Crusin with Ksanchun

I miss this coffee house & the unfriendly waitress already. Nice shades.

Coolest Measure – Kineya

I received a cool gift from my friend Joon, a Kineya reel measure. The craftsmanship is equally amazing on this miniature version. Thank you very much Joon!

아이고, 이거 자꾸 받기만해서 어쩔줄을 모르겠습니다. 너무너무 감사합니다.

그날 배고문님, 허교수님, 신박사님, 그리고 나단형이랑 뵐수 있어 너무 반가웠습니다. 우리같이 사진이라도 한장 박을것을… 자주 열락 드리겠습니다.

FSAC Incheon Airport

Each time I passed the internet café thing at Incheon Airport, I thought of sticking a FSAC sticker there. This morning, I remembered and took a sticker there.

Trout pond at -20C.

Joon, Ksanchun, & I took a morning off to visit a local trout pond in Seoul to see some winter trout. As expected the -20C temperatures with the wind chill made fishing pretty challenging. Even with the water stirring paddle going full blast, the water was starting to freeze heavily at the edges – which kept the trout pond employees busy breaking the ice with long wooden sticks. The fishing was slow at the beginning of the morning (except for Ksanchun who had some secret fly and was pounding them) but picked up towards lunchtime. There was some big trout in this pond, a mix of rainbows, salmon, and a few palomino trout. The food always tastes super good, after standing around in freezing temperatures with friends. We quit after lunch since pounding on these big fish gets a little boring after a while. By then Joon had figured out the fly that all of these fish seemed to like (white egg with a little orange marabou). The trout pond isn’t something we enjoy a whole lot, but it sure beats sitting around in a bar talking about catching trout… which is how we ended up at the trout pond from the night before.

꽁꽁 얼어붙은 날에, 형들과 낚시터를 다녀왔다. 맛있는 소머리국밥 으로 시작된 하루… 너무 즐거운 시간 이였다. 그동안 경험이 쌓여서인지, 옷도 제대로 입고나와 추위도 잊고 (나단형은 옷을 6겹을 입었다고 한다) , 하루종일 웃다 왔다. 제준이형이 발견한 하얀에그에 주황색마라부 달린 플라이…무지하게 잘 문다. 얼음 깨느라고 열심히 일하는 아저씨들…날이 춥기는 추운가보다.

A True Blessing.

Congratulations Lee, she is beautiful. You are a lucky man. Sleep deprived, but lucky.

Winter Ice Fishing in Korea

In winter in Korea, there are a few places that they offer pond smelt fishing through ice hole. They catch these to eat raw with Korean spicy sauce. I am not big fan of eating clear water fish especially raw, but it sounds good with some good vodka or soju.

I want to be there.

check out the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uLUjhHTSME&feature=fvw

Tang Dynasty Arts … angler’s imagination.

I was looking through a book that showed beautiful ceramics from the Tang Dynasty and imagined for a moment that the inspirations for these came from fish/ trout colors. Tang era is considered by many as the golden age of cosmopolitan culture and Chinese culture flourished during this time. Tang is also considered the greatest age for Chinese poetry. These are beautiful. I'd love to go back to Xi'an someday.

Trial and Error

As per GF's previous post, I've been working on landing net projects to ease my cabin fever due to my back problem.

























It's been trial and error with one particular detail which required resin casting. The bubbling effect due to chemical reaction is something I couldn't figure out so I ended up putting my name in chinese character.

Winter: It Ain't All Bad

A River for Christmas from Joel La Follette on Vimeo.

I'm going to need to try my luck for some of these bull trout on the Met. (I could probably due without the music, however.)

fishing life

My $20 Eagle Claw.

I have a reputation among my friends for buying up a lot of cheap fishing rods. (as ksanchun once said - he can buy most of my fly rods with one of his high end rods). I buy them up sometimes thinking it will be my back up rod and sometimes hoping that I’ll find a really cheap rod that works as good as my other “good” rods. Perhaps it’s a way to feel less guilty about buying some of the more expensive rods, but that doesn’t really make sense. Whatever the reason, I have a corner full of such rods, and I enjoy fishing with them from time to time. Some work better than others, but there are a few that I enjoy a great deal, and will buy up couple more of the same, when I run into them. Such a rod is this $20 Eagle Claw 7’6” fly/ spin convertible rod. The rod says graphite but feels more like a fiberglass rod. For a $20 rod, it’s nice that there is metal hardware on the seat. The foam handle probably won’t last very long, but it will last long enough. I’ve permanently glues on the handle to be fly only. I took this guy out to Paradise Springs few days ago to put it to use. I’ve learned that with the shape of the guides, this is definitely more a summer rod, as the ice is hard to remove. I look forward to handling some big bass with this in the summer.

