bigbill

I'm hitting all my favorite haunts now for steals and deals (clearances) online before I hit walmart. Next month i'll crank it up with our sponcers here too. I been buying up the older culprit plastics plus the new colors in crankbaits. I want to beat the rush and beready to fish. Once i start and get into the groove i don't want to stop to purchase stuff. All i do is eat, sleep and fish everyday till i get burned out. I want to wish everyone a good safe year too. My health isn't getting any better at 61yo and if i'm after a new state record i better do it quick. Bill

I purchased a german 98k 8mm mauser with a shot out barrel for $20 and a replacement surplus barrel for $37. For under $150 i built a perfect looking sporter in 8mm mauser. I refinished the orginal german stock with 10 coats of tung oil its sealed from the weather. I'm working on two more projects right now, one is a bolt action rifle in 7,62x39 for my grandson and another bolt action rifle in 6,5mm swede mauser too.

I have tested the brownells epoxy spray cans on one of my military surplus rifles that had a worn muzzle. I used the aluma-hyde II and the preperation is the key to having it come out right. I lightly went over the barrel with 0000 steelwool. Then washed the barrel / area withy rubbing alcohol and heated it with a hair dryer. utting it out in the sun would be ok too. Once its heated i sprayed it. It lasted for over 10+ years now. You could also cold blue it too using the same process and heat it and blue it. I apply the cold blue with a Q tip and if the bluing won't take to the metal i use the 0000 steelwool with the bluing to work it into the metal. Bill

The smallest caliber i would use is a 7,62x39 with the 154gr soft point it has the power and range of a 30-30. If having the money is a problem you can grab a surplus military russian mosin nagant rifle in 7,62x54r for under $150 at most gun shops. The 7,62x54r round power wise is between a 308win and a 30-06. You can also purchase the russain imported ammo at under $10 a box for 203grsoft point. Or step up to the sellier & bellot ammo which is a better quality ammo too. Accuracy wise there's a guy on you tube making a 350yd shot at a hog with the orginal iron sights. Where i hunt the blackbear season overlaps the deer season for a few days and i don't like being out there under gunned. Bill

Fry; Is it legal to catch fish for bait in CT? I read it some where it was illegal but the laws change so much here I can't remember. I mainly use lures in CT because my livebait bill was up and over $50 a week. I had to change my ways.

The rapala in blue/white thats 2'' long is one of my favorites that works too. Here's a list of my favorite cranks i'm old school and stick with what works for me. These are my first go to baits fishing from shore. 1. Rapala 2'' orginal floater in blue / white (nicknamed the "blue max") 2. Bomber Fat A size 05 in red apple craw 3. Manns baby 1 in brown crawdad 4. Norman Thin "N" in chartruce 5. Norman Thin "N" in redear 6. 1/8oz spinnerbait white w/colorado blade with a mister twister split double tail trailer (the trailer needs to be attached in the centerline of the spinnerbait so it runs perfect.) 7. 1/8oz spinnerbait chartruece w/colorado blade with a mister twister split double tail trailer My presentations do vary too from a slow reel to even a top water reel / pause or a sit and shake it. Don't forget a shot of bass scent too.

Watch www.midwayusa.com for sales and clearances on reloading kits. Buy the whole setup one shot. Or go to a gun show and look for it all.

I was CCW a ruger redhawk in 44mag for many years at night on the motorcycle. I been the whole gamit from the 357mag's, to the 45acp's to the 44mag's and the 41mag's too. My new carry gun is a CZ82 in 9mm mak with its 12rd mags. I carry it at night fishing too. I have a CZ85DB in 9mm luger with a 17rd mag but thats too big for fishing. Bill

I do not trust anybody doing any kind of work for me anyway. I been purchasing all the gunsmith tools to work on and tweek my 1911's. I started out before changing a barrel on my german 98k 8mm mauser. I have the headspace gauges and she came out perfect. The used 8mm barrel in excellent condition cost me $37. Being a retired machine tool builder and a lead engineerring tech i find that doing gunsmith work isn't that hard. I'm too old to go to school so i learn from the gunsmith dvd's. I watch gunsmith dvd's and work on guns all winter and fish all summer. Right now on my auto pistols i'm polishing the feed ramps and barrel throats. I have one 1911a1 thats pretty much a race gun now. Its just a hobby that keeps me busy. Bill

