Each year, there’s a convention where manufacturers of fishing related products get together to display their latest and greatest products.

The 2010 International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades or ICAST as it’s commonly know was held in Las Vegas recently, giving manufacturers the opportunity to introduce what’s new for the angler.

My daughter Cassie and I were on hand for this year’s convention, spending g three days working our way through isle after isle of new products.

This year, there were hundreds of new products with everything from fishing tackle to clothing and everything in between.

Here are a few of the items that caught our eye at this years show.

Humminbird

Humminbird’s 998c GPS Fishing System side imaging unit allows you to see everything that’s below your boat and the water around it.

It’s side imaging sonar uses a super thin beam, taking a sonar snapshot of the area not just below you, it can cover an area up to240 feet to the left and right on either side of your boat, giving you an incredibility accurate picture of what’s on he bottom and to either side of your boat.

Reading the screen is easy as the dark blue in the middle is what’s directly below you and off to the left and right side are your side images.

The Humminbird 998c allows you to see trees, rock piles and any other object on the bottom just as if you were looking at a photograph as anything on the bottom or off to the side appear as they are.

When put together with the new LakeMaster chips, the Humminbird 998c will put you on the spot, helping to make locating structure and fish much quicker and easier.

For more information on this and other Humminbird products check out www.humminbird.com

A quick,easy & non messy way to Gut your Birds!

We all know that we should gut our birds as soon as possible and a bird that’s been gutted cools faster, taste’s better and allowing  you to keep hunting without the fear that your bird will spoi, especially in warmer weather.

But gutting a bird id messy and who wants bloody hands?

The new GutWrench bird gutting tool makes gutting your bird in the fields fast and easy. eliminating bloody hands. This uniquely shaped device inserts through the birds vent. You simply push it all the way into the body cavity until it won’t go any further – give it one full turn and pull.

All of the guts will come out, allowing air to get into the body cavity to cool the bird.… Continue reading

For those of you who haven’t heard of the SHOT Show, it’s “HUGE” with everything from airguns to military weapons and body armor.

If you hoped to cover all of the displays and booths at the four day show, you’d need to run through the show, so these items listed below are just a few of the hundreds of new items that we saw at the show.

Beretta

Beretta unveiled its new semi-auto shotgun, the A400 Xplor Unico, an extremely fast, light and easy to shoot shotgun.

Their upgraded recoil reduction system will reduce recoil by as much as 70 percent.

It features a shortened receiver, 3 inches instead of 3 1/2-inches decreasing the overall gun length.
Their patented Kick Off recoil-reduction system that houses two hydraulic dampeners, reducing recoil by up to 60 percent—was upgraded to “Kick Off Cubed,” which uses a third shock absorber in the stock bolt to further reduce recoil and mechanical stress when shooting the gun.

It also features their new Micro Core butt pad making the gun more comfortable to shoot which also helps the hunter to properly shoulder the shotgun.

For more information on the Beretta A-400 check out www.beretta.com

Last week, I attended the annual Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Technology or  (SHOT) Show as it’s called which was held in Las Vegas.

This is on huge show where every manufacturer of anything and everything that has to do with shooting and hunting introduces their new products to dealers and the media.

Over the last several years, because of what’s happening in the world, there have been a lot of paramilitary dealers he show with all types of body armor, weapons, special ammunition, scopes and equipment made especially for Special Forces and SWAT units.

Prior to the opening of the show, we were given the opportunity to test fire many of the newest pistols, shotguns and rifles using the latest and greatest types of ammunition.

There were several things that caught my eye at the show including several new guns. Listed below are some of those that really caught my attention.… Continue reading

Reprinted from the Sioux City Journal

Fine bamboo rods are rooted in angling tradition. Names such as Leonard, Payne, Edwards, Thomas, Garrison, Gillum and Dickerson are just a few of the “classic” bamboo rod makers of years past.

Today there are only a few companies offering fine bamboo rods and their costs are high. Their rods run from $1,395 up to $3,500.

However, it is basement rod makers or small companies of one or two craftsmen who are suppling the majority of bamboo rods to the public. For the most part, their prices run from $750 to about $1,500, although you can pay much more if you want. Their lower prices reflect less investment in overhead compared to the big companies, not necessarily a reduction in quality.

Some have two or three year waiting lists, because a production of 50 rods a year would be very high. Most make in the vicinity of 10 to 20 rods each year. So just how are these rods made?

Well, there are something like 700 individual steps in completing a bamboo rod. I’ll gloss over much of the detail of the process in the interest of brevity.

The making begins with a culm (pole) of bamboo grown on a small hillside in China. The pole is 12 feet long. The butt section of the rod is made from the bottom six feet of culm and the two tips from the top six feet.

Each pole is split into 24 pieces of 1/4 to 5/16 inches in width. Six pieces are selected for the butt section and 12 for the two tips.

Six strips are placed on the workbench and the nodes are staggered. No two nodes should appear next to each other on a rod.

Next, the nodes have to be sanded and leveled. Then using a heat gun each node is heated and then flattened and straightened in a vice.

The strips are then rough planned into 60 degree angles approximately 40 thousands of an inch larger than finished size.

