I am a big fish guy: I dream of Muskie, Tarpon, and Permit. Yet I also like a challenge, and to explore when fishing. In the past when I have walked along the Wakarusa River I have always seen countless small fish darting to and fro, curious what they were I decided to fish for them. I put on a tiny mysis shrimp pattern and caught a ton of these little guys. Countless were caught but here a few pictures. 

In what may prove to be my last Carp outing of the year, I did well. One of those days where you find a pattern the fish want and they in turn are aggressive on the take. Five Carp were caught in two and a half hours, the second was maybe 4 feet in front of me and I merely lowered my fly in front of his mouth and he took off with it--just one of those days. None were big, unfortunately none of my carp this year have been big. However, I did catch one that was missing one eye. The fly is Mike's Carp Candy, a local favorite, all were caught in 1-2 feet of water. Enjoy. 

With the goal of saving space while providing versatile camping plates, Sea to Summit has delivered. As part of a series, The X-Bowl is paired with the X-Plate, X-Mug and X-Shot. This will be a review of the first three items, as I have yet to utilize the X-Shot, the other three I have utilized countless times over this past year of camping. Let me begin by saying I really like this set of camping dishes. They are versatile, hold up well and the ability to collapse allows you to maximize space while packing for your camping trips--an issue that I am sure is important to most of you. First just some general features. The bottom of the X-Bowl and X-Plate are made of nylon and designed to be able to function as a cutting board. The walls are made of food grade silicone which is able to withstand temperatures up to 300* F. Further with the flexibility of the walls you are able to not only collapse them for easier packing but also bend them for easy pouring. The entire construction is BPA free and dishwasher safe. 

The X-Bowl comes in two sizes: a 22 oz and a 39 oz. For normal use: i.e. soup, cereal, or oatmeal the smaller is more than adequate. The larger would be more adept for use as a mixing bowl or the like. The X-Plate has an 8 in diameter and works very well as a general camping plate, with the lip providing extra assurance that you wont lose your meal in the often unstable eating environments we eat at or on while camping. The X-Mug has a capacity of 16 oz. and while I really wanted to like it as much as the X-Bowl and X-Plate, truly I was not impressed with it at all. Without a solid base it just seemed flimsy and impractical. The ring around the top reinforces it a bit but overall it seems a precarious method to hold your beverage. I would definitely not feel comfortable with it holding any hot beverages. So there you have it, the X-Plate and X-Bowl are excellent and all I use anymore for dishes while camping. Easy to clean, durable, minimal in storage, and versatile. For a cup or mug there just exist more practical options: for this camper that means a solo cup for cold beverages and two-walled titanium mugs for hot beverages.