I've started a new blog
https://outandabout.uk/
Great timing right at the start of he lockdown. :lol:
It will be about all sorts of general outdoors stuff - fishing, photography, walking etc. I'm also republishing some of my old articles for years ago so I don't lose them.
I guess content will be a bit thin on the ground until this health crisis passes, but at lest it's started now. :)
Looks very professional Fred & a good read
Hoolet
Good to see these articles gathered together here in an accessible way. I hope the CV19 Polis don't believe the dates shown. They will arrest you for taking too much exercise!
Thanks guys. Feel free to comment on anything you read there.
Fred looks very pro .....will investigate later on with a nice malt of choice
It's a Wordpress site Colin There are lots of themes available and they are simple to set up and configure. Pretty much no web skills required. I can't be bothered with all that programming stuff any more. :lol:
Very nice Fred, like your style of writing.
An interesting and well presented blog Fred. You and I have the same attitude to fishing now; more an excuse to be out in the hills than a desire actually to catch fish. The main difference is that I always take delight in making my tea with a micro Kelly Kettle. There is something very satisfying in collecting heather twigs and using the smoke to hide from the midges!
I understand your point about (most) forums. I really don't know why, apart from boredom at present, I keep returning to FFF; it has become people just arguing for the sake of argument and no actual facts will ever persuade the regular posters to change their view anyway. But I am also a member of an eMTB forum where there is masses of helpful advice always available plus an appreciation that what suits one person might not be right for another.
Anyway, back to resorting my ready-use fly box for whenever we might get out. Although why I bother I don't know. Despite having probably thousands of flies (really), I rarely use more than half a dozen patterns all season!
David
Quote from: burnie on April 02, 2020, 11:37:33 AM
Very nice Fred, like your style of writing.
Thanks Richard, it's a bit old fashioned, I have been massively influenced by the likes of Seaton Gordon, Hamish Brown and the like.
Quote from: arawa on April 02, 2020, 12:16:09 PM
The main difference is that I always take delight in making my tea with a micro Kelly Kettle.
I was thinking about about getting a jetboil, but no rush for that new. :lol: You really can't beat a fresh cuppy on the hill. Even just stopping to go through the ritual is therapeutic and helps make the day more relaxing.
Can be a bit old fashioned maself, no doubt you guys would have some pipes in the background, I was thinking of a bit of Pink Floyd....................................
Old fashioned just seems to fit well with hill walking and fishing. I like Zeppelin, ACDC and Lemmy as much as the next guy, but Nick Drake and Bach's Brandenburg Concertos sit better with wild fishing :lol:
Well done Fred, a nice read class always triumphs. I was always taught by my parents if I was doing something do it with a bit of class to this day I still try not always successful but try I might.
Tight Lines
Thanks for the comments Alan that's very kind of you. :)
Stuirteag and mushy feet one of the old classics,must be the only person daft enough to have ever cast a line there :lol:
Quote from: lnelson20 on April 02, 2020, 02:20:15 PM
must be the only person daft enough to have ever cast a line there :lol:
Very likely Chris. Feckin barking. :lol:
I have added another of my archive articles.
https://outandabout.uk/fishing/cairngorm-and-munth-trout/
Quote from: admin on April 02, 2020, 12:40:31 PM
I was thinking about about getting a jetboil, but no rush for that new. :lol: You really can't beat a fresh cuppy on the hill. Even just stopping to go through the ritual is therapeutic and helps make the day more relaxing.
I think you are right Fred, most of the reason I'm always making tea is to break up the day and slow things down a bit. It is amazing the stuff you see while having tea that you might have missed out on. David maybe has a better plan using the Kelly as the "ritual" around that is even more fun plus you get real flames and that's way ahead of the jetboil type devices :-)
For what it is worth I have an MSR Windburner and have been really impressed with it. I've never used a Jetboil so I can't compare the two which doesn't much help you but the MSR has pretty much met with my expectations. It isn't as much fun to use as David's Kelly but it is fast and efficient.
If you want to go really basic then for a long time I used a Crusader stove - it is basically a cup that sits on a dish with air holes and it was designed to burn hexamine. The Crusader is relatively slow compared to the Windburner but you do get a real flame. One thing that is useful with the Crusader is that you can burn chafing gel in it - it is the stuff used to keep breakfast warm in hotels and is basically alcohol with something to thicken it up a bit. As the catering industry use it so it is sold in big buckets for not much money and you can decant it into smaller containers for use in the field.
