Back @ The Haunts In Summit County 07Jan21-27Jan21

Caught some runs on Outback and elsewhere @ Keystone and hit our favorite brewery, ORB. We had to chug outside despite lessening restrictions as tables were full throughout enclosed areas. We wore masks just to stay warm when not sipping. Hmmm.

 

Plus I then caught Yoho & Nick for their season opening runs on Keystone. Great time on modest conditions.

 

Kala and I caught a great day in the Arapaho NF before the day of Wild Card games.

I hit KS a couple more times on dry days - seeking the edges and the trees for softer runs. Still, I was able to get to many runs on the mtns and even make many down the face with Summit lift lines shorter. Always good to taste what Modern Times produces - here's a late hazy called Thundera - enjoyed grabbing some new music on the Nest Theater.

Kala & I also hiked some more in the back yard. On this morning we had to trudge around a number of downed trees and snow drifts from the prior night's winds. It was cold too but we found some new loops and met our new neighbors.

Kala & I caught the NFL playoffs on the weekend; we used the Nest Theater in simple TV-only mode and are pretty impressed with it's on-board audio system. We also dipped into a tasty sour cherry, pinot barrel aged ale that was meant for Matt & Alexa but, Russian River's Supplication, oh well. Very tasty.

I "Brecked" it with Dave Sheldon. We finally got some snow and our morning was on at least some powder runs, though not deep. With the stuff above treeline and all the bowls still a no go (we are only at 70% of average snowpack now) we jetted for Pk 10's nice terrain and somewhat lesser lift lines. We got some good runs down Mustang, Dark Rider, and Blackhawk before meeting Dave's supervisor Stein & his wife for some runs. More snow briefly rolled in and brought some chilliness.

In a rare DD sighting this season we caught some runs down Keystone, on a Sunday of all times, with his kid Matthew. Great to see them. After some pizza at On-The-Run we parted and I caught the NFL games and then a keen, mostly acoustic recording, of Phoebe on bandsintown HERE... very good. Enjoyed with the first ORB batch from their new foeder (a large split wood construction barrel/tank), the tasty TWIGS, a dubl IPA on vanilla!

Kala and I skipped a day but ventured out on the Natl Forest peninsula into and above Dillon Rez on a nice sunny day, after-which I tuned up the Origins for the arrival of Brown's "Guys Ski Week."

My Best Fish Of 2020 - A Year Of Many 'Bows 06Jan21

Yes, I fished only local waters in 2020, for apparent reasons... and yes I fished 1/3 less than in 2019. But, Colorado bounty is decent and here are the 10 best fish of last year, with all the where and when.

20" CutBow - PT Section Of Arkansas - Mar20

22" CutBow - 11 Mile Canyon Section Of S Platte - Mar20

23" CutBow - 11 Mile Canyon Section Of S Platte - Apr20

20" CutBow - PT Section Of Arkansas - Apr20

18.5" CutBow - Silverthorne Tailwater Section Of Blue - May20

22" CutBow - PT Section Of Arkansas - Jun20

Brown/Rainbow/Cutthroat - Caught 2X Triple On Gore Ck - Jul20

18.5" Brown - Green Mtn Canyon Section Of Blue - Jul20

22" Rainbow - Taylor C&R Section Of Taylor - Sep20

21" Broken Rod Rainbow - Trout Creek - Oct20

Rodfather Quiver Action Update 05Jan21

I've measured my new builds as well as a Winston B3X that was in the shop during my last measuring session. I've also adjusted my view a smidge on what constitutes very fast vs fast vs moderate a bit - these monikers are arbitrary anyway. One really wants to look at a rod's Effective Rod Number (ERN, measured by what weight is required to deflect the rod from horizontal to 1/3 it's length) and Action Angle (AA, measured by the angle from vertical the tip top strikes at the deflection point above). If ERN is far above a manufacturers recommended line weight, then it should be loaded with heavier line to optimally cast. AA dictates how quickly a rod will deflect and return and is an indicator of achievable line speed at release. In the chart, green are Rodfather builds and blue are manufacturer builds. I use graphite and always choose faster rods when I can so my chart is biased toward that end. The recently added Brown/TFO BVK is a  slower and over-powered rod and while I haven't cast it yet, I can't imagine it being favored. The Cutty/CTS is awesome. The 2wt Stream/MHX is good despite it's speed as I built it for 10 Mile and the like. The THMS/Winston B3 is great and I look forward to it's maiden casts (I can't do 'em at the park really). The Brookie/Rainshadow RX7 is good but just a shade slow. The Euro/Rainshadow Eternity2 will be all about tip feel... which tests very strong. Anyway...

