Thread: Fun Fun Fun in that Florida Sun

The weather here in Florida’s Horse Country has been rather chilly as of late. The past week it has been down in the 40’s every morning, but warms beautifully to the high fifties by noon. Anyways I wanted to go fishing and she said, “No way Jose you have to take me to the Hoggetown Medieval Fair”. Just what I wanted to hear. I get to go hang out with the weirdos and watch them do fantasy role playing and stuff.

So I drive her there and we park and start walking and I already know what to expect having gone to this ridiculous fair three years in a row. Wear boots as there will be mud everywhere. Dress warm and eat a bunch of stuff before you get there so you ain’t starving and having to buy carnival food from carnies.

So we get in and first stop was the hammer ding thingie where you get to show how strong you are. I pony up and WHAM…..no ding. First time in decades I did not ding the stupid bell. So I really applied full power and no ding. I smacked the devil out of that thing and the slider would get almost there but no ding. I protested as obviously this thing has been rigged to make me look insufficient in front of my wife, and all those that were watching me with big smiles on their stupid faces. We never heard that bell ring all day as no one was able.

The trick to ring the bell is to swing the hammer directly behind you, using both arms straight overhead, and bend your knees as you bring it down and put a solid whack on it with good follow through. Been ringing bells every time for decades. So every one is laughing at me and that was when she decides to say, “You are getting older”. What a rotten thing to put there. I mean right as you come in the gates you get to be humiliated and reduced to accepting things better left unconsidered, such as the aging process.

Then I spotted the Illegal Burritos stand and got me their Mega Death special. Not too bad. Expensive but not too bad. I don’t do Geros, and Turkey legs look good until you get to picking at them. She wanted cider and mead and stuff but I was doing fine without anything to drink.

Then she saw the dresses and into that tent she disappeared. I didn’t follow as I was afraid of what might be lurking inside ready to beguile me. So I am watching weirdos and she pops out and motions me over. Now we have only been married a little more than a year but I fully understand the implications here. Believe me I do. So she asks my opinion and my response is simple enough. I reach into my wallet and like magic she is happy. It was a long white linen flowing dress just like the fancy girls wore in……wait for it….wait….Medieval Times.

Then off we go down the muddy trails looking for things of interest. Axe throwing, knife throwing, rope ladder climbing, and she asks why I am not trying any of them. I hadn’t really considered why but after the He Man Failure to start out with, maybe I just lost interest in being embarrassed. Maybe I really am getting old like she said.

Then she spots Lucifer. Ten feet tall and evil as all get out and here he is coming down the lane headed our way. She squeals and like a rocket off she goes.





So this dude starts pawing at my wife and before I could get at him she tells me to give him some money. Money….. he needs a quick kick in the stilts. He was actually making Satin sounds and spittle was coming forth and she was squealing the entire time. So I did my thing, and out comes the wallet and I slip the guy a couple of bucks. Man did she cut me a look. So out comes a few more bucks and he lets her go. That was traumatic for me, and I gestured at him after she turned her back.

By the time we got home I was whooped and in no shape to go launching the boat. However the very next morning I head out at about 9 am to start fishing. As I was midway into the launch phase, the warden comes screaming up in his truck asking me how many ducks I got. I said ain’t got no ducks. Then he sees that I am launching not landing and starts to ask me some questions and I answered with respectful tones. He is the fourth warden I have had approach me at that ramp wanting to know how many ducks I got. I should ask next time- “Hey, where on the boat is the best place to hide my over the limit ducks ?” I mean give them something exciting other than little old me and my foolishness to go crappie fishing.

So away I go, only boat on the lake. Literally the only boat with a fool for a captain. I am learning a lot already like gloves keep your hands from freezing and falling off. That in a pinch they can be used to shield your teeth from freezing. I had already learned that putting heavy sweat pants over bluejeans can feel pretty good while the boat is in motion. Hoodies are nice as well, but nothing warms the body quite as nicely as stopping the boat to start fishing.

I was testing out some of my newest lures and such. I make all my own jigs and buy all the plastic baits. Buy is exactly right as I now have four boxes of plastic baits. Something for every occasion I imagine. So I set out ten rods and begin slowly trolling along. The Sun was out and it felt like it was 25 degrees warmer than it really was. I love that. So I am trolling along and made a mistake and entered the mine field of all hydrilla minefields. No escape route. Had to kill the TM and reel in all the lines and powered my way through and back to open water.

