Fall On The Blue 07Sat20

I left before wetting a line at the effluent of the Green Mtn Rez on the Blue River. I arrived at 9:20am with 19 vehicles in the lot - half with open and empty rod racks. I was dubious but proceeded to dress and grumble. Given the crowds I chose to throw the new Rodfather 3 weight for fun. As I entered the steep drop in it was very icy but there was a rope to aid my decent. Unfortunately, the rope broke free right at the steepest and iciest spot and I slid 20 ft down the hill. I scratched my hands open, and scraped my net, but worst of all broke off the tip top from my rod. I took all these factors as a sign and headed home to the Nest. Grrr... it really was a fall on the Blue.

UPDATE 13Nov20 ~ Tip top did not break off, it just was levered off of the end of the rod somehow. All fixed; and hands are healing with some time inside ski gloves.

Kudos To Keystone 06Nov20

Steve Brown and I hit opening day skiing at Keystone today. Keystone managed everything very well - reserving opened a bit late but I was in the waiting room and hour early and then got in quickly when it began. I was able to reserve plenty of near term dates (including the WE but I doubt I'll go due to crowdation). Many Keystone workers greeted and "encouraged" mask wearing. The lifts were not crowded for our 5 runs but we were there at opening... while there was no real distancing in lift lines, folks wore face covers and behaved sanely - we saw only one or two (Steve & I are brothers) on each chair. Best of all, Keystones snow making was stellar and we have plenty of room to groove the entire Schoolmarm. On our last runs there were some folks to navigate and the snow was a smidge more icy but we thought it vastly improved from ABay and even the best opening day experience thus far. Of course we capped it off with stellar beers from ORB, including the most recently released hazy IPA Squiggles, and ahi poke from Bird. Awesome 60° day on the mtn and in town followed by a soak in the tub and sounds from Reina del Cid and more IPA finery from Weldworks, the excellent DDH 3.5 Mile.

Ramblin' On The AFA 03Nov20

Kala and I headed to the Air Force Academy today on election day to hike a bit in the Indian Summer weather. We rambled for 4 or so miles and bushwhacked to a couple of new spots. Fun...

Blodgett Pk With Yoho Via North Ridge (& 2.4Mi Detour To Rampart) 01Nov20

Jim and I topped Blodgett Pk across snow fields and an error for 9mi and 4Kft of vert, via the north ridgeline. It's an extra several miles to "get around behind Blodgett" but the route is worth it - we saw the remains of the Waldo Canyon fire from 7 years ago, plane wreckage from the '50s, and great vistas towards Pikes Peak, Colo Spgs, Rampart Rez and more.  House-to-house it took us quite a long time as we added an hour at least by continuing on a road (part of Trail 713) for a mile after I missed our turn - we corrected. It was an awesome day on the Front Range but Jim biffed onto a rock on the way down the sketchy front side. Yes, there was blood. And, as prior, the summit was full of ladybugs. Trails up and down Blodgett are never easy, but it was rewarding to be out with my friend.

Blodgett IoT 30Oct20

We updated security and IoT at Blodgett. Of course I used SmartThings, Arlo and ZWave+ sensors and switches. I did not go overboard; thus far I've covered:

• Garage doors with tilt sensors
  
• Front doorbell with a sensor that connects to the existing doorbell transformer and alerts me when it dings
• Front outside lighting
• Blodgett Theater lighting
• Every room of Blodgett with motion sensing and 2 way audio security cameras
  

Undone as yet include:

• flood sensing
• online smoke/CO sensing
• proximity sensing to aid path lighting

Since we are "absent" to Summit Co on occasion, we most needed a security update. Too, we needed "Ring-like" features to capture and talk to package delivery (and potential package thievery) persons. Features completed include:

• Full home security motion detection and camera recording, including at night.
• More random lighting to mock homeness.
• Nightly schedule for outside lighting.
• Convenient remote control of theater lighting.
  

Building The Rodfather Brookie [drc #4 9ft 3wt 4 pc Fast ~ ERN 3.4 AA 67°] 26Oct20

With temps dipping to 0° and 5" of snow I hunkered down inside and finished the drc#4, aka the Rodfather Brookie. This is a custom built 9ft 3wt 4 piece rod built from a Rainshadow Revelation RX7 medium fast blank with matte charcoal coloring, a nickel silver REC NBS uplocking reel seat with removable fighting butt and Cal buckeye burl insert, and chrome stripping & snake guides & tip top. I wrapped it just as the Rodfather Cutty but in matching charcoal & silver, with spirals on the ferrules and thin accents on the guides and hopeful 16", 19" & 22" length markers. As described prior, I fashioned a disturbing spiral pattern into a custom full wells grip to match this rod. All in, parts are <$200 but with my time and vision, this thing is priceless. :) I've mated the GF Brookie 3wt to a Lamson Guru III 1.5 reel in silver loaded with SA Mastery MPX line, which weighs 1543 grains (first 30 ft) ~ this actually might be a little much for the  Brookie as when remeasured finished its 36" deflection point still occurs with just 30 cents, or 1160 grains. Mastery MPX lines are a half line weight heavy (3t is 1280 grains) so I may need to seek a lighter 3 weight as the Brookie is a nearly righteous 3 weight rod. When the snow clears I will know... nonetheless, it is light and balanced perfectly and swings sweetly. While I don't imbibe while rod-building, a little completion celebration was warranted and I chose the 4 Noses Science Project brewed with undisclosed experimental hops... hazy tastiness with a smidge of sweetness and floral nose.

