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Thanks much to those who gave me their materials, at the Blowout. I'll get them sent off.

Rich, We do not have any particular soldiers address. I'll make some inquires. I've sent all my used ISA newsletters, and got a response from a Marine who's parents live in the next village. His parents visited the store and informed me---now I have to take him smallie fishing, when he gets home, and show him how to use the "Kut-Tail Worms".

Norm, GAT's is not in Canada.

A "drop-box" is located in the lobby at GAT's, Dundee, IL. for those wishing to donate their used fishing magazines and books. These materials are shipped to US soldiers, serving in Irag--- "Operation Support Our Troops". Thank you, in advance, for your donations. If you should have any questions, or need additional information, please do not hesitate to email "fishing@gatguns.com"

Jude, Jonn wrote, ""I have tons of three inch grubs."" At 2000lbs per ton, times the "number" of tons, would equal a chit-load of grubs. Whew!--- that's lotsa of plastics. That should last some avid angler an entire season, fishing those snag infested waters.

Rich, You might want to keep that info under your hat. Boasting about all the good SMB angling in IL, may result in anglers not going to Wisc. Lots of Wisc businesses are now suffering, because of gas prices, etc, and will suffer even more. Wisc will also lots of revenue from the non-residents license fees. ;-)

I target big fish, when I know or have an inclination, that there are big fish in a specific body of water. When there are only smaller fish in a specific body of water, I use smaller baits, and target the smaller critters. I've learned that by practicing on these smaller critters, it sharpened my skills, hence I've caught larger fish. Many larger fish, are lighter biters than many smaller fish. On MANY ocassions I've caught more larger fish, using smaller baits, catching smaller fish, in an area. Many times the larger fish will take a smaller bait rather than a larger bait. My largest fish to date, SMB (20") , LMB (23" 8.5lbs), stripers (32" 16.25lb), pike 38", and musky 42", have been caught, on light line and smaller size baits. I've also learned, that while catching smaller fish, larger nearby fish follow the smaller fish--- I guess to see what all the commotion was about--- and the larger fish took the bait. How big is a 6" nightcrawler? How big is a 2-3" leech? How big is a 2.5" fathead minnow? How big is a 3" shiners? How big is a 2 - 2.5" crawfish? and some of the flys/lures and the like? ========= ps---I know of a recent 50" muskie, caught on the chain of lakes, that was pulled thru an ice hole--- while the angler was fishing for bluegills with a waxworm on a 1/32oz ice jig. That angler hasn't caught a musky that large, while fishing for them using musky size tackle.

Mike G, Those little guys need their exercise too, it builds-up their muscle tone--- like a baseball player on steroids.

I think he should go on a hunting trip with Dick Chaney.

ScottF, I have the "FITOVER" brand. They do a great job for me. Also great for night driving and in fog---reduces the reflective glare and haze.

Mike, I sent you a pm.

Mike, I got some of those 1/0, 2/0 & 3/0 size flys. Now I'm going to have to look into a 12wt flyrod outfit, or use my musky gear to toss those things.

That "tip jar" was too small you deserved more

You did a great job, as always.

I believe those crawfish were from the Cal-Slag

There's a saying in Breauxbridge, La, (the "crawfish capital") ""Crawfish have it made, they get their tails pinched, and their heads sucked""

Mark, Falcon makes some good rods, as well as Lamiglas (made in the U.S.A.) The St Croix rods made overseas, (Triumph Series 5-6ft models), SRP of $60. Most good rods, on todays market, use Fuji reel seats and guides. There are rods on the market that do not have Fuji components. Some are just generic "no-name" components, that are grabbed out of an old sour cabbage barrel on the assembly line. The rod OEM may specify what they want on their rods--- but--- the customer may get a substitute lower grade component, and not know it. This is very common on big box house-brand products.

