RyanDR

I have a few ball head do it molds that I like to tie with. Anybody know how to add a weed guard to the a mold like this? I like this particular mold because it has a good taper for tying. I also have the "NED" rig mold, anybody know how I could add a weed guard to this one too? https://www.barlowstackle.com/Do-It-Round-Head-Jig-Molds-P192.aspx -Ryan

Tough time of the year. Past few years I haven't been able to get a pattern down from late/mid July-early August. Just got skunked at Chauncy Lake. Only action I got was a lost crappie. Anybody been having success on a particular pattern right now? I've been having my best year so far. Been killing it since a week or two after the last ice out. But the past couple weeks I've been having some trouble. What's everybody's success like right now? -Ryan

GetBentTv is from MA. They have some entertaining videos

Looking to replace a few hooks on these lures. I searched all over there website but could not find the exact model hook they use. I have a few VMC treble hooks of the same size, but the ones I have have a longer shank compared to the factory hooks. I've had great luck with the lures and don't want the longer shank to affect the action. Thanks, Ryan

Thanks for the long reply. That's a bunch of information. I'll update when I figure it all out.

Hey guys! This forum has been super helpful already in my first rod build. Asking a few questions and looking through the old posts. But I want to make another rod with a reel seat similiar to something like the G loomis ex6 or the Fenwick hmg. I find the full cork like this very comfortable. On my first rod I have the Fuji VSS real seat and that's the closet handle/seat kit I could find pre made. Anybody have any advice on how I could make something like this? Thinking getting some sort of skeleton seat than just turning some cork to and indenting it to fit the reel. http://www.outdoorlife.com/sites/outdoorlife.com/files/styles/large_1x_/public/import/2015/DSC_0528_0.JPG?itok=C0_bBrT5

Went to the Chu yesterday morning. Landed 5 dinks, but I lost 2 big smallies. One of them was easily my personal best. I saw how big it was when it jumped, but unfortunately when it jumped it tossed the hook. I keep replaying that fight in my head...Oh well, it was a beautiful morning.

That makes sense. My spinners have a lead body weight on them. It must be from that. I ordered them from Barlows tackle

I've started to make inline spinners and they've been working pretty well. But I've been having a problem with the blades bending. When I get weeds on the lure and do the classic smack it on the water so I don't have to take them off with my hands, the size 3 brass French blades bend, inhibiting it from spinner properly. I was surprised this happened. Is it just a poor batch of blades? Anything I can do instead of not smacking it against the water? it might be a bit hard to see but here's a picture. The one on the right is the out of the package blade, the left one is the bent blade.

In most of my lakes around here in clear water I will throw green/grey and grey/chart. But depending on the lake I also like brown/white, perch pattern and black. Those are the basics I throw. My favorite kinds are basic bucktail, or combination of bucktail with feathers, flash or rabbit trailer. I haven't got much into marabou or synthetic jigs. Also love throwing crappie style jigs as well. What about you guys?

Today I was fishing in MA at my favorite unnamed reservoir. No boats allowed and extremely low fishing pressure. One of the best fisheries I have ever come across. I have landed multiple 4-5lbs and a few 12-15 inch perch, and 12+ sunfish. Crystal clear, insane visibility, 5+ feet visibility from the shore. It was extremely calm and overcast so the visibility was even higher today as there was no waves or water disturbances. 70 degrees, overcast and a cold front moving in. Sunfish spawn must have occurred in the past few days and the male bass were seeking out bedding areas. Since it was so clear I could see exactly how many of them reacted towards my baits. The males were guarding the areas they were going to make beds and were chasing sunfish away from the area. I thought they would be aggressive but they weren't. I tried inline spinners, crank baits and grubs and they almost seemed to be scared of them when they went in the water near them or they just did not care. There were big pickerel suspended in 3 feet of water I saw and they could care less what swam by them whether it be fish or my lures. I managed to still have a good day, I fished for 2 hours and landed 4 but lost a bunch also. I hardly ever lose fish like I did today. On other bodies of water from the shore, 4 in 2 hours is decent. But I swear some of these fish in this lake have never seen a lure before so I slay them when I get the chance to go there, so it was a slow day for this particular place. I got them all on 1/16th green and white buck tail jigs fishing extremely slow. I even resorted to trying to catch one by hand (which almost worked), hiding behind a rock. It was weird, the bass really didn't care that my arm was submerged in the water while it just swam around me. I thought it was such an odd day. The fish being so close to shore but not eating anything compared to my previous experiences during this time of year. I usually kill them on crankbaits right around now on this same lake. What would you have thrown in this situation? Why were the bass seemingly not as aggressive and didn't care to eat? What was going on in their physiology to make them like that? I'm really interested to know why the fish were so sluggish today.

