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Thread: My DIY Projects and Great Adventures

  1. #241
    Micanopy's Avatar
    Micanopy is offline Crappie.com 1K Star General * Crappie.com Supporter
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    My buddy showed and off we went.

    I headed out to 6.5 feet of water and began trolling with the wind. It was fish every so often, and then three real quick. All the rods got in on the act, but the long lines were the most often bitten. The close in rod did well, and the medium rods did well. Lemon/lime John Deere with blade was again the hot combination. Accounting for well over three quarters of the fish.

    My buddy was really excited to be out on the water, and mentioned later he didn’t think much about his miseries. He spotted a few things.

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    He was very busy though managing the fish count. We containerized 25 and headed home. The weather was lovely and we could have stayed for another 25, but I didn’t want to clean 50 fish. From launch to load, we were out 1 hour 15 minutes. Back at my dump I cleaned them up and he went home with a one gallon bag chocked full of filets. Oh and a great big smile on his face.

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    Some of these fish were nicely sized, but most were mediums. One fish was kind of short but really fat. I told him that one would have been a trophy one day.

    Someone is running their mouth because today there were boats everywhere. All Summer long no one around, suddenly there were thirty boats out there. A few looked like serious crappie guys. I stayed away from the fleet and ventured off on my own. Well away from that whole scene. Found fish scattered but available.

    The wardens were cruising the lake because we saw their flashing blue lights first thing. Looked to be a target rich environment to me, but I think I would have waited a while before approaching folks. If someone had an over limit, hope he noticed. 25 fish is more than enough for anyone.

    So had a fast fishing day with lots of action for my buddy and sent him home early. It was cool because he heard my a/c unit kick on and decided to look at it. Sure enough he replaced an electronic component and told me the unit would not be around much longer. I am sure he will give me a good deal. Oh and we discussed where we could set the ice machine. The wife is in agreeance that it would be nice to have it, so done deal. Makes half moon cubes and has an insulated box that holds 100 pounds.

    One particular jig has outperformed all others, and in fine fashion. I plan to make up some more of them. Comical watching one rod flex over and over again.
    Maybe they will bite this one……
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  2. #242
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    Nice report= Sell ice to the FLEET!

    u2s
    Thanks for checkin' on me! CURIOSITY takes me there, SUCCESS ushers me back!
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  3. #243
    skeetbum's Avatar
    skeetbum is offline Crappie.com Legend - Moderator Jig Tying Forum
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    That’s a good take for a short trip. It’s a good thing we do when we send our guests home with a few dinners. We’ll go again soon and his memories will last a long time. good Job Mister!!
    Creativity is just intelligence fooling around
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  4. #244
    Tradbow is offline Crappie.com 1K Star General * Crappie.com Supporter
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    I had to explain to one warden here that every time he wanted me to stop trolling so he could check me out once again that I had to reel in my lines to keep them from hanging up before I would stop. He just can’t seem to grasp that concept.

  5. #245
    Tradbow is offline Crappie.com 1K Star General * Crappie.com Supporter
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    Ice machine would be nice but the ones I’m familiar with are maintenance heavy. If the model you choose is not then I could be persuaded to try again.

  6. #246
    Micanopy's Avatar
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    This has been my best performing jig the last couple of weeks.

    I have pretty much convinced myself that eyes are for us and not them. I painted this 1/16th oz jig, size 1/0 Victory hook, with a base coat of bright white, then into a Glow in the dark yellow. An eyeball would cover up most of the sides, and that would be counter productive. See the yellow is bright and attractive in normal light, glows very well in UV light, and glows somewhat well in no light. So I have all three light options covered.

    There is so much for a little fish to see as this comes swimming past him that he doesn’t have time to verify if it has eyes. Now I like eyes myself but that is just it- I like them myself.

    This jig is using an Indiana style blade in size O. The blade size and shape seems to be helpful as this bait without the blade is lonely and does not make friends easily. Add an under spin and everyone says hello. Reminds me of when I was a kid and had a crush on the little girl at the country store. She ignored me. Then one day a friend wanted to teach me something, and handed me a wad of cash. Told me to put that in my pocket and go in and buy a Coke. When I pulled out that wad, her eyes fixated on it. After that she became interested in me and wanted to talk when ever I ambled in. Amazing. Well anyways this blade is kind of like that.

    The paddle tail also outperforms my curly tails when coupled with a blade. The curly tails do OK, but I am wanting to run them without a blade now. They do well without a blade. Right now a 3” grub is my preferred size, but as Fall turns to Winter I imagine I will be downsizing to the 2”.

    The selection of yellow glow paint vs. the other glow paint colors I have is simple enough. Almost all of my best baits have a yellow component to them. The fish like Yum Yum Yellow. So it made sense to me to be sure to include it on every lure. Standing back it POPS like a flashing beacon. Especially in low light conditions. I can pitch it into the grass and it is still easily seen at a distance.

    I have been wrapping the hook shanks in thread, easing the bait onto the hook, then daubing a drop of gel glue in front of the bait and sliding it up to the jig head to secure. This coats the threads and allows the head of the bait to stick to the jig head. Made up some without the thread to see if just the glue will work well enough. I am sold on gluing the baits in place as it saves time and they tend to survive the fish for longer periods of time. I am also learning that not all baits are equal because some the tails just fall right off after just two fish. Other baits they hang in there. Frustrating to have a jig catching fish and you have to swap it out.

