Chuck....Vice Chuck......DIY

Back in December I took a tying class with Brad Bohen, and one of the many things that I left needing to have was a granite vice base. I remember thinking, why the hell didn't I think of that? When I was back in Charlotte during the boom days I could have bought a truckload of granite scraps for what it cost me to get the truck there. The thing that's kept me from doing it since the class is the base to vise connection. There's a machined brass part available that's really nice, but a little pricey, and the fabricated bases are really nice, but I'm broke, so even though 70 bucks is reasonable for something of that quality, it's just not an option. And, I absolutely hate spending money on stuff that I know I can do myself for pennies and minutes. I just don't usually get around to actually doing it. This time I did. I stopped by a surplus place in Asheville for work related things that I somehow didn't manage to procure....Anyway, they have mountains of granite scraps, so I picked one up. 5 bucks is kinda getting robbed for an otherwise worthless piece of rock, but it was the only money I spent on the project, so I guess I'm ok with it. I had in mind a somewhat complicated assortment of tubing and plumbing parts and thumbscrews and taps, and so on.....until I had a rare moment of clarity. Old drill chucks. I have many! Epoxy the thing to the rock and boom, done! So, that's what I did, and so far....it's awesome!

I need to cut the standrod down a few inches since it's a clamp vice, but that's easy enough. Here's a very simple and helpful video that explains how to remove a chuck from a drill. I took a slightly different approach....although equally effective

It's Gettin Squirrely

My Uncle Steve gave me a couple dozen squirrel tails and some bucktail from the great and powerful Illinois north a while back(quite a while back), that I put in the freezer. I never actually forgot about them, I just never could get everything together to get them cleaned and treated. I cleaned out the freezer a few weeks ago and decided it was time...way past time. For the last few weeks they've just been enjoying the natural freeze/thaw cycle of nature and taking in the views as they've hung in bags, soaking up salt. Non-iodized salt is pretty amazing stuff when it comes to dead animal parts. We had a few really warm days since I hung them up and i was expecting at least some rank funkiness, but there was none. They're all dry and relatively clean. I washed a few select tails today, and may experiment with some dying in the near future, but for now just used the fox squirrel as is. A cranking wood furnace will dry anything out in a matter of minutes, but I did add some more salt just to make sure.

Some of these squirrelies must have been monsters. The biggest tail has hair that's almost 3 inches long.

I've got smallies on the brain, so some squirrley clousers were in order.

musky school

I was very lucky to be able to go to a day long workshop with Brad Bohen(Afton Angler) of Musky Country Outfitters in Knoxville, hosted by 3 Rivers Angler. It's the first time I've actually been instructed on how to tie a fly. Actually, that's not true. Kyle taught me how to tie wiggle minnows a few weeks ago. So, it was the first time a sober person instructed me on how to tie a fly. His patterns are pretty simple, and all utilize the same process, and mostly the same materials(which are sickeningly awesome). He literally dumped garbage bags of Primo Tail, and foot long, or was it 18", or maybe 2 feet....anyway, very, very long, beautiful hackle feathers onto the floor and table. We all dove in(literally) and started wrapping thread on hooks. I don't usually tie with pink, which is the most likely reason I was drawn to it first. The pink one is a 'hangtime', the orange/redhorse/cree is a 'hangtime optic minnow', and the green bushy one is a 'buford'.