Friday, December 30, 2011

Happy New Year's!
























Happy New Year's y'all. I hope that you all have a prosperous and healthy year. Be safe tomorrow, because as my Grandfather used to say, "New Year's Eve is when the amateurs come out to play".
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Thursday, December 29, 2011

Quit Staring At Me, Mrs Winter...




Quit staring at me, Mrs. Winter...

I am not ready for you. Last week, I stayed up late tying big streamers. You have already taken away my opportunities to fish big, bushy dry flies. So why do you have to take away my streamer fishing with your winds and ice? Give me this one thing. Give me just one more weekend to fish like a gentleman before resorting to nymphs, shot and bobbers....

You can be a cruel woman, Mrs. Winter...

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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

December Funny





























I have a weird sense of humor...

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Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Good Times


The Adventures of Uncle Hammer - 2011 from _9er on Vimeo.

This is a slideshow my buddy Jake put together of his year. Some of the pics may look familiar, because his photography has been on the Sip a couple times before and I make a couple appearances in the slide show. I'm happy that I got to participate in what turned out to be a great year of fishing for Jake. Until 2012, buddy.

Cheers.

Photograpy by Jake Carey & Friends

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Friday, December 16, 2011

Miracle Mouse


Growing up in Michigan, I learned to love fishing at night with mice patterns. It wasn’t until I moved out west that I realized how versatile these flies can be. Now, I always carry a few just in case- or if I have too much to drink and need something to keep my attention during the wee hours. 
After fishing a ton of different mouse patterns, I decided to combine different elements of some of my favorites to come up with something more productive. The butt sinking versatility of the Dirty Rat, the wake producing merit of the Morrish Mouse and most importantly the hooking ability of Mr. Hankey’s. The Miracle Mouse was the result of my experiments, and should serve you just as well as it has served me.
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Tuesday, December 13, 2011

My Fishing Buddy




Did he bite me several times as a puppy? Sure... but he got over it. I think it was all of the fishing trips that made him trust me. Or maybe the cold water made him mellow out. No, I got it... it was the dead pike that he rolled in last summer. Ever since then, he realized that when I tell him not to do something, it is in his best interest.
       
Dogs don't feel hate, jealousy or care if you fart with the windows up on a long car ride. They are just happy to be going fishing with you. Getting wet and sniffing the fish you catch is nothing less than the bee's knees. My dog knows that I wont leave him or let him get swept away in the current. He knows that he is part of the fishing trip, not just along for the ride. Most of all, he knows he can trust me.
 
Yup... it had to have been the dead pike.              
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Sunday, December 11, 2011

It's Better Than Coal In Your Stocking























I have tried not to do any "gear review" posts on here, but with Christmas around the corner, I figured I would help you kiddos out. I know that every Christmas I go insane trying to figure out what to get people and my family always has trouble buying stuff for me. Every year I tell them, "just go to the fly shop and pick me up a bunch of junk", this always leaves me with hot pink threads and hemos. Every year I struggle on what to tell them, so they always end up getting me stuff that I already have or isn't very useful.

This year is different. After my friends at Clear Cure Goo sent me a starter kit of their products, I now know what to have my family get me. I have been tying bugs with this stuff all month and cant get enough of it, so I put my holiday order in for some of their additional products (i'm getting the brushable and hydro). It's way easier than epoxy and looks awesome.

A kit comes with:
1 LED Light.
1 Clear Cure Goo Thick Syringe 10ml
1 Clear Cure Goo Thin Syringe 10ml
$49.99



Check out all of their products at www.clearcuregoo.com
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Friday, December 9, 2011

Vote “No” on SB248





















As the old adage goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". This is not only how I feel about this situation, but also how my friend Alex Cerveniak (alexkain.com) put it in the following article. So instead of re-inventing the wheel, I am simply reposting Alex's piece on this very serious public land grab situation in Michigan. Whether you plan to ever fish the waters of Michigan or not, please take a moment to read Alex's piece and consider emailing the representatives below. Because today it may be a public land grab in Michigan, but tomorrow it could be a land grab in your neck of the woods. 
Thanks,
Hip To The Sip



We all fish and/or hunt on publicly owned land.  And chances are good, if you’re like me, your favorite place in the whole world is on Michigan owned land.  Now imagine if the State had never bought it?  You would never even know it was there, or worse yet, you’d know about it and be unable to enjoy it.
Not cool, right?  Right.
Now, imagine all of the truly awesome places the State has recently purchased, and will purchase in the future.  Land that we all benefit from, and that our grandchildren’s grandchildren will have the opportunity to enjoy.  Now, one more time, imagine it becoming available for sale and the State not being able to buy it due to a cap on the amount of land it can own?
Not cool, right?  Right.
Yet that is exactly what might happen if certain political interests have their way.

