VolFan

Assuming you have enough space to keep the shoulders apart, you should be good with the 1 hr/lb philosophy. I sometimes butterfly mine to get them done faster and add more crusty goodness on the outside. I also marinate mine in a mixture of Coca Cola and cider vinegar...I think I may get a pork shoulder tomorrow...

The same way you do from a boat, just sitting down. A long rod with a short handle helps, but you can work with it. It also helps if you're comfortable standing in your kayak, but that cuts down on your stealth and can be a little dicey if you go bill Dance hookset. Remember: If you fall out, you're no longer a fisherman, you're a swimmer.

Hit BPS or Cabelas and get one of their better house brands on clearance. You'll get three matching rods that way and you can go as high or low as you want.

I had to relearn to cast my SX and Cardiff when they came back from cleaning/tuning. Great service, great guy to deal with. I'm still working on getting a custon spinning rod from him.

Worm and bobber someplace with lots of fish, small is fine. Watching that bobber go seems to keep them interested. Special "fishing" snacks ( i like twinkies and Mt Dew, we're not doing it for our health) to keep them jazzed, and don't get upset if they're more intersted in chasing a frog.

I like to run. I don't generally do anything over a 10K. I don't like DC much, but running on the Mall and around the Tidal Basin as the sun is coming up is a pretty neat experience. I've been wearing the Vibram Five Fingers for about 8 months now and really like them. They've immensely improved my knee and ankle pain, even running on asphalt and concrete. And I actually bought them to fish in!

I've got a double positive for you: Figure out how much money you spend on dip per week or month. Stop dipping, and put that amount into a savings account/cookie jar/pillowcase/hole in your backyard. When you save enough in that, you get whatever high-end stuff you want. You quit the deadly and disgusting habit, chicks will like you more, and you'll have a great combo to show off. If you slip and dip, the money goes into your savings and you start over. Patience and self control are two of the big lessons of life as you grow older. Just throwing it out there as an idea for you.

I want to second the Five Fingers KSO; they take a week or two to get used to, but now I wear mine pretty much everywhere. Great shoes, funny looking, but super comfortable after your feet grow accustomed.

What they said. If you're eating, get a cooler and a 10 lb bag of ice. When you catch a legal fish, lift the lid and put the fish on the ice. Close and repeat.

I took my 14 month old in the backpack this afternoon for about an hour and a half before it was his bedtime. He laughs maniacally every time I catch a fish. Not alot of laughing today ), but it's fun to take him out. I can't wait 'til he can fish too.

Just piling on... You're infinitely more likely to die of a lightning strike or car crash than in a tornado. No one is staying inside or swearing off driving. It's a tragedy, but it's just that, a tragedy, not something that can be controlled or fixed. Sometimes stuff happens that sucks.

The big thing is that for most of TX, the population is more spread out than the places that these hit. If something like that went through Dallas, it would be catastrophic. Short of a really solid basement or a bomb shelter, there's not much place to hide from one of these.

Is he in Alabama?

Not in your price range unless you can find last year's model at Sierra Trading Post or the like but I love my Salomon XA Pro 3D Ultra. The ones without Gortex will be somewhat cheaper as well. They are trail runners, but easily sturdy enough for light to medium hiking. Especially with your new build, don't you want to speed it up a little? If you try a pair on, you will buy some; I almost guarantee it. I am on my third pair in 7 years. I still wear the other two; the sole's just too slick now.

"Where were you when I was getting accosted by the rod snobs?" I was getting more experience. Don't get me wrong, I have a $300 Daiwa Ciello that I got for $100, and that thing is niiiiiiiice to fish, but I enjoy fishing with my 6 ft med shakespeare Platinum spinning rod just as much, and I'm not afraid to break it.

A $200 rod can't substitute for experience. If you or I have been fishing the same Quantum for a few years and know exactly what that rod feels like when X happens, then we're better off than someone with a $500 rod and 3 hours fishing it. I't more or less a moot point on most things except bottom contact baits, and even then experience will outweigh gear quality. Do what works for you, and what you enjoy. I've never had a fish check my equipment before.

To answer your question, I've used the regular sized SK Game Hawgs as topwater over the grass, and they do very well. The Ragetail Spacemonkey also does well, but has a little more agressive action if there's some chop or overly thick weeds. Weightless works well, but a light keel-weighted hook works better as it keeps the bait from spinning/turning over a little better and keeps it just down a little in the water.

I've used Webroot for 5 years give or take on all my computers and have never had a problem. Also, their customer service (which is real people) is second to none.

They're in the Potty up around DC, so I would imagine they're in the James now too...unless they've learned to fly...or skipped the James...

I had a great time fishing below the dam for white bass during the summer. Small white spinners and flukes or spoons or white grubs for consistent action. You'll get some bonus other fish in there too. The Little Pigeon River through PF also fishes great for smallmouth for numbers. Find a bridge and work from there. I used Powerworm trick worms weightless on spinning gear with a gold aberdeen hook, texas rigged, weightless, just drifted and twitched with the current. ALot of fun and it's mostly pretty shallow so you can wde in an old pair of tennis shoes or sandals.

Congrats on the new PB! This one'll be hard to beat, she's beautiful! The best advice I ever heard was: "Don't take any advice." But accept help when it comes your way.

I just had Mike (Delaware Valley Tackle) do exactly that to my Cardiff 200, and the improvement was significant. great swimbait reel. It took me a few casts to get dialed back in to the reel actually. Now if I can just organize myselff enough to finish getting him started on the rod I want...

Congratulations, I'm not even sure how we got in the tournament at 19-14 (IIRC). Add our AD disparaging our coach the day before the game and viola! Average team + distracted coach * lack of support from senior level "leadership" = embarrassment on national television.

What's funny is I actually looked at the FAQ's for that! ;D Shaking head, unsurprised... :

X2 on the trout magnet, sadly enough. A small, 1/32-1/64 oz rooster tail in the color "grasshopper" has worked for me in TN, CO, WY, VA, and KY. It just works everywhere on every species. If you need it to get deeper/farther, add split shot above it. It does everything, and smallies love it too.