Brian_Reeves

Since I've made an unexpected turn from tournament angler to outdoor, canoe-ing enthusiast, I've had to rework my goals. My goal for bass fishing is to get back to the basics. Now that I'm playing in small lakes, ponds, and backwaters, I think that this is a good year to fortify what I already know. So here's the list. 1. Re-teach myself the basics of jig fishing. I've strayed away from pure jig fishing and I think that will hurt me in the long run. Back to flipping and pitching. 2. Slow down and simplify my Texas rigs. Before I made the bass boat to canoe switch, I had started adding pegs, beads, rattles, and all sorts of whatchmacallits to my standard texas rigs. While all of that has a place, I want to see if the old fashioned T-Rig still works. 3. Shallow cranking heavy cover. This is another staple of mine that I had gotten away from. I've been going deeper and deeper every year and now I can't seem to apply this basic technique as well as I ought to. So it's back to the basics with cranking as well. 4. My last 2008 goal is to successfully finish testing and then to market my prototype lure. This is taking the place of new personal best fish. Sure, I'd like to crank out over a 10lb fish out of a canoe, but more importantly, I want to get the word out on my prototype. Hopefully it's a huge success and will help my family out. One more goal (not really fishing goal) is to save enough $$ to make it to the 2009 annual road trip. I'm missing G-Ville. I want in on the action next year. Hopefully I'll have more than a canoe

The molds are Do-It bullet molds. I got them from barlows. I'll post the link up later. I got company here right now. Thanks for the compliments and if ya got something to critique, then let me have it. Constructive critisism will only make it better. I'll post some more up when I get my skirts in. I am also pouring footballs, so I need to take some pics of them.

You ever thought about getting a new hobby Big M? You are entirely too good at making cranks. ;D Awesome work man, like usual.

Here's the first complete jigs I've made. Some are missing the fiberguard because I can't find the package > Oh well. Some more are on the way. These are grass jigs, bullet head style, with a 30degree Mustad Hook. All feature black heads for now. Colors are (from top picture, left to right) Blue and Green Black and Red Green Orange Black and blue I used spider collar rattles, which helps the jigs stand up and maintain the "fighting craw" stance. I'm running these through the ropes this weekend. What do y'all think?

I'm impressed with it. One of the best I've seen on here.

I hit up KaRu already. Apparently patents cost a lot I'll probably wait a day or two to see if any of those fellas hit up this thread. If not, then I'll PM them. Hopefully they respond here though, incase any one else ever needs this type of advice.

Thanks guys. Any advice is appreciated. I'm really excited about the nameless lure only known as prototype X2 (probably final phase, X3, tested next week). I'm wanting to unveil it here, once I get some pics of fish caught on the lure. Once I have the protection scheme figured out and in place, I'll post it up in tacklemaking. I might have to get a custom mold made if sales look likely. That might be my best bet at keeping up with demand, if there is any. Stay tuned and hopefully, next week, I'll be able to get your opinions. Thanks guys and any further advice or tips would be appreciated. Might have a naming contest for a few free ones or something like that. Sound like a good idea?

Alright. I'm satisfied with my little prototype X2 lure. I'm wanting to let the cat out of the bag, but I'm worried about a few things. Because of a few of the components and my resources, I can't mass produce these as fast as other people (strike king, mann's) can. The question is...would I be better off approaching the big companies? If that is the case, then how do I get the lure design patented. I'd like to leave the concept open enough to where I don't collide with similiar patents, but I don't want one of these companies being like "Oh, that's great." Then rip me off. I was thinking about approaching smaller companies, like * or someone like that with it, but I'm worried about that little section always saying "Out of Stock" while I'm in the field. This is a mess. I'd actually prefer to make and market the lure myself, but I'm afraid that with 3 kids and the Army breathing down my neck all the time, that's just an unrealistic goal. So, here is the big question. If you had a new lure based on a relatively new concept, how would you market it? How would you protect yourself? And who would you get to make/distribute it?

Avid, your apology has inspired me to go to ebay and find a pair of shades just like yours. Naw, really. That's a real show of class and character. Even though no one was actually wounded by whatever it was. I have no idea what was involved, but it's nice to see people actually care about others. God knows I've seen enough of the opposite, so it's good to see that kind of stuff. So yeah...that's cool man

Thanks guys. Thats some pretty nifty stuff. I especially like those seats and depthfinders. Gonna have to save up a bit, but I'm gonna hook that canoe up. I'll post pics

shame you can't get a 20x20ft roll of the sea urchin stuff. Imagine that in your secret honey hole lake. Easy to fish and probably a good fish magnet. "yeah, i fish a monofiliment bed with my braided line. it's weird" ;D Seriously though, that is cool. I hope they got paid for that. That's a lot of hours.

Any ideas, tips, or pictures on how to trick out a canoe? I'm wanting to add a depth finder (if possible), maybe a livewell or ice chest (in a fixed position), and maybe some rod holders. Anyone here have any advice for hooking up a canoe? Paddling is great, but when it comes time for fighting the wind, I think I might be better off with a trolling motor. The thing is, I have no idea where to mount one or where to put the battery. The livewell isn't a biggie, but a fixed ice chest would be nice. I just don't have any good ideas for mounting something like that in my boat without drilling into the hull. Rod holders...I have a few ideas but they involve drilling too...so I dunno. Any help would be appreciated.

