Cody Murray posing with a nice Brownlee catfish that he finessed to the boat with a P 7000 spinning rod.  Using 5# test line while using the drop shot technique.

Hybrid Striper Lake Hopatcong........24" long, 17" girth 7lbs exact on my Boga Grip. Caught on my G Loomis SR781 custom UL, Shimano JDM Twinpower Mg 1000S 4lb Berkley Fireline with a 6lb vanish leader1/16oz jighead and a small plastic grub......Almost 10 minutes to land...Stripped off at least 45 yards of line on its first run.

John McCarthy with a nice Brownlee smallmouth.  John was fishing with a Shikari SHX PP 704 spinning rod and throwing 1/4 oz. tubes.

George with a nice Brownlee smallmouth that fell prey to a SnankeBite finesse worm.  The rod is a St. Croix LE 5S70MLF with the new RECoil single-foot spinning guides.

This smallmouth was caught on a GLoomis S841-IMX spinning rod built with a cork Tennessee handle, Shimano reel and Fuji New Concept Alconite single-foot guides. It was hooked while fishing for crappie using a chartruese 1 1/2" chartruese grub and 6# McCoy co-polymer line.

George Roth (Rod Builder / Physician Assistant), Scott Watson (farmer extrodinaire), Terry Battisti (SnakeBite Custom Fishing Tackle / PhD) at the 2001 Fishing Expo.

Steve Zanelli demonstrating the flex of the Lamiglas GSH 1022M blank on a Snake River steelhead. Notice the decorative butt wrap. Doesn't aid in landing the fish, but makes you look good on the water!

Steve Zanelli with a nice Snake River steelhead, caught on a custom built Lamiglas GSH 1022M blank. Depending on the river current conditions, some anglers prefer the heavier powered GSH 1022MH blank for battling these big bruisers.

My son Matt and his son Hauston, with a pair of early season Brownlee smallmouth that fell prey to a jerkbait.

Larra with a nice catfish she caught on a tube and a custom built Graphite USA B65LXF blank, spinning rod with a split-Tennessee handle.

John McCarthy with some nice Brownlee Reservoir crappie. He hasn't purchased a "new" rod yet, but he did buy a couple of my used rods and had some others repaired. Notice the "George's Custom Rods" hat. John has great taste in fishing apparel!

Alex (Tinnie) with a gorgeous 4.25# smallmouth, he caught on his trip to Hells Canyon, Idaho.

Even though fishing was great fun, friends shared stories and laughter over a great meal of grilled marinated elk steaks, corn on the cob and "cold ones" to wash it down.

Terry and George discussing the weighty matter of recent world events, the sluggish economy, the struggling stock market or, perhaps how to catch a BIG bass. I'll let you decide.

Sometimes, rerigging your rods til 2 a.m. is as much fun as fishing...naaahhhhh! Only if the fish aren't biting the next morning!

Fishing in Poland.

Keegan Graves with a 5.5# largemouth that he caught on Lake Owyhee, in November.  Keegan won the Superior Bass Fishing Association, 2006 Pro Angler of the Year Award.  For that honor, he was presented with a Shikari SH III / IMB 663, handcrafted casting rod, by George's Custom Rods.  He is shown holding that rod, along with his nice bass.  The AAA Angler of the Year was also presented with a matching casting rod.  Congratulations, Keegan!

I (Mike B.) was fishing lake Minnetonka in a suburb of Minneapolis, Mn. dragging a jig and minnow thru a channel at night and nailed a 12#2oz walleye.  I was using the GUSA - B65LXF which is rated for 2-10# and 1/32-5/16.

I had the honor to meet Larry Nixon in January 2004 at a Bass Fishing Seminar held by Tri-State Marine.  Larry was there representing his sponsor, Stratos boats.  I was able to share some rod building techniques with him and I valued his comments.  This had to be one of the highlights of my life to meet one of the sports greatest anglers.  I was impressed with him as being one of the kindest, most genuine people I've ever met. He was kind enough to autograph a couple of rods that were later donated to the Idaho BASS Federation and Snake River Bassmasters as raffle items for their respective causes.

This is my new toy. A 2000 Ranger 520 DVX with a Mercury 225 EFI to push it. I purchased my boat from Terry Petty at Western Marine. Talk about a nice floating tackle box! WOW! I'm impressed with its storage space, stability and ride. It is not the fastest boat on the water, but it does do just fine.  John McCarthy and I won 2 club team tournaments this year and my son Matt (alternate) and I, won another.  That was 3 of 5 tournaments.  This boat seems to have increased our fishing success.

Melanie with her first drop shot fish.  We were fishing for smallies in anywhere from 5 to 35' of water.  The rod she was using was a St. Croix Legend Elite (can't say she doesn't get spoiled...lol)  5S70MLF, which is a 7', Medium Light power, Fast action rod.  The foregrip has been removed to aid in overall weight reduction and increased sensitivity.  We were using SnakeBite 4" Finesse Worms in Mike's Baitfish.  The fish we caught seemed to be feeding on small crappie.  The color of this bait was a good match.  The Shimano reels were loaded with McCoy 6# copolymer line and weighted with homemade 1/4 oz. round DS sinkers.  She was able to feel the bottom better, which allowed her to fish more effectively.

Don't let that blanket fool ya'.  If you encounter this determined lady (Mel) on the water, be assured that she fishes, clogs, plays volleyball, attends school...all with the same determination (stubborness) as she is demonstrating behind the wheel of my Ranger.  We were idling out of a cove when the picture was taken.

Ashlin, my granddaughter, with a nice Brownlee Reservoir crappie. Sometimes, you just have to fish to have fun!

Megan demonstrating the proper technique of lipping a nice crappie.

Melanie showing off a nice crappie and with "Buddy" looking on. (He is now grown up!)

This is Buddy with his own fish. He has since been named a "Labrador Carp Retriever". This photo was taken during the Idaho BASS Federation, Fish Salvage Operation at Lake Lowell. It is estimated that 42,000 fingerlings were saved from certain death in the drained irrigation canal and returned to the lake. Uh...no...we didn't return the carp.

***IN MEMORY OF JIM MORRIS...2006***

Jim Morris, a Physician Assistant that I shared Emergency Room duties with. This was one of the only times that our schedule meshed, so we could go fishing. He was using what I called the "Ultimate Crappie Rod". This is a spinning rod built on a light, 6.5' Lamiglas fly rod blank. It is a hoot to fish with, as Jim was demonstrating here.