bigbill

I've caught catfish on the panther martin spinfly that has a yellow blade with black spots and a fly trailer with a black body and a shot of yum scent. It was getting dark and the cats were comming up the drop off feeding. We caught a few this way.

To me i can adapt to any rod that has the right taper and backbone for the lures its going to use. I use all rods that were on sale. I do prefer to use the better quality reels. I'll list the setups i use from shore. I carry all these with me because each lure runs different and we need to use the corret rod and line weight for the best action. 1. Topwater 7' HD rod with 14# test Okuma spinning reel (rod cost $15) 2. Crankbait rod 6'6'' MD/HD rod with 12# test Fin-nor spinning reel (rod cost $12) 3. Plastics rod 6'6'' MD with 17# test with a Quantum spinning reel (rod cost $19) 4. Spinnerbait / in;line spinner rod 6' MD with 10# test with a Viva spinning reel (rod costs $25) 5. Small lure rod 5'6'' with a Viva spinning reel with 8# test (rod cost $4) I stock about 50 to 75 rods inhouse. Years ago gofishing.com had plenty of good rods at awesome prices. Now trying to find a good affordable rod is very rare. Dicks sporting goods had the fin-nor rods on sale at one time. The best time to shop is the eary springtime when there clearing out there old stock on sale. My tackle room probably has more stuff than a mom & pop bait shop. I figure i'm so far ahead if the bottom ever falls out of the ecomony that bad i can still fish to eat for decades. I mainly use affordable out dated rods, with good quality reels and good line for bass / trout fishing. My fly rods cost me way more $$. Sorry but i'm very frugal and live / survive on a tight budget. I can spend $$ for the more expensive stuff but i have a bad habit in the dark with closing my rod tips in the car door. So i stay with the lower priced rods. I broke a brand new $100 fly rod the first night out in the car door.

So many different 308's to choose from?? I just picked up a chinese norinco m14s in 308. Its like new condition with a free trade in i had + $371 OTD i got it home. With its 5100 forged receiver and chrome lined bore i'm happy. She headspaced on the low side plus i fixed the loose op rod guide block and installed the national match op rod spring guide and heavy duty wolf op rod spring too. I hope it can out shoot my russian izmash saiga in 308, with a 16'' barrel. My 308 saiga's benchrested at 100yds using surplus south frican 308 ball ammo will shoot 1 1/2'' groups at that distance with the orginal iron sights.(no scope). I want to shoot my m14s with no scope first to see how it shoots with the orginal iron sights. Then i'm going to scope it but i'm not sure which scope to purchase. I was looking at the higher priced Millet scope?? Once i scope the m14s I want to scope my saiga in 308 with the 22'' barrel using the russian scope from kalinka. Then the dual will begin between them. I was on my way to purchase a new m1a when i spotted the new russian saiga's for $289 in 308. I'm glad i purchased the new saiga's.

Thanks a bunch, I got in touch with Terry and he is doing ok. Thank's BigBill

I purchase up to 6 crankbaits at the sametime, all the same. I notice some will catch fish and some won't. After a close inspection some need to be tweeked. I even adjust the front bill too. I've seen the fish on a frenzy they even hit the lures going backwards.

He has done a lot of work for me in the past. I have some more work for him to keep him busy.

I've caught a few 30" chain pickerel here at different places. I know there like baby northern pike(45") but what a fight. My older brother found a hole under a rail road bridge and pulled out two 50" stripers(saltwater from shore)

I caught one like that it was the size of a 5 gallon bucket lid. I was fishing on a full moon phase with a front comming in. I love fishing by the moon phases.(mauri charts)

I mainly fish from shore. I was spending over $50 a week on livebait over a decade ago when i switched to using lures only. Important things we need to learn; Presentations are the most important thing. One is constant lure speed. I practiced making a perfect circle with my hand and wrist while cranking a top prop / buzzbait. The speed needs to be a constant speed, it has to be perfect. I like to practice my presentations on a slow day and a fish will interupt me when i do it right. I'm also a lure color fanatic too. Reds, Browns, Green, chartruese and silver are some of my favorite colors. Let the water clarity dictate what color and size lure to use. Clear water conditions natural lure colors, small to mid sized lures fished faster. Slightly stained water conditions same as above Stained water conditions its brighter lure colors med sized fished slower Muddy water conditions its the larger sized, brightest color lures fished the slowest. I would get a cup of your favorite beverage and read everything thats here in getting started and on. Trust me everything here thats said really works when we do it right. Read it all, then go out and learn it on the water. You can catch fish like a pro at times too trust me i know. Fishing from shore the best thing i ever purchased was the hummingbird portable fish finder wrist watch version. You cast out the sensor and it sends back to the wrist watch screen the bottom structure. I can find the points, the flats, deep holes and dropoff's using it. Then i can adjust my fishing style to match the structure. I can stand at the top of the point and fan cast it, thats taking the full advantage of the structure. Were fishing from shore and its only backwards from a boat. Its the same fishing once we figure it out.