While I was fishing, I ran into a photographer passing by and she took a few photos of me and emailed it to me (last two photos). Nice to run into kind people & nice to know they are still out there.

가끔은 내가 가지고 있는 싸구려 로드로 낚시 하는것이 어느 낚시대 보다 더 즐겁다. 나도 좋은 장비를 좋아하지만, 비싸서 좋아 하는것은 아니다. 가끔은 그다지 좋지 않아도, 내가 좋아해서 더 좋게 느껴지는 이런 장비가, 나에게는 훨씬더 소중하고 의미 있다.

Fishfinder’s new project.

Fishfinder has taken this net building to heart and seems to have a few projects going. Here is one that I thought really nice. The final detail has changed to something else (due to technical difficulties) but here is what it was prior to that. I like this detail very much.

현철아, 가계 차릴려고 하냐? 꽁꽁 얼어있을때는 이런거 하는게 최고지. 보기좋다.

flower, moon, wine, & friend.

꽃 피면 달 생각하고 달 밝으면 술 생각하고
꽃 피자 달 밝자 술 얻으면 벗 생각 하네
언제면 꽃 아래 벗 데리고 완월장취하려뇨

- 이정보.

Lee Joung Bo is regarded as one of the most prominent sijo poets of the late Chosun dynasty. This is one that I like very much...flower, moon, wine, & friend - add fishing to that and what more can a man ask for.

* photo by Dr. Shin.

The Art Of Nature

Have you ever wondered how a trout manage to hold position in a fast flowing river without much effort? Here is one good hypothesis. Exploiting flow & frequency of vortices, use of fins, gills, & scales, and extracting energy from surrounding & form...good reading. It will give you a basis for the phrase “fish don’t’ swim, they’re swum”.

http://theartofnature.org/

The Giant Mayfly

We’re going to need some bigger hooks to tie imitations of these mayflies… they are like small birds. Great video. I love the 0:52 scene. I wonder if there is anywhere in the US that has mayflies this big, I’d love to see them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7dB51cfxek

Grant Wiswell photos.

These are some inspiring photos. Dr. Grant Wiswell is also the owner of Castaway Films (http://www.castawayfilms.com/) . Check it out, especially this one below… amazing fish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbNOfdjjxkE&feature=player_embedded

...

man I miss warm weather & open waters.

‘Bang-Goo’-ing … inside my waders.

Actions & consequences …

As I walked the peaceful creek, I feel a trembling brewing inside my core. I break the silence and boldly play the butt trumpet … I momentarily worry about the airtight situation below, but too late, just let it rip. As I continue walking upstream, I execute the standard wader fart ventilation procedure (pumping air motion at the chest part of the wader), and I’m pleasantly surprised at the mildness of the situation. I’m thinking … “I guess them atomic hash (hamburger, boiled eggs, cabbage, refried beans) & devil’s spit chili combo wasn’t so bad after all”.

I cast & find a beautiful brook trout at the end of my line and as I crouch down to net it, out of nowhere, a second woof shoots up into my nostrils. This time it’s more potent. I look down and realize that the wader belt acted as a air lock, trapping much of this fantastic gas below the waist line. Confusion steals the beautiful moment, and I can’t even really remember how the fish was released. I undo the belt and do several squats to release the rest of this full toned and profound gas. With each squat, there’s a small reminder to take it easy on the chili next time. I put the belt back on, and continue on. An ancient proverb comes to mind ... farting is your ass's way of saying "hi" when you forget it's there…

I reach a deeper pool and I fish it methodically. As I cross the waist deep pool to the other side, the water pressure neatly squeezes out the remaining air from ankle & knee portion of the wader … a lighter memory of the cheese, brushes past my nose. It’s very subtle but undeniable. I stand inside the water for a moment, hoping the pressure squeezes all of it out … in fact I do a mini squat in the water just to make sure. At this point, I'm amazed at the situation, the tenacity of my own bang-goo.

There’s no real lesson in this, I’m just sharing my fond memory of a moment on the creek. Have a wonderful day.

*Bang-Goo also means "good afternoon" in Korean. Use it the next time you see a Korean person.

wader 안에서 방구...뭐라고 말로하기 거시기한, 특이한 경험 입니다. 오래 갑니다.

Guinea-fowl.

Although I am not a bird watcher, I love this native bird from Africa, or more precisely it’s feathers. A very special bird indeed.

* These are flies I found on web, not ones I tied.