"Carl's Lounge" (Off-Topic Discussion, Traditional Knife "Tales & Vignettes")

knarfeng said:
I zeroed in on regular roast whole bean Sumatra coffee about a dozen years ago. I buy it in 5-pound bags and keep it in the freezer. I grind it while still frozen and immediately make coffee with that, using a Melitta Drip maker. Sumatra is low acid, but has a very earthy flavor. Some folks don't care for it, but it's top notch to me.

I realize that most folks tell you not to freeze coffee. But I have found that if you grind it while still frozen and immediately make coffee with it, you don't lose any flavor due to keeping it in the freezer. (I've made a pot with unfrozen coffee fresh from the vendor to compare.) And I have found that it does extend the "shelf life" of the coffee. 5-pounds lasts me about 6-weeks and it's full flavor for the entire time.

One other trick I've learned is I make the first half pot using 100°F water and the second using very hot water. It does a better job of extracting all the flavor. To a chemist, making coffee falls into the realm of "performing a chemical extraction". And you want to make sure you extract all the low boiling oils before you hit it with really hot water. If you start with hot water, some of the flavor oils boil off instead of going into the pot.
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Finally got a chance to try the Sumatra flavor and I gotta say... WOW... very good. It's only Cameron's brand so nothing fancy but it is available in most grocery stores. Thanks for the suggestion Frank, this will make it into my regular rotation :):thumbsup: Of course gotta throw my EDC in the pic :D

SAK1.JPG
 
I love the Sumatra coffee as well, and if you have a Trader Joe's around you, try their Organic Sumatra. Very good, and reasonably priced, too.
 
JB in SC said:
This little one keeps showing up in our backyard...grandkids are enthralled with it.

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I would be enthralled too. That one looks too young to not have momma around. It is an orphan, or does the doe come back for it?
 
Not an orphan, the doe comes back for it. They typically leave them in a spot while they feed. That photo is about ten days old. It's actually feeding a little now on some nut grass. When it gets too hot in the direct sun, the fawn will get up and go into the wooded lot next to us. She was still nursing it a week ago and I'm sure it's not fully weaned yet.
 
Tomorrow (June 9) is Idaho's Free Fishing Day. :D
Do I want to take my 16 foot Shakespeare "cane pole" and Marbles MR139 "Fish Knife" and go drown a couple jigs?

I think there might be somewhere close by that is not 110% catch and release no matter what you catch ...
If I can't keep a couple for supper (presuming I catch any) why bother?
 
afishhunter said:
Tomorrow (June 9) is Idaho's Free Fishing Day. :D
Do I want to take my 16 foot Shakespeare "cane pole" and Marbles MR139 "Fish Knife" and go drown a couple jigs?

I think there might be somewhere close by that is not 110% catch and release no matter what you catch ...
If I can't keep a couple for supper (presuming I catch any) why bother?
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Personally, I am not much of a catch-&-release kind of guy. I will of course abide by whatever laws dictate my fishing in any given location. However, fish is by far one of my favorite proteins and any chance I get to bring some home, I will take it!

But yes, I often wonder what the point of fishing is if you can't keep your catch. I suppose it is the way of the sportsman, the thrill of the fight, the satisfaction garnered from the catch? From a different perspective, if I am hunting elk and I stick an arrow in one and get a successful kill, it isn't like I can put it back... Apples and oranges, I know, but still...
 
Pàdruig said:
Personally, I am not much of a catch-&-release kind of guy. I will of course abide by whatever laws dictate my fishing in any given location. However, fish is by far one of my favorite proteins and any chance I get to bring some home, I will take it!

But yes, I often wonder what the point of fishing is if you can't keep your catch. I suppose it is the way of the sportsman, the thrill of the fight, the satisfaction garnered from the catch? From a different perspective, if I am hunting elk and I stick an arrow in one and get a successful kill, it isn't like I can put it back... Apples and oranges, I know, but still...
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This is why I don't even try to catch bass anymore. I'm after panfish like bluegill and perch. I'm allowed to keep them if I want, they're fun to catch, and they taste better, anyway! :):thumbsup:
 
JohnDF said:
I'm a fly fisherman
I catch and release almost exclusively
If legal, I'll take a couple back to the campfire
I catch hundreds of fish a year and I aint gonna eat 'em all
I feel like there are enough "fish killers", I'm bringing a little balance back
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That actually makes perfect sense. I fish maybe a small fraction the amount that you do, though I'd like to do more.

But yes, you can't eat them all. I appreciate you sharing your perspective.

jc57 said:
Catch and release for big game is called "photography."
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Ha! So true. Any time I've been close enough to an elk for a picture, I usually have my bow drawn though. :D

r8shell said:
This is why I don't even try to catch bass anymore. I'm after panfish like bluegill and perch. I'm allowed to keep them if I want, they're fun to catch, and they taste better, anyway! :):thumbsup:
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I used to go to a spot on the Umpqua River up here to fish for small mouth bass. It is cheap to fish for them in terms of tackle used, the river is easy to access and they are a lot of fun to catch. However, despite being able to keep them at the time, they are small and bony and hardly worth the trouble. Salmon, steelhead, and regular trout are my go to for fishing, if I can get out, that is. It has been quite awhile.... If I am can make it to the ocean, it is all about the rock fish (sea bass, ling cod, cabezon). A successful ocean trip will keep me stocked with fish for awhile.
 
