Well alrighty then, now that was a busy last few days, what? Too much stuff to do and never enough time to do it all in. I just now finished hookin' up with the good folks over at Technorati to see if I can get this blog noticed a little more. According to the good rumors I've heard, it's THE place to be. We'll see. Just click the link below to see what's up with all that...


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Have a LARGE evening my friends! :-)

lb

Startin' the day watchin' Angler & Hunter on tv. Kids show today. They were talking about 2 FREE Fishing days per year coming. One in the winter and one in the summer. AWESOME! Since history began in my area (Ottawa) anyone that was a resident of Ontario could "try" fishing whenever they wanted, during the open season. A few years back, the powers that be decided to take all that away and began to charge everyone to fish. Well, everyone over sixteen that is. So a kid could fish but his dad couldn't afford the new luxury taxed fee so he couldn't take his kid fishing so both parties suffered. :-(

The third party was the only party who benefited there, with the millions of new dollars to line their already bulging government pockets. :-( So, I guess it's nice that they are trying to give us back what we already had, that they took away, and make us feel like we're getting a good deal again. Another real life lesson to portray how the government works for us...

Anyway, get out there and fish if you do NOT have or want a fishing license. Call a buddy that fishes and ask him if he can take you to the water on those free days this year. You might like it.

Here's a picture from this past summer down at my secret lake. :-) There are Perch, Bluegills, Walleyes, Musky, L.M.Bass, S.M.Bass, Sunnys, Carp, Black Crappies, Golden Shiners, Emerald shiners and a few other Minnow types, all fighting for survival in this sweet little lake overrun with boats and motors. That's kind of like peeing in a crystal clear mountain stream to me. A jewel of a lake, polluted to near death, evry summer and nobody says or does ANYTHING! There is Way Too much $ money $ involved with Tourism on this lake for them to EVER try and Protect it! I am probably the only person in Ottawa to be whining about how the two or three faced government can continue to kill this lake and go nuts on your head if you bring a little bass home to put in your special set-up aquarium, or hook a walleye with your Crappie jig before the walleye opener, or fish with three single hooks on your line while ice fishing instead of the stated 2. :-{



So despite all that killin' goin' on, there are definitely a pile of these bad boys in there that I chase every spring for the last 15 plus years. I like talking to the kids that walk by and start a dialog with me. I get them going on fishing this place and tell them it's loaded with fish for them to catch, for free even. When I meet a couple of kids fishing together, I have been know to lay a couple of my special hand-tied Crappie Cillers on 'em so they can really start spanking the panfish population, after I show 'em a bit about "how-to" fish the deadly little units... :-)

later,

One of the oldest little tools that I've packed around for years has been the venerable G.I. can opener. According to the story, it took 38 twists with this little unit to open a can. I haven't counted myself so I couldn't really tell ya for sure how many twists it takes but I liked the story. :-)

These little pieces of metal are just SO darn handy. There has been numerous articles written about them over the years to illustrate their versatility and express an appreciation for them. They have also created many memories for men in the Service as well. Many guys remember most of the men they served with, when they look at a P-38 to-day. They take up basically NO room, are very light, tough, slick and very functional and all that, makes them very Cool in my books and now in my blog too.

More than 5 inches of snow on the ground now so I guess winter is definitely here to stay. Buses certainly are not as good when there is a lot of snow on the roads. Slush waves are common to-day if you're walkin' anywhere so keep to the inside of the sidewalk if you can. ;-)

Have a good one...

O.K., so I was diggin' through some old slide trays the other day and came up with this dusty old shot of none other than the legendary Robert H.(Bob)Jones, long before he became famous. We used to fish together on a fairly regular basis and I can say here with certainty that I learned a passel of good fishin' stuff from this ol' Master. We shared some pretty good times, he and I, and we took each others pictures a number of times over the well photographed bow of his ol' "Tin Goose", the name he gave his trusy, battle scarred, Sportspal canoe...



Now here's a pic I took a couple of weeks ago while down at my local lake with a buddy for the afternoon hatch. I'm really lovin' these kool little crankers, slurpers, gliders, darters and slick poppers, coming over from China this summer. I've got BIG plans for them next year! :-) You got any yet?




How 'bout my faithful ol' Cardinal 4 here, still whirring after all these(25 plus) years? That says a lot for good equipement. I've yet to break one of the two bail springs on this reel. Imagine that, would you?













Have a good 'un!

lb

Evening! Unfortunately there is just a wee bit of time tonight for bloggin' so a quick picture will have to do 4 now... :-)



This is a shot of a bit of gear that I've been callin' my fire-kit lately, for lack of a better word. Any bush lover, outdoorsy type or Survival practitioner would very likely dig this set up. It really gives one a feeling of confidence in knowing you'll have a fire in the woods without a lighter or matches. Of course I won't underplay the fact that it still takes SKILL and a practiced hand to get fire every time. Knowing how to gather and prepare the proper tinder, is the big secret to consistent fire creation.

