Jigfishn10

X2 with @bulldog1935 post. I do it the same way.

I know this is more of a crankbait type type thread, but this year the bucktail jig has been my top producer.

I was out in the Breckenridge CO area, Lake Dillon to be exact, about 15 plus years or so ago and that was 10,000 feet above sea level. Went twice actually. Only way to describe it is it's like taking your first dip of tobacco or drag of cigarette. Light headedness (sp) and you get winded easily. From what I understand the altitude has something to do with you white blood cells. That's what I heard anyway. The recommendation was to drink plenty of water as well, those regions are pretty dry climates and between dehydration and altitude you can easily pass out.

If I remember correctly, you're about my age when we started in construction. I'll bet at least 90% of the tradesmen on the job smoked and back then, smoking on the job was very much the norm. No getting off the ladder/baker staging/scissor lift to go outside for a smoke. Some of those guys chained smoked from the minute they got on the job to the minute the took a bite of their sandwich. Again from the minute they finish their sandwich to the time they got home. The jobsite looked like 1 big ashtray at the end of the day. Amazing we didn't have more fires. Smokes are $12/pack here.

Sorry bud, I wasn't sure if I should have mentioned you name in the post, didn't know if it was the right thing to do or how you'd feel about it...figured I'd go the cryptic route. @Bubba 460...Thank you for your service.

It is funny that I've never heard of Bowfin here and I've been fishing in MA since 1997. Crazy isn't it!? I'm like 20 min from the Taunton River and have never fished it...LOL Thanks for the info Nelson!

Please don't start digging a rabbit hole for me!!! BTW: I think that site got hacked...I'm getting some love notes from my security software when I try to log in. Be careful if you try to go over there

We won’t. He’s a Yankee now.

@fishballer06 and @Krux5506 Thank you for your advice and insights. I’m very appreciative. This should be fun to do and to be honest, I’m looking forward to fishing them and hopefully catching something. ? Glad to see guys helping each other out in this forum.

This sounds like a place in this thread where I say good bye. J, always a pleasure to hear the other point of view. All good mi amigos!

Beautiful sword fish! That must have been some fight. Love this pic. The 2 guys on the end are standing there with what appears to be 36" plus blackfin tuna...that's certainly nothing to sneeze at. "Yeah, my buddy got this huge swordfish, all I got was a dink blackfin." ?

Prior to the above quote I said they were amazing to watch. When I started out in my field I swung a hammer I was considered fast. I was actually way slower than these guys who had way more experience than I did at the time. I admired these guys. They got me into this field and encouraged me to stay with it. I'm not complaining, I carved out a pretty good career. I would love to get a young guy to teach and help grow just like the guys who helped me. I have no problem with that. Unfortunately, what we do is hard physical labor that takes a toll on your body. I see guys my age with bad knees, backs, hips etc. We have a long standing member on this site who was was forced to get out of the field because of shoulder health issues so I don't blame those who don't want to get into the trades. J, I respect the fact that your sticking up for the youth. My daughter is twenty and is starting to make her way in this world and I can only help her when she seeks my help or advice. I'm a proud dad and have no problems bragging about it. Keep on keeping on brother.

Not sure where this is coming from J, I really don't see people complaining about the kids in this thread. Honestly, it's refreshing to hear that you've had a very positive experience with kids coming out of school are really contributing. I can also relate to the entitlement statement you made. I see it all the time. Anyway, I respect your position. EDIT: Never mind, I did see 1 post that doesn't support my claims. Feel free to delete

True...There's a few things that I see that contributes to it. Young tradesmen. Not many are getting into the trades any more. Seems like back in the 80's or so, you were told to go to school and prepare for college. So we started to lose people then. Once we did get people in the trades, our construction schedules got crazier with tighter deadlines and we didn't teach the younger guys properly because we didn't have time...not always the case, but there is some validity to it. Then the work ethic just wasn't there and it's hard to keep someone on a job if they don't have a sense of urgency. It's too bad to. If you're not all for college life or desk life after your school years are done, you can make a decent living in the trades. May not strike it rich, but you'll do fine.

Lot of truth to that The roofers back then were amazing to watch. Hand full of roofing nails, flip a nail so that it's between your index and middle finger, one tap of the hammer to set the nail, one hard blow to set the nail into the roofing shingle. At the same time the final blow is made the hand holding the roofing nails was ready with a nail between their index and middle fingers. Some of those guys were about as quick as a nail gun.

Man, my favorite way to fish. Rear weighted always worked better for me. I start of with a rather quick, skipping retrieve to see the mood of the fish. If no response then always a pause. Pause Retrieve: Cast, pause until all the rings in the water dissipate. Walk a few feet, pause...How long of a pause will vary. Might be for 1-2 seconds or it could be as long as the rings of water dissipate. Quick retrieve: Cast, pause until all the rings in the water dissipate. Walk it fast - slow - moderate. Which ever one works - fast or slow or moderate, then I stick to that retrieve. The fish just told you what they like.

Isn't it just part of fishing? There's no way to hide from it. You just hope when they do come. They fish They come up with empty fish - Hopefully. They move on.

Thanks. I've known you for 10 plus years and you always gave great advice and encouragement to all you've helped. To your point about practice? So true, you got to be willing to fail sometime before you succeed. Have a great day.

It's crazy the amount of rain we've been getting!? I'll be vacationing next week in Southern Maine and the forecast actually looks decent. Good luck mi amigo.

@cadman thanks for the quick response. These jigs are going in the ocean between a contour line of 60' and 90' so your advice of not overthinking it is perfect. Because I'm fishing so deep, I figured these jigs would be perfect to practice on. My concern with baking has much to do about not curing enough, but you say they can go back in which is perfect. I honestly thought I had one shot at it. Great tip on oven temp, that's another important tip I need to put on my list of "checks". Finally, I can't give reaction "likes" today. There's a quota of how many you can give. I'll revisit this thread to make sure I get you and @Jig Man. LOL Thanks again.

Thank you for all that information @cadman, very kind of you. Hope you don't mind I copied and pasted to a word doc? If I may ask 1 other question. I'm hearing/reading mixed info on baking. Would 325* for 20 min work?

Sorry, it all I can think of…?

You can always Texas Rig your tube. @Glenn just recently posted a vid on “stupid” rigging a tube. That maybe something to check out. Finally, I guess, reduce weight if you think you’re hanging up too much. You want to hit bottom occasionally, you don’t want to dredge a new channel. Hope that helps

I’m going with boxcars…?

The only time I had luck on orange was either topwater in dark/dingy water or when the water was stained brownish orange after a heavy rain/highland runoff. Other than JJ, I have no explanation.