Pàdruig said:
That actually makes perfect sense. I fish maybe a small fraction the amount that you do, though I'd like to do more.

But yes, you can't eat them all. I appreciate you sharing your perspective.



Ha! So true. Any time I've been close enough to an elk for a picture, I usually have my bow drawn though. :D



I used to go to a spot on the Umpqua River up here to fish for small mouth bass. It is cheap to fish for them in terms of tackle used, the river is easy to access and they are a lot of fun to catch. However, despite being able to keep them at the time, they are small and bony and hardly worth the trouble. Salmon, steelhead, and regular trout are my go to for fishing, if I can get out, that is. It has been quite awhile.... If I am can make it to the ocean, it is all about the rock fish (sea bass, ling cod, cabezon). A successful ocean trip will keep me stocked with fish for awhile.
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That sounds great. I've never done serious fishing; I'm just dipping a line in shallow Central Texas "lakes" and creeks. Really an excuse to sit by the water and not do much. ;)
 
I did a lot of fishing as a kid, and we mainly threw them back - the state of most of the rivers and canals back then, they probably wouldn't have been that appetising! :eek: :D My grandfather had ate just about everything that swam or crawled, but many British species of freshwater fish aren't good eating. Some of them are though :)

I haven't fished for decades, but I still miss the peacefulness of it, more than anything else I think :)
 
Hey Jack im reminded of my canal boat trip from Reading to Marlborough on the Kennett and Avon canal.
The peace and tranquility of the 18th century pace of travel was only shattered when passing the coarse fishing license holders .
These rambo style anglers had at least 5 rods for every 3 fr of available canal bank.
Enough hard weather gear and camping equipment for a platoon of SAS or Special forces operatives fully encamped for a 3 year campaign. The only thing coarse about the fishing was the language I heard as we chugged past in our narrowboat creating a slight disturbance in the water. These guys were competing for record sized fish. Sadly as you mentioned the conditions arent great and the thought of breaking any fishing club record by catching something the size of a goldfish is a bit sad. Even sadder is the fact that due to toxoplasmosis in the canal water only the bravest ,hungriest, stupidest member of the platoon would dare eat one....if he could catch one.
I dont like to brag about my fishing prowess....because I have none ..so I won't.
I will say this....if ye ever be out fishin and see me . No matter where. Get the first boat to Wollongong harbour where I normally go because thats where they will be when the Jonah is not there.
 
I have cleaned and eaten more than my fair share of fish from all different places, and there is not much that tastes better than a fish caught and cooked in the same day.

With that said, I never keep wild trout. It is quite difficult to find a quality wild trout fishery. When you do find one, you don’t tell ANYONE about it, and you do your best to leave it as you found it.

I have called the warden on trout poachers more than once. Here in NC, we have “Delayed Harvest” trout streams that are heavily stocked, and are supposed to be catch and release only from October through May. These streams provide the best opportunity for me to take my father, who is in the moderate stages of Alzheimer’s disease, for a day of trout fishing. Dad took me on my first fly fishing trip, and he still enjoys it, even though he doesn’t catch much anymore.

Dad can’t hike in to the wild streams anymore, so the DH streams give me the best combination of easy access and the chance of getting him on fish easily.

Unfortunately, the wardens are stretched very thin, and can’t be everywhere at once. Sometimes we get to a stream that should be stocked full of fish, but it has obviously been poached out. The folks who did that could have gone to another stream nearby where it is perfectly legal to harvest stocked trout, but they did it here instead, because they are selfish. I hope they enjoyed eating those trout. They would have meant an awful lot to my dad, on the other end of the line.

I have no problem with folks who want to harvest fish legally, but C&R streams serve a very important purpose as well. Just my $0.02.
 
Anglers go through a transition, catch a fish, catch a limit, catch a big fish, catch a bigger fish, catch harder fish. That's more or less paraphrased from a comment by Nick Lyons. I've caught thousands of trout over the years but I'm not a big fan of eating them.
 
meako said:
Hey Jack im reminded of my canal boat trip from Reading to Marlborough on the Kennett and Avon canal.
The peace and tranquility of the 18th century pace of travel was only shattered when passing the coarse fishing license holders .
These rambo style anglers had at least 5 rods for every 3 fr of available canal bank.
Enough hard weather gear and camping equipment for a platoon of SAS or Special forces operatives fully encamped for a 3 year campaign. The only thing coarse about the fishing was the language I heard as we chugged past in our narrowboat creating a slight disturbance in the water. These guys were competing for record sized fish. Sadly as you mentioned the conditions arent great and the thought of breaking any fishing club record by catching something the size of a goldfish is a bit sad. Even sadder is the fact that due to toxoplasmosis in the canal water only the bravest ,hungriest, stupidest member of the platoon would dare eat one....if he could catch one.
I dont like to brag about my fishing prowess....because I have none ..so I won't.
I will say this....if ye ever be out fishin and see me . No matter where. Get the first boat to Wollongong harbour where I normally go because thats where they will be when the Jonah is not there.
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meako meako
There are four things that are necessary to catch fish.
1) The fish is awake.
2) The fish is hungry.
3) The fish is where you are.
4) The fish is stupid enough to bite whatever it is you have on or tied to your hook.

It is an incontrovertible scientific fact that you'll never catch a smart fish.
Only the stupid ones will bite something on a hook.
(and at times that "something" resembles absolutely nothing that the fish would recognize as "food".)
 
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