So.......

[AtticaFish]

New here..... i'd like to introduce myself.    Whats every one been up to?

The long hot summer looks like just a memory now, at least up in the Norther half of the USA.  Frost on the windows in the morning and cold rainy Friday night football games has the walleye coming up in the shallows on my nearby lakes, so have been out trying to twist my ankles in the dark a few times now.  Actually getting a few to put in the freezer as well.

In the process, noticed i was getting low on some of my hair jigs and other painted heads for grub and swimbaits.  That sent me down in the dungeon to paint a few fresh heads.  Dang, it has been awhile since i have even looked at my tackle making stuff.  :blush: Had to knock the dust off.  Hopefully will be painting and tying some and get a few pics posted.

So anyway, just seeing how everyone has been and looking to shoot the sh!t.  Pretty quiet in here other than a few socio political conversations.  We had the camper out every other weekend with the family over the summer and then that dreaded four letter word (work) got in the way the other weekends.  With my kids in Jr. High and High School now, seems like always something going on.  Both kids in band.....  never realized how involved band is!  Marching band, concert band, pep band, jazz band.  Then (the dumb dumb that i am) decided to volunteer to haul the 27' band equipment trailer around to events if they ever got in a pinch and needed someone. Afterwards, i found out the other 2 volunteer driver dads both have seniors and will most likely not be doing it next year.  I may be the only guy on the list???? yikes. 

Life is good, hope all is well!

:jig:

 

[Jig Man]

Well hello stranger, and welcome to Jig Craft. Pury durn good place hang out except fer a few old guys like me. I missed the fall brawl due to a move, and lost mom last January so I missed the spawn. Now I'm up to my ears in work and hunting.Been doing a lotta traveling for NASCAR so it was a slow summer as well. Don't let anyone tell ya moving is fun. Was in the last house for thirty one years so we had a lotta krap. New digs are nice and Mel and I are dug in like a couple ah ticks on a coon hound. Still have a few odds and ends to do , but I do like the cat house. Now I wont get my but chewed out for the feathers floating around the house. I talk to wtex regularly but don't here anything outta Roger or Heath, hope they are well. And oh yea the site seems to be running purdy smooth here lately, even seen ole Sonny postin the other day. Good to see you back and enjoy those kids, they grow fast. But this empty nest stuff ain't bad... :blush:

 

[Kdog]

Welcome home stranger.  Summer was too hot and too amny 70 hour weeks at work. Fall wallete bite is in full swing except work seems to interfere. Sneak out a couple times after work but without the boat, that big old lake is a tough hole of water/  Couple creeks have been giving up some 3-5 pound saugeye. But the homefornt is more demanding.  wife had her knee replaces about 5 weeks afo and therapy is not progressing as well as the doctor wants so another trip to surgery so they can knock her out and he can manipulate the knee and make sure everything is as it should be.  Something about old muscles not being as resilient as they once were and just like the Boss, very set in their way.

 

[Radtexan]

Must be something in the air !!!!

Been thinking about you guys a lot lately. Even been fishing a few times in the last couple weeks. Like you had to pull out the dusty old vice to fill a couple of empty slots in the box.

Alls good here. GKids growing like weeds and keepin me hopping. Did move in my 83 yo father in law several months ago. Gets around pretty well for his age, but the man loves to talk. Lots of the same stories I've heard for almost 40 years. [emoji9]

Hope to be around here a little more. Miss those days.


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[toadfrog]

I'm still loafing around after being gone working on my bucket list . Getting a little long in the tooth so I thought I better get a notch or two off the list before they put me in depends . Just now winding up to Do more crazy stuff in the man cave . Glad to see your doing well there Russ .

 

[Jay Wirth]

Hi I'm Jay. I have a jig tying addiction. I have been busy filling the gaps in my ice fishing inventory and realizing I need to cast and paint more than I thought I would need. When away from tying I'm planning two new videos showing mmy tying benches and showing how I pour. Maybe something to do around Thanksgiving time off - Still have to keep that on the back burner Wilkes Women's soccer team head to Maryland for the first leg in the NCAA competition and we have to root for Emily. Go lady Colonols!

If you are interested in some good video check out this kid Gunner who has a utube series tying like a pro. His thread basics video has some good stuff.

 

[Hawnjigs]

They let you out, eh ? Guess yer not a "fish" anymore.