The keyring goes on a cool clip on my belt, called "Lucky", the Spiderco wanna-be, clips to the inside of my back pocket, or on the belt beside the keys. The fire-stik, goes in my left back pocket, where it's slim design almost disappears and remains totally unnoticed. Note the short section of hack-saw blade on the keyring too, in case I don't want to scrape the pretend Spidey along the fire-stik, although you'll also notice that there is a neat little rounded, grooved section at the back of the, where the stick can't do any damage to the actual blade itself and yet provides great sparks. Also, the back edge of the blade by the thumb rest, is very square and sharp edged and VERY capable of drawing a spark from the 49'er on the first tug...

I also have this picture on one or two of my websites and on another of my blogs as well. This neat ol' leather pouch has been with me since I worked in the government in the early 70's. Man oh man, where in the heck does our precious time go?

...

Fire Kit Shot

Chow 4 now!

lb

...Some thoughts on Survivin'

Because I frequent a number of good forums on the internet these days, I'm privy to some very interesting material. There are lots of folks out there that are really into some of the stuff I'm into and we all get together around a virtual campfire and exchange our ideas, thoughts and beliefs for the benefit of the entire membership. Now THAT Rocks! One of my biggest things has always been Outdoorsy stuff. The net reveals a pile of outdoor flavored data but I've hand-selected a choice few websites that I will be sharing with my readers, so keep a watch out for more of 'em. Here's the first...

This my new friend, is a hyper-link to a totally awesome Outdoorsy forum which I do indeed frequent. The "Woods" is the place to be and is quite active on a regular basis. It's also home to a great many, very personable folks that welcome newbies graciously, to this big ol' outdoorsy world. And, for my fair readers in here of the female persuasion, you too, can be assured that a good number of versatile, outdoorsy ladies are over in there too, like a grubby ol' pair o' Levis! ;-) You'll be in good company on this forum girls and you'll make friends real quick too, I'll bet on it. ;-)

Oh ya, when you get there, let 'em know I sent ya, and I get a new ribbon for my hair.:-)) Just kidding, of course, :-) the reward I get is, YOU getting more into outdoorsy stuff with the best crew out there to hook-up with. Hopefully then well see ya over there. Check 'em out when you get a few spare moments...

Survival.com Hoodlum Style...

As you may or may not know, I've been into Survival stuff, in one form or another, nearly all my life. It's a totally real way to open your eyes and ears and mind and learn how basic things can bring on the "Happy's" and that we really don't need all the modern stuff to be content and at peace with ourselves and our lives...

It appears that some of the boys on one of my favorite forums are getting into building survival kits. Well, that sparked a memory from Way, way, way back in 1977 as a matter of fact. I had a small one page article published in Ontario Out Of Doors magazine, that focused on a very small personal survival kit that anyone could put together easily. It was entitled "Micro-Survival" and featured a common 35 mm film canister as the container that housed all the gear. First off, if you haven't done anything like it before, it's pretty cool to see just how much stuff you can jam into one of those little units. I'm going to look around to see if I can find the original article so that I can scan it perhaps or retype it if I have to for anyone of you in here interested in putting together a Micro-Survival kit for yourselves...

In the mean time, here's a couple of shots of a more recent addition to my Survival gear for you to ponder. I'm still in the process of finding the exact contents I want for it and I could even rotate the stuff on an on-going basis to keep it current with what I feel is stuff that I personally need. Your kit would of course be different from mine and therein lies the fun part. Making your very own Personal Survival Kit or PSK as we outdoorsy types call 'em, is fun.

It's a small, soft, kid leather belt pouch about the size of a cell phone holder that presently contains a number of kool items that can ensure my survival anytime in the future. Maybe it will inspire you to put together a little "Survival Kit" for yourselves? That would be really, really neat if you saw the value of one of these small Personal mini survival pouches and then started your own slick little project and coming up with your own custom contents, that would fit your own particular needs.



Anyway, I'll be doing more blurbs on this type of stuff in the future to put more ideas out there for you guys that dig this bush-related gear stuff. Hope y'all like this one, so far, it's one of my coolest and I can wear it anywhere with pride and feeling VERY secure! :-)

Have a large day...

Lar

...and the story continues...

So like WoW, it's November already. Another year coming to a cold white close and time for reflection on this years past events are in order. I dabbled a fair amount this year with working for myself on small jobs that I found by myself and followed through with. My clients were VERY satisfied with me, according to each and every one of them. :-) I got deeper into looking for work in the "webpage" department too and came up with a very slick little niche that I will start to concentrate on filling up with my fine work. This picture was taken down at Britannia to the left of the stone break wall. The water was down about three or four feet and I could see all the little shells, rocks, pop cans and other stuff that would normally be under water and invisible.

Also, I came across this kool little mineral specimen while I was there and ended up spending a good half hour on it's removal from the host rock. Had to use chunks of other rock to fracture away at it until it finally came free. Looks VERY interesting to me but what do YOU think it could be?

Here's the pic.





Anyone reading this know rocks and minerals? Drop me a note if you do. I'll be slowly testing it myself but I already believe that it is raw gold!


* Note to self: Bring Geologists hammer with you next time you head up britannia way, O.K.?




later,














Yer Ottawa bud,


LarryB