C. Boyd Pfeiffer

Added Attractions

outdoorlife-editor — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 12:26:35 -0400

The weather was cold and miserable, aggravated by the fact that the water was cold and the
fishing was miserable. We weren't catching any bass and consequently we weren't having any fun, or at least not much. That changed when we attached curlytail soft-plastic trailers to the
weedless spoons that we were slowly retrieving through the deep grass. The trailers added enough wiggle and sizzle to the lures to make the bass aggressive, even in the chilly water of spring.

Bad weather and slow fishing are just two of the reasons to add trailers to lures of all types. Depending on the type you choose, trailers almost always have a positive effect on results. They can make a small lure appear larger and more attractive to big fish, they can provide a complementary or contrasting color to a lure and, when a scented trailer is used, they can double their appeal. Because trailers come in many sizes and shapes, they can be teamed with all kinds of lures to attract anything from panfish to giant muskies.
A trailer can be as simple as the end of a soft-plastic lure pinched off and pressed into service, or one designed for a specific job. Beyond soft-plastic varieties, there are also pork chunks and strips; skirts of rubber, silicone and other materials; strips of chamois from auto polishing rags; spinner blade trailers; and treble hooks dressed with feathers, fur or synthetics.

Bringing Up the Rear

It's easy to add trailers to most single-hook lures such as hair and skirt jigs, weedless spoons, spinnerbaits, and buzzbaits. You can also add a soft-plastic trailer to the rear treble hook of some topwaters and most crankbaits.

The correct choice of trailer depends upon the lure and how you're fishing it. For example, for working a spinnerbait with a steady retrieve, the best choice is a short soft-plastic trailer with a curved tail that undulates to suggest a live minnow. For an alternative retrieve such as twitching the spinnerbait slowly along the bottom with variable speed, a
double or split-tail trailer is a better choice-it produces movement even at rest and suggests a crayfish with its claws extended. As a rule of thumb, trailers with more action are used in turbulent current or dingy water, while trailers with more subtle action are preferred for everything else.

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Pork or Plastic?

Soft-plastics rule the trailer market, but pork is better for fishing in the winter and early spring because it maintains pliability in cold water. Likewise, pork is a better choice for fish with sharp teeth because it will hold up much
better. Most pork chunks and strips have a salt or scented flavor that, combined with its meaty texture, makes a fish hang on after picking it up or striking it moving past.

For a relatively constant retrieve-such as when fishing a spinnerbait, buzzbait or weedless spoon-a strip or ripple-cut strip works best. A pork chunk, frog or crayfish is the better choice when hopping a jig along the bottom. For even more of a fluttering action, slit the legs of a pork frog into two or more strips.

While color choices in pork trailers are limited, soft-plastics are manufactured in virtually every hue. Some anglers like to pair their lures with trailers of a contrasting color, while others match trailer colors to their lures. Often, the species targeted "chooses" the trailer color by hitting the lure or ignoring it. Walleye pro Gary Roach, for example, starts out with bright colors to take more walleyes, even when the water is clear. Smallmouth bass have a similar reputation for being fond of gaudy colors.

Hook 'em Up

To add a plain soft-plastic trailer onto a single-hook lure, thread the hook through the head and out the side of the trailer body. If you don't have enough hook shank for the job, screw a Tru-Turn Hitchhiker into the head and fasten it to the hook. These small corkscrew-like fasteners arre available in most tackle outlets and allow the attachment of a soft-plastic trailer to even a treble hook. Another alternative, if there's enough hook shank, is to thread the hook straight back near the tail in Texas-rig fashion.

When fish are "short-striking" a bait without taking it, sometimes a stinger hook with a soft-plastic trailer will turn such misses into hits. First, pick a trailer that has enough body to allow Texas rigging the hook to it. Use a large-eye stinger hook that will slip over the barb of the lure's hook. Thread the single stinger hook through the head of the trailer. Bury the eye of the stinger hook into the head of the worm and then thread the trailer head and hook eye onto the lure point. Finish by burying the point of the stinger hook into the soft trailer to make it weedless.

Trailers can be small or large, depending upon the size of the lure and the fish sought. Long plastic worms or pork strips attached to a weedless spoon are ideal for big pike, while tiny strips attached to a small jig will work for crappies and bluegills. Bass pros like bigger trailers that will present a larger profile and slow a bait on the fall or let it helicopter down to attract fish at all depths.