I have it emptied and tried scraping it with a sharp screwdriver and steel wool but a a bunch of yellow crud is still caked on. Any tips?

What size metals beads should I use around the clevis?

Hit the Chu today. Get there at sunrise, fished until about 1. No bites. Didn't run into anybody that caught anything today either. Will try again for a laker in the next week.

Hopefully there wont be too much snow so I'll be able to make the hike. I'll find a map and carry it with me and hope for the best haha. I hate crows so I'll take the risk. I'm most likely unavailable Saturday so I'll be there Sunday from sunrise to sun down. Good luck man! Maybe I'll see you out there if I decide to go saturday. I love a good walk. Especially a good walk that gets me away from the crowds. I'll probably start at either 30 or 35.

Ok thanks, just wanted a second opinion. My guides were a little unevenly spaced at the tip, but overall the ml has more of a balanced casting ability.

You guys have been helpful with making my first rod. I recently made my first rod on a St. Croix ML SCIII blank with micro guides. But I have encountered something counter to what I expected. The rod I built can cast my 1/16th hair jigs and lighter lures farther than any rod I have used, I can probably get it about 15-20 yards, which I would consider far for a 1/16th hair jig. But surprising my medium power fenwick aeotos can cast lures 1/4 and up farther than the ml SCIII. I have never used a blank quiet like the SCIII with such a soft tip like that. I will test again tomorrow, but I just wanted to get your guys input on this to make sure the casting distance was not due to my building of the rod. It this casting distance typical of this blank/Avid X?I would think a ML would be able to cast farther than a medium. I fish from shore and casting distance sure does help out a lot in certain situations. Thanks, Ryan

Going to hit the Wachusett Res this weekend to try and land a lake trout. Any tips on where to start my day? I was thinking of starting at one of the gates from 29-35 and hiking the paths a bit to try and avoid the crowd. Is this side productive?

I was definitely applying it too heavy.

Thanks guys. With some careful work I got it out after a while. I was worried I would have to wait the week plus to get the same guides to come in the mail.

On my rod build on my 2nd coat of epoxy, epoxy dripped and filled up a few of my size 4.5 microguides while it was on the rod dryer! Is there anything I can do to salvage those few guides or am I going to have to order and wait for new ones to come and replace them? Thanks, Ryan

Very easy to move around on pavement. Trailer + Jon boat were very easy to move around then I added probably about 100-150 pounds extra to the jon boat and it makes the jack wheel dig into the soil in my yard.

Sometimes the simpliest answers slip through google searches (and my mind). A trailer dolly seems like a good solution. Thanks for the replies!

My trailer has a front wheel like this one attached. The place I store it under my deck, I have to wheel it over the grass and the current wheel tears up the lawn. It's a 12 foot jon boat with a trailer to fit. But I made some modifications to the boat that added a significant amount of weight so now it tears up the grass. I was thinking of getting something like this. http://www.dunbier.com/options-accessories/white-wheel/ I can't seem to find one available in America though. Anybody encounter anything like this?

Thanks for the great responses. I appreciate it! Excited to make my first rod. Thanks. That's definitely good advice. I may set it up in this manner instead of buying that guide set.