This is Just the Start

This last winter I was sitting at home between jobs (I'm self-employed, also known as permanently unemployed), when I saw a post on Facebook by Rebecca Garlock about the 100th post on the Outdoor Blogger Network.  This begs the question- How did I get to be Facebook friends with Rebecca in the first place?  I don't know, and since the rules on that change all the time at Facebook, I'll just say it's lost in the mists of time (or is it sands?).

I've always had this itch to be a writer, but work in construction by trade.  I've written a couple of pieces over the years that I've shared with my friends, or for my own private enjoyment. I even wrote a feature piece for Petersen's Bowhunting at their request, only to have them reject it ("we've run too many articles on that in the last two years").  I've always had this fear, a fear of actually taking the plunge, baring my soul and sharing my writing with others.  What if people hate it?  The barrier was very real.

For whatever reason, Rebecca's post set off a gong in my head, one that still rings clearly and shrilly.  I had waited long enough; it was time to get started, and thus Fontinalis Rising was born.  What I didn't expect, was the effect that OBN would have.   Sure, there's lots of contests, giveaways and other cool stuff.  Much more than that, it is a means of connecting with other outdoor bloggers, to find people of like mind and interest.  It has been a tremendous way for a non tech-savvy person like myself to find other very cool blogs, and I've found some of my favorites here.

In the brief period I've been doing this, OBN has offered some great opportunities, such as the Trout Unlimited writing contest that brought four bloggers to Montana, or the opportunity to blog for Take Me Fishing.  OBN provides a forum for it's members to showcase their work, and the ability to discover that of others.  The gear review opportunities are fantastic, both for members, and the companies that provide them.  The photo and writing prompts offer ideas and a chance for members to compare notes and ideas.  OBN regularly offers members sound and savvy technical and blogging advice.  They regularly alert us to important issues that could use our collective help, such as the danger that the Pebble Mine poses to the Bristol Bay salmon fishery.  It has become an outdoor media clearing-house, and I predict will increasingly be seen by the outdoor industry and media as a force to be reckoned with.  Hear OBN roar.

So, to the founders of the Outdoor Blogger Network, Joe Wolf, and Rebecca Garlock, I want to say thank you.  With a simple idea, you've created a monster, you command an army.  Congratulations on a wildly successful first year.  I quail to think of how you'll wield this awesome power over the next year.

Gear Review- Plano Guide Series Waterproof Cases

This gear review opportunity was offered way back in late May or early June by the good folks at Plano through the Outdoor Blogger Network.  My information got lost in the shuffle and it took six weeks for me to get them, then I had to use them for awhile, since then I've moved etc. etc. ok, enough excuses, but my apologies to Plano and OBN for any seeming delay for this review.

1449 GS WATERPROOF CASE
Exterior dimensions: 6.5" L x 4.675" W x 2.125" H Interior dimensions: 5" L x 3" W x 1.625" H

1470 GS WATERPROOF CASE

Exterior dimensions: 14" L x 9" W x 5" H

rior dimensions: 12" L x 7" W x 4.625" H

Both boxes feature:

Airtight and leakproof storage

Strong poly-carbonate structure

Soft rubber lining prevents your valuables from sliding around

Additional layer of soft rubber is used to conceal the contents of the interior

Padlock tabs for secure storage

Patent pending latch with pressure release

I think the mark of good gear is if you continue to use it after the review is over.  In this case I do.
I received these two Plano Guide Series Waterproof Cases in the mail in July, and I immediately thought of some uses.  I'm not just a fly angler, I'm also a kayaker.  Like so many of you, I carry a lot of sensitive items with me to the field and on the water.  I typically carry a somewhat expensive DSLR camera, my iPhone, extra lenses, reels and so on.  And yes, carrying and protecting these things while out and about has been a problem.  I bought a clear vinyl dry bag for the camera, but if I'm not careful in those exciting moments on the water it gets banged around.  I have bigger dry bags for the kayak, but again, there's some things that could use an extra measure of protection.