From Michigan Trout Unlimited-
State Land Cap Bill Headed to Vote – Your Help is Needed Urgently!

Senate Bill 248, seeks to place an arbitrary cap on the ability of the State of Michigan to acquire any new lands in the future.  The bill is sponsored by legislators from the Upper Peninsula who believe there is too much public land in that part of the state.  Their proposed solution is to have the entire rest of the state also restricted from future land acquisition – despite the constitutional formed Natural Resources Trust Fund, voted on by the citizens of Michigan, which was created to provide means of acquiring land lands for our use.
TU participated in legislative workgroups with the bill sponsors, forestry stakeholders, local municipalities, and other conservation groups – at the request of the House Committee Chair Frank Foster.  We discovered that none of the mentioned impetuses for the bill are actually addressed by the bill!  We’ve proposed substantial amendments to the bill to help address problems and call for a more strategic and transparent approach to state land holdings – but all those attempts have been denied to date.  Now Rep. Foster is planning on moving the bill to committee vote next week on Tuesday December 13th.  For supporters of this bill, its more about politics than about creating good public policy.  Help prevent that from continuing.

TU opposes this bill for the following reasons:

- It will prevent the acquisition of additional state lands in the entire state, including southern Michigan where the majority of people live, and where public lands for recreation are limited.
- It would impact the acquisition of lands needed for providing access the waters of the state – thus preventing access to public trust resources such as coldwater fisheries.
- It seeks to limit or prevent the intended use of the Natural Resources Trust Fund, a legacy created by the citizens of Michigan for the benefit of future generations.
- Its contradictory in that it restricts the purchase of additional state lands statewide, but then offers exceptions for purchase of large tracts of retired commercial forest lands in the U.P. – the very place where the bill sponsors claim there is too much land.
- In the Lower Peninsula, state lands are used so extensively, that user conflict management is becoming a top problem.  If there are already excessive amounts of demand for this type of land for recreation, it does not make sense to prevent the strategic addition of more of it.
- The bill also adds provisions that can force the DNR to dump undesirable state lands onto the market for prices less than fair market value, the results of which will further cripple a struggling real estate market and economy.
We need you to contact your representative by the end of Monday the 12th, to let them know you oppose SB248 and urge them to as well. It’s bad public policy and should not be given a pass.
Please pass this email along to anyone you know that is an angler, sportsmen, conservationist, or who uses state lands for their recreation or enjoyment.    This one is critical – it’s imperative you take the time to contact your representative.  Below is information for contacting your representative.

Ask Your Representative to Vote “No” on SB248 (Land Cap Bill)

http://www.house.mi.gov/mhrpublic/  - will identify your representatives contact information
If your representative is listed below as a member of the House Committee on Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation, then your contact with them is even more urgent and critical.
NameDistrictPhoneEmail Address
Rep. Frank Foster, Chair107517-373-2629frankfoster@house.mi.gov
Rep. Matt Huuki110517-373-0850matthuuki@house.mi.gov
Rep. Holly Hughes091517-373-3436HollyHughes@house.mi.gov
Rep. Joel Johnson097517-373-8962JoelJohnson@house.mi.gov
Rep. Kurt Damrow084517-373-0476kurtdamrow@house.mi.gov
Rep. Peter Pettalia106517-373-0833peterpettalia@house.mi.gov
Rep. Wayne Schmidt104517-373-1766WayneSchmidt@house.mi.gov
Rep. Harold Haugh042517-373-0854haroldhaugh@house.mi.gov
Rep. Tim Bledsoe001517-373-0154timbledsoe@house.mi.gov
Rep. Maureen Stapleton004517-373-1008maureenstapleton@house.mi.gov
Rep. Dian Slavens021517-373-2575dianslavens@house.mi.gov