Then a little fish bites and I look him over. Way too small for me to consider cleaning, so over the side he goes. Then another one a little bigger hits.



Then after an hour or so, here comes number 3.



Now had the bite been better I would have taken these guys home with me, but as slow as it was I knew there was no use in keeping them. Not enough to clean.

I swapped out jig head sizes, tried spinning blade jigs, switched colors, tried different areas, no other fish wanted to play, but it sure beat watching some Lucifer dude whispering into my woman’s ear I can tell you that.

This morning it is raining and cold and with the fish being fickle and all I stayed home. Finished up some jigs. One of the things I have learned is that blade sizes and styles might make a difference. I started out with large blades and have eventually evolved into using smaller and smaller blades. I was able to spy an old man’s lures one day and he was using small willow leafs. I mean small willow leafs. They say he is a great “speck” fisherman so I copied him a little.



The above are FreeStyle heads in size 1/16th oz, with an Eagle Claw 571 hook size 1/0, no eye. You can see my custom under spin design from where I made a slight modification to the Do-It mold to add the wire. I also modded my Bat Jig mold and made some of them.



Same weight and hook, only I added some eyes to these and am waiting on some new blades. I found some 0/0 size willow leafs made from brass and they will be along soon. Here is my Herring Head jig, where I had to alter the mold just to get it to produce under spin wires that didn’t just fall out.



Anyways, with three or four styles of under spins I am sure to be completely confused and dizzy when I go to swap out jigs. I really have an issue with all the choices. Sometimes I will be thinking I need to swap out a certain jig and bam I catch a fish on it before I do. I have way too many plastic baits now and that is an issue I am dealing with. Trying to get to where I can carry a small box of jigs and leave behind my two suitcases crammed full. I mean just unzipping them starts this whole process where I pick through twenty plastic tackle boxes and still remain unable to decide anything that might be meaningful. I think I could do just as well closing my eyes and picking.



Have to go to work later today so it doesn’t much matter that it is kind of rainy and nasty. Been cooking on-site for events and such. Very hard to maintain cleanliness when you are in someone’s front yard, but it can be done if the commitment is there. I don’t think them fellers at the fair were committed to cleanliness, but I didn’t shoot stuff out, so maybe they do. Which leads me to some advice for you. Don’t stand under an eagle’s nest when they have chicks. Trust me on this one.

I wanted to share my adventures and such and usually do so in the Jig Making section. However I think they have already seen everything possible with jig making, and might be getting bored with my adventures here in the paradise of Florida, so I am gonna try to share stuff here. Me being a man of few words makes it easier for you to follow along, but I will try to add content as I go.

I imagine you sitting inside, desperate for something to occupy your mind and take it away from the dismal conditions that exist up North. I used to live North and would sit and dream of what I would do once it got warm enough to go outside. Too big to get invited to go ice fishing with anybody, I just kind of read stuff and shuttled in firewood and such. Perhaps my musings have taken away the dreariness of your existence and given you some ideas. Like don’t let the woman go alone to the fair and such. If you are really sick and tired of it all and want to modify your mold to an under spin design let me know and I will help you. I used a large C clamp to fix all four of my molds. No Dremel skill set needed. LOL

If you know anything about blades on crappie jigs I sure would love to hear what you know. I am determined to figure out what the fish really want. Saw a design on the interwebs the other day that was cool and easy enough for anyone to add an underspin to any jig head they have on hand.



The designer of it just made up a swivel and blade and eased the swivel onto the hook, allowing his plastic bait or chenille to shove the swivel forward producing an under spin. Very easy to manage something like that if you ever wanted to try your hand at using under spins. All the clever ideas have been discovered. Well most of them, but I think this is pretty clever.

Another feller did the exact same thing, only he slid the swivel back to the bend of the hook and secured it there with fly tying thread and formed a body from chenille and made the blade spin straight off the back. Another very clever idea.

With all these clever fellers around, them fish should have been wiped out a long time ago. Anyways I killed enough time yacking at you people about inane and ridiculous things. Maybe a nice nap will be in store for you later today and you can go fishing in your dreams and finally catch that big one you have always imagined holding up for the camera.