RedRam Everyday Merino Reviewed

It’s not everyday that I get to write articles about underwear, but you can probably bet that when I do, you’ll want to read it. Either for some enlightening retrospective on boxers versus briefs, or the punchline.

Well this is entirely different, and there’s no punchline. This is to let you know that I’ve posted the review of RedRam’s pure merino wool thermal undergarments. You can check out the first impressions from several weeks ago, or just dive right in to the full review.

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Pure Alaska Salmon Review

I published this full-length review of Pure Alaska Salmon’s wild-caught canned Alaskan Salmon yesterday, but I’ve been so busy I forgot to post it to the main page. So here it is, I hope you’re hungry!

It’s been a while since we had a post as mouth-watering as this one, that’s normally Adam Guy’s arena these days. But despite the fact that I’m a good cook and a fisherman it’s not all that often that I’m eating fish at home. In fact, the last time I had a diet where I was eating fish consistently was in La Paz, where we ate Dorado, Snapper, and even Marlin and Tuna. Even then I left most of the cooking to friend and chef Micheal Leary. Still, I think I came up with a few really nice dishes made with Pure Alaska Salmon’s wild-caught canned salmon, like these fish cakes.

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Tuna Fishing Adventures, Nova Scotia

It’s been more than 9 days, 12 hours and 42 minutes since I stepped off the Fisher’s Grant, a tuna fishing boat docked in Cape George, Nova Scotia. Not a minute has passed since that I haven’t thought about that trip.

The day started with extraordinarily high hopes. The boats captain, A.J. Francis of Tuna Adventures had called me late the day before. I could hear the excitement in his voice. He told about the days events, “One of our best days yet!” Seven tuna hooked and four of them brought boat side before being gently released back into the depths. The biggest fish was an estimated 900+ pounds, while the smallest was a measly little 400 pounder. Hardly worth the trouble I’m sure.

My original plan was to make the three-hour drive up to Cape George early in the morning and have a quick nap before the sun came up and our adventure would begin. I was way too excited to sleep. Instead, I climbed the rocks near the marina and sat quietly, watching a bright red sun rise from the sea. A.J. arrived shortly after and greeted me with a big smile and firm handshake. We climbed on board his boat the Fisher’s Grant, a 45 foot fiberglass boat built by Doucette for one purpose, catching big fish. The first mate John Gavin arrived and within minutes we set off.

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Bring a Friend to the Forums for This Dual Prize Contest!

As you probably already know we’ve got a ton of fantastic schwag from Water Gremlin, makers of the highest quality fishing weights you can buy, and we’re giving it all away over the next few months!

For your chance to win a t-shirt, winter cap, or baseball cap for you and a friend. Just invite them to sign up for our forums and have them introduce themselves and let us know who referred them. We’ll pick a winning pair each month (September, October, November) and you’ll both receive your own Water Gremlin schwag!

What about December you might ask? Well we’re giving away the biggest prize and best prize as we wrap up another year! The two winners for December will each receive a full weight set from Water Gremlin. This pack includes more weights then you’ll know what to do with and will keep your stocks full for 2012.

You can invite as many friends to our forums as you want to increase your chances and we’ll choose a new user at random each month. Don’t forget to tell them to introduce themselves and let us know that you referred them!

Not a member of the forums? Don’t have any friends in to fishing? That’s ok! All new members that join our forums and post an introduction are automatically registered to win!

The World’s Smallest Game Fish

We all know anglers that seek the largest fish they can catch, but have you ever met those who try to catch the smallest fish they can, on a hook and line? Here in Japan, I have done so, and been lucky enough to indulge this particular variety of fishing.

Not unreasonably, most sport anglers want to catch trophy fish; the bigger the better (indeed, we all know anglers whose catches continue to grow in size long after the event, growing bigger with each recounting of the story of the fishing trip). However, this is Japan, where miniaturization pervades all aspects of life, in gardening, art, computers, electronics; we all have seen the clichéd ‘capsule’ hotels and bonsai pine trees you can pick up with two fingers. This also applies to sport fishing, in one of the oldest angling traditions in this country: tanago fishing.

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The King of Kenai

This summer, my son and I traveled from our home in Alpine, Utah to fish some of the wildest rivers and lakes in Alaska. We spent our time hiking remote mountain trails in search of monster fish. During our treks, we found some absolutely beautiful places to fish, but none of them yielded any big ones. We caught some pretty little rainbows and dolly vardens, but we still hadn’t found any trophies.

On the last day of our trip, we decided to spend the morning on the Kenai River. Although it had been raining throughout our trip, the sun was shining brightly as we made our way to the dock. It was an absolutely beautiful morning and we had a great feeling about things as we headed out. We rigged up with Kwikfish, which are excellent when backtrolled on big rivers like the Kenai. We had only been fishing for about five minutes when this monster king salmon hit! He nearly ripped the rod from my hands with his fierce strike. I set the hook and the battle was on. After about ten minutes, I got him close to the boat. He made two or three short runs before we finally got him in the boat. At 51 pounds, he’s the biggest salmon of my life!

- Orrin Olsen

Orrin, thank you very much for you entry into our 2010 Contributor Contest and boy what a big salmon! You have taken SECOND PLACE in our contest and will receive a signed copy of Dave Mercer’s new book, as well as a copy of Fins & Skins magazine!