Michigander

I picked up one of the inflatable 5-6 person boats on Craigslist and I built carpeted hard flooring for it because it was too squishy to fish comfortably from. They are a solution for a few space/towing problems but they are also kind of a hassle.

The twisting pliers work but if you learn how to do a safety wire pig tail by hand, it saves a couple bucks and is faster. I've got one of the tube tools coming this week to see if I prefer that method over using a thread bobbin. Also going to make a kit so I can make banded skirts on the water. No matter how many jigs I have on hand, it always seems like I need something different than what I have, lol.

Trip 3 Air temp 29 degrees per truck Weather cloudy Wind 1-5mph Tough out there today, my guides kept freezing up and the level wind on my reel was too. Throughout this project I have only been taking my swim bait rod and two swim baits so I am not tempted to give up and fish with something else. Unfortunately, I thimk I could have had an amazing day fishing if I had a jig. I saw soooo many bass in 3-5 feet of water today. Most of them were 2-3 pounds-ish but several were in that 4-5 range. They didn't care that I was there, I could have hit several of them with my paddle. I even had a school of seven keepers following my kayak trying figure out what I was. It was pretty clear that crayfish were the dish of choice today. If the bass weren't cruising around, then they were about 6" off the bottom nose down and tail up. It was cool to see but frustrating because they weren't remotely interested in my swim baits. Oh well, I have a good place for jigs next year if I can't get out again before ice out. It's coming. The creeks and marshes were frozen on the way there and there was some ice on the shady shore side.

That's for doing skirts with the rubber/silicone band. You don't need it for wire tying. Though you can do the jig that way, then wire tie, then cut off the band. For bands you can go basic: https://www.lurepartsonline.com/Pencil-Skirt-Tool Or fancy: https://www.lurepartsonline.com/The-Skirt-Factory But like I said, not necessary for wire tying as the wire is holding the skirt, not a band.

I personally love matchy matchy. I spend a lot of time picking gear that is visually compatible. I know that it's foolish and has no bearing on catching fish but I really like seeing color coordinated gear. It probably doesn't matter, I just wanted to make sure there wasn't a detrimental effect of blue line on fishing. It sounds like the reason that blue is more rare is because if you're going to go high vis then most people go full on. I have been successful at watching my black/moss line for movement so it seems the slight improvement in visibility from blue will work fine. And it will make me happy that the line color coordinates with the reel. ?

A full fleece suit under your summer rain gear works wonders. ? I'm in the kayak this time of year and it's a wetsuit under my rain bibs with a fleece hoodie for me. It does the deed.

Yep, the wire, scissors, and some cutters is all you're technically missing. I found the wire to be more complicated as a standalone so I use thread and a bobbin to wrap the skirt on so i have full control then throw a few whip finishes in with my hand and then tie the wire over the completed wrap. Been working fine. SmallJaw on YouTube has a wealth of informative videos.

Ok, so sounds like it's just not as high vis as its counterparts. I've been getting it done with black and dark green so it will at least be more visible to my eye than those. Thanks!

I like high vis line, especially on my weightless setups. Most people I see use bright green, yellow, or pink. I don't recall ever seeing anyone use high vis blue and I was curious if there's a reason for that? The only reason I care is because #MatchyMatchy

You forgot about backer line. ?

Great talking with everyone tonight! See you next time!

I know you said this over a year and a half ago, but I was just about to write the same thing until I also saw the first posts were from 2006! LoL Threadromancy is a dark art.

48 minutes until the next call!

Lurepartsonline, fishing skirts.com, Janns netcraft. They've all got them.

I looked into Clearasol plastic and it looks more approachable than I initially thought. I have a wide variety of acrylic paint for my airbrushes already so I will probably give that a go. Spike It looks like it would work but seems like a hassle. If I am forced back to it then so be it. I don't think this is a very common thing to do so my research hasn't returned much.

For skirts fishingskirts.com probably has the biggest selection. I get some from Janns Necraft as well. I enjoyed picking up their random variety pack as well. It gave me a whole pile of colors for little accents that I would not have picked up a full package of. Really useful. I also enjoy a lot of the unskirted jig heads from Siebert Outdoors to build off of because I am not remotely interested in pouring lead.

Docks are the undisputed champions of boat chicken.

It's not uncommon for my partner and I to both be fishing from the back of the boat. When the wind is blowing into some choice cover I will set the GPS anchor with the bow of the boat into the wind and we're both pitching behind the boat from the back into the cover.

Well, if I have the luxury of choosing, I would love to know the weight of just the handles and the weight with the trim pieces. ? I appreciate it!

At an expo I talked to a... Line Engineer (?) for Hitena and we discussed this a bit. He said that when they extrude FC, there's basically three sections of the roll. The first section, the most pure, is cut off for leaders and has excellent shock impact strength in short lengths and the thinnest diameter per pound test but is too rigid for mainline use. The second section, which has a wider diameter has more impurities and requires longer lengths to be strong but is excellent as a mainline. The last section has the most impurities, the widest diameter, and is sold as the budget line offering or sold in bulk to other companies as it lacks the best qualities of the first two sections. That's what he told me anyway, but he knows more about the molecular structure of flourocarbon than I ever will. So that seemed to be a reasonable explanation to me.

You doing treble hooks or single heavy wire?

I've ordered several reels from a few companies via Amazon and all were just fine. No difference than the store. Sometimes you're getting a used or opened one but they are supposed to note that. Those are usually more deeply discounted and I buy those as well.

I've read better reviews about Polybraidofilament. And it comes in high vis clear brown.

I usually end putting whatever color trailer has been getting bites recently. Often it's a green pumpkin.