February

[BobC]

That is a beautiful finish, Micanopy! Almost too pretty to fish.
Bob

[DrNip]

Hard to say without seeing in hand as sometimes sizes you get across the seas aren’t what they are here. I’ve seen these and are expensive for 20
and then tack on shipping.

[Micanopy]

So I have been making up a few shiny lures. Chrome Domes. These will accept any flavor of plastic bait I choose as they are neutral in that regard. A few 1/8th ounce models in the mix to get that extra depth. The 1/8th ounce is also nice on windy days as I don’t have to let out as much line. Once these get their baits glued on I think I will have enough under spins for a while.

Saturday I get my new mold, Do-It Worm Head, and can’t wait to see what can be done with those heads. I predict that they will be excellent for trolling with their rounded heads. When I was a distance caster for surf fishing I studied aerodynamics. This so I could design a sinker that would be the most aerodynamic. I learned a lot about how air moves. Fluid dynamics differs in many ways but also has many similarities.

In flight, the most efficient shape is the water droplet shape. Round head with a tapering tail. This because the shape moves the air outwardly, and then allows it to return in a smooth fashion. Placing a flat faced backside on a sinker works to create a vacuum which pulls at the sinker, working to slow it down. Fighter jets have pointy nose cones as this works best at high speeds. However, at speeds of about 600 mph an ogive shape is the best. This is the shape commercial jet liners have at their tips. So what you might think would be sleekest may not actually be so. I mean airlines want the most energy efficient design they can get and they use the ogive.

Well this new mold produces a somewhat ogive shape. It leans towards the water droplet shape as well. At slow speeds this should produce the smoothest movement through the water. If you look at the front of large cargo vessels that cross the oceans, they have this rounded protrusion jutting forward to break the water. This disturbs the water and allows the boat to then glide through this disturbed water. This reduces drag considerably and allows for savings in energy and effort.

Now I am not trying to save energy when I am trolling along at 1 mph, but…..I would like the benefits that MIGHT come from this shape of jig head. There should be a different action to the plastic bait. I am using short shanked hooks to allow for more activity and this new head shape should also produce an enhancement. Unclear if I will be able to notice it from where I stand in the boat, but fish should be able to see it.

The weight of this jig head is pushed forward as well and that allows for a more horizontal attitude with regards to being pulled through the water vs being jigged. If I like it I will do my custon modification and add under spins to it as well.

I also like the flat back for a good place to secure the plastic baits. This will shield them and reduce damage when they encounter hydrilla. Might pull through the weeds a little better. I have some lures that pull through and some that hang and bend the rod back at acute angles. Makes me nervous when I have four rods all about to pop free of their holders because I passed over some weeds. The worm head is useful to bass masters that like to punch their lures down through the weeds. So…..

The rounded shape of the sides of the jig head preclude the use of 3D eyes. I am not going to hammer them or squeeze them to get a flat surface. Stick on eyes, or hand painted eyes if anything. I plan to paint these heads the normal bright colors and just let that be.

I also ordered some more of those Whack hooks as I really like the way that Bat Jig swims with it’s 35 degree eye. This serves to pull the jig better. If you put a few of these jigs in your hand you will be getting stuck by the very sharp hooks. I also ordered more of the Eagle Claw 571 hooks as they are my favorite. They stick and they stay stuck in that fish’s mouth. Both are the short shank design which is working beautifully for me. This allows the plastic bait to have even more action as there is less steel passing through it’s body. Freeing it up to undulate.


Crappie Club is having their tournament next week. I plan to skip the fishing and instead assist with the setup for the weigh in and preparing the meal, and of course cleaning up. I am not likely to be competitive anyways- LOL.

We lost a member the other day. We get these old people in our lives and then one day they are gone. His name was James Brown and he looked to be 90 or a tad better. He was a fishing partner for my buddy, and would ride in the back of his boat. He would crawl into the boat prior to launch and run the gas engine and fish 8 rods trolled out the back. We could all wish to be able to fish when we are old like that. Not everyone is as fortunate. I called him cowboy because he liked to wear a large straw cowboy hat. He was a man of few words but always seemed to say something meaningful to me. He liked my jig designs and he gifted me a line cutter. Looks like he hand fashioned the leather holster for keeping it handy. I will miss him.