    The Lemon/Lime combination is interesting and I am not the only one that is impressed with it. Seems some of the best fishermen have plenty of them on hand I noticed. Not sure why it is appealing but it is. I am trying to get down to where I have only a handful of baits. My Go-To baits. I am pretty happy with how I managed to match up a hook to get the best results, now the bait. All the colors catch fish and all the designs catch fish. However, there are some more equal than others and I want to get a short list of these and swap out only when they are not working. Which is of course hard to know because I know not whether I am over active fish or not. When I first started I swapped out jig colors way too often and didn’t realize that finding fish was far more important.

    My old surf fishing buddies are starting to get tired of seeing my fish pictures. LOL. I told them that trolling for crappie was a lot like surf fishing. You set out multiple rods and wait for them to indicate a bite, and you pick it up and reel in the stupid fish. Only I don’t have to sprint down the beach fifty yards to get that end pole. I also don’t have to push my cart a mile down hot sand, which is known as the Death March. I also can leave the house, catch a limit and be back home in about the same amount of time as it would have taken me to drive to the beach. That right there is the biggest benefit. 2 hours each way got old.

    I have gotten pretty good at launching and loading the boat. I use a plastic bucket I got from the feed store to store my rope. One end tied to the bucket’s handle, with a snap on the end, and I feed line into the bucket. This creates a last in first out situation and 75 feet of rope never tangles. It slips back out of the bucket as if by magic. So I clip bucket to truck, clip rope to boat, back in and away it goes, rope feeding out smoothly. Then pull forward, get out get rope in hand and bring boat to shore or dock. The rope doesn’t have to be coiled just so, rather just kind of fed into the bucket. Works the charm I tell you. Old sailors trick for you.

    I also do not power load the boat, rather slide up onto the trailer and crank it on the last couple of feet. The dealer told me to do it that way and I am not sure why but it works for me. I see others power loading and it just looks like something could go wrong and gouge the hull or something.

    I need a new trolling motor and a new fish finder and not sure when I will be able to get those things. The prices are way too high and being luxury items they will have to wait. I would like to be able to point the boat and not have it spin around when I step away from the TM like it does. I also want the power trim so I could lift it to drive to new spots without having to put down my rod holders.

    So far Spring was my slow time because I was just learning, and Summer has been great. Fall and Winter coming and I can’t wait to see how all that goes. I figure if I can do well in Summer I can do well year round. January and February days when there is bright Sun can be the nicest days ever. Bright Sun now not so much. LOL

    God has been very good to me and I respect the fact that He doesn’t have to be.
    Maybe they will bite this one……
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  7. #247
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    Yes, these were great reports and glad you had a successful trip! Also nice to have a game plan for the A/C.
    Bob
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  8. #248
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    That is a fine mess of fish up above
    The love for fishing is one of the best gifts you can pass along
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  9. #249
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    DrNip is offline Crappie.com 3K Star General * Crappie.com Supporter
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    When I 1st started pouring jiheads ages ago I refused to paint them the 1st two years and caught fish fine. Now I paint and put eyes. Does it matter? Hard to say but end of day I think less than the fisherman thinks so. Still have to find active fish and at times doesn’t matter what you throw at them, they won’t bite. I more or less paint and eyes as a form of art expression but on a jighead.

    Just recently bought some sourtherm pro tubes and going to try them out this weekend as I’ve never used a tube to fish. I know right? Go figure. Bought a 1/8oz is jighead tube mold so definitely paint and eyes won’t matter on it.

    I use to back my aluminum boat by myself very similar to you. I attached rope to bow eye and the other end to winch stand. Would just throw remaining rope under the boat. Back in, slides off and then pull forward. People would look at me crazy.
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  10. #250
    Micanopy's Avatar
    Micanopy is offline Crappie.com 1K Star General * Crappie.com Supporter
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    Dr Nip-

    If I was selling jigs the client would naturally expect that they would not be blind. He might think them incomplete and rushed out the door or something. Cheated. Perception is that without eyes there is a lessening of value to the fish. Causing the loss of a few bites even. Perhaps so.

    The FreeStyle jig has flat sides for the addition of 3d eyes, which serve to form a rounded head when applied. However, applying the eyes causes the jig to lose some of it’s painted surface. Maybe up to half or more. To me, this defeats the purpose of painting as I use attractive colors. I like the bright bright head out front and an attractive figure behind. The eyes add nothing unless you believe the fish is staring at the jig, and examining it.

    My jigs are the drive-by killers of the crappie world. They come screaming past a fish and he is simply reacting. There is no inspection for details, and I am grateful for that fact, too. A jig doesn’t look like a minnow, so thinking it has to have eyes like a minnow makes no sense. It looks like something trying to escape. Bladed food items do not exist in nature either, but we all know them to attract bites. So for my style eyes are definitely unneeded.

    You dip and wiggle and watch the fish eyeball your jig, so your works of art do make sense in that regard. You need every bit of attraction you can get as your jigs are not swimming past them. Kind of looking at the fish- taunting them. Even so eyes are optional, but most would reach for a jig with eyes anyways, and I understand that.

    I find it interesting that you want to try your hand with tubes. You can make a far more attractive lure so I wonder why. I can see tubes as the lures someone wants to use when they don’t enjoy fiddling. Something simple and easy. I made up a bunch of them and almost never clip one on the line. I am glad to see you have a new deal there at the house and can start pouring again. Nice.

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    I will mail this to you at absolutely no cost or obligation - should it be of interest. It would come in a package with a fine selection of tube baits. Simply claim it by sending me your name and mailing address and I will get it together and visit the post office. As you can see it is very lightly used. It makes clean heads that do not require further attentions. I chose this shape as I thought it would slip inside much easier than the ones I had purchased.

    Wait a minute…..are you inserting some sort of goo inside the tube to add scent ?

    It is just hard to imagine this transition. Can you tell me why you think tubes will outperform what you already make ?
    Maybe they will bite this one……

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