Dutch

Nice outing. I assume that Ned was the way you were fishing.

I can't get them to hit a spinner bait in colder than 50° water.

I do it from size 5/0 on a 1 oz bass jig down to a #4 crappie hook on a 1/16 oz head.

So Son's has finally muddied up. I was hoping it wouldn't.

That guy has found components way cheaper than I did. It is pretty straight forward and simple. The only thing I'd recommend is using 3 or 4" PVC if you are doing bass size jigs. The 2" would work well for crappie and white bass size jigs but a 1/2 oz on a 4/0 hook would be a challenge in a 2" cup.

Maybe that is a pond difference wrench but that has been my experience on Bull, Table Rock, Stockton and Pomme de Terre for the last 30+ years.

DADAKOTA my old oven has to be set above 400° to get the 350° curing temp recommended. Each of these cheap ovens vary so you will have to experiment. Below is a fluid bed tutorial that I put on another forum several years ago. I hope it helps. A fluid bed allows one to paint baits a lot easier than dipping them into a 2 oz. jar. The lower chamber is filled with air and the air passes through the filter in the bottom of the paint chamber causing the paint to suspend and be lighter. Just a quick swish of a hot bait and it is completely covered with paint. It is a lot more consistent in application than the dip in the jar method because the paint doesn’t pack as long as the compressor is running.MATERIALS FOR A 3” FLUID BEDLEXAN for the basePVC coupler for the air chamber3” schedule 40 PVC I used the stuff with the foam center to make cutting with a hacksaw easier.3” PVC lids to cover then new paint containersNEEDLE VALVE with an insert and sleveCLEAR VINYL TUBINGFILTER MEDIA I have used brown paper grocery bags, vacuum cleaner filters and coffee filters. Paint varies by company and color so one media may not work for all colors.AQUARIUM AIR PUMP...MAKING THE AIR CHAMBERFirst you have to drill a hole in the bottom 1/2 of the coupler the size of the threaded part of the needle valve. Mine is 3/8”. Carefully thread the needle valve into the hole. Place the coupler on the lexan base and identify its location. I used a felt tip marker on the inside and outside of the coupler. Take your adhesive material (I used silicone from Wal-Mart) and put it on the lexan where the coupler will be. Put the coupler on the sealant and press it down. Add some weight to the top and go away for at least 24 hours....MAKING THE PAINT CHAMBERSTake your pvc and cut it into 4” sections. Then make sure one end has a flat surface. I rubbed mine on sand paper laid on the work bench. Clean it up and adhere your filter to that end. (I put it on a filter, drew around the inside and the outside of the pvc with a felt tip marker, put silicone in the marked area and pressed the pvc down, then put a couple of books on top to hold it down.) Go away for at least 24 hours. Tomorrow take an exacto knife and trim the filter to fit the pvc....ASSEMBLYOnce you have the base chamber made and some cups made with filters, you are ready to put it all together. Put one end of your tubing on the pump and the other end on the valve. Make sure both are secure. Put a paint chamber in the top of the air chamber and put about 2” of powder paint inside it. Screw the valve closed and plug in the pump. Slowly turn on the valve. If you don’t see the paint raise then gently stir the paint. Air will lift the paint and you may see some paint volcanoes. If you do, lower the air pressure. You are ready to paint. If you let humidity get in the paint it will be more difficult to get it to rise so it is a good idea to put it back in the original container and seal it until the next use.

Hope you find something Ham. Watching Stockton rise has pretty much taken my few spring white bass spots out of action. I am a low water spring and high water fall enthusiast and my spots from last spring are now probably out of the question as the water has come up 5' in 5 days. It was already 2' higher than I wanted. By the time I can cast there is no telling what it will be. Good luck on Tuesday.

If you hold the hook eye with your hemos you can keep the paint from ever getting into the eye, thus nothing to clean out.