Note; Remember to be very stealthy and quiet if your fishing from shore at night. The bigger bass come close to shore to ambush the baitfish. There very, very spooky too. Walk softly up to your spot. Is the darker color really important?? I think they will see the outline of the lure no matter what color it is at night so anything will do. I often wondered this. I believe any topwater prop lure like a Mister Twister Top-Prop or Tri Alive Top Prop will do. Any buzzbait, spooks or frogs, jitter bugs, poppers and hula poppers. I have seen guys using mepps inline spinners at 10pm. they actually told me the bite slows down when it gets darker but the bite starts up again between 9pm and 11pm. This one place is very active with fisherman so it quiets down as it gets darker. I started fishing this spot at 3:30am to get away from the crowd. I believe a pounding blade, using scents and if it has a rattle too is a big plus at night too. There were night spinnerbaits offered with larger single colorado blade with a rattle too. I'm a firm believer in any fishing a vibrating blade, a rattle and using a scent will give us an edge.

Manns Classic Hank Parker spinnerbaits. From shore the 1/8oz white or chartruese hank parker spinnerbait is a killer. Every fish in the water will strike this spinnerbait if its setup correctly.

I use only the ball bearing snap swivels most of the time. I can't see good enough to tie knots fast enough when changing lures in the low light and bright light conditions. Plus the snap swivel will give the crankbaits a little more side to side action its like having a hinge when using the ball bearing snap swivel.

The older lures is what i mainly still use today. I still use the mepps inlines plus the joes fly 1/4oz bass size too. Joe offers them in all colors with some brighter colors for cloudy and low light conditions. I'm also using the older colored crankbaits too. I refuse to mess with success. For the past decade and then some these older colors have worked and still continue to work too. I always say on a tought day just throw that lure we never tired before. The one we carried in our tackle box for many years. I would rather fish the smaller unfished bodies of water than be in a boat on a large body of water. I still get non stop action with the older colored lures. I was ready to repaint them but why if they still work.... Its not luck in fishing its skill, luck is at the casino. Bigbill

I purchase what ever is on sale, discounted or clearance by as many as i can afford. I use the eagle claw weedless hooks on my senko / BPS sticko worms(BPS last longer). I have many thousands of hooks in stock. I purchase my reels and rods the sameway un less its something special i want. I'm happy i stocked up on it all because i don't see any deals like i once could find. And don't replace that dull hook just sharpen it.

I miss his show, he was one of the best on ESPN. Godbless him.

I hope to fish more than ever this year. I'm stop fishing when they close the lid.

Right now during the spawn the bass are in the north end were the sun shines for most of the day. Once the spawn is over the action will increase.

At one time it was only Creme and Culprit who manufactured plastic worms. I still use and stock creme and culprit worms today.... The culprits are getting harder to get (orginals). I also started buying up mister twister worms too. BTW; The first worm fishing we ever did was to use a split shot rig with a 6" black creme worm back in 1973.

When i first got into bass fishing i was reeling in a bobber/nightcrawler when the bass struck at it. The bass told me they wanted something moving. Being a trout fisherman for all of my life i felt really dumb that the fish had to tell me i was doing it wrong. I put on an inline spinner and caught many bass that night along with my son we had doubles after doubles. The rest is history... this taught me to read what the fish want and the mood there in. I'm not a fish whisper.

Only one worm fished topwater. I purchased some floating worms but never tried them yet.

Early morning from dark to dusk(when the sky starts to light up) to light i use; 1. Topwater (in the dark) BPS topnocker or spook in a chartruese / firetiger color. (walk your puppy) Mister twister top prop tri alive in firetiger (or any of the top props) 2. Bottom lure (any time) Rebel BIG Claw crawfish crank D74 dives 10' (bump the bottom) 3. 1' to 4' crankbait (after first light) Bomber FAT A #05 2'' in redapple craw (reel it slow over submerged weeds) 4. 1' to 4' (after first light) Rebel orginal floater 2'' in blue. (vary your presentation) 5. Strike king or any size #3 inline spinner silver blade black dressed trailer 6. spinnerbait silver blade white skirt with a split double tail trailer 1/8 oz 7. 1/8 oz brass weighted carolina rig with a BPS stick o worm / senko

Mine is; bass fishing bear hunting deer hunting predator hunting more bass fishing In my stand i take some fresh made roastbeef wraps, some hard candy, a $5 cigar and a two way radio. The fresh made roastbeef wrapps are a killer in the wilds.

Example; A while back my dealer had a used CZ85DB pistol in 9mm luger for $300 in excellent condition. These were listed new for around $600 at the time. Now it seems the used ones are much higher than 50% the cost of new, there more like 60% to 70% price wise depending on what it is and the condition. Lets say it costs new at $1,000 the used priced was the norm of $500 now there more like $650 to $750. There are no great buys on the used stuff anymore like there once was.

For a cleaner i use the orginal USGI rifle bore cleaner. For the lube i use moly. Moly; 1. eliminates all wear 2. reduces friction 3. doesn't attract dirt 4. stays were we put it. 5. fights corrosion 6. the gun will cycle faster and smoother. 7. moly on the trigger sear will lessen the trigger pull by up to 50% right away and more as it works into the pores of the metal. 8. Even during storage once its lubed with moly its ready to rock n roll at anytime. Moly my guns never leave home without it. www.ts-moly.com I use the ts 70 moly paste & anti-seeze

I can't find his website anywhere so maybe he is out of business, He repainted many of the mister twister super top props for me in the past and they look great. I hate to use them and maybe they should be hanging on my wall. While fishing in the rain oe day i caught a pink and white sunfish, it looked like a sunfish. I told terry and he made me a 3'' one. He also made me many sunfish/blue gill lures to order too. He made a top water 4'' blue gill too that runs on its side with a dish in its mouth so it will pop when jerked. Like i said he does some awesome quality work for me.