The strips are not tapered at this point. Then they are bound together with string on the binder, and placed in the heat treating oven. Cooking the bamboo drives out moisture and natural oils, making the strips harder and more resilient to bending.… Continue reading

Years ago, when my brother A.J. and I first started ice fishing, the gear was pretty basic and mainly homemade, but we thought that we had  the cutting edge when it came to equipment.h

We “redesigned” our Flexible Flyer sled into a real ice fishing machine by wiring a peach crate to the top of it, rods were made from broken broom handles and a couple of nails.

To get through the ice, we borrowed a spud bar from our neighbor.  A spud bar isn’t exactly a high tech piece of equipment as it’s just a “real” heavy metal bar with one of the ends sharpened.

Add to that long handle underwear, four buckle overshoes, a stocking cap, brown jersey gloves and we were ready to hit the ice.

Well, it’s been forty some years since that time and things have come a long way.

Every year, there are more and more advancements in ice fishing gear, making it easier to punch holes through the ice and less exhausting for the fishermen when he’s hauling his gear out on the ice.

You don’t have to look far to find new and updated locators that help you to get on the fish quickly, new lures that helping us to catch then fish as well as clothing helping to us to stay warm in the harshest of conditions.

This year is no exception as I recently found out when I recently attended an Ice Fishing Expo.

Gone are the old days when you either had to spud your way through the ice or chip your way through the ice with a spoon auger as the ice augers now days, make it quick and easy to get a hole dug

Feldmann Manufacturing out of Wisconsin, (www.jiffyonice.com) the manufacturers of the Jiffy augers were the first to manufacture ice augers and each year they come out with new improvements.… Continue reading

Reprinted from the Sioux City Journal.

For the past 12 years, I have spent most winter evenings and a lot of weekends planing bamboo in my basement workshop.

I make split bamboo fly rods.

I begin with a culm (pole) of cane 12 feet long and cut in half. From that I split out sections roughly 1/4 to 5/8ths inches wide.

Roughly 60 to 80 hours later, I have a finished fly rod.

I began making bamboo fly rods because I couldn’t afford to buy one. Now, as I like to say, $10,000 later, I have all the bamboo rods I could want.

With borrowed tools and cane, back in 1977 I made my first rod. I worked at it for two years and then had to give the equipment back. In those days there were probably less than a dozen bamboo fly rod makers in the country and practically no published information on how to build one.

Because of a trade embargo with China, none of the cane suitable for fly rod building was imported. The cane I initially used was purchased before the embargo from Herters by Jim Stone, a friend and great fisherman who made split bamboo spinning rods as a hobby. For the next several years, my rod making ambitions languished for want of a proper planing form and other materials needed to make rods.

The trade embargo was lifted in 1975 and in 1977 a book was published which would rekindle the interest in bamboo rod making.

“A Master’s Guide to Building a Bamboo Fly Rod,” by Everett Garrison with Hoagy B. Carmichael was the book which was to become known as “The Bible” among bamboo rod makers.… Continue reading

The Big O crankbait is a fishing lure with a storied past going back nearly 45 years. It’s still my first choice of smallmouth crankbaits on the channelized Missouri and elsewhere. (Journal photo by Larry Myhre) Reprinted from the Sioux City Journal

I’d like to have a penny for every time I’ve cast out a Big O crankbait.

Oh, I’d still be sittin’ here writin’ fishing stories, but the view would be a lot better. West Okoboji lakefront is what I’m thinking.

But, back to reality. Back to the Big O, one fine fish catching machine.

I first used the Big O back in the mid 1970s. In those days I opened the bass fishing season on Lake Geneva in Minnesota every year.

The Big O was my go-to crankbait then and, I’m here to tell you, it still is today.

The Big O has a long and proud history.

The lure, which is made of plastic today, was originally carved of Balsa wood. Fred Young carved the first Big O lure in 1967.

Fred’s brother Odis field tested the lures. He was six feet, six inches tall so it is easy to see how the lure got its name.… Continue reading

Hunting Season is upon us once again and the members of Team Outdoorsmen Adventures wishes you the best season of all!

North Carolina Archery Season has begun with many other states opening soon. A bow hunter is someone who gets to know his prey up close and personal. He is of the land and knows the patterns and movements of the game he intends to harvest.

This is what makes a great hunter out in the woods. “Make No Mistake About It!” That is exactly the key element in a bow hunters mindset he must be mentally ready and prepared for the shot.

The hunt starts before season when he picks his bow up each year. It makes sense to not take the shot if you have not completed your homework.

The first task to cover is to inspect our bow for damages. Inspect it anyway, even if it has been locked in your case for the past year. If your string looks worn, it’s time to replace it. I like to replace my bowstring every two years regardless of the wear and tear on it. Strings will stretch over time. Inspect your arrows and anything else on the bow. Look for cracks, a bent arrow, torn or bad fletching or anything than could cause an arrow to fly incorrectly.

Make sure you oil movable parts of your bow with scentless oil. Wax your string each time you practice. Proper care of all bow hunting equipment is essential to success in the field.

Once all this has been accomplished you are ready to shoot again. Practice everyday no less than a month before season. I feel if you’ve put in shooting time every night till the opener you’ll be prepared physically and mentally for you shot at a game animal.

By this time your shot should become a repetition of steps that you do automatically without thinking.

Even at this point, here in North Carolina with a longbow season practice should be performed periodically during season to ensure your form and shot have not went south.

When the game animal is in front of you the less thinking you do the better. This brings me to a point on the many sights that are on the market.… Continue reading