The Rooster

I'm relatively satisfied at this time, but I have a lot of regrets. I'd like to back up to about the grade school years and come forward again. I'd change a lot of things. To start with, I'd pay more attention to my grandparents and the lessons they had to teach me. Don't get me wrong, I listened and learned from them, it's just that I was very naive as a kid, and even into my teen years. I knew they wouldn't always be here, but I don't think I ever fully accepted that as a reality until my grandfather passed away. It was a serious punch in the gut. I could go on and on, but that's way too deep for here. I'll just say that concerning my grandparents, I did finally realize what they fully meant to me and I'm glad I paid attention at least as much as I did. I really have a lot of good memories, and do remember and pay heed today to the lessons and other things they taught me. I just know now that I could have learned much, much more if I hadn't been so wrapped up in myself when I was younger. That's one of my biggest regrets. I'd say the single biggest regret I have is not turning to God before now. It seems it would have been much easier when I was younger.

Tip to handle, both sides, on the fine side of a cheap Harbor Freight sharpening stone. I hit the medium side first if they're especially dull, but once I get one sharp it normally stays that way. No oils used, and no water either. After the stone, they get the back side of an old leather belt. I can shave with my pocket knives. Larger ones have no need for such an edge, though I have two that do have it.

I tried to get behind all these multiple gear ratios......fast, super fast, moderate, and slow, and ultimately ended up learning that a basic 6.x:1 was good enough for nearly anything I care to do while fishing. If a bait absolutely requires more or less than that then I just won't fish it. All these tech specs and details suck the fun out of fishing anymore. I have a 5.4:1 crank reel that I didn't even bother to put line on this year. I have a 7.1:1 reel that has last year's line on it still, and I find myself occasionally wishing it was a 6.4:1 like my other two are. When I replace these 3 I'm currently using (they're getting old and about due) I'll probably just buy one single gear ratio across the board for every bait I throw, deep diving, topwater, surface burning, dead sticking, and any other presentation there is. If it works it works, and if it doesn't then I had fun trying and I'll call it a day and try again later, changing absolutely nothing when I do. On a 9.0:1 reel, I can say for sure I'll never see the day when I try one.

Actually the written amount on Chris Lane's check would be numerically represented as $500.50 (five hundred dollars and fifty cents), not $550.00. Any time you use the word "and" when writing monetary amounts, it stands in for a decimal. In verbal speaking and everyday conversation, we might incorrectly say "five hundred AND fifty", but in writing it's just "five hundred fifty". So if the tournament winnings were intended to truly be $550.00 then neither total shown is correct. If it's just $500.00 only, then what the heck were they thinking when they wrote it out? Either way, mistakes like these to me are just so glaring and outstanding, it's like pointing a finger at the illiteracy of the person who wrote it.

Are they going to be put back on?

I'd never do it, but it's awesome to watch.

I just edited the original title to reflect this and avoid confusion.

Makes me wonder though. Lowest price ever straight out, and one gear ratio no longer available in left handed version. Hmm...... To me these are signs that something is about to change. I could be wrong, and really hope I am because I never got to get any of them and would like 3 actually. Every time I start to buy one I end up going another way. But anyway, even if they don't discontinue the reel now, common sense tells us it won't last a lot longer just due to new models always coming out from other manufacturers, and in this business you have to stay fresh to stay viable. I think even the best working, aesthetically pleasing, well designed and comfortable in hand reel can tend to get stale and unappealing after a while. Most reel models don't seem to be offered as is for more than about 5-6 years and it's been about that long since the current PQ was introduced.

You should use light oil on the AR. Too much lube, especially grease, will cause the AR to not work right. I dismantle mine, clean each roller, swab out the cage using a Q-tip and just soapy water (don't use corrosive solvents on the AR, the plastic parts will be damaged), and then reassemble using just a drop or two of oil only around the inside of it so all rollers are coated. Grease is too thick for this bearing and causes it to not work smoothly, and sometimes this will cause it to slip a little. With a thin oil it always works fine.

