Looking for another way to log things I’ve done or thought about and sharing them, I’ve decided to start this blog. I know a few blogs that I read and some are pretty entertaining or helpful (for me at least). Here are a couple quick things to introduce the blog
The title: Fat of the Land
Living with what the world provides. This is something we strive to do as much as possible. I hunt and fish for meat. I also fish for the enjoyment of the activity, I’m pretty selective as to what I harvest. We gather wild edible plants. We grow what little edible plants we can without currently having any land to do it on. We also use the world outside for our enjoyment as much as possible. We’d prefer to not spend hours in front of a TV everyday. We exercise, hike, climb, canoe, bike, swim, etc. Life has been good to me.
The color: Black
I consider myself generally optimist. I would never go fishing for Cycleptus elongatus if I wasn’t an optimist.
That said I like to keep in mind those who are less fortunate than I. We help as much as we can but there will always be problems in the world. In the words of the late Johnny Cash:
That’s the reason for the somber appearance of the website. I’m not a negative person, per se, I just think it is important to not let our own highs and lows prevent us from thinking about those who are less fortunate, and helping as much as we can. It doesn’t take much to provide some of your time, income, or both to help good causes. And there are so many to pick from!
The Food
I’m really into DIY (do-it-yourself) type projects. I tie flies for fishing, build fishing rods, build furniture, and so it would seem natural for that to overflow to food, cooking is something I really enjoy.
Besides growing, gathering, and hunting a lot of my food I really like to make things from scratch. Down to grinding grains for bread, canning, make condiments (ketchup, barbecue sauce, etc). This blog will store some of my bigger successes in this realm.
The Fishing and Hunting
Hunting seems like a small part of my life, the seasons are so short. But it is a big source of protein for us. It has always felt more honest to me than buying a piece of meat in the store. You are way less connected to the process. Killing and processing the animal yourself gives you great appreciation and a great sense of respect for the whole deal. (For most people) Once you’ve done it yourself it becomes a big deal to waste anything. Actually as I gather more wild plants and grow more, I begin to appreciate that more too.
Fishing has always been huge to me. Both as a source of protein and as a form of recreation. I currently live pretty far from my closest friends but we make sure to see each other, at minimum, for our annual fishing weekend/contest. Its all in the name of fun and camaraderie, of course. So it is a big deal to me. I also keep track of each species of fish I have caught. You can see a text list and a picture slideshow to the right, I generally put up pictures of fish that are either good quality shots or fly rod caught fish, rather than the largest I’ve caught (unless its a great shot and/or a fly rod fish). I have a few rules for myself, these are personal rules, loosely based off the original roughfish.com lifelist rules.
- The fish must be caught by angling – this means hook inside the mouth (no snagging, spearing, shooting)
- I must have a picture of the fish – otherwise it is just a “fish story”
- Each new species counts, except minnow species which do not commonly reach 1 lb - why? they are too hard to ID, there are way too many and it may require genetic tests to tell them apart. So by that logic a common shiner does not count, a colorado pikeminnow does
I mentioned a preference for fly rod fish. I’m not one of those elitist types who thinks they are superior to other anglers because I fly fish. Fact is: I lure fish, bait fish, ice fish, and fly fishing is just a personal favorite not something more. Important things in fishing are: respect the land, respect the fish, respect other people, and have fun. People who fail in those regards are the only people I think have it wrong.
-Tony
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