smirkplug

I love going to garage sales and finding old tackle, rods, reels, lures. I find alot of old 50-70's fiberglass rods that are rusted , corroded, and well worn, recently i found 4 pre Browning Silaflex rods with rotten varnish and paid only 2 dollars each, now they are restored and revarnished and im having a ball fooling around fishing with them . I also payed 5 bucks for 4 mitchell 300's and a dam quick, all in very good clean used condition, 20 bucks for a small near mint pezon and michell luxor reel, and 8 bucks each for 3 blue mitchell high speed 410, 401, and 401. Even more fun is catching alot of fish on old tackle. I really believe most of that old gear wants to go fishing again. Its always about the fun of it all !!

You can look in ebay 'advanced search' at the top of the page then look at prices the specific items sold for recently.

Hi guys, haven't felt like making plugs lately, i have way too many on hand that need to see the water. I am getting back into old beat up fiberglass garage sale rods and reels. I keep finding 6-10 foot rods that have missing guides, rust, corrosion, and chewed up handles. I have been buying them for 2-5 dollars each and cutting them down to 5-7 feet adding split handle cork grips and taping old mitchell 300's , dam quicks, and pezon +michel luxor reels, I wrap by hand, no machine, never used old chrome guides, and recycled cork, i found at a tackle swap meet , and make some great action , fun, easy, medium range casting spinning rods. I need any tips and tricks on varnishes, and finishes, counterbalancing weights, action, and especially hiding flaws. Please leave any tricks and tips. I have bad arthritus and want to keep things simple and cheap.

They did make a popper in Hawaii called a Pili popper that you had to work pretty fast to keep it from sinking but i've caught stripers , dorado, tuna, calico bass etc. They were kind of expensive and chipped easily but you could one as a guide.

I get it from scrap table legs, trash cans, garage sales, etc ! It would really be fun to see photos of the scrap we started with then the finished plugs. What do you guys think ?

I love those handles !!

This probably wont help you but i have 800 9/0 siwash black upen end salmon or shark hooks that weigh 2/10 of an ounce and are v.m.c, I have to start listing stuff in the classifieds soon.

I have dreams of fishing those waters they show fish being caught on those infomercial baits.

I love the big sluggos but have always had problems making long casts with 1-2 ounce leadheads and 12 inch commercial sluggos. They always tear off the hook when you really let them fly , so keep that in mind when trying to go too soft. If you get that part right please refer me to a place in can purchase some.

As a responsible gun owner (in California of all places) i just want to thank all who participate in this thread for all the insight and opinions. I see so much research and level headed views it really adds to restoring some faith in the Americans i i have always admired. Thanks Again !!! I do really sometimes fear that California is a different country !!

Keep this thread going, im sure we'll come up with a time and place.

I once hung about 5 newly resined plugs from the ceiling to drip out and dry . Then the phone rang and when i stood up to answer it 2 of the stuck to my head. I ended up trying to comb them out and just tearing clumps of hair out of my head !!

I usually leave the guts of a reel alone, but if i could find some gears to make them faster i would be all over them. A long time ago, 10 years+ a guy came in the tackle shop with some extra large extension handles that fit my Abu-Garcias and other bass reels. They only cost $5.00 wholesale and i wish now i could find 50 more of these. If anyone has any ideas about these please P.M. me.

How much swim do you want ? can you twitch it and get any movement ? Adding weight to the middle area should get you some movement. I also agree going to soft plastic or rubber. A bass will try to swallow it head first, if it feels the hard fins it will try to spit it immeadiatly, they are afraid of choking on it, also bluegills that get ambushed are usually stationary so a stop start with long pauses work well also.

I've had 6-7 Roberts wrap rods for over 5 years. The lack of line to rod rubs was my reason for having them built. ( They look cool too !) For me an advantage that hasn't been mentioned, that i've found is in casting, of all things ! I've found alot less backlash and alot smoother casts on my 8-9 foot saltwater jig sticks ! I probably loose a few yards of distance in my casts, but the turns in my guides seem to soften that jerky overrun you sometimes get with a heavy jig or plug especally when casting into the wind.