionaire Russian owner of the Stony Creek has just signed John Dollar and his handcrafted pipes...ugh, so many good choices, decisions like these are so difficult!

I could just see it now...

"I felt good with my decision after I spoke to my momma this morning.  She told me she'll love me wherever I go, so after some intense soul searching, I'll be taking my tenkara rod and flies with me to...(dramatic pause)...Valley Creek this weekend."

Valley Creek
Insert sound of ecstatic riffles here

Stony Creek
Insert sounds of booing, hissing, and tears.  Betrayal!

"Can I get a witness from the congregation?
BOO-YAH!!!!!!!"

Home From Chicago

...and had a great time. After getting some work out of the way on Tuesday, we were off to a Cubs game last night, which was my first at Wrigley Field. The weather was an absolutely beautiful sunny 70 degrees, which was extremely welcome following weeks and weeks of 90+ degree heat & humidity between Philadelphia & Florida.

After a few beers & wings at Yak-Zies prior, we headed over to the game and were treated to some really good seats. Excellent actually. Second row behind the Cubs dugout.

I'm neither a fan of the Cubs or Pirates, so it was fun to not have a rooting interest and just enjoy the atmosphere. Being an old park, it was really neat to soak in Wrigley. I haven't been to many older ballparks (that were actually built pre-WWII), so Wrigley was a treat, even better than old Yankee Stadium.

In the end, everything worked out perfect. For two bad teams there was a fair amount of action, Alfonso Soriano hit 2 home runs, Mike & Mike from ESPN sang "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" during the 7th inning stretch, and the Cubs won, with (Ted) Lilly picking up the win.

After the game we hit the GingerMan for a nightcap, where tried my first Old Style for which I will reserve comment on out of respect, and then headed back to the hotel.

This morning was a flight home to Philly on United and well I guess it's back to work (& reality) tomorrow, at least until the long 4th of July weekend!

Headed To Chicago

If you're reading this today, I'm likely either on a plane headed to the midwest or sitting in a conference room reviewing sporting goods.  I'll be in the Windy City on Tuesday (today) & Wednesday for work, and looking forward to seeing my first ball game at Wrigley Field tonight. I think the Cubs are playing the Pirates, and with both teams well under .500 it should make for some mediocre baseball.  But who cares, it's still Wrigley.

In honor of mediocre baseball, and of course fishing, I present to you the career statistics of one Steve "Rainbow" Trout.

Sweet Sunglasses...Better Hair!

12 Seasons in the Major Leagues
White Sox, Cubs, Yankees, & Mariners

88 Wins - 92 Losses - 4 Saves

4.18 ERA

32 Complete Games / 9 Shutouts

1501.1 Innings Pitched

Back Again!

Phillies 10, Dodgers 4 - National League Champions!
World Series, here we come (again)!

We Win!

Playoffs, here we come!

Now Leading Off for your 2030 Philadelphia Phillies...

Look at this natural effortless swing. She's got "doubles hitter" written all over her. I couldn't be prouder.

Roy Hobbs' got nothing on Lilly

I'm Not a Good Golfer

Actually, I never play golf (despite literally living between two courses), so I never give myself a chance to be good. I'll go golfing as a work function every now and then...actually played Trump National in Bedminster, NJ last month for work. Surprised they let me through the front gates. Didn't keep score though, my golf score would be one of the few numbers "The Donald" wouldn't appreciate having so many zeros at the end of it.

Anyway, point is I probably could have shaved a few strokes off my game if I had one of these Trout Putters. And for a mere $17.95, maybe I could afford to replace some of the balls I lost in the water hazard.
http://www.shopatron.com/product/part_number=1563/1193.0.1982.0.0.0.0

Brett Favre R.I.P.?

I just saw this headline on ESPN.com, I had to do a double take...

I say this somewhat "tongue-in-cheek" but my immediate reaction - elation - then I realized they were only talking about him staying retired. I thought we had another Michael Jacksonesque celebrity death on our hands... I could not even begin to comprehend what the ESPN TV coverage would have been like. Chris Berman would have been rolled out of mothballs for this one.

