The Medicare & The Move 09Dec17

We killed a few brain cells celebrating ex-doc Scott Brantley's birthday. There were a few awesome dead soldiers and a long lost blueberry pie to commemorate. Too - Kala & I prepared some fine Thai foods including a skottled phad Thai and an awesome beef tenderloin with custom green condiment. The dude's on medicare ~ nuff said. The males (us + current-doc Brock Bordelon) massively failed to vanquish the ladies in CodeNames... grrr.

I moved Woo Audio Fireflies DAC/AMP and Audeze LCD-2 cans to Silverthorne since the little Schiit went to Jason. Here's the new home. Yeah, that's a special piece from the Pitch Perfect 3 ladies combining with The Voice finalists to deliver George Michael's Freedom. I've enjoyed catching this season of The Voice again - some of my favored vocalists made it to the finals.

Iceman 08Dec17

I've re-reimagined the Black Ice, again. I'm infatuated with the effect of blue hues on fish - for whatever reason I think it motivates more strikes. It's not naturally occurring in many aquatic insects so I don't know why it works ~ but I sense hit rates on a blue-adorned fly are higher than without. Perhaps its the lower visibility I've faced this fall (when silver surfer was a great producer and a blue wire "caddis" attractor caught fish too). Dunno. I found gunmetal blue wire and have tied my stock of "reimagined black ice" flies using this new color. The fly now differs pretty significantly from Larry Kingrey's Ice Nymph. With the deviations comprehended I think I deserve a new name for it... I was thinking Val Kilmer but settled on the character instead. Here's Iceman.

CVP asked for full recipe for Iceman so here it is:

• Tie in #18 - #22
• Black #70 thread
• Black nickel tungsten bead sized for hook
• Black soft hackle fiber tail
• Black holographic Mylar body wrap
• Gunmetal blue wire (SM) overwrap (or black)
• Mix of 2/3 black UV and 1/3 peacock ice dubbed thorax (size = bead)
• Leave Mylar attached at thorax and wrap over it for wing casing
• Tie over tail fibers forward then use them to make legs as last step 

The Most Versatile Fly 08Dec17

The Pheasant Tail is the most versatile mayfly nymph ever IMO. It's an all-natural so isn't the sturdiest around but it is ever so useful and buggy. I tie PTs in many different forms, my seven primary ones are shown here (R to L).

• The One... a soft hackle flymph tied a bit large with a rusty antron tail ~ serious action in the water
• BHFBPT... a beadhead flashback pheasant tail ~ sinks great
• Magnymphico... a single hidden bead (covered using peacock ice dub instead of peacock) variant of the 2 Bit Hooker ~ sinks well and stays thin
• FBPT... a flashback pheasant tail ~ classic, subtile & deadly
• Merc FBPT... a FBPT with mercury glass bead mimicking emergence gas ~ great during hatch
• PMD FBPT... a pale morning dun variant with red glass bead (check their eyes) and cream ostrich mixed in thorax (they are lighter colored) ~ PMD time
• RQ FBPT... a red quill variant (here with merc bead) with darker/reddish body pheasant and often a red wire ~ Red Quill time

Something was really funky with the way the PMDFBPT above rendered so I'm reprising just it below. I think this is a DRC exclusive actually as I've not seen it or even close to my recipe anywhere else, and its a slayer in summer PMD hatches on multiple CO rivers. It's a bit hard to make out even here but I do flashback the ostrich thorax - kindof wings and gas flash. I only carry #18s but they can be larger in real life. For comparison I've included an image of the adult and a cartoon of emergence - my fly mimics this emergence subsurface from the nymph - a perfect time to taste PMDs I guess.

Slow Start #2 06Dec17

While SoCal burns and the Internet loses neutrality I'm very concerned for America... ok that's off topic. I was informed by Schiit that a key component supply shortage will delay shipment of my new AMP; bummer ~ but I'll gladly wait for the best. I have received the new MrSpeakers Ether C Flow headphones though. I've asked that the AMP & DAC come in the same shipment - so the whole kit of Schiit electronics is delayed several weeks. However, three sets of killer matched NOS 6DJ8 tubes, and the phenolic socket savers, have arrived in wait for their place in the AMP. So what's a guy to do? I'm currently driving the new cans through my DAP via a fully balanced config - including cabling to the ears. So sweet but the relatively low power for closed planar magnetics limits what I'm getting. Cymbals and bass drums aren't as defined as can be. I'm excited but looking forward to more... understand though that this is from a guy who yesterday attended a "Health Care Costs & Taxation In Retirement" seminar.

Flyin' Frigid 04Dec17

It was 9° at Keystone as I hit the gondola line. I was dubious at the temps but excited for my first day out this season and 6" of new snow. I actually scored ~12K ft vert, which is good for me on day 1 @ 9° - it happened mainly because just 2% of terrain is open and skiing was "easy." Snow was actually decent on man-made topped with fresh. The skis held great as I was making radically weighted carves like Greg said - because it wasn't steep where the mtn was open. Further, I scored new lenses for my Phoenoms which are double paned; I think they fog less - of course I got 'em at 75% off since my goggles aren't edge to edge cool like DD's and they were on deep clearance. It was fun being out again for sure.

Rainbows & Rim Ride 29Nov17

Caught some and lost some on the Arkansas River tailwater below Pueblo Rez. Flows were too low @ 75cfs IMO. Viz is still not great. I did wrangle a good ~19"er to net above Valco - took the Awesome Midge. Others nabbed BWOs like the FoD and Silver Surfer. Being near the reservoir did allow me to also grab a ride on the south shore. I started pretty late and while I did finish in the dark, the ride was fun - especially the 5 mile Inner Limits segment.

Dancin' In The Desert 20Nov17-27Nov17

Kala & I hit the dusty trail to the Sonoran Desert for some fun with friends and family. The drive was uneventful and into outstanding late fall weather in Phoenix. We dropped off a couple of cases of French burgundy to our excited friends Steve & Anne Gordon. I played a round of golf with Steve and one of my oldest and dearest friends Jesse Swisher - I sucked but Swish could still hammer the pellet mightily. We also hit "Top Golf" the next day where I was much better at playing the goofy target shooting game. We enjoyed Thanksgiving with my sister Letha; Matt Coffin even flew in for the occasion - a rare sighting. I got the old Microtest exec staff together with wives (L>R in back: Mark Barmettler, Mark Johnston & Shirley, Dave Coffin & Kala Marietta, Maria Marinick & Michael, Susan Sciacero; L>R in front: Jim Sciacero, Heather Hittel & Paul). We missed Mike Sierra of course but had a raucous good time at Jim & Susan's. I rode Brown's Ranch with Jim & Michael - I like the saguaro flipping us off and the 4 Peaks (elevation 7.5Kft) between us. The next day I rode Trail 100 (my old stomping ground behind our house in PHX) with Michael. It was very cool riding in the Sonoran Desert again. We also caught up with Karen Koenig and Jimmy as well as her kids. While we ate and drank at some good spots in Phoenix, Karen's gazebo was a really keen vibe with spa, fire pit, stocked beverage cool, TV and more - perfect outdoor spot in the desert for much of the year, including late Nov. I liked her sign and being near New Mexico allowed tasting a number of Cumbre brews - like the special Project Dank.

Also, mainly for documentation, Thanksgiving is a time when we get to see MLC's main HS mates. Here the Peregrine Partners are convened again. L>R: Matt Coffin (skydiver & big data code jock), Matthew Brantley (federal lands law enforcement), David Vadnais (satellite comms firmware jock), and Mitchel Yohanan (mechE master's degree pursuits).