Archive for the ‘Do-It-Yourself’ Category

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Nooooooo…NOT YET, might as well do it!

Monday, February 15th, 2010

With all this beautiful cold weather, I just cannot bring myself to say it, much less do it.  ITS TIME TO MAKE THE HARNESSES!  I really don’t want to, there is way too much ice fishing left to do, but at some point I must get started.

The snelling, followed by the beads n blades and then placing them on their foam rolls for use later on.  Figure if I do not start now, and get a little bit done each week, it will be cram time in March and early April.  So many new blades this year, have already considered adding another storage tub to house the arsenal this year.  If you do not know what I mean by that, you must be a new reader!!! No fear, it will become apparent soon enough as I always document this spring ritual of gearing up for the trolling season.

With so many blades this year, with some really SWEET patterns from DB Fishing , Yeck, Silver Streak and Fish Bones Custom Lures, it will be good to get ahead of the curve.  So, if you have been thinking about it, you aren’t alone, and if this is your first time into making your own rigs….hang on, it gets better from here on out!

Posted in Do-It-Yourself, Fishing Websites/Stores, Walleye Fishing | 2 Comments »

Minnow Tanks: keep your bait in between trips

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

A couple of years ago Miejer (grocery chain) had these 10 gallon aquariums for sale for about 10 dollars.  It was one of those small light bulb moments and I went out and picked one up.  The idea behind the purchase was to keep my minnows alive between fishing trips.  Could be perch or walleye, either way, they tend to add up at the register.

Over the years I have discovered that they (the bait) last quite a bit better in between trips during the winter. Partly due the shiners being fragile already, and the other being unable to control the temps during the warmer months. I scrapped the bubbler that came with it, and use this 110 volt model from Metal Marine.

The filter system was a lil’ bit unreliable, so every other day or so I take water out, and put three to four fresh gallons in.  This is filtered city water that I use, I do not suggest you put it in straight from the tap.  Always allow the water to come up, or down to room temp where you keep the aquarium. As I stated above, shiners are fragile, and easily put into shock by quick temperature changes.  Allow an hour or so before putting in fresh water if you go this route. If a 10 gal model is too small for you, and sometimes it can be, I suggest you shop around garage sales during the spring and other holiday type weekends.  Some good deals can be found from the side of the road!

Will be gone for a few days while fishing the NAIFC Hamlin Lake qualifying event in Ludington, so be safe and good luck fishing.

Posted in Bait, Do-It-Yourself, Ice Fishing | 2 Comments »

Ice Jigging Spoons: How to jazz them up

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

I really like to take ideas and monkey around with them a bit.  Either to make them better, or to work just as well with what I have already. Stealing an idea from a November In-Fisherman show, I decided to make it my own. 

The whole concept was to add a type of snap, where an angler could quickly take off a treble hook that was attached to a split ring on a spoon.  The purpose was to be able to run the treble through a torn minnow head, and then attach it back.  Anglers would gain two things by doing this; one it protects the bait from being ripped off and two it adds action to the dangling bait.

Loved the concept, but did not feel like calling in a order to Rollie and Helen’s in Wisconsin. Fantastic muskie shop, but thought I could make the concept work with what I had at home.  So taking some stainless steel and red #1 Duolock snaps, I took off the trebles and placed the snaps on the split rings.  Granted the snaps used on the show really are the way to go, no fuss, no muss, but by adding one extra step in attaching the hook on the snap, this application performs just as well.

These are some of my favorite jigging spoons for both perch and walleye;  Buck-Shot Rattle Spoons, New Macho Minnows, Little Cleo’s, Slender Spoons and Phoebe’s.

Posted in Do-It-Yourself, Ice Fishing, Ice Products, Perch Fishing, Walleye Fishing | No Comments »

UV this, and UV that

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

Since late last year, the latest thing has been UV paints for spoons, jigs and crankbaits.  While at the Ultimate Fishing Show last weekend, quite a few companies have gone over to the UV side.  What’s that mean….I have no clue, but am about to find out.  To be on the safe side, I just placed an order with Jann’s Netcraft yesterday for the UV Blast spray, and UV SealCoat.

Bad thing is that I had looked at these things last year, and just never pulled the trigger.  Didn’t even think about it while I was in Novi, even after looking at the new displays  from Wolverine Tackle/Silver Streak and getting some blades from DB Fishing.