A trailer is more than a casual accessory to most experienced anglers; it's an important tool. Choosing the right trailer for the species, water condition and lure can make a big difference in how many fish wind up in your live well by day's end.

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Trailer Parks

Tailor-made stowage space for pork or plastic
Trailers should not be stored with hard-plastic baits. The plasticizers in soft-plastics might react to the hard finishes, and the brine and chemicals in pork can ruin hooks or metal parts in lures. Separate storage of each color of soft-plastics is important, too. Otherwise, their colors might bleed together.

Plano, Tackle Logic, Woodstream, Shimano, Flambeau and others offer a variety of suitable containers available in fishing tackle stores or through mail outlets such as Cabela's (800-237-4444) and Bass Pro Shops (800-227-7776). Soft-side tackle totes either open like a notebook with leaves of resealable bags to hold trailers and lures or fold out like a map to expose clear vinyl pockets.

Some stowage systems, like the Tackle Logic Jig 'n Pig Wrap, include a pouch to hold the plastics and other riggings in zipper-seal bags, as well as a separate bag to hold four bottles of pork rind.

Other possibilities are the individual clear or smoked plastic lure boxes with long compartments for storing separate plastic trailers. Some of these have movable dividers to adjust the size of the compartments. Use separate boxes for soft-plastics and skirts.

The following corresponds to the picture above right.

1. False Impressions:

Long, split-tail trailers add bulk to a lure when fish want bigger mouthfuls. Such trailers also undulate
constantly, giving jigs at rest more appeal.

2. Hitching a Ride:

The Tru-Turn Hitchhiker offers an easy way to attach a trailer to any lure. One end of the Hitchhiker is screwed into the head of the trailer, while the other end is looped over the point of the hook.

3. Pork in Winter:

Cold weather and cold water have a tendency to take the shimmy out of soft-plastics. Under such circumstances, it's better to team a pork trailer with a jig or spinnerbait for slow-rolling.

Make an Icefishing Rod

outdoorlife-editor — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 12:26:31 -0400

Plenty of specialty catalogs and tackle shops in northern states stock icefishing rods. Icefishing is, after all, a popular method of angling. But you can easily make your own rod if you need an extra one for a visiting friend, want to make a different type of rod or just want to try this wintertime sport.

Icefishing rods are typically short, relatively stiff and sometimes have just a seat in the handle or some tape for securing the reel. Some rods also consist of nothing more than a wood jigging stick. Consider the following four possibilities to make your own.

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1. Use an existing rod section and modify it to create a new rod. Tip sections of spinning rods are ideal for this. Remove the guides at the lower end of the section. For spin-cast and bait-casting reels, use an old casting-rod handle with an adjustable chuck. If the end of the tip section is too loose for the collet on the handle (it often is), shim the space with a wrap of masking tape.

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2. Use a scrap blank or a short 3/8-inch wood dowel about 2 feet long to make a rod without a reel. Fasten a guide or two to the shaft with electrician's tape. Clip the snap end off a safety pin, bend the wires slightly and tape it to the end of the rod to serve as a tiptop. A short length of closet rod or similar round stock will serve as a handle. Drill a 2-inch-long, 3/8-inch-diameter hole in the end of the stock material and epoxy the dowel in place.

Next, drill two 1/8-inch or 3/16-inch holes at a slight V
angle in the handle. Make these holes about 2 to 3 inches apart. Glue short lengths of dowel into these holes. Braided line works best with this rod. It will store more easily on the pegs and will not kink or coil as will monofilament. Run the line through the tiptop and guides and then tie the end to the rear peg in the handle. Use the two pegs to coil the line on the pegs to control the line length being fished. This rod is best for perch, small walleyes and panfish that will not run line or require a reel drag to land.

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3.As an alternative to the first method, use the butt end of a two-piece rod. Tape a guide or the bent eye of a safety pin to the end and use it as a short, stiff jigging stick. Remove the tip guide, and you can use the rod as a regular fishing rod in the spring.

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4.To make a rod from a blank, start with a scrap blank about 2 to 4 feet long. Cut it to length with a hacksaw if necessary. Get a tiptop that will fit the end of the rod, and two to three guides. Glue the tiptop in place. Tape the guides in place or wind rod-wrapping thread around the guide feet and tie it off with a whip finish. Make a handle with a length of cork grip with a hole approximately the size of the diameter of the rod end. Shim the rod with cord if necessary, then coat with epoxy and slide the handle onto
the butt end of the rod. Use electrician's tape to secure the reel foot to the handle.

