EclecticGuy

I got my iPhone 4 the day it came out – replacing my iPhone 3GS, which replaced my iphone 3G, which replaced my original iPhone (see a pattern here?). With each iPhone, the camera has improved markedly. The camera in the new iPhone 4 is really nice, well, both of them are! There is the standard camera on the back-side of the phone and the iPhone 4 introduces a front-side camera for videoconferencing and taking photos of yourself.

This new camera is 5 megapixels (back, the front camera is VGA) and shoots HD Video – yes, HD Video! The same touch … Continue Reading

I am continually amazed at how easy and reliable it is to upgrade WordPress. This upgrade to 3.0 was no different! It took less than 1 minute start to finish. Highly recommended!

Willard Brook is a small stream that runs through Willard Brook State Forest in Massachusetts. You drive right through it on 119 and, for a short distance, it is like being transported to another place. I’ve often wondered if there were any fish in the stream with its small cascades and plunge pools. You never see anglers – most likely because it is very small with lots of underbrush.

My son and I drove through WBSF yesterday morning on the way to drop him off at Boy Scout camp. Nick asked, “Do you think there are any trout in there Dad?”. … Continue Reading

My book, The Reelsmith’s Primer, is now shipping! I spent the better part of the weekend packaging books for all of the pre-orders and fulfilling the new orders that came in after the availability announcement on Friday. Now I have one more major event to look forward to – “The Reviews”! I did have very positive feedback from the dozens of people who I gave access to the draft version of the book, so I hold out hope that the reviews will be favorable.

In any event, … Continue Reading

As I’ve mentioned in past blogs, I was asked to contribute to a fishing exhibit being created for the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site.A group of 5 of us – The Van Buren Boys – are creating a period rod, reel, horse hair line, creel, flies and baits. Our ringleader, Dr. Todd, is documenting the work and Van Buren’s fishing history in a book that will be offered at the museum.

My contribution is the reel and a horse hair line. I’ve already blogged about how I rediscovered line making, so I won’t cover … Continue Reading

The new Tenkara Fly Fishing DVD by Tenkara USA is very well done! I just received my copy and watched it last night. I actually attended the presentation by Dr. Ishigaki at the Catskill Fly Fishing Center in May last year. That is where I got my introduction to tenkara and got hooked on it. Since then, most of my local river (small stream) fishing has been tenkara.

The section “Tenkara in the Land of Little Rivers” was shot in the Catskills. One of the attendees, … Continue Reading

A new customer commissioned me to make this special furler for him. He makes furled leaders for sale on his Streamside Leader web store. He wanted a 3 strand furler with a central hook to do a power reverse twist! We worked together for a few weeks to come up with this basic design.

… Continue Reading

For the last several weeks I’ve noticed strange things on my blog. For instance, when editing a post, my theme’s header appeared in the edit area! Occasionally I would see load failures on admin and blog pages. Yesterday, when I returned from SuperBoo VII, I logged in to post and there were no editing tools! I loaded a previous post and the text area was blank – or so I thought. Turned out the text was all white and I could see it if I selected … Continue Reading

Here is the book overview, description and author information for my book.

BOOK OVERVIEW

148 pages • 107 B&W photographs and illustrations • includes full scale reel plans and design templates • 8.5” x 11” hardcover • spiral bound to lie flat on your workbench

BOOK DESCRIPTION

In The Reelsmith’s Primer, author Michael L. J. Hackney has finally made reelsmithing accessible to the inspired angler. With a few basic hand tools, an electric drill, and Michael’s proven techniques, material selections, and clear step-by-step … Continue Reading

Here it is, my new book! It went to press on Friday and it will take about 5 weeks to print. With its completion, I’ve fulfilled one of my personal goals – to write a how-to book. I’m not sure why that has been a goal, perhaps it has something to do with being a fan of the second Bob Newhart show, “Newhart“. In this series, Bob played an innkeeper and a do-it-yourself book author in Vermont. Throw in fly fishing and it would … Continue Reading