IA Born

Our son, Jacob, who turns 11 next month, started his year-long journey to get his black belt through our TaeKwanDo studio this past Wednesday. I can't speak for other studios, but I know getting your black belt in this studio is a difficult process. Among the many things he has to do, he has to raise the $550 black belt promotion fee on his own. One of the ways he wants to raise that money is to tie flies for fly fishing and accept donations for them, since we technically can't sell them. He does great with woolly buggers, and does pretty well with elk hair caddis, parachute adams, foam beetles, griffiths gnats (down to #22), and a couple of nymphs. He recently tied 12 woolly buggers for a friend in Iowa (4x#10, 4x#12, 4x#14) for farm pond bluegills and the guy sent him $20 to start his journey. I explained to my wife that we, as parents, are probably going to lose money on this deal, but we have to support his journey and his thought process. You obviously won't hurt our feelings if you say no and pass this, but Jacob would appreciate any consideration. You can PM me or text me if you have my number if you are interested and want to place orders. Below are some samples of his work. Thanks for reading this and, most importantly, considering helping Jacob. These are not even close to professional-grade flies, but, as an avid fly-fisherman, I think he's off to a good start and I've helped him figure out he can make them look more like what they are supposed to. The top left fly in the middle pic is his first attempt at an elk hair caddis. I told him it was a good start, but it needed work. The elk hair caddis in the bottom pic is his second attempt, after getting a better "how-to" video on Youtube. That's my favorite fly out here, so I was very critical of how he needs to tie it.

Its time for an update and a HUGE THANK YOU!!! Because of the generosity of many of you, Jacob reached his goal from tying flies. He has two orders to finish up from another friend outside of the CW community, but he reached his goal thanks, in large part, because of the community here. We are humbled in our household. Jacob is still willing to tie flies since he is now working towards a new rifle build for when he outgrows his current youth 7mm-08. During the government shutdown, he offered to sell flies to help us cover the bills until I got back to work and paychecks started rolling back in. His heart amazes and humbles me. Along the way of this process, he also decided to learn how to tie bass poppers and, after a friend requested them, he learned Muddler minnows. It took him a few tries, but his #10 Muddlers are pretty darn good! He also got really good at parachute adams and pheasant tails. He's also going to learn the prince nymph (bead head) after another special request. And he keeps talking about learning crazy charlies for when we go back after bonefish! I told him to get good at the freshwater stuff, first. If you're interested in more or new, holler. Most importantly, THANK YOU for your support! Bass popper Pheasant Tail Nymph Muddler minnow

That's awesome, Tom! Congratulations to you and your grandson!

Congratulations! Team efforts are my favorites!

Congratulations and that is awesome!

I've never crimped on the loads I've put together for my M1 Garand and never had a problem with the rounds stacked and waiting.

Looked right over it. Thanks! Still, don't wait on us, Tim. It will be later tonight, if tonight, before I'll be able to talk to my wife.

If you're getting PMs, don't wait on us. What model is it? She wants to look at them online.

Lemme talk to my wife. Now that I'm finally back to work and have paychecks rolling in, this could work. We used a friend's Carnivore 3/4hp grinder to do my son's javelina and we're talking about investing.

I recently acquired a Mossberg 500 20ga that belonged to a friend of the family. My daughter doesn't like the way it fits, we are all set for shotguns, and there is no sentimental value. Its a 28" VR barrel chambered for 2-3/4 and 3" shells. It has pitting on the barrel, a little bit inside the bore, and the butt is scratched from use and poor care before I received it. Action works great and it was used for a kid's high school trap team before he had an accident. I'm working on funding a rifle build for my son and need the cash, so this one is the one to go from the safe. $200. Located in Flagstaff, but trips to the valley happen occasionally. Buyer must fill out Firearms bill of sale and present DL or CCW. To those of you who chimed in on whether or not to keep my grandpa's 1100, thanks. Its staying.

Post-shutdown bump...

