Chuck's Tacklebox Series (6-12) LbNA #5107 (ARCHIVED)

Chuck’s Tacklebox Letterbox Series #’s 6-12
Millersylvania State Park, Tumwater, WA, Thurston County
Placed 8-2-03 by Nailhead of the Nail Family

9-4-09 most recent report suggests that only 2 boxes are left. Maintenance is greatly needed.

2/8/08 after many years in existance, several of the boxes in this series have gone missing. We are not certain which ones are still in place, but many people still report finding multiple boxes in the series. Seeker beware.

Note: these letterboxes were originally intended to be located at various lakes around the Thurston and Pierce County areas in order to fit the fishing theme. Each lake, each one of Nailhead’s favorite fishing holes, was to host a pair of boxes, one located at the public boat launch and another located on the lake itself. Access to the lake boxes would have required use of a boat as there was no shore access to the boxes. Due to the fact that most letterboxers do not have access to a boat it was decided to curtail this project and make the last 7 boxes in the 12 box series land based and located at a large state park in order to increase access opportunities to the ‘boxing public at large. Boxes #1-5 are currently located at 3 different lakes in Thurston and Pierce Counties as of time of posting and will be relocated to Millersylvania State Park soon.

Clues:
From the entrance to Millersylvania State Park, follow the signs to the boat launch area. Park in the parking lot and walk down to the fishing dock.

#6 Silver Minnow
To find the Silver Minnow, turn around and walk off the dock and along the paved road that leads to the boat launch and take the paved road going 220*. You may need to cross over a gate to get onto this road. Cross the creek. At 3rd pole at speed 10, locate twin alders at 310* The Silver Minnow lies behind and between.

The Johnson Silver Minnow is a versatile and simple spoon lure that has been used by fishermen for many decades. It includes a wire weed guard that protects the hook from snagging weeds and brush. This allows the lure to be fished in areas that most lures cannot. Fished alone or tipped with a trailer such as the popular Pork Frog, this lure is effective for catching bass, pike and muskie, and large trout. It is an essential in every bass fisherman’s box and can be found in Chuck’s. Chuck likes to use this lure in the late spring to probe pockets and edges of dense lily pad fields for active bass near spawning time. One of Chuck’s largest bass was caught using a Silver Minnow.



#7 Jitterbug
The paved road you are on continues on to a group camp area. Chuck doesn’t like fishing in crowds so go back to way you came to the road leading to the boat launch. Turn North on the road and then find the trail headed 260*. Watch for mud holes as you walk. From the far end of the bridge, walk 55 steps and find the cedar among the alders. #7 is tucked behind the cedar under alder bark.

Fred Arbogast created this old time classic topwater lure in 1934. Its short cigar shaped body and large concave metal lip gives it an unmistakable appearance. When cast and retrieved steadily, the lure wobbles back and forth on the surface with a steady cadence as it makes a loud clop-clop sound. Bass, pike, and muskies can’t resist this noisy attraction. Chuck especially likes to fish this lure either around the edges of lily pads in the early morning and dusk or along steep shorelines and around docks at night. The regular clop-clop sound makes it easy to keep a feel for the lure when fished in the darkness and the explosive hits can make your heart jump out of your chest.

#8 Texas Rig Worm
Continue on the trail. At the Y choose the shady path. Another Y—do not choose Lake or ELC. Keep and eye out on the right for Doug. Doug is tall but his backside is burned. From Doug’s side, look 230* to where a springboard left a notch. #8 is tucked at left base under moss.

Nick Crème invented the plastic worm in 1949 and it marketed it as the Crème Wiggle Worm. In the early 1970’s bass fishermen in the infant B.A.S.S tournament circuit in the south started to experiment with different rigging techniques and a certain rig emerged from Texas anglers that would revolutionize bass fishing. The rig used a regular straight plastic worm (usually purple) with a large hook threaded about 1/4 inch up the neck of the worm. The hook was then run out of the side of the worm and then the worm was pulled up over the eye of the hook. The hook point was then buried into the side of the worm further down creating a weedless rig. The addition of a cone shaped lead bullet with a hole drilled thru it and threaded on the line above the hook and allowed to slide up and down the line added control to the rig and allowed it to be fished in practically any situation. Cast into likely structure and fished slowly it would entice bass even when they were not actively feeding. Chuck likes to use this rig around logs and brushpiles to entice active bass by hopping it up and down on the retrieve. Also rigged without the bullet weight it becomes a swimming worm that is perfect for fishing over the top of shallow weeds.


