eyecrosser said:
Welcome to jigcraft. Share some pics when you get a chance. Would love to see some of your work and also some of the fish you catch locally. What do you like fishing for over there?????
We have fishing permits which run for a year, but expire March/April. Then there is the close season when no fishing is allowed... Basically it is a bit of waste of money to buy one now, but it will be good when I can get out as my son is interested too. The only fish I've seen caught so far have been a few mackeral on a holiday boat trip, and a friend catching a pike when we were kids. The pike did not bite, but he managed to get the spinner caught on the top of its head and hauled it in!
I'm partly coming at this from a bushcraft / survival perspective, i.e. very light gear - few lures, flies, hooks & swivels, braided line because it is supposed to get fewer curls (less 'memory'), a short rod that will fit in a rucksack, and ultimately a 'hobo' rod (wooden dowel). My interest is growing however, as I already have way too much gear
I'm mostly looking for stuff I can eat. Smoked mackeral is gorgeous. Pike, bass, haddock & crab would be good. Shame trout & salmon require an expensive game license ($100+).
I'm going to have a bash making lures like Vertical Jigging Master, but with black wool below & white on top, so for fish below the black is silhouetted against the light sky, and for fish above the white is silhouetted against the darker(?) bed. Add a bit of red (hook, tying thread, maybe couple of satin strands) because I have noticed fly fishing books here mention black, white & red are often used on successful flies - and apparently many fish are colour blind?! That is all the theory anyway
...
I will try similar mods on Abu's Toby lures too - red treble, ball bearing swivel, black underside, glue on sparkly beads for flash on top half and paint bottom half black, maybe weight the bottom half so it does not spin to the top...
I've a few flies to try out - Czech Nymph, blood worm-based, some from a NATO army fishing kit, a few imported from the US. I will try and see whether it is possible to use these with a normal rod & line, or whether I will need the special rod, reel & line normally used.
If / when I get enough experience / knowledge, I will be selecting lures, jigs & flies on the basis of catching as wide a selection of fresh & saltwater fish as possible.
Hope this is of interest. Any questions and I'll see what more I can add.
