J. M. Richardson

Good suggestion J Francho, but I have to come up with something more "engineering related" and have some sort of property to test ("does it float?" won't count). I like the idea of a kayak, but that might be a bit ambitious for now. Now I need to think of a new idea and write a proposal for Friday. I am open to suggestions (doesn't necessarily have to be fishing related, but need to have some property to test i.e. strength, stiffness, energy absorbtion etc...)

Unfortunately, my professor killed my rod building idea all together. He said that the time frame was unreasonable and the equipment available would not be enough to create even a small ice fishing rod . Oh well, it was worth a shot, maybe I will just buy a blank and build one or two at home.

Went out to my favorite local fishing hole (not much to chose from here in Iowa while I am at school) and spent some time on the water. Started off throwing spinnerbaits, swim jigs and shallow cranks with no luck. Switched over to a tube (t-rigged weightless) and slowed down quite a bit. Caught a couple of dinks before the fun happend. I casted from shore diagonal to a small point where the rocks stuck out a bit further. Felt that tell tale tap and pull and set the hook hard...but then nothing happened. For a bit I though I hooked into a log so I ran over to try and get a better angle to loosen the lure from the backside. As the line went slack I felt another tug on my pole...Wait a minute this is a fish. I turned my drag back a bit (i was fishing medium action spinning gear for the tube) and felt some more tugging...I knew this was going to be a big one. I managed to wind the piggy in and landed my first 5+ lber in Iowa (my PB is a 6.5 I caught up in WI). The girl I was fishing with couldn't believe the size of the thing and snapped a picture of me with the fish (I will add to the post once I get it). Felt good to finally pull something of size in Iowa and over the course of the year I have greatly boosted my confidence in tubes, they have now become one of my go to lures. Good times on a beautiful fall day here!

*Spoiler Alert* "Shut up Billy Mays"...Just messing with you that was a great episode. I must say though that the Jersey shore episode this past week was awesome. I can't believe they got away with using Osama like they did though. I bet they are going to get some flak for that one.

The show was hilarious. I frankly don't understand the obsession with this Jersey Shore show. It's just a bunch of people with crappy nicknames going about their day to day (however messed up that day to day might be in my opinion). I am a fan of Nascar, but can appreciate a good satire of it when I see and that episode was good as well.

All your baits look awesome Big M.

The other I forgot to mention that was cool about this tournament was that it was sponsored by the Iowa State University Fishing club (of which I am a member) and we got to compete against the President of the University who is an avid fisherman (great to see him coming out and spending time with students, something I am sure not to many university presidents do).

Well, had the tournament today. It was hard fishing we had a high pressure system over the lake and it was unseasonably warm for iowa this time of year (in the 80s). Tried throwing everything I said and the only thing me and my partner were getting bit on were jigs. Out of 15 teams only 5 weighed in fish and we took third with only two fish just barely the length limit. The local guys said it was the worst day they ever had on the lake.

Thanks for all the advice fellas, but unfortunately building a 7 foot fishing rod got the X by my professor. I think I am going to start with something small. I am going to build a custom ice fishing rod. (I live in Iowa and ice is on the water 6 months of the year). I have an interesting idea to start with a small nickel guitar string core and use composite threads to wrap it, if I can I will take the core out if I can figure out a release system for it. It will be good practice if in the future I want to build rods.

Hey Guys, This sunday I am fishing a lake that is almost all flooded timber (some of the trees still stick out 60 or 70 feet tall). The bass should be chasing shad and the air temps will be in the 70s. What would you guys use? My plan is to use square bill cranks, jigs, spinnerbaits and a wacky rig if I have to slow way down. Any help would be appreciated.

Try different retrieves as well. I find that a stop and go retrieve works well at times. the flutter/flash from the drop often invokes a strike.

I have a lot of success with jerkbaits in the spring and fall. I fish them pretty much anywhere, but be careful around heavy vegetation, they get caught up a lot, but I have pulled big bass jerking parallel to weed lines.

Some of the Tactics PETA uses are more *extreme* then the people they are using it against. I agree with the above post that us fisherman and hunters (usually most outdoorsmen do both) contribute more to conservation efforts every year than all the organizations like PETA and others combined. Our license purchases go to pay for conservation efforts and we will make sure our lakes stay viable as fisheries and our hunting grounds stay populated. In my opinion, most members of PETA just don't understand the feeling outdoorsmen get while hunting or fishing. It's much more than just hooking a fish through the lip or shooting an animal, it's connecting with the spirit of the wilderness, breaking away from the technology that seems to dominate our lives constantly and striving to be something better. Like Thoreau said "Most men go fishing all their lives, without really realizing it's not fish their after"

I would probably carry the same thing ever season except summer. Fall/Winter/Sping: small finesse jigs (black/blue with blue trailers), a white/chartruese spinnerbait and a couple of lipless cranks summer: a spook, popper, senkos and straight tail worms.

I ordered some Big Bite Cane thumper swimbaits to try out. Kind of dissapointed the purple and gold color wasn't coming in till the 17th though. Also got some swim jigs and a bluegill colored Vibraflex spinnerbait.

I just picked up an AZ4 by flambue at Wal mart that took the place of my large plano 737 since I now fish from shore a lot and wanted a bag I could carry on my shoulder. It fits all but some of my plastics and my spinnerbaits. going to pick up some binders for storage of those since I can attach to this bag. I think it will be a better system for me and the bag is smaller.

Get those deep diving cranks out for Kentucky lake. I fished the FLW collegiate tournament and threw a deep diver all day back in may. It was the only thing they were biting on.

Thanks, I am looking to get into painting cranks and that will help tremendously

How do you guys get the hexagonal scale patterns on your crankbaits? is it some kind of stencil that you use?

Thanks guys. I intend to use the rod for more than just spinnnerbaits and worms (i tend to fish most of my worms on spinning gear anyway). With the lure rating I think it will handle most of what I throw at it.

I am looking to purchase a new affordable high quality rod and reel and am thinking about getting the Skeet Reese Rod and Reel combo. The spinnerbait/worm rod along with the victory reel. Anyone have experience with these?

Invest in some night vision goggles and mosquito netting lol. I have fished docks and pads with success at night but the body of water I use to do that I can pretty much navigate without seeing anything.

Yeah, I go to Iowa State University and am taking a course in composites. We have access to a shop that has all the tools necessary to make whatever we want pretty much. Also, we have a selection a of different materials.

Looks like I got my work cut out for me. I agree the hardest part will be to taper the rod. I just need to figure out if I want a carbon fiber based rod, or a glass based one.

So, this fall I have the opportunity to take a course on composite materials in my aerospace engineering curriculum. We are allowed to manufacture anything we want out of composite material (fiberglass, carbon fiber and the like). My plan is to make a fishing rod from scratch (i.e. not buying a blank). Are there any books out there that deal with this or does anyone have tips for best materials?