First, the smaller box.  I have one use for this box- my iPhone.  It fits perfectly, and the last thing I need to do is replace that little monster.  There's a lot of things you could put in there- keys, other electronics.  An iPhone shaped sandwich.  For better or worse, that little phone always goes with me, especially when fishing alone, and I've always fretted about where to put it.  I almost dropped it in the river once while fishing my camera out of the dry bag.  I can say truthfully that this little box goes with me on every trip, and I don't worry about my phone anymore.  The clear poly allows me to check and ignore missed calls or texts, or for an extra layer of avoiding the electronic tether, you can cover it with silicone pad included.  I don't like always carrying a phone to the river, and really don't like taking calls or texts out there, but I fish alone an awful lot, and it seems prudent these days to take it.  This little box ensures my phone will still work if it's needed.  I also like the wrist strap provided with this box- it provides some extra security when handling on the water or allows you to attach it to your waders or vest if you like.  The cam latches on both of these boxes lock securely and I've never had one open without me.

3 fly boxes, 2 headlamps, 1 wallet and a load of snacks, floating safely down river

Ok, the big box.  This one really shines in the kayak or drift boat.  I use it to store my reels, wallet, camera, lenses and fly boxes- all the stuff I don't want to stuff in a dry bag or back pack, or have sloshing around the bottom of the 'yak.     I've used this box kayaking local trout streams, and used it on my trip to Nipigon Ontario.  The clear poly allows you to see what you have stored, or you can use the included silicone sheet to cover it all and make it less visible to prying eyes.  This box has three locking cams, and I've floated this box down rapids with the above mentioned gear in it and it does what it advertises- keeps your sensitive items safe and dry. This box is in use full time, as I've found it to be extremely useful for storing ALL of my fly reels even when I'm not on the water.  It holds six of them plus a few items.  Now I always know where to find my reels, and it keeps them safe from me. (I can be a little tough on gear).

I didn't find an MSRP on Plano's site, but found these boxes for sale on Cabela's.  At about $20 for the smaller box, I think it's pretty cheap insurance for your phone, wallet, keys etc.  The bigger box sells for $44.99, and with a camera, extra lens and a few reels in it, it's easily protecting over $1000 worth of gear.  Cheap insurance for a one-time premium, and you won't have to make a claim.

six reels, two headlamps, a GPS my lanyard, all protected from me!

My thanks to Plano and the Outdoor Blogger Network for the opportunity to test some quality gear.  No disclaimer, we all know the drill.

Cardboard Kirk Retains Unaccomplished Title!

 Some time ago Rebecca Garlock of the Outdooress blog (and Most Holy co-deity of the Outdoor Bloggers Network, may Her Benificence shine upon us) and The River Damsel made a cardboard likeness of Kirk Werner of Unaccomplished Angler fame, and took said likeness fishing.  Despite what looked like some tough conditions they did manage to catch a steelhead. (See the Outdooress' post here and The River Damsel's post here.) Could it be that the Unaccomplished Angler isn't so unaccomplished after all?  Or rather, could Cardboard Kirk (aka CUA) be an Accomplished Angler, perhaps the alter ego of the real Kirk?

my steelhead sans Cardboard Kirk

We have some pretty darn good steelhead fishing here in Michigan, and an idea began to form.  What if I could get Rebecca to play a little where-in-the-world-is-Cardboard-Kirk, send him on, let him experience the fishing in other parts of the country, test out his fish catching potential?  So I sent a message to Rebecca, and lo and behold she was open to the idea.  He arrived in the mail (first class, of course) a few days later.  In the meantime I managed to pick up on the fact that Kirk was hoping (see his comment in the link) that CUA might just possibly be headed to Andros Island with Rebecca for FIBfest ( the Fishing Industry Bloggers fest hosted by Deneki Outdoors).  So imagine his shock and horror when CUA showed up, not in sunny, balmy Andros Island, but in my cabin in Northern Michigan.  Yes, it was still winter then (no one has objectively proven it's not still winter now), but right on the cusp of spring and the steelhead runs.  I was hopeful.