I have a Century Arms Cetme G3 in 308 and i got a good one and i was one of the lucky ones. Most had bolt/roller problems and some had canted front sights too. I just received a VZ24 czech 7mm mauser rifle that is a turd and they called it in very good condition. I do not trust CAI anymore and i only purchase ammo from them now. If your looking for an awesome rifle in 308win i would suggest the brand new russian saiga in 308win with the 16'' barrel. Mine will shoot 1 1/2'' groups benchrested at 100yds using surplus south african 308 ball ammo. Were purchasing a brand new russian ak/akm rifle not someones butcherd rework.

My favorite setup is a 6' rod with 8lb silver thread line.

For me each walmart is different with the amout of fishing lures/plastics they seem to carry. I go to all the surrounding town walmart stores to find what i want. But when they open up a new walmart or remodel one they seem to have more fishing stuff at first. I been mail ordering most of my fishing stuff now.

I started off with using tackle for trout when i first started fishing for bass. Of course the bigger fish just tore up my cheap reels. So i did some research into what reels were decent reels at the time. Not the top shelf stuff just something with 3 or more bearings and up to 10 ball bearings. Here's what i have noticed so far in the past 10 years or so. With 3 ball bearings these reels seen looser to make 1,000 casts using spinnerbaits. With the less friction i'm less tired by the end of the trip. With 10 ball bearings i can't use spinnerbaits because cranking these reels takes a lot of energy out of me with all the drg on them. I actually use these reels with plastics when there new to break them in first then when they loosen up a tad i switch them to crankbaits/spinnerbaits. Has anyone else noticed this with the new reels? I'm no pro but i'm very serious about my tackle. When i'm out fishing, i'm fishing against myself to see if i can do better. Bill

I mainly fish from shore and my biggest LMB have been caught near the shoreline in the late evenings and early am. Being stealthy and quiet is the main thing not to spook these bigger gals near the shoreline. I coff'd once to clear my throat and i watched a large bass swim away from me she was 2' from the waters edge. Do not step on any rocks near the shoreline as you walk up and get close to it. if you step on rocks sticking out of the grounds surface it actually sends vibrations into the water telling the fish to beaware. I also use a hummingbird portable fish finder the one we cast out so i can learn where the rocky points drop off in what direction, where the flats start and end plus how deep is the water where i'm fishing. Years ago i would let my sons drill holes for me when the ice was on so i could learn the bottom structure that way. But with the new cast out fish finder i use it for tha only. I would go out between 3:30am to 5:30am to start fishing while its still dark and fish till dawn or 9am. I start off with a topwater spook type bait. Then try a shallow crank depending on how deep the water is. I will fan cast the whole area and even parallel to shore sometimes too. Work the area over really good. I stay in one place too and try different size and color baits till something works. I know the fish are there its finding the correct bait, color and size. I also use a scent too. One shot of YUM helps too. Learn to vary your presentations too. With my topwater baits i move them by counting while moving the rod 1, 2, 3 times then pause and do it exactly the same everytime your presentation has to be picture perfect timing wise. I make cast and the 1, 2, 3, and the pause exact. If the bass are feeding on the top cast past them or to the right or left past them and work your lure slowly past them not into them yet close enough not to spook them and make them go to your lure. Just wait and watch for the torpedo thats going for your lure. Just stay calm and let it pause and watch for the strike or your line to start running. Don't set the hook too quickly when you can see the action rather than feel it. Remember to work the weedlines along the channels were the water feeds in too. Work the edges of the lilly pads too. Fishing from shore is the same as fishing from a boat only its backwards. You can have success too. I caught 19 bass standing in one spot, another evening we caught bass after bass (we had doubles the two of us) for over and hour just before the front hit(rain). Timing the incomming fronts and the moon phases helps too. Fact; In the low light and night conditions the bass ambush the baitfish near the shore line. As it gets lighter they move to there deeper haunts. So in the dark and low light conditions I make longer casts and bring your lure slowly near the shoreline. Be stealthy. Bigbill BTW; You may need to move around till you find the honey holes near the shoreline. They are there you just need to find the hot spots then fish them everyday and mainly in the early am if your looking for a hog. I fish up the rocky points to the shoreline and even across them were i can too by fan casting. The challange for me is usng lures too. At first i was spending over $50 a week on livebait.