There is at least one jetboil clone that gets a good write up and is much less expensive than the original jetboil.
My stoves and making up are kept for camp. On the hill I take a plastic litre bottle of juice mix usually 70% water plus orange plus some ginger. Do not stop for a brew fishing or climbing just take a seat for an eats break. No-one I climbed with ever took tea making stuff except once when one guy took a Trangia on a winter traverse of An Teallach. We sat and had our first scoff stop on the first Munro top then made to press on at which point Andy's pot had a hint of warmth from some partly melted snow. We all laughed and he caught up an hour or more later when we thought we should really have a sit down and wait for him. Canoeing friends take all sorts of kit mostly Jetboil types of stoves and foodstuffs. Just taking drink means reducing weight carried during the day.
Fishing wise I only had proper pulling in lunches on Lough Mask where there are lots of islands with well used meal spots for the Kelly being used. Must be almost 9 years since I used it last.
Added another article
https://outandabout.uk/general/24-hours-at-the-storm-loch/
Well, your blog url has been pinned to my favourite sites.
Nectar to someone stuck down in Englandshire, God knows when I'll get a chance for a walk in the hills.
Exploring these places by proxy, with a cup of tea and biscuit or a drink at hand, does at least involve no pain! :8) :8)
Glad you like it Euan :D
Blog has been updated with yet another fishing article
https://outandabout.uk/general/loch-a-chlaidheimh/
Blog updated
https://outandabout.uk/general/day-14-of-the-lockdown/
Blog updated
https://outandabout.uk/fishing/ticking-lists/
It's great ! A very welcome diversion from these troubled times.
I'm enjoying the daily reads. 👍🏻
Iv'e got a few more old articles to post I'll do it over the coming days.
Blog updated
https://outandabout.uk/fishing/casting-on-grass/
Just noticed this Fred! Looks very well laid out and very interesting too! Will have a good rummage through this today!
Thank you Allan.
Fred just watched your wee vid with the trout jumping in slow motion on the big telly in the hoose [70 inch] have to say mighty impressed :applause :applause
Thanks Colin. :)
what a cracking wee blog and I really enjoyed reading all the pages some cracking lochs that you visited . nice to see picture out on trips with your son does he still go fishing with you now Fred .a liked the pictures of the old mill very interesting I like looking round old building or disused rail track and just thinking what things were like back then more than visiting a old castle or historic places where you can get all the information there and then. cheers Andy
Thanks Andy. My son has not been fishing for a good few years. He has a 4 1/2 year old daughter that keeps him busy. She wants her granddad to take her fishing when she is bigger. :)
I have updated the blog a few times since I last posted
https://outandabout.uk/general/intruder-alert/
Blog updated again
https://outandabout.uk/general/new-lens-at-last/
Blog updated yet again.
https://outandabout.uk/general/osprey-with-pike/
Blog updated
https://outandabout.uk/general/a-walk-in-the-glen/
Blog updated
https://outandabout.uk/general/kingfisher-feeding-up-before-the-lockdown/
Blog updated
https://outandabout.uk/general/sea-of-tranquillity/
Very nice Fred loving the Lee filter shot
Thanks Colin the old long exposure is a great fall back when things are not ideal. :D
Blog updated
https://outandabout.uk/general/elephant-at-the-misty-waterhole/
Blog updated
https://outandabout.uk/general/sandra/
Blog updated
https://outandabout.uk/general/fishtown-of-usan/
Blog Updated
https://outandabout.uk/general/rain-five-mile-limits-and-eagles/
Blog updated
https://outandabout.uk/general/lunan-bay-after-lockdown/
Blog updated
https://outandabout.uk/general/st-cyrus/
Blog Updated
https://www.wildfisher.co.uk/outandabout/walking/carn-na-drochaide/
A good read! I enjoyed that! 👍
Thanks Allan. :)
Blog updated
https://www.wildfisher.co.uk/outandabout/general/late-60s-hippy-no-more/
Blog updated
https://www.wildfisher.co.uk/outandabout/general/clais-fhearnaig-circuit/
Blog Updated
https://www.wildfisher.co.uk/outandabout/general/carn-ferg-circuit/
Looks a great walk Fred, really must do a bit exploring in that area.
It is a fine walk. Not too arduous, but enough to get the blood pumping. The views down Deeside are very nice. :)
That looks like a fine good walk! It was certainly a great read!
Glad you enjoyed it Allan. :)
Blog Updated
https://www.wildfisher.co.uk/outandabout/general/set-the-controls-for-the-heart-of-the-sun/