Woodland Artisan

As my forum name suggests, I've been a professional woodturner for several years. I do a lot of different woodworking, from modern to traditional and from industrial/commercial to art gallery items. My focus the last decade or so has been in traditional furniture and restoration. I also make specialized hand tools that I regularly sell around the world. If you're really into woodturning, I suggest finding a local woodturning club (I either was a founding member or on the board of a few of them in the region years ago and have done a whole lot of classes and demonstrations at most in the midwest). You'll find a LOT of very helpful and friendly people to help in your hobby there. I haven't been involved with the clubs/classes/demos for a lot of years, though. Look up the AAW (American Association of Woodturners) at woodturner.org for a directory of area chapters.

After making the fly rod carrier, I decided that I needed one for some spinning/bait casting rods and reels. So, here it is. It's made from 4" and 6" sch40 pvc. Has a simple locking mechanism. Holds up to 2 spinning reels and rods up to 8' long with 18" handles. Now, I can keep some of the rods/reels out of the bed of the truck and they're always ready to go.

Yes, I painted everything with Krylon Fusion after roughing the surface with 220 sandpaper and cleaning with acetone. I originally started with an old tacklebox, then with a larger toolbox. But, found the plastic ammo box at Harbor Freight. The "tallness" of the ammo box was what sold me on that as the final piece. If I could find something a LOT taller (18-20") and only a little larger overall, I'd make one for the spinning rods, too. But, I'm afraid I'll just have to use 6" sewer PVC in order to fit them in. Lots of wasted space but I've not found anything that comes close for those rods/reels.

Yes. The box closes when the reels are mounted. And locks, too. It is all plastic, but better than nothing.

Yep. They can be expensive. Of course, they're better, but I'll put the money into other things. Talked with a guide when in CO about them and his was "a bit over $750". It carried several, though.

I've never worn waders and don't wade Crane Creek upper or lower. I'll cross at certain points but I don't linger there either.

Got some inspiration from a quick trip out to the Estes Park, CO area a couple of months ago for this rod carrier / pod. It attaches to the roof rack I made from unistrut. It'll hold 2 full sized rods and reels along with the tiny 1/2 wt one. Made from sch40 pvc and a plastic "ammo box" from harbor freight. Under $50.

The rodes weren't a problem. I was using 15' of log chain between the rope and 50lb. weights. The problem is using an actual anchor. That wind just caught the big cross section of the pontoon and drug it all. Not crazy about anchoring to a tree on the bank, either. Does anyone have experience with a box anchor? Know anybody that sells or makes them locally (SW MO)? I'd rather not weld up a couple in this heat if I can avoid it.

Good fish. I had a few hours to kill yesterday, 6/16/21, and just stopped by the "marina" boat ramp to bank fish mid-day. Caught 4 bass 9 - 11.5 inches on a variety of spinners; some with worm trailers, some not. I could see them cruising up and down the bank about 15' out and that's where I caught them. Slow retrieve and very light strikes.

Box anchors for an 18' pontoon boat. Thoughts? Sources? After my 8 day Table Rock kayak journey this Spring and staying on the pontoon boat at night, I came to the conclusion that the anchors I was using (fore and aft ~50lb iron bricks) just wasn't cutting it. Granted, it was quite a windy week but the boat just wasn't staying anywhere close to 'still'. It would drift a good 50 yards on some nights even in, what I thought were, quiet and protected coves.

It wasn't quite that bad ("total destruction far as you could see") but it was pretty terrible being there. I watched the storm forming on radar and thought it was going north-northeast from Joplin. But, suddenly, it blossomed up and went due east. The reports at the time said that the whole storm system might be heading east to southeast so we sat still until it passed over. Went out to the barns and packed whatever I could think of into the truck to make a rescue, if needed, and just sat there glued to the radio/tv/internet to see what might be going on. We lost cell contact with the daughter shortly before it hit Joplin EXCEPT for a once-in-awhile text for about an hour. Heard that I-44 was closed down so we came in from the south to Joplin as soon as the main storm passed. Spent the next nearly 2 hrs getting from Rangeline & 7th Street to the Lowe's area on the south side. Passed next to what was the highschool (terrible. bodies) and weaved all around that town to make it to their apartment. Two bizarre things (out of a whole host of them on that night and the ensuing days we were there)... 1) The bullseye track mulched trees as they stood. 25 yards each side and trees were simply gone, uprooted, snapped, etc. But directly under the track, trees were still standing but all bark was gone and only a 1/3rd their height. Looked like (this is crass to say but it was my thought while driving past them) skeleton trees. Simply like they were mulched while standing there. 2) Daughters car was, obviously, torn up a bit (2x4's through the windows, dents, etc.) but the engine and front was intact. Except that, weeks later when taking it to a salvage yard, they got into the engine and found fiberglass insulation in the cylinders. How? Gotta tell you, the cellphone providers stepped up. They had temp towers up QUICK.

