solitary lp
I might be interested in some molds. Send me a pm if you get him to budge on some.

 
 He probably has a little over 100 hand held ones that 99% people use. Has around 700 or so of these kind,  a couple machines that hook up to a air compressor and elec. that spin 'em for ya. Has a press or 2 that he can make any creation he can come up with. He is bringing me a load ov slate flagstone to camp later today so I'll ask but he is a hoarder.
 
https://www.tekcast.com/F...ufacturing-_c_120.html   
 
 
 
 
 
      Stuff like this very, very heavy and not the average for a do-it-your-selfer that wants 50 Erie Deeries or a coffee can ov split shot. He don't even use this stuff, just takes up room.                                                                     More than likely all his crap will still be in storage 'till he is gone. Literally has 1,000's upon 1,000's ov jigs and well over a few million top brand hooks, close to a ton of powder paint, 5 gallon buckets of blades, file cabinets loaded with split rings, eyes, clips, rattles, clevis, swivels ect.. few hundred rods / reels, totes after totes of who knows what kind of tackle, plastics galore and the lures are way out of control.  Told him to unload it and retire but he says no way he needs it, SMH. Wife wonders why my hair is Snow White!!
 
crappy
 
PS, filled the Durango with more of his tackle from home, couldn't see out back window but he will have to find a place for it today. 

I have been fishing pool 4 for the last two weekends early in the morning. The Walleye and Sauger bite has been pretty impressive.

Arthur is hitting summer patterns which are really challenging to have a good day. There are definitely those that know the summer time riddle, but it isn’t an easy one. Especially without electronics and knowing exactly what to look for. The lake seems to have gotten more pressure the past year and probably going to take a few years to recover. Night bite seems to be done at least beyond an hour or two window that isn’t very productive. Unless they turn back on at 3-4AM, I wouldn’t know.

I used a soft cooler bag with ice packs when at the beach a few trips this past year and worked great. I plan on using on my kayak in a few weeks. A few frozen water bottles for ice. Get some 2 gallon zip bags to put fish in to keep the bag clean of fish slime. I only kept fish in for maybe 2-3 hours before going back to where I was staying. Not exactly sure how long it would last. If you get a lunker eye, it may not fit either, but have put 20” Spanish mackerel in with no issue.

MyWar
I’m getting a late start this year but I’ve been chasing smallmouth on the yough the past couple weeks. I’ve mainly been going on weekdays because the river is a zoo on the weekends.

I’ve been afraid to try Arthur but I might hit wilhelm soon. Looking to put some fish in the cooler and it’s too hard to do that on a kayak. It’s too bad though, I’ve been getting some nice eating sized walleye mixed in with the smallmouth from the yough.

Suppose you’ve lost your woolly bugger jigs by now.

Irisheyeball

MyWar
I’m getting a late start this year but I’ve been chasing smallmouth on the yough the past couple weeks. I’ve mainly been going on weekdays because the river is a zoo on the weekends.

I’ve been afraid to try Arthur but I might hit wilhelm soon. Looking to put some fish in the cooler and it’s too hard to do that on a kayak. It’s too bad though, I’ve been getting some nice eating sized walleye mixed in with the smallmouth from the yough.

Suppose you’ve lost your woolly bugger jigs by now.

Ya know I had some of the woolly bugger jigs and bead belly shiners with me last time I went out. I was too afraid to throw the jigs because I was losing too much tackle in the rocks and I didn’t want to lose it on a first cast.

Do you ever tip the jigs or the flies with a minnow or maggot or anything like that?

These flies all look FANTASTIC by the way. You did an absolutely gorgeous job with these things. I thought the little jointed bugs were especially impressive. Thank you so much. They are gonna get some love the next time I go out (maybe Wednesday morning).

Got a few on flatline plugs in 22-24FOW. Did best in 41-46FOW. Dipsey n meat. Black n Purple beads with a black Willow Leaf took almost all of em out there. We got off just in the nick-o-time today. As I put the straps on, it let loose. Poured the whole way back to 79@Mkean. It was flat flat and hot AF, until those clouds moved in. Looks to be 1 to 3s for the next few days so I'm gonna havta bide my time. Good luck if yer going out. 👍

pensfan1
Oh ya almost forgot. Boated some "World Class" sheepies. I swear that one was crowding 20lbs. Ugh do they pull. They chased us out of the inclose fishing after a while. Thankfully we got away from them out in those 40s...

Obviously not what you are after, but sounds like fun.  I caught a hog in the Allegheny before that was in that range.  Rarely did we get them over 4-5lb.  This one was on steroids.  Right below Lock 3 during one of the shad blooms where bait was everywhere.  He must have been one of the drum that looked forward to that time of year.  He was a blast on light gear.  For being a "trash" fish, still one of my more memorable catches at Lock 3, fishing there pretty hard for 4-5 years.
 