Then, a lot of different things happened.  I was sick for 2 1/2 weeks in April.  I was sick and working 12 hour days in April.  When I did get one evening (I skipped out of work early, no apologies) I was so excited to be actually going that- I forgot him.  And I caught a steelhead, albeit a small one.  Then, work and more work, I actually had workers staying with me, the excuses continue ad nauseum.  I started getting discreet inquiries from Rebecca- "Are you done yet?  Because other people are clamoring for the opportunity to fish with CUA."  Really.  Is the real Kirk Werner this popular?  But when a demi-goddess makes inquiries you jump to attention.  So I worked even harder, set a firm deadline for my job completion so that I could take a few days off and take Cardboard Kirk on a proper outing.  The idea was to spend a few days fishing several rivers, showing CUA the local sights and chasing steel.

at the Old Mackinac Light

So finally, on Friday I got to take a full day and go fishing.  I called my friend Coyote Luke of the Most Things Custom blog and we planned our day- 3 rivers in the Upper Peninsula and a scenic stop or two.  I picked up Luke early and off we went.  We stopped off to get some pictures at the Mackinaw Bridge and Old Mackinaw light before heading across.  We got to the first river, Cardboard Kirk in tow, and double bam, I had two hook-ups in ten minutes.  They both got off rather quickly.  This was going to be great.  One problem.  We were wading one of the very shallowest parts of the river and it was a raging torrent.  We tried a couple of more lies I knew, but wading was all but out of the question. 

CUA and Mighty Mac (bridge)

So we loaded up Cardboard Kirk and headed to the Brevoort River, perhaps the UP's finest steelhead stream.  It's twenty feet wide, crystal clear, and all sugar sand.  I've heard that it gets steelhead, but have no idea where they would spawn.  We found some gravel at a power line, and I managed to hook up on two fish in the hole below, but again they came unpinned in seconds.  Was it the fact that my beadhead eggs were barbless, or was something more sinister going on?  Was I being undermined, cursed even, by the presence of Cardboard Kirk?  We left the Brevoort river and turned the truck west under beautiful sunny skies on perhaps the first really nice day of spring here.  We soon came to another river I had heard of.  It was very beautiful, with dark tannic water rushing over boulder falls and rapids as it dropped through high dunes covered in hardwoods on it's way to Lake Michigan.  We explored this little river for some time, with Coyote Luke catching a couple of small brookies in some pools, but we soon tired of fighting the tag alders, and headed back.  It was a great day, a beautiful day, a day spent bumping down dirt roads looking for new water.  It was a fun day spent with a friend and a cardboard character, goofing off in some wild country fishing for wild fish.  As we headed home, it began to rain (again) and rained all night long.

Kirk gets some casting in

We had to stop and let Kirk fish

The next day I got the call from Phil- "We're going on a float, and bring Cardboard Kirk."
We floated the Pigeon river that day.  It was horrific.  The country was beautiful, but high winds were blowing down a river high and dirty from multiple heavy rains and six inches of snowmelt.  River conditions were treacherous to say the least, we didn't turn any fish, we did find some empty beds, and we did multiple strenuous portages over some ridiculous beaver dams.  All in all, I think CUA enjoyed himself, riding shotgun in the rear seat of the CC Drifter.  If nothing else it was a nice boat ride, and HE didn't have to carry the boat.

Cardboard Kirk helps with fly selection

CUA watches as we a clear nasty beaver dam

Sunday I was desperate.  The river gauges online were all reading high, but I had an idea.  I called up Terrance.  "Hey Terrance, I heard they're getting smelt in the UP, wanna go?"  Terrance is always up for a good adventure, and to my surprise his wife Kathy came along.  For those of you who may not know, smelt are a small schooling fish that moved into and at one time dominated the biomass in the Great Lakes.  They are delicious, and people used to fill garbage cans, even car trunks, with them when they ran in the spring.  Tales were told of schools so big running up the rivers that they would rise by a foot or more.  The typical way to fish them is with a dip net, though on inland lakes in the winter it's not uncommon to catch them on hook and line through the ice.  We went, stopping off first so I could try for steelhead.  No love.  We went and got some fire wood, drove to the river mouth and set up shop.  As soon as the boreal glow on the northern horizon began to fade we began getting smelt, and thus Cardboard Kirk got his first- and only, fish.  I returned north on Monday, hooked up on and lost two more steelhead, and then went and dipped another gallon of smelt.  The River Damsel has been mocking me for eating minnows.  The laugh is on her though, they really are that good.  While it may not have much to do with fly fishing, smelt dipping for me is a childhood memory of good times, the first chance to get outdoors in the spring, to bring home some really good fish.  The smelt disappeared in the 80's.  The DNR says this was the biggest run in 25 years, with guys filling buckets in two scoops.  I was glad to show CUA something unique to Michigan and Great Lakes culture.

