Quick, easy perfection loop

The perfection loop is a knot I kept seeming to have trouble with. Here is a really short video I found that really helped me out. Most of the other directions I had found for tying it were confusing. I can tie it without a problem now. Is there a knot you struggle with? Post in the comments below.

New flies, first impressions

I recently picked up Orvis' 20 Top Flies selection and wanted to give my quick first impression of them. First off they look to be high quality flies and well tied. Not that I expected anything less from Orvis. The 20 flies offer a good variety that should catch trout, bass, bluegill and crappie. These are definitely proven patterns. I like how Orvis has included the fly name and size on the inclined card and the species and times of year and conditions at to when to fish them. It is very helpful for beginners just learning their flies. Wooley bugger, included, is a pattern that imitates lots of aquatic insects that fish love. Time will tell how well they will hold up, but I'm fat more likely to lose them while fishing than wear them out. I'll be sure to let everyone know how they do once I get a chance to fish them.

If you've fished these flies or have your own Top 20 picks be sure to comment below.

Working in the cold

Although it isn't as cold today here where I live as it was a few weeks ago, it's the winter months that make me wish I had a job working indoors. As good as working indoors sounds to me in the winter, I just can't stand being in a cubicle or any other job that would keep me confined within four walls. I've had problems keeping myself warm this winter for some reason.

Here are a couple of quick tips for keeping warm when you work outdoors.

Limit skin exposure.

Wear a hat or some type if head covering.

Hot drinks (I've recently started drinking coffee) and warm foods help keep your core temperature up so you don't get as cold. So consider those instead of a cold sandwich or cold drink such as a soda.

Hot hands are great. Especially if your job is such that you can't we're gloves.

Everyone stay warm out there and if you have any tips for working outdoors in the cold please leave a comment.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Boneyfiddle

Rainy Day to Fish

It was rainy and windy and there were tornado watches out but yes, I did go fishing. Hey, they say fish bite when it's raining. Not sure who "they" are but that's what I've always heard. Despite the weather I did get a chance to catch this decent little bass on my new 8 wt. fly rod before I decided to call it quits. So here is the official first fish on the new fly rod photo.

Just a note for anyone who would get out in this kind of weather. Be safe and keep an eye on the radar and local forecast. Watch the slick banks around the lakes, ponds, creeks and rivers so you don't fall in. And if anyone has any recommendations for some good quick drying fishing pants that won't break the bank let me know. Those would have been really handy.

Simplicity and Versatility of the Thermos

The thermos is a very simple device. It is merely an insulated bottle. Designed to keep hot stuff hot or cold stuff cold.

I'm what I would consider a road warrior. I spend a lot of time driving for my job. That said, fast food gets expensive and a person can only eat so many sandwiches.

So what's a person to do if they want to save money and still he a decent hot meal on the road. That's where the thermos comes in. I've got a couple different kinds and a couple of different sizes. They all seem to work about the same. I have a small one that will hold a can of soup or I've even carried hamburger that I've warmed up effort leaving the house in it.

The main thing with a thermos though is to remember to pre-heat it with hot water before putting your food in it so it stays warm longer.

I also just use my larger thermos to carry hot water. I bring the water to a good rolling boil before I leave the house and my large thermos usually let's me carry enough water to cook a cup of ramen noodles and for a cup of hot chocolate on a cold day or cup of coffee.

I almost always carry an insulated cup for the hot chocolate or coffee with me and my GSI cup with homemade lid are always with me for cooking. So far ramen noodles are all I have cooked on the road with my hot water but I could just as easily boil Kraft Mac and cheese noodles and have macaroni or even fix a Mountain House meal or rice.

Cooking Ramen noodles on the dash of the SUV.

In the photo I'm fixing ramen noodles in my GSI cup with the hot water I brought along for the day in my thermos.

You can always use the cup that comes as a lid on the thermos to cook in but I like my GSI cup and lid setup. You also want to avoid carrying noodles precooked in a thermos. They will continue to cook until you are ready to eat and by lunch they are over cooked and not very tasty.

