Hope to recover

I have not had a chance to go fishing this month. Have not worked out hard, either.

I have had a hard time due to a bad ache in my upper jaw since the end of May. Finally, I had an oral surgical operation last Monday to remove a cyst. The doctor cut my upper gum, opened a part of the jawbone, removed the cyst, and stitched up the cut.

The next day, the right side of my face swelled up like a boxer who got plenty of punches, and I could not chew well. Then, I'm feeling better little by little, and now I can eat almost as usual.

I'll have the doctor remove the stitches next Tuesday, and I guess we take a wait-and-see approach for a while. Anyway, I hope to recover as soon as possible.

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I recently collected some Smithwich  Devil's Horse F300 lures. They're large, about 6 inches long, and much more difficult to find than F200 or F100. Like other lures, older ones (pre-Pradco) look fascinating.

The biggest difference between older and newer ones is the eye shadows. Those of newer ones are spray-painted to save costs or steps.

Nice lures I recently got

I happened to get two old nice Heddon baits at a low price in a row. One is a Magnum Tiger in TGG (Tiger Green) color. This color was specially ordered by Smith in the early 1980s. 

The other is a Dying Flatter in SJ/S (Smoky Joe Silver Flash) color. This color was also made for Japan market ordered by Smith. 

These nice lures may be still out there...

High then low water

Due to the last typhoon, the water level once rose up 1-2 m, and then went down. I saw a lot of underwater stems of vegetation hanging from the branches of terrestrial trees.

We have extremely hot days after the typhoon passed, and fish seemed too slow. I got two bites with a XBW Wounded Spook and Smithwick Devil's Horse (F300), but could not hook them up. Another bad thing I suffered was the genuine prop of my old Wounded Spook was broken while I was fishing. The bait suddenly showed odd actions as I twitched, and I found a part of prop wings had gone. I have to replace it as soon as possible (I believe I have some spares).

In the end, I got skunked. Weather forecasts say that we'll keep having the hottest days through the year from now, so I'm afraid I can't go fishing for a while...

Today's tackle: ABU Ambassadeur 5500C (Black), Phillipson Regal Lancer RL64LS, Stren 14lb (Clear/Blue Fluorescent), Heddon Wounded Spook, 210, Smithwick Devil's Horse F300, Pico Slasher, Eger Sweet 16, etc.

BF=13/21

Various brands

Marshall Field & Company (IL)

 Gart Bros. Sporting Goods Company (CO)

Cisco Kid Tackle (IL)

Johnson (MN?)

These rods of mine were manufactured with blanks supplied by the same company, Phillipson Rod Co., in CO.

(The lure, Sweet 16, has nothing to do with this topic.)

Pico Slasher

I was hoping to have some more Pico Slashers for my summer bass fishing. Thanks to one of my good friends in the US I recently could get these and decided to use two of the for starters. I've cleaned the body, changed hooks (also changed the size of the belly ones), tuned the props, and finished bathtub test. I'm looking forward to using them.

I'm also trying to refinish three of my old rods. I've already winded threads and finished first varnish coats with urethane. These are old rods, so I don't like to make them sparking clean. I'll varnish them several more times, but would like to quit just less than recent epoxy-resin finished rods.

Hard time

I now have a hard time with my tooth pain (radicular cyst). I went to the dentist four times during the past week to remove the pain, and will go to an oral surgery next Friday. What's worse, a slow typhoon hit our area and we had much rain here. I'm afraid I can't go fishing this weekend (plus a holiday on Monday).

I've just repaired my Boy Howdy lures and getting my Cotton Cordell lures straight in stock trays. I put some silver (silver foil like) paint on the bodies. These are not beautifully finished, but I think it's OK. I always give them fast dog-walk actions, so I presume fish won't find out the poor paints. 

  
Cotton Cordell has released so many attractive lures. I like Red Fin, Chop Stick, Crazy Shad, and others as well as Boy Howdy. 

I'd like to fish with these baits under unusual bad condition after the typhoon. The Red fins have a prop on the tail, which rotate extremely smoothly. 

Crazy Shad is a famous prop bait, but the body shape is special (body side are flattened). I think it can make fish strike on reflex with a jerking action.
 

When I checked my Cordell lures, I also found a box that I had not opened for about 20 years. It is not a box for Cordell baits, but full of Zetabait Swamp Rats. As I fish in weedy ponds very often this fishing season, I'd like to cast them in my next fishing.

Boy Howdy

If you fish in a broad area in clear lakes, what I strongly recommend is Cotton Cordell's Boy Howdy. There are several variations in this lure, but my favorite is the stick bait type (w/o props) in chrome-black color.

These (pictured above) are old ones made in the 1970-1980s. I caught not less than 100 fish with the bottom chrome-black one.

In general, double-prop ones seem to be much more popular than stick ones (especially in the US). You see most of Boy Howdy lures they have sold since the 1990s are with props, and stick bait ones are very difficult to find. I tune the prop ones by myself, removing  the small props on each end and attach a small round lead in the tail. 

Another downside of these newer products are the paint. The chrome paints are easily rubbed raw by hooks, so I have to have many duplicates.

Several years ago, Pradco suddenly made stick ones in the US. I, of course, happily bought a bunch. As I was afraid, these are already discontinued and all I find in the shops are regular prop ones. If I learn from market, I think I should try a prop one for fishing for a change...