With Gulp! working for everything out my way, only tie as rarely needed, eg: finicky trout & boiling wiper. But, water management has destroyed most of my go-to spots and the few left are harvested to extinction by the bucket brigade. That and my HI bud Dwight continually feeding me the next level of power corruption got me upset enuf to clutter the forum with IMO verifiable incontrovertibles. Hoped that anyone who fishes and makes their own stuff has a grounded foundation to care about those taking us down from a middle point of view.

Bout done with that, but hey, at least new stuff got posted on the forum.

 

[hookup]

Welcome back

Fished allot this year. Drove to AR to float the Kings River and pounded the mighty Potomac River allot. Also fished allot of local smaller flows. Still chasing small mouth.

Just got back from a mission trip to help the people of Houston rebuild. Rewarding, but sad to see people who lost it all still keeping the faith.

 

[AllenOK]

Been fishing all summer here. Trying new things, learning how to fish these northern species. Winterized my kayak last week. Might try for some Steelhead before hard water season. Otherwise, it's time to start tying again.

 

[AtticaFish]

Finally broke down and got one of those dreaded smart phones this spring.  Family got 4 new phones along with a 2 Gig plan ALL for less than what my daughter was spendingby herself each month.  The time had come.  I deleted 90% of the pre-installed apps off of it right when i got it.  Daughter though i was crazy.  I do love the fact i always have a camera with me now. Have some pics to share.......

Moved my garden out into our open field.  Very thin topsoil over top of solid clay forced me to plant everything in hills.  Also had the opportunity to actually space my rows out though.  The mutt enjoyed the extra wide rows and i could just run the tiller between for weeding.

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This big old crappie lives in my little half acre pond.  Love the coloration, almost looks albino.  No cover at all in the pond and the whole thing is pretty shallow.

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Also caught a new to me species, saugeye.  Doesn't look different than a walleye to most, but actually is a walleye/sauger hybrid.  The saugeyes are pretty wide spread throughout Ohio from DNR stocking programs, but very few of the lakes around me are stocked with them.  Caught it pitching a hair jig in shallow water for crappie.

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This last one was from a spring evening of catching bluegill.  The sky just lit just after a quick rain shower past right before the sun went down.  



I will try to get a few more up tomorrow from camping trips......

 

[Hawnjigs]

Thanks for the nice pics - taken with your phone? All look healthy - fish, vegies, garden security. Hopefully yer campouts were piscatorially productive. Congrats on the American dream working for you.

 

[hookup]

Looks like you've been busy ...

 

[AtticaFish]

All these pictures are from my phone.  My old flip phone did have a camera that took tiny little picture, but this phone actually takes real pictures.  I don't even have the resolution set as high as it could go.

Honestly, had pretty good luck fishing on our trips, better than i had at some of my local lakes this year.  We ate fish over the fire (caught, cleaned, eaten same day) on several of our camping trips.  BTW, you managed to make me smarter with your reply...... i had to go look up what exactly piscatorially productive meant.     These pics were from Lake Loramie SP.  My kids are old enough now that a lot of the time, they want to go off on their own with friends which leaves me and the wife (and the dog) free to do a little more of what we want.  There is a rip-rap breakwall on the side of the beach so i took my pole down and fished the opposite side while the kids were out there swimming.  Ended up fishing a different area the next day and managed enough legal (9"+) crappie and bluegill for an afternoon snack over the fire.  Half the fun of camping for us is the cooking.  The big cast iron is full of home made chicken chunks with corn on the cob around the outside.  We had 2 extra kids that trip and every one of the chicken chunks disappeared.  

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This trip was just my family down at Delaware Lake SP.  As it turned out, we ran into someone friends we graduated with who have a kid close to the same age as ours.  Small world.  We pack in all the toys on our trips.  4 bikes plus the dog chariot pretty much go everywhere.  And yes, my daughter was trying to knock my son out of the tree once he climbed it.

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[walleyescrounger]

Hi I'm Jay.     I have a jig tying addiction.    I have been busy filling the gaps in my ice fishing inventory and realizing I need to cast and paint more than I thought I would need.   When away from tying I'm planning two new videos showing mmy tying benches and showing how I pour.  Maybe something to do around Thanksgiving time off - Still have to keep that on the back burner Wilkes Women's soccer team head to Maryland for the first leg in the NCAA competition and we have to root for Emily. Go lady Colonols!

If you are interested in some good video check out this kid Gunner who has a utube series tying like a pro. His thread basics video has some good stuff.

Thanks Jay

 

[Hawnjigs]

Hey, are those your yaks? Was thinking of getting one next year, trying to decide on a sit on top vs. sit in. I understand the sit ins are dryer but getting dunked is a disaster, did any of yours ever roll? Which type is better for fishing?