D.I.Y.- Easy-Does-It Lure Repair

outdoorlife-editor — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 12:26:30 -0400

If fishing season began with you peeking in your tackle box and staring at a bunch of lures with dents and scratches from last year, don't start worrying about buying replacements just yet. Here are some quick fixes that can get your plugs, jigs and spinners back in shape.

Setting the Hook

Replace rusted and corroded hooks. It's often a good idea to remove all hooks entirely until the repairs are complete. Use special split-ring pliers to add and remove split rings.

If a lure does not have a split ring to hold the hook, add one, and use a short-shank treble on plugs so as not to change the overall hook length and balance of the lure (photo 1).You can also use split-ring pliers to remove and replace damaged spinner blades on spinners and spinnerbaits (photo 2).

Bringing Back the Shine

Spots where paint has flaked off spoons or spinner blades can be touched up with oil-based paint and a small brush. Model-airplane brushes and paints, such as Testors, work well. Always wash and dry any lure before you do any polishing or painting to
remove dirt and grease.

Painted lures, especially spoons, that have lost nearly all their paint can be refurbished by dipping them in paint or brushing a coat over the entire lure. For a quick fix, paint a coat of clear glitter fingernail polish over the entire lure for flash and sparkle.

Unpainted metal lures that have become tarnished or rusted can be renewed by polishing them with steel wool, wiping them clean with a cloth and then painting (brushing or dipping) as described above. Alternatively, polish tarnished metal to a high sheen with a metal cleaner such as Brasso and then coat the blade or body with clear fingernail polish to reduce subsequent tarnishing or rusting.

Body (Re)building
Wood plugs or stickbaits that have
significant pockmarks and scratches should be sanded, filled with wood putty, sanded again and then painted. Paint the lure first with a base coat of white, and then with several finish coats. Finish the lure with a clear sealant for protection and a gloss finish. Sand the lure lightly and wipe clean between each coat of paint for good adhesion. When the sealant dries, reattach all the hardware.

Plastic plugs and crankbaits with rips in their outer body pattern can be remedied by coating them with clear glitter (available at any crafts store) to fill in their shiny, scaly look. You won't always be able to match the factory finish or iridescence that many of these lures have now, but a patch job using translucent glitter coats will work well to disguise any damage.

Spray paints may be the best bet with plugs and crankbaits, as you can get a more even finish with a number of coats. You can also dip these lures in paint a number of times to create protective layers or sections of color.

To get a fish-scale finish on a plug or crankbait, spray one color on the body. When that coating is dry, insert the lure (without its hooks, of course) into a section of nylon netting, which is available in fabric stores. Hold the netting in place securely and spray on a second color (photo 3). Remember that this second coating will create the main color of the body; the first coating serves as the outline for the scales.
For a quick fix, paint a clear glitter coat over slightly damaged lures (photo 4). Clear or glitter fingernail polish is fine for this, but when painting lots of lures, test one first to make sure you don't get a chemical reaction between the paints and the plastic that causes striations in the finish or cracks in the surface of the lure.

Put on a New Skirt

Battered and chipped jigheads should be sanded or lightly treated with steel wool, after removing any hair tail or plastic skirt. Dip the lure in paint, or use some of the new powder paints that require only a hot torch to get
instant finisheed results. If dipping, do this several times with thin paint and allow it to dry between coats to get a hard, even and durable finish. Then use a pin head or finishing-nail head to paint small eyes and a smaller pupil on the side of the jighead. Glitter can also be added by sprinkling the fine powder variety on the final wet coat of paint, or by using a clear glitter
finish as a final coat on the jighead. When you're finished, slide on a new plastic or silicone skirt.

To repair hair-skirt bucktails (as well as dressed tails on plugs and spinners and spinnerbait skirts), cut away the old skirt and thread wrapping. Then prepare new skirt material by clipping bucktail or calf tail and combing it out to remove underfur, or by cutting synthetics into bundles of the right length. Tie the skirt on by wrapping thread (size A rod-wrapping thread) around the jig collar first, creating a single layer of wraps, and then add the first bundle of skirt material atop this (photo 5). Surround the collar area with the skirt material, secure the material with a few thread wraps and clip the excess material forward
of the collar area. Then wrap it all in place. Tie off using a whip finish, cut the thread and seal the wraps with several coats of clear or colored nail polish.