Oldest daughter, husband and <1 yr son were in that. Just a block north of the Lowe's and 2 blocks south of bulls-eye. Worst destruction from a tornado I've ever personally seen, and I've seen lots of tornado aftermath.

Absolutely ! And the flip-side of that coin is, for the small watercrafters out there: "Take responsibility for YOUR OWN SAFETY and PAY ATTENTION to big fast things on the water" I do a fair amount of kayaking (finished that Table Rock end-to-end I mentioned in another post 11 days ago) and I have a setup that, when I want to be hidden/stealthy/fishing/hunting then I am. If I need to be visible (as in spots with bigger faster floaters out there) then I am. I take responsibility not only for my own safety but the safety of others out there, as any boater should be doing ... large or small, powered or unpowered. No, Dutch, kayakers don't have a death-wish. No more so than any other group of people (bicyclists, motorcyclists, vehicle drivers, truck drivers, boat drivers, pilots, etc., etc.) They're all just stupid. Act accordingly, people.

*IF* a larger fish would happen to get caught, the drag may make all the difference in retrieving it quickly for such a "dink rod". The reel is really all there is as the rod isn't going to likely be as useful for those. For this reel, I'll just have to rely on palming it. Anyway, where I'll be using this there isn't likely to be any fish more than a pound. That's why I went with this reel and not a disc drag reel type.

Not a problem. I do that with some of my woodworking pieces. Thanks.

It is. And why I'll just make a modified one.

Not for me. I don't mind some clicking but this thing echo's in that valley. I plan to replace the spring metal of the click/pawl mechanism to quiet it down but still give a bit of drag later on.

2.8 oz

Took my ultralight fly kit out for a short test run just after lunch today. The creek was certainly "up" but not bad at all. It was quite clear for as much water as we've had lately but still not like it is normally. Didn't see a single fish. Lots of debris. Kept getting caught on twigs and leaves rushing downstream. The only bugs I saw were just the water skimmers on calm sections. A beautiful March day on Crane Creek.

I went with the Orvis Battenkill I reel. Can't say I like the click of the click-and-pawl drag but I think I can quiet it down later if needed. It's a no-nonsense reel that's very light and quite small. Took it out for a couple of hours spin (get it?) on Crane creek (upper 200+/- yrds) just after lunch today and while it's going to take some getting used to, I'm really going to enjoy this ultralight fly fishing setup. The lighter is in there for scale. DT (Double Taper) #2 line with 20# backer. #5 9 ft leader and only about 12 in #6 tippet. To start with. A full range of wet and dry flies from size 16 down. I wasn't really out to catch anything but wanted to really see what it could do. I found that I had to hold it just above the reel instead of at the end of the cork like I do the rest of my fly kits. The balance is so far off that it feels like it's going to slip out of my hands otherwise. The nice thing is that the reel is so small that it's still comfortable doing that. We'll see if that lasts with full-day/multi-day trips. Going to this ultra-light setup is almost like learning how to fly-fish again. The instincts are just ... "off". At first, I took it very very easy on the back and forward casts. It's so darn LIGHT that I didn't want to stress it. Well, that didn't work at all. This is a medium-fast action rod and quite stiff. You've got to put a hurt on it to feel the rod loading. I'm going to assume I'll get used to the feel and tone it down quite a bit as I go. I ended up shortening the tippet to about 6 inches and am considering cutting the leader down as well next time. The only time I really could let this kit take off was when I was in the middle of the stream and casting downstream. Otherwise, even casting to the far bank, I barely had 5 ft of fly line out. Oh, and that was plenty, too! I ended up being able to cast quite easily starting with only about 2 ft of line off the rod tip. After my 2 hour window of opportunity closed this afternoon, I was really getting the hang of this ultralight setup. It takes a bit of a curve to learn but, wow, it was soooo nice not to have to worry about a 9-11 ft rod on that small creek. I'll just have to dial in the line lengths over time and re-train some of the instincts.

Yes, original paint from '95. It's a tracker Fishin Barge 21'. Normal wear and tear. Not too bad. I just want to go with a different color to match what the side rails are going to be (fabric).

I'm wanting to paint the metal rail sides/panels of the pontoon boat. What prep and paint should be used? I don't have much to do as the only ones left on the boat are the back ones around the gas and battery areas.

Fishinwrench, that's the stuff that's got me thinking of waiting to see what my uses are going to be with this boat. You showed me that when I picked up the motor. It's either that or the nice woven wool (?) carpet I've seen at bass pro on their in-store models. I don't want to make a decision on deck cover before I really know what this boat is going to be used for. Made a pitstop on the way back home from your place in Lebanon and had someone ask me about "that brush boat" I was hauling. Same thing not too many days ago when I pulled it out to work on it outside. So, it might be used for that, too.

Just south of Mueller? But on the other side, I think. Thanks, Dutch, I'll try them.