Texas Fish in a Periodic Table
This little piece of work I’ve put together was inspired by another periodic table making its way around the twitter. I quickly forgot what it was when I got the idea for a Periodic Table of Texas Freshwater Fish. After a quick web search I found a fly and fish periodic table on a t-shirt; but that didn’t quite fit the bill for what I wanted. Wanting something more Texas-fish centric I set to task on an excel spreadsheet. What I have made is simple and merely applies grunt logic. Basically, that means if you think about it really hard- you can probably find a better way to do it. But it does work for me and it helped sooth my Terminal Angling Syndrome for an hour.
Sadly, yes this took me an hour to plug-in and figure out what fish goes where. You’d also be surprised how hard it can be to avoid duplicating two-letter codes. However, if it works for you- give it a like or a retweet on the interwebs. See the full size chart here.
See you on the high ground,
AirborneAngler
Blood on the Risers
I was reminded today of an old whimsical airborne classic, “Blood on the Risers.” To the tune of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”, this song is a favorite of this paratrooper that I wanted to share. I have obtained the lyrics and reference information from Wikipedia here.
Blood on the Risers
“He was just a rookie trooper and he surely shook with fright,
He checked off his equipment and made sure his pack was tight;
He had to sit and listen to those awful engines roar,
“You ain’t gonna jump no more!”
(CHORUS)
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,
With your rifle in your right hand as you’re falling through the sky.
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,
And he ain’t gonna jump no more!
“Is everybody happy?” cried the Sergeant looking up,
Our Hero feebly answered “Yes,” and then they stood him up;
He jumped into the icy blast, his static line unhooked,
And he ain’t gonna jump no more.
(CHORUS)
He counted long, he counted loud, he waited for the shock,
He felt the wind, he felt the cold, he felt the awful drop,
The silk from his reserve spilled out and wrapped around his legs,
And he ain’t gonna jump no more.
(CHORUS)
The risers wrapped around his neck, connectors cracked his dome,
Suspension lines were tied in knots around his skinny bones;
The canopy became his shroud; he hurtled to the ground.
And he ain’t gonna jump no more.
(CHORUS)
The days he’d lived and loved and laughed kept running through his mind,
He thought about the girl back home, the one he’d left behind;
He thought about the medics, and wondered what they’d find,
And he ain’t gonna jump no more.
(CHORUS)
The ambulance was on the spot, the jeeps were running wild,
The medics jumped and screamed with glee, rolled up their sleeves and smiled,
For it had been a week or more since last a ‘chute had failed,
And he ain’t gonna jump no more.
(CHORUS)
He hit the ground, the sound was “SPLAT”, his blood went spurting high;
His comrades, they were heard to say “A hell of a way to die!”
He lay there, rolling ’round in the welter of his gore,
And he ain’t gonna jump no more.
(CHORUS)
(slowly, solemnly; about half the speed of the other verses)
There was blood upon the risers, there were brains upon the chute,
Intestines were a-dangling from his paratrooper suit,
He was a mess, they picked him up and poured him from his boots,
And he ain’t gonna jump no more.
(CHORUS)
And at the gates of heaven, to Saint Peter he shall tell,
One more soldier reporting sir! I’ve served my time in hell,
Saint Peter will just smile and say you have served you country well,
And he ain’t gonna jump no more.,
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,
And he ain’t gonna jump no more!”
And there you have it folks. If you hear this on the water- it just might be me.
All the Way!
AirborneAngler
Bartholomew
For anyone who cares what I listen to when I fly fish- below are the lyrics to “Bartholomew” by The Silent Comedy.
“Oh my God
Please help me, knee deep in the river tryin’ to get clean
He says wash your hands, get out the stains
But you best believe, boy, there’s hell to pay
Yeah you best believe, boy, there’s hell to pay, sayin’
Come on
Oh my God
Please help me, waist deep in the river, can you hear my plea?
He says, son, you come like a beggar in the streets
You might make it, boy, but by the skin of your teeth
You might make it, boy, but by the skin of your teeth, sayin’
I rambled with the worst of them
Fell in love with a harlequin
Saw the darkest hearts of men
And I saw myself starin’ back again
And I saw myself starin’ back again
Oh my god
Please help me, neck deep in the river screamin’ for relief
He says, it’s mine to give, but it’s yours to choose
You’re gonna sink or swim, you’re gonna learn the truth
No matter what you do you’re gonna learn the truth sayin’
Ate the bread that once was stone
Fell from a cliff, never broke a bone
Bowed down to get the kings overthrown
And I’m all alone and the fire grows
And I’m all alone and the fire grows
La la la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la la la la
Sing sweet charity (La la la la la la la la la la la)
Take what’s left of me (La la la la la la la la la la la)
A new beginning or is this the end? (La la la la la la la la la la la)
Sing sweet Seraphim (La la la la la la la la la la la)
Take me back again (La la la la la la la la la la la)
or watch me make the messes of men (La la la la la la la la la la la)”
Blogging today brought to you at 10,000 feet AGL (above ground level).
