Waders, Wading Belt, Pant Guards

So I just completed my fly fishing attire with the Cabela's 3mm Neoprene Waders.
They came in today, and except for being a tad tight around the thighs, I'm quite satisfied!

(not my best pic, but who cares, right?!)

I got the boots last week (they're the same as Pastor's), and everything pretty much fit okay!

I really can't wait to get out there and use these things!

Anyway, had a good talk w/ Dad about life and figuring out what needs to be done in the house moving forward, so we'll see what happens!

Played some v-ball @ the Rec and had some pretty good swings in. Still need to get under the ball, but didn't hit it in the net when I was hitting a 4 and a 5 once, even on the men's net.

Feet hurt quite a bit after all the jumping and hard landing, so I may have to invest in some better insoles.

In addition, I've had some good correspondence with Mr. John Kim (http://troutuort.blogspot.com/), and he's been a great help with fishing the Merced River and getting a natural drift. 

Update: Intervention, Steelheading, the like

Intervention's been interesting.
I've finally gotten all schedules (for the most part) together, after a month-long process. The Newcomers will be on the 1:00-2:40 block. I've got the Kindergartner @8:20-ish to 8:40, 1st graders @8:45-9:30, one 6th grader 'til 10:05, 2nd graders up to and after lunch ('til 1:00), and then the Newcomers.

The 1st Grade and 2nd grade groups have been great.
Reading Mastery has been great with the 1st Grade group, and after struggling with where to go w/ my 2nd graders, have figured out a schedule for the 2nd graders using the Read Naturally stories.
We've been on a two-day Key Words exploration/prediction ->  Reading and Comprehension questions for 2 of the 3 stories thus far, and look to continue the cycle.

We're starting to offset on the stories due to Mr. L's desire to track his students' fluencies, but this shouldn't be a big deal.

Had my first session entering scores for Ms. W., and she gave me a century up front! I doubt I'll be using that much up (@ $30/hour), but we'll see. Praying all goes well with her.

I'm on the verge of exchanging my 8'6" 5Wt. Cahill rod/reel combo to Cabela's for a 9' 8Wt. for *wait for it...* Steelhead fishing!
Had a first scouting mission w/ Jer @Andrew Molera (see pics below), and saw some good spots, although the water was quite low. Since the season ends this Thursday, I'll have to wait 'til December (or next year) to try out the Steelhead rig.

Cabela's stock has been raised in my eyes, as they said there's no problem doing the aforementioned exchange even though I bought my item almost 7 months ago! I did only use the rod once, but I'm pretty sure they would've taken the exchange no problem either way. I've read in their reviews that their Customer Service is stellar, and I personally have nothing but amazing and great things to say about them!

Here are some pics fr/ the excursion w/ Jer:

This one in particular has a story behind it. I've provided the wide angle shot in addition to a highly zoomed-in and noisy/grainy shot of this bird's remarkable attempt to take something in its mouth upriver!

We were just doing our thing, when we saw this bird struggling upriver with something in its mouth! Quite amazing, and sadly Jer's card had, like no space left. (It was only after the bird had lost whatever's in its mouth that Jer was able to pull out his spare card.) I really wish we'd've (is that legal?) gotten video of it, because watching it fight up the current and watching it lose and then catch what it had caught was really awesome to see.

 ZOOMED IN:

What in the world is in its mouth? Another bird? A turtle? A fish?

1st Fish of the Year!

Got up circa 9:30.

Helped dad out in the house and w/ the KIA, plus had to buy a small padlock for the bike from the 0.99 cent store.
Finally got out there and was going to bike the road.

A farm worker stopped by in his truck and asked if I had 4WD. I said, "Yeah, but I don't know how to use it!" So he takes a look at the stick and says to use 4H (I guess 4L is for really slow and/or steep). So I wade into the mud and I'm praying I don't tip over into the water and mud or get stuck, but finally get through to the parking lot.

I get the bike out, and read all the signs below:

I bike down the immediate trail to the right and see this sign:

So I then turn around (after some exploring) and do the loop back and then around. Again, I'm met with the same sign as above, so I call the hotline phone # fr/ the sign and the lady doesn't really have any idea whether or not I can fish and where I can, but says I should follow whatever the signs say. [I had issue because the DFW (formerly the DFG) has a rule that the Salinas River can be fished during this time until March 7.]

So I turn around and head toward the ocean, stopping at the bike rack (as there was no bike access allowed past this point.

I walk maybe 20 yards and decide it's not worth it.

So I head back to Sally's bridge (after getting back through the mud again) and bag this guy at 3 o'clock.

                                      

He didn't take a long time to bring in. As you know, the river's bottom has some junk on the bottom, so you're used to getting a little snagged on the bottom. As a habit, you always set the hook when something doesn't feel right or you think you might be snagged just in case it really is a fish. So I set the hook, and something was pulling on the line!

I wish I had a picture of my lure in his mouth, because he just engulfed that thing! The head of the lure was just behind the front part of his mouth, and the hook was so far back I had a little trouble getting my pliers back to remove the hook. I stayed 'til ~ 4:00 and then left for home.

2 days later I filleted my first striper!

It was different from the many trout I'd gutted because with trout, you just have to gut them and that's it, but w/ Striper, you have to fillet the meat and have some good fillet knives. (Thanks to Jer for the great fishing CutCo knife!)

We're planning on heading out to kayak the river as I've heard some pretty good things from the kayakers!

Hopefully more posts coming with pictures of more fish!

Quote:

"Don't expect God to save you if you run a red light."
-my dad

LPD: End-of-Season Fishing Lessons & Notes

Use the Black/Yellow Dots PM for murky/stained water;
-> Better silhouettes

Use the Durango / 1500 reel when fishing in low conditions, especially with structure/brush present
-> there's too much opportunity for the fish to dive and wrap the line around the branches
-> the Ugly Stik doesn't have enough power to put pressure on the big boys

Use the extendable net, even if lures get caught
-> a landed fish and a snagged lure is better than a lost fish

KEEP DRAG LOOSER rather than TIGHTER
-> too many fish lost with drags too tight
-> e.g. snapped lures, lost fish, broken line, play fish, etc.

The Night Prior

The ticking clock (the silence)
An anxious heart
Where are you?
Are you ready?

He is ready
and I, writing
Writing to finish
Writing to be free

I have found a friend
Who's everything to me
Is often a lie
As the flesh can attest

Sometimes I simply want to create
To write sounds that will transform
That will cause a seed to break
Through the hardest of rock, or soil, of hardness

I am my worst enemy
The battle rages within
And often I tell the flesh
"sic"

Birthday, SF GIANTS, and NINERS

Had a grand 'ol time on my birthday, going back to LPD with the bro, Jer, and Sheldon. I caught 4 (really silvery) 'bows: 2 7"ers, one 6.5" and one 7 1/2 "er. The first three were caught in "the woods" and the last was caught trolling on the way to the front end.

Jr. missed a lunker when the fish broke off his black and yellow P. Martin. This was at the middle 3rd, and there was really no back 3rd because the reservoir was super low.

The Giants won the World Series on Sunday night around 9:30 p.m., and I got to watch Romo strike out the side in the bottom of the 9th to seal the deal. He'd shown Miguel Cabrera the slider 2-3 times before he threw a nasty 2-seamer that started outside and came across the plate. Miggy read it as a slider that would go way outside, and was frozen when it broke back...GO GIANTS!!!

Tonight the 49ers beat up AZ 24-3. It's a great time to be a SF fan!

Kenneth Lee: Final Fight Song (LoA)