Mike Sudal field notes

New Work

2012-01-24T15:37:00.000-08:00

Kicking off 2012 with some new work below, each in a different style/technique. I've never been a big follower of illustrators having just one style, and have been lucky enough to experiment new techniques often. Enjoy.

The Wall Street Journal:

New military technology for fighting a new kind of war

(ink, watercolor, & Adobe Illustrator)

The science of holiday shopping lines

(Adobe Illustrator)

Scientific American Magazine (Feb Issue):

Anatomy of Bed Bugs

(graphite and watercolor)

Field & Stream (Feb Issue):

Hunting turkey from an elevated platform

(Adobe Illustrator)

Red Lobster Crab Fest: a Facebook infographic story

2011-09-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago GREY contacted me with a unique idea to create a Snow Crab 101 infographic for Red Lobster's Facebook page. Given the chance to illustrate the life of a snow crab and work with an amazing company such as GREY, I was fast to jump on the opportunity.

GREY sent me a word document rich with researched details and a rough idea to use as a starting point. They wanted a "how to eat" section to accompany the main art, and since the main usage of the piece was Facebook, a roughly 8 x 10 inch dimension was the target size. Tight fit for the goals we wanted to achieve but a challenge I was looking forward to.

I sketched out a few fast layouts and chose to go with a sidebar for our how-to-eat information. We wanted to have a snow crab as our dominant main art, and I wanted it to tie-in with the main art so it didn't feel separate on the page. GREY was pretty open with layouts, so knowing this was a strong idea I immediately went into sketching a tight rough:

Shooting reference – a great excuse to steam up a few crabs:

Again, when working with clients who are getting constant feedback from their clients (in this case – Red Lobster), I feel the tight pencil roughs save a lot of time on production for all involved. This also gives everyone a piece of mind looking over the details while not leaving anything a surprise later in the game.

I had the opportunity to write the text, so I add the copy and their fonts during the rough sketch phase so the client can read through the sketch and see exactly what we want to show. They edit the copy while I work on the final renders and design tweaks, allowing the page to develop together smoothly.

As the illustrations come together, I switch the rwketches with new art and make any text edits that are noted. During this process we cut-cut-cut, to keep the layout from becoming too text heavy. Soon the piece is ready to go:

The final was published on Red Lobsters Facebook page very shortly after. It got a lot of traffic and customer conversation – a win-win for all who was involved.

A special thanks to the talented GREY New York creative team and Red Lobster for giving me the opportunity to eat snow crab and dive into this. You were an absolute pleasure to work with.

Posters for Tornado Alley

2011-09-22T07:58:00.000-07:00

Have you ever looked at your vehicle and thought:

"I wonder if I could drive that into a tornado and survive"?

I have (yes I'm serious) although my thoughts are more fueled by curiosity then science. For Discovery's Storm Chasers star Sean Casey and the researchers of VORTEX2 it's a reality. Armed with a camera and research equipment, they drive customized vehicles into the heart a tornado in the IMAX film Tornado Alley. If you haven't seen it, I definitely recommend it.

When Big Screen Films contacted me with an opportunity to create an infographic poster for the feature, I jumped right on board! The idea was to diagram the two heavily modified research vehicles, highlighting their key features of science and survival. The kicker with these was I had an opportunity to see both vehicles in person, and meet their teams to answer my questions.

The first vehicle up was Sean Casey's Tornado Intercept Vehicle (TIV-2) – a vehicle modified to park inside a tornado and film with an IMAX camera. Armed with a camera and sketchbook, I met the team at The Museum of Natural History in Manhattan for a early screening of Film, spending some time climbing around the truck and talking to the crew.

Once the movie was over, driver and team crew member Marcus Gutierrez took me for a ride through NYC, which was definitely one of the highlights of the gig. Living here for almost 8 years, I know there are few things that turn the heads of New Yorkers, but people literally ran out of the road when this beast drove through. I'm not sure what rates they charge storm chasers for parking in the city:

A few days later I visited VORTEX 2s Doppler on Wheels (DOW) vehicle at the Liberty Space Center in Jersey City, NJ. The DOW 7 team was extremely helpful answering my questions and curiosities.

After seeing both vehicles in person and taking hundreds of photos and notes, I immediately got to sketching our layout. The original plan was to put both vehicles in the same poster. I really wanted to have a few pop-out details along with my cutaways, to pull the viewer into the key features.

Since the TIV and DOW teams were doing the copy, I made room with dummy type to fill so they can work while I render the art. I find this is a tactic when the text is coming from an outside source, allowing the design and art to progress while giving others time to write. Its not an exact science, but in most cases there is usually only minor cutting and design adjustments at the end of the process. I feel the key to this being successful is having detailed rough drawings, so clients can see exactly what we want to show. The tighter rough will also save time with edits later in the process, since the experts will see if something is off early in the game. When this is noted I adjust my art as I work. Both teams did an excellent job with the text, making the information brief, yet adding details that are interesting to readers.

Working on the final art. I always say, there's no such thing as too much reference:

As the pieces come together, I replace the rough sketches with the finals:

Andy Wood had the idea of illustrating our headline, which I dove right into. I think it definitely adds a nice touch to the piece:

We also had the opportunity to break both trucks into separate posters, which made two nice options and aired out our layouts a bit.

And there you have it… Illustrating an IMAX movie poster. I've had a lot of cool gigs over the last ten years, but this one is definitely up near the top. A special thanks to Big Screen Film's producer Andy Wood and Director of Strategic Partnerships Deborah Raksany. They are an absolute pleasure to work with! I'd also like to thank the TIV2 crew – Sean Casey, Marcus Gutierrez and Brandon Ivey and VORTEX2 DOW team for showing me the vehicles and putting up with my infographics nerd questions.

Maps

2011-02-16T10:18:00.000-08:00

Here's a recent spread for February's Issue of Field & Stream illustrating why right now may be the best deer hunting ever. I have a confession to make – I love illustrating maps. There's something about it as an artist, possibly wired in us from the cartographers of the past. Not that I'm related to any of my knowledge. If I was though, I'd be one of the first in line to ship off to new lands with my brushes and parchment. The trip would be short lived, since I'd probably get thrown off for paying more attention to the water then the land, hiding any place that looked like a good fishing spot.

Other happenings; I have a new portfolio site in progress and close to completion. It will feature a lot of new work, as well as sketchbook area and a few motion graphics. It's long overdue.