Top Albums 2H20 [For Me] 04Jan21

Below are the albums I've  listened to multiple time in the recent past (at least on the COS-based JRiver system). I listen a lot to YouTube as well so album counts are not righteous measures of listening hours. Most notable is a the missing Amy McDonald stuff as her recent album is still missing in the mail from the UK for over two months now - and there seems to be very good recordings of her from Germany, etc.. I don't recall what the heck I'd have played from a dance mix compilation.

Building The Rodfather THMS [drc #5 - 11' Two Handed Micro-Spey] 04Jan21

Well I'm stoked to try a new cast - I've not spey or switch cast before so it'll all be new but I read and watched enough to be excited for an easier, longer, streamer & nymph cast with no back cast area required. So, I needed the rod, reel and line for the tasks. :) I just completed the Rodfather THMS, an 11' "4 wt" two-handed trout spey rod built from a Winston Boron III blank, custom handles, a down-locking maple insert reel seat, and titanium Snake guides. Comments on Winston's factory version were that, while stunning, the lower handle was too short - so I made mine longer; the top grip is fashioned for two handed fighting or even single-handed casting. The blank is a nice emerald green and my chosen wrapping thread blended in perfectly; I accented the guide wraps with sliver to match the Winston decal and the ferrules with spirals. It's a beast but not too fast and has action like my very sweet 4 wt B3X factory Winston.

 

To compliment the rod I assembled a full kit of appropriate line setups on a Lamson Remix HD reel. Interesting reel fabrication - the reel is machined but the spools are cast. It came with 3 spools and a carry kit but I've loaded just two thus far. One is a SA Spey Lite integrated (where head and running lines are welded together) Scandi (longer lighter head) line with a salmon-class mono leader. The second is a SA Spey Lite integrated Skagit (short heavy head) line with a set of 7 SA Third Coast tips (full sink, mid sink, floating, etc.). I got the line to weigh in at the Winston recommended mid-points for the rod. It's a smidge more complex than just buying an appropriate line - what with all the parts. They thoughtfully sent the tip kit in it's own carry pouch. I even fell for the $9 accent color on the reel - electric green to match the emerald of course.

I was always pretty bad flinging heavy streamers with even the 9ft 6wt Orvis canon, so I'm looking forward to making all that more comfortable - and shooting fully across western rivers with no back cast. It is light and balanced as hoped and is pretty fast - ERN of 5.9 and AA of 73° - it is sold as a "4 wt" but that's weird because it's a trout spey rod so nonsensical IMO. Perhaps that's because it actually does have a more full rod flex despite being fast in general.

Bring on the lunkers!

Repairing Guides On Rodfather Cutty & Matt DeBalski's Sage One 31Dec20-01Jan21

I received a replacement for the broken section of the Rodfather Cutty fly rod from New Zealand. Here I briefly describe the repair which required removal of snake guides from the broken piece and re-wrapping them onto the new section. Cutting off an old guide is fairly simple if you don't care about the rod section to which it is wrapped; just use a razor knife to cut it off. The epoxied wrap largely peels off. If you need to retain the rod section or otherwise are just replacing a guide in place, then be very careful not to etch the rod - do the slicing directly on top of the foot of the metal guide. Once the guide is removed and the wrappings are fully peeled off, clean the area and guide gently with some acetone. Then, simply re-wrap and re-epoxy the guide to the rod mimicking the rod's other guide wraps. Good as new.

Matt DeBalski broke his favorite rod, a 10' 5wt Sage One. So Matt & his dad DD came over to learn how to repair a guide for $10 (plus beer - DD plied me with Juicy Bits, a fav Weldworks IPA) rather than a $75 warranty charge. Matt broke a guide in the tip section somehow - we both use rod vaults and they can be a problem if not careful when inserting rods; still, it could've been anything - I've done it too. Matt wanted to learn some attributes of rod-building so we spent several good hours fixing his rod, reviewing some custom Rodfather builds and my rod-building techniques. It was good to see him and especially DD for a bit. I sense Matt will be back to try his own hand at a custom build - we reviewed some ideas.