Bombs Away On The PT 07Mar24

Wow it has been a while since I've gone fishing; it was a blast despite the goodly number of fishermen on the water. Even as I arrived at 9:30am at Nature Center on the Arkansas tailwater, the dirt lot was basically full. Undeterred I loaded up with the new RF Bombadeer and headed upstream. The morning was completely gorgeous. I fished for several hours and caught a number of cutbows... the spawn is on. I only fished from the big weir to the hook weir (but I waited plenty for others to clear the farm and hook weir before trying there). The ultralow swingweight of the RFBA was evident and made recasting quickly a breeze ~ today was the fastest I have ever been able to get bugs from below the drift to back above the targets. It was amazing.

Unfortunately my Hero-cam was dead, and I forgot my net back at the car. I attempted remote release for "smaller" fish and for the larger ones I had to use a beaching technique. The best bugs were midges like the blood midge, mercury midge, and my Awesome Midge. Here's probably the best fish of the day, a nice 20" male cutbow.

Storm Runs & Nosh 04Mar24

I got some runs at the Key after another nice storm in Summit Co. Bergman Bowl has really changed Keystone; even Forbes had an article highlighting the place. I went all over each mountain, including Outback and Bergman ~ the tree glades skier right there are very nice. The whole thing may well effect my '24-'25 pass choice frankly. I did have to dig the deck out to hit the hot tub but it's worth it.

Of course I hit Last Chance on the way back from KS. A Cou Cou and a pizza didn't stop me from also preparing a great new dish: lobster raviolis with tomatillo slices, olive oil, Cholula splashes, and parm. So good.

As noted in an update to a prior post, the days in Summit were also highlighted by finalizing discrete digital audio signalling on the NestMT ~ it's been a long strange journey to the finish line.

The Leap Lair Live ~ Sunrise & Quirky Notions 29Feb24

I've been collecting some quirky lines I've imagined, or of which I've heard beginnings and tightened to oxymora. These specific phrases seem quotable originals on search. I'm sharing some; this stuff is beyond the normally topic-focused blog content. I'm not micro-dosing; I just like odd phrasing. Happy leap day.

• I write a lot without knowing much.
• I will use my second guess.
• I have world class humility.
• I caught you watch me fall.

Too, from a recent Lawrence song... Gracie is quirky too with: "I'm confident I'm insecure."

Building The Rodfather Bombadeer ~ Stealth From Above (drc#24 MHX Native 8'6" 4pc 5wt Fast) 23Feb24-28Feb24

Wow, this thing will drop dimes at 80ft, right ahead of unsuspecting cutbows. It's just in time for springtime and is aptly named the Bombadeer. Did I need another 4wt (that's right, the Bombadeer is more like a strong 4)? Probably not. I couldn't ignore the deal for a nice high modulus rayon from Japan, rolled in China, blank marked down by 50% though. It's built on a light 8.5' 4pc from MHX's Native blank series and is plenty fast. Sweet. It tips in with a stout 4 ERN of 4.6 and is plenty fast with an AA of 68° yet only weighs a meager 3.5oz and the ultralight 5.5oz swingweight blows my mind. This rod displays the very lowest normalized swingweight (swingweight/ERN) in my entire quiver. I'm ready for a RF Diamond Blaze (my current go to 4wt) vs RF Bombadeer vs Winston B3X bakeoff... best 4s in the quiver. Though, the RFDB has nicer hardware than the "bargain" RFBA.

I started the build with a custom full wells handle and fixed fighting butt. It was interesting turning the fighting butt as I needed to epoxy it onto the end of the butt section, with the reel seat ahead, before turning. I registered the fighting butt dead center, taped off the seat, and wrapped the other end in masking tape for the chuck, and then turning went quickly. I conjured up a wild diamonds and variegated wave horizontal spiral grip that finished nicely. I have to say also that on the purchase date I also looked for a reel seat at a deal price and found a pretty American Tackle one with braided windows and coralwood insert in black & beige that matched my build perfectly... the only issue is that it did not come with a rear ring to "finish off" a build with a fighting butt so I just slightly buried the seat in the butt.

