Toyota Floor Mats and Stuck Accelerators (Toyota Recall…)

Toyota to recall 3.8M vehicles over floor mats

“….the inquiry was prompted by a highspeed crash in August in California of a Lexus barreling out of control. As the vehicle hit speeds exceeding 120 mph, family members made a frantic 911 call and said the accelerator was stuck and they couldn’t stop the vehicle.”

“This is an urgent matter,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. “For everyone’s sake, we strongly urge owners of these vehicles to remove mats or other obstacles that could lead to unintended acceleration.”

The recall will affect 2007-2010 model year Toyota Camry, 2005-2010 Toyota Avalon, 2004-2009 Toyota Prius, 2005-2010 Tacoma, 2007-2010 Toyota Tundra, 2007-2010 Lexus ES350 and 2006-2010 Lexus IS250 and IS350.

mirror, mirror on the wall…where in the hell am I?

Funny Mirror Mystery

You Can Almost Feel Their Brain Tweak (What does this have to do with Fly Fishing? You shouldn’t have to ask)

Fluoro to Hook Eye Knot (The Eugene Bend, and a few others)

I have been using fluoro for several years for stillwater and stream fishing and rarely have a knot come undone. I have used the improved cinch and loop knots with nary a cork screw. But, I keep reading about the failure of fluoro unless certain knots are used. So, in studying the Frog Hair site, they list several knots for flouro, based upon their research. Additional knots. OK, a few more. Remember to wet the knot as you pull it tight.

cluster F#&k fly fishing (don’t try…not a good result)

Cluster Feck fly fishing

The equivalence of a hogline, bank bound anglers with drift gear slinging bait and hardware in a sequential routine…one waiting for the other and drift after drift in the early morning light. Just as a bobber fisherman has to pick his place in this sometimes combat atmosphere, the novice fly fisherman sauntering down to this mix in the early morning light should think twice. Rarely do the techniques of fly fishing presentation and drift fisherman flow in a synchronized fashion unless adequate space separates the each other (20 yards)….a distance begging for 2-3 more drift fishermen when the salmon are in. Do not insert yourself into the cluster f@#k of bank anglers. You may have to wait until most leave after the 1-2 hour morning bite. Try a weekday when most gear guys have departed a morning bite to go to work. Try mid-day or just before the evening bite. Move to rapids or tailouts. Move to where the gear guys aren’t and see what water they are ignoring. They do tend to like the holes or middle of the drift. As much as a FFer abhors someone cutting in below them on a drift (drift guys always do this without blinking…few ask if you mind)…gear guys, no not abhor, but get pissed off at some gear or fly guy not following the right pace of taking turns casting and drifting. Don’t wait your turn or long line down into the drift beneath you and you are soon going to have lines zinging over yours. So, a fly guy will seldom get the long swing and hold below presentation.

My advice avoid the scene above unless you are a gear guy…then by all means enjoy rubbing elbows…been there done that many times…too many stories of rudeness, ego, assholes….well if you have been there you know. Which reminds me…if you are knew to fly fishing, you can encounter the same looks and comments if you waltz down to a drift and cut in below  a FFer, like you have always done as a gear guy. Fly fishing etiquette requires you to greet, mutter the usual enquiries and move above the fly fisher last in line…go to the top of the drift or above the top most fly fisher. You can ask if they mind if you share the drift. They won’t answer truthfully…but will say go ahead. Don’t cut in below anywhere below on the entire drift with a steelhead fly fisher…they consider they own that water until they have stepped and swung every square yard of it….   Drift boats, sleds, reasonableness of it all for another time…just pick your place and do not try to mix the unmixable.     

knots..knots..knots…(the Straight Pull for the visually challenged)

I get numerous requests for how-to-tie-knots segments…there are quite a few good sites..but here is another one that I found while researching a recommended steelhead knot…the double turle (tippet to fly)..I found the improved turle knot too and a nice link..

Pebble Mine Update (September 2009)

Pebble Mine budget increased to $70 million

The Poll by Opponents? I Googled for a recent poll in September re Pebble Mine…Nada. Anyone have the recent cited poll? Ken Salazar? Carol Browner? Gary Locke? Obama?

Spey Rod Magic (Ed Ward)

I was checking out the always informative and current BusterWantsToFish blog and saw a piece about Ed Ward and a for sale dvd highlighting his skills as a master innovator in the spey rod world. I watched a trailer and once again I marveled at how images so affect my moods and motivation. Some people put together glimpses of a world that so resonate with me. You are immediately transported to that familiar place and also become acutely aware of how important humility is when assessing one’s skills with a two hander. I am way behind on waving the wand. The Deschutes R. is peaking.

Take a good look at Buster’s site and it should be on your links list, especially if you reside in the NW…but even if you don’t! Oh, I bought Ed Ward’s dvd….