mark poulson

Here's a dumb question, but KcDano's post made me think of it, and I can't stop. Oh, woe!! ) I've used compressors for years, and drained the water from them periodically. I've also used water separaters for years on my shop compressor. But there's never been water in my water separaters, including the one for my air brush. Am I do something wrong, like, maybe, I don't have it "turned on" or some other stupid, obvious thing? I don't have any trouble with my painting, but now I'm going out in the rain to check both compressors' water separaters. Again.

I have one of those deeply embedded/could have dreamed it memories of a spray can of inert gas that was available for painters to displace the air in a paint can before closing it. Sounds like the bag idea would be perfect, if it would hold up, and weren't too expensive. Of course, the empty wine bottles, a chore to be sure, solves all problems.

100 degrees! Man, I'd hate to have to touch that metal framing square you have tucked up against the metal door. Your shop looks perfect for you, and that's all a shop should be. My daughter reclaimed her hair dryer, so I had to break down and buy one. Between that and sparklie nail polish, my neighbors are starting to wonder about me. And when I hold my hemostat in my hand while painting, I get a really jazzy thumb nail. It's not so bad with pearl white or silver, but fuschia pink and chartreuse really gives folks something to talk about!

Here's the fish I caught on it. Man, I look tired. I know I slept well that night!

I posted the trout lure in the gallery. Try there.

Geez, my hands hurt just reading about snow! 8lb fish are great where ever you fish, east or west. The guys who catch big fish out here, I'm talking teens, may go a month without a bite, throwing big swimbaits, depending on the season. For guys like me, when the conditions are right (rainy and windy) our odds go up, and so we throw the swimbait. But the dedicated big bass fishermen out here throw big all year, from hot to cold, and from crystal clear to chocolate. They are dedicated, and that's why they catch the monsters they do. There's a video out, "Big Bait Posse", that the big fish guys from Casitas put together. If you want to see some nice fish caught, take a peek at it. I think it's on sale online at Basstackledepot.com.

Here's my drying wheel. I finally figured out how to post pictures. Duh!

Pete, You're way too neat for me! )

The cheapest motor I saw on Jann's rod building site was way over $10. Am I looking in the wrong place?

Those are some cool looking lures! I bet they'd be dynamite on stripers.

A good rule of thumb is if the motor is too hot to hold, it's having a problem. Hot motors melt the insulation on their windings, and short out. The windings used to be coated in varnish. I'm sure they have some high tech coating now, but varnish worked well for a long time. And overheating melted the varnish and made the winding short. I don't know how these newer motors, like for microwaves, are made, but if it gets too hot to hold, you can bet it's in trouble.

In my large mouth bass fishing I've found that these two basic lure attributes, action and color, are important at different times and in different circumstances. Action is key on reaction baits, lures that move quickly and elicit an instinctive reflex strike. A lure going by so quickly that the bass either grabs it or misses out. Fat bass grab it, skinny bass don't and starve. Color is critical in slower moving baits, which are typically fished deeper, and trick bass into thinking they are food items. At that point, an erratic movement can trigger a reflex strike, because the bass thinks the prey is escaping. Aggressive bass will nail a fast moving lure. I've found it has more to do with the season than the individual fish. Fish in a cold front or high pressure situation, especially in clear water, will follow a slow moving lure, but won't strike unless the color is right. That's why, out here in SoCal, we fish drop shot and split shot and light Carolina rigs with weightless plastics when it's tough. But in late winter, spring, and summer, we can throw chatterbaits with the best of the "good old boys" from the southeast, and hammer the agressive, high metabolism bass. Action in a soft plastic, if it's subtle, like the Basstrix paddletail or the fluke, can combine the two, but, even then, you may get bit for different reasons during different seasons on the same bait.

Here's my bass version. They're both 7", plus another 2" for the triple trout tail. They're floaters, and don't roll, even if I burn them. Beginner's luck. Man, it's great to have a kid at home who knows how to do this stuff! I'm never letting her leave!

Oops. I'll try again. My daughter is now here to help me.

Well, I finally got a picture of my lure. I had to recoat it. My brilliant idea of coating the joint faces with 5 minute, and then putting the lure together and coating the rest, wasn't so brilliant. The 5 minute started peeling, so I pulled it off, repainted the joints with pearl silver, and recoated the whole thing with Envirotex, using the separated joint technique I saw here last week. It worked like a charm. Anyway, here's my weapon. I am still grinning like a newlywed. C:Documents and SettingsMarkLocal SettingsTemporary Internet FilesContent.IE5OPHA6TRW

FishThanks, No offense taken. Sorry about your identity theft deal. That stinks. I was thinking that if I were to try to bend those heavy gauge hooks I would have to use either a vise or visegrips. How do you do it?

Jed, Those conditions are rare. I don't like cold weather fishing. Last year, we launched our Feb. club tourney in 19 degree weather, and I wound up with frost bite on two fingers. Man, they hurt when it gets cold now, so I try to avoid cold like the plague. But I had made a commitment to help, so I was there. And since I was there, I figured I might as well fish. Sick, I know. )

As a Jewish carpenter, I have a confession to make. I can only walk on water that's below 32 degrees. )

I can see that for trolling lures Ting the hooks makes sense. I've never trolled for bass or stripers, so it never occured to me. I am now more edumacated. Thanks. I stand corrected. I use 3/0 hooks on my swimbaits. I've never tried bending them. In fact, I use Owner 2X trebles so the bass, and especially the stripers, can't bend them. The Owner hooks are short shank, so I can fit three on a 6" glider without them fouling, and they're sticky sharp. But they do tend to stick in the wood bait sometimes if it lands wrong on a cast. Maybe Ting them would prevent this. I always put extra epoxy on the hook swing faces to fight hook rash. Do you ever bend hooks that big?

Nathan, What a kick! The rain was driving, and the wind was howling, but I yelled "Yes" so loud, two guys in a Ranger stopped to check out my fish. I was grinning from ear to ear. I was working the AC Castaic tournment that Sunday for Mike Iljin as his weighmaster, and he posted that I caught a fish on my own hand carved swimbait on WesternBass.com's southern forum. Now I've got all my "friends" calling me to get one! Man, it's he!! to be popular. LOL