tholmes

My first initial and my last name. I use the same handle on most every forum (mostly guitar forums) that I belong to. Yeah, I'm a regular fount of creativity. Tom

That isn't pizza. :-/ x1,000. That's a casserole. Tom

It upsets me a little because, 99% of the time, it's my fault. I try to figure out what went wrong, hit the reset button and cast again. Tom

Yep. On most of the waters that I fish, that's 15". Tom

I use an old Berkley Roughneck 6' MH casting rod and an even older Shakespeare President II reel spooled with 20lb. Berkley Big Game mono. Tom

Yep. Looks just like this one. Where did you catch it? Tom

http://www.mannsbait.com/Store_Index.html Tom

The colors that dominate my crankbaits are shad, bluegill, and crawdad. With firetiger and baby bass thrown in for good measure. Tom

Yep, that's a HUGE catfish. Tom

I pour the plaster into an Altoids tin or other appropiately sizer container. Take whatever jig trailer you want to copy and push it into the plaster until it's flush with the surface, let the plaster dry thoroughly and (carefully) remove the trailer from the plaster. Tom

Another shore fisherman here, and I do this too. I use "snack bags" that are about 1/2 the size of a regular sandwich bag. Big enough for 5 or 6 worms, Sluggos etc. or a handful of tubes or grubs. Tom

Coming from Kansas, I can speak to fishing in the wind. Casting weightless plastics into the wind just ain't gonna work very well. I do the best with plastics on a t-rig, sometimes using as much as 3/4 oz. weights. Just last evening, I was fishing a small (50 acres) local lake and the wind was 25-35 mph and gusty. Heavily weighted t-rigs were the only way I could get any distance or accuracy with soft plastics. Fat-bodied crankbaits were out of the question, lipless cranks wer better, but a little windage was required to put it where I wanted it. Other lures that cast well in the wind are Kastmaster spoons, slim profile jigs, and blade baits. Good luck! Tom

Great lookin' bait! Tom

Ya just had to tell everybody, didn't ya Tom

I started fishing at about 6 yrs. old when my grandfather took me out and taught me to catch bream and bullheads with a cane pole. That was 52 years ago. He taught me bass fishing a couple of years later and gave me an old Shakespeare level wind reel mounted on a tubular steel rod. I went through a couple of long dry spells, but I'm back to fishing regularly now. Tom

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270571251554&rvr_id=&crlp=1_263602_263622&UA=%3F*F%3F&GUID=7858566f1270a0e2056687b6ffad1a0c&itemid=270571251554&ff4=263602_263622 Seems that somebody's got 'em. Tom

BPS lists them on their website. http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_7433_100006000_100000000_100006000_100-6-0 Some colors are out of stock. Tom

Hildebrandt Snagless Sally. Apparently being marketed by Yakima Bait Company these days. I've caught a lot of bass on one of these with a black skirt and gold blades. Tom

X5. Generally, weightless on spinning gear and weighted on baitcasters. Tom

Technically not a purchase, but I traded for one o' these: Tom

Yep. It's that moment when you realize that this one's serious. When you set the hook, your rod bends way over and the drag starts slippin'. That's the best feeling in fishing. Tom

This^. I've got a Jitterbug that's probably 30 years old. It was originally yellow but I painted it black. It's been re-painted several times now, and once again it's showing specks of yellow from the hits that it's taken. I've caught hundreds of bass on that lure. Tom

X3. Duo-locks are the best. Tom

Word. X3. I almost always fish from the bank. I've had good success with lipless cranks, T-rigged plastics, jigs, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, topwaters and frogs. Tom

Great looking bait! That photo-finish is amazing! Tom