bigbaitfisher

The biggest thing is to get a water filter to connect the airbrush hose to. Otherwise you'll be spraying an air/water mixture that will NOT be good. It will splatter your paint.

Thanks for sharing the story, Robert. It brings me right back to ACTUAL reality, which was very needed right now. If you don't mind, I think I'd like to print it out and hang it above my desk. Just as a reminder.

I suggest going to Ocean City, Maryland for White Marlin, as it is the White Marlin Capital of the WORLD. We took 2nd place in the WMO tournament this past summer with an 85 pound white! Big enough to win every tournament the past 20 some years, but a BEHEMOTH 91 pounder came to the scales. Swords are all along the coast, best time is typically night time. We do good out of O.C. but I think NORTH is better. Time it right in O.C. and with the right captain you can tuna fish or shark fish in the pre-dusk hours, and then set up shop for swords at dark. TONS of fun. I don't know any specific forums, but places like TidalFish.com may provide more details for bigger species. If you're REALLY looking to travel, Guatemala and Costa Rica is a GREAT destination for billfish in our winter months (January and February) PM me if you have any questions. I'm not much of a forum browser anymore.

LOVE the falcon spinnerbait boxes. I use the Buzzbait box as well, but I'm not as happy with it. It holds them well, but it's cumbersome to remove them at times. I just haven't found anything better. $25 bucks for a falcon box? They're $10 here and Gander Mountain has them on clearance for $5.

I rely heavily on my dremel to clean them out. Check them out at Wal-Mart and Home Depot, they're not that expensive and come in handy more then you'd think. I make quick work of sanding baits down, shaping baits, cleaning hook holders, carving wood, etc.

Try washing with light soap and water and a non-abrasive cloth. Then apply a coat of wax once clean. This will clean and protect.

I agree with them being expendable pointers. They are not consistent, and are no where close to the quality of the LC Pointers. But for the price, a nice jerkbait. I've had a couple float, a few sink, and a few suspend. I always mark them on the belly with a sharpie "F" for float, "S" for sink and "B" for suspend (bouyant) and I also write the water temp on there...it gives me an idea of what I'm pulling out. I have about 10 of them that I've custom painted. I like them, and next time I order from Netcraft, I'll order another handful.

You'll really enjoy it down there. The Sheraton is a great place to stay. I've been there three times. As far as fishing goes, I BELIEVE that they do NOT allow "shore fishing" in the Bahamas on your own. There's no tourist money in that. There are, I believe, 4 charter boats near the premises...within walking distance of the hotel, that will take you out for whatever is in the area. If that doesn't sound good, there are boats in the Straw Market who will take you out. Usually for Mahi-Mahi, but again, it depends on what is running. The straw market is a great place that I'm sure your wife will want to visit at least once. Enjoy it down there! Any other questions, PM me! I rarely check threads anymore.

Thanks Jay We found out that the susquehanna is fairly open, and have been catching big time numbers of yellow perch, up to 13 inches. Will try and hit the gunpowder this weekend.

Any reports from the Gunpowder, or any other streams in the Maryland area? A buddy and I are looking to fish a little, preferably fly (he wants to learn how) and it would be excellent to get a report! Is anything not frozen over and wadeable? Would really appreciate it if someone would point me in the right direction, and maybe tell me what to throw (I'm assuming nymphs, and keep an eye out for hatches).

Yep, I'm more or less sleep walking when I turn them off. I'll check out the list, thanks!

and I need help finding it! I'm a heavy sleeper, and my current alarm clock system just isn't working. For the record, I have 4-5 alarms set and spaced throughout my room, to all go off within a 2 minute period. And I currently get up, walk around to shut them off or snooze the ones close to me, and go back to bed. I would prefer something that wasn't deafening loud that will wake up the rest of my house (college campus). I've heard of clocks that make you do simple math problems before you are able to snooze/shut off. Anyone have experience with a good alarm clock that they would recommend?

Does anyone have experience with creating a fishing show? Our goal is to have it run on local access, with the ultimate plan to have it picked up by a big station such as ESPN or Versus. I'm looking for any advice anyone may have to offer. I have a plan of my own, but I've never done this. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the Rockfish chart. Actually very helpful as I fish the Chesapeake A LOT for rockfish. Helps make more sense on why we use the baits we use. I'm well aware of the 1/3rd rule. This chart did the conversions for bluegill and trout, shad, etc. so it reduced the "guess work". It was really helpful, and I'd love to have a copy of it. No clue who made it, where I saw it, or what...hoping someone else does!!!!!

