Phil's Full of It

Old man winter just won't quit. He dished out another frosty beat-down this week, and February is picking up right where January left off, crawling along at a sloth-like pace. I'm told Punxsutawney Phil popped out of his hole this week and did not see his shadow, thereby ensuring that we'll see an early spring this year. All I can say is it's a good thing for Phil he didn't pop up anywhere around here. I'm so desperate for sport right now I'd have put a slug between his eyes. I have to admit, it has proven to be a pretty tall order trying to maintain a semi-entertaining fly fishing blog when there's not a whole lot of fly fishing to be done. I know we could post links to this-that-and-the-other-thing.com and blah blah blah you to death, but the truth is we're hardly "pro bloggers," just a couple guys who like fishing and taking pictures and we're just as depressed as you are to be stuck inside with cabin fever. The closest I came to fishing today was sorting about 150 packs of dubbing by item number.

That said, it's come to my attention that there are more people paying attention to this silly little blog than we originally thought, so I figure the least we can do is try to humor you. So if you haven't already found these cabin fever cures (they're hardly secrets), here's a couple links that should help you kill a few hours on a cold, fishless night:

1. Catch Magazine - Hands down the best collaboration of Fly Fishing Photog's out there. Makes the pictures you see on here look like child's play and really highlights what a pro can accomplish behind the lens in this sport.

2. This Is Fly - Different, cool, well-done. The kind of stories you can knock out one-at-a-time while sitting on the throne... except it's a digital magazine, so you should probably wait 'til after your done.

3. Ten and Two - Another cool digital mag. Checkout the Catskills article in the current issue, you might recognize some scenes from previous DW posts...

4. Sleeping in the Dirt - Check out the blog and then subscribe to the digital mag. This is friend Aaron Otto's baby. I got to hang out with him for a few days during the summer of 2009 - great photographer and even better dude. You will probably recognize his work from some other popular publications.

5. Orvis News - I am admittedly a little bias with respect to this one, but the bottom line is it's a perfect first stop on your daily blog roll. A nice mix of media, including top-notch photos and stories from some talented and dynamic contributors. Plus, I don't know about you but even I need a (brief) break from the "just fly fishing" blogs now and then. I like to click over to the hunting & conservation blogs. I always learn something and

the hunting pictures especially are spectacular.

So, there it is. Chances are you probably already knew about all of those, but at least they'll be easy to get to next time you get curious. Do me a favor and drop a comment below if any of those were new to you and let us know what you think!

Oh, and I promised a fishing report in my last blog. I ended up braving the elements after all, so here's a brief synopsis:

- Found some fishy-looking new water

- Test drove some new creations; They swam nicely.

- At one point went 6 casts in a row without having to break ice out of my guides!

-Nearly froze my dog to death

- Turned my 11 ft. 4-piece switch rod into an 11 ft. 5-piece switch rod.