Mark, If you find something you'd like, let me know. I'm sure I've got something around that would be happy to be in your skillful hands. There are some reasonably priced rod blanks available. The St Croix ML rod is a good river smallies rod, great for light-line angling. Light action tip section with lots of back-bone. You can build your own rod from a rod blank you like, Just add single-foot eyes, and handle of your choice. An all cork handle 8-9" long, with gold slip rings and gold eyes, trimmed with black & gold thread wraps around a black rod blank will look sharp. The black and gold SS700 will look sweet on that rod. GLoomis has a series of Bronzeback rods that are sweet. http://products.gloomis.com/gl/products/fa...D=1202429987022 I think this is their ultimate smallie rod: The "SMR822S-SP-GLX" 6-10, 1/8-3/8oz, Med Action (is more like a ML action). It is so sensative, that I can almost feel the fish staring at the bait.

The Erie Dearies are a favorite with some walleye anglers. Many of they dress it with live bait, and do quite well.

Not at all sir. I see many anglers, wading the Fox, who can't afford the more expensive approach--- They buy what they can afford. Maybe I should have put it another way--- "Buy the best you can afford".

Steve, A 6'8" is not at all an odd size. The 6-8 St Croix rod is one of their top sellers--- in the Avid, Tournament and Legend series. Best all around bass and walleye rod, for a variety of presentations---crankbaits, jigs, grubs, tubes, spinners, topwater, just to name a few. Check out St Croix 6-8 in their MXF action (Med-Xtra-Fast)--- top choice among some avid anglers.

Mark, Check out GLoomis selection of rod blanks. They offer 6-1/2 to 7ft, single and 2pc, rod blanks. GLoomis SR series are the trout and panfish rods. Great for light line angling. I had a 7ft 2pc IMX light action (1-power), made some years back, and had Euopean High-Foot-Eyes installed---(eliminates line slap). An awesome rod. You're welcome to review mine or try it out, if you like, before you decide. I had a 7ft UL rod, but it had too much bounce, for most of my casting presentations. It's good for float fishing, though. A 6-1/2ft UL is the max I've found most suitable for casting purposes. The SS700 fits perfect, using the slip-rings. Some brands of rod blanks are too soft and whippy. A higher modulus graphite would be better--- like the GLoomis IMX or the St Croix Avid or their tournament series, are my top choices. If you're looking for greater sensitivity, I'd suggest the IMX.

I know of some anglers who have purchased $30-$50 pair of rubber bootfoot waders, and do better than some anglers all decked in the high-tech gear.

I know Joseph can flyfish circles around me, he's an expert at fly fishing. I don't pretend to be an expert, I just try to fish a lot. It's what I like, as I stated above. In years past, I've mostly used a 7wt 9ft---however, after being introduced to 3-4wt, I'm sold on it--- but, it has it's limitations. The average SMB in the Fox is about 12" long---my 3wt does fine. Most flyrodders I know of, or have talked to, use 3wt on 6 - 7.5ft rods, which is too short to my liking. I also use 6wt, 7wt and 8wt outfits, but that's when I'm using larger flys/streamers, or the like, and targeting larger fish. I'm considering a 10ft with 12wt, for a trip to do some fishing in Florida, for some BAB. I select the flyrod outfit, according to what I'm targeting and the lures I intend to use. I'm a light-line angler, and I like to fish with light tackle, unless I'm targeting big fish, and in heavy cover, then I go with my MH to heavy action gear---7 to 10ft rods and 20-50lb line---then I just wench 'em in, when I get snagged, tree branches, brush piles, stumps are brought in. Got stuck on a dock one time, nearly pulled it loose from a steel wall it was anchored to. One of my favorite spinning outfits for smallies is a GLoomis SR782 6.5ft light action rod, fitted with a Stradic 1000F and 6lb line. I catch over 50% of my smallies on this outfit---smallies from 8 to over 19". The bigger smallies really give that rod a workout. It's the most fun I have, standing upright. I've caught more larger fish on light action tackle than when I'm targeting larger fish with heavier tackle--- go figure. Maybe those fish think they can break free of my grip. As long as I'm using Cortland's Endurance Super-Mono, they don't get away.

Yum's "fork-tail" plastic stick bait is a knock-off of the original Zoom's Fluke and Super-Fluke. From my experiences, "Zoom's Super-Fluke" is a better producer--- REASON: a softer plastic resulting in a more life-like presentation and fluid swimming motion. I've tried various brands of "fork-tail" plastics, but they are not have the fluid motion as Zooms Fluke. Best rigged using an EWG or G-Lock hook. Deadly presentation, fishing shallow water smallies.