Daniel Ambrose answers:

Well, number 1- You won’t easily be able to find molds that “exactly” mimic a Lucky Craft lure, a 10″ Berkley Worm or a Trick Worm.

If you had a tax ID and a wholesale license you MIGHT be able to find the company that makes the mold for the LC’s and purchase some in quantity, but otherwise, MOST molds for popular lures are tough to find.

There are a couple mold makers on Ebay that sell duplicate molds for older lures, (like Shad Raps, Chug Bugs, Etc), but I’ve never seen ANY “North American” business’s selling LC molds. I HAVE seen some rather convincing copy-cat molds from Taiwan, China and Japan- but the opportunity for “shady” stuff to happen when purchasing and shipping things so far away (on Ebay) is too risky for my taste. (lol)

Go to Ebay- Type in a search in the fishing category for “custom”. There are MANY lure makers on Ebay selling their wares….

Many of them simply purchase a LC and paint it. Obviously, you would not want to “practice” airbrush painting a $15 – $20 lure!

Here is the Ebay site for CBT Custom lures, (a lure painting company with a good rep)- http://sporting-goods.shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=custom+cbt&_sacat=14104&_trksid=p3286.m270.l1313&_odkw=custom&_osacat=14104&bkBtn=1

Here is a Ebay store with decent Crankbait blanks- http://cgi.ebay.com/15-Unpainted-Crankbait-Lure-Bodies-Blanks-Lure-making_W0QQitemZ220556804772QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item335a35c2a4

You can also use JannsNetcraft- they are, (the oldest) lure making company that sells common parts, molds, blanks and accessories for the lure making enthusiast- http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/

And here is another lure making website with good info-http://www.luremaking.com/index.htm

This info should speed you on your way to making lures of your own- Hope it helps?! Good luck!

Daniel Ambrose answers:

I would agree that the doctors have been unhelpful. However, there care so far has seemed pretty standard and up-to-date. Where they are clearly failing, though, is communicating with you and informing you as to what may or may not be happening.

Strokes are caused by a lack of blood flow to part of the brain–this in turn can have many causes, including (but not limited to) head trauma, seizures, clots, brain tumors, brain infections and so on. The MRI is not just to confirm he had a stroke, but to perhaps determine the cause of the stroke. In addition, it will tell you how large the stroke is, and this, in turn, can tell you what to expect in terms of recovery.

While most people think of weakness as the main symptom of strokes, this is actually misleading. Only a very small part of the brain is directly involved with muscle movement and control. This area happens to be close to one of the large arteries that tends to get blood clots, so in turn, weakness IS a common symptom of strokes due to blood clots. On the other hand, MANY strokes occur that due not involve weakness at all.

There is, in fact, a textbook example of a type of stroke that affects part of the brain away from the muscle area called Wiernecke’s area. This area is what controls speech production, and if damaged, people will typically talk gibberish without realizing it. They can typically understand others, and know what they want to say, but can only produce random words that have no meaning together.

On the other hand, very large strokes often times trigger a condition called delirium, where people can become terribly confused, disoriented, agitated (or intermittently unconscious) and inattentive. In a certain way, it looks like Alzheimer’s disease happening overnight (although it is unrelated).

Either of these sound like possibilities to explain your uncle’s behavior, and neither is particularly uncommon.

One of the common risk factors for stroke is high blood pressure. However, it does not always DIRECTLY cause them–sometimes, it simply triggers damage to blood vessels, causing clots in turn. In either case, it is a VERY bad idea to suddenly treat high blood pressure for someone who has had a stroke, because it can permanently kill brain cells that might otherwise have survived. For that reason, high blood pressure is not treated aggressively (or at all in many cases) soon after a stroke.

In any case, without knowing the cause of the stroke, there is no specific treatment other than keeping a person safe and calm. What many people frequently find disturbing is that the best means of doing so in extreme cases is the use of medications to reduce agitation, and sometimes restraints. If you have not seen this done, it is even more disturbing than it sounds. Restraints are overused in many circumstances, but they are also underused in many, and there have been studies suggesting that in severe agitation, it is the best way of preventing harm or further injury.

In short, nothing that has happened so far sounds terribly uncommon or unreasonable, with the exception that you have not been given any of this information so far. Unfortunately, these days education and information is hard to come by from physicians, but it is still supposed to be part of their job.

Especially with the seriousness of your uncles condition, make a habit of writing down important questions, let your doctor know at the beginning of a meeting, and do not let him go until you are satisfied he has tried to answer them. Pin them down on specifics–don’t let them give you vague or non-answers, and make sure they know it’s okay to say “I don’t know.”

I will keep your uncle and your family in my thoughts and hope for a speedy recovery.

As always, discuss these and any questions with your physician.

Daniel Ambrose answers:

Looks very good!

Daniel Ambrose answers:

Like any fishing, there’s a lot to it. You can do a web search for articles, to find out where the fishing is best (there are several varieties of marlin), and the main fishing methods. It’s mainly trolling large lures while the crew looks for fish or signs of fish.

If you want to catch one, book a trip to one of the resorts which target them (the best area in the Pacific is probably the tip of Baja California, but there are places all over the world, in tropical areas, where marlin are commonly caught), and charter a boat. The tackle and knowhow are all provided, the crew will do their best to get you a fish (generally in hopes of a good tip at the end of the day).

Marlin vary in size, from the 100-pound class striped marlin to the 1000+ pound blues and blacks, so there’s no one best rod and reel setup. But like any serious fishing, make sure you get quality gear. While marlin aren’t rare, you might work all day (or longer) to hook a single fish, and you don’t want to lose it because of a tackle failure.

Daniel Ambrose answers:

Head out on a local half day boats at the local marina they rent gear here in CA rental gear is 20.00 ticket for the boat 36.00 then decide if you want to invest money on more gear

Daniel Ambrose answers:

Sadly, San Antonio Model & Hobby closed about 3 years ago (I’d shopped there for almost 20 years).

My recommendation is a quick trip up the penisula to J&M Hobby House in San Carlos… They have a good selection of both balsa and bass wood.

They are on Laurel Ave, just off the El Camino:

(650) 593-5019
1660 Laurel St
San Carlos, CA