I’ve been doing a really poor job of keeping up the Troutrageous! blog so far this February. Not because nothing’s going on, but rather because too much is going on. Allow me to try and recap the last 7 days…
1. The Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl.
Working in ecommerce specifically tied to the NFL, this was not only a celebratory event as a Birds fan, but one that kept me insanely busy in the days immediately post game. It was definitely worth it, and It’s not too late to get your gear by the way…
2. I launched the 2025 print issue of Tenkara Angler magazine.
Who said print is dead? We’re still cranking out paper magazines over at Tenkara Angler, and this was a really fun issue to work on. With about a dozen original articles and just under 100 pages, the tenkara community creatives really came out for this one. I’m so happy to have a vehicle to help tell their stories.
3. I flew to Philadelphia to celebrate said Super Bowl with 1.5 million of my closest friends.
The parade was awesome, very memorable in a slightly different way than 2018’s. I stood in the cold for 9 hours just to see the team go by on buses for maybe 10 minutes and then watch speeches on jumbotrons. And it was totally worth it. I might write a standalone post about it at some point, if nothing more than to share some choicer photos than the two above.
4. I ate all the delicious things Philadelphia and the surrounding area had to offer.
Cheesesteaks, pretzels, hoagies. Get in my belly. The Italian hoagie pictured is actually from the suburbs, Sonny’s Italian Deli in Limerick. They’re great. Unlike some of the newer delis that insist on serving dense meat logs, this one has good meat, cheese, veggie, and bread ratios. The meat was cut a little thick, but I’ll forgive them as the roll was delicious.
5. I went to another fishing show on Saturday.
Coincidentally, the fishing show in Philly I used to go to back in the day was the same weekend I was in town. But I really didn’t take any photos other than this guy’s rad jacket. The show was mostly about pretty much anything except trout (a lot of striper guides and gear booths) so very little fly fishing other than these guys. But that’s cool, I knew what I was getting into going in… and left with a fistful of elk jerky.
6. Started a new binge watch.
With no more football to watch on TV and some down time during the aforementioned travel, I started to binge watch American Primeval on Netflix. It’s only 6 or so episodes, and I’m halfway done, but since it’s a bit on the rough and tumble side, I had to put it down on Sunday because…
7. We hosted family for an afternoon.
That’s right, the very next day after getting back to Jacksonville from Philly, K.C. & I hosted my brother & sister-in-law’s family as they made their circuit through Florida. They took advantage of the long President’s Day weekend to visit. The boys (not pictured) are growing up super fast. We played with Legos most of the afternoon and ate a sushi boat for lunch. Ahoy!
8. My click & pawl reel collection continues to grow.
For being a “tenkara guy”, this recent dive back into reels has begun to take over most of my fishing life. This guy slid me a deal on a Scientific Anglers System 4 reel that was manufactured by Hardy. I just started fiddling with it last week. For now, it’s joining the ranks of the click n’ pawl army. (It’s the second one from the left). I can’t wait to get these purring this spring.
Anyway, I feel like I have a lot to write about in the upcoming days, some of it might even be about fishing. So more to come to be certain.
Up to anything fun on your end? Let’s discuss in the comments…