What do you carry in your thermos or cook using the boiled water method while on the road? Do have another method you use to fix a hot meal while traveling? Let me know in the comments section.

Lessons learned from a first year garden

This year was the first year I had ever really tried gardening. The picture above was from right after I planted. I tried a slightly modified version of Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening method. I made my raised bed larger than he recommends in his book. My bed was 5ft by 10ft. I picked the size simply because it was about the length of the building I put it next too and because I only had to by three 10 ft pieces of lumber and a 2x2 in order to build it. I was being cheap. I didn't use his mix for soil either. I used a 50/50 mix of compost and top soil. On top of that I dumped two large bags of hardwood mulch, after I had planted it, in order to hold in moisture. Early after the planting I also put some bluegill at in the ground near the roots of my plants to provide them with some natural fertilize. 

I have to say that for a first year garden it did extremely well. My wife canned close to 30 jars of salsa from the tomatoes in the garden. I still had more than enough tomatoes to eat and share with neighbors and family too.

As much as I tried by stringing pie pans around the garden, I couldn't keep the rabbits out. They destroyed my beans. I had planted pole beans around my corn and was using the corn for the beans to trellis up. Needless to say by the time the rabbits were done there weren't any beans.

My pepper plants produced one pepper that was good enough to use for making salsa but did not produce as I had hoped. I am pretty sure I had over-planted the bed and they got smothered out by the other plants.

My corn grew well but a combination of wind and birds left me without any corn this year. I will try it again next year to see if I do any better. Luckily my neighbors had grown corn and were more than willing to trade for my zucchini that I had grown, which brings me to my zucchini plants.

I planted only two zucchini plants and they produced more than enough for our needs and for family and neighbors.

On our back deck I had also planted onions and herbs in pots as well as garlic. We had a few green onions but the herbs never really took off and the garlic was a total loss.

All in all my first year garden was a good learning experience. My 3 year old had a blast watching stuff grow and helping water the plants and pick zucchini and tomatoes. Next year I will probably plant a little later so I don't have to worry as much about frost and I plan on growing some larger variety of tomatoes. The plants that I had gotten that were labeled beefsteak tomatoes weren't what I would consider a true beefsteak variety. I'm going to attempt bush beans instead of pole beans next year and plant the corn where it is a little more protected. I may even build a second bed next to my current one to increase my yield.

My soil mixture worked great and I had very few weeds thanks to a covering of heavy cardboard beneath the soil when I built the garden and to the fact that the plants themselves were planted so close it was hard for the weeds to grow. The soil was loose so the ones that did make it through were easy to pull out.

I hope next year is even better, and I know I will learn more from another year of gardening. If anyone has any tips on how I can improve on my garden, feel free to comment below. I'm always interested in learning more and hearing what others have to say about what works for them and their gardens.

Altoids Fishing Kit

Altoids tins are pretty popular in the survival world. They are great for holding small items or building a pocket sized survival kit. Here is a little fishing kit I put together to throw in my bushcraft bag or to just grab when I went out with just my cane pole. What do you carry in your pocket fishing kit? Let us know in the comments section.

Halloween seed saving

With Halloween coming up I thought it would be a good time to remind everyone about saving seeds. If you are wondering what seeds and Halloween have to do with each other then read on. This time of year everyone likes to carve jack-o-lanterns, and with that comes cleaning out the pumpkin. There's no need to waste those seeds. Lay them out on a paper towel and let them dry. Next year you can plant them and grow your own pumpkins. There are enough seeds in a small pumpkin to plant a small pumpkin field and grow a whole army of pumpkins for carving or baking pumpkin pies. The carving is fun for kids and adults alike and the kids will love playing in the dirt, planting the seeds and watching them grow.

Welcome

Welcome to Boneyfiddle. If you are into the outdoors, bushcraft, fishing, camping, hiking, hunting, preparedness, survival, self-reliance, self-sufficiency, homesteading or gardening then this is the blog for you. Watch for reviews, ideas, outdoor adventures and other tidbits of information.