See you on the high ground,
AirborneAngler
Bugs
Bugs. Critters. Creepy-crawlers. We tie things to look like them- call them flies, and we fish with them. But sometimes bugs catch more than trout. They catch people too. We call them stomach bugs!
This is a completely non-fly fishing review. I don’t care your party affiliation but you need to catch an episode of HBO’s the “Veep.” If you watch the show you’ll see it’s nothing to do with left or right- just good humor. Episode two the ‘Veep’, (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), catches a stomach bug that’s floating along through DC area and the Hill. That’s my my lame tie into today’s Everyday In May topic prompt. However, if you dare attempt to take my word you won’t regret it. Having been in dire need of a laugh the award moments and dry humor did manage to crack a smile.
See you on the high ground,
AirborneAngler
Today’s topic of Bugs is a modified prompt of the Everyday in May challenge. For more info click here. For all AirborneAngler Everyday in May posts click here.
Over Watch Lizard
Something completely different was the intended post topic for the Everyday in May challenge today. I may have missed the mark on the suggested intent- but I think I’m dead on in a literal sense. What’s more completely different than a lizard in over watch?
This little guy was observing my fly angling operations the other day on Red Bud Isle. There is a fair amount of concrete in the area near the base of the bridge with sparse random bushes and sapling trees. I don’t know what drew my attention to him other than my grunt sense of being watched. But not the spied on kind of watched. But like I have you back kind of being watched. Paratrooper over watch are the guys covering you while you move. You know- like in the movies. Well I felt he had my back and it was a good day fishing.
See you on the high ground,
AirborneAngler
Today’s topic of Over Watch Lizard is a modified prompt of the Everyday in May challenge. For more info click here. For all AirborneAngler Everyday in May posts click here.
Cutty
So here we have it fish fans, the latest trout skin rendition fresh off my iPad via sketchbook pro. On request I’ve tried to finger-paint recreate some Cutthroat Trout action for a nice little back drop on your iPhone, iPad, smartphone device and or tablet. No apologies here if something is off because the Cutty is on my bucket list.
Honestly though- if you can do better I’d really like to see it. Fly fishing for me is more than being on the water, it’s an art too. Being on the water is the best part of it; no doubt, but it’s about the chase as well. Its about all the prep work and fly tying. After a good catch its about the story telling, fish tales of fish tails. Picture taking and picture painting. So put it out there and share your Cutty art.
Until then, I’ll see you on the high ground,
AirborneAngler
Previous FishSkins:
Brown Trout
Brookie
Brookie
Originally posted on 08 March 2012 at Lines In The Dirt.
I’m claiming artistic license on this one. Purists will argue I have it all wrong and my spots are off with the shot gun pattern spray of halos; but I don’t care. This is my Brookie interpretation and I like it. After all fishing is about enjoying the moment and the chase. (Much like all our short lived high school flings.) At least it is for me anyways. But, I’ve enjoyed attempting this Brook Trout skin after there was a quasi request comment on my Brown Trout piece last week. Same set up on the Sketchbook Pro and watermark overlay with PhotoStudio. On a final note, my first fish experience ended with a pretty Brookie in Estes Park, Co. That’s what has started this crush I have on fly fishing. It’s why I day dream and make wallpapers like this for my phone. Pathetic puppy love with fish; ain’t it grand? What’s your fish story?
Previous FishSkins:
Brown Trout
Brown Trout Fish Art
Originally posted on 02 March 2012 at Lines In The Dirt.
I am always impressed with the FlyArt fellow Austinite Shawn cranks out here on Lines in the Dirt. In fact, I even told him I didn’t like his talent ‘in a good way’. I get jealous, inspired, and awed all at the same time. So being inspired I’ve attempted to play with Autodesk Sketchbook Pro as he does and tried to see what I could do. But I cheated some as you can see and added a water drop overlay from my iPhone PhotoStudio app.
What I’ve come up with is my best attempt (and new phone background) at the sexy brown trout I’ve been seeing in all the Vimeo clips and pics online. Do the math on that and you’ve got it- I have yet to catch one. I’ve caught 1 Brookie and plenty of Rainbows but the Brown Trout is still on my MIA list. I am, however, only a first year angler. Accordingly, this consumes my thoughts and has manifested itself here. I hope to find myself in a chance contact fight with one for a quick catch, pic, and release someday.
Until then, I’ll see you on the high ground.
-AirborneAngler
About the AirborneAngler: You can follow this career infantryman and fly thrower on Twitter at @AirborneAngler, or read his fly fishing folly reports/freelance blogging at TexasRiverBum.com.
Why the AirborneAngler Blog?
I started using twitter. After that…
“Because sometimes 140 charaters just aint enough.” @sbixel
Thanks, I’ll see you on the high ground. -AA
The AirborneAngler 
