Shreaded beer can with the slingshot

I picked up a couple of beer cans off the side of the road by the house and decided to give them punishment for littering.  This is 15 minutes of shooting to shread  it to this condition with the Chief AJ Topshot slingshot.  The ammo was 5/16 inch ball bearings.  Distance was 30 feet into my little homemade trap and the cool part is all the ammo can be used again.  It's hard to believe shooting a slingshot is this much fun and so inexpensive.  For under 50 dollars you can shoot for a year provided you save the ball bearings in a trap.  Hopefully the National Slingshot Association can be reborn like in it's heyday of the 1950's.  Afterall it's green, cheap, and the ammo is reclaimed, what a deal!

Preparing to bowfish

Bow fishing something I've been talking about for some time.  Well bows are expensive and the Tigercat I brought home last summer apparently is not a bow that would do well banging around the kayak.  So I've looked in another direction, slingshots, very powerful adult style slingshots that have already proven taking big game and big fish.  I'll post shots of them soon, but first the trainer.  This one is a little Chief AJ redband slingshot and it is a blast to use.  He has a full website full of cool stuff.  The version I use for practice is his basic day to day shooter and so much fun to use it's scary.  The red bands are Trumark bands which are the best out there for getting the shooting eyes in shape.  I'm very surprized at the accuracy and power.  Right now with my little homemade tin can 30 foot range I can shread soda cans in half easily using 5/16 inch steel ball bearings.  The cool part is the bearings can be reclaimed and shot again and again.  This is fun, cheap, and almost silent, what a blast!  My final rigging will be one of my fishing rods attached to the slingshot for shooting fishing arrows, too cool.

My shipping department

Well today our VP of Logistics here at Jeff's Tackle Box was reviewing our packaging.  He claims we have to have boxes big enough for him to sleep in.  I keep telling him that he is bigger than our fishing rods and certainly our reels or flashlights.  But he keeps insisting since he wants to try each each size box before we stock it.  I think maybe he needs a promotion. 

Custom hand poured baits by Bill

A friend of mine is just starting making custom hand poured soft plastic baits.  Here brought me a couple of sample packs today and they look great.  Better yet they felt very soft and yet very tough.  I can't wait to get these on the end of a line off my Emmrods fishing from my Wavewalk 500.  In fact that little spinner rig I presented in my last post might also be another place for one of these plastics.  I've already test cast from my fishing rods and these baits throw well with just a 3/0 hook.  Hopefully this new project will go well for him.

A great little spinner

I know I've got the makers info around here someplace.  This little spinner is ideal for stashing away in a tackle pack for use with my favorite fishing pole.  A pouch with an Emmrod Packrod, a Qualia NLF30 and a few of these would catch about anything.  Much as the Redfish Magic spinner this little guy has a place in an anglers go to box.  Sure it's small but lots of fish feed on tiny stuff.  The plastic trailer is a 2 inch DOA shrimp so fish are fooled into thinking they got a easy shrimp snack right in front of their face.  Darn I wish I could find this fellows number.  Oh well I do have my exhibitor map from the show so finding him should not be too tough.

My favorite worklight, great for fishing too.

I've been asked for a few shots of my regular work light since so many folks have seen it.  It's an original version of the First Light Liberator.  I can still get these made for far less than the original 200 dollar price tag since the new models are 120 lumen as compared to this versions 80 lumen.  The light has staged power settings going 20, 40, 80 lumen and frankly as clean and well focused as this light is the darn thing is perfect for almost any handheld light needs.  I've carried this little beauty as my main work light for nearly 5 years now.  It uses 123A lithium cells either primary or rechargeable.  The light was designed as a weapons light and for that purpose it is excellent too.  Great product and made right here in the USA.

Secret little spinner used by Jeff McGovern

Yesterday I had the chance to try out the one of the little spinners bought at the Florida Sportsman's Show a couple of weeks back.  Very light and at first I wondered if the darn thing would cast very well.  The maker claimed it would since the blade was not metal and did not wind vane badly during the cast.  I tried one out in the demo pond at the event.  Sure enough even on my baitcaster the Emmrod Combat rod it worked fine.  I was using 16lb mono line on that rig and it proved no problem.  For spinning it was even better tossing the little spinner easily on 10lb superline, in my case Fireline.  I need to find this guys card among my bundle from the show.  This is a nice lure of snaggy oyster beds and in grass that should be a of great help catching numbers of fish.  For kayak fishing it would be nice to have a few of these handy in the vest or tackle box.

A short movie near 206 bridge today

The new topwater special performed like a champ.  Combined with a fishing reel like the Qualia NLF30 I had no trouble playing and landing fish today.  Of course my favorite soft plastic bait in saltwater the good old DOA shrimp came through like a champ.  That little secret lure I was working with was a jewel as well.  It combined a tiny DOA shrimp with a small spinner rig weighing in at just under 1/8 ounce.  The little bait cast surprisingly well and was great for working shallow areas around oyster bars.

Topwater Special 2011 from www.jeffstacklebox.com

Tomorrow I'll be taking this fishing rod out for a spin.  It's the 2011 version of the Topwater Special.  We have made it slightly shorter and of course added the .50 tip guide.  Handling is excellent and the fishability is superb.  Combined with a great fishing reel like the Qualia NLF 30 it is a wonderful piece of gear to put up against big fish.  Of course I'll be using my fishing kayak the W500 from Wavewalk.  I'll also be testing a new color DOA shrimp, more on that later and a super new spinner from a custom maker in Jacksonville FL.  A clue it's already tied on the line in the shot.