#9 Tiny Torpedo
Back to Doug. Say goodbye to Doug and continue on. On the left near 2 large firs you will pass an ancient blow down. Look for the burned relic on the right as you continue. Gravel. Seek the bridge. Ahead are cedars. A bigleaf maple on the left with a skinny cedar leaning in. From the pair walk 17 steps and see the nurse and child laying down on the right. Tucked up under the child is #9 behind a loose branch.

James Heddon and Sons were a major producer and innovator of fishing lures in the 1930’s and 1940’s. A variation on the Heddon Spook (a simple cigar shaped wooden lure with 2 treble hooks) was the Heddon Torpedo. The Torpedo was simply a shorter Spook with an addition of a spinner on the back hook rig. The floating lure was pulled across the water causing the spinners to splash and sputter. A downsized version of this is the Tiny Torpedo which measures only 2-3 inches in length. Due to its smaller size and higher frequency of sound, it attracts not only bass, pike, and muskie but also crappie, perch, bluegill, sunfish, rock bass, and even trout. It is also used to catch many species of saltwater fish. This is one of Chuck’s all time favorite lures for fishing at dusk. He uses this lure when he goes “Giggle Fishing” as he calls it when the small rock bass and bass will hit the lure many times on a single retrieve. Most of these fish are too small to even get the lure in their mouths but the slow steady sputter across the water is just too much for these fish to resist and the aggressive behavior of these little fish causes Chuck to laugh sometimes almost to the point of falling out of the boat.

#10 Rebel Wee Craw
On down the gravel path. At first chance, turn right in the woods. This path has many roots. A skinny log makes a springy bench on the right. A cutoff blowdown forces you to the left side of the path.
Pass the 11’ tall 6” diameter dead snag standing alone in the grotto. Further on a horizontal soldier blocks the path again. Eventually you should find the wooden path going south. Watch your step on the twists. Another bridge over the creek? Gone too far. From railing on North side of the bridge walk back towards the twists 35 steps. This will bring you to a certain curve in the boardwalk. Walk along the outside of this curve stepping on each board. You search for the one board that is loose. Beneath this loose board on the inside of the curve lies #10.

The Rebel Lure Company began producing the Wee Craw in the mid to late 70’s. It is a crankbait that is shaped and colored exactly like a crawfish. It comes in various sizes and colors to imitate one of the favorite prey of bass and other freshwater species. When cast and retrieved the Wee Craw wiggles and dives and mimics the action of a fleeing crawfish accurately with its scuttering tail tucked underneath it. Active fish cannot resist attaching a crawfish that is exposed in their feeding areas. Crawfish, like shrimp and lobster, are very high in protein and fat and are an excellent high energy food source for fish. Chuck likes to fish this lure over shallow flats warmed by the sun where big pre-spawn bass feed in early spring. He likes to make long casts and crank the lure down and dig the bottom with its large diving lip to stir up the mud. The mud trail and the bumping on the bottom triggers hungry bass, sometimes the largest of the year. Chuck also likes to fish this lure as a trolling lure on a long line along sharp drop offs and deep points in fall keeping the lure running close to 15 feet deep. Contact with bottom often triggers agressive strikes from fish feeding in preparation for cold water periods to come.

#11 Fat Rap
Head north again and watch your step on the twists. Continue North into the forest on a path less traveled. Right at T. A little ways find gravel. Go NE. Don’t travel 7 or 8. Continue toward the sunrise. A stump on the left holds a cairn of rocks. Its a mystery. Continue on the gravel path. A trail to the right and a trail to the left. Choose the path going 120*. The exercises are for those seeking another adverture. Continue on thru the old orchard. Not much fruit here. Go thru the parking lot and take the trail to the right into the woods again. This path keeps the road on the left. The narrowing path goes into the underbrush. The path rises to a higher grade. Only two skinny cedars live on this knoll of firs. Stand at the side of the larger cedar and look 300* to another of its kin. Under its root is #11.

