A new hobby or two…

Well, I’ve gained two new obsessions hobbies this last week.

First, is Knots.

Yup, knots. 🙂

Big rafting trip comming up in June, and I’m getting into canoeing as soon as spring hits, but I realized that i have no idea how you securely tie up a boat… and make it easy to untie. Learned that on last falls hunting trip, actually. 

So, a knot book, and some 550 cord, and I’ve already learned about 4 or 5, and have a list of several more I’m practicing.  I can now be found with a 4′ chunk of 550 in my pockets most of the time, so if I have a spare few minutes, I can practice the ones that are being harder to memorize. 🙂

I’ll post a list of what I’m learning later(got it wrote down, but not handy), but any recomendations of anything you think would be handy for me, are more than welcome. 🙂

Oh yeah, almost forgot; In that, for the first time after years of trying off and on, I FINALLY tied a monkey fist!

The other new hobby is ice fishing. I’d actually been out to try it once before, but that was last spring and it was well over freezing, and the ice was LOUD… Guy I was with had never heard it that loud there, so we got off the ice fast.  Only got about 1/2 of fishing then.   Yesterday though, I was out with another new friend for about 5 hours, and learned a lot. Also caught my first fish since I was 3 years old!   6 or 7 catches later, and two nice 9″ lake trout that I brought home for dinner, and I’m hooked!(no pun intended)

My edc for my ice fishing Saturday;

And what got a Lot of use; Skeletool for pulling hooks/releasing fish, and the CV Sodbuster for cutting bait, and dispatching/cleaning/butterflying the fish.   Sucker worked like there were zipper holding those fish together 😉 smooth and fast.

That Sodbuster was the only blade to touch those fish from lake to plate. 😀

On the way home, I stopped and got my own ice fishing rig, a cheap rod/reel, and some lures. 😀  Gonna go through my gear, put together a dedicated knife and multitool, some cord, fire kit, etc for a fast grab kit to keep with the rod so I can head out fast any time.