Fishing Michigan

I stand corrected, and really appreciate one of the readers pointing out to me that in fact Jay’s does have a website available now.  You can visit the site by going to www.jaysoutdoors.com

I just cruised through the fishing section of the website.  Guess my best comment is that there is room for growth.  They did have a more than fair selection of ice gear available.  Since spring is upon us,  I was taking a closer look at the open water gear.

For baits and lures, all they had were Eagle Claw and Mepps products.  I do like the Mepps inline spinners for muskie and pike fishing, so that was  a good thing.  Did not notice much in the line of other types of fishing available though.  Quite a few years ago, the store in Clare was the first place I had seen the XL Jitterbug, my absolute favorite topwater bait for muskie.

If you are looking to pick up a new rod, I hope you like Shimano products.  Its the only brand available besides Okuma and Eagle Claw.  That said,  the Talora rods are some VERY nice trolling rods.   Specially if  you are into salmon fishing on the big lakes.  Wish they had some Daiwa Sealines to go with them though, but there is one Okuma available with a linecounter.  Don’t go by the picture of the Shimano Tekota trolling reel, there are linecounter models available.

The one section where I was really impressed with was their electronics section. Really nice selection, specially in the area of accessories.  Over 17 pages of stuff,  if they make it,  you have a pretty good chance of finding it.

Taking the pups in this afternoon for some of their shots.  I realized that I haven’t posted any pics of them in a long time, between fishing, working and talking fishing, it got away from me a bit.

The pups really enjoyed the winter months.  Gauge reminded me of these old Disney flicks we watched in the cafeteria of Ida’s elementary school when I was younger.  We watched mostly nature films back then,  and the ones I remember most were about the otters playing in the snow, and sliding down the banks down to the water’s edge.  Those otters had nothing on Gauge,  she just put her nose into the snow and had her hind legs going crazy just skidding along.

These pictures are from when I would take the pups walking, getting them used to the bunny scent and hunting without a gun.  It would have been sad to leave Bonnie behind, so on the trips she came with us.  The dogs absolutely love this ornry ol’ matriarch of the clan.  There was a really good reason my mother called her St. Bon Bon,  she for the most part takes all the youthful enthusiasm in stride.

The pups would venture out on their own away from Bonnie on occasion,  mostly feeling their oats and just playing.  Both Belle and Gauge showed flashes of promise while “mock” hunting the back section.

When Bonnie stopped to check something out, both the pups more often than not,  paid close attention.  Reminded of the old girl holding an outdoor classroom, call it Beagle 101.  They really do need to work with older more trained beagles, but the girls had a good winter.