Nothing feels as good as homemade!

So I finnaly decided to make my own assist hooks. The ones you buy sometimes feel to short and they aint protected enough. I must say im very happy with the results :), can't beat the feeling of having made them on ur own.

So this is my attempt using the easiest knot I have seen out there for making assist hooks.

All you need is a heatgun ( lighter?), shrink tubing, kevlar cord and obviously some hooks!

My choice was the cheapest possible heatgun I could find, some tubing that was cheap aswell (make sure you do not buy them to small, I think i took the ones around 6.4mm) . Then I went with Jigging Master monster hooks size 11 and YGK Galis Ultra Knot, kevlar cord size 30 (250 pound).

So step one, showing you the tools of the trade.

Here comes the second picture, I tried to make like a timeline so you can see the different steps to make them.

Basically all you do is make a simple overhand knot on the kevlar cord, make sure you stick the hook in from the top of the loop.

Then just tighten it and take the loop through the eye of the hook and tighten a bit.

Then put the shrinking tube on from the top, this is the trickiest part to making these assist hooks and sometimes it got extremely frustrating :) So be prepared for that, and a word of a advice, the hooks are razor sharp so be careful!

Last one on the right is the finished assist hook!

And yes... Down below is my work of art! They are all seeing the water soon only 26 days to go!



Purty, Purty......Watch out Norway! There is a new snack in town..and its Deadly looking and it is from Asia.

I am back with something that just landed in my mailbox. Two of my shipments of jigs. One is bought in the United states from JDMtackle.com and the other one is from pechextreme.com located in france.

My sole purpose of buying all these jigs is that I want to try something different from the normal jigging I have been doing the previous years in Norway. It might be a flop or might actually work. The previous years I have been jigging mostly using the traditional "scandinavium" soft jigs that I have no complaints about. They actually work great on cod, coalfish and halibut. But the jigging style using them tends to be somewhat slower and even boring at times. So I wish to try some mechanical jigging with lighter gear.

So whats on the dinner table?

After reading alot on the forums, especially on 360tuna.com, about different types of jigging. Alot of people says it does not matter what type of jigs we use but more how we present it to them. I Admit i agree with this. But something else that was also said is that it matters alot how the jigs look because it is just as important for the fisherman to believe in his bait. I like bling, bling... So I really think these jigs are going to pull it off even in really cold waters high up in the northern parts of Norway. I will ofcouse keep people updated how it worked!!! :)

These are jigs coming from Sevenseas and FCL they are not new, they have been used efficently for tuna, GTs etc for years with a shining results.

And the jig on the last picture is actually a bonus I got when ordering from pechextreme.com and I really like that one its from SureCatch and is called Powerjig and the weight is 250gr and its quite long as you can see compared to the pencil, so it will be perfect for a quick drop down to the bottom! Thanks alot Stèphane Millez from Pechextreme.com.

Names of the jigs are from left to right.

Picture 1

This is the famous FCL Labo SL jigs they  have a great reputation and I did see a really great video of how good they move in the water when jigged. I will share it with you and let it speak for itself.

http://proshopmiza.co.jp/fcllabo/SLjigseries.wmv

FCL Labo SLS Jig - 340g  (Pink Silver) This is a brand new version of the normal FCL Labo SL.
FCL Labo SL Jig - 230g (Purple White)
FCL Labo SL Jig - 230g (Blue Silver)
FCL Labo SL Jig - 320g (Silver)
FCL Labo SL Jig - 450g (Silver Black)
FCL Labo SL Jig - 450g (Pink Silver)

Picture 2

Here you can see the new FCL Labo SLS jig in comparison to the design of a normal FCL SL Labo, its quite different and is supposed to have a much slower drop than the normal jigs, therefor able to make big slides when jigged. Will be an exciting jig to try.

From top to bottom

FCL Labo SLS Jig - 340g  (Pink Silver)
FCL Labo SL Jig - 230g (Blue Silver)

Picture 3

Three different types of jigs from Sevenseas, they also have a very good reputation. I sometimes get amazed how deadly look, the design is nice and I love the colors. These are some real darting jigs and quick movers. Will be fun to jig with as I now got a new light setup!

Jigs from left to right.

