Mobasser

I recently picked up a large box of older soft plastic baits at a yard sale. Looking through them, I found a 3 pack of 9" pre rigged Delong plastic worms. These are rigged with 2 hooks, and a short leader, but don't have the spinner like the early Creme worms. We've all learned that Nick Creme is given credit for inventing the first soft plastic worm in 1949. Doing a little research, I've learned that the Delong Co was started in 1946, first in Ohio, then moving to Indiana. This would make Delong molding plastic worms three years before Creme. The Delong company was put up for sale by the original owners son this year 2020. These are a large stiff plastic bait, and, they look more like an eel than a worm as we know them now. As I've read, the Delong worm was a favourite of Bill Murphy, and were used with his stitching method, to catch many huge bass in California years ago. Did Delong start making plastic worms before Creme? There could have been other companies that made them also, as early as the mid 1940s, but they may not have had the strong marketing and distribution that Nick Creme had. I like learning about the history of bass fishing, so I thought I might throw this out there to see if anyone may know more about the Delong bait Company.

Koz, I've been a carpenter for over 30 yrs. I think your work looks great. Nice job!

What Have We Become? Easy. For many of us, we've become guys who love to catch bass, no matter what the cost.

I believe what the OP was trying to say in this thread is: He has been using spinning tackle for some time. Now, he's gotten some casting gear, and likes it better. It could have easily been the other way around. No big deal. Navy Vet1204, I hope you have good luck with your casting gear. Fish what works best for you. It's all good....

Very true. I think this is why it cost so much for people to hire a contractor now. They bid high, and hope they get the job, any extras are passed on to the homeowner. It cost a small fortune to hire a crew nowdays.As for Sawzalls, I have two. Both are Milwaukee. Both are corded, older ones with a metal case. They've been great tools.

I think your right about that! It seemed like it took these guys forever to form up this sidewalk. Working by the hour, they don't care

The concrete form crew I mentioned in my post cut everything with 1 Dewalt cordless saw. They had a battery charger and spare batteries close by. Seems like it would go slower, having to stop, charge batteries, change them.out etc. I think they like them because they're light and mobile. I still think the Skilsaw is better.

I started breaking it down like this year's ago. 8lb or less, I use spinning tackle. 10lb or larger, casting tackle. I use mono line only, and have no problems with line management on either.

Growing up, I was always taught to fish a popper super slow, with pauses in between. Zell Rowland helped change all that. Now, lots of folks fish a popper quickly across the surface to imitate shad. Completely different style of fishing a popper, than many of us learned years ago. Both ways can work.

I don't know why, but green pumpkin just hasn't been good for me. I've tried craws, finesse worms, and standard worms, with not much luck. I remember when electric blue first came out years ago. The shops in my area couldn't keep them in stock. Report after report came in of huge catches on this color, because lots of guys were throwing them. I think the green pumpkin fad is similiar. As long as thousands of guys are throwing this color, you'll hear about all the bass they catch too.

Same here. I bought 1/8 oz tungsten weights. I think tungsten is better in heavier weights also.

jj, I've read about those days. From what I've learned, usually one, maybe two men worked at the sawhorses all day, cutting everything by hand. It would put some strong arms on you for sure.

Catt, I buy my plastic baits much like you do. If it looks good to me, I'll try it. Last summer, I found an old bag of Phenom worms in motor oil. Turned out to be the best color on one of the lakes I fish. I'd all but forgotten about that color. Seems like with lots of guys, they're favourite color changes every few seasons. You can't hardly find motor oil worms here in North central Mo now, they're just not popular anymore. But, I'm going to order some Phenom worms from Mr. Twister, in standard motor oil. They work.

In many ways, this rant reminds me of things I heard growing up, from my folks and grandparents. " Money doesn't grow on trees", those are expensive" etc. They came up in the depression years, and hard work. was all they really knew. It's the same these days. Top quality things cost a lot of money, they always have.

