Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Body check

I weighed some of my 'Heddon Dowagiac era' Lucky 13 lures to know their variation of weight.

Color SS, neck-bound mold,  made of bone material

Color PG, neck-bound mold, made of clear material

Color D, neck-bound mold, made of clear material

Color SS, lengthwise-bound mold, made of clear material

Color PG, lengthwise-bound mold, made of clear material

Color D, lengthwise-bound mold, made of clear material

Color NBL, lengthwise-bound mold, made of bone material, hooks are replaced


Older neck-bound ones are light, while newer lengthwise-bound ones are heavy (I guess present Pradco ones are much lighter, but I don't refer them here). I'm surprised to see the biggest difference show about 4g (1/8 oz or more). As is often the case with older ones, they can react very lively as you twitch, which presumably derives from their light body weight, I believe.

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Just before the athletic meet starts

It's very fine today, and my daughters had an athletic meet at their junior high school. Just before it started, I went fishing for only a short time. I visited the same pond as the last time, but got skunked. I had a very small bite on my Harrison Bass Frog, but I guess the fish was too small to eat the frog.


As soon as I got home, I left home again to visit their school with my wife, and watched almost all the programs. Both of my daughters belong to the school track team, and we enjoyed watching them achieve good results. Youth is wonderful!


After getting home in the evening, I put my fishing tackle together as I had no time to do so in the morning. The Lucky 13 (JRH) I used today didn't show livelier actions than I expected, and I think I should make some alternations on it, replacing the hooks and so on to change the weight. While I'm trying on it, I'm now wondering which Lucky 13 to put in my fishing box next.



Today's tackle: ABU Ambassdeur 5000CDL (high speed), Mr Don MW59N (Dog Fighter) w/ Fuji wood grip, Stren 14lb (Clear/Blue Fluorescent), Heddon Wounded Spook, Original Zara Spook, 210, Lucky 13, Harrison Bass Frog, etc. 
BF=15/24

Monday, September 14, 2015

Storm

What I'm talking about is not the bad weather or typhoon around here, but a lure manufacturer. I'm now getting a little interested in their lures, both old and new ones.

When I was young (about 30 years ago), I caught a lot of bass with Wiggle Wart and Mag Wart (Magnum Wiggle Wart) lures. I checked my old fishing tackle boxes just of late and what I could find there were one VG- Wiggle Wart (w/ many paint losses), one EX+ Magnum Wart, both in Hot Tiger, and one NIB Wiggle Wart with black back silver scale color. I don't think I'll use Wiggle Wart lures very often as a diving lure, but I'd like to try them as a topwater lure. I also hear old Wiggle Warts, especially those made of a bone plastic material, are getting more and more popular among tournament fishers in the US, and they're getting difficult to find at a reasonable price.


I also looked for some pieces of information about newer Storm lures. What I was surprise at was that Rapala Japan ordered some special colors for Japan market this year. I like the Baby Bass and Oikawa colors very much, and could finally get one each. At the same time, I happened to find a bunch of remainder lures of Storm Sub Warts in the largest size. The price was about $3.50 each (plus tax), and I'm very to get them. Sub Warts won't dive deep at all, and I'd like to use them as a topwater lure, too.



Sunday, September 13, 2015

3-day weekend

It's Sunday, and I got up early to go fishing again. It was only two-hour fishing, but I enjoyed a lot.

I started as early as the last time, but it was so cloudy and dark today. I used black-shore colored lures until dawn broke, Wounded Spook for a starter and then changed to Original Zara Spook. Around when it broke gray little by little, I cast the Original Zara Spook near a shore spot, and started to retrieve it with a series of walk-a-dog actions.  After two or three slow actions, it suddenly disappeared from the water surface with big splash. I could see everything from beginning to end, though it was still dark. It was a nice bass, and I was content just to be able to catch it with one of my favorite Zara Spooks.

You can see how steeply this bait sways back!

After it got light, I tried many kinds of lures but had no good results. I got some bites with a rubber frog (Mann's Popper), but I could not hook them up at all. Before going to home, I decided to try a large minnow lure, Whopper Stopper Hellcat, which I changed hooks of and put in my tackle box last night. I wanted to test topwater minnowing with it, and got an answer really quickly. On the second cast, I saw a fish rush straight at it but miss. Then I gave it a pause for several seconds and then twitched it a few times very softly. Right on cue, the fish made a blow-up again. It was a fattened fish with a potbelly, and was a good fighter.

This minnow lure has high buoyancy and shows attractive wiggling-darting actions when twitched, and pops to surface immediately. I became quite fond of it.

Today's tackle: ABU Ambassdeur 4500AL, Fenwick LGX -38C, Daiwa Astron ISO #4 (12lb?), Heddon Wounded Spook, Original Zara Spook, 210, Lucky 13, Pico Pop, Mann's Popper, Gilmore Jumper, Smithwick Devil's Horse F300, Whopper Stopper Hellcat, etc.
BF=15/23

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Different logo

I recently got another nice vintage rod. I bought it as I wanted its cork handle, but the rod blank is also nice, much nicer than I expected.

When I was checking my old rods, I found a difference in logos printed on Phillipson 3M rods. These Phillipson 3M rods (below) were manufactured in the early 1970s. The top and middle are marked 'Rod Blank'. The bottom one says 'Epoxite Blank'. I guess this difference derives from how they sold the rods (blanks). When they sold blanks for custom-building, they seemed to use a logo of 'Rod Blank', while when they finished rods by themselves for markets, they used logo mark of to show series name such as 'Master', 'Bass Tamer', 'Swamp Fox', or just 'Epoxite Blank'.

I hear their rods in 3M era are much more popular than older ones, but to be honest I prefer older Tobacco fiber ones.
 

Friday, September 11, 2015

After so long

I took a paid summer holiday today, and went fishing early in the morning. I left home at 04:20 and I started at 05:00. Daybreak is getting later and later, before I knew it. 


I started with black-colored lures. I first tested a Wounded Spook in XBW, and soon changed it to a Zara Spook in the same color. I got a nice hit with it, but couldn't hooked up the fish. When the sky brightened up for me enough to tie lines without a flashlight, I picked up a Sweet 16 from my tackle box. I cast it, paused it, and twitched it a few times, then the water suddenly showed a splendid blow-up. I expected a big fish, but soon I found it not so. I touched fish for the first time in two months. I said to my self, "Size doesn't matter."


I caught a few more with with the same lure and a Heddon Magnum Tiger, but all were small. This fish (below) rushed at my bait from the bottom just nearby myself, and I was very surprised.


I guess this fish was the biggest among what I caught today (with a Pico Pop). I cast it into a small spot of tree shades, and gave very slow actions steadily. It showed a good blow-up, too, and I enjoyed the fight with it.


All in all, a bad day fishing is much better than a good day of work. How much better, I caught some fish!

 
Today's tackle: ABU Ambassadeur 5500C (Black), Phillipson Regal Lancer RL64LS, Stren 14lb (Clear/Blue Fluorescent), Heddon Wounded Spook, 210, Original Zara Spook, Magnum Tiger, Chugger Spook, Eger Sweet 16, Smithwick Devil's Horse F300, Pico Pop, Bark Bassassin, etc.
BF=14/22