I added just simple CRB snake guides and a Fuji stripping guide for this "bargain build" but I did splurge on new tri-color variegated nylon in black, dark green, and desert tan for the wrapping. The wraps match the coralwood and satin charcoal blank well. I typically buy colorfast nylon but the new Tiger Pro Wrap stuff wasn't, so I "painted" the threads with color fastener before floating on the epoxy. No accent wraps this time - despite called size "A," the tiger wrap material is thicker and didn't mate well with my intended desert tan accent thread. One can't really see the tiger stuff from afar, but I know it's there and cool... the moire patterns created in the wrap tend to change as the wrap diameter shifts.

The Bombadeer measured out sweet with 1477 grains of power. It's balanced right; it's super light @ 3.46oz (lighter even than the marking as I have to guess just a bit before the last epoxy is put over the "logo"); it's cool mated to the Rise reel and perfectly matched when loaded with some new SA Amplitude Infinity Smooth WF4F (1st 30ft weigh 1540 grains).

February Music Appreciation ~ Late In The Month With A Fire On The AFA, There's Stuff I Like 25Feb24

I don't know how to categorize this amalgamation... so, I won't. For starters, while we weren't evacuated from Peregrine, we did see and smell the fire on the USAFA a couple miles from us. It was a madhouse in Perigrine for a bit... everybody wanted to see. We did not want to be evacuated again ~ though M&E did call from I25 to see if we were alive. We packed some stuff but ultimately said: "Fuck it, let it burn, let's have a beer." We met our close neighbors S&P at Red Leg for some pops ~ yeah, it was a decent observation point as well. We saw the smoke dissipate and headed home but WTF, it's only February!

On to the show; it's super eclectic...

• Mark Knopfler - Ahead Of The Game - 29Jan24 Studio ~ So F#*#ng cool: vibe all over this tune, old killer musicians, such a long time since I've heard that guitar.
• Mipso - Carolina Rolling By - Jan23 ~ Why am I late to this party? One of the best Americana bands I've heard... where'd'ya play next.
  
• Mipso - The Numbers - Manifold Recording in Pittsboro, NC - Jan23 ~ Reprise in the studio; awesome.
• Bleachers - Tiny Moves (Antonoff & Qualley) 17Jan24 ~ Yeah, they are recently married. Cool choreography and Jack sings a cool song to her.
• Julia Lage & Scritch & Aofie ODonovan @Woodsongs 15Apr20 ~ Wicked good all around. 
• Daiistar @ KEXP 16Jan24 ~ Dark hooky dreams in Seattle; very good.
• Abruptors - Best Wishes - Jan22  ~ Gimme SKA Buffalo; total yesss. Or, Who, What, Where Jan21
• Teens In Trouble - 31Jan23 - Old Starnes Cove Road ~ Asian Man Records has the inside line to brilliant dissonances. Lady is super cool.
• Maren Morris - covering Songbird on Stern on 13Dec23 ~ She swore off country but man can she sing; Stern's studio sound is the absolute best... NQA.
  

Hiking The Mud & Snow On The AFA 24Feb24

It was a very nice day weather wise so we headed out to hike the AFA. Sure it was a smidge windy on occasion but the obstacles to quick success were the considerable snow and ice on the trail ~ which obviously created mud as well. We trounced through the snow when we could, appreciating our shoe's purchase there. We also avoided most muddy spots and left the trails pristine. It took us a bit longer than usual but it was really great being out below Blodgett Pk and Signal Mtn on a bright Colorado day.

WTF, Errors In The 'Hood ~ Then Cleared 22Feb24

We made it to COS safe, to encounter a rage of errors. Sure, the garage door opened, but opening the fridge was to expose an exploded fermented lemonade ~ which popped a glass 2 qt vessel into the fridge and drain onto the oak flooring. Bummer clean up, and weeks of adjusting the hardwood to level. I need water to clean ~ so nearby spigot,  nope. The hose connector on the kitchen faucet broke off squirting H2O under the sink. Sheesh. I cleaned that up too and pulled stuff from under there; I cleaned up the massively exploded 2 qt jug. I observed the fault under the sink. I went to the Crusher Too to head to the hardware store for an esoteric part (long shot). Nope, dead main battery. While re-charge is brought online I'll check the spa; WTF it's acid. Dumped the acid and refilled with water. Dunno, what's the message, don't leave home? At least I came to understand Mipso even more deeply.

Plus North Carolinians must understand dynamic range, and don't over-compress their offers. Thanks.