Back in 2003, my wife and I took our belated honeymoon to Alaska. She let me book us a halibut fishing trip. I hit the button on the Homer Chamber of Commerce website that said "I'm interested in fishing". The postcards and letters from everyone with a raft started piling in. I opened one letter and it had a hand written note from the captain. He was born in AZ, tried UofA and NAU, but decided to move to Alaska to go fishing. He saw that we lived in Tucson, named a couple of choice restaurants, and hoped we were safe from the 2002 Bullock Fire. I knew immediately that was our guy. Had one of the best days of fishing ever with him. Great guy with a great perspective on the world! http://www.fishinghomeralaska.com/

That's awesome, Sean! What's even better is you letting your daughter use your headphones! Congrats!!!

I can recommend a great guy, born and raised in Arizona, for a charter out of Homer. PM me if you're interested.

One of my wife's coworkers offered us his house in Rocky Point and we're looking into a spring break trip in March. Can anyone recommend a fishing outfit down there? The last time I was in Rocky Point was almost 15 years ago, and the fishing boat I found had a mostly flat tire on the trailer, the motor quit working a mile from shore (fixed with a ball peen hammer), and we sat in one spot catching tiny trigger fish for a couple of hours. I'd like to find something a little less exciting on the boat-working/trailer front, but way more exciting on the fishing front. I did a Google search last night and found 3-4 places, but only one had consistently high reviews. I know several of you here go to Rocky Point regularly and fish, so I'm hoping you'll help me out.

Dont sweat it, Nick! The pics are awesome!

Awesome and thanks, Nick! Right now, everything is up in the air with me being furloughed. Hoping to be back to work soon and continue with plans. With all of this, I'm so ready to get away!

Bump. Would be a good starter for someone's youth, too! Will entertain reasonable offers.

Let's get this sold for my friend. Give him something to smile about during the shutdown!

Our Northern Arizona NWTF chapter up here in Flagstaff finally has its own website! My wife worked in her free time to put it together for us and I can't thank her enough. We are blasting it out there and having our inaugural online raffle for a Cannon Meridian 48-gun safe. Tickets are $30 each and we're only selling 100 of them. You can go to the store and buy your tickets. There are less than 100 left already and its only been up and operational for a few weeks. The website needs a quick update that the winner has to pick up the safe. No deliveries or shipping. If you have pictures you want to see on our website, from events that you've been a part of with us, please PM me for my email and we'll work to get them up. After we get through this raffle, we'll start having regular online raffles. If you are the winner and out of town, you have the option to get a gift card for $629, rather than driving up to Flagstaff. All of the proceeds stay in Northern Arizona for scholarships for high school seniors, youth hunting camps, and wildlife projects. Also, our annual banquet will be March 9, 2019. The registration is online and also on the front page of our website. https://www.naznwtf.org/ Thanks for looking!

Aside from the stuff I've mentioned, he can also look into Flagstaff Athletic Club for general work, unless he wants to get certified to teach/coach a class. I'll keep my ears open and I'll also back up the fact that Travis Jr. is a good, respectable, young man. I'll do what I can to help him and we'll work on getting him into some house sitting for us. If I ever get back to work, he can swing by my office anytime he needs something, too!

Were you a hand model in a previous life, or still on the side? You got that rocking!

Our Northern Arizona NWTF chapter up here in Flagstaff finally has its own website! My wife worked in her free time to put it together for us and I can't thank her enough. We are blasting it out there and having our inaugural online raffle for a Cannon Meridian 48-gun safe. Tickets are $30 each and we're only selling 100 of them. You can go to the store and buy your tickets. There are less than 100 left already and its only been up and operational for a few hours. The website needs a quick update that the winner has to pick up the safe. No deliveries or shipping. If you have pictures you want to see on our website, from events that you've been a part of with us, please PM me for my email and we'll work to get them up. After we get through this raffle, we'll start having regular online raffles. https://www.naznwtf.org/ Thanks for looking!

Bump. Let's get this raffle sold out and draw a winner!

Oops. Just realized I forgot that info. No poly chokes. 28" VR w/ modified choke.