By Shelton Products...Picture of Shelton Products logo, a arched salmon with a hooked eagle jaw.

Hi, My name is Bill Shelton and I like to pass own things that may be useful to you. This is a list of things that come to mind. If you have some suggestion that you think would useful to fishermen. Please send your suggestion by E-mail. So check in occasionally to see what is new.

You can reach me at bill@sheltonproducts.com

Tips and Tricks

Cooler Tips
How to knock out a nightcrawler! No Joke!
How to routinely check boat trailer for problems at stops.
How to prevent large birds nests in level wind reels.
Why you should always carry a spare plug.
Always carry a spare boat trailer tire and jack.
How to tell if you have a flat when towing trailer with motorhome.
How to control line break strength and break point for drop weights.
Easy casting with wrist and fingers.


My Favorite Tips.

My Favorite Links.
Shelton Products Pages.


How to knock out a nightcrawler! No Joke!

How to knock out a nightcrawler so they are easier to put on the hook or thread with a threader. Place nightcrawler in your slightly cupped hand and clap hand sharply with the other slightly cupped hand. Once you have the technique down so you do not mash the nightcrawler then you will find it is easy to work with a stunned nightcrawler. You have to really whack them, to knock them out. Clap your hands like you would if you just won the lotto!

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How to routinely check boat trailer for problems at stops.

When towing your boat at each stop always check tow hitch, safety chains, hold downs straps, lights, lug nuts, and feel the temperature of your boat trailer wheel hubs. If you have a bearing problem the heat will build up and make the hub hot to the touch. Compare one side to the other. By always doing this at every stop you will learn the normal temperature of the hub and pick up a bearing that needs lubrication or is about to fail while you are in town, not out in the middle of nowhere. I always put my back under boat (small boats only) near the bow and with my legs I lift the boat up a little to take tension off trailer hitch while observing for any hitch related problems like loose ball internal problem with hitch clasp or loose bumper are towing hitch. If I see that things look tight, then I know everything is secure. Always listen for noise when you hit bumps or railroad tracks. Hitch type problems sometimes generate a clanking problem before total failure. This sounds like a lot but It is very simple. My routine goes like this. I energize my tail lights and emergency flasher. Then I walk to bow of boat and lift while watching my hitch and observing wiring, chains and etc. Check winch rope and tie downs. Then I walk to the left trailer tire observing lug nuts and feel hub for heat. Then I go to back of trailer and check lights, tie downs and equipment in boat that may have move and could blow out. Then check right hand tire and hub. Turn off lights and emergency flashers. Develop your routine based on your ability and the type of boat being towed.

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How to prevent large birds nests in level wind reels.

How to reduce the size of birds nests in your level wind reels. Make your first cast the longest of the day plus pull out a little extra line. Then place some tape (about 1 inch of masking tape or one of the small round or square stickers) across the line on your reel and then wind line in over the tape. If you get a birds nest it will be a small one because the line can not un-wrap any further than the tape you place across the line. If a large fish pulls line pass tape, it will harmlessly tear away. If you generally fish with 60 feet of line then you could have a piece of tape at 75 feet. A small piece is all it requires to do the job.

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Why you should always carry a spare plug.

Always carry a spare plug. If your plug gets sucked out while moving and you stop. In a couple of minutes you look back and see about 5 inches of water in your boat. Most boats will (self bail) suck the water out when you get up to speed. So first thing (if you have the horse power with all the additional water weight) get planed out to pull water out of your boat while you get your spare plug ready are some kind of make shift plug. If you don't have the power to plane out, then plug the hole fast and start bailing. Stop very close to shore in shallow water so you could beach if necessary. Be quick, the boat will fill rapidly. Plug care. Don't place your plug into the drain hole if its greasy. Don't allow a slimy build up to occur on plug or plug hole. Make sure your plug is in good condition and fits very tight. When you are up speed there is a lot of vacuum trying to suck the plug out.

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Always carry a spare boat trailer tire and jack.

Ruin a good fishing trip because you spend half a day trying to locate a spare tire while your buddy is sitting in the boat on the side of the road, looking and feeling like a dummy. If you hit a object in road causing a blow out, slow down and pull over quickly as possible as safety will allow. A blown tire at high speed will come apart fast and rip your trailer fender apart.

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How to tell if you have a flat when towing trailer with motorhome.

How to tell if you have a flat or some type of towing problem when towing a boat that you can not see behind a motorhome. In most case a flat will cause swaying of your trailer that you can feel or cause your trailer to run to one side. In some cases you need other techniques. If you can see out of your back window of your motorhome with your rear view mirror. Mount something to your boat that sticks up so you can see it through the rear view mirror. In no time you will get accustomed too where it tracks in your mirror. If you check your mirror and the object has shifted from its normal tracking spot, (if the road is heavily sloped then wait till you get on level ground and recheck) then pull over and check for problems. You should check for a flat, broken spring, loose lug nuts or spring shift. If you do not have a back window. Mount something flexible on boat trailer that sticks out to the side (safely) so that you can see it through your side mirror. I use a old sawed off CB antenna with a tennis ball on the end. These things will be extreme valuable to you when backing your boat trailer. By observing these objects in its normal position you will know that your boat is backing straight or moving off to the side. This is very useful also when backing a empty trailer. The key to backing a trailer straight is knowing the instant you stray off course so you can react quickly in deliberate amounts before your trailer takes off on you. Never over react! These tricks work for any type vehicle. If you place your hand at the bottom of your steering wheel, then you simply move your hand in the direction you want the boat to go too without having to think about it. On motorhomes you have a lot of overhang from the rear tires to the trailer hitch and when backing such a vehicle, very little movement in your steering wheel is required to do the job. Take your boat to the middle of a large parking area and practice back it into lined parking spaces.

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How to control line break strength and break point for drop weights.

If you want your drop weight line to break free before your main line breaks and loses an expensive lure or rigging when your weight hangs up. You can do this without using a lesser weight line on the drop weight. You tie a simple overhand knot in your drop line at the place you want the line to break and the line will fail at this overhand knot at 60% to 70% of the line normal break strength. Try this! Take a piece 6-15 pound test line and wrap it around your hands and pull on the line attempting to break the line. You will find its very difficult to break. Now tie a simple overhand knot in the line and pull on it (or snap it) and the line will break easily at the overhand knot.

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Easy casting with wrist and fingers.

Why do you always do your casting with a level wind reel with your palm pointed down. You get much more wrist movements to assist with the cast. Try this, put you hand in front of you with palm down and move your hand up and down. Now turn palm of hand sideways and try moving your hand up and down. Did you notice when your palm is pointed down you have much more movement! wala! Use your fingers, wrist and forearm and just pop it out there. You should learn all the techniques for casting and use them all, to keep from over stressing the same tendons and muscles by casting the same way all day.

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My Favorite Tips.

The Flip Lacer saves you time, so you can fish more!
The StrikeFighter holds your rod while you are releasing the fish!
The Shelton Release, the self releasing hook makes releasing easy!

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My Favorite Links.

Here are some of my favorite links on the net:


Shelton Products Pages.



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Picture of Shelton Products logo, a arched salmon with a hooked eagle jaw.

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