J._Bricker

@Happybeerbuzz, I’d continue to use a quality 87 Octane gasoline religiously as the dealer recommended in your Merc. When I ran mid grade or premium in old my Opti I had some problems due to the longer burn time. The new 4 stroke Mercurys (ProXS) specify 87 Octane.

BTS (Bow To Stern) I buy it by the gallon and literately use it on everything.

I was at the “Reverse Boycott” game the other night and part of the 28K filling a stadium that holds over 55K not including Mt Davis. Not sure if it was on the national radar as MLB wants a nice, quiet move to the Las Vegas strip. Free, fan funded Kelly green “SELL” T-shirts were given away, chants of support to “Stay in Oakland!” and even more enthusiastic and loud “Sell the team!”. But in the top of the 5th Inning when the lead off batter came up to the plate, to honor 55 years in Oakland and protest the move to Vegas was incredible. Everyone in the stands stood up and were completely silent during the entire at bat. It was eerily silent when you think of that many people in attendance and have a pin drop moment for that length of time.

The first thought that came to mind was how my Dad loved that scene in the movie “The D.I.” with Jack Webb. Anyway, as for what irritates me it might be a weathered, faded, tattered and battered American flag flying over a building where employees and the public walk by it every day without taking notice or thinking anything of it. After driving by a local Bank of America with just such a flag I mentioned to the Mrs the condition of the flag and that it hasn’t been replaced in over a year. Mrs B knew it bothered me, remembering how her boss was “mortified” when I pointed out the condition of the posted flag outside their office when I visited her at work one day. While I drove towards our destination, my wife called BofA and after a 40 minute wait we were able to speak to a person and explain the reason for the call. The person was understanding, especially after it was pointed out the American flag is literally on their logo right next to the flag in question. Anyway, long story short on the second day after the phone call this was above that Bank of America as I drove past…

Las Vegas is looking for a baseball team. I hear the new 30,000 seat stadium with a semi retractable domed roof is gonna be packed with rabid fans, drawing 2.4 million a year in attendance and creating 5400 local jobs. My Abacus is broken, but it sounds like a winner!

Sorry to hear about how bad the smoke is back East, out here on the West Coast it was a summer event. Unfortunately there isn’t much that can be done when lightning is starting the fires other than try to contain it and minimize loss of life and property. I’ll admit from a fishing perspective all the smoke and ash did create a favorable topwater bite due to the extended lowlight conditions.

@Boomstick, earlier in this thread I mentioned contacting Daiwa about repairing your damaged rod. I had them repair a damaged line guide on my Zillion because I wanted it done right due to the rods age and the repair was $15 plus shipping and they picked up return shipping. Roughly 6 months later I broke the rod on a hook set punching. I called Daiwa, explained the situation. The rep confirmed they worked on it, said send us the rod and we’ll see if we can fix it. About two weeks later this arrived.

??‍♂️

If it were my rod @Boomstick, I’d reach out to Daiwa regarding a repair because they’ve fixed them (Zillions) in the past. Or I’d reach out to another friend, Krazy Glue if you can reinsert the guide foot.

Donuts are food for the soul, just my opinion. Granted, on a family “Man vs Food” inspired road trip to Washington state we did wait over 45 minutes in drizzling rain at one of our planned stops to get a dozen donuts. To my surprise, Voodoo Donuts didn’t make this list.

