the Session Redeemer

As the summer slowly slips away with its warm water, small waves and heavy crowds I still find myself bodysurfing more then ever. My usual routine is to bring both my surfboard and hand plane to the  beach. Surf for awhile and if it sucks or the crowd gets to me I go back to my Jeep and switch to my hand plane. I started to notice that if I had a frustrating surf session I always had a good time bodysurfing. No crowds or attitudes in the swim section, all the waves you can take, always super fun. These hand planes have now become know as the "Session Redeemer". Plus bodysurfing puts you closer to the power of the wave and you start to see lines and angles in a new perspective. Most of my hand planes have deep single concave which work great in small surf but slip sideways when the wave gets more steep and critical. I just finished shaping this new mini hand plane with deep channels and a small keel to hold you into the face of the wave in bigger surf.

Rummaging through the scraps of wood I had in my garage the next hand plane became a logistical challenge. Glueing up ten random sized boards dictates the height and width but what you create within these strict limits becomes more enjoyable then the finished piece.    

Below is a full sequence of steps during the hand shaped process. 1  2  3  4  5  6  7 8...

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Indian Summer

Fall Offshore Fishing : :  L a t e   i n t o   t h e   S e a s o n

Well its Fall and we are in the first week of October but the offshore fishing bite has turned on strong. Along with a few oppressive heat waves came small hurricanes off Baja and big south swells that pushed warm water currents up the coast. I am primarily an inshore bass fishermen because sitting on a boat trolling for 12 hours bores me to death but the last two trips where different. With all that warm water came a lot of floating kelp patties. We would spot a patty and slow troll some feathers by them, if the feathers got wacked we would circle back and fly line sardines at them. We hopped from patty to patty all day picking off fish. Just being out in open water offshore watching huge pods of dolphins crash bait and surf the bow of our boat is fun but to also catch fish is a bonus. A big thanks to Sam for taking me out on the Everglade Boat.

Kristian just got back from is Montana/Wyoming trip, new photos: P.S. Montana is Burning http://twoifbyseabass.blogspot.com

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Turning Up the Heat: Slow cooked fresh local Yellowtail in a garlic lemon herb butter over a grilled flour tortilla with a thin layer of melted sharp cheddar, black bean, avocado, cabbage, salsa and drizzled ranch on top 

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