Jonn Graham

Yes, I will look back at that picture and try to deceiver which type of jig you were using. It was either an Ouchigon or a Feather Fall jig. did the jig contain some deer hair under the silicone strips?

Here are some photos of our new "Scout" swim jigs:

these are $3.50 each/ 3 for $10/ and for alliance members only $37 per dozen.

We can make almost any color combination imaginable.

I have tons of three inch grubs. In almost any color imaginable. Most of them are Kalin's brand. Too many colors to list. If you are interested, let me know. Trust me....................the price will be more than fair.

Gary:

That threadfin shad color should really come in handy at Pickwick. Pickwick is where I first heard the threadfin shad referred to as "yellow tails".

Gentlemen:

Thanks for the comments.

Rich:

I will work on a Shabbona Shiner tonite and post a picture tomorrow morning!

Gary:

We can make the jigs in 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 oz as of right now. If you would like some, just PM me.

Jim Kast and others:

I would prefer not to sell them at the blowout. The blowout is an event for you to blow all your money on the club. Because of this, I would like you to order as many as you want and I will make them and ship them to you. If you want to see some samples at the blowout, I will have them there. In addition, there will be at least one Warrior Jigs "Scout" pack that will contain six swim jigs and trailers. This will be on the table as a raffle prize. As Jim said, stuff the box!!! Anyone truly interested in buying some should place their order NOW! When spring breaks, I plan to be on the river quite a bit. Order now and you will receive your jigs relatively quickly..............wait another month or so, and your wait time may be longer.

Prices:

$3.50 each

3 for $10

$37 per dozen

Add about three dollars for shipping

Yes, I said spring! Hopefully it will come though it seems like we are stuck in a sick Twilight Zone episode. I think I saw Rod Serling smoking a cigarette in my yard this morning. Not sure if it was him, but my dogs sure barked alot! Here are two new color patterns I came up with last night. I think both will really be winners:

The top jig is what I am calling "Bull" 'gill. It is supposed to represent a very colorful male bluegill during the spawning period. This jig is in addition to the standard bluegill pattern that I posted a few months ago. The bottom jig is simply called Threadfin Shad. As many of you know, threadfin Shad in the South are often called "yellow tails" due to their slight yellow appearance. I think both should work nicely. Below is a better picture of just the Threadfin Shad jig:

Comments/concerns/questions either positive or negative are greatly appreciated.

My experience is that for lake fishing they may have some merit. But for river fishing, at least on my smaller rivers, they are a deterimint as they slow the canoe down (friction on the surface of the water) and they become a problem when trying to slide through narrow spots in the river.

Here is another plug. I have tried alot of sunglasses over the years. A friend turned me onto Fishermen Eyewear. They also go by the name of Guideline. Cabelas sells them. Without a doubt the best fitting glasses I have ever worn. They have all different prices with most being around $50. They also have all tints. I got a pair of copper lenses and yellow lenses. They are outstanding!!!

Gary:

I don't know if my school district will field a fishing team, but they probably will and the thought of coaching it has crossed my mind.

Did not know how many of you have heard about the Illinois High School Association making it official and adding competitive high school fishing as a sanctioned sport. It is scheduled to start in the spring of 2009. Illinois is the first state in the US to do this............kinda exciting.

I wish they would have had fishing when I was in high school! Can you imagine how fun practice would be!? Heck, they would have never gotten me to go home.

Yah, those are poured by yours truly. The hook you see in the Nuclear Frog jig is a Mustad, xwide gap hook. We bought a few of these and are giving them a try. They are truly a nasty hook. Big bite and sharp.

Yah, I thought that Nuclear frog pattern was pretty neat. Can't wait to give it a workout in 08.

By the way, I am beginning to pour a batch of jig heads in the next seven days or so, anyone interested in ordering some of my scout swim jigs or my float n fly jigs, ACT NOW! I am still running a special for ISA members: Scout swim jigs are $3.50 each or $37 a dozen. And the float n fly jigs are $2 apiece with a dozen for only $20. Shipping charges are normally $4 or less per order.