25yrs ago, I bought a Skill#77 worm drive saw. I bought this saw from another carpenter who was retiring, and he had had it for 10yrs. It's the single best tool purchase I've ever made. Over the years, I replaced one trigger, one cord, one set of brushes, and changed the oil in the gearbox a few times. I'm right handed, and with the blade on the left, I get a clear view of the cutline. These saws are powerful, and won't bog down when cutting thick beams, or long rip cuts in 2×12 or larger dimensional lumber. If there's any drawback to these saws, it's they're weight. I believe they weigh around 14lbs. In many situations, the weight is a benefit, helping you stay on the line when cutting sheet goods. These saws have been the choice of concrete form crews, framing carpenters, deck builders, and general contractors for decades. For a homeowner doing occasional jobs, they'll last forever. Most guys I see these days have gone to cordless circular saws, and, they can be handy to have. I recently saw a concrete crew building forms for a large sidewalk job, using Dewalt cordless saws. This was all 2x4, and some 2x6 cutting, and I imagine most any saw would have worked. I'll stick with my worm drive saw. In my humble opinion, it is one of the very best power tools ever made. I'm wondering if anyone else has used one, or is currently using a Skil worm drive circular saw?

I threw some Phenom worms last season, some old ones I found in my stuff. Motoroil was an especially good color. These were some of the first worms I had luck on t rigging many years ago. They've gotton hard to find around here, so, I requested a catalog. They still make a lot of good bass baits in many styles. I already got some of they're big worms, but, I won't mention the name here.? Now, with this thread, I plan on ordering some 6" Phenom worms also. Great baits.

As an example, my favourite UV fishing shirt is a Magellen, from Academy. I don't own fishing gloves. Caps? I have too many to count, mesh back for summer.Cooler weather, Carhart sweatshirts, or jackets. Standard work clothes much of the time. I can still catch lots of bass. The very top end gear is very nice, but don't be misled into thinking that you need to have it all to be good at fishing.

Like many of us, I've always wondered why one color will produce on one day, and not do well the next day. I've experimented over the years, and narrowed it down to 3 or 4 colors that I use. These have been picked because they've worked consistently for me. And, because of this, I have more confidence in them, and I think confidence is more important than color overall.

I've used lead sinkers untill this year, when I finally broke down and bought some SK tungsten weights. Most of my t rig fishing is 1/8 to 1/4 oz, and I can't really see a huge difference. I'll use some of both from here on.

Truth right here! Thank you A-Jay

I just bought a big box of older plastic baits at a yard sale for 10 bucks. Some are probably twenty years old. They'll still catch fish as they did when new. We're always looking for that hot bait, newer rod, smoother reel etc. As others have said, you don't need all this high end stuff to catch bass. It's nice for sure, and if you can afford it then of course buy the best. Lots of really good reels for around 100.00, and rods for a similar price too. Everything keeps going up in price. Have you priced any good tools lately?

Table Rock lake in Missouri gets a bad rap at times. It's always been a decent, and some years good bass lake. But clear deep water, and lack of visible cover make it hard to fish at times.

I got my grandson Aiden an Academy Mettle casting reel two yrs ago as a Christmas gift, with a Berkley Lightning 6'6 casting rod. His first baitcaster. The reel performs very well.for the money. Still working well this season too. A good value.

My wife, like many women, can't pass up a yard sale. Usually on Friday afternoon, we'll hit a couple of yard sales on the way home. I very seldom if ever, find anything that's of any interest to a fisherman. I have over the years, bought a couple of useable reels, some older minnow buckets, a net, and a few hard baits. Most of the time, I can make a quick walkthrough, and realize that there's not any good fishing stuff. Friday was different. I found another fisherman, whose wife was having this sale. Looking around, I spotted a large box, 24" x 24", stocked full of bags of older soft plastic bass baits. Names like Alron, Creme, Charlie's Worms, Riverside, Chompers,Culprit, and Manns. I asked the guy about buying the whole box, and, when he said 10.00, I couldn't pass it up. Worms of all styles and lenghts, craws, creatures, grubs, and a few things I didn't remember, an example being Mann's Mosquito Hawk, kind of a craw looking bait. Even though these are older baits, they're all still useable. Some are unopened, and most are in they're original bags.Many have dried out over the years. My question with all this is, what can I add to these bags of plastics to make them slick, so they don't stick together? I know many folks don't recommend adding scent products directly to the bags. I have used Anise oil extract in the past, without any harm. Is there a better option to to make them slick and slippery again? 40 bags of various soft plastic baits for 10 bucks. It was a deal I couldn't refuse. What's the best thing to add to these bags, to restore them?

Yes. He's a drop shot expert.