Updating The Rodfather Redfish Attack System 30Sep22

I learned on our trip with Haine to Rockport last March for redfish that the Rodfather Redfish, while a great rod, could not be cast well with the Aoka XS 7.8 loaded with SA WF8F line. The rod is just too strong with a measured intrinsic power of 3320 grains. The head of the SA line I had attempted to use was just 2730 grains. I borrowed Rob's reel & WF9F Orvis line and it was dreamy. Others thought so too. So, I repurposed the Aoka 7.8 onto the Rodfather Colorado, now gone ~ lost in the parking area of the Blue River below Green Mtn Rez, RIP.  I acquired an Aoka XS 9.10 reel, in a rod-match teal, as well as some Rio Winter Redfish line in WF9F, with a 3840 grain head. The new system is a skosh heavier but balances great and shoots quickly and like a demon ~ I wasn't able to not shoot to the end of my spare line. I am now fully reloaded for more spring TX Redfish. Weekend celebrations via the Cerebral NEIPA Plate Tectonics.

 

Building The Rodfather Endless Wisdom (drc #20 RFEW - 8'6" 3wt 4pc Fast HM Graphite) 24Aug22-28Sep22

Frankly I'm still searching for an astounding graphite 3 weight; it must be better even than the RF Lightning Rod and feature a full wells handle. It's gotta best the GLoomis too of course, and be lighter and a lower swing weight than the fun Rodfather Brook Trout. Enter the Rodfather Endless Wisdom ~ an all purple smaller river rod.  This is it ~ the smaller water weapon I've sought. Endless Wisdom has the strength to toss chubby + droppers 40ft accurately and the very light feel for sometimes smaller fish, yet the strength to land bigger stuff from Rainbow Falls and 11 Mile Canyon if called upon. It's a weak 3wt with an ERN of 2.8 but very fast with an AA of 74°. Frankly it just feels and casts great and looks stunning. I matched it with the Piscifun Sword 3.4 loaded with SA Frequency Trout WF3F (100 grain head); the Frequency Trout is a decent lighter 3 weight line for this less powerful rod. I'll have to think hard what I'll do with the other 3wts 'cause I can't see I'd choose them over the RFEW in many cases... main reasons to fish it over the RF Brook Trout are swing weight and faster action... it's more comfortable and easier to cast, but it is a less powerful rod... I'll fish both.

Here's the hardware arriving. I discovered a new high modulus blank from Rod Geeks called C4 which is the equivalent of a St Croix blank, but made in a Mexican factory (with the same materials and on the same mandrels as St Croix blanks from Minnesota), so it's a lot less expensive. The RFEW is all purple... I bought a 8'6" 4pc 3wt in a deep purple color and mated that to a custom turned full wells handle of purple dyed burl and natural burl cork. I added titanium hardware on the reel seat with Bubinga insert and single foot guides to keep the build-out weight low.

And here's the handle and butt section build-out.

The Rodfather Endless Wisdom is wrapped out in purple of course with minute silver accents. Yeah, one turn of metallic thread on guide wraps is challenging, but sexy. I used my "normal" spiraled 2 thread wrap on the ferrules.

Endless Wisdom balances perfectly with the Sword reel and measures out as mentioned initially ~ it even weighs just a scan 3.06oz and achieved the sought substantial reduction in swing weight to just 7.9oz compared to the RF Brook Trout (9.5oz). The backyard test was amazing and not unlike with the new Pure Irony, I need to slow my casting cadence a bit to get the most from this rod ~ I hope there is yet a fall outing where a smaller river has not yet "disappeared" so I can righteously attack it. Yeah, it was renamed from Air Purple to Endless Wisdom after I threw it ~ it seemed more apt.

Dehd @ Summit Music Hall With Yoho 23Sep22

Dehd are a cool young Chicago reverb-heavy post-punk, indie rock group whom I've profiled prior in "music appreciation newsletters." Jim & I met at Summit Music Hall for their Denver show. While I long ago booked the show, I was unsure I'd go till I was C19 negative at 5pm before the show. Blue Skies is their latest album and the 1st on their new label (of 4 albums since 2016's Dehd/Fire Of Love and they have been hitting the radio studios strong; I do have the limited edition pink vinyl (and FLAC) for Blue Skies.

Exum, a former SF 49ers safety (quit after a career-ending injury) opened the show. I didn't really get his mix of rap and pleasant melodies and backing loops very well, but he surely was a stud.

The band is "just" a trio of Emily Kempf on bass & vocals, Jason Balla on guitar & vocals, and Eric McGrady on stand-up percussion. Their sound is pretty unique but refined and their DIY ethos is to be respected. I came to them when l was looking for non-harmonizing duo led vocals and Emily's keen vocal tricks & and killer voice counter-played with Jason's nice round boy voice results in many good songs - where they bounce off each other incredibly well. Emily is the songwriter and a presence to encounter; Jason is a producer of sorts and his 80's guitar punk pop - surf pop sound is awesome (he plays Van Halen's Kramer); Eric is the fiercely quiet and understated percussionist. Their stripped down music column from just three is raw and inspired and truthful.They are making music which is indie rock but far from normal, it's also not too accepted yet if I check the hits on YouTube or the attendance at the show ~ but dang it is good. They did a ~18 song (most are pretty short <3 min each) for a 70 min set... more on the setlist later. They played a lot from the new album but a number from Flower Of Devotion as well. I have to say that I am confused by Emily - she produces the official videos and recent versions have had lesbian overtones (like Eggshells official vid HERE); yet at the Denver show she supposedly proposed to her boyfriend ~ I shouldn't care as it doesn't impact the music and it may be intentionally confusing and controversial.