There is a chart, somewhere in existence, that shows how big of forage fish that certain sized largemouth can consume. It's come to my attention that Shad has been in a recent FLW article, but the chart that I have seen in the past listed almost everything...bluegill, trout, shad, etc. If anyone has a link to, or PDF File of, this chart, I would REALLY appreciate it. I've spent countless hours searching google with no results. Thanks!!!

I've been applying a thin coat of Dick Nite's clear topcoat on all of my balsa baits. It gives me more piece of mind, protects against the hooks and fish bites, as well as rocks and other things that can crack the stock topcoat. It adds a little bit of weight, but I havn't noticed a performance issue on them.

If it's light weight and non-obtrusive, I'd be interested just for safety reasons....I HATE losing hats on the water, and every year I seem to lose more than a few. I wasn't a fan of the alligator clip version.

Totally agree. Send them the picture and a letter, maybe even an article on WHY you choose the gear you use. I had a friend do this, and although I pointed him in the right way through my contacts with the company, he's now sponsored by them and gets ALL of his rods for free. All for catching a fish.

Topwater baits like Zara Spooks. Swimbaits that imitate shad forage, such as the Storm Swimmin' Shad in 4 and 5 inch versions. Flukes, jerkbaits, and the like are great in shallow water. Add a jighead for deeper water or for a faster fall (strong current). Lipless baits like Rat-L-Traps and Yo-Zuri Rat'ln Vibes are deadly. White bucktails tipped with Zoom Finesse Worms in Chartreuse or White. Almost always deadly. Can also tip with a big curl tail grub. Basically, imitate shad. They will be focusing on them this time of year, and can eat A LOT in a day. Awesome fun. I do most of my striper fishing in the Chesapeake Bay and in the ocean. We've gotten fish up to 50 pounds on big trolling lures. It's intense. In freshwater, you can troll crankbaits and bucktails very effectively.

I love them in the bay. The salt water gives them a different taste in my opinion. Worms or, in brackish water, blood worms, are a great bait. Small white jigs tipped with live minnows, small silver spoons, or small jerkbaits like the BPS Nitro Minnow have all been great producers for me.

I ran out of the Createx airbrush cleaner and have been squirting windex in to clean it out, and it works WONDERS. Been doing this for 6 months or so. When I break down, I take the plastic O-ring out and allow it to soak in Mineral Spirits. And then wash very well, and then soak in dawn/water, and then again in clean water. I RARELY do this, only when I notice build up and it effects the performance of the spray.

Spend more time on the water. Find the fish. Catch the fish. There's no magic lure out there, although some are more productive than others. It's all based on opinion. I catch 95% of my smallmouth on 2.5 and 4 inch tubes. My buddy catches 90% of his smallmouth on a senko. Jerkbaits, crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and flukes will all work.

I have several small time sponsors. When I signed with one, I was offered a 10% commission on all new customers that I brought to the company. I KNOW for a fact that I have brought 3 mom-and-pop stores to the company, but have no proof, as they didn't mention my name. It happens. What I do know is that I have set a business up with this company and the owner has done in excess of 100k in sales. This translates into over 10 grand in my pocket. I'm not desperate for the money (it would be AWESOME to help pay off student loans). This only became an issue when I requested a few baits, maybe 100 dollars worth, and was asked for my billing information (billed at a drasticly reduced rate over retail). Do I ask the owner for a commission check? What is the proper way to approach him? The company that I have proof of is in contact with me constantly, we've actually became very close friends, and I know he would not HESITATE to give me his sales numbers. I help the company I am a pro-staffer out in many ways, writing articles, spreading the brand, etc and I feel that I am a very valuable asset to the team. I don't want to ruin this and get kicked off, but at the same time, I feel free baits in lieu of a commission check is not a huge deal. I understand in a rough economy, it's easy to forget commission based checks. This is not my J-O-B so I don't need the check. But what's right in this situation??? Please, any solid advice is REALLY appreciated.

You mentioned that YOU havn't attracted the attention of sponsors/pro stores/etc. At your level, they won't walk to you. Go out there and chase them. Develop a resume, post it on here and get it nit picked, and then post the revisions. Until it is perfect. Act professional at all times (especially on the internet! It's hard, but sponsors WILL be looking at internet posts). Find out how YOU can help a company. The company knows how it can help you...but what are YOU bringing to the table? I would not be going after the "big boys" in the industry. Find a local tackle store that is willing to give you a discount. Promote them. Start small and work your way up. Never forget the small guys and what they did for you. I know a few 16 year olds who work SO HARD for the companies that sponsor them. They are a RARITY and showed initiative early. These guys are a HUGE ASSET to the company if they continue down this path (which I hope they do). It's tough. But it's do-able.

also might want to remove your contact information (address and phone number) for posting it on the internet.