AS promised, here is a better picture of the living rubber Scout swim jigs I have been working on:

In addition, here is a new color pattern I came up with this weekend, it is called "Nuclear Frog".

I plan to fish this swim jig just under the surface during low light hours. Should be a winner as my streams are dominated by frogs come mid summer.

I will post another picture tomorrow. Rich, I bought my living rubber from the company you mentioned. Good folks. They also carry a large line of silicone.

Brian:

While my swim jigs would probably work on the bottom with a chunk trailer, they are truly designed to be swam through the water column with an "action" trailer such as a four or five inch twister grub. The swim jig "thing" is what you may call "power fishing with a jig". Swim it fast and HANG ON!!!!

Have been playing around of late with making my swim jigs with what they call "living rubber" strands. Very interesting material. Does not come in many colors, but if you are looking for a swim jig that has a larger, bulkier appearance in the water, and has some "puff" value, then you might want to look into swim jigs made with this "old school" material. Here is a photo of one I tyed last night. You will have to excuse the crappy picture..............for some reason my flash did not go off?

Breathables are a must. I did not listen for years when other anglers told me how great breatheable waders were. Boy, was I stupid. Norm is right about buying the waders that require the angler to buy a pair of wading shoes to go over the bootie foot - best way to go.

I will throw one more thing out there.........If you will not be wading super deep, try the waist high breatheables. Just like a pair of pants. I absolutely love them!!!!

I got this message from Mike Domrzalski. Mike is a long time ISA member and has been fishing the Apple longer than anyone I know. Here is what he has found out:

Jonn,

I did see it on the ISA site last night. Made a few calls this morning and from what I was told most of the board members are against it. A couple are for it because of financial interests, which should disqualify them from voting because of conflict of interest issues. However, the boards vote is nonbinding and is advisory only. I was told that the USDA is the Federal organization supporting this operation. A number of residents from the town of Warren have filed lawsuits, so perhaps they can make this venture financially unappealing. I gave the board member a bit of history concerning fish kills on the Apple which he knew nothing about. I did mention that the Apple watershed is prone to massive gully washers and in fact suffered two back to back 100 year floods in 2003, one in July the other in August. You know that this pond will overflow. I also warned him about wind farms too which are another scam rearing their ugly head in Illinois and in that part of the state.

Great. We got to get our leader out of Springfield. We should go dump a bunch of cow manure on his lawn and see how he likes it. Hell, he probably does not even know where Jo Davies county is.

Craig:

You are da man!!!!

Rock Bass taste like shrimp!!! mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.......very tasty. I have been known to enjoy a meal of them every so often.

On the subject of line twist:

My clients regularly throw flukes. Early one, line twist was a huge problem. Then I began to watch the clients fish the bait and tried to figure out where and how the line twist occurs. My opinion is what really twists your line when fluke fishing is the act of reeling in the fluke very quickly, thus casing the fluke to spin in the water. In other words, you cast the fluke out, work it back a little ways, and then you are ready for your next cast and instead of just reeling the bait in slowly, you crank the bait back at hyper speed so as to get your next cast out as soon as possible. If you slow down and reel the bait in slowly, or work it all the way back, the line twist is less.

I got a pack of Gamakatsu's new skip gap hooks given to me a month or so ago. The angler who gave them to me says they work great with flukes and other soft jerks. He said the hook design helps keep the fluke in place better and leads to less plastic tearing. They definitely look interesting. Any thoughts?????

I don't think our heads are any type of upgrade from the Brovarney head I was using. I think ours will be just as good when it comes to catching river bronze. The reason we decided to make our own head, was strictly for cost reasons. Much cheaper to make our own rather than buy from Brovarney.

I appreciate any and all comments, improvements, etc.