 

Here are some images from the build out process and components. The REC reel seat with butt is cool and almost disappears into the similarly colored granite above... uh, that's by photography design yo. The grip was built from sectioned-glued-sliced cork rings in burnt and regular and then assembled on the mandrel in my vise with a tiny offset when adding each ring to the stack. I then turned the grip in my lathe into my favored full wells shape. The blank, guides and thread arrived and I could start wrapping.

The Physics Of Fly Rod Systems 21Oct20

"What you measure will change." But, will it really, if it's all just unadulterated physics and behavior is not involved? I regularly track stuff and results change but humans, often I, are involved. Here measurement needs to be fully objective, allow comparison and is pursued to document and understand. We may cast differently but we can find a common measure in spite of our style differences. "If you cannot measure it, if you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind." - Lord Kelvin.

I agree with Lord Kelvin and have been frustrated as a fly fisherman and custom fly rod builder that buying and specifying a fly rod, reel and fly line as a system can not be more objectively constructed. Aren't you too? It's not about what "feels" best for you really - it's what a rod will optimally cast - there is a balance, pace, and power in an assembled system which you as the caster must accommodate... or assemble something different, but it is objective and determinant when optimal. Let's go through this. Every fly fisherman has seen this classic "graph" (never posted with actual measures - just notions and marketing - WTF is "power factor?"). The 2nd image is from Orvis who somewhat characterizes the design/flex of their rods - but not with disclosed objective measurements.

So, we need to get down to real physics, and real empirical measurements, to determine how a given rod, loaded with a given line, will perform. Mainly that is to say, find what line will optimally load a specific rod to allow its longest cast, if you are able. Sure, buy the rod (with specs) and line (recommended for your rod) that meet your needs, but we should not have to guess how the combo may work. I wish I could demystify rod-line system performance for commercial manufacturers but they will obfuscate with marketing forever - or maybe they don't really know what I, and now you soon, know. The shape a rod makes under load is determined by two related factors: the stiffness of the body, its Intrinsic Power, IP (which is set by material and taper design) and the flex of the tip, its Action Angle, AA (also set by material and tip taper design). Here are the secrets/measurements...

1. IP - casts are longest/optimal when the weight of the first 30 feet of fly line (one doesn't cast a fly, one casts the line) is equal to the weight needed to deflect the tip of the rod 1/3 of its length.

2. AA - the angle struck by the (non-flexing) tip top at the deflection point above determines the "action" of the rod (very fast >70, fast 66-70, moderate fast 63-66, moderate 59-63, or slow <59). [Dr William Hannemann invented this most righteous measurement].
   

It is as simple as that - all rods should be marked with these two measurements (completely objectively measured) and we'd all cast better and choose set ups more wisely.  I've measured my entire quiver of rods, commercial and custom, and present them below. I use Effective Rod Number (basically real IP) for the measurement I took by actually measuring the weight required to deflect the rod tip 1/3 it's length.

Some things jump out.... Especially for very fast rods, weight designations are understated regularly; my six weight Orvis Helios measures out as optimally loaded by a 7 wt line and my "5 wt" Sage X could bear a 6 or 7 wt line. Even my 2 wt is more like a 4 wt in strength, despite it being the slowest rod in my quiver (though a half inch was snapped off the tip and that may have changed it's performance from the original). Fly lines are held to comply with AFTMA standards and if a rod manufacturer says their rod is a 5 wt, then a mid-spec AFTMA 5 wt line would weigh 140 grains and implies an Intrinsic Power (IP = 10*line weight + 60*AFTMA #) of 1700 grains for the rod. A rod of lower measured IP would be under-powered to throw the 5 wt line and conversely a rod of higher measured IP could be cast more efficiently with a heavier line. My measured ERN could be similarly stated in grains and is a comparable, but observed measure. Since rods (and blanks) are marked with line weight, I used that as my Y axis. Rods are not marked with objective measurements to my knowledge, except for my Rodfather series henceforth. Here's my Rube Goldberg setup to take measurements. I'm using Hanneman's Common Cents approach - I know how much a penny weighs (for strength, IP, or ERN) and if my rod tip top is level when undeflected then the angle struck at 1/3 length indicates measured action (AA).

Mates know I cast the shit out of any given system I wield... so aggressively in fact that I'm believed not capable of a Euro-nymphing day ~ frankly thus far that's proven true. I find the power curve of a rod - that is for what they are designed ~ even when cranking a 1 weight on remote creeks.