Resolutions

2011-01-04T09:39:00.001-08:00

I've never been one for true defined New Years Resolutions, but I do keep a list of goals each year, broken down into categories: personal, professional and adventurous. I've been pretty lucky in the past with all three, but rarely am I able to accomplish one on the first day of trying.

Fishing cabin

2011 changed that for me. When I hit the alarm button on my cellphone, 6 a.m. January 1st, I was starting the second day of a two-day steelhead fishing trip on the Salmon River, N.Y. I went up with two good friends, with one goal in mind – hook and hopefully land my first steelhead. Thanks to their help, we did exactly THAT the day before. In fact we did much more, hooking nine and landing two as a group.

My first steelhead; Dec 31st, 2010

Day two started with a lot of hope and anxiety. As I shook my slight whiskey-induced headache over a cup of coffee, I had high hopes of landing at least one more.

We fished early Saturday morning hard, with zero results, but found the fish by early afternoon with each of us getting in on some action.

First fish of 2011

One of the highlights happened when Collin hooked a huge fish while his line paused on his backcast. The fish ran hard down river resulting in a pulled hook, but such is life on a steelhead river. You fish hours of quietness and in one split second, you're zero to 100 bracing a giant fish running for the horizon.

Collin hooked up

Collin's steelhead; early afternoon Jan 1st

At 4:00 p.m. we found ourselves working a deep hole that held fish earlier in the day. Knowing there was only one last shot for a trophy fish, we stood in the cold-numbing water casting away. I dug into my fly box, and tied on a large black woolly bugger, figuring if anything is hiding deep, it will be hard nosed to pass up a big dinner offering before nightfall closed in.

Dave's steelhead; 12/31/10

I let out a cast upstream, and fed my line deep into the pool. When a fly drags the bottom of a river, you feel a "tap tap tap" pulse through your rod, but for me it was a "tap tap pause". Out of instinct I set the hook has hard as my fly rod would allow. For a moment, it felt like the entire river bottom was awakened – alive and confused. I raised my rod and gave more pressure and realizing it's predicament the beast shot for the surface, throwing walls of water and head shakes in an attempt to spit my fly back in my face. I was hooked up... zero to 100 like so many others.

This one was different for me. Not only was it the biggest trout I ever saw, but by far one of the biggest freshwater fish I ever hooked on a fly rod. The fish made a run down river, ripping line off my spool – drag singing and reel handle cracking against my knuckles. All I could mumble was "big fish... big fish". Luck was on my side. Rather than run downriver, where he surely would have lost me, he made a costly decision, and turned 180 back upstream to stick it out in the depths of the pool. I nearly lost him on the gamble, loosing contact with the slack in my line on his turn, but the hook stuck.

Collin has a lot of Steelhead experience.
He explained to me how steelies use highways
to travel in water that may look like dead water.

Here we had our standoff. Each time I brought him up, Dave attempted a tail-grab, but the fish saw his approach and retreated back into the bottom of the pool. Each time we let out an agonizing gasp. There's no way to put into writing the feeling of fighting a big fish. The exhilaration is balanced on a thin line (as delicate as the tippet attached to your fish) of winning and loosing. In a flash your either throwing high-fives or starting a lifelong story of the one that got away. After a few torturous minutes of this back and forth, the fight was on our side with a trophy fish in our grasp.

The fish was by far my best on the fly, and a trout I dreamed of as a young fisherman. After we snapped a few pics, we released him back to his hole, where I'm sure he'll never touch another black wooly bugger ever again. Of course, that won't stop me from paying him a visit and trying – every single time I fish that river.

A shot out to Dave Holler, and Collin Cochrane for company on the river, experience, and team work. I also want to thank Rob Ceccarini at Orvis for his advice, gear and recommendations. His fly recommendation was by far the hottest fly on the river for us.

More sketchbook graphics; the tide game

2010-12-14T15:00:00.000-08:00

Although tides are an everyday natural occurrence, if you match the correct time of year, moon phase and amount of water flow, you may experience the phenomenon of catching quality fish at a familiar spot to the exact minute you planned on – based of course from the amount of junk you scribble in your fishing journal from season's past.

Here's a few of those mini infographics on the tide game, through different fish-holding structure*. Hit it right, and you can give yourself a pat on the back. Hit it wrong, and well – jot down more junk in your journal.

The kayak game: There's a lot of places like this along the North Shore and Long Island Sound which tides play a major role in quality of fish.

Inlets: Find the hidden rock and you'll be rewarded.

Sand bars: Again, a ton of places like this on the north shore and western sound. No happy hour specials, but some of them have crowds big enough you may think someone's handing out free beer.

*just to note, spots and areas are changed to be entirely different then the real spots I fish, to throw the scent off from fellow surf rats. Sorry about that, just protecting the innocent.

Savour

2010-12-02T13:08:00.000-08:00

When I have a bad period of fishing – such as a few select weeks this fall – I'll savour any decent fish I catch. It happened last weekend... the fish wasn't huge, wasn't a personal best or anything like that. Just a decent fish that had it's herring dinner interrupted by inhailing a Habs Jr. needlefish.

The catch? A few hours before I went out that night, I was so disgusted with my dry spell, I drew the cartoon above in my fishing log. That night, after I landed and released my quality fish, I added this one to my log, not even realizing what I already had on the page before, changing my mojo with the stroke of the pen = ironic. Maybe tonight I will draw a world record fish, a lifetime supply of free beer and a winning lotto ticket.

Looking for a bird dog?

2010-10-28T08:36:00.000-07:00

Here's a recent fun piece for Field & Stream on choosing your next bird dog. Follow the chart and see which one works best for your hunting style and personality.

Advanced Photoshop Magazine interview

2010-08-23T13:43:00.000-07:00

Check out issue 73 of Advanced Photoshop Magazine for a nice writeup on the ever-growing niche of informational graphics. I had the pleasure to get interviewed by writer Natalie Johnson for this article. Click on the picture above to see the feature. For anyone interested in the niche, or in how we work in general, I've added the full interview below. Enjoy:

Interview:
Give us a quick background bio on you, how and why you got started and describe your career path from starting out to where you are now?
I got my B.F.A. in Illustration from Ringling School of Art and Design, class of 2002. In May of 2002 I worked as a news art intern for the St. Petersburg Times. It was there I was introduced to infographic design. In February of 2003 I worked as a staff graphics artist for Asbury Park Press, and devoted my time to informational design and illustration. I also designed weekly feature pages, which was a huge part in learning how to design infographics cleanly. I worked on subjects ranging from the outdoors, to business, history, science and sports. In the summer of 2004, I took a staff informational graphics position with Associated Press, which is where I currently work today. I also run a busy freelance business, working with clients such as Field & Stream, The Nature Conservancy, Pfizer, Boating Life, etc. My freelance career has been really rewarding and growing by the day. It's nice to carry over a staff artist work ethic into my clients' work.

