whittler

That would be a long haul for you Jigfishn, but if you should make it be sure to stop by and say hello.

Nice paint Jim, really like that color. Can't hide who made that bait.

It is a very easy solution and is reversible. Drill a small hole in the top, toothpick size, then using a syringe fill the bait with mineral oil. After putting in the mineral oil use a toothpick with super glue to seal the hole. Cut the toothpick flush and apply a little fingernail polish. To reverse this just drill out the toothpick, flush the bait with alcohol and reseal. The oil will self level so it won't upset the balance.

Looks like you have all the bases covered with that batch Marty. A great bunch of baits.

O H I O, if you live near Cincinnati your about an hour away. The show is in Franklin, which is south of Indianapolis. If you come to the show make sure you stop by and say hello.

The Indiana Fishing Expo, Jan 29-30, is one of the best fishing shows you will find. If you fish in freshwater there will be something for you here, this is an all species show. If you are looking for Ginsu knives, Billy Bob teeth or the usual flea market crap, you will not find it here. Some great seminars, tackle vendors, kayakers, fly tiers and rod builders it is all here. Checkout the website, you will recognize a lot of you favorite vendors, Redshad and Elgrande Lures to name a couple. www.indianafishingexpo.com/

I agree there are situations where backreeling might not be the best choice. What I cannot understand the logic that if you are having a drag problem and you can eliminate it entirely, why not. Do any of you actually use a pull test on drags to see how much pull it requires to start it moving and how much it takes to keep it moving? Do you check this when the reel is warm, cold, wet and dry? This to me is like saying " I know I have a charging system problem but I carry jumper cables".

It doesn't get any better than that, beautiful.

Back reeling is for dinosaurs. While this statment may be true, might I remind you I'm not having any drag problems. Now to adress the "if I were" If I were fishing for sturgeon, wahoo or some fish that make long high speed runs then a spinning reel would not be my weapon of choice. Not to mention the sturgeon bite is just a little slow here in Indiana. 42" musky on 6lb. line, 16 lb. channel cat 4lb. line and a 23Lb carp on 4lb. line were all caught by backreeling. All those fish were caught while fishing for smallies and all on a jig. I guess it won't work. No adjustment needed.

Backreel, drag is always the same, hot, cold,wet or dry and never needs adjusting.

Looking good there Marty. Especialy like the last one. Good to see a real handmade for a change instead of a Chinese knock off with a paint job.

John, that is some amazing craftsmanship, as always.

Sorry, I could not find the LC crankbait but I did find an LC pointer for comparison. The second picture is a KO deep diver pretty much the standard of most KO baits. The LC will have a wall thickness that is smooth and even, very little variance in thickness from end to end, about .006 max. The weights are molded into place and there are no rattles. On the KO bait the wall thickness varies as much as .045, you can see in the picture the interior is very uneven. The small bar like features it the rear are the weight transfer system, the ball in this bait will not stay in the channel making the weight transfer system usless. The ball at the front is used for the belly weight and the rattle. Tuning one of these things is next to impossible. Some of the KO baits that use weld spatter or drill shavings for rattles, well you can imagine it never is in the same place from cast to cast. So if you ever wonder why it runs left on one cast and right on the next, here is your answer. With all the decent cranks out there at a reasonable price, Bomber, Norman or Bandit to name a few, why mess with a KO?

I do have a lot of baits that are cross sectioned but it will be a couple days before I can get some pictures posted. I do not have any H2O baits but I do have an LC somewhere in my shop. It always amazes me that folks will look at a $15 LC and think that a $1.50 KO is the same.

Take a look at these pics of a Megabass KO bait, this is a prime example and typical of most KO baits. The weight transfer system ball rides in a track that is too large and usually off center to allowing the ball to fall out the track. Once the ball comes out it is not possible to get it back, at least without surgery. There are a few decent KO baits but they are few and far between.

Guys forget all about the look and finish of the LC, the real difference is on the inside. I have cross sectioned a lot of baits and I can tell you that the knock offs don't measure up on the inside. Some ko baits use weld spatter or drill shavings for rattles, some of them have a channel for weight transfer that will not hold the ball in place allowing it to fall to one side and the bait will not run true. You can put a dog in a tux and teach it to dance but it's still a dog.

How does it go, " the best laid plans" I did not get a chance to go yesterday, instead spent fishing hours in the doctors office. Today sounds like it will be raining but may have to hit it anyway, have not caught my December bass yet, and running close to being out of time.

Would have to agree with you Bob about pouring lead directly into a bait. What Dave and I are doing is pouring lead cores which are then cut to length and glued into the bait. My cores are 3" long and in 3 different diameters, 1/4', 3/8' and 7/16".

Nash, if the sun shines today and Wed. then Thursday they should go. My best times have been between 2pm and 5pm. Riverrat is correct the bite will usually take place in a very narrow window of time.

Nick, the White river, which I fish the most, is a fairly shallow stream. I have fished it most of my life from near it's start to Indianapolis and have not found anything close to 18ft. The White is fairly clear with a mild current and a lot of gravel and rock. The area I fish in the winter is only about a quarter of a mile long and the deepest water is about 5-6ft. Most of the time I make a cast up stream and then just let the jig drift in the current keeping the jig just on the edge of any current breaks, repeat as necessary. The bite is very soft, usually the float just slowly goes down, it is very much like fishing a jerk bait in cold water just be slow and patient. Its 12 degrees this morning but they predict 40 by Thursday with sunshine, doesn't get any better than that.

I use a system similar to Dave's for making swimbait weights. Oak or maple work well for the molds and if you are worried about moisture in the wood a microwave can be used to quickly dry it. Put your blanks in the microwave and take them to a temp where they are warm to the touch and let them cool, heat again. two or three cycles will remove enough moisture to make it safe to pour. My weight molds are made from 3/4" stock and are 4" wide.

Nick, the last time I was in the river was Dec.16 and there was some skim ice along the edges. The river I fish the most is quite different than your rivers or the Mississippi, 4ft. is deep water at normal pool, with rock or limestome as the main bottom, not a lot of wood. I do not move a whole lot or fish long streches but stay pretty much around a couple of edddies and let the current do the presentation. Rarely use more than a couple feet of line from the float to the jig and let any wave or current provide any action to the jig. I use primarly a 1/6oz. marabou jig, all my bait is in a small plastic bag in my shirt pocket and I only carry two colors, black and white. Hoping to get back to the river on wed. Water temps should be low thirty with air temps in the 20deg range. I don't mind fishing in cold weather but I''l be damned if I will chop a hole to do it.

Nate, help me out here buddy. As I was rereading this thread you said it takes 30min. to cut a bait. Is that a complete bait or just one side? I just thought that the cnc process would really cut down the time taken to carve a bait. Can't wait to see a finished bait.

Float-n-Fly Nick. Although I have never had great sucess with this technique in a lake it has been killer for me in the river.

Diablos, same website I was on where I placed my order and the same price. Try to get one at that price.