I had a 6'6" M/F casting rod. It is nice. I directly fished and compared the Triumph along side of the older, full cork handle Shimano Compre rods (a slight upgrade over the Triumph, the Shimano Clarus would have been a more lateral comparison but the Compre is what I have) and found it comparable in most instances. The Shimano did feel notably more refined in terms of weight and balance for the same ratings of the rod. I like the cork of the St. Croix rods better, seems smoother and softer. The sensitivity was nearly identical to me, using the same type of lines. The overall stiffness of the two rods, the St. Croix was stouter. This could go either way for a person depending on what they want, either light and crisp or having a heavy duty backbone in the blank. I eventually gave the Triumph away since I preferred my Compres, but if I needed a good rod and this was available, I wouldn't hesitate to buy one again.

Why are you outright attacking him? He started a thread in good faith about bass fishing, stated his view on the subject, mirroring something I've even read that KVD himself agrees with, and the first thing you did was challenge it and now you're basically accusing him of being a fake. There's no need for the animosity here.GOODNIGHT IRENE!

It's because of the spool size. It's best suited for the size line it states to keep it from digging into itself under pressure and causing bad casting or even break offs. The spool being as wide as it is allows room for smaller lines to squeeze between the wraps and be pinched. On your next cast with the lure sailing through the air, line pays out down to the dug in point.......SNAP! Lure lost. Or when a fish hits and pulls line out down to the dug in pinched point.......SNAP! Fish lost. For smaller line, I'd drop down a size, like maybe the 1000.

I have 13 keys on my key ring. Many look the same, there are 4 different but similar master lock keys, 3 different but similar trailer lock keys, 4 different but similar house keys, and otherwise I have 2 different vehicle keys. I guess I'm the weird one, I can tell you what each key goes to, right down to the master lock keys, without having any of them labeled. Each master lock key fits multiple locks in different locations also, usually one key per four locks. I can tell just by the teeth patterns which key is which, though some of those are even similar (dad's house key will open my door, but mine won't open his, very minute differences only, but I know which is which). I nearly never miss when reaching for a key for a specific lock. I also have them arranged on their rings in a specific order (3 separate rings, each containing certain keys, all rings connected by a D ring that clips to my belt), with corresponding keys side by side, teeth patterns all the same direction, but at least one key turned backwards from the rest for quickly finding it. I also have a complete set of spare keys in my truck, in case of loss or accidental lock out (with a spare truck key hidden in the frame for accidental lock out of it), and the spare set is arranged identically to the original set. I'm OCD about keys, but it simplifies things for me. Spare keys save my butt at least twice a year or more, I get locked out often. Scatterbrained I guess. I took the time to set up my keys in a way that made sense when I need to find one in a hurry and it works. Having a memory for minute details helps also, I've identified keys by teeth patterns for years. Never look at numbers or labels on them. I really prefer identical keys in shape, sizes and all one color. I can go through them fast by teeth and find the one I need. Easy in the dark too. Do it by feeling. Go ahead and tell me I'm weird now. I'm like that key maker guy in the 2nd Matrix movie. LOL.

This is exactly the way it is weather wise in Kentucky, about the same latitude as Missouri. Is it really a lot better in the south? Aren't you just in Tennessee? I always figured it was just mildly better there but not dramatically better. I also figured the further south states would be hotter than hot in the summer. I've never lived there though, just visited.

I don't play, except for the very rare $1 scratch tickets. Me and my wife do this for fun just as a treat, maybe every three years at most. My brother is becoming a common sight at some of the places that have slot machines. He sits and studies people playing them and then picks certain machines based on their luck. It's always the ones that haven't paid anyone whose played them. He regularly wins $500 to $1000 at a time, several times a year. Of course he'll lose some too, but nowhere near what he's won. I don't get into it at all though. Seems more trouble than it's worth to me. But if I ever did play something big enough to win big, and I did hit it, I know I'd never work again other than on just what I wanted to. I enjoy my work, but not every aspect of it and not the amount of time it takes. I don't enjoy it enough to maintain it steady if I didn't have to.