1,2,3,4,5...Sixers

All is well in the world. The Sixers announced today they are burying the Allen Iverson-era Black, White, Gold, etc...colors and going back to the patriotic Red, White, & Blue. Love it!

Sixers: Hooray for the Red, White and Blue
By Kate Fagan
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

The 76ers are bringing retro back.

Today in the lobby of the Comcast Center, the Sixers re-launched the red, white, and blue logo they first used in 1963, putting away the modern black, silver, and gold logo they have been using since the 1997-98 season.

The "re-launching" was a short presentation that included Comcast-Spectacor chairman Ed Snider, Sixers president and general manager Ed Stefanski, new head coach Eddie Jordan, current Sixer Jason Smith, former player World B Free, and executive advisor Sonny Hill.

"By bringing back the old Sixers logo, we are connecting the past with the future," Snider said. "This logo evokes some of this franchise's proudest moments. We also made this change because we understood how much this logo means to our fans, the franchise, and to our city."

Stefanski said the organization reached out to fans and received an "overwhelming" response to return to the old logo and uniforms.

Read the entire Philadelphia Inquirer article here:
http://tinyurl.com/nzved3

I Got Knife Skills?

Was watching ESPN Sportscenter tonight when they reminded the nation that today, 6/17, is the 15 year anniversary of the infamous low-speed "Bronco Chase." Inspired, I typed "O.J. Fishing" in Google Images, and this is the first result.Uhhh....ok.....Not sure if I agree with the humor (or Photoshop skills) of this Legman character, but if you do, you can find a ton more pictures like this here: http://mrlegman.com

Lilly Picks...

Asked Lilly after dinner tonight who was going to win (the NBA Finals), "Lakers or Magic?"

Lilly responded with "The Magic, I love the Magic."

There you go...the official Troutrageous pick is in (via Lilly):
Magic in 6.

Catching Up on Lilly Posts

Last two weekends have been somewhat of a blur. Lots of family activities going on, which makes for a busy, but really fun time. Here's a little breakdown...

Sunday, May 24th
Lilly, Mommy, Daddy, & Grandmom went to the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus in Philadelphia. Lilly was really looking forward to seeing the "lion tamer" as she told me the night before. Well, today was finally the day. Despite the PETA protests at the door, the circus was fun - Lilly and all of the other little kids certainly seemed to have a good time - but not the circus you or I might remember from our youth.

Nowadays, sure there are still animals like elephants, tigers, & horses...but there's a lot of Cirque de Soleil style acrobatics too. No "men of the flying trapeze" anymore, more like women hanging and twirling from big ropes from the ceiling. I understand the change, most people love that junk (hence the 7 different shows out in Vegas), but it was a bit much for me.

Also, there were plenty of clowns, but no midgets?! I guess the circus has gone politically correct. Not sure why...they seem okay with exploiting animals (last time I checked elephants didn't dance in a conga line on the African plains) so what' s the issue with exploiting people? At least people have a choice. P.T. Barnum is surely rolling over in his grave right now.



Sunday, May 31st
Today was a "Mommy Outing" to the Reading Phillies game. K.C. organized this outing with a handful of her friends, so Lilly not only got to go to the baseball game, but she also got to hang out with her friends.

It was a bit on the warm side, but on the whole all of the kids were troopers, and I'm pretty sure had a fun time at the game. One of the more memorable things was that Arby's was sponsoring a promotion that if a selected player had an RBI during the game, everybody got a free Beef 'n Cheddar sandwich the next day. Everytime this batter was at the plate, the sound system started a "Roast...Beef" chant in a deep baritone voice. Lilly thought that was funny, and continued the chant (even hours after the game was over). Unfortunately, the guy was like 0-5, no so roast beef for us.

After the game, the kids got to run around the bases. Lilly was going to run around with her friend Hope, but somehow they got separated in line (I think Lilly was just really eager and ran ahead a little bit) and Lilly ran the bases all by herself. Most kids ran with a parent, but our kid...no chance. She got a little lost when it came to crossing homeplate (I was hoping for a headfirst slide) but in the end all was good.