When you all are developing something new, when do you determine that it is done...finished, success or failure? Also, before you reveal it to the public, how do you protect yourself from being ripped off? Would a poor man's patent cover it? I'm not sure if the concept or lure that I'm developing is patented, but I don't think that it is since I'm not ripping any existing lure off. Is there any way to check that? PS Mods, I have NO idea where to put this, so I put it in here with the tacklemaking gurus. If this needs better placement, I don't mind ya movin it. You have my permission ;D ;D

I'll keep an eye out online for you too. I just bought a 15 1/2ft canoe. I was kicking around the idea of a kayak, but I like to bring a fishing buddy. I love it though. Something about that old school feeling

I tossed a home made jig around a little bit with no luck. It seemed like they wanted something a little more weightless and still on the bottem. That's the ingredients for texas and carolina rigs, which appeal to me just as much as jig fishing. I'm in agreement that bass fishing out of a canoe is a really awesome experience. I've gone in little pond hopper pontoon boats, jon boats, and big bass boats. Now there is a special place in my heart for a fiberglass monster, there is something to this canoe thing. I just passed up an offer for this weekend to go fish Fork. I thought about it and instead, I'm taking the canoe out to one of the on-post lakes this weekend. Weird huh?

The prototype is actually three things combined. C-Rigs in a canoe isn't dangerous...unless there is two people in the boat. I like long c-rigs and my buddy was terrified. It was the first time he saw one. He thought for sure that a 1/2oz piece of brass was going to kill him

I've got a camera...I just can't find it lol.

I'll have to check. All I know right now is it has fuji guides, it's 7ft, med-heavy/fast tip bait caster. It's got a lot of gold on it. But I don't know the model. I'll pm you with it though.

Academy's Xpress series rock. I LOVE their baitcaster. Haven't tried the rods yet. I don't think that that name has soft plastics. They have jerkbaits, crankbaits, and topwaters though...and I love them.

From what I can tell, these lures are basically lucky crafts. Their jerkbaits look like and perform like pointers, their shallow cranks rock, and their deep divers are top knotch. And the price??? Less than 5 bucks. I think this is the new bait, rod, and reel name that Academy is going to be using as their 'tournament choice' or whatever. The crankbaits are amazing and the 10 ball bearing reel is only 50 bucks. I'm completely impressed with the performance of the lures as well as the reel. Down with BPS and Cabelas...I'm buying my cranks and reels from Academy!!!

I just bought a 7ft med heavy daiwa rod (fast tip) for a good all purpose rod. I bought a new Xpress H2O 10 ball bearing reel to sit on top of it. For line, I'm using 20lb Spiderwire Invisi-braid. Rod, Reel, and Line together costs around 100 bucks. I give the setup a "this is the best reel, rod, and line combo that I have ever used!!!! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED" score. Just throwing this out there in case y'all were in the market for some new stuff. THe reel is the new Xpress series from Academy. I think that is the only place you can get them. There is a line of lures that look and perform exactly like lucky crafts, as far as I can tell. Might wanna check out this new line-up from Academy.

I bought a canoe last week and I was dying to get it out on the water. I finally got the chance yesterday morning. I called a buddy up, loaded my 15.5ft beast up, and took off to a little lake here on post. It took forever to remember how to get there, but three turnarounds later, we were unloaded and in the water. I was rigged up with a firetiger rat-l-trap and a carolina rigged lizard. Yes, I know. C-Rigs in a canoe are dangerous, but that lizard picked up a nice two pounder about fifteen minutes from the start. A few casts later, another two pounder slammed into it. We ran up into a pocket and shad went crazy. They were everywhere. We decided to beach the canoe and fish the shad. We tried for about an hour. C-Rig, T-Rig, topwaters, and spinnerbaits...no fish. We loaded up and took off back towards the truck. By this time, I was getting hungry and I didn't pack lunch, so it was time to go. We fished a creek channel and picked up two more three pounders on a t-rigged brush hog and my **PROTOTYPE**. All in all, a pretty good day. **PROTOTYPE** is a lure in the testing phase by the research and development department of my 1 man company lol. PROTOTYPE is a super, duper, uber secret that I cannot reveal on here until it is complete. The good news is that PROTOTYPE works better than I thought it would and I will actually persue this lure. So from now on, just know that with any luck, PROTOTYPE may be coming to stores near you ;D

Either a jon or a canoe is the way to go. Yeah, I went there. I just bought a 15 1/2 ft canoe and I love it. A buddy and I went out yesterday, tore up some bass and had a great time. It was stable, had plenty of room, and did a wonderful job in the wind. I couldn't be happier. The plus side is you don't have to have a trailer or a truck to transport a canoe. Mine is big, but it only weighs 70lbs. So me and a friend can whip it around pretty good. There are smaller ones available too. You'd just have to find a dealer. The brand I bought is a Pelican.

I've got my molds, lead, hooks, weedguards, and paint. Everything is going great...except painting. I hate this powdered crap. Any tips on how to make it work better? It seems like I can't get enough or I end up with too much on the jig. Also, are there any worthy alternatives? Second question, how would I attack a screw lock to a bullet sinker so I can make my own flordia rig weights? It looks like it would be easy to make my own, but I can't think of a good way to attack the screw things to the lead weights. Any ideas?

What is the wax to lead ratio? I just got the hot pot 2 in. It doesn't heat very much at a time, but I'm still curious about how much wax to add to the hot lead. I don't want a raging inferno in my miniature melter lol. I just got 25lbs of scrap lead off of ebay. I got it for 25bucks. A dollar a pound sounds a bit expensive (that includes shipping btw) I'm going to look into the hospitals and any recycling centers/junkyards here. Jig Man, did you buy it from the hospitals or did they just give it out? Also, who did you talk to about it? Seems like an odd question to ask the lady at the front desk