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Dearest Friends on Stripers Online, For those of you who knew my brother Awesome John, the virtuoso guitar player, entertainer and devoted surf fisherman, you will know what a special man he was. On Friday, June 24, 2016 I lost my beloved brother at the age of 61. He was recently notified by the New York Blues Hall of Fame that he will be given the highest honor of "Legendary Blues Performer and Master Artist". He was going to go to the Cyprus Blues Festival on July 19th for his Induction Ceremony, My brother always told me about Stripers Online and the many friends he made here, how he was inspired to make handmade lures and how he shared photos of his guitar that has pearl inlay of a striped bass on the front of his guitar. My brother was a true gentleman,a loving soul and in love with fishing and the ocean. He was funny as heck and I will miss him dearly because he was my best friend and my sunshine. I remember when he first started teaching me how to fish and cast. We were in Montauk and I was afraid I would hit someone when I was casting so I moved to another part of the surf. He started yelling " You're fishing in unproductive waters!". I now use that expression in my business and personal life as well. I learned a lot about surf casting from my brother but most of all I learned about life. My brother loved you guys. He found great joy in talking to all of you and you brightened up his day. I know my brother would have wanted to say "'thank you for the good conversation, for sharing your knowledge with me, for allowing me to live vicariously through your adventures while I was in Turkey. Keep fishing brothers" ... is what he would have said. My brother will miss you guys but i know God has him surf casting in his ocean with angels in heaven. If anyone wants to ask me anything personal about my brother, do not hesitate to contact me at allygunduz@gmail.com. As a sister who was so lucky to have had a brother who made me love surf fishing, ally

ya know God is soooo cool! People got God pegged as this old angry man with the white beard on a throne frying people who don't follow his rules but my life has shown me that nothing could be more wrong than that mistaken conception... For me God has always been "ultra cool, friendly, loving, warm cuddly and cute" almost as if God had a childlike spirit who enjoyed seeing his children smile"... Well here I am a surfcaster living in "Turkey = no striped bass" pretty much spiritual chinese torture for a Montauk free spirit who lives to make his pilgrimage to the surfcaster Mecca to hang out with his beloved friends and chase those beloved magical striped critters we all love... Well I've been stuck here for a while now in Turkey, (long story ) but sometimes when I can save up some cash I make the long journey halfway around the world to Gods playground and hang with my bothers and sisters in Montauk... and I do really miss them so much, the friendships and comradery is such a huge part of our wonderful sport... So the summer concert season is now under full swing I am performing 6 nights a week and I'm pretty much burned out already even before the summer heat waves have arrived... I sit in my fishing room at home and look at my lure collections, lube my reels, once in a while steal some time out of the day to go out and cast... but my soul is firmly planted in Montauk even though I am here working like a dog on the resort circuit on the Aegean sea So here I am feeling lonely and missing my dear friends in Montauk and I guess God heard my heart because "out of the blue" guess who shows at my doorstep in Turkey? Your not gonna believe this!!!! I am still freaking out over it ... Yes skishing legend, Montauk legend, Surf caster master "the man without fear" Paul Melnyk!... I mean how cool is that???? a miracle? I'm telling ya guys, that whole old vengeful angry white bearded old man image that they like to imprint on God is totally wrong.... I'm telling ya God has a life time plan of beautiful surprises in store for all of us cause God is totally kidlike cute and adorable contrary to the jealous angry dude picture thats painted of him.. So here we are two old buddy Montauk surfcasters hanging out in Turkey together! I still cant get over it! Who would have thought that this could happen... Paul said he wanted to step out side the US and just see the world a bit and was very interested in the history and natural beauty of this cradle of civilization part of the world where I live.... so he pops up out of the blue!! God is so cool.... we are hanging out steady.. Paul is a blast! Sending a warm smile to all our fellow surfcasters back home.. see you guys in Montauk this fall!!!

Thank you for all the great emails and positive remarks about my first post in this series of The Great Great American Plug Builders which featured the wonderful segmented swim bait made especially for striped bass Striped bass by the great American Plug builder Mike Disanto of Mikes custom plugs.. In this second edition I demo and review another "unique" fantastic wooden plug the The Mega Darter made by Bill Fischer at Big Fischer Custom Lures.. THİS İS A GREAT LURE as well... I hope you enjoy the demo and once again we stand in respect at the craftsmanship and practical design of these works of art that entice predatory fish to "bite them" enjoy! "sorry for the bad sound and wind noise, life is not perfect we are all just doing the best we can :)" Look forward to my future installments that will feature our Great American Plug Builders and their amazing creation that are our "toys and our Joys"