You are getting the jig too hot and getting too much paint on it. Try heating it less, just enough to get the paint to stick and be a dull powdery look. You might also adjust your oven and baking time, but I'm sure with less paint on the jig your problem will go away. It is all practice practice practice adjusting as you go until you get it right.

We drove around for a while. Sac bank full running mud. Turn back over bank full running mud. Son's creek at H bridge looked good. Mud coming down Sac. Mile long bridge water color good. At the dam lots of moss on the rip rap but clear water. 6-8 rigs at Rouark and Hartley. Saw 6 boats on points near the dam. I'm wishing I were with them.

Just checked again and she has come up 3' in the last 24 hours. I think I'll drive down there and have a look around.

Use your torch to melt the painted lead off the hooks. Keep the paint out of your lead pot.

Dan the only intel I can give is looked at USGS water just now and Stockton has come up 2' in the last 24 hours. She may be a bit muddy up river. https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?cb_62614=on&format=html&site_no=06918990&period=&begin_date=2018-02-10&end_date=2018-02-24

Yep that pump was the expensive part ($9) at Wally World. The second most expensive was the $3 flow control valve.

I have been painting with powder paint for over 20 years and have gone through lots of learning curves. I've heated with candles, torches, cigarette lighters, toaster ovens and heat guns. Dipping into bottles is the hardest way to paint as the paint packs after a few dips and has to be stirred or shaken again. A fluid bed is the way to paint if you do very many and want consistent results. The fluid bed has air flowing through the paint which keeps it floating in the cup and just a swish of the jig covers the head completely. When I first decided to get a fluid bed they were pretty new on the scene and were selling for around $400. I decided to make my own. So a trip to Lowe's and Wal Mart spending only $30 I made one with 12 cups. If you want to keep the drip off you heads, only heat them enough to get a very light dull (not shiny) finish on them. Then you can bake them and get good results. If you hold onto the hook eye you can paint without getting paint in the eye. It is important to have a steady low heat to get the jigs warm instead of smokin' hot before you paint them. I have been doing this with a heat gun for several years. Toaster ovens are notorious for having varying heat. Just because it has a knob with numbers doesn't mean you can trust it. The one I have been using for the last 15 years cost $2 in a garage sale. Testing time and settings has gotten me to a place where I can cure them for 20 minutes and have very good hard jig heads. If there is any way I can help you out please feel free to send me a pm or comment on this thread.

I have a bunch of virgin A rigs that need to go swimming. I'll be checking north myself as soon as I get the OK from the Dr.'s office.

Ham in days gone by we used to catch a lot of them in Feb. in upper BS from Snap Hollow to the Maiden Hole. But I haven't been down there for a few years.

Why would this be bad news? I have one unit that has no 2d sonar. It is strictly used for mapping.

I wonder if the are going to replenish the brush piles or add new ones?

When I first got into FnF I ordered some samples and a kit from Dale Hollow tackle. I'm not sure but I think Punisher was developed by them. The longest rod I could buy at the time was an 8.5' 2 piece from BPS. I have some of them gathering dust in the rod closet in the garage. I use them on occasion in the hot summer for long poling but haven't done FnF in a very long time.

I had a nice icey walk down the drive (in cleats) looking for the newspaper. It's not there yet. You know it is bad when they can't deliver the newspaper.

Nice looking jig there jd. I got into that a while back. A bud and I fished them all over this area. We were trying to catch smallies like the big boys do in TN. We caught a ton of crappie on it some green fish carp cats drum whites but not one MO or AR brown fish. The jigs are a lot of fun to make. I just can't catch smallies on them. Good luck to you in your quest.

Hitch is sold. Cover still available price dropped to $300. I had this cover on a 2013 Chevy HD 2500 6 1/2' bed crew cab.

wrench might be able to guide you through the process. If you have to have it done you might call Bill Cooper at Son Sac Marine north of Greenfield. He has done work for me on different occasions. He is reasonable and has done good work for me.