Snake Guides: May 2012

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Memorial

The fam packed up and headed north to the McSteel residence for a long weekend of hanging out. On day one, Shox and I were able to steel away for a few hours of Smallmouth fishing on one of the local lakes. The water was clear, the day was bright and the fish were good sized. We only landed a few as it was getting toward the end of the spawning cycle but a couple of hours on clean water with a fly-rod is a magical elixir for the soul regardless of numbers. On day two the ladies had some running to do in preparation for their upcoming marathon which left the men in charge of the kids. (Or, I should say the old children in charge of the young children). And, as anyone who knows us would quickly deduce, we took them to the lake. With one fly rod between us, we managed a few casts and got the kids in on the action cranking a few in.

Friday, May 25, 2012

More Night'n

Ducked into the lake last night for some night'n. After chasing these with bait as a kid, It's fun to nail them on flies.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Back on the local beat

I spent the last two nights at the local lake. After the kids were cleaned up and ready for bed, I grabbed my stripping basket, a 6wt and a box of deceivers and decided to see if the walleyes and white bass were kicking around.

I think it's still a bit early but I managed to land, 1 walleye, 1 crappie, 1 bluegill, 2 small mouth and a PILE of white bass. The white bass are quite a bit smaller than last year making me wonder if the bigger fish move into the shallows later or if this is a new dominant year class. Time will tell.

1st SMB of the season...

Night 2 WB

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Side Note

An interesting side note from my last trip to the Bahamas:
While snapping photo's of C.A. landing (what might have been the last bonefish of the trip), I happened to notice a bottle underwater on the flat a few feet from where we were standing. It seemed strange and out of place since this particular area of the Bahamas is very pristine and there are no signs of humanity...every once in a while a jet flies over, but there are no boats and certainly no litter/garbage. I picked it up, and noticed that it didn't have the typical "screw cap" lip. I decided to take it back to the lodge for further inspection. I asked the guides if it looked like a bottle that was sold in the Bahamas and they said they didn't recognize it. I wrapped it in my neoprene wading socks and packed it home.
After unpacking and getting settled back in, I cleaned up the bottle, snapped a few pics, sent out a few emails to some bottle experts I found online and did a little research.

Here, in the words of the experts is what I found:

"Nice find! You're right it is a 3 part moulded black glass bottle. The applied top means that after it was blown in the 3 part mould it was held by a helper while the lip was applied by the glassblower...by looking at the base you can see that there is no pontil scar...this indicates that the helper held the bottle by a 'snapcase' rather than a 'pontil rod' while the lip was applied
.
The 'snapcase' came into use in the 1850s - 1860s and was used until 1903 after which all bottles were made by machines. So your bottle dates in between those dates...just from experience I can say that your particular bottle dates to the 1870s.

It was probably used for wine or rum.

Hope this is helpful,

Steve"
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(in a follow up email):

"Not sure what TQ stands for but is probably the glasshouse initials...it would sell for around $100 but probably more value to you as a nice early find. Also I forgot to mention that it would have been made in England and probably tossed overboard while they were protecting their colonies.
Steve"
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(and also)

"....your bottle is a European made liquor or spirits bottle. It is possibly of English manufacture, but that is hard to say as foreign bottles – non-U.S. made bottles that is – are not my real specialty. I’m familiar with the style however which was used for various spirits though in particular scotch and probably Irish whisky...possibly rum too. It almost certainly dates from the 1870s to 1890s period.

It was indeed produced in a “three-piece” mold as indicated by the horizontal mold seam at the base of the shoulder (or upper body) and the two opposite vertical mold seams running up the neck to the sloppy applied two-part lip or “finish.”

I have no ideas what the initials on the base stand for, though they could be indicative of the glass manufacturer or the user of the bottle.

Often the illustration in the bottle makers catalogs and the actual bottle were somewhat different in look...but that “scotch whisky” is the general style of your bottle.

Hope that helps a bit....Bill"

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To put it in perspective here is what was happening in the 1870's when this bottle was made:

Thomas Edison invented the phonograph

Jules Verne published "Around the World in Eighty Days"

US Presidents Ulysses S Grant and Rutherford B Hayes held office

Battle of the Little Bighorn/Custer's Last Stand occured.

Interesting stuff...