Sevenseas Hooker 1 - 220g (Pink Silver)
Sevenseas Hooker 1 - 220g (Grey)
Sevenseas Hooker 7 Anatahan - 250g (Pink Glow)
Sevenseas Hooker 7 Anatahan - 250g (Black Silver)
Sevenseas Hooker 7 Anatahan - 250g (Blue Pink)
Sevenseas Revolver - 200g (Stripe Blue)
Sevenseas Revolver - 200g (Blue Pink)

Picture 3

SureCatch Powerjig - 250g (Pink)

First Synit rod taking shape....

Synit from New Zealand is crafting two custom made rods for me. I made a choice between the Synit Venom blanks and their newer one the Synit Deepshot. My choice was the deepshot for the somewhat softer tip but almost the same backbone as the Venom blank.

They are building me a Synit Deepshot 150 Elite and a Synit Deepshot 350 Elite, with antacid spiral wraps. Antacid spiral wraps means that the rod guides are adapted to a conventional reel in a much bigger sense than normal rods. The guides start on the top just as usual and then follow the bend down under to make sure the rod doesn't start to flip over when under heavy strain.

I just got some pictures sent to me from Graeme at Synit, the lower part of my Synit Deepshot 150 is progressing and it is always fun to see crafters at work.

I decided to have the Synit Deepshot 150 go in a purple, silver, black and white theme, and I let Chloe and Graeme decide the rest. I am sure it will be a nice looking rod. The DS 350 is going to be in a red , gold and black with some silicon inlays in white.

Here are some of the pictures of the lower part. More to come later.

Reels, reels, reels these loveley reels!

These are the reels I use primarly. I have two backup reels for friends and family aswell!

From left to right.

Daiwa Saltiga SA50, 325m 65lb white Cortland Master Braid and Custom JM Power handle

Jigging Master PE4, 300m 60lb Sunline Saltwater Special PE Jigger8 HG

Jigging Master PE5, 400m 90lb Sunline Saltwater Special PE Jigger8 HG

I started last year by buying the Saltiga SA50 and replaced the drag washers with smooth drags carbontex washers, and I was very pleased with the reel overall. If any other owner of a Saltiga wishes to do the same i have the link saved. Very good tutorial by Alan Tani.

http://www.fishingouting.com/forums/f43/daiwa-saltiga-30t-rebuild-1931/

Although I felt that the Saltiga was way to big for cod and coalfish. It is ofcourse perfect for Halibut but would be nice to be able to switch to some lighter setups for quicker jigging.

A footnote, going somewhat offtopic here,  something I learnt last trip to Helnessund in Norway is, do not have to much drag. A beginners mistake that I will never redo. The Halibut was strong enough to pull line out on basically full drag on the Saltiga, the problem is when you have full drag there is a big chance that the line will cut through the spool and get stuck and eventually snap. This is exactly what happened to me. The size of the halibut will remain unknown, but if you do manage catch a halibut near the lighthouse in Helnessund with a 500g River2Sea Searock jig with a nice Owner Mutu hook, give me a holler!

I have yet to try my Jigging Master reels, but I am looking forward to it. I have two customized rods being built to match these two awesome reels. Some people might ask why I do not have a faster gear ratio on one of my reels since I have three. But the fact is I just liked the feel of the Jigging masters so much I went for it. The spinning reel that is next on my list will have a somewhat faster gear ratio.

Now enough rambling!

Enjoy the picture of the reels :)

Over and out..

The Story Begins...

This is how the story begins. The tale about my saltwater fishing addiction and hunt to knowledge about the gear involved and new tricks to the trade.

I am in noway an experienced saltwater fisherman but my addiction started about two years ago after my first trip to Norway. Since then i have been there once more. I felt an urge to troll the forums all over the world , trying to learn great things from experienced fisherman and one day even I might get the chance to call myself experienced..

I will be posting experiences from trips and test results from the new lures and gear I try. My first tests will come early this year when I go to Vaeroy in Norway the 9th - 16th of April. We will hopefully be targeting some large Cod at that time of year and hopefully even Coalfish and Halibut.

Going to keep the posts quite short or you will get tired fast! Next time I will let you guys know about the gear I have collected since last years trip to the Northern Fishing paradise that is known as Norway.

Tight lines