My mouth is on the floor reading the part about the resumes. That takes gall! Wow!I'm chapped because of being interviewed for a job over two weeks ago, with them saying I'm basically hired pending paperwork and background checks, and since then I've called three times to check on the status, only to be told each time they're still waiting on paperwork to be completed. In the mean time I've been a contractor up to this point (seeking a more stable job now) and I've had to turn down work in order to make sure I am available to start the new job immediately, however I've taken just a little work to float me until I hear from them. Well, Tuesday I'm out of service range while doing a quick three hour job of hanging gutter, and the new job finally calls. Shouldn't be a problem since I have voice mail, and they did leave a message. What happened to that message from Tuesday to Thursday is anyone's guess because as soon as I was back in cell service range Tuesday afternoon I checked my messages. No messages left for me. All day Wednesday I have service, the phone is by my side, no calls, no messages, and I checked again to be sure, physically calling the voicemail, not just relying on an icon on the phone to tell me. Since I've already called the job three times up to this point to check on things I didn't want to risk being a nuisance anymore by calling all the time, figuring they'll call when they're ready for me, but I'm also worrying that I might not have been hired after all. I recently saw that happen to my wife unexplainably so I worry. She was told all was good and then two weeks later got a letter stating they'd hired someone with more experience, which is hardly believable. She had also called to find out why she was being delayed to start, and told the paperwork was the hold up, and then afterwards got the letter. That made no sense, she has 10 years experience in home health care, is a certified nurse aide, was highly recommended by someone who already worked there in good standing (it's a home health company), had worked with this person in the past, and we have excellent credit and no history of anything negative in our backgrounds, and don't do drugs of any sort. She was told she had the job. She was basically lied to and has since found employment elsewhere. We still don't know what happened there. This was only a month ago. So you can understand why this delay is driving me crazy. I keep seeing the same thing happening again, only to me this time. Then Thursday morning I check again and I have a message with a TUESDAY MORNING time stamp on it from the job! Frantically, I called them saying I'm still interested and just had to be honest about what happened even though it makes me look bad. Thankfully, they still want me and I'm being hired. I'm also switching cell service providers since they cannot explain how that happened either. It has happened before with texts and voicemails, but never at a more critical time. What a scare that was! I really need this job. Work has just been far to scarce being self employed. I managed to find a job doing exactly what I do now, only not having to worry about having enough work. Takes the pressure off, but I almost lost it due to missing a phone call and then a faulty voicemail delivery system.

Absolutely! This goes through my mind everytime I try to help people. Is this going to be the time I get "thanked royally" for my efforts? It hasn't happened to me yet but I'm sure the day is coming. As of now, I still try to stop and help.

I would never start a fight and beat on a woman, and always attempt to restrain before hitting. However, I will always advocate self defense when needed, not with excessive force, but with justifiable force, regardless of sexes involved. I hate the blanket statement of not hitting a woman. I've seen situations where, sadly, it was necessary, and these days women want to be men anyway, so I say if you're a lady, be a lady and I'll treat you like a lady, but if you're gonna act like a man, then welcome to the club with full benefits.

I started down that road to having a bunch of different rods, and turned back. This year I'll be using 4 rods for about everything, and trying to make that become just 3 again, like in the old days. Right now, I still own about 10 rods after having sold some recently. I'm just tired of having such a large collection of stuff to maintain, feel like I have to use it because I own it, and having it sitting around at home reminding me of all the money I've wasted. You guys up in the teens and 20's for number of rods, there's no way I could stand that.

Definitely a hat. Also water, but between the two I've went off and forgot both at different times in the past and I missed the hat the most.

NEVER!!!

Love me some Eastwood!

When I'm not at work, I'm fishing.

I only have this work pic available at the moment.

Well, this might be a good thing for what you're wanting, or not, but I have that same Harbor Freight tool and when it's turned on it can actually be stalled by simply pinching the collet with your finger and thumb. No power at all. This might prevent ruining a delicate part on a reel but the tool is nearly worthless for much else. Harbor Freight does have some worthy tools but this just isn't one of them.