What is it about infographic design that you enjoy the most?
I enjoy the challenge immensely. I was always the "read what's on the back of the cereal box" type of guy and believe with infographic design we as artists have an opportunity to teach readers something visually, which is much different then a story can do. I have a background as a traditional illustrator, and when I completed my first big infographic, it was like everything that I enjoy creating clicked.

How would sum up your style of infographics and what makes you different from the competition?
I work in multiple styles, both traditional (pencil, ink, etc) and vector, and also motion graphics. I think with infographics niche the most important thing is displaying the subject cleanly, which I strive to do with every piece. I also strive to make projects as stress free as possible for clients, which I think really helps them juggle their daily routine on their end. I really feel my experience as a staff artist helps me work with clients, in that I understand their workflow.

Why do you think there is a need for infographics today? How has this genre of illustration changed over the years in your opinion? Do you know how and why it came about?
I believe there is a high demand for them today, and its not just because I'm an infographic geek and my pay check counts on it. Infographics are useful in that they can work side by side with a story, or displayed alone as there own piece. I feel people over all have a need to absorb things visually today then ever before, and you can see it in the way magazines and advertising are designed in recent years. How they came about? Probably cavemen... that would be my guess. One of the tribe leaders was really good at spearing animals. A few of the other tribes people were tired of being gatherers, so they had him draw in the sand how to kill an animal with a sharp stick. There's your infographic. He was also very popular with the ladies, so they had him diagram grooming tips as well. Infact, the more I think about it, it was probably one of the tribes women who drew the diagram for him. Outside of grunting and throwing heavy objects, I don't think us men had the proper organizational skills.

What do you think is the point of infographics? What affect do they have on consumers/public and why?
I think to inform. How typical is an answer like that? In honesty though, you can use something like the recent Gulf oil spill as an example. You read stories on the disaster and listen to reporters tell you want they are trying to do to stop it, or you can look at a well designed infographic showing you exactly what they are attempting to do, and it all makes sense (somewhat). Graphics may assist a story with informing, or stand alone and inform as their own piece. There's also a educational side as well, such as text books in schools. The list is never ending.

How do you balance the piece - i.e is it more important to get the information across or is there more of a need for it to look good?
I always believe with our work the information comes first. You can have a beautifully rendered piece, but if the information is stale, then the work loses its point. I want the reader coming away from the piece learning something. Our business is unique in that the subjects change from day to day. I like to joke that based on my assignments, today I get to be a doctor (medical illustration), and tomorrow maybe I'll be a scientist, etc. You have to keep reminding yourself when you work on an infographic, someone reading it will be a expert on the subject you are showing. My goal is to make the work good enough to teach the experts something.

How do get work in this field? Do companies contact you? Do you pitch to clients? Is it important to have an agent?
I get most of my work from referrals or clients seeing my work printed or online from other jobs. It's important to have a personal site, so if they decide to look you up, your portfolio is a Google search away. I do pitch to clients when I have downtime, which usually consists of sending them a personal email with some work attached or a phone call. I don't have an agent, although they are definitely worth looking into for future artists getting into the field.

What is the best way for designers to get work in the infographics sector and survive against the competition?
If you have a passion for anything in the art world, you have to pursue it. Infographics are very competitive but in my experiences, it's a niche filled with great people, so they should never hesitate to reach out for advice. I would say to someone new, start with a subject you know a lot about, and try to make an infographic on that.

Can you explain your workflow to us? For example are you given a brief and the information and then how much freedom do you have; is there a lot of passing it back and forth, what do you do at the conception stage, what tools and apps do you use to create the project, how long will a project take etc?
Projects vary greatly, but with most of them I'm just given a subject or a basic story line, but sometimes I will also be given some research and reference for what a client wants, which really helps us get on the same page. There is constant back and forth throughout the whole process. I make it a habit of giving clients daily updates, like a brief email in the morning so they know where the process stands, and nothing is left a surprise. I always start my infographics researching the subject to find the best story we can visually tell (if the client doesn't already have a vision for it or the research at hand). Once I get familiar with the subject, I come up with a rough sketch on what I think we can ideally show the piece and begin researching and referencing the visuals to see if it can work. What's important here is sources. You have to know what sources are trustworthy and which ones are not (like for an example, never use sources such as wikipedia, because the information can be altered or even worse – false). This may sound like a lot of work, but I can usually have it done in under an hour. Once I have my reference and research in hand and familiarized, I'll make a more completed sketch giving the most important information the most real estate. When all parties are good with our direction I immediately render my final illustrations, and write and edit the text. I try to show as much information as I can visually to keep the piece as light on the text as possible. Depending on the piece, I will render my illustrations traditionally (pencil, watercolor, ink, etc) or digitally in Adobe Illustrator. I'm equally as fast in both. Text will also be done in Illustrator. After the art is rendered and the text is written, the piece is built in Illustrator following the design herarchy from my rough sketches. If the piece is stand alone I'll come up with a good headline and write a lead paragraph to pull it all together. Its a long process but I have a fluid system down. I've completed full infographics in under 4 hours on a rush deadline, and as fast as 3-5 days for the larger, poster-sized pieces on my site. I try to count the number of gray hairs added to my head in between, but usually stop because I remember I'm on deadline.

Can you give us your three top tips for designers practising the art of infographics and three top tips for breaking into the industry? For designers breaking into infographics:
1) Look through every outlet you can get your hands on and study the infographics that you see. Take notes on what you like and dislike, and try to incorporate that in your own visions.
2) Learn how to properly research and write, and what sources are trust worthy and which are not. A lot of clients have this step done for you but understanding sources and reference will help you go a long way with your work.
3) Lose the egos. This is very important when working with clients and in a staff job. Make the process as stress-free for your client as possible and they will call back for future jobs.
For designers practicing:
1) Again, lose the egos. I can't stress the importance of that enough.
2) Push your comfort level and constantly learn new things. It may be learning a new style or program, but you want your work to constantly move forward in both execution and content. Start looking into motion graphics and how they can be used in your work. There's so many digital outlets it may open a new direction for our niche.
3) Have a sense of humor. I really feel like you need one in our industry. Sometimes when the going gets tough you can lighten the situation with a good laugh... then of course kick some butt on the project.