In honor of National Donut Day, here’s the list I’d America’s top 100 donut shops according to Yelp. Can’t make it to California to try the top-rated doughnut shop? Here’s the complete list, as determined by Yelp’s data below: Rocklin Donuts & Cinnamon – Rocklin, California HOLE – Asheville, North Carolina JD Flannel Donuts and Coffee – San Juan Capistrano, California Munchkins Donuts Shop – Covina, California Hot N. Sweet Coffee and Donut Shop – Page, Arizona Round Rock Donuts – Round Rock, Texas The Jelly Donut – San Francisco, California Stan’s Donut Shop – Santa Clara, California Simone’s Donuts – Long Beach, California Purvé Donut Stop – Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii Brooklyn Baking – Waterbury, Connecticut Happy Donuts – Puyallup, Washington Superior Bakery – Fayetteville, North Carolina Steve’s Donuts – Riverside, California Pip’s Original Doughnuts & Chai – Portland, Oregon Old Fashioned Donuts – Chicago, Illinois Marie’s Donuts – Sacramento, California Glee Donuts & Burgers – Anaheim, California Diablo Doughnuts – Baltimore, Maryland Milkbomb Ice Cream – San Francisco, California Sweethearts Gourmet Donuts – Anthem, Arizona Sweet Coloradough – Glenwood Springs, Colorado Peter Pan Donut & Pastry Shop – Brooklyn, New York Donuts To Go – Sanford, Florida Nord’s Bakery – Louisville, Kentucky Fresh Donut & Deli – Salt Lake City, Utah Chuck’s Donut Shop – Renton, Washington Ruby Donut – Ayer, Massachusetts Biagio’s Donut Shop & Pizzeria – Eastlake, Ohio Twinkle Donuts – The Colony, Texas Robin’s Snowflake Donuts & Cafe – Spring, Texas Texas Donuts – Lorton, Virginia Beiler’s Bakery – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Avon Donuts – Pontiac, Michigan Home Cut Donuts – Joliet, Illinois Yum Yum Bake Shops – Colmar, Pennsylvania Bill’s Donut Shop – Centerville, Ohio Sedonuts – Sedona, Arizona Gäbi Boutique Donut & Pastry – Henderson, Nevada Bake Shack – Dania Beach, Florida Beacon Doughnuts – Chicago, Illinois S-H Donuts – Austin, Texas Ray’s Donuts – Marietta, Georgia Maui Ono Donuts – Kihei, Maui, Hawaii Sweet Spot Cafe – St. Ann, Missouri Granny’s Gourmet Donuts – Bozeman, Montana Sunrise Donuts – Phoenix, Arizona Holey Grail Donuts – Hanalei, Kauai, Hawaii Family Donut Shop – Seattle, Washington Pink Love Donuts & More – Oakland Park, Florida The Local Donut – Scottsdale, Arizona Paula’s Donuts – Tonawanda, New York Thomas Donut & Snack Shop – Panama City Beach, Florida Gurnee Donuts – Gurnee, Illinois Long’s Bakery – Indianapolis, Indiana PANA Donuts Coffee & Boba Tea – Indianapolis, Indiana Baker’s Dozen – Raleigh, North Carolina Ronald’s Donuts – Las Vegas, Nevada Urban Cookies Bake Shop – Phoenix, Arizona Hole in One Donut – Tampa, Florida Glazed Doughnuts – Hampton, Virginia OMG Donuts & Bakery – Concord, North Carolina Donnie’s Donuts – Ormond Beach, Florida Desert Donuts – Phoenix, Arizona Sluys Poulsbo Bakery – Poulsbo, Washington Donut King Hawaii – Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii Friendly Donut House – Henderson, Nevada Dough in the Box Donuts – Marietta, Georgia The Hollywood Donut Factory – Hollywood, Florida Mr. Donuts – Lone Tree, Colorado DG Doughnuts – Ocoee, Florida Dom Bakeries – Ypsilanti, Michigan Donut Day – Aloha, Oregon Carol Lee Donuts – Blacksburg, Virginia A & H Donuts – Fort Worth, Texas Heights Bakery – Columbia Heights, Minnesota The Tatonut Shop – Ocean Springs, Mississippi Doe Donuts – Portland, Oregon Dulce Donuts – Las Vegas, Nevada Valkyrie Doughnuts – Orlando, Florida Dan-D-Donuts & Deli – Panama City, Florida Dev’s Donuts – Marietta, Georgia Hell Yeah Gluten Free – Atlanta, Georgia Glazed Over Donuts – Beacon, New York Aware Coffee – Las Vegas, Nevada Kane’s Donuts – Boston, Massachusetts (downtown location) The Doughnut Vault – Chicago, Illinois Angelina Bakery – New York, New York Carl’s Donuts – Las Vegas, Nevada The Flour Box – Seattle, Washington Marietta Donuts – Marietta, Georgia Gibson’s Donuts – Memphis, Tennessee Kamehameha Bakery – Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii Mikiko Mochi Donuts – Portland, Oregon Grand Donuts – San Antonio, Texas Donut Run – Washington, D.C. HenDough – Hendersonville, North Carolina Titus Bakery – Lebanon, Indiana Croffle House – Flushing, New York Donut Den – Joliet, Illinois

