Total Squid Domination

Chris posted the pattern for an all time great saltwater fly on the Gig Harbor Fly Shop blog, http://gigharborflyshop.blogspot.com/. The Conehead Squid is a super effective pattern for sea run cutthroat that's very easy to tie.

Materials:

White 6/0 thread

Gami Saltwater SS15 size 4 or 6 hook

Spirit River 3/16" gold cone

Pearl small or medium cactus chenille

Tan marabou

I fish a similar pattern in green for winter coho with good success, substituting green cactus chenille and green marabou. I've even hooked a few smaller blackmouth on this pattern. Missing from the list above is a bit of crystal flash in the tail along with the marabou. I even add some glow in the dark flashabou at times to my coho version. Just goes to show that you can't go wrong with the good old wooly bugger profile.

Crash

Last week in San Diego, a 33 foot US Coast Guard hit a 26 foot Sea Ray with an entire family aboard, killing an 8 year old boy and injuring others. The boat was travelling at an estimated 30-40 knots in the dark when it hit. Sucks.

From Sailing Anarchy... there's not much for me to add because I could not agree more.
"Despite our appreciation and respect for the Coast Guard, you'd have to be blind not to notice a general change in the attitudes of the coasties assigned to the kind of routine harbor duty that this group was apparently on. The idiotic War on Drugs combined with Homeland Security paranoia has put an arrogant, paramilitary face on many of these guys, and this extends to the way some of them roar around protected waterways at unsafe speeds as they pursue yet another boater without enough life jackets aboard.

Accidents happen, but the level of negligence required for a radar and searchlight-equipped CG vessel to crash into an unmoving boat at 30+ knots on a calm night is startling. Barring the discovery that the DaWeese's boat was using some kind of cloaking device, the skipper of that 33 should lose a lot more than his position."

Redfish Can't Jump

I have to say, after seeing the redfish section in Confluence Film's RISE a few weeks ago, I have to say I'm sort of intrigued by these guys. Looks like alot of fun.


Redfish Can't Jump from Luke Pearson

Vashon Ferry Dodge

This is not what you want to see when you're heading out for a long day of sailboat racing.

The Flyfish Journal

I subscribed to The Flyfish Journal immediately after seeing an ad last summer. I knew what these guys had done with The Snowboarder's Journal and The Ski Journal and it was good. It's a glossy format with great photos and real articles beyond the best stimulator recipe or newest backing knot. My personal favorite from the first issue - "The Sierra Phantom". If you haven't yet seen it, check it out www.theflyfishjournal.com/.

Wow...

This is a few months old, but I just stumbled upon it on the Emerald Water Anglers blog. Caught in the south sound. What an epic sea run cutthroat!

Photo: Emerald Water Anglers

Secret Agent

Eric Rone is down in Mexico right now on his Cal 33 SECRET AGENT MAN, eventually heading for the South Pacific and beyond. He has some great photos and comments about cruising so far on his blog Secret Agent Man.

He's been having some keel problems but it looks like he's getting everything sorted out now. It sucks to do boat work in foreign countries, especially this kind of project. Apparently, after grinding down through the bottom paint to bare glass it looks like the previous owner may have struck bottom or hit a big log at high speed. After a few months of hard sailing, the old repair has opened up. Hope he gets everything sorted soon.

On the water...

Had a great day of cutthroat fishing yesterday with a buddy of mine. It doesn't get much for mid-December. The sun came out around noon and we had a great afternoon casting and trolling flies around some good spots. We spotted a few fish and Hildebrand had a hookup with a nice cutthroat that he lost after it made a run straight for the boat. Not much action, but a great day on the water.

Fly caught Ferrari

via Trout Underground

Incoming!

via Sailing Anarchy

Round the County

Some cool video from the Foulweather Bluff and Round the County Races this fall on the Farr 39 Voodoo Child. 

Some skiff progress

Making some progress on the skiff. She's a flat bottom cedar on oak skiff that I picked up in September. The plan was to give her a good overhaul this fall and be on the water by the time the resident silver fishing started heating up. That obviously hasn't happened, but I did get a lot done earlier this week. It's gone from this last fall: 

To this. 

And after way more paint scraping... to this:

Autumn hard at work scraping the transom.

I like this photo because it shows all the dust in the air. Wear a mask!

There are a few isolated areas of soft wood - mostly trim stuff, so the plan is to scarf in some new wood, prep and paint. Then fish.

Louis Vuitton

Some pretty cool video of racing from the Louis Vuitton Trophy. It's tough to make sailing look any good on film, but these guys have done a great job of capturing the speed and power of these AC boats.

via Sailing Anarchy

Tuna Torture

What Kind Of Sick Fuck Would Put A Hook In A Juicy Squid Where A Fish Could Easily Eat It? See The Onion

Umpqua River

The video speaks for itself. This film was produced in the late 60s as a response to the destruction of streams by careless logging practices - specifically Pass Creek, a tributary of the North Umpqua. It seems like it's probably as true today as it was 40 years ago.

via Moldy Chum 

A penetrating account of a once-rich steelhead trout stream threatened by careless logging practices. Focusing on Oregon's North Umpqua River Basin, the film portrays the impact of clearcut logging on the small tributary streams where most of the river's steelhead are spawned and reared. The subtle interdependence of land and water and the disruption of the aquatic environment caused by stream-clogging debris and warming water are dramatically presented. Hal Riney and Dick Snider, advertising executives and fishermen, produced the film and donated it to Oregon State University. It was widely distributed and viewed in Oregon and throughout the United States through the 1970s and was influential in changing logging practices in the Northwest.