Can you explain to us about one particular highlight project - or memorable project in your career thus far (please provide the final infographic image of this and any conceptual or half finished version so we can show the various stages in the way it took shape). How did this particular project came about? How did it progress? What were you commissioned to do? How many consultations did you have? How well would you say the final result was received?
One of my favorite projects in memory came about when Pope John Paul II passed away a few years ago. I came into my staff job at Associated Press that morning, and we immediately came up with a large-scale infographic showing the details of his funeral, including a cutaway of St. Peters Basilica and other heavy illustrated content. News happens fast so we wanted the entire graphic finished and moved to our wire the next day, so millions of newspapers around the world can print it. By lunchtime I got started on the illustrations and crammed myself into a small studio room armed with a pencil, few watercolors, and an old mac that had like the first copy of itunes on it (sometimes it helps to have tunes on deadline). Five hours later I had a big cutaway of St. Peters finished. It was the fastest thing to this scale I ever drew, and there was no room for error. The next morning we came in early and I drew the map and other elements, and helped built the remaining pieces and moved the graphic. Working in a team really helped us meet our deadline (we had skilled researchers, a designer, and me on the art, as well as editors checking our content as we worked). It was a wonderful experience. The next day all of the major newspapers ran the page in New York City, as well as other cities around the world. I had my morning coffee watched strangers look at the piece while they read their paper at breakfast. All in a days (well, two days) work. Also, every piece I do for Field & Stream is special to me. As a child, I had a stack of Field & Streams that rivaled most kid's comic book collection. I spent many hours drawing deer and bass from the pages of the mag while memorizing the articles. I always dreamed of working for them. I've currently been a contributing Illustrator for them for over two years now, and I look forward to every illustration.

Using color as a tool

2010-08-11T07:47:00.000-07:00

You can never have too many "tools in the shed" as a professional Illustrator, and when we get lost in our sheds looking for something fresh (my shed can get pretty messy from time to time), its easy to forget one of the most useful tools we have is color itself. While experimenting, try shying away from your usual pallet and limiting yourself to one powerful color, and see where it takes you. You may hit a few road blocks at first, but when you break through you will have something to grow with.

I plan on pushing this a lot more in my personal work, but I'm also lucky enough to have clients who really want to push the envelope with their content. The talented staff at Field & Stream is one of them, and has always taken illustration and infographics to the next level while pushing the execution of content to the highest standards. I had the chance of working on the Opening Season of Hunting Feature for the 2010 August issue, where color wasn't just used as a tool, but as an entire theme.

Here's a look. One thing I enjoy with this package, is flipping through the magazine you immediately become drawn in by the intense greens, which are used in a way that is not overwhelming. This is important on your end in illustrations, to keep in mind you're not "overwhelming" you reader with the color, but rather using it in a tight, smart way – and in some cases, sparingly as these illustrations show:

Here's a a few more from the feature:

For comparison sake, here's a look at last year's package utilizing yellow as it's dominant color. It was a challenge to keep contrast in the black and white wooded areas to give the diagrams some weight, while balancing the intense yellows. I'm also posting one of my roughs, which is an important part of the process:

When I render environments, I like to keep a realistic quality to the work, that I feel sometimes gets lost in infographics. Illustrating a buck hunt in the woods is a perfect example. I want to keep that "chaiotic" feeling readers get while stalking a trophy in a mess of trees and brush (as we all know in both hunting and fishing, the "trophy" is always hiding in a place you need to get banged up to get to). I try to capture that feeling in my roughs and carry it through to the final illustration. The final render:

Here's a few more from the feature, keeping the same feeling throughout:

... And there you have it. Color so bright it'll burn you retinas. Ok, not really, but definitely a tool you'll want to keep sharp in the shed, no matter how big or small your shed may be.

July's Accuracy Issue

2010-06-22T09:30:00.000-07:00

I've had the pleasure to work on this year's accuracy issue for July's copy of Field & Stream. It's my third consecutive accuracy issue and one of my favorite assignments of the year for both the challenge of the subject and displaying it in a clean, smart way.

This July, Field & Stream took a huge leap in interacting with their audience through the pages of their magazine, by creating something readers can take out into the field and shoot... and yes, I mean physically shoot with a rifle. Lucky enough, I was able to team-up with their talented design team and create the target as part of the overall package. It's not easy to make something that says "I *heart*" anything look manly, but I think this really came together great in the end. Hopefully the readers feel the same.

Here's what New York Times had to say about the spread: http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/31/dear-readers-go-ahead-and-shoot/

For kicks here are accuracy issues of the past. July, 2009 spread illustrates accuracy expert David Petzal's rifle-range challenge:
In July of 2008, we dug into the "Accuracy Revolution", and illustrated what a hunter needs to understand to take shots that count in the field:

Ahead ...

2010-04-26T15:01:00.000-07:00

It may be small, but this little guy was one of the first trout I've caught in nearly 10 years.

In two weeks I will be drifting through 60 miles of trout paradise on the Smith River in Montana, armed with a trusty fly rod, a lot of hope, and a rusty cast. After quickly booking the trip about two weeks ago, I tried hard to remember the last time I fly fished for trout.

Digging through fishing logs and my brain (which is commonly on trial for trivial things such as forgetting to pick up the right cheese at the grocery store, yet can remember exact details of fish caught over 10 years ago – sorry honey we're hunters, not gatherers) I found the last time I fooled a trout into eating a hook covered in deer hair was the summer of 2000... and yes, I can recall the exact details.

After finding myself in this predicament (a great problem to have at that), I set off to some local rivers to dust off my trout skills. Luckily, after an hour or two of donating my flies to the river's surrounding trees, I found my rhythm and the trout followed, which I dedicate this new sketchbook entry to. "Staying Ahead"

Portrait of Al Bensten

2010-03-08T14:10:00.000-08:00

Every now and then a job comes around that's too good to pass up. When author, photographer, surfcaster Zeno Hromin asked if I would be interested in illustrating a cover for his online magazine of surfcasting legend Al Bensten, I couldn't resist. After a few back and forth emails outlining details I immediately sketched this up and it was a go.