I been itchin to go fishing but will all the rain i gave up. I did get out a few times and the old topnocker from BPS still works. Maybe i'll try fall fishing soon. Bill

Yes i was going by the mauri charts all the time while trophy hunting for a record breaking bass. My 10lber was caught while the charts said good fishing early am. Field & stream did list these charts to go by. I finally figured out fishing by the moon phases helps too. They guys at infisherman explained this when looking for record breaking fish to fish thru the full moon phases. I also think we have big bass in all our waters across the country. I've caught a 10lber in CT and i have seen bigger bass swim by me at the shore. The regular tornie guys are fishing the 9am to 5pm don't see these bigger bass like i do at the early am's. They are there and there very spooky and elusive. You need to be stealthy quiet. Make no noise at all. Bill

On fathers day morning my son picked me up and took me fishing. Do to my health not being so great now and not really wanting to go i went anyway. My tackleboxes are all cleaned and all my lures are sorted out all the time anyway. I have a split barn roof tacklebox filled with every topwater lure you can think of in different colors and sizes too. My crankbait tackle box is filled the sameway and its also a large split roof barn looking box too. Slowly i been filling the largest of tackle boxes with a certain style of lures. Each catagory of lure has its own tackle box. This way i can carry an assortment of sizes and color of each style of lure. Ok i hit the shoreline and started with my BPS topnocker in color #25 Chartruese/green. After a few casts with my lure scented i had two misses in one spot and i paused and it struck the third time with a hookup. I want to call it a 3lb bass but i'll leave it at a 2 1/2lb bass. Evertime I try a new lure and have success with it i also purchase many more and give them to my sons to use also. I have one son who can watch me once present a new lure and he can do it right away. My other son i have to like coach him while he is using it. But he is catching on. The first time with a topnocker he hooked up a 5ln LMB just a pause, pop, pop, pop, pause again then repeat. I notice when i do the pop, pop, pop, if i do the timing perfect with the 3 pops i catch fish if they are there. I teach them its all about a perfect presentation and it has to be exact everytime. I gave my son a Norman thin "N" in blue gill. I showed him were to cast since i know the place pretty well and were the fish are hiding. To the right there are humps and weedlines between the humps up against the shoreline. If we cast parallel to the shoreline we can bring the lure across the humps and weedlines. The kid made a perfect cast and came up with a 2lb bass. He is getting more and more away from livebait and making me proud he is having more and more success using lures. Now i got the bug to go fishing now and it took one trip with my son. just happy to be out fishing again... Godbless; Bigbill BTW; In the past i have been made fun of for carrying 5 to 6 different rod setups too while fishing from shore. Too bad that most of the guys i fish with have no clue as to what rod action and how the line test affects the presentation of each different lure. Right on the lure box it tells us the required line test to use for the best performance of the lure. The companies/manufacturers are telling us how to have success using there lures. I carry one rod set with 6lb test for the smaller lures and 1/8oz spinnerbaits, my topwater setup is 12lb or 14lb test, my medium size crankbaits are 8lb or 10lb test, my carolina rig is a 17lb test with a fluor 12lb leader. Then its a matter if we use a sinking line or a floating line too. My point is everything we use and do affects the lures action and presentation. This year instead of hammering the bass fishing everyday from the spring till i get burned out by usually July/august and i'm so burned out i'm done for the year fishing 24/7 at 3:30am everyday. This year i'm going to fish later from July into the fall.