My current #1 is a Megabass Vision 110. Honorable mention, in no particular order; Lucky Craft Pointer 6th Sense Provoke Jackall Squad Minnow

I use a Rapala Knot for my jerkbaits and a San Diego Jam Knot when trying pretty much everything else.

My personal experience is a well oiled set of OME Shimano or Daiwa bearings work extremely well. Good oil a periodic cleaning are a much more cost effective option for me. YMMV

Or a 10mm socket, as I found out after finishing up lower unit gear lube change of my own ProXS. @stk44 the engine oil change is also pretty straightforward and easy. The biggest surprise was the ProXS oil capacity is the same as my GMC 6.2L, but the 7 quarts of Mercury oil definitely costs a prettier penny.

Grandebass 25% of Memorial Day Sale. Use code REMEMBER at checkout

I’ve still got a Color-C-Lector and every color of associated plastic. Just SMH and chuckle to myself as I type this ?….

As Darth mentioned it is oddly shaped because the ramp comes off the side if the levee. It does get a little tight when you’re dropping a boat in and Tracy Oasis marina used to host 40-50 boat tournaments some years back. Striped Bass fishing can be really good in that area as well.

Sorry to hear about the SNAFU mention above @AlabamaSpothunter. I placed a Memorial Day order with TW after getting the green light and a “Happy Father’s Day” and was more than pleasantly surprised the Navionics Platinum+ Lake Maps card got the discount. If anyone is looking to get a Navionics card at a discount I’d say now’s as good time as any.

Good luck out there, Tracy Oasis is looking good!

My wife’s cousin and my friend, Randy gave me this hat in what now seems a long time ago. He wore his dress whites in our wedding, he loved to hunt and fish, his country and flying jets for the US Navy. He especially loved his wife and young daughter. Rest in peace my friend. #FLYNAVY

I figured out my reels were getting boat rash from bouncing around in the rod locker. And a rod sleeve or a neoprene reel cover at Tackle Warehouse is less than a bag of senkos so it was a no brainer. Just wished I’d done it sooner. Now when I get a new rod or reel its gonna have a sleeve or neoprene cover.

Congrats @Brett's_daddyon the new rod. Without a doubt one coat of U-40 as part of the sealing process will help keep the filler in the cork. I’d also recommend using emory paper instead of the magic eraser, but everyone has their preferences. As an example, a while ago I sanded and refilled my unsealed rod handles (the pictures are of an Okuma and Powell rods) then used U-40 to seal and finish them up. I was very happy with the results and at the time I wondered why I didn’t heed everyone’s advice and use U-40 sooner.

Congratulations @InfantryMP on the new addition to your family and future fishing buddy. Your new addition is really gonna like the Chevelle

I like to wear a dedicated pair of ASICS gel running shoes on the boat, they’re lightweight and breathable on those hot summer days. And since I will on be running, well sprinting 18-20ft once or twice a day I find those ASICS gel at around $65 or so affordable. I wore Tevas a couple of seasons, but it took a couple of years for the sunburn scars to fade ?.