Zeno and his talented team of writers, photographers and designers created this online publication to feed surf fishermens' hunger for a shore-specific publication, designing it into a central hub blog. The magazine is 100 percent online and also free. Check it out for yourself: http://www.surfcastersjournal.com/

Here's what we came up with for the cover. Al kneeling over a cow striper which fell for his signature rigged eels. While your digging around, check out my profile on pages 12-15. Thanks again Z! Prints will be available soon.

New Work

2010-02-23T11:26:00.000-08:00

What do ski cross and trout fishing have in common? They are two activities that I did not partake in this past month, which is probably a positive thing when it comes to ski cross*

*True story; Last winter my fiancee and I hit the ski slopes with some friends in Vermont for the first time in over 10 years. I’m far from anything even considered “Olympian”, but I was known to be a decent skier in winter’s past. After I survived my first few runs, over confidence got the better of me and I decided busting out a 360 mid slope would really be a fun thing. What I should’ve asked myself is do I enjoy ice-rash burns all over my back because that was the outcome of that bright idea. Needless to say I get over excited sometimes.

Anyway ... onto the art. First up is a spread in the March Issue of Field & Stream illustrating trophy trout tactics. This vector style is very straight forward and clean, and I believe a nice way to bring F&S Mike Ley’s design together.

Next up we have a infographic on a new Winter Olympics event called ski cross. A lot of the Olympic event graphics I see are diagrams of rules and regs, so I wanted to do something a little different and highlight some of the technical obstacles and racer techniques for navigating them (while showing the overall scale). Here’s a screen-grab of the motion graphic for online (built in AfterEffects):

The motion graphic adapted for mobile:

And finally the print graphic: (art was also adapted for an interactive). My illustrations in this piece are 100 percent vector, from the line work to the color, which helped with scaling for online and mobile.

2009 surf fishing review

2010-02-05T07:51:00.000-08:00

Big surf... early Fall, Montauk Beach

To hell with luck. I'll bring the luck with me."

-The Old Man and the Sea

In analyzing last season, I'd like to skip the entire year and fast forward to my last good fish of 2009. I like to call it, "Tale of the Broken Lami." As you can see from the title, the experience ends in heartbreak. Lets set the stage. Early November I met with some good buddies, like every other weekend of the fall, to wetsuit Montauk Point during yet another Nor'easter (I lost count by how many we had last season). The conditions were extreme to say the least, with reports calling for 40 mph gusts and heavy rain. This night we lucked out though, with the wind staying around 30-35 mph with only soaking rain (some luck I guess). Fishing these conditions is like trying to swim in a giant washing machine filled with rocks with a blind fold on. To say I spent more time tumbling around the surf then standing on my rock casting is an understatement. You can drink a lot of saltwater before your stomach starts to cramp. Determined to catch some "large" we pushed hard the entire night until we reached our limits before early dawn, only catching a few schoolie bass for our efforts.

I was exhausted, and my muscles ached to the extent that simple tasks like taking off my wetsuit and boots had my shoulders burning and arms shaking. I hunkered down in my vehicle and slept the entire morning and most of the afternoon in the parking lot. When I woke around 4:30 p.m., the wind shifted and was blowing a steady 25 mph from the Northwest. I was planning on a bit more R&R (aka a few beers and a burger) before fishing the night tides, but the new wind conditions and outgoing tide pushed in a decent mass of fish north of the Point. From the parking lot I can see the boat guys were already beating up on the action, which was out of casting distance from the shore. I quickly decided to gear up and check it out myself, even though I wasn't expecting much that early in the afternoon.

I put on my cold, damp wetsuit and made my way down to a decent spot, which already had a crowd of fisherman sitting on rocks and watching the boats. The few that were fishing stayed in shallow water away from the large surf and heavy sweep. I tightened my hat and worked my way out to the action. The current was strong, and every other set of waves came in over my head. I dug my boots into the rocks and pushed my weight into the tide to brace my body against the sweep.

After casting/leaning/dancing for 10 uneventful minutes, I caught a glimpse of something from the corner of my eye. A giant black head came up to the surface for a few seconds then disappeared. I cursed, thinking it had to be a seal, which would immediately shut down any chance of a bite. I focused on the spot and waited for it to resurface, when I saw another giant shadow push water up and disappear into the current. I was wrong. It was a school of big bass. Very BIG bass. It was the school of bass I've been looking for all fall, and I finally found them in the middle of the afternoon with the sun still high. Funny how irony works.

The first head that surfaced was so big, the thought of it made my hands start to shake. I opened my plug bag and grabbed a 3 oz white bottle plug, one of the only lures I had on me that would to reach the fish in these conditions, and let her fly. The plug touched down a few yards from the spot, and I cranked my reel hard to pick up all my slack line from the windy cast, allowing the bottle dig into the current. I gave two full cranks of my handle and a "tap" feeling went through the rod tip into my arms. I set the hook. The fish slowly made its way to the surface with a good head-shake throwing a wall of white water spray which carried off into the pushing wind. I cranked hard and set the hook a second time to make sure I had a solid connection. The fish put its head down and peeled line off with the tide, dumping around half of my spool on the first run. I never let up. After a few minutes I had her head turned, and gained line slow and steady.

Every fisherman loves the moment they see their catch for the first time, and I'm no different. My mind wandered those last few yards of the fight. Would it be a giant, or maybe my personal best? The fish surfaced and I was sadly mistaken. It was a nice striper... about 43"-44" and pretty fat. The heavy current and wind gave the fish a huge gambling chip during our fight, which made her feel a lot bigger then she appeared. A good catch, but not "the" catch.

Now, just a side note, I'm not a big fish snob. I love catching decent fish, and would be thrilled with a night of fish this size, but this fish was a dwarf compared to the two that surfaced minutes before. I picked up the bass, and heard a few gasps from the crowd of guys on the beach, measured and released her at record speed. I wanted a COW.

The next cast is when it happened. I let some line out, arched back loading my rod for the next heave (and fish) when "POW" ... that was the end of it. My rod snapped in two just below the bottom guide, and my plug landed about 60 yards short of a school of trophy bass in a mess of line and graphite. My trip was over. After the reality of it all set in, I gave out a good laugh. Big fish get that size for a reason. Maybe because guys like me get overly excited and break our gear when we see them.

I made my way back to shore, and was immediately stopped by a few fisherman who gave me kudos for the fish, and condolences for the mishap. I never mentioned the school of bass I was targeting. I figured they earned their stay, for how ever long they decided to hold in that spot.