All of my usual places here in CT were very hot withy decent size LMB for decades. But i'm positive that all our waters are changing with water levels which also has something to do with the plant life and the PH factor too. One more thing to think about is fishing the same places the fish do learn our baits plus the smell of the scent i'm using too. I'm finding out the fish are still there but there not taking our baits like they once did. I was up to 9 to 10 decent sized bass per outing "fishing from shore" in the same spot. Considering my health is poor now and i can't stand for too long i wasn't doing too bad. I fish the smaller places that were untouched at one time until i told my buddy's now there are more fisherman there. Luckily they get skunked and leave, most of them. If you don't fish the place correctly with the right bait and presentation you leave a beaten fisherman, fish "1" fisherman "0". My point is things are changing all the time wether we realize it or not and we must change with them. To me its a challange to go to a heavily fish place and continue to catch fish. Bill Its not luck in fishing, its skill so read everything info thats here and it will make us a better fisherman or fisherwoman in the future.

We were throwing the panther martin spin flys the one with the yellow blade with the brown spots with a shot of scent. It was just about dusk and i guess the catfish were comming up the ledge/drop off towards the shore line and the shallows. we just didn't catch one we could of filled a bushel with them. Catfish on inline spinners you gotta love it. Ever catch catfish with lures before? Bill

I had adream about fishing lastnight and the three of us were catching bass looking for a big ones. Maybe i been watching river monsters too much but i caught a 6' long Dace. Thats scary. I got one of those Keurig coffee makers and maybe i'm having coffee too late at night. I hope these dreams/nightmares stop now. Bill

Its sometime between mid april to the first two weeks in may. I believe when the water hits 50 degrees thats what triggers the spawn. The weeks following when the bigger gals leave the nest there really hungry and they put on the feed bang and will hit anything but we need to catch it right.

I never caught anything on a buzzbait either. But with my success with the 1/8oz spinnerbaits i been using a mepps/mister twister split double tail trailer. My point is do you use a trailer on your buzzbaits?

Do you fish tornies? Have a boat? Or just a bass fisherman who loves to fish every chance he gets. Soon i will fish 24/7 everyday till i get burned out. I'm thinking i push about 1,000 casts or more everyday throwing lures non stop till i get tired and leave. My point is its how hard you fish too that determinds what i purchase and how much i'm willing to spend. I can fish with just about any rod no matter how its priced if the action is ok for the lures i'm using. I prefer a better quality reel sometimes. I think we need a better quality reel plus a better quality line more than an expensive rod. I don't use a 10 ball bearing spinning reel on my crankbaits or my spinnerbaits there too hard to crank all the time and they wear me out. Bill I will fish heavy 24/7 everyday soon till i get burned out by June or July maybe by august. I buy and spend enough to get by for many years with the same equipment. I do use 5 or 6 rod setups for different lures. I found in using so many rod setups even from shore saves wear and tear on one rod if i used it all the time. I buy the good stuff and not the lowest in quality but not the highest priced stuff. But i still get what works well for me too. I would buy a decent rod and get a better reel/line. I have really bad luck with expensive equipment a broke one expensive rod in the dark once and ever since i purchase the lesser priced rods.

I was thinking for a larger/heavier Northern Pike or Muskie setup. I have a larger pike setup now and maybe could upgrade the reel. Seeing over $100 off on sale looks good but not so good if i can't use it. With all this new stuff, well to me anyway and being out of the loop i just don't understand which reel i which without seeing it. They never list the fish or game fish its for. Once i'm pasted the old zebco 202 or 404 and if the spinning reel isn't a number 2 or 3 i'm lost. Sorry; Bigbill

Glenn CONGRATS on the new site. And for staying on the leading edge of technology too. In this fast moving times the technology changes so fast and if we don't keep up with it we all lose. Only the smart ones know this and the others are left trying to figure out were everyone went. Only the ones who change will be rewarded. Awesome new site again congrats, BigBill BTW; Its the computers too that get so old so fast too and outdated. My older computer was operating at a snails pace so i upgraded to the lastest and greatest figuring in a few short years it will be outdated too. Internet speed is the key to surfing in these times. I like moving at warp speed while on the puter. We all need to be on the laeding edge of technology.