Jonn Graham

Jim is dead on. While the swim jig is a DYNAMITE lure, it will not work all the time. From what I have found, they work best in clear to stained water conditions. IMHO, the trailer is important. Normally, I fish my swim jigs fairly fast. I am trying to cover the mid water column. I am fishing them fast to catch the active fish and then when all of them are caught I will switch to something slower - tube, jerk, fly, etc.

I have been on the water many times when a swim jig outfishes EVERYTHING ELSE! Matter of fact, a few of my jig clients are now clients because they saw first-hand the power of the swim jig while fishing with me. In addition, it has been common place that the swim jig will catch the largest smallie of the day. This may be a function of the size of the swim jig vs. smaller offerings such as tubes.

The swim jig is not a be all end all. It is simply a tool every angler should add to their box. Simple to use. It casts well and allows you to cover alot of ground quickly. In many respects, the swim jig has taken the place of crankbaits, at least for me.

Tim, stick with them and I am sure you will be rewarded.

I cannot PM it to you. I can send it to your personal email. Let me know what that is and i will shoot it back to you.

Here is what exactly what I tell my jig clients who ask me the same question about color:

Get some light colored jigs and some darker colored jigs and go fishing!

PS: My most popular colors are my Silver Shad, BullGill, and Craw (go figure)

All:

Thanks for the tips............I appreciate it.

Craig:

I was hoping you could teach me about that "secret handshake"

O.K., I was right on one out of two. Is there a recipe somewhere for this bug? I looked under Ham's name and didn't find it.

I have the recipe straight from Mr. Ham. When I get a moment, I can PM it to you.

The above bugs will dive if stripped aggressively. That is what I like about this particular bug is that it is versatile. Light strips cause the fly to just spit and more aggressive strips cause the fly to get louder/dive. Thanks for the ideas Rich

OOOOOOOOOOps. I did say I made three. I only pictured the two best ones.

Where did I say that I made three? Also, there is not a link for the ham sandwich fly. The link you are speaking of is for Ham's Menominee Mud bug.

A kayaking friend told me tonight that there is a problem on the Vermillion by wildcat den. Sounded like the area around the concrete plant has had alot of errosion and changed the flow. Has anyone heard anything of this? He made it sound like it could affect upstream.

Have not heard anything about it. Sure would like to find out if it is true or not. I could believe it as the river has been high for a long time.

Years ago I fished with a couple of boys from MO who are Al Agnew disciples. They used the same twin spin spinnerbait that Al talked about at the blowout. They literally cleaned out the whole river on that bait. I tried a standard spinnerbait and got no love!! Since then, I have been trying to get ahold of some. I thought I had a friend who was going to make them for me, but I have not heard from him since Jan.

This is a really cool bottom, craw imitating fly. It was invented by Nelson Ham, a guide in Wisconsin. This has fast become my favorite fly to work on the bottom. Click on the link and you can get the recipe. The only difference between my fly and the one that Nelson ties is that he uses a tin lead head jig. I just went ahead and used dumbbell eyes.

http://www.prairiestateoutdoors.com/index....nominee_mud_bug

HMMMMMMMMM. 70 views and only two responses and one of them is mine. It seems like everytime I post a picture of a fly, very few, if anyone ever responds???? I would love to get some criticisms or tips concerning my tieing. Maybe I have not "put in my time" yet to enter the secret fly fishing club.

thanks for the compliment concerning my "bugs". I really like my Predator rod. The shorter length is working out great for my small flows. I think the rod will really shine in the canoe. While the rod is listed as a six weight, it seems to be able to handle bulky/heavy flies fairly well.

Started playing around at the vise last night trying to create a topwater bug by Nelson Ham. Nelson is one of the guides out of Tight Lines Fly Shop up in Green Bay. He calls this fly the "ham Sandwich". Mine, of course, is not quite as polished as his yet, but I was able to produce three replicas last night.

After I produced the first one, I quickly ran out the door and walked down to my creek and tested it out. It worked great. Floats well and makes a very subtle "pop" and "spit". I can see it might be a little tough to throw when windy. When I hit the creek last night right before dark, there was absolutely no wind and I was able to throw the bug perfectly with the my six weight "Predator" rod.

No rubber skirt holder here! The new jigs are tied with old fashioned, rock solid thread...........just like the older models.

Dana:

Give me a call and we can talk jigs.

We have been waiting for someone to produce a swim jig head mold that will allow us to make 3/16 and 1/8 oz swim jigs with the ability to add a weedguard. Well, the day has come. Do-It molds released a new mold a few months ago, and now we got it. It is a real beauty.

The mold features cavities to pour a 3/16 oz. and 1/8 oz. head. In addition, we can now add a weedguard. If you remember in the past our 3/16 and 1/8 oz jigs were called Scout Jrs and the head was in the shape of a minnow's head and came without weedguards.

Also, this new mold has recessed eye sockets. This means the new head allows us to use stick-on holographic eyes, which fit neatly in the recessed eye socket. This new mold really makes our jigs look even classier. Here is a picture of a 3/16 oz jig. Check out the head and eyes:

This new mold also will produce our 1/4 oz models that are so popular. If you want 3/8 or 1/2 oz models, we will still provide them using the old mold and they will come with weedguards as well.

Since the old Scout Jrs will no longer be produced, I am "blowing them out". I probably have around a dozen or two that are already tied and ready to go. I made them with some very interesting color patterns. If you are interested, PM me. They are mostly 1/8 and 1/4. Clearance price of $2 apiece with a minimum order of six.

I anchor off the back and then cast forward or to the side. Have never had a fish tangle in the anchor rope.

Thanks for coming Steve.

I don't even know about the Attwood system. I use the black mechanism from Bass Pro Shops.

Anchoring too much trouble??? If you had an anchor system or saw one used, you would see it is not any trouble at all. Getting out and wading is an option, but in some of my spots getting out and wading is not advantageous and also not as stealthy. Stealthiness results in more and bigger fish I have found. I can be quieter just slipping the anchor down to the bottom of the river than getting out and sending out vibrations from wading.

What are Largemouth?

I was not able to make the meeting. Steve J. ran the meeting and I am sure he will pass the dates on to me and then I will post them. Or maybe Steve will put them up.

slow rolled spinnerbait

Scout swim jig

3 inch grub

tube

Long john minnow

For the fly rod I will be throwing heavy clousers and stripping them slowly along the bottom

I have this canoe and it is OUTSTANDING!! Great deal by following this link. I payed over a grand for mine.

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/boa/1046333686.html

My best tip was gleaned many, many years ago when I was just a youngster. I don't know who gave me the tip, or if I read it somewhere, but it simply said, "Smallies are much too valuable to be caught only once!"

Our Final meeting of the winter will take place this Friday at the Heworth Library. Meeting starts at 6:00. We will be choosing the dates of all of our 2009 fishing outings. Of course, after the meeting we will assemble at the local watering hole for some fish and beverages.