Maybe next season we'll meet again. Only this time I'll have a backup rod in the car.

Some pics from 2009:

Early spring bass, light tackle plugging, L.I. Sound
Springtime sunrise, L.I. Sound
Kayak fishing after a foggy night, Rye, N.Y.

Ted holding his rock. Fall Nor'easter, Montauk, N.Y.

"Crunch"

2009-12-07T14:32:00.001-08:00

... that is the sound I'm guessing is echoing off the inside of our fish tank right now. For the past year I've had a variety of interesting fish, all living harmoniously in the corner of our apartment. Two weeks ago I made a pet store run and saw these fun little fish called jellybean parrot cichlids. I usually research every fish we put in our tank, but I bought two of these on a whim. At the time I thought "how could they hurt anything, they look like little round gold fish.

I was sadly mistaken. Infact, I think these were genetically engineered as fish assassins, disguised as goldfish. As soon as I introduced them to our tank the larger of the two went to work, and since then he's taken out his partner (or perhaps his competition), and quite possibly four out of seven shrimp. Today, as I write this, I'm certain the battle continues. If I'm wrong and these species are generally happy fish ... then we must have the Jason Bourne of parrot fish. I'm not sure if I should take it back to the store, or sell it to the CIA.

Field & Stream: The Double Issue

2009-12-07T09:02:00.000-08:00

The holidays are just around the corner and I have exactly zero of my gift shopping finished. It has been a busy fall for me overall. Most of my weeks (and weekends) were spent working from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., but on all good stuff. I plan on writing a season recap soon after having a few artists and students inquire about juggling work, schedules, deadlines and what not. I think it would be a fun thing to share. More to come on that soon ...

Mean while check out the December-January Issue of Field & Stream on the racks right now. I had the pleasure of working on the cover story spread on hunting late season buck. I truly enjoy the challenge of illustrating these, and working with the talented F&S staff. They really keep the bar high.

My goal with these is to put the reader in his environment with a nice organic twist on vector illustrations. I'm also including a few of the rough sketches, since they are an import part of the puzzle. Enjoy:

Entangled ...

2009-12-01T12:02:00.000-08:00

Pop question: Your surf fishing a rocky point ... You have a 50 lb bass leashed to you going one way, and another on your line going the other. How much gear will you loose?

Historical September

2009-09-14T14:54:00.000-07:00

This month signifies the 70th anniversary of the start of WWII. I consider myself a huge history buff and have been lucky enough to work on the subject quite often. Here are a few pieces I did on different aspects of the war. More historical work can been seen here:

Kamikaze Warefare
I love to start with this piece when sharing historical work with friends and history buffs. When I proposed this, I never realized the amount of research it would take to create. I knew from the getgo I wanted to diagram the tactics of a kamikaze attack, from an above-the-battle perspective. What I didn't know was early in the war most kamikaze details were kept hush-hush by the government so moms and pops at home wouldn't worry about their sons at sea (at least this is what I was told). What resulted was very little in our history books. I researched countless hours for a reliable source. After completion I took a copy to the Intrepid Museum here in NYC to speak with their experts for an educated eye. Luckily I also got to meet a few WWII veterans who gave tours in the museum, who experienced this first hand. I am still humbled by their stories.

Battle for Iwo Jima
A few weeks before the anniversary of this battle, I read the book 'Flags of Our Fathers', and a pon completion I came up with the idea for this infographic. The very next day I proposed this piece and it was a go. I had to reach as far as the Army Corp of Engineers to find details on enemy strong points (to draw the hill cutaway), but I really think it paid off. Eventually if I would love to do a cut-away piece on Mt. Suribachi alone, but I'm overall very happy with how this came out. I hope readers feel the same.

Battle of the Bulge
My main focus with this battle was to illustrate the map and battle ground timeline to tell the story. I anchored the piece with a historical look at war deaths with a Bulge specific chart, to show the scale, speed and toll of this attack. The entire piece was put together in about 4 days. I received a few nice emails after this was published from vets and family of vets expressing their interests and experiences, which really made the piece special to me.

Magnify

2009-08-31T08:14:00.000-07:00

If there's anyone who will be under a magnifying glass this NFL season, it's Michael Vick. This illo is for Associated Press's annual NFL Preview page. Our original concept was to have the eagles tearing Vick apart (saying basically nature hates him) but we changed it up a bit to give the guy a chance.

Another fun little note is this illo was completed in just one afternoon (about five hours). Its far from perfect in my eyes, but anyone who's in the business knows sometimes you need to make things work in the time your given. Ironically these type of gigs are usually the most fun and I wouldn't want it any other way.

More moleskin sketches

2009-08-20T15:15:00.001-07:00

Lately I've been pushing myself to do 20-30 minute drawing exercises in my pocket moleskin sketchbook just for kicks. The sketches aren't planned, I just put the pen to paper and see what happens. No erasing either... if I make a mistake part of the challenge is to work right through it. Of course what usually results is series of comical what-have-yous from within the surf fishing culture. Here are a few creations below:
(ARTIST NOTE: Disappearing Rod was linked to illustrationfriday blog for the subject "Caution". Enjoy fellow artists)

Glow Sticks
If you fish Montauk Lighthouse at night, you'll know immediately what this is all about. If you don't, listen carefully: Bass DO NOT need glowsticks on your line to see you your lures at night. They hunt by movement and silhouettes. Any given night you'll see dozens of these glowsticks casting through the air. I imagine when a school of bass swim around the point, they take stories of UFO's and strange happenings with them all the way down to their southern relatives at the spawning grounds.

Snags
We've all been there before... late at night, your buddy says he gets a monster hit, lifts his rod and he's snagged on a rock. Usually the joking begins and he'll hear about the said experience the rest of the night, or recieve a comic illustrating his experience the next week just to keep him honest. The victim will ALWAYS stick to his story though, swearing it was a trophy bass. Maybe he is right... and just maybe, it was the fish's plan all along.

The "disappearing" rod trick
This is a common thing in New Jersey during the warm summer nights. A fisherman drags his gear out deep into the twilight, baits his rod with a nice chunk of fresh bunker, casts his rig out, and rests his rod in a sand spike near the waters edge. He turns away and continues the same ritual with his second rod a bit further down the beach. Suddenly his other setup unknowlingly rockets out of the sandspike and disappears into the rolling surf. The next morning you may find this fisherman at your local tackle store telling stories of world record stripers ripping surf rods out of the ground like godzilla but truth behold, there's a 99 percent chance a brown shark caught him sleeping. They take the rods to their winter grounds where they show off and laugh hysterically. Seriously.

