First post of the new year! I'd been having some skunking issues both in the fishing world and on the creative side the last couple of months. I was contemplating retiring the rods and taking up knitting (not really, I can't sit still that long and tackle makes me happy), but thankfully the skunk has worn off in both areas! 

First the fishing:

It's been a weird year for the fish, or at least for me and the fish - a lot of rain, high water levels, and warmer than average temperatures for this early in the year. It just seems like the fish haven't been where you think they would be. But, these last few fronts seem to have finally sent things into the winter spin. Pompano, drum, trout, and reds are thick in the lagoon right now. And anybody else have that problem where every time you go out, there seems to be 25mph sustained winds with 45mph gusts? Next day - glass, 2-3mph winds. Yesterday was one of those days - freezing cold and miserably windy, but at least we caught fish! Several shad among other things on the 5wts. I had one shad on, and it was pulling drag...then it was REALLY pulling drag - like, a knuckle-busting, since-when-are-there-false-albies-in-fresh- water kind of pulling drag.  Then, suddenly, the reeling got a lot easier and I boated that sucker only to find the back 1/3 of the fish was shredded - maybe a big bowfin? That one was done and came home to be chum. Last year most of the fish were males when we went out, and on the medium/small side. The fish this time for the most part were huge! 

And the Art:

I just recently started a new painting inspired by a photograph from @ryannitz on Instagram. It doesn't have a name yet, so I will refer to it as "They See Me Rollin" ...they hatin', patrollin'...but anyway, it's a study in perspective, complimentary colors, and moving water. Moving water is always a challenge - trying to feel what it's doing and conveying that to an audience can get tricky with the patterns and reflections. So, we shall see how it goes. So far, I am continuing to block in the major colors and it's looking good as far as I can tell. This is also one of the largest non-mural pieces I've done - I am so close to the canvas when I paint, and with this piece I am constantly getting up and walking across the room to look at it and make sure nothing's getting wonky. So far, so good!

They tryin' to catch me ridin' dirty...