Remember: Do all repairs in a well-ventilated area. Paint and polish fumes aren't good to inhale.
Your repairs don't have to perfectly mimic the original lure. If a glittery white crankbait becomes a yellow crankbait and you catch the same amount of fish with it, you haven't made any mistakes. And if you get a striated or cracked finish, remember that this was a big hit early on with Heddon, and popular a few years back with all makers of lures.

Fishing Rod Field Repair

outdoorlife-editor — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 20:00:00 -0400

Sometimes bad things happen to good fishermen. You make a long cast with a shock leader, say, and the knot catches, pulling the ceramic ring out of the tiptop of the rod. Now what? You've got to reel in the lure, cut the line to remove the ring (being careful not to drop it in the water) and use your fishing pliers to gently squeeze the ring back into the frame on the tiptop. Not fun. If you're prepared, however, minor incidents like this won't ruin your day on the water.

Being able to cope with mishaps in the field begins with a repair kit. It can be minimal or elaborate, depending on your needs. Use a small lure box or a simple bag, like a zippered pencil case, to hold the contents. Include a variety of items, from a few spare guides to a stub of candle wax (for loose ferrules). More elaborate kits should include equipment for difficult repairs, such as parallel-jaw pliers and a spool of thread and bobbin, which can be used to rewrap a guide. Think of other times when you've had problems and add the appropriate repair items or tools to your kit.

Damaged Guide
If a guide breaks, remove it by cutting off the wire frame. If you have a spare guide, tape it to the same spot as the old one. Even if it's not the exact size, a new guide will allow you to keep fishing. Lacking a spare, you can make one from a safety pin. Cut off the safety catch and bend the legs about halfway up in opposite directions. Tape the pin to the rod and run the line through the ring at the spring end of the pin. You can fish without a guide, but be careful when fighting a fish, since the stress on the rod will be different.

[pagebreak]Loose Reel Seats
A loose movable hood can cause reels to fall off. Prevent this by securing the hood with tape or a rubber band. If the reel seat has double-locking nuts or collets, add an O-ring between the two nuts to lock one against the other.

[pagebreak]Broken Tips
With a broken tiptop, file the remaining rod section down to the first guide. Remove loose tiptops by melting the binding cement with a lighter. To attach a new one, smear heat-set or ferrule cement on the rod end and hold the tiptop in place.

[pagebreak]Popped Rings
The ceramic ring inside the tiptop can pop out, and fishing without the ring can damage lines. For this simple repair, squeeze the ceramic ring back into the shock ring of the tiptop using fishing pliers (preferably with parallel-action jaws).

[pagebreak]Broken Hooks
To replace broken hooks, use a pair of split ring pliers. Use the tooth on the split ring pliers to open the ring and to remove the old hook while adding a new spare at the same time.

Stiff Reels
Reels that do not work well usually need some grease or oil. Use oil on handles, bail rollers and such and grease on a worm drive of a casting reel. Don't dismantle the reel in the field! Carry small tubes of oil and grease that come with each reel. While cleaning the reel check for rough line. Check line frequently, especially when fishing for toothy critters or when fishing around rough snags. Do this by running the line over your tongue, which is far more sensitive than your fingers. Cut off any rough line back to where the line is smooth, retie your lure and keep fishing.

Bent hooks
Gold plated jig hooks and some trebles are susceptible to bending. Use fishing pliers to bend the hook back to original shape, taking care to not damage the barb.

Lures not running straight
Crankbaits, spinnerbaits and buzzbaits can get out of line and not run true. If a crankbait leans or runs to the right, hoold the lure facing you and use pliers to very slightly bend the line tie to the left. Reverse if the lure runs to the left. Check misaligned spinnerbaits and buzzbaits by straightening the wires. Realize that with buzzbaits, you can bend the top wire out of line with the bottom wire to make them run to one side to follow a specific angled course.

Added Attractions

outdoorlife-editor — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 19:00:00 -0500

Bad weather and slow fishing are just two of the reasons to add trailers to lures of all types. Depending on the type you choose, trailers almost always have a positive effect on results. They can make a small lure appear larger and more attractive to big fish, they can provide a complementary or contrasting color to a lure and, when a scented trailer is used, they can double their appeal. Because trailers come in many sizes and shapes, they can be teamed with all kinds of lures to attract anything from panfish to giant muskies.

A trailer can be as simple as the end of a soft-plastic lure pinched off and pressed into service, or one designed for a specific job. Beyond soft-plastic varieties, there are also pork chunks and strips; skirts of rubber, silicone and other materials; strips of chamois from auto polishing rags; spinner blade trailers; and treble hooks dressed with feathers, fur or synthetics.