2009-04-08T08:18:00.000-07:00

Spring is finally here (even though it is snowing while I type this) and the striper run is just around the corner.

I recently spent a week in Sarasota Florida to break up my winter doldrums. Fishing was excellent to say the least. I hit all of my old spots from the beaches to the mangrove-lined intercoastal and Sarasota Bay Flats. I caught a healthy mix of bluefish, jack, and spotted sea trout, and battled a few nice snook and redfish.

Heres a nice little trout with a big heart ... and a giant zara spook breakfast.

After spending countless hours on the water in the 5-odd years I lived there, I still feel like there's a big part of me that I left behind stalking the flats and bays (I sometimes wonder if we can switch places and that "other" part can shovel some snow and take out the garbage).

My trip wasn't all fishing though, as I also stopped by to see some old coworkers at the St. Petersburg Times, and visited a few illustration classes at Ringling College of Art and Design. (thats a whole other post entirely)

In other fishing related news, check out this month's issue of Field & Stream. I did a few pieces for the cover story "Fishings Cutting Edge" with the talented FS staff. This is a great issue overall as always.

Good luck to everyone this season, and hopefully I'll see you on the water soon.

Fishing Cheat Sheet

2009-02-02T08:42:00.000-08:00

Check out Feburary's issue of Boating Life for a 4 page fishing cheat sheet feature. I worked with a talented Rob Stave on the package, which was a lot of fun. Enjoy.

Auto Bailout CEOs' wild ride

2008-12-22T07:50:00.000-08:00

Here's a illo for the recent U.S. auto's bailout crisis. I had a few different ideas for the vehicle, but chose the hummer since it can be considered the symbol of sales fall. Enjoy.

Season to remember

2008-12-16T13:17:00.000-08:00

2008 was an interesting fishing season for me, not in the quality or quantity of my fish catching powers (or lack there of this season), but for learning an entirely new area, and meeting some good people along the way. I tried to get out as much as possible between work deadlines and gigs, which resulted in some weekends spent working from my laptop in a hotel room. I always promise myself when I get out I will take pictures, but since I do 90 percent of my surf fishing at night and alone, sometimes these are hard to come by. Out of an entire season I only have a handful of pics this year. Here are a few from an afternoon of fishing in Montauk. Enjoy:

Fisherman lounge around the light waiting for the fish to come in. I usually don't post pictures of an exact spot, but Montauk lighthouse is no secret (this picture is from a Monday afternoon).

Bass and blues soon push the beach and "combat" fishing takes over. Its quite a site to experience.

After a few minutes of watching I took a 15-20 minute walk to beat the crowds. Here a handful of us have the fish to ourselves before the night tides roll in. I landed around 30-40 fish in 90 minutes before the sun went down on pencil poppers and bucktails. Largest bass was around 15-17 lbs, and the blues averaged 7-10 lbs. After a short break and bite to eat at the car, we slammed fish the rest of the night alone.

Fish all night, sleep all day-or at least when you can. Here's to taking a nap on the beach after fishing the night tide:

Dan perched on a rock around 3:00 a.m like a champ... A few day's later he moved into a new home and job in Montana. Lucky guy:

Company Holiday parties?

2008-11-18T07:42:00.000-08:00

Here's a little spot illustration for a business economy story on companies pinching holiday parties this year.

Visitor from Africa

2008-09-23T09:36:00.000-07:00

DISCLAIMER: I have been known to do dumb things from time to time when it comes to the outdoors such as (but not limited to) trying to catch critters that don't want to be caught, climb into caves to visit toothy animals who don't like visitors, or the outright handling of crazy reptiles and bugs that I should just leave alone. For this I blame my parents. They restricted me to a fenced in back yard as a kid in the Pennsylvania mountains until I was 5, when there was a perfectly good stream and vast forest I wanted as my playground. By the time I was allowed beyond the fence at an elderly age of six, I was way to big to fit into most of the holes my dog avoided.

So on to this story. Lets set the stage...

Sunday around 8 p.m. my girlfriend and I get home from a day of what-have-youzz and we hear a loud buzzing/grinding noise. We are no strangers to loud noises, coming from living next to some of the craziest neighbors you can have in our pasts, but this noise is definitely something ALIVE, crawling, stuck, baiting me to stick my head in a corner to find out – who knows.

We narrowed the noise down to an area we have a bunch of art, packages and posters rolled up to hang on our walls. I start the process of finding the source, pulling out each piece slowly as she anxiously watches, waiting for me to get pounced*. After some searching, I find a package tightly wrapped with tissue paper and tape. BINGO.. something is crawling around in this thing, and its not happy. As I unveiled my findings she informed me of something we both were not ready for... This package was a wrapped gift from a friend in AFRICA. Some sort of hand-made candle holder. We both freeze, knowing some creature has probably hatched in this package thats way out of our league.

(*) NOTE: It was this exact moment I learned women don't find it humorous when you grab yourself and start yelling like your getting attacked by something. Who knew.

We now know we have a problem on our hands, with two different solutions. She wants it out of the house, possibly to a local environmental lab or something who will contain it. I want to do battle. In fact I REALLY want to do battle. I want to open that package and show whatever this bug is who's boss. Ok, sounds a bit harsh but in all honesty my curiosity overwhelms me.. does it have giant pinchers, a stinger, polka dots? I'd at least like to get it out of the bag and into a jar or something so everyone is safe. We settle on a compromise and put the package in the freezer to wait out.

So onto Monday (yesterday for those paying attention). We decide to open it up after dinner. I can't lie, I've been thinking about getting a look at this thing all day. The mystery really gets me. I realize, when it comes to evolution, humans have come leaps and bounds with brain power and our ability to invent, yet have NO DEFENSE against something the size of a quarter with big fangs and pinchers – other than running away and hoping it doesn't fly. I need some weapons. At my side I stack a knife and a razor blade. Even though I have these things to only open the package, I like to thing if this bug brings fangs or sharp objects into the picture, I have him matched. In my other hand I have my trusty fishing pliers. Again, if I'm facing pinchers, I'm matched. Also, I can say I love touching critters, but there's no way I'm touching this one. If the bug can fly, I don't have much to guard myself, so I grab a hammer to compensate.

Open seseame:

And here it is. I can't take credit for it, the freezer did all of the work.

