Jonn Graham

Nick: Give me a call at home and we can talk about your jig order...............thanks. jonn

HA! Very funny post. I guess I will need to start marketing my jigs to the Gar Angling community. I have yet to catch a gar on my swim jigs, but I am sure it will happen as soon as the Mackinaw goes down. I did have a decent day yesterday throwing the swim jig in a trib. of the Rock River.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm............that is weird. I ordered my Subwalks online from Cabelas and they were only a little over $7

Once again, big money wins! Sure is sad. I am moving to Canada.

I just bought four of the Sub Walks from Rapala. I took them down to my local creek and made one cast with them and said..............."WOW"! That bait is going to be deadly on river bronzebacks. I am glad I bought four of them.

I used to be a die-hard mono/copolymer guy. The last two years has seen me basically go with all braid. I have tried Cortland, Fireline, and Power Pro, but prefer Suffix hands down! Couple more things about braid that I have figured out: While the palamar knot is the best knot to use with any line, the improved clinch knot will not slip with braid. Most of today's rods have good enough guides that will not groove with superlines. Many of the guides that grooved were early on in the superline era. Mono backing works great under the superline, but also wrapping your spool with one layer of electrical tape works just as well. Suffix does not lose its inherent color like other braids on the market (In addition, Suffix has a rebate offer going on right now..............I know, I know, I sound like a commercial, but when I like a product I like to sing the praises of that product). Braid gives you far less headaches on a spinning reel than mono or copolymer. I found this out first-hand while guiding newcomers fishing with spinning reels. I started using McCoy copolymer on all my clients reels. What a disaster! While I had no problem controlling copolymer on my spinning reels, my clients with very limited experience had a different experience. I was respooling reels at least once a day along the river. Decided to try braid on the clients' reels and have never looked back. Matter of fact, that is what caused me to switch over to braid.

While some companies call their chatterbaits, "swim jigs", make no mistake that swim jigs and chatterbaits are not the same. Rick, I think you are referring to chatterbaits while others are talking about actual "swim jigs". Just thought I needed to clear that up.

I agree!!! Suffix Braid in my opinion is the best braid on the market today.

Fished on Saturday with an old acquaintance. He told me he had a hot bite on a creek way upstream from where I had ever fished. Up so far that the creek was channelized and very narrow and shallow. I thought he was nuts but I had to try and call his "bluff". He was not bluffing!!! Long story short, we fished from 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM and landed 101 smallies!!! Yes, that is right 101 smallmouth bass. We also lost at least 30 more. Almost all fish were 11 inches and larger. Biggest smallies were sixteen and seventeen inches long with tons of fish in the 12-15 inch range. I lost one bass that was an easy 18 incher or larger. If you want to read the "rest of the story", make sure to pick up the June issue of the Outdoor Notebook. All the details and pictures will be found under the article title of, "We're Going to Fish Where?"

Warrior is the name of our little company - Warrior Jigs. Scout is the name for the swim jigs that I make. Best colors have been Silver Shad, Threadfin Shad, and Bull Gill for me. Many anglers are ordering a few light colored ones and a few dark colored ones. If you stick with that theory, I think you will be alright.

Here is a new spin on my swim jigs. This jig is called the Scout jr. It is slightly different than the normal Scout that has been so successful this year. This smaller swim jig does have some neat advantages: 1. The head is triangular in shape, much like a minnow's head. This triangular shape cuts through current great. 2. Sparser skirt leads to a smaller, finesse swim jig - great for smaller waters 3. Smaller 4/0 hook 4. The shape of the head allows the bait to skip on the water. This is really great when trying to get the swim jig back under trees and other cover. 5. The head shape also provides a very neat rocking motion when reeled through the water. 6. The Scout jr. comes in lighter sizes than the standard Scout - 1/8 and 3/16 oz. I will be offering these for a limited time at an introductory price of $2.50 each and a dozen for $24. This price is only for alliance members and will only last until July 1st. If you are interested, please email me grahamj@district87.org or jaden@mtco.com. Or call me at 309-399-7055.

