Jrob78

Man, I feel you on that! I've always been introverted but it has definitely gotten harder as I've gotten older and as my friend group has shrunk. I'm also more confident and less concerned about impressing people so that helps balance it out some. It's hard to imagine the pressure these guys are under and how one slip up, that probably wasn't even his fault, ended up costing him so much money and a win. At least BP is doing well financially and it won't harm is career. This win might catapult Davis Jr's career and at least keep him on tour for years to come. I am definitely going to be looking for the story to come out about what happened.

Good on you for stepping out of your comfort zone. I struggle with that stuff too but like you said, it usually always ends up being worth it in the end. I feel terrible for BP, he seems like such a good dude and lead the tournament the whole way through only to lose on a dead fish. He's going to lose sleep over this one.

What an awesome day that must've been!!

Why Taku, WHY?!?!

Pretty good little first day. Hopefully they can keep it up

Stars take a 3-2 series lead over Seattle! The winner of game 5 after a 2-2 series tie goes on to win the series 78% of the time.

I won't use guides without ceramic inserts so I have no personal experience, but my understanding is that the braid itself doesn't cause the grooving, it's debris that the braid picks up. I've seen Recoil guides groove from braid use. But I know a lot of people use guides without inserts and don't have issue. Just check them every now and then and I'm sure it will be fine.

I've done it both ways. We have some land with a small pond and we would shoot them with a .22 when they would come up on the bank. I've also done it from a boat with a gig. We would ride around at night with a spot light and look for eyes. You can sneak up on them and gig them. We would use pretty long poles, like 8' or so. My dad had a couple of spring loaded gigs with jaws that would slam shