Some of my better pipes

[Skip48]

I already [posted pics of my man cave where I tie jigs and flies, but thought I would share my pipes here. Also would love to hear anything about them I may not know. If my old memory serves me right only a few of these bought after 1975 and none after 1980.

First my Caminetto's

Peterson's

Denmark made, Jobey free hand and Nordings

Micoli Signature & dated 1975

The Sig.

Date.

 

[Smokntaz]

Beautiful looking pipes Skip, I really dig the Micoli, very unique. Thanks for sharing.

 

[bruins]

good taste in pipes!

 

[Anonymous]

Nice collection you got there!

 

[Skip48]

Thanks guys and they had been resting since 1980 and only smoked them a short time then. I guess I smoked them most in the early to mid 1970's some don't even have a good break in. I am doing my best to finish doing that to all of them. I have one of the Chery ROPP pipes that was really low cost back in the mid 1970's so it has not been smoked much at all, but lit it up today for a change.

Skip

 

[beebiz]

BEAUTIFUL pipes, my new Texas brother!!! I could have a wonderful time rummaging through your collection!!! Exactly where did you say you live?????? :lol: :lol: :lol:

Robert

 

[Zeno Marx]

Love the old Caminettos, particularly the poker. I have a tan version of the same shape #. I sold everything but two Caminettos, one Nording, and a very old cripple Dunhill sandblast group 2 or 3 (which I'm going to offer for trade on this here board soon, hoping I can get another Caminetto or Ascorti out of it).

 

[bluedigital]

Very nice assortment of pipes you have there, love the freehands

 

[Trout Bum]

Great collection of quality briars, Skip. Those older Caminetto's look positively primo!

 

[Skip48]

Thanks guys. My wife is probably scared my OCD will kick in on pipes again, but I am trying to hold off. I did mention a few I found if anyone was asking what I want for Christmas, LOL!

After looking around and reading all I found sure made me happy I kept them all these years. Only a few of them have even been smoked enough to have a good solid cake.

I guess my Caminetto's are by far my favorites in general, but I sure like a few others and not sure I don't like the Micoli at least as much as it smokes really nice. Bought that at a pipe show way back around 1975 or maybe 1976, but I think my memory says I bought it the same year it's dated.

Anyway glad you guys like them and oh yeah beebiz I filled out my info so it's easy to find me, LOL! Only thing is I am kind of like one of my favorite new songs, "Way Out Here". If you have not heard it you should, it's got great lyrics! It's by Josh Thompson. I guess you could say I am a gun nut too, LOL! Josh says "our houses are protected by the Lord and a gun, you might need them both if you show up here not welcome son"! LOL!

However I would welcome you I feel sure!

Skip

 

[beebiz]

Anyway glad you guys like them and oh yeah beebiz I filled out my info so it's easy to find me, LOL! Only thing is I am kind of like one of my favorite new songs, "Way Out Here". If you have not heard it you should, it's got great lyrics! It's by Josh Thompson. I guess you could say I am a gun nut too, LOL! Josh says "our houses are protected by the Lord and a gun, you might need them both if you show up here not welcome son"! LOL!

However I would welcome you I feel sure!

Skip

OMG... threaten me... then invite me to visit you??? I'd bet you'd bury me in a deep hoe in the desert too, huh??
:lol!: :lol!: :lol!: :lol!: :lol!:

Just kidding! If I were able to do so, I'd love to visit with you, take a gander at your pipes, watch you tie some flies, and listen to your stories. I'd bet you've got a million of them. I just get that "feeling" about you!

Who knows... one of these days, I might find myself in the Toledo Bend area... around the Hemphill, TX area and pay you a visit and share a bowl with you!!!

Robert

 

[Falconer]

Holy Toledo Bend Beebiz! Your probably scaring the man talk'n about a visit from the likes of you. He's new to the forum so let him Bee! :lol!:

 

[Skip48]

Robert you like crappie fishing? I will be going after it next spring. Would now this fall, but I ran into some trouble and didn't get my boat out and they had a lake draw down so my boat is stuck in the slings I keep it in. Mud under is and no water, LOL!

I enjoy fishing and yeah I probably have my share of stories of all sorts, some I wouldn't do again and some I would love to do again. I guess some that fall in the middle too, LOL!

So sure come fishing and we can have some fried Crappie fillets.