I usually don’t fall for the latest trends in fishing.  Case in point, I didn’t bite on the whole red trend that swooped through about 7 years ago. I caught just as many fishing on the black nickel and bronze Mustad hooks than all my buds who bought into it.  Red line….don’t think so. Not for the fish anyway, if you want to see where your line goes in the water and use a leader, that’s one thing, but catching more fish….totally a different thing.

So not so sure about the effectiveness of UV light penetrating down below the surface, or at least the fishing being able to detect it. But at least for me it was something tangible to see for myself. So after a couple of hours of comparison shopping on the net, and finding the best prices available at Jann’s, I placed the order.

Right now, the game plan is to use the seal coat on jigs for testing out, and some blades.  Worst case scenario, I just added an extra layer of coating to protect the jig and blades from chipping.  For cranks, going to try the spray out first.  Do not want to add too much extra weight to the body baits until I know for sure what I am getting into.

When the seasons turn, we will see what, if any difference can be noticed when using it next to standard paint jobs.

Posted in Do-It-Yourself, Fishing Websites/Stores, Product Reviews | No Comments »

Jann’s Netcraft for 2010

Monday, December 28th, 2009

Love this time of the year, not only is ice fishing   just around the corner, but its the new catalog season.  Got my Jann’s Netcraftcatalog last week, and its got lots of new goodies in it for the do-it yourselfer, as well as new beads and blades for the walleye angler.

They have a new colorado blade available in size #6 called ProEyes.  These actually look pretty hot, and there are a couple of colors already sold out.  That is something I have noticed from the Netcraft website over the past couple of years.  Buy early, before the season starts and you should be ok.  Better to get it out of the way, and not have to wait for the resupply orders to arrive.

Lots of beads available this year for making your own crawler harnesses as well.  My favorites are the pearlbeads, but they have lots of new patterns and colors available this year. I order in bulk of 1,000 each, but you can get smaller quantities if you prefer.

Multi-Color

ProEye Beads

And if you need to resupply your floating jig head collection before the spring run on the Maumee River, Jann’s had the best selection of round head floaters and soft foam floaters .  In some circles these soft foam types are referred to as phelps floaters.

These are just the items that peak my interest, you can find all sorts of goodies for fishing on the website and in the store too.  Order a catalog so you can get your shopping list started for the open water months.  If you see the bulk items on the website or in the catalog, write it down and visit the store. Ask for some help first, because many of the items are in the back in storage for the web and catalog orders.

Posted in Do-It-Yourself, Fishing Websites/Stores, Walleye Fishing | No Comments »

Fast Attach Clip: Found it!

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

Ok about two weeks ago I saw something on In-Fisherman’s Ice Guide television series that made a lot of sense.  I wrote about it on here, but could not find this clip that they were using during the show.  It was a way to to quickly take your treble hook off and and slide the shank through a minnows head while jigging a spoon.  It was a way to protect the bait and increase your hooking percentage.

Well after two weeks of having it mentioned on the show, more and more people started looking and searching for it online.  Remember those forums I mentioned yesterday that I said could be helpful?  Turned out I found it on the Fishing Minnesota site after posting the blog for the day.

Over on Rollie and Helen’s Musky Shop site, they have the exact clips.  The two smallest sizes would be the best for fishing for walleyes though on spoons. Simply take the treble hook off the split ring, then attach the clip.  Then you have a quick and easy way to put on, and take off your treble to re bait when needed.

Stringease Fastach Multi-Use Clip

Posted in Do-It-Yourself, Fishing Websites/Stores, Ice Fishing, Ice Products, Walleye Fishing | No Comments »

Perch Rigs: Homemade Kits

Thursday, September 17th, 2009

This time of the year, perch fishing rules supreme out on Lake Erie and many other areas on the Great Lakes.  One of the most common questions I have gotten since my return from God’s country, otherwise known as the Upper Peninsula is this, “What do I need to go perch fishing?”  This is my answer to that question,  your basic (or not so basic) homemade/store bought perch kit.

I start off with a kitty litter box of all things to store all the goodies I need and use while perching out on Erie.

P1

 

Next I have a selection of weights that fit nicely into a Plano 3500 sized tackle tray.  Although 1/2, 3/4 and 1 once weights are the most commonly used size, I have some split shot and other items that could come in handy.

