Great Read

Picked up the latest edition of The Drake magazine on Friday (http://www.drakemag.com/) and devoured it almost instantly. If you fly fish and haven't checked out this fantastic magazine, I highly recommend.

Unlike other outdoor magazines, this one's less about the gear. It's full of sublime writing, fantastic photos, and more of a focus on the soul of fly fishing. The writing is top-notch, and it's got a nice tasted of 'tude that just works. Also a good example of staying true to your brand.

On Saturday, I think I had a first -- local fly shop had a 5th Anniversary Bash/Sale. Oddly, I didn't need anything. I spent $0. Spooky.

-Sean-

Think Outside the Bottle

At the Y this morning I noticed a sign informing members that they were removing the bottled water machines due to the carbon footprint implications and suggesting bringing a refillable water bottle.

I whole-heartedly support this move and others like it. This is particularly critical in the state of Michigan. There's been considerable public attention paid to the desires of the Southwest to tap the Great Lakes. But water mining by the bottled water industry is completely off the radar in the mass media.

Consider this -- the Ice Mountain/Nestle water plant in Evart is based on the springs that feed the Pere Marquette and Muskegon rivers. These two rivers are Michigan treasures. And most guides I know have said the rivers have been consistently low in recent years, despite heavy winter snowfalls. Coincidence? Likely not.

The ironic thing is that it's a pretty simple decision. Get a Nalgene or KleenKanteen water bottle -- heck get a couple. I have one at home and another in my office. When I take a road trip, I fill one up before I head out. If you're out and about and must have a bottled water, look for products that aren't labelled "spring water". Little known fact -- Dasani (a Coke product -- that's how much money there is in this market) is simply municipal water with some extra filtration.

If we all do a little, it will help a lot.

Sermon concluded.

-Sean-

An Open Letter to the MI DNR and the National Forest Service

Normally, I'm not a big fan of conspiracy theories, but I may have to make an exception...

Both the MI State Parks and National Forest campgrounds have all moved to the BIG steel fire rings. I get it -- safer, protects us from the idiots who don't respect fire. A good idea.

But why not put some ventilation at the base so they draw properly? The last few fires I've had were a BEAST to start. Fires need oxygen and when they're 18" down in a steel ring, it's not getting there. Which affords you the opportunity to blow on the fire until you practically pass out. Cool, huh?

Also, in Michigan we've had a lot of issues with destructive insects wiping out entire forests. So the state has a campaign not to move firewood and buy it locally. Which brings up another challenge -- really lousy firewood available locally. The wood I picked up in Baldwin was green and mostly pine.

The result is a great combo of poor wood and firepits that won't draw. Took me a solid hour to get a fire going the last two times. For the future, I think all I can do is be very selective about buying local firewood.

-Sean-

Zen and the Art of Singlespeed

Lovin' the single-speed mountain bike. Rode some trails at Olson Park for a couple hours last night. The single-speed is just what I was looking for. It's bombproof. It's simple. No thinking "am I in the right gear?" -- perhaps because you're always in the wrong gear?

Dropped the ratio to 31-18 and replaced the lousy ACS "beer can full of rocks" rear freewheel for a White Industries freewheel. There's a reason these things cost 4x what the low-end ones do. They work. Quiet, smooth, and clearly indestructible. The gear ratio's a little low for on-road, but not terrible. But it's great for trails, including some moderate hills.

Really was able to get into the riding groove. Funny, it was like being a kid on a BMX bike tearing through the woods again. Of course this BMX bike has 29" wheels that roll over EVERYTHING and disc brakes that would stop a freight train.

It's taken a little work and tweaking -- which is odd considering it's supposed to be a simple bike. But, the results are worth it. Now I can just ride it. That is until I decide it needs a Chris King headset, or carbon fiber bars...

-Sean-

Mission Accomplished

Awesome "Nick Adams" weekend on the Pere Marquette river. Drove up Saturday morning, camped at the Clay Banks campground, cooked all my meals over an open campfire! Very relaxing after an insane week at work last week, and an even more challenging one this week.

Fished nymphs Saturday afternoon, no luck. But enjoyed the area around the Green Cottage access. The Pere is such a pretty river - remote, but still accessible. Knocked off around 5 to chillax at the campsite with a couple of beers (took a growler of Original Gravity IPA, yum!) and the new Beretta catalog while waiting for the sulphur hatch to get rolling. Chatted with a nice guy in the next campsite. I like that about camping in primitive campgrounds. The people are great.

Wandered down to the river around 7. On the way down, chatted with two guys from Ann Arbor, one of whom turned out to be a former client of mine! I'd never fished the Clay Banks, but it's a great area. Nice bottom structure, easy wade. Got a nice little brook trout on my third cast! Another about an hour later. Funny, with a whole box full of nymphs and dries, I only had luck with Sulphur emergers. Knocked off about 9 to get the fire going for dinner (more on that in an upcoming post/rant).

Sunday morning was beautiful with puffy clouds and high 60s. After stoking up the fire for bacon and eggs, I headed down to the river again. Got two solid takes, but didn't close any deals. After a couple of hours, broke camp and headed back to Gree Cottage. Pretty wade, but no success. Threw about every flavor of nymph I had with me to no avail. Clearly a sign to head back downstate.

A great getaway and was fun to camp and be self-sufficient!

-Sean-

Road Trip

Looking like a good weekend to slide out of town. Drake hatch is happening on the Pere Marquette rivers, weather looks good, and work's been busy so a little fishing/camping trip seems in order.

Picked up a deal on some Frog Toggs back-up waders while Orvis is "examining" my others. Seem like nice waders and will be nice to have an extra pair. I've wanted to volunteer for some river clean-up days so these will be nice to have.

Also looks like a nice weekend to break out the trusty $12 tent. I like the idea of this sort of trip. No real agenda, drive up, find a nice piece of river and an open campsite and I'm set. Might even try to do a little menu planning so I'm completely self-sufficient (why sit in a smoky bar when you could enjoy campfire smoke instead?).

Plus, the Pere is one of my favorite rivers and I want to try to walk in at some spots I've not done before. Should be a nice trip! Pictures and details to follow. Enjoy the weekend!

-Sean-

Wadus Updatus

Score one more for buying local. Was at fly shop where I purchased my waders and chatting with the manager some more about waders. He decides he's going to ship them back to Orvis and make a stink (he wasn't working there when I bought them) as he's seen this in too many others.

Cool for me, bad for Orvis. I suspect I'll get my money back and buy some Simms...

-Sean-