Lauri Rapala, Finish fisherman and inventor created the balsa minnow that took the world by storm in the 1960’s. A variation on his creation was marketed starting in the late 1970’s, the Fat Rap. The Fat Rap is similar to the original rapala minnow in material and design but the Fat Rap has a much wider body and longer diving lip. It is more of a diving lure than a surface or swimming lure as is the original rapala minnow. It dives to an average depth of 8 feet on a moderate cast with light monofilament. The lure was manufactured with a variety of foil colors to mimic different kinds of prey fish. Chuck likes the simple black back, white or silver sided Fat Rap because is closely mimics a bass fry. Chuck likes to fish this lure with a simple cast and retrieve technique around docks, logs and other structure objects. He also likes to fish this lure like a jerk bait by casting along a likely shoreline, retrieving a short distance to make the lure dive to its normal running depth and then snapping the rod tip down to create an erratic, dancing, darting action that active bass cant resist. Another of Chuck’s favorite techniques is long line trolling with this lure in the fall around drop offs and sunken humps and islands. Since the lure is so fat the body guards the treble hooks from snagging most of the time and whenever it does, simply giving the lure slack line allows the buoyant lure to float up and away from the snags.


#12 Rapala Minnow
Back to high ground and continue on. What goes up must come down. Look at the gi-Ant hill on the right. Just past the trail leading up to this massive mound is a low stump on the right. Count 47 steps from this stump. Fit your back to a post and look 295* Behind is what you look fir.

This is the classic lure that Lauri Rapala is most famous for. The Finish inventor and fisherman was featured in Life Magazine in the 1960’s due to the success of this lure. It catches every kind of predator fish. It comes in a variety of sizes from ultra small 2” varieties for fickle trout and panfish up to 15” monster lures for saltwater species. Almost every angler in North America (and most of Europe and Asia) has at least one of these lures in his or her box. Nothing mimics the action of a minnow better. Chuck likes to use this lure in a simple swimming action or as a subtle topwater twitching lure. Also, he has had great success using this lure (the longer varieties- some of which are neutrally buoyant) as a jerk bait. Casting and retrieving at normal speed and then stopping and jerking the rod laterally up to 4 feet at a time causes the lure to dart and dance. The neutrally buoyant varieties of this lure when fished this way will suspend in the water column at a certain depth and will allow curious fish to approach and check it out before they grab it on the next jerk or twitch.

#2 Deadly Drop Rig
Continue on the trail a short distance and you will come to the main road into the park. Cross the road and walk toward the lake shore. Salute Old Glory if she is flying. Choose a path and walk along the lakeshore to the right and you will eventually come back to the boat launch parking lot. As you walk along the lake shore look for the several rock staircases that lead down to the water's edge. At the fourth rock staircase you will find a bench. Continue walking along the shore and you will come to another bench. Take a seat and look ahead and to the right and see a large fir tree with exposed roots. Drop down and pick out the box that lies under the roots and behind the rocks on the left side of the tree.

The Deadly Drop Rig is a simple float and jig/worm rig that Chuck uses to catch all species of panfish. The difference between this rig and any other panfish rig is that the jig he uses is very small, 1/64-1/120 oz. Also, the worm is a straight tailed brown colored plastic worm or finesse worm. Chuck likes to fix the float 8-12 feet above the jig/worm and fish this combo on an 11 ft fiberglass fly rod with a large spool spinning reel taped to the handle. He even replaced the guides on the fly rod with regular spinning rod guides to allow long sweeping casts with this type of rig. Chuck fishes this rig on the deep water edges of weedbeds, especially lilly pads and pond cabbage. He tries to cast it so that the jig/worm lands just on the edge of the weeds and the float lands closer to the boat allowing the lure to slowly sink and swing down away from the weed tops as it moves toward deeper water. Crappie especially like this rig and will take the jig/worm as it descends. The long rod allows for relatively long casts with long leaders. When fished properly the jig/worm will eventually sink to a vertical position directly under the float and tip up the float. Then the rig can be jigged back toward the boat. Chuck has caught all species of panfish with this rig as well as the occasional large, 4-6lb bass.


This is currently the last box in this series. Others may be added as Chuck feels like opening his box and sharing more. Continue to the right along the shore and eventually come back to the boat launch and parking lot.

The Nail Family hopes that you have enjoyed this series. Chuck loves to fish and loves to letterbox too. This series has enabled him to combine the two sports. Hopefully you will be inspired to incorporate your passions into letterboxing as well.

Please send you comments about this series to Chuck himself at the7nails@yahoo.com