 

[AtticaFish]

Hawnjigs - Yep, they are our kayaks. Actually own 4. The 3 in the picture are all 9'5" in length and all sit-in styles. The orange one on the left was originally my fishing kayak and i used it for probably 6 or 8 years. Never have flipped one and they are very stable on open water, but have come close getting in/out of it on some of the steep banked upground reservoirs i fish. If you have a gradual slope bank, beach or boat ramp it is much easier to get in and out. Even easier if you wear wet shoes or waders. Upgraded my fishing kayak to another sit-in style that is 12'6" and a little wider. Has more room and better tracking on long paddles. Even added a rod holder on each side to troll if i wanted. I feel very safe using them in the smallish reservoirs and lakes i fish most often.

Have a friend on another forum who invited me to go out on Erie with him. I turned that down because of the sit-in style i have. He has a 12' sit on top (SOT) with scupper holes. Erie very seldom has waves less than 2' and then add on the boat traffic. If you flip a sit-in, you have to get to land (or have a hand pump and be in fairly good shape) to be able to get back in. From what i have been told, the SOT's are much easier to get back in. Guys use them pretty often on Erie and go out quite a ways. They are even out using them right now at night to fish for the big walleye that come in close to shore. Have to be brave considering the current lake and air temps. It would be fun and when i do upgrade again, it will be a SOT. For bigger waters, it is like using any other smaller boat. You have to know the boats limitations and pick your days carefully.

 

[AtticaFish]

One more set of pictures..........

These are from the families favorite camping destination, Lake Hudson Recreation Area in South East Michigan just over the Ohio line.  Very neat place.  Campground only has maybe 50 or 60 total sites.  All have electric, but no running water anywhere in the park.  There is a hand pump well, and of course the lake.  It is just a quiet and peaceful campground and has a couple of lake front sites that are separated and walled in with trees.  We loaded up the camper at home with water in the fresh tank, 3 kayaks, 4 bikes, and all the other gear.  I am thankful the drive is relatively flat, think it is about all the load the F-150 can haul.

First night there, even managed to talk my daughter into fishing..... for a very brief moment.



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We were there for 3 nights and actually got out and fished each day.  Was able to catch small bluegill and perch right out of the lake access of our camp site, but found a spot a short paddle from our site that had a mixed bag of panfish all located in a small area out of the wind.  My wife and i had non stop action using small jigs under a float fishing shallow water up around some lily pads.  Pretty cool to catch bluegill, crappie and perch right out of the same area in less than 3 feet of water during the middle of summer.  Cant beat going out for a morning fish on the kayak and come back to drink some hot coffee while you clean fish.

The view looking up at our campsite from the water...
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4 species, bluegill, yellow perch, white crappie, black crappie.......
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Out of the last 6 years of camping, so far hands down our favorite place.....
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Last pics here are a little more current. The mutt loves it when the farmers around us plant corn.  It is  a high reach for her to get to the ears and she has to fight like heck to get them.  She sure is proud once she pulls one off though.
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Actually was out fishing last night, but only caught a small 12" walleye.  This walleye was from about 2 weeks back.  If the rain holds off, will be back out after them again this weekend.
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[Lost Pole]

Great pics Russ! Looks like great trips and memories


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[hookup]

Hey, are those your yaks? Was thinking of getting one next year, trying to decide on a sit on top vs. sit in. I understand the sit ins are dryer but getting dunked is a disaster, did any of yours ever roll? Which type is better for fishing?

Hawn - how's your back?  Ever got into a sit in kayak?  Ever tried a sit one?  What you paddling - lake, river, or river with runs & riffels and class 1,2, or 3 rapids?

I gave away all my sit in kayaks for a sit on when my back was injured in a fatal accident.  Haven't looked back. Currently running a 10' Perception Pescadore and Ride 115 (for camping) in rivers with rapids up to class II.  If I was to buy one for a lake I'd go bigger.

If you're worried about flipping watch out for sit on tops with elevated seats - higher center of gravity causes more tipping.  I know I'll get allot of argument on this comment, but everyone, and mean everyone I know who owns a sit on with elevated seats have flipped.  Most have lost gear.



Attica - looks like you're living the dream

 

[Hawnjigs]

Don't know anyone near my age without back issues, but mostly good days & rest on the few bad. Never been in a yak, tho (hand) paddle board fished a long time ago. Sounds like a sit in for my first, lower center of gravity and more protected from chill. Just testing the water with my first yak, close to shore on calm reservoirs & ponds.