Road Trip

Yep, Road trip, to............

Cabelas in East Hartford CT and across the street....

UConn's Stadium.

Worse part is having a Cabelas this close to home makes my wallet shrink!!!

Loop Rod, Sort of.....

What is this... A cork in a length of graphite tubing?

Actually no, It's the first 3 sections of a 12 foot 4 section Shakespear Panfish Telescopic Rod.

Each section fits inside the other and telescopes out when needed. These 3 sections will be the blank for my modern day loop rod. Just tie a fixed length of line on the end, add a leader and fly, any you have a modern day version of what Walton, Webster, and countless others in the past have used.

For a more modern approach to this, check out this thread:

http://www.sexyloops.co.uk/cgi-bin/theboard_07/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=5;t=5887;st=0

Next is the lines to use.

Stay tuned......

A Surprise from the F&S Huntress

I was surprised yesterday when I opened my e-mails. I saw the name, Kim Hiss a.k.a. the F&S Huntress, in the sender column, and what was even more surprising was the e-mail itself.
I was the weekly F&S Huntress Gear Giveaway winner. Wow, That's cool. And my prize, Muzzy 4 Blade Broadheads and Tinks Scents. Wow, what a surprise. And I was surprised, as I wasn't trying to win anything, just contribute to the blogs and earn more stars under their new revamped site. So far in 2 months I've gotten over 13,000 points and a 3 star rating. Not too hard, but it does take time.

I've added a link to Kim's Blog. Click on F&S Huntress in the Link box or click here:
www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/fshuntress

And for more Field and Stream stuff, check out the revamped site at:
http://www.fieldandstream.com/


Now for some more fun. I've been reading the book A Fly Fishers Craft, and getting more info and ideas. Sad part is the more I read and think about it, the more it may become a reality. So next up.. The Loop Rod.

Also I haven't forgotten about the Truck Campers, I've got to put the new refrigerator in th Sunline when it get's warmer and I can take the cap off the truck. As for the truck camper buildup, that's going to be back burner until summer, maybe build up the shell by fall.
More to come.....

A Fly Fisher's Craft

I read about this book last year, and was on my want list within the next couple years. But I was surprised by my girlfriend one night last month. She was at Building 19, a discount closeout store that deals with closeout and discontinued items, like books, furniture, cookware, clothing, etc. , and found this book in the rack.


An excellent source of information about fly fishing, with historical references, and modern day approaches. After reading this, I've set off to try and build a modern version of the loop rod.

Field and Streams First Fly Swap

Sorry about being away from the Blog, too much work and too much snowfall the last few weeks.
But there is news, good news.

First the wonderful folks at the USPS delivered a package today.

It was from the First Ever Field and Stream Fly Swap.




Enclosed was my foam fly box with flies from:

BuckHunter, Liotus, 3WGT, Swimswithtrout, Etangls, K.Florian, Kucho, K.Kosovich, K.Goetz, and Myself Sportsman Matt

Some really cool fly patterns for the first ever F&S Fly Swap. Also a piece of history, as I was involved with the very first fly swap on record with Field and Stream and it's other readers.

Why I like and hate February!!!

First off, I like February because of the following....

The Camping and RV Show at Eastern States the 13th to the 16th

The Outdoor Sports Show at Eastern States the 19th to the 22nd

The fact that I get my tax refunds back.

Planning camping and fishing trips around the area.

New fishing shows on VS, Outdoor Channel, CSN, ESPN

Valentine's Day with my gal.



The things I hate about February.....

Owing Taxes to the IRS or State DOR (Finding out after you spent 5 hours figuring the forms out)

Exise Tax is due on my truck (Went up from last year... almost double)

Everyone and their relatives are doing the same big ticket shopping that I am on the same day at the same time because they got their Tax Refund back at the same time.

Snow and Ice covering everything I would rather be fishing or working on.

Having to wash the salt of my truck on a daily basis, even when parked.

Planning my vacations for the year so management can tell me no because someone senior to me has that week off.

Having to replan my vacations because management told me no I couldn't have this week off but offer the 3rd week in November as the only one available because no one wanted it.



So there you have it, why I love and hate February, and the events I'm headed to.

On the Road Internet Option

I've been busy the last couple weeks, fighting snow storms, rumor mills at work, and trying to get on the internet while on the road. (Never know when you'll need Mapquest to get to or from a good hunting or fishing spot)

So I've been working on tethering the cellphone to the laptop to use, and it works.

So here's what I did. I started with a Nokia 6301 phone from T-mobile USA, the Blackberry USB linking cable, and an Acer Aspire One Netbook (smaller than a laptop but it still does the job)

First make sure your phone is Internet 3G ready. You'll know because all the info on it will say 3G Internet or E-mail and IM capable. At same time get USB cable to connect phone to laptop or computer.

Second is to see if the manufacturer site has the software to connect the cellphone to your computer. You may have to download this. If no software is available, return cable to store. If you have the software, run program and follow directions.

Third thing is to test to see if the phone and laptop work together. Try downloading pictures or text messages from your phone to the laptop or computer.

Last things to do are enable the phone to access the internet on the 3G network, and set up the software to connect to the 3G network, and add the proper internet package onto your bill.

The internet will be slow, like dial up speeds as far as getting and receiving data and showing web pages, but you can send and receive e-mails, update blogs, send photos, and other things. While out in the campsite, while on the road, or at a friends place where tying into their phone lines wouldn't be appreciated. As long as you have a signal, you can get info in and out.

The drawbacks to this are several things. First is the battery charge on the cell phone will go down drastically, as you are sending and receiving information through the phone on a continuous basis as long as you are "online" with the phone. Second is that some companies charge unlimited time for a set rate, some charge per text or kb of info sent or received. They also set certain speeds, you may find that your login and download speed are slower than dial up networking. Third is the info can be captured and hacked into by professional hackers, so don't use it to buy Grandma's Cookies with your credit card. Last thing is the battery life of the laptop in the field. You may not have 110VAC power available, but you can get a 12V to 110V power inverter to plug the laptop into to charge the battery up from your vehicle.

So that's my portable internet solution for my trips.