Oh and no threat for me intended, but I would not want to surprise anyone either. I have a partially broke down body, but still can do what I need and want to. Been fishing this lake since is was opened in the late 1960's. Was a avid bass guy, but my body turned me into a crappie guy, LOL! Plates and screws in back and bad shoulder can hamper a guy some, but after than, my 5 bypasses was not so bad pain wise, heck it was a breeze pain wise. Was expecting worse, but not bad at all.

Skip

 

[beebiz]

Holy Toledo Bend Beebiz! Your probably scaring the man talk'n about a visit from the likes of you. He's new to the forum so let him Bee! :lol!:

If Skip has any intelligence (and, it's obvious he has loads), he wouldn't be nearly as frightened by a bee like me as he would be by a Falcon like you!!!

Skip, I love to fish. Fishing for catfish is my favorite. But, I do love to catch those "saddle blankets" too!! There's no doubt in my mind that a crappie is a formidable fighter! They are a blast to catch. And, filleted, they are even more fun to eat... yum, yum!!

Years ago, I lived in Shreveport, LA. I spent lots of nights on the bank of Caddo Lake fishing on the bottom for catfish. And, I spent almost as many hours on the bank or in a boat jigging for crappie. Either way, I always had a great time! And, soon afterward I would have a belly full of my fried catch of the day/night!!

In addition to having a great time fishing when I lived in Shreveport, I also enjoyed catching my share of snapping turtle, giving them to my Cajun neighbor, and eating the turtle stew that he'd fix with them. I also had a buddy who enjoyed taking me with to catch crawfish. Afterward, my now ex-wife and I would join him and his family for a huge crawfish boil. But, I never could bring myself to suck the heads. I guess you've got to either be pretty drunk or have a lot of Cajun in you to do that!! :shock: I certainly don't miss the ex. But, I miss those times!!

I'd love to come and go fishing with you after you get your boat afloat again. But, unless financial things make a dramatic change for the better, I'll have to be satisfied with hearing you tell of your fishing trips, maybe see a few pics of your catch, and dream about being there! But, that's alright. Though only 50 years old, I've lived many, many lifetimes... most through my own eyes... and, many through the eyes of others!

I hope you get your boat out of the mud without any damage to it! And, I wish you the best of luck every time you go fishing! Just think of me, and I'll be there with you!!!

Robert

 

[Smokin' Blues]

Very nice pipes Skip.

 

[Skip48]

OK Robert and if things change and you get ready let me know. My boat is fine even if it's a Yankee boat, LOL! I went through several before I tried a Lund and boy what a well made boat. Mine is under an open boat house in slings so no damage possible unless a storm brings down my boat house.

Hey on them crawfish heads, I just take some of the spicy juice out and not anything else in there, LOL!

Here is a morning fishing, probably a couple hours long line trolling a hand tied 1/32 Oz. Roadrunner. I do that a lot in the spring where I will go out for just a couple hours several times a week. Lots in the freezer too.

And here is one over 2 pounds. Last year I didn't get to fish a lot and was my first year in 10 years I didn't catch one 17" or over.

I feel very Blessed being able to live here in this place and the view is really nice.

Skip

 

[beebiz]

Skip, if my situation changes such that I can do so, I'll definitely grab my poles, tackle box and some munchies and head your direction!! Being a bad diabetic and having to pee about three times as often as a nine and one half month pregnant woman, I'll pack a catheter or two so we don't have to head for the bank every few minutes!! :lol:

MAN... those are some beautiful crappie, aka white perch (what my Cajun friends called them in LA). That 2+ pounder is a real beaut!! When I lived in S'port, catching big "white perch" like that were not all that uncommon. They always reminded me more of a small mouth bass than they did what I had typically known of as a crappie in TN.

Except when fishing for catfish, I have never been patient enough to do much "still" fishing for bream, crappie, or bass. I've fished for crappie using the long line trolling method many times. It works great. And, when you hang a good one with all that line out, it's a fun fight to get them in!!

Before I moved to LA, the bulk of my crappie fishing had been done one of two ways. One way that was pretty typical was with a float (bobber), weight, hook and minnow. it was alright, but..... The other way was done at night. Held in place by a metal rod, we'd hang bright lights over the side of our boat and close to the water's surface. The lights attracted bugs and smaller fish; which then attracted the crappie. We'd use poles to work a jig just a few inches beneath the water's surface and we'd catch the crap out of them! Actually, most of the time it felt more like shooting ducks in a barrel than it felt like "fishing." Nonetheless, the popularity of that method has made many local fishermen empty their wallets to purchase a massive sized, expensive, metal boat that is set up with huge light rigs and pole holders.