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It seems like you have to cater to the wants of the fish, so even though last year it seemed as if the perch wanted the vertical rigs, I still carry a couple of horizontal spreaders with me when I go out on the lake.  These are the harder to find model of spreader because you add your own weights.  I like these best for keeping a tight line in all kinds of wind conditions because you can adjust as you need to.

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Next up, I have tied an assortment of snells to put on the spreaders and rigs.  Some of the long shaft gold hooks, to go along with my Mustad Ultra Point #6 and #8 livebait hooks.  I have added some beads and flickers to them, trying to match up the presentation with the size of the hook.

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Next up I have three rolls with the perch rigs that I made up with the 4 inch lears purchased from Jann’s Netcraft in Ohio.  Two rolls are the double lear rigs, while one roll is made up of single lear/arm rigs.

6

 

When placed into the cat litter container, I have a complete perch fishing kit made up and ready to go.  It takes up a small amount of space in the boat, and still contains everything I need to have a great day on the water. 

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All the weights can be purchased at local shops, you just need some snaps, swivels, lears and I did use some 20 lb Big Game clear mono from Berkley.  You can actually go higher or lower if you wish.  The snells were made with 15 lb Big Game, the stiffness of the line allows for it to hang better from my experience over the years.  You can pick up the Plano tray from any Gander Mountain, Dick’s or Bass Pro Shops fishing/marine department.  If you are fortunate enough to live near Frank’s Great Outdoors or Jay’s Sporting Goods, they have ‘em too.

Posted in Do-It-Yourself, Perch Fishing | 4 Comments »

Not all good ideas work out ….

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

….all that great.  While I was in the Upper I had the neighbor test out my lil theory on an overlapping arm on perch rigs.  This is where I was rigging them up with 2.5 inch arm on the bottom, with the longer 4 inch version on top.  The theory was that the result would be having two hooks closer to the strike zone near the bottom of the lake.

Report was that more often than not the top snell got snagged up on the bottom arm.  So last night, it was tear up time.  Cut all the parts off and re-did them all with the 4 inch arms, which if you remember right are really called lears.  Both sizes are available at Jann’s Netcraft.

So last night I rigged up 20 double lear rigs, and another 10 or so with a single lear/arm.  Tonight will rig up some more singles, as well as snell some more hooks for my snells.

Posted in Do-It-Yourself | No Comments »

Neccessity is the Mother of all Inventions

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

So here I am in the Super Walmart in Escanaba trying to think of things to use for catching panfish in the U.P.  I didn’t really bring anything in the line of rods, but thought I would rig up some slip bobbers on my medium light Avid drop shot rods. Only problem, no bobbers or thread, but did have the beads for rigging some carolina rigs in case the smallies were hitting.

Have you ever walked up to someone in the sewing dept. and asked if you carry thicker thread?  You get this crazy look in response like what is this guy talking about!  So after striking out there, I picked up my bobbers anyway, then it hit me.

I had been stripping and retying braid on my line the whole trip.  Not wanting to simply throw the line overboard I had saved it all for some reason.  Worn out braid gets fairly soft after a long period of use folks.  So there it is, I used the line as thread and was able to rig up my slip bobber rods.  Worked like a charm, and I have spools of this stuff back in the shop.  Have I mentioned I got this pack rat mentality from my mother?  Well it rubbed off on my anyway.

Tied my thread, put my bead on the line followed by the bobber and tied the hook on. Set my depth and began catching some nice gills.  Not as nice as my cousin Christine’s kids, but still had my fun fishing.

Posted in Do-It-Yourself | 2 Comments »

What goes good with a fish fry…

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

Horseshoes of course!  Finally got around to putting my temporary pits in yesterday.  I would pick the two hottest, most humid days of the year to do it, but like I told everyone who said wait for a couple of cooler days, they are done now!  It was so hot, this is where everyone goes at once, how hot was it Mace?  It was so hot, that it melted the ice build up in the keggerator closet! Not a good sign.

First off I built these portable backstops out of treated lumber, and braced them with some shelf brackets.

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Then I built the frame for the sand to go around the stake.  Then I measured around the stake to make it kosher, then using the frame as a trace, I painted the grass around it and started digging.  After getting that finished up I picked up my sand and filled in the hole/pit.

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So wah-la, all done.  For official measurements it was as easy to find as g-o-o-g-l-e.  Stakes are 40 ft apart just like they said, got my 3 inch angle on the stakes, and they are 15 inches high…textbook.

3

Posted in Do-It-Yourself, General Topics | No Comments »

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