An F650 for fishing - WOW

This is the rig Skeet Reese uses for pro events.  Talk about a nice rig, an F650 and custom trailer, it's the fanciest rig I've seen for bass fishig.  Hmmm I wonder how it would work hauling fishing kayaks, you can carry a huge number of them for sure. 

Working hard at the BASS event

This was how I spent a portion of the day.   Observing the pro to be sure he followed the rules, there was no question in all three cases.  I kept wishing I had my fishing kayak and of course my favorite fishing rods.  There were so many times I wished I could have cast a line.

The big guys use push poles

You would think with 100lb plus trolling motors and even twin power poles at the stern. So why use a push pole,  easy, it's control.  Nothing else allows the angler to stop that fast and sure with minimum disturbance to the fish.  So it looks like for even the big boys those stake out poles and push poles we use are very important, just like us kayak anglers.  The angler by the way is Alton Jones, one of the best for over 20 years, he came in third.

The way the BASS pros land them

Professional anglers such as Bradley Roy need to get them onboard and in the livewell quickly.  Fish must come in alive and show up at the weight in for live release.  I think this would go quicker with my Emmrods since you could just lift them in without worry like longer more limber poles  Fishing rods like Emmrods are super tough and harder pulling than anything else out there.  Hmmm got to wonder how these guys would do fishing out of a well rigged fishing kayak.

Hold on to your seat!

One of the first things Bradley Roy said to me was " here are the two handles you hold onto".  Then he said, " I'll try not to scare you".  This was of course right after I found out how young he was and remembered that at 20 years old we are all indestructable.  WOW!!!!! the ride was soooooo cool.  This shot was taken zooming up a creek, Disney has got nothing on this kind of fun!  Hmmm maybe I need to add a motor to my fishing kayak.

My first day pro with BASS

Here is a shot of the pro I rode with the first day of the Citrus Slam BASS Elite Pro Series event in Palatka Florida.  What a wonderful young man, 20 years old and already at the top of the world in competitive bass fishing.  Who knows in 40 years we may be looking at him the same way we see Rick Clunn or Denny Brauer today.  The kid know knows to drive a boat, he gives Disney class excitement to the person in the the passenger seat.  A super day and loads of fun.  I just wish somehow my little fishing rods could be fitted into his arsenal.  For the sight fishing he was doing the Emmrod casting rig would have made it quicker and more accurate.  I need to get back out and do some bass fishing taking a break from the saltwater stuff I normally do.  Then when I get home they cleanup would be nothing compared to the work I do from a saltwater day.

B.A.S.S Marshal

Well here we go.  Today in a few hours I'll be sharing a bass boat right here on the Saint Johns River out of Palatka with Bradley Roy.  He was 2010 Bassmaster Rookie of the Year, the youngest they ever had a 19 years old.  All of the older timers are right here in town too from Rick Clunn to Kevin Van Dam.  Should be an interesting day,  Sure wish I could get someone to notice my little fishing rods, those Emmrods would cause quite  a stir wirh the big boys of B.A.S.S.

We had a nice show for Jeffs Tackle Box

The Florida Sportmans Show was a little light on attendence.  But there was great intrest in the fishing rods we carry and we had a heck of a good time.  The fishing reels we brought along got lots of looks, those Qualia products are the best reels I've used in either spincast or spinning and the price point is incredible.  I had plenty of questions about my choice of fishing kayak too.  Saturday we had the privilage of having Steve our camera guy and owner of West Park Productions in the booth with us.  We planned a few more video pieces for later this year.  Hopefully we might be able to pull some off as early as May.

Florida Sportsman Show and Jeffs Tackle Box featuring Emmrods

Here is a shot of our booth ready to go tomorrow at the Florida Sportsmans Show.  Should be fun and we hope lots of anglers will be there to take an Emmrod fishing rod home.  We are right across from a huge kayak fishing display, great placement for us.

So how many Emmrods fit in a boat

I shot this little piece last summer and forgot about it.  I remembered when someone asked about how many Emmrods you can carry compared to regular fishing rods.

Fishing show today with JeffsTackleBox and Emmrod

Kate and I did an outdoor show expo today showing our fishing rods and my all time favorite fishing kayak.  Loads on interest in both the Emmrods and the W500.  What caught the eye of a number of folks was the combat rod we are offering as a new item.  It casts very far and I think folks just were blown away by the distance from such a tiny rod.  We had lots of fun and the food was wonderful.  The main meal was pulled pork with baked potato, coleslaw, and for desert banana pudding, all of it deep south comfort food.  Of course to drink lemonade and sweet tea.  Here is a shot of our well visited little table.

My Michigan meetings wishing for my fishing rods

Up in Michigan this week at my other line of work in pest control consulting.  Funny how no matter where I end up talk turns to the universal language of fishing gear.  More than a couple of folks were asking about the Emmrod and my favortie fishing reels from Qualia.  This coming weekend we another casting demo and fishing booth at a Christain sportmans; outdoor event in Keystone, Florida.  We attended last year and had a ball, very nice folks and some real serious anglers in the bunch.   Looking out at that water from my room up here I sure wish it was warmer because I call hear those smallmouth, pike, walleye and musky calling my name.