My Cajun friends in S'port taught me a method to fish for crappie that I rather enjoyed. Using a rod and reel, you feed your line through a cylinder style slider/slip float/bobber without using a bobber stopper. Once through the float/bobber, you tie your jig of choice on the end of the line. After casting the float/bobber and jig into the desired place, you allow the jig to settle to the bottom. You then begin gently, yet sharply "jerking" the rod as you slowly reel in the line. If done properly, the action causes your float/bobber to "bounce" and "dance" across the surface of the water as it simultaneously works the jig.

The combination of the float/bobber causing such a commotion on the surface of the water and the jig's bouncing up and down from the bottom must send the crappie into somewhat of a feeding frenzy. When fishing for crappie like this, the strike was always very hard. As a matter of fact, if you were using a float/bobber that was at least a couple of inches long, when the crappie took the jig, the float/bobber would make a deep throated "thump" sound like a small rock thrown into deep water as the float/bobber disappeared instantly! When you'd set the hook, it was quite easy to tell that you had one very unhappy camper on the other end of your line!! And, the fight was on!!!

I had a blast catching crappie that way. I especially enjoyed using an ultra-lite, open faced rod and reel for the job. And, there's no telling how many huge ice chests full of them I brought home thanks to the float/bobber and jig method.

But, there was one thing that I didn't like too much about crappie fishing... at least in LA. The fish seemed to be moody as heck. They were either biting... one right behind the other. Or, they weren't biting at all! As a Cajun friend of mine used to say, "If day ain bitin', you con use a dip net 'n u wan catch dem tings!"

Sorry, didn't mean to write a mini novel. But, if you hang around here very long (and, I sincerely hope you do), you'll learn that I was well blessed and cursed with a gift for gab!!!

Enjoy your fishing, my brother!! And, I now expect some bragging pictures of your catches!!!

Robert

 

[Skip48]

You will probably like this one. Had a guy from La. that called me very early this year and then sent me some jigs he couldn't get any longer. I took one of them and sent it to one of the guys I get some things from and he made a mold and sent me 2 samples to see if that would do. Now I have never been a guy that like hair jigs (I tie them for people, but just didn't use them my self), but these were to be kip tail jig so I tied the 2 samples up and a day or two later I was a bit tired of tying so went down to my bank/bulkhead and had tied on the one that was Fl Yellow head, red thread and Chart tail and I put a bobber just above it, like 15" or so. I just pitched it about 5' in front of ma and kind of sideways to the bank so the bobber was actually only about 2' off the bank. First one I lifted to move it and saw a goldish looking swirl under it as I lifted. Well I put it right back in and caught a big one and had to drag him over the brush and other wood trash floating at the bank. I am using a 4 1/2' UL Falcon rod and small spinning reel. 20 Minutes later I had 4 with the smallest at 14"

Needless to say I am convinced these kip tail jigs work early spring for sure, LOL!

One of my very most favorite ways to catch them is only like a couple weeks here that I can do it. When they get right on the bank I troll motor down the bank with a 10' pole and have like 14' of line out and I use it almost like a fly rod, just not over hand and more side to side I whip it back and forth until it's right next to the bank and I just pull it along and out as I move and you can see them come up and take it. Boy now that is a ball, but 95% of my spring crappie fishing is just trolling with my troll motor in water from say 6'-12'. So not a ton of work and my shoulder doesn't have to cast a lot.

As far as your problem with being a diabetic (me too, but not bad yet) and needing the rest room a lot, I take a bucket and if the wife goes she can go or even my self it's easier than trying to go over the side. Anyway don't need to hit the bank for that and just dump it in the lake, it's a very big lake with over 1200 miles of shoreline and the deepest parts is very close to 100'. The river goes from 90'-100' at the dam to maybe 50' deep 50 miles North of me.

See picture link below to the first 2 of these I tied.
http://thumpitjigs.com/images/DSC04361.JPG

Check out my web site to see what I make and especially my new Stuff page.
http://thumpitjigs.com/NewStuff.html

Don't worry about being long winded as I get that way my self too much.

Skip
PS I tried to keep this short, but this was my best attempt, LOL!

 

[beebiz]

Skip, you just had to do that didn't you... post a link to your site... full of all kinds of jigs and crappie pictures... just had to didn't you??? Only a true Texan would tease a Tennessean like that!!
:lol!:

My wife caught me perusing your site and drooling all over my keyboard. She wanted to know what I was doing. I told her I was just dreaming. And, she wanted to know what for!

"You haven't been able to go fishing in over two years," she said. "Why do you want to sit there and drool over something like that??"

I told her that I was seriously considering ordering a handful of your jigs and using this winter to get out my UL stuff, clean it up and oil it good and try the jigs out next spring. She kept rolling her eyes at me and insisting that since I no longer had a boat I would probably never use them.

I kept insisting that I would. I even reminded her that a crappie jig can be used for big bream too. And, I reminded her that I knew of a big pond that has lots and lots of saucer sized hybrid bream in it.

After she continued to insist that there was only a snowflake's prayer in Hell that I'd ever fish with them, I told her that even if they never hit the water they were so pretty that I'd hang them in my computer room and look at them!!!

See what happened??? :roll: And, it's all your fault!!! Dang Texan!!!!
:lol!: :lol!: :lol!: :lol!:

In all seriousness, I love your site! I could spend hours there just looking! And, if I would allow myself to, I could easily spend a couple months income on what my wife calls "stuff!"

Those two custom jigs you made look great! You did an excellent job on them!!

I never was that big on jigs made with hair either. Nor did I care that much for feathers. About 99.9% of the jigs that I used were the kind that had soft rubber bodies and skirts. My favorite and most productive colors were black body with chart. skirt, white head, red body with white or chart. skirt, pink body with white skirt, and yellow anything... in that order! But, after your luck with the new hairy jigs, I might just have to see how they work around here!!

Something else I found rather interesting on your site was the glow heads. I know they make the jig easier for the fish to see. But, I can see how that could be both a good and a bad thing. It would seem to me that a glowing object in the water might have a tendency to scare the fish. During the spawning season, while the fish are so fiercely protecting their nests, I can see how this would be a great advantage. The rest of the time, I don't know.

What has your experience with the glow heads been like? And, about how long can one reasonably expect the glow to last after being charged?

By the way, your site's pictures of the fish you've caught with your jigs are great! Many, many beautiful fish there!!! And, there just isn't much of a better way to sell your product than to prove that it woks!

I'm glad you don't mind "jack-jawing!" I've rarely met a man who liked to talk that wasn't also a fisherman. And, I've never met a fisherman that wasn't a talker!!

Later....

Robert

 

[Skip48]

Thank you Robert I appreciate it when someone likes my work. BTW I have some plans for big bream too. I have made a good many of them to, bit a few months back I picked up some Micro Mink Zonkers and believe I can make one killer jig for bream with them. Only problem is a pack only has 2' of zonkers/strips in them.

As for my Glow Jigs and the way I make them is unlike anyone else I know because it took me about 3 months of research and phone calling companies to see what I could get away with mixing this stuff up. The glow for the green one they say will last 12 hours, but I will say that if I have some hanging in my tying room and cut off the light at night and come back later they are very visible way longer than one hour. Most of the fish I have caught on them (I don't use them a lot, don't know why) were down 10' or more and the biggest one yet was 17" and was fishing down about 12' over brush. Actually I had put my rod in the rod holder as the guy with me wanted to know how to tie the knot I was using. Anyway just got to him and started to show and hear my rod making noise and looked back and it was bend to heck. Grabbed it and hauled in that 17" crappie.

Early this year I got whit the Mfg. where I buy my chenille and got them to do something they don't offer. I got them to take the crystal chenille they make in the largest size they make and add more material to the cotton string so I could make the body nice and full. They later told me that I am the only person they do that for, so Shhhh don't say anything, LOL! If on my new stuff page at the bottom right side is where this stuff is. I started spring as normal, using a Roadrunner in Chart/Blue/Chart with a willow leaf blade and was doing great. One day it started to slow some, but then I noticed that the water had cleared some and I could see probably a foot more now than when spring started. So I did what I always do, I changed to Silver/Blue/White and that helped, but I went to town for something and on the way back it hit me that I had that new big silver chenille and got back and tied up a Roadrunner with (had some of the Roadrunner heads Nichol Plated) a Plated head/silver body and blue tail with a silver strip down each side and one red strip in the middle. The crappie started not just biting again, they were eating it and most hooked deep in their mouth. I didn't change that bait again and then this summer I didn't fish, too hot for me.

Thanks again Robert,

Skip