Cardboard Kirk with Terrance and Kathy

an accomplishment, of sorts

So was my stint with Cardboard Kirk a success?  I'd say so.  No, we didn't catch any steelhead, but I don't think I can blame him.  Conditions were tough and have gotten tougher since.  The rains have continued, intensified, and now the rivers have jumped their banks and are flowing through the woods.  I think that Cardboard Kirk can truly be called Unaccomplished, at least in the state of Michigan.  Maybe now that he's gone I can catch some fish.

so long, my corrugated friend

More Trout, Less Cud

The tag-line to this blog being "Ruminations from Trout Country", thus the title here.  Fontinalis Rising was started one week ago today, so it's time for a review of our progress, successes, examine mistakes made, and set goals for the next week.
First of all, I'd like to thank all of you for your overwhelming support.  I had hoped that my friends would take a look and be entertained, and that maybe, MAYBE, some of my Facebook friends would take a look, chuckle and then get back to work.  50 hits in a week would have been nice.  Imagine my surprise when I installed the view counter today and had over 370 hits in just the first week.  So again, I thank you.  I also would like to thank Joe and Rebecca for starting OBN and including my drivel.

For all of you who may be keeping up on this, I have gotten an EPIRB signal from the Unaccomplished Angler, and we at FR have dispatched a garbage truck from Chicago to the rescue.  Oprah's garbage truck, so it smells like jasmine and honey. We'll let you know if it's just a tattered survival suit or if he's still breathing.  Whether, after a lengthy hospital stay, and years of rehabilitation he's able to return to the blogosphere remains to be seen.

found, maybe, sort of, and OWM is on its way

Fontinalis Rising Mission Statement and drumroll
Now to the point of this post, I am here going to make my commitment to excellence, my vision for Fontinalis Rising.  I promise to you the reader, that this blog will be about outdoor writing excellence, that on a regular basis you will find entertaining, informative, and above all, well-written posts that even my non-outdoor friends will enjoy.  Yes, I will have to do what I've been doing, which is sitting down and banging out these 20 minute missives, and yes, it appears that I will have to use this as a means to stay continually engaged with the rest of the OBN blogosphere, but on a regular basis, I will post thoughtful, well-written posts (to the best of my ability) that I have actually put some work into.  I will share as much of my outdoor experiences with you as I can, I will diligently photograph and share, I will do some outdoor reporting, I will strive to make this a place you look forward to checking each week.
And the next time I am tempted to say something negative about another blogger or their work, I will ask myself WWAVD: that's right- "What Would April Vokey Do?".  Which is of course, is to be nice as pie and go fishing.

The Rest of This is OBN Business, for Those Of You Who Have Better Things To Do

This is in response to the OBN writing prompt concerning "Meet Your Favorite Blogger"

It's a little embarassing to admit that before last week, about the only blogs I had ever read anywhere were flyshop/guide fishing reports.  Finding OBN and clicking around this last week has been like finding a home; the down side of all this is that  I'm still getting to know you all and trying to figure out who I've even read so far.  I'm apologizing in advance to all the great writers and bloggers on this forum who I haven't gotten to.

My List, such as It Is.
1.  Kirk Werner ("I demand satisfaction") of the Unaccomplished Angler.  I could sit and read his stuff all day, the kind of writing that I really enjoy.  I'm hoping he'll write a book for grown-ups.
2. Rebecca Garlock of the Outdooress- it was your post last week about OBN that got me into this; and I must admit that I'm a little fascinated by women who love the outdoors of their own volition, and wonder if the motivations are the same.
3. Joe of- you know, Joe, the other founder of OBN, in gratitude as well.  I'll figure out which blog is yours and read it soon.
4. Harold Levett of Wind Knots & Tangled Lines and
5. Jay of The Naturalist's Angle for their early support, they seem like nice guys.
6. Mike Schmidt of Angler's Choice Flies, so I can steal some tying ideas.

My apologies to Coyote Luke of Most Things Custom  for not making the list- I see way too much of your scary hide as it is.

So, who knows what the next week will bring.  Will this blogger slide back into the oblivion from whence he came?  Will there be an uprising of the OBN bloggers to overthrow the regime?  Will Rebecca and Joe go quietly, or will they serve out the rest of their terms and not run for re-election?

Wait, that's Egypt

FR