The concert from Dehd was very good; the venue was less so. The lighting for the entire show was pretty dark as you can see, always pink on Emily and always blue on Jaosn ~ maybe the band specified that but I don't know. The house sound was good enough from where Jim & I heard it right in front of the mixing guys... we did wear ear plugs for most of it though, lot's of boom. It's good to have earplugs that yield a flat attenuation across the full audible frequency range. I did capture lofi versions of 'Loner,' 'Eggshells,' and a medley near the end.

Regarding the setlist, I did grab one from the stage, as I usually attempt, and succeeded. However, at this Live Nation spot, Summit Music Hall, for whatever reason, I was detained by staff and the setlist was unceremoniously ripped from my hand. I did explain that the band would have likely wanted me to have it or they wouldn't have left it. Their response was that if that were the case they'd have sent it to me. Policies at LN and/or Summit are too corporate and over-bearing - maybe they were trying to monetize it the way they have so many things. I bought merch and music and a ticket, but was accosted... I won't go back there.

I did let them know that my experience put me off. For those just coming up to speed on Dehd, here are several radio studio shows and concerts I've liked where they are featured. To hear the recent live stuff start at KEXP, of course, and move to HERE then HERE then to Live @ KUTX. Jim and I are Dehd Heads.

Rockin' ROMO Natl Pk With Kala 18Sep22-21Sep22

Kala & I finally got a rez @ RMNP for our semi-normal fall outing there. Weather is awesome but warmth put off most of the colors for another week or so. It did not put off the fish, or hikes, or elk. We had a great time in our 1st time on B loop with the BC20X - B170 was not a great site but keen Mississippi neighbors and a reasonable remoteness from others left us feelin' good. We arrived on Sunday (mostly against traffic ~ woohoo) at check-in and headed to the BigT for the 90 min of fishing remaining before Moraine Pk closes for the elk @ 5pm. We both caught browns on chubbies in astounding surroundings and felt satisfied to then sit back and observe the show from a distant position this time... that was fine as there'd be more.

For the BigT in Moraine Pk I chose to cast the recently completed "glass" Rodfather Pure Irony. It was a blast, and as mentioned in the build post, a slight reduction in cadence yields a bomb shot if needed. I did catch a lot of grass heads in this meadow stream however... and lost multiple rigs in the stream-bank weeds or unknown grass-head. On one such occasion I had to lay flat on my chest and reach over into the stream ~ I got the fly but later learned I'd lost my midge box somewhere on the stream! I went back 2 days later and found it. Fortunate as that was, when reviewing footage I saw exactly where I'd lost it; it's hard to believe I didn't see it there (as I now do).

We chowed on yummy ribeye & blue cheese sammies that night back at camp. And we then rested well in the BC20X with the windows cracked. The next morning we brewed our DazBog and enjoyed berries in the rising light as we laid the hiking plan for the day: drive and shuttle into Bear Lk, hike to Dream and Emerald Lks and then find fish there. We added a Bear Lk loop when down to the THs here again. RMNP is simply awesome. I did catch a pic of some of the only Aspen color showing thus far. It's windy up there and I caught a tightly twisted pine from the effects.

 

We went straight to Emerald Lk (3rd selfie H2O pic above & the pan) ~2mi up and then trundled back to Dream Lk where it's (im)possible to catch a triple. I saw mostly cruising Colorado cutthroats and they were well educated. Many raced to my bug and then rejected it ~ I think they were sipping #26s but I ultimately scored with a mostly translucent #22 mayfly. Whew. My NC in-laws love waterfalls so I sent them a pic of the mighty Tyndall Ck falls at the Dream Lk effluent.

Back @ B170 we enjoyed our infamous fajitas on the skottle, and some weird Blue Curacao margs. We finished in time to hit Moraine Pk for the elk rut and scored with very close herd activities. The bull was a big boy with a big >12 point rack and ~40 cows in keep. A couple of youngsters ventured somewhat close but were easily chased off by "the dude." We slept well again ~ thanking Airstream for a built-in bathroom on the Basecamp.

With a good hike under our belts and some fish on the lines, though I was freaking out a bit about the missing fly box, we headed down to the BigT in Moraine to look for it. Super lucky success! We fished a bit more there and I encountered "the dude" again pretty close, just hanging out across the river from me, and I caught some more brownies on chubbies and caddis (and lost more rigs). Returning to grab the Crusher Too and continue chill day, we headed to some Glacier Basin spots mostly unvisted by us prior. They were close to parking lots and CGs so plenty of folk, but we picnicked comfortably near Glacier Ck, but did not fish it (no sign), and then tried our rods on Sprague Lk. The inlet to Sprague was teeming with spawning brookies (tough pic without polarizing lens). We were skunked at Sprague but saw more elk there and headed back to Moraine Pk for salmon canapes and bubbly with blackcurrants for dinner.

We decided that night we'd head out the next morning, due to a change in the weather. So, the next AM Kala's camper training was completed with a black-water pump-out on the way out of MPCG. We were fortunate we did not hit rain till Boulder. Another GR8 fall trip to RMNP... see ya next year.