I have played around with scents over the years but usually forget to pack it when I head out to fish. So, I have really not used scents enough to form an opinion.

Thanks for the offer Nick, but I already have a non-rotary vise.

Paul: I do think the spawn is right around the corner. Kinda perplexed why they have made the big move upstream in the creeks yet.

I used to tell my wife where I was going, but she never listened. I know this because friends would call my house while I was gone and ask my wife where I was fishing, she never was able to remember the location to tell them. Who knows, maybe she was trying to keep my fishing areas secret

Thanks Mark: I am seriously looking at that vise..............should be a good fit.

Hopefully the ending will have nothing to do with a doctor.

No, I am a stream stalker! Who the heck is libra????

there are too many vises to choose from. I guess I just want a standard, pedestal mount vise with the ability to rotate. I really don't need any other features such as a bobbin holder, etc. etc. I am asking someone to steer me in the right direction...............Please. And don't give me a bunch of choices........I can't handle choices. Just tell me what to buy. thanks.

I have a place not far from my house that I have driven by countless times. Every time I drive by I always think to myself that I should stop in and talk to the landowner and see if he would allow me to fish. Well, last night after work I was driving around in search of bronze, and, after striking out at my first haunt, I decided to stop in and talk to the guy. I pulled in at the house and walked to the door and first rang the doorbell......no answer. Rang it again.......no answer. Then I was not sure if the door bell even worked, so I knocked on the door. That was mistake! Upon knocking on the door, a large German Shepard woke up from his slumber behind his personal pine tree. The dog approached me and seemed nice enough. He got within five feet of me and just stopped and looked at me while I knocked on the door one more time. With no answer at the door, I decided no one was home and took one step toward my truck. Surprisingly, the dog just jumped at me and bit me on the upper thigh. I paniced and began to ran...........STUPID!!!!. After running a few yards and realizing that running was not going to work, I just stopped and turned and yelled at the dog, which made him stop dead in his tracks. Only problem was I was still not back at my truck as I had ran straight away from my truck during the panic stage. Luckily, with all the commotion the owner of the house came barreling out of the house wondering what the heck was going on. I told him the dog had bit me. He was not happy with the dog and promptly grabbed the dog and gave the dog a butt chewing. Upon catching my breath, I told him who I was and where I lived and asked if I could fish down on his property. He said he had seen my truck drive by numerous times in the past and said to fish as often as I wish. Heck, maybe he felt so bad that he felt he had to let me fish. whatever the case, I had the permission I had been yearning for. He asked me if I wanted to come into his house to dress my wound. I declined and got back in my truck and went down to his property. Boy, it is one sweet stretch of creek maybe a 1/4 mile long or so. Completely manucured and able to reach via truck. Can't beat a spot where you can just drive up, get out of the truck, and begin casting. All rock bottom with a few riffle/pool scenarios. While I did not catch anything last night due to the fact that my smallies have not come that far upstream yet, I am sure there will be smallies there in a few weeks or so. Now, I am heading to see our school nurse so she can dress my war wound. What we won't do for a new fishing spot.

thanks Steve. I will check into that site.

It is time I look into a new vise. The vise I have now came in a kit. Don't get me wrong it still works great but is not a rotatry vise. So I have to rotate my jigs by hand. No big deal, but if I had a better rotary vise I could probably tie jigs quicker. Right now I stand at about 3 minutes per jig. Would like to lower that at least a little. I have looked around the net and have seen too many to count. I figured you folks could help me. I have to have a rotary vise with a pedestal stand and it must be able to accept hooks up to 5/0. I would definitely like to spend under $200 and would prefer to spend less than $150 if I could. Any particular vises anyone would reccommend would be appreciated.

Dan: Thanks for mentioning my river service and my son's exciting introduction to river bronze. Can't wait to fish with you and Quinn.

Thanks all for the kind words concerning my jigs. I am in the process of working up a new type of swim jig that I think will really excite some folks here on this board. The prototypes that I have been working with have been exciting to me. Todd, when it comes to swim jigs, Mr. Kast is the "yoda" of swim jiggin'

Cool. Those old postcards are really neat.