the apple doesn't fall far from the tree

When I look through old photo albums my dad is always posing with a fish next to me and my sister. He has been fishing his whole life and really got serious in the early 1960's. He started reading books on the natural life and habits of Striped Bass, experimented with numerous lures and meticulously dedicated time to a fishing journal. With pen and paper he has logged every fish he has every caught from 1960 to 2014. He logs the date, fish species, weather condition, wind, tide, length, and lure. Then he has all these field drawings that visually show sandbars cuts, structure and where and how he caught fish. I always learn new things when I sit down with my dad and we thumb through pages of fishing knowledge and insight he has collected over the years. He understands that before a storm the barometer will drop and fish instinctively know to feed because the water will be churned up for a few days. He can read the water conditions and know where the fish are going to ambush prey. He is selective and only fishes a few specific hours a day. His favorite is called the "Magic Hour", the last fleeting hours of sunlight into dark. 

Fast forward thirty plus years and like osmosis I have absorbed all the same habits and traits as my father only they are slightly more modern. I document everything fish I catch via photographs, computer information graphics and log it on my blog. You can say the "apple doesn't fall far from the tree" or we are "cut from the same log".

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Hunt | Gather | Cook
Delaware Tributaries: Slot limit 20" to 26" from July 1 to August 31st
Striped Bass Caught on August 7th, 2014 @ 11:15 PM
Tide: High 7pm  |  Low: 1am (outgoing tide)  Size: 24"   Lure: Custom Painted black Rattle Trap with blue/green glitter (three coats of clear lacer finish)

New Jersey | Island Beach State Park
August 8th @ 3pm caught Blue Claw Crabs and Middle Neck Clams
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Hunt | Gather | Cook {the meal}
Striped Bass sliders with spinach, tomato, sautéed shallots, and avocado with steamed crab seasoned with Old Bay and clams off the grill with lemon butter sauce

The Boat Dreams from a Hill

Wooden Boat Build | Bevin's Skiff

DESIGN SPECS

LOA (feet): 12'

Beam (feet): 4' 6"

Weight: 120 lbs.

Capacity (8" freeboard): 450 lbs.

Home Port: Lewes, Delaware

Build Time: One Month 16 days

Launch Date: August 30th, 2014

Wood: Marine okoume plywood for the sides and bottom, clear spruce for the chines and rails, and Atlantic white cedar for the transom. 

Photo Credits: Scott Wyss, Bob Wyss, Kristian Kozlowski, Thomas Mason

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"Working in an environment with good smelling materials and being able to see the physical results of your work at the 
end of the day have a positive impact on one's well-being"
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home grown | local caught

Aside from your cuisines appearance and flavor, is the elegance, honesty and beauty expressed in the process by which you obtained it.  Super Markets, product labels, and store shelves are actively marketing misleading terms like Organic, Certified Naturally Grown, Sustainable, Farm to Table, Free-range, Grass-fed, Hormone-free, Non-GMO, Fair trade. With all these buzzwords flying around us its hard to truly know what to believe.

If you want to side step all the super market trends and know exactly where your food is coming from then cultivating your own garden and fishing for local seafood is the right path. Every detail and step toward the final cooked meal is carefully planned, pursued and realized. From composting your own soil to making a perfect cast to a rising fish. To acquire good results you need to be dedicated, patient and to spend a lot of time and energy in you pursuit. You get out what you put in.
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TABLE FARE: Striped Bass over Fresh Garden Vegetables*
Grilled local caught Striped Bass sauteed over a bed of steamed swiss chard and kale with Yellow Summer Squash and a lemon zest. 
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Hunt | Gather | Cook*
 *Everything for this meal was grown in the backyard and caught out front on the canal

Hand Plane : : Session Redeemer

"Session Redeemer"

Sometimes to get a good Surfing Session it feels like the planets have to be perfectly aligned. Unlike other sports we rely heavily on specific conditions. There usually is only a short window when the tide is perfect, wind is not an issue and the swell direction is the right angle for your beach. Then if your lucky to get nature on your side your next big hurdle will be the crowd. Even if the surf is epic, too big of a crowd or aggressive/bad energy in the water can ruin your session. Since I started body surfing with these hand planes the last few years I always keep one in my jeep with my fins. If my surf session is starting to go south I get out fast before it ruins my day. I go to my jeep and put my surfboard away and switch to the hand plane. I love walking past the crowded surfers down to "swimming only zone". Life is different on the other side of the "Black Ball" flags. Its like the analogy of a fish living in a Protected Wildlife Refuge. Your safe from the daunting crowds and bad attitudes and now you can truly enjoy the surf. I call it the "session redeemer".

CAPTURE SETTINGS : : GoPro HERO3+ {Black Edition}

Simultaneous Video and Photo mode, allows you to simultaneously capture both Videos and Photos. I set the camera to take a photo every 5 seconds while I record Video. After your sessions is over it's always interesting to check out how the footage and images came out. With no LCD view finder on the back you are essential shooting blind. Sometimes you get lucky and pick up subtle glimpses of magic.

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Back Bay : : CLAM DIGGING

If you reside along the Northern Atlantic seaboard Striped Bass are the kings. Ninety percent of all bait and tackle stores cater to the striped bass with a variety of lures, plugs, jigs and swimbaits. There are countless books, magazines, and blogs dedicated to the pursuit of this one fish. Most fishermen spend a lifetime searching for that one trophy bass.

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Then, on the polar opposite side of the fishing spectrum is the clam. In most bait and tackle stores any clamming gear is usually hidden way in the back of the shop. There are no magazines or movies dedicated to improving your clamming "hook up" ratio.  Your not searching for a giant clam to mount on your wall. And maybe in retrospect its a good thing that clamming isn't that blown out and way off the radar.

Clamming is pretty straight forward. You feel around with your feet and dig with a rake until you hit something solid. If your lucky you might stumble into a clam bed and your life is easy. Ether way its always fun and the most rewarding part of clamming is the table fare you end up with. I love icing down the smaller cherry stone clams, shucking and eating them on the half shell with fresh lemon, cocktail sauce and horse radish. Then wash it down with a cold beer. Hunt | Gather | Cook...

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Home Brewed : : Kristian Kozlowski {back bay double ipa}