If you look closely, your eyes are not fooling you... It is 2 bugs; a roach AND a wasp. We think its one of these little buggers, a Emerald Cockroach Wasp: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_cockroach_wasp

From wikipedia (trust the source with your own risk): "The wasp proceeds to chew off half of each of the roach's antennae.[2] The wasp, which is too small to carry the roach, then leads the victim to the wasp's burrow, by pulling one of the roach's antennae in a manner similar to a leash. Once they reach the burrow, the wasp lays a white egg, about 2 mm long, on the roach's abdomen. It then exits and proceeds to fill in the burrow entrance with pebbles, more to keep other predators out than to keep the roach in."

This process can take a while, which is why we didn't hear the little guy until almost 2 weeks. The insect is now back in our freezer in a glass jar. We'll be calling some local adgencies to ask about removal.

In all it was an experience, and a reminder that when you buy something from a different country, check for crazy bugs like wasps who eat roaches, because you may bring home more than you thought.

And if that happens, call me.. I kicked this bugs arse:

The black book

2008-09-23T09:18:00.000-07:00

I was recently given one of those little pocket-sized black moleskin reporter books to use for traveling. With a 40 minute commute into the city via metro north, it made perfect sense to sketch up my own little fishing journal. Most of my book keeping in the past was basic: tides, wind, moon etc, but this was destine to much more. Each entry is a spot I fish, or place I scouted, which will soon open up to other tactics and whatnot. The drawings are roughly done with a basic black ball-point pen on a constant bumping train, which makes the drawings a bit "shaky" but that just adds to the challenge. Here are a few entries: enjoy

Second interactive up

2008-09-18T13:39:00.001-07:00

Check it out: http://hosted.ap.org/specials/interactives/_lifestyles/simple_exercises/

My second interactive is up and running. After a few flash classes and some messing around, I decided to take the plunge and see if traditional mediums would work for my subject. Its a simple piece so a good one to start with. Enjoy.

August rock hopping – Montauk

2008-09-02T10:27:00.000-07:00

August 26-28

3:00 p.m. I checked into my luxurious room at the Harborside Motel.

4:30 p.m. I got to the lighthouse and started my pre-night tides scouting. I worked my way about a mile into the South side, scouting boulders, drops and currents while making a mental note for wading at high tide. August fishing is tough, but the advantages are no crowds and a trophy fish if your ducks are all in a line. Since it was my first night out there, it was basically a shot in the dark (literally).

10:00 p.m. After a run back into town for some eats, I returned to the point and geared up. My setup goes something like this: shorts, fishing shirt – usually an old tackle shop shirt or something of the like with a history of mojo (with thermal undershirt) long socks, ankle support braces (braces I once used in basketball – the support they add while hiking over miles of bowling ball-sized rocks is irreplaceable), wader belt with built in back support, wading boots, korkers (ducttapped on boots) NRS semi drytop, waterproof watch with compass and tide chart, aquaskins medium plug bag stocked with 3.5 oz needles and SS darters – with knife and water bottle attached, 10 foot St. Croix rod paired with my beloved VanStaal, lucky fishing hat and red waterproof head lamp, whistle and cellphone packed away in waterproof bag, just incase something goes wrong. I swear I try to only bring the essentials eventhough sometimes feel more like a paratrooper than a surf fisherman.

10:30 p.m. After FINALLY getting all my gear on, I had to hit the bathroom.. never fails.

11:00 p.m. I made my way to the first spot I scouted earlier, a nice flat rock about 50 yards out in the surf. I have plenty of extreme fishing under my belt, but this would be the first time I climbed onto a rock on the south side of Montauk at night and all alone. I slowly made my way through the bouldered surf zone, with the added support of my rod as a wading stick (have to love the VS). The water was about waist deep at my spot, with the rock around chest level. "Simple" you may think... I patiently timed the waves and tried to climb the rock like a ladder, but no dice. My next try was to "military crawl" up the rock on my belly, and roll to my feet. It sounded good in theory anyway. I made it to the top, rolled quickly onto my back when I heard a loud WOOOOSHing sound. White water rushed over my shoulders, picked me up and tossed my back in the drink. I rolled around and got my footing, and gave out a laugh thinking how rediculous I must look. My third try was basically throwing myself on the rock with a bear hug. Although it wasn't pretty, it worked a charm, and standing ontop of my rock with waves breaking over my feet, I was finally doing it... finally rock-hopping the south side of M!

11:00 p.m. - 4:00 a.m. I worked my way about 2 miles South, stopping at each fishy point. My plan was to plug the rips entering and leaving each cove. In doing this, I thought (and imagined) if I wanted a shot at a trophy, my best chance would be at these ambush points, where small bait, snapper blues and small weakies washed around as they traveled into the coves.

About a mile into my hike, I hook up with a decent fish on a Gags 9" needle, olive over white, but drop her after a few seconds. The fishing was tough, but it was exactly what I expected August Montauk to be. A lot of hard work with a chance of a big payoff. I had the water to myself with the perfect tide on a beautiful night. It was exactly where I wanted to be. I dug through my plug bag and pulled out a black over chartreuse SS darter (I once worked with a fishing photographer that said "It aint no use if it aint chartreuse). Repeating this line out loud I tied her onto my 80lb mono leader. Second cast, BAM I'm hooked up onto something heavy. I smiled from ear to ear as my face was getting slapped with water splashing off my reel from the spin of my drag screaming. Finally, a good fish. Maybe a 30 lber... definitely not a fourty, but I hope AT LEAST a thirty. I reminded myself... "concentrate moron" and got back into my groove. BIG bass love structure and I was standing on a rock, in the middle of a boulder field. It was no time to make assumptions. After a 100-odd yard run, I was fighting my trophy like a pro, pressuring myself to stay on top and not give up an inch. I would say around maybe 2 minutes into the fight, I felt a few headshakes and a tail-slapping jump... DAMMIT.. BLUEFISH. The jump gave it away. So much for my first quality bass in Montauk. I was now hooked up with a crazed yellow-eyed demon. The tug of war continued for about 10 minutes, and ended with a BIG gator blue at my feet.

The rest of the night was all blues, without a bass in sight. I threw the towel around 4:30 a.m. and returned to my hotel for some R & R. My back was burning, and my hands were bleeding. Just another night as a surfcaster.

A medium size blue with a darter problem:

Coming up next... Night 2

2008-09-02T10:23:00.000-07:00