Joe H on Charlie I TV

Amazing though, to see Charlie catching all those fish off basically that same little stand of trees. He's usually got the trolling motor on high and lives and dies by the 'cover water' concept. Today it looked like the whole show was filmed with Ball Balsley sitting on one dock or something with the camera. I fished with him once an he moved the boat so fast I needed 2 ounces of lead to feel bottom with a Carolina rig in 14 feet of water.

What I don't understand is why you didn't look at the camera and tell everyone that if they don't use your bait, they are ignorant morons who will never catch any fish worth catching! ;) Maybe I'm just getting different posts mixed up...

Hmmmmm..... I didn't think of slamming everyone who didn't use our bait. Insulting people wasn't my primary objective, but I'll keep that suggestion in mind for our next show. :-)

Joe

Joe, I tivo'ed it and just finished watching it. I thought you did a great job presenting the benefits of your bait. The ONLY thing that I didn't see was a close-up showing just how the blades attach. Someone unfamiliar with the bait may not realize the blades attach next to one another instead of in-line. A close-up like this would also point out the collapsing feature Rich pointed out. I'm afraid it sounds like I'm being negative about the show, but I'm not. It was a great presentation, and I'll bet you pick up a lot of business.

What I don't understand is why you didn't look at the camera and tell everyone that if they don't use your bait, they are ignorant morons who will never catch any fish worth catching! ;) Maybe I'm just getting different posts mixed up...

We started off fishing along the south shore of the lake, and then moved out into an old, submerged ditch meandering through a long line of standing and fallen timber. Charlie caught several fish there, but we took off and fished another stretch of lake shore (nothing) and then some lily pad fields (again, nothing), followed by some equally unproductive docks. (Well, not totally unproductive, if you count bluegills....). We ended up going back to the same ditch twice more, and each time we (he) caught fish, so we ended up with all our usable footage coming from about a 200 yard section of the lake. He was trying hard to put me on fish, and the show portrayed it accurately.... all day long I'd been fishing a 3/8-ounce chartreuse or white or chartreuse/white spinnerbait with different blade combinations..... mainly a single willowleaf. Charlie fished a 1/2-ounce bait with a single, gold willowleaf. When I finally matched his bait (I put on a 1/2-ounce Blue Avenger), then the bait dropped down about a foot on the same retrieve speed, and I started getting my hits.

At least that day, Charlie pretty much crept along and we picked apart each tree, pad, dock and brush pile. He had fished the same lake earlier in the week (taping another show) and had done better.

Joe __________________ "RichZ" <remove_the_obvious_fin-sfish@charter.net> wrote in message news:DFpUd.23917$NY6.19492@fe03.lga... You warned us that you didn't catch much, and that you were afraid you looked artificially stiff every time the camera was on you. But you did a credible job. Only thing missed was showing how the blade arm collapses out of the way of the hook on a strike.

Amazing though, to see Charlie catching all those fish off basically that same little stand of trees. He's usually got the trolling motor on high and lives and dies by the 'cover water' concept. Today it looked like the whole show was filmed with Ball Balsley sitting on one dock or something with the camera. I fished with him once an he moved the boat so fast I needed 2 ounces of lead to feel bottom with a Carolina rig in 14 feet of water.

Another thing I was wondering about: Charlie kept talking about a bigger blade for more vibration in the murky water, but he was using a willowleaf. I'm hardly a spinnerbait expert, but it seems that the Colorado is unanimously said to produce more vibration, including the blade chart on your site, so why didn't Chas. use one?

You asked: "...I was wondering about: Charlie kept talking about a bigger blade for more vibration in the murky water, but he was using a willowleaf. I'm hardly a spinnerbait expert, but it seems that the Colorado is unanimously said to produce more vibration, including the blade chart on your site, so why didn't Chas. use one?"

Maybe I can jump in for a moment here & give Joe a moment to rest his brain before he replies. I sure wasn't there, but I know of at least two major factors that Charlie was taking into consideration there: water temperature & water clarity.

Water temperature: even though this trip was a still a recent end of winter event, the water temperature in the mid-south where it took place was significantly higher than it would have been in latitudes even just a few hundred miles farther north. Therefore, the increased metabolism of the LM there required a slightly faster retrieve than would have been needed by their colder & more lethargic cousins farther north. Therefore, Charlie's extensive experience led him to choose the lower sound output of the willowleaf as compared to that of the Colorado, and it sure worked.

Water clarity: It appeared that Charlie & Joe were fishing murky water, but it was not muddy. This means the bass were still able to sight feed, for which their bodies are best adapted. For that reason, the increased visual strengths of the willowleaf was mandated. If the water had actually been muddy, the main job of targeting their prey would have forced the bass to rely on using their lateral lines, then their ears, to nail their prey. Then it would have been a job for the far noisier Colorado.

I am anxious to hear Joe's eventual reply to see if this important question was addressed among the myriad of other things going on. Fishing never gets dull, does it? I love it!

I did wish that the features and benefits had been covered a little more thoroughly, but it's easy for me to sit here and play Monday Morning Quarterback. All in all, a very positive piece that should help SW sales.

Remember his saying toward the end to put him down for a couple of ProPacks? Those are the kits with 8 heads, 16 skirts, and 36 blades? What you didn't hear, because it got edited out, was his saying all he wanted in his kits were 3/16-ounce and 1/2-ounce Chartreuse and White, and a double helping of gold willowleaf blades. No 3/8-ounce baits for him.... although that's over 80% of what we sell.

He throws 1/2-ounce three seasons of the year and drops to the 3/16-ounce in summertime. Every time he throws a spinnerbait, it has a trailer, too.... White (or chartreuse) split-tail eel in summer, fall, and winter, but a curly tail trailer in springtime for extra action. You may have noticed him saying that was not so much to attract attention, but to give the fish more to slurp up and get hung up in the gill plates, which he believes increases his hook-up percentage. Interesting idea.

Joe _____________ "Marty" <Mart915@REEMOOVEfrontiernet.net> wrote in message news:e7yUd.10797$p52.2941@news02.roc.ny... Good show Joe. Your two bass--especially that last one--made for a good ending. Are you expecting a spike in sales? It seems like maybe that might happen throughout the industry after something is seen on a show.

Another thing I was wondering about: Charlie kept talking about a bigger blade for more vibration in the murky water, but he was using a willowleaf. I'm hardly a spinnerbait expert, but it seems that the Colorado is unanimously said to produce more vibration, including the blade chart on your site, so why didn't Chas. use one?