I have been keeping busy cooking for folks. Last night I did a fund raiser for a boys baseball league. They raised $25,000 or there abouts. We served the guests, paying guests, a meal of chicken and ribs with mashed potatoes and green beans with a roll. The boys all lined up and their mothers plated the food and the boys carried the plates to the tables. They also cleaned off the tables which was nice. Then the auction started. Steve Spurrier was a player and coach for the University of Florida. They had a signed football with a picture showing him signing it, that went for over $800. I saw lots of stuff I would have liked to have had, but glad I was washing pots and pans vs spending money.

I suspect I will quit this gig in a while as it is mostly nights and weekends and my wife took a new job were she is off nights and weekends and wants me around. I am not real sure why she wants me around. Maybe it is because she gets to boss me around when I am around. Anyways it will be getting hot soon and slaving over large pots of boiling things and hot grease and ovens and such all while standing on asphalt parking lots is not going to be what I need to be doing with myself.


Do you people know what it costs to get married ? I was stunned but apparently there are people willing to spend tens of thousands on a wedding. I just don’t understand this on any level. Spend five thousand and spend the remainder on the honeymoon or something. They invite all sorts of people that surely didn’t need to be there. I am gonna do a rehearsal dinner tonight, and a wedding tomorrow. Figuring more than half of the marriages fail…..why would you want everyone to know you even got married. The drunks are funny. I saw a brides maid puking and then she knelt down and flop face first into it and laid real still as if she was doing some kind of special transfer onto the dress. An appliqué’ perhaps. I let her lay out there, in the darkness for a few before putting the word out to some of the gals inside. Poor thing. Must have been a miserable ride home. I mean miserable for the person whose car she was riding in. Ahhhh, but that’s the way things go when the liquor is all free. Free….free I tell you…free.

[DockShootinJack]

I went to a site set temporary power poles ,went back and wired in all the huge air conditioners to cool the tents for this wedding the folks were having for there Daughter. I was paid to be in attendance at the wedding in case the need of an Electrician to resolve any issues was called for. A wooden dance floor set up in two tents. It was a spectacle to say the least. Mother of the bride came by quite unhappy with her ungrateful daughter after they had spent 150k on this wedding. For that kind of money they could have bought them a house in lieu of the wedding. It is truly a mind boggling situation.

[BobC]

I went to a site set temporary power poles ,went back and wired in all the huge air conditioners to cool the tents for this wedding the folks were having for there Daughter. I was paid to be in attendance at the wedding in case the need of an Electrician to resolve any issues was called for. A wooden dance floor set up in two tents. It was a spectacle to say the least. Mother of the bride came by quite unhappy with her ungrateful daughter after they had spent 150k on this wedding. For that kind of money they could have bought them a house in lieu of the wedding. It is truly a mind boggling situation.

Lord almighty, that is a load of dough. Our daughter was older when she got married and we offered her an option. She took the money and then put together a deal and bought a house. We sure felt it was a much better use of the gift.
Bob

[DockShootinJack]

Lord almighty, that is a load of dough. Our daughter was older when she got married and we offered her an option. She took the money and then put together a deal and bought a house. We sure felt it was a much better use of the gift.
Bob

I believe she made a wise choice

[Micanopy]

Y U P

[DrNip]

Yeah I don't understand weddings. See youngsters getting married and parents footing the bill that looks to be 10k or more! Wife and I are complete opposite of this. Got married in my parents backyard and only bill was the preacher and then food. Money be spent in other areas more needed.

[BobC]

Yeah I don't understand weddings. See youngsters getting married and parents footing the bill that looks to be 10k or more! Wife and I are complete opposite of this. Got married in my parents backyard and only bill was the preacher and then food. Money be spent in other areas more needed.

These days 10K can be a cheap date, Dr N.! Sad to say but It is really outrageous what some of these weddings cost.
Bob

[JUNGLEJIMJIGS]

I got married in 1978 at City Hall by the Justice of the peace, cost me $40. I got my money's worth, we've been together going on 44 years now.