There, I Fixed It - In 3D

If you want an example of how tech and manufacturing are changing before our eyes, you don't have to look very far. 

Recently my daughter wanted a holder for her kayak paddle to keep it from rolling around the top. It's nice to have if you're fishing or want to take your hands off of the paddle to take a picture .

She happens to be a mechanical engineering student, so naturally she was going to make something.

When I was her age I would have probably made something out of a crushed beer can and duct tape. You can scratch the probably because I likely did that for the boat I had when I was in school. And never mind the age, that's probably the solution I'd arrive at today.

Nope. Not her, not now. They have access to 3D printers at school. 3D printing, if you're not familiar is the process that's very similar to regular ink printing on paper. Instead of ink the machine drops a plastic resin that solidifies into hard plastic. Instead of one pass over a sheet of paper, the 3D printer can make multiple passes to build up the piece into the final design. 

She designed a snap-on piece that swivels to accommodate the angle of the paddle no matter where it's placed on the cockpit of the boat. It's two pieces but made in one printing. Nice. Certainly better than a beer can. 

Lighting the Way to Summer

Lightening bugs have always been fascinating. Seeing the first one is the definitive harbinger of summer. When they disappear too soon in late summer it's always a wistful feeling knowing that summer is drawing to a close, no matter how much I enjoy fall. 

I saw the first firefly of this year, 2015, on May 23, from the patio at Station One while listening to the Nate McDonough band. I'm making a more concerted effort to record data on events outdoors. It's a hard habit for me to start I'll admit. But here is another start. 

While this flashing bug was flying solo, others are capable of a rhythmic group performance, like this one from Thailand.

What's Biting Here?

There has to be a better way. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) is discontinuing their weekly district fishing forecast. This will force many anglers to adopt new ways of getting information about local lakes. But frankly, I'm not sure a lot of thought or research went into some of those reports. "Channel cats are being caught off the bottom on cut-baits and chicken livers" appeared for a number of lakes from June to September. Probably accurate, but not that helpful.

With hands forced, I'm certain with smart phones and technology the outdoor community could crowdsource a better and more reliable fishing forecast machine that would benefit anglers and the ODNR.  Scan a QR code and get a map of the lake and updates from people that actually fished the lake. Over time if you could sort the results by time, date, species and lure that would provide great information for anglers arriving at the body of water and for the ODNR.

It might look something like this: Fish Fox Lake.

I recently learned that Minnesota has an app to enable anglers to participate in a creel surveys every time out. That's great and will save them money. It could also provide additional data. Or not. What's missing is an immediate benefit for the angler to know more about the body of water they are fishing right now. That would be powerful. 

Habitat Help

Cool season grasses suck for upland habitat. If where you live and hunt is covered in fescue and other grasses like in the picture to the left, you know what I mean. But managing food plots can get expensive in real $$, never mind the time

But potential good news – just saw this on the OutdoorLife website. If you have land and are looking for seed for wildlife purposes, this could be the ticket, thanks to the National Wild Turkey Federation's Conservation Seed Program. According to the article, it's typically grains like corn, milo and wheat. But any hunter in the uplands know that those can be valuable to wildlife in a number of ways, from nesting cover to winter food. The best part - it's free.

You can read the article in its entirety here: http://www.outdoorlife.com/articles/hunting/2015/04/land-management-how-find-free-food-plot-seed