BRINGING UP THE REAR

The correct choice of trailer depends upon the lure and how you're fishing it. For example, for working a spinnerbait with a steady retrieve, the best choice is a short soft-plastic trailer with a curved tail that undulates to suggest a live minnow. For an alternative retrieve such as twitching the spinnerbait slowly along the bottom with variable speed, a double or split-tail trailer is a better choice—it produces movement even at rest and suggests a crayfish with its claws extended. As a rule of thumb, trailers with more action are used in turbulent current or dingy water, while trailers with more subtle action are preferred for everything else.

PORK OR PLASTIC?

For a relatively constant retrieve—such as when fishing a spinnerbait, buzzbait or weedless spoon—a strip or ripple-cut strip works best. A pork chunk, frog or crayfish is the better choice when hopping a jig along the bottom. For even more of a fluttering action, slit the legs of a pork frog into two or more strips.

While color choices in pork trailers are limited, soft-plastics are manufactured in virtually every hue. Some anglers like to pair their lures with trailers of a contrasting color, while others match trailer colors to their lures. Often, the species targeted "chooses" the trailer color by hitting the lure or ignoring it. Walleye pro Gary Roach, for example, starts out with bright colors to take more walleyes, even when the water is clear. Smallmouth bass have a similar reputation for being fond of gaudy colors.

HOOK 'EM UP

When fish are "short-striking" a bait without taking it, sometimes a stinger hook with a soft-plastic trailer will turn such misses into hits. First, pick a trailer that has enough body to allow Texas rigging the hook to it. Use a large-eye stinger hook that will slip over the barb of the lure's hook. Thread the single stinger hook through the head of the trailer. Bury the eye of the stinger hook into the head of the worm and then thread the trailer head and hook eye onto the lure point. Finish by burying the point of the stinger hook into the soft trailer to make it weedless.

Trailers can be small or large, depending upon the size of the lure and the fish sought. Long plastic worms or pork strips attached to a weedless spoon are ideal for big pike, while tiny strips attached to a small jig will work for crappies and bluegills. Bass pros like bigger trailers that will present a larger profile and slow a bait on the fall or let it helicopter down to attract fish at all depths.

A trailer is more than a casual accessory to most experienced anglers; it's an important tool. Choosing the right trailer for the species, water condition and lure can make a big difference in how many fish wind up in your live well by day's end.

Trailer Parks

Plano, Tackle Logic, Woodstream, Shimano, Flambeau (shown below) and others offer a variety of suitable containers available in fishing tackle stores or through mail outlets such as Cabela's (800-237-4444) and Bass Pro Shops (800-227-7776). Soft-side tackle totes either open like a notebook with leaves of resealable bags to hold trailers and lures or fold out like a map to expose clear vinyl pockets.

Some stowage systems, like the Tackle Logic Jig 'n Pig Wrap (bottom), include a pouch to hold the plastics and other riggings in zipper-seal bags, as well as a separate bag to hold four bottles of pork rind.

Other possibilities are the individual clear or smoked plastic lure boxes with long compartments for storing separate plastic trailers. Some of these have movable dividers to adjust the size of the compartments. Use separate boxes for soft-plastics and skirts.

Tidal River Largemouths CHESAPEAKE TRIBUTARIES ARE FULL OF FALL BASS

outdoorlife-editor — Fri, 31 Oct 2003 19:00:00 -0500

Fishing guide Ken Penrod can't think of a better place to fish. One of his top spots is the tidal Potomac River downriver of Washington, D.C., with great fishing among the old piers, in the hydrilla and spatterdock, and along the downed trees of the shoreline.

In fact a major bass-fishing group considers the Potomac the fifth-best fishing spot in the country, according to Bob Lunsford, Maryland's Director of Freshwater Fisheries. But other areas around the Chesapeake are popular. Captains Norm Bartlett and Gary Neitzey fish the same waters, as well as major areas such as the Susquehanna Flats (Bartlett's favorite) and small tributaries such as the Bohemia, Sassafras and Bush rivers around the upper bay (Neitzey's favorites).

Good tidal largemouth fishing in the Chesapeake Bay is especially intense when autumn water temperatures begin to chill, the skies become overcast and a soft breeze creates a ripple on the surface. But most sportsmen have traded in their rods and moved on to duck blinds and tree stands, missing out on a great largemouth fishery.

