J Francho

I have a custom SB rod built on a 7' 9" H/F SCIV blank that I love for that size baits.

Literally this ^^^

DaVinci Chianti

Servant leadership is where it's at.

Magnum taper has a heavier butt and mid section.

All my boats have been stored outside, covered. Aurora makes the best cover in my opinion.

St. Croix has had IPC for a couple of decades. I've got a pile of them and they work fine.

Counted dealing with the leaves as a workout. I was sore the next day.

Go bass fishing with your most expensive lures. Always works.

Very nice piece of writing. Totally enjoyed it.

I've been saying for years the next record was swimming around Erie. That's a beautiful fish.

Wow, you copied and pasted all those rules, and forgot the relevant part that applies to your specific grief:

Displacement is the wave of the future.

Let's eat grampa! Let's eat, grampa!

The JJ's will stain the Plano boxes.

Doubled up on the upper body deal. It was an on the spot decision. Felt like I got nothing after the first sets. My legs and core were jello after one set. So, I figured that was the move. Feel great now, ready to pass out. I get the no pain no gain, but I think there's also a take the path of least resistance and friggen' push it.

Pretty sure I made one trip with my stuff but I probably pared my stuff down to accommodate. I appreciate keeping it simple.

Spinal Tap was a pretty accurate documentary of my 20s. All of it was true, except the cold sores.

Headed to the gym in 5 mins.

Side Imaging/Down Imaging. Pretty sure those castables don't have any of that.

Arron Martens (RIP) gave back to the community in the form of sharing how he operates without really doing any hard sales pitch. While I didn't always share his preferences, his openness and creativeness, as well as his ability to explain why he did something is rare. I'd say that type of relationship to the forum would be well received.

Seems like there's a lot of misconception about the materials. My mother has a CF pack boat that weighs about 15 lbs. Not a chance I'd be worried about it. That thing is a tank. The resins and fabric used are way stronger than any plastic or fiberglass boat. I had a Bullet that was a Kevlar layup hull and that was pretty indestructible. I have a full carbon paddle, and while I wouldn't use it in white water just due to the wear on the blades, no bounce off rocks is going to make it shatter. One of the advantages of CF, Kevlar, and composite layups is in the strength. They aren't fragile.

Wildy made a CF version of their Commander around a decade ago. That was a thing of beauty, and was FAR LESS money. I can speak from my C120, it is very fishable, so a light version would be pretty cool. I can't understand where the $11k is in this Apex. If Bill Swift can build a carbon Kevlar pack boat for under $4k, why is this thing so much?

Use a flipping stick and 65# braid, NO LEADER. You will lose them from shore. I absolutely crush smallies in the Oneida River in fall tournaments with an A-rig. It is exhausting to throw for 8 hours, but was never out of the money in club tournaments there throwing it. And yes, the strike is vicious and intoxicating.

It's ugly.