DeadGator401
I go up, go through the whole putting the boat in and just hear in the back of my head "Why are you even doing this? You'll catch a single fish, maybe?"

Ha, ha.  I have had that same exact thought any time that I fish Arthur in the summer.  I do have a few dog days of summer spots that will provide small fish that I often hit up to save a trip.  With how bad this past spring was for me, I am not even confident those dog day saving spots will be holding much.  Last fall wasn't much to write home about either.  Hopefully people get back to their regular hobbies and things rebound. 

I think guys should start eating them, the bigger the better. 🤔 I hear they make a fantastic stew😄.

Seriously though, FL2 does have a point. I've never caught an AmberJack, but they do call them reef donkeys. I'd suspect a big sheepie pulls just as hard. They fights to almost exhaustion and are pretty hardy to be released after the battle. I took a Greenhorn yesterday. Guy I've know since we were kids. Not the best fisherman, but a great dude nonetheless. I weasled him into reeling in the first few, after that he wanted no parts of it.

Got into the smallies today near Van Meter before the rain hit. Snagged a couple on the Irisheyeball woolly bugger special. It’s so goddamm much fun wet wading for these things on a 90 degree summer day.

I’ve heard drum referred to as “poor mans lobster”. I’d bet it’s not too bad breaded and deep fried.

https://www.louisianasportsman.com/fishing/freshwater-fishing/if-you-knew-the-gou-as-i-do/

MyWar
Got into the smallies today near Van Meter before the rain hit. Snagged a couple on the Irisheyeball woolly bugger special. It’s so goddamm much fun wet wading for these things on a 90 degree summer day. R

I’ve heard drum referred to as “poor mans lobster”. I’d bet it’s not too bad breaded and deep fried.

I feel like a proud Grandpa! First use of the Hawken Aerojig jig head as sold on this site. They are really sweet. I plan to tie up a bunch of smaller ones for steelhead/float fishing.

That float looks way fancy. Probably overkill. The crank bait thing….totally whack. I would have to put my COVID mask back on if I was doing that…but that’s just me. Based on my own experience fishing flies on spinning gear for years, I would suggest a few basics: light tackle, 8ft or longer rod with slower action. Doesn’t have to be a noodle, just not stiff. 6lb MONO or lighter, cheap foam slotted floats so you can adjust your leader length, Blackbird shot..it’s dark and soft and most importantly it’s completely round meaning it doesn’t tumble and ruin the natural action, and, very importantly, loop knots. The nymphs and white death can be fished under a float, on a dead drift, with the smallest amount of weight necessary, pretty much like a jig. The white death will draw strikes on the “swing” too. It’s very versatile. The bead belly presentation should be as horizontal as possible and with no slack in the line. Definitely let it hang in the current at the end of the drift. Mess with the shot and you’ll figure it out. Put it in some calm water at your feet and see what it takes for the fly to be seductively darting from side to side. You’ll know it when you see it.

Irisheyeball
That float looks way fancy. Probably overkill. The crank bait thing….totally whack.

Lol ok. Crank bait thing is off the table.

I use palomar knots for almost everything. Sounds like I need to work on my loop knots.

Pork,
read that same article before I saw you post it.  
I imagine prepared on the half shell, like they do redfish, would be pretty tasty grilled up.  Instead of the liquid smoke the guy mentions in the article, I'd go with some hickory chips in the smoking tin if you are using a propane grill. I don't grill anything anymore without adding those in there....not overpowering but definitely gives everything a nice hint of smoke..even the quicker cooked steaks and pork chops.  
 
I guess sheepshead are too fatty to bread and fry....maybe an oven bake or no flip bake on the grill with a bread crumb/fresh grated parm/fresh dill topping would be good? 
I may just give it a whirl one of these days and report back.  I ain't skeered. 

eyesandgillz
I may just give it a whirl one of these days and report back.  I ain't skeered. 

To be honest, if I caught in a clean body of water, I would give it a try.  At least that is my excuse for not eating...  I looked past channel cats for 40 years.  I just started eating them after ZeliSam convinced me.  I can't say that I keep every cat now, but they are pretty dang good fried up and much easier to clean one with the same meat as 7-8 crappie.  Honestly, I like the meat better too...
 
Freshwater drum look very close to a black drum.  I have read conflicting opinions on black drum being horrible/great eating.  I have eaten a few and found them to be great fried (I haven't eaten any other way).  I would bet they are very similar.  Just get the red meat out like any fish.  Red drum, spotted seatrout, croaker and whiting are all in the same family and all make their way in my cooler if legal...  They are all a bit different tasting, but I am not sure if I had a blind taste test of all fried up, I'd be able to tell them apart.  Obviously, I would pick redfish all day to catch.
 
I just wasted a 1/2 hour at lunch spraying weeds with this stupid pop up shower coming through!  Hopefully just enough to wash it into the roots???  Work had me away all week during the oven at the beginning of the week which I am guessing would have fried the weeds if able to treat them then.  Oh well.