FEEDER CREEKS AND COVES

As the weather cools, fishermen should move away from the deeper water in the middle of the rivers and target any type of visible cover. Logjams and rock piles are the most common types of cover seen in the fall. Start at the mouths of coves and creeks like the Nanjemoy or the Piscataway on the Potomac River, then work your way toward the back. Bass follow shad moving in and out of those tributaries.

During the fall, bass are feeding heavily in tidal rivers, preparing for the winter. Because of these feeding frenzies, anglers don't have to be as selective about tackle as they would be during a hot August afternoon. Shallow crankbaits, buzzbaits and topwater spinnerbaits can produce plenty of strikes. The key to attracting bass in colder water, though, is maintaining a slow retrieve.

STOCKING UP

While these rivers are historically productive, they have suffered in recent decades. They are coming back, however, through the planting of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). Lunsford notes that the SAV continues to thrive in the Potomac. It is patchy in the Susquehanna Flats and elsewhere.

Additionally, a state stocking program has planted and is planting hundreds of thousands of largemouth bass in rivers such as the Chester, Choptank and Patuxent.

Rick Schaefer, Eastern Regional Manager of the Freshwater Fisheries Division of the Maryland DNR, notes that 30,000 fish were stocked into the upper Chester this year alone, with a total of over 100,000 fish stocked in the last five years.

CHOOSING TACKLE

Tackle for tidal Maryland bass is similar to fall tackle in larger lakes. Medium spinning spools with 6- to 12-pound-test line, medium-casting tackle with line to 20-pound-test and shallow lures are best. Fish with (clockwise from top) crankbaits, Texas-rigged soft plastics, yellow spinnerbaits (chartreuse works too, as do white buzzbaits) and topwater twin props. Early and late, buzzbaits and topwater chuggers produce explosive strikes, while shallow crankbaits work in open water. The bottom line is that bigmouth bass fishing is easy to do and easy to get to on tidal Maryland rivers in fall. "We've got quality fish and good numbers of fish," says Bob Lunsford of the state's brackish largemouth.

For more regional information, go to www.outdoorlife.com/regional

Make An Icefishing Rod Four ways to build a jigging stick for wintertime fishing

outdoorlife-editor — Fri, 31 Oct 2003 19:00:00 -0500

Icefishing rods are typically short, relatively stiff and sometimes have just a seat in the handle or some tape for securing the reel. Some rods also consist of nothing more than a wood jigging stick. Consider the following four possibilities to make your own.

1 Use an existing rod section and modify it to create a new rod. Tip sections of spinning rods are ideal for this. Remove the guides at the lower end of the section. For spin-cast and bait-casting reels, use an old casting-rod handle with an adjustable chuck. If the end of the tip section is too loose for the collet on the handle (it often is), shim the space with a wrap of masking tape.

2 Use a scrap blank or a short 3/8-inch wood dowel about 2 feet long to make a rod without a reel. Fasten a guide or two to the shaft with electrician's tape. Clip the snap end off a safety pin, bend the wires slightly and tape it to the end of the rod to serve as a tiptop. A short length of closet rod or similar round stock will serve as a handle. Drill a 2-inch-long, 3/8-inch-diameter hole in the end of the stock material and epoxy the dowel in place.

Next, drill two 1/8-inch or 3/16-inch holes at a slight V angle in the handle. Make these holes about 2 to 3 inches apart. Glue short lengths of dowel into these holes. Braided line works best with this rod. It will store more easily on the pegs and will not kink or coil as will monofilament. Run the line through the tiptop and guides and then tie the end to the rear peg in the handle. Use the two pegs to coil the line on the pegs to control the line length being fished. This rod is best for perch, small walleyes and panfish that will not run line or require a reel drag to land.

3 As an alternative to the first method, use the butt end of a two-piece rod. Tape a guide or the bent eye of a safety pin to the end and use it as a short, stiff jigging stick. Remove the tip guide, and you can use the rod as a regular fishing rod in the spring.

4 To make a rod from a blank, start with a scrap blank about 2 to 4 feet long. Cut it to length with a hacksaw if necessary. Get a tiptop that will fit the end of the rod, and two to three guides. Glue the tiptop in place. Tape the guides in place or wind rod-wrapping thread around the guide feet and tie it off with a whip finish. Make a handle with a length of cork grip with a hole approximately the size of the diameter of the rod end. Shim the rod with cord if necessary, then coat with epoxy and slide the handle onto the butt end of the rod. Use electrician's tape to secure the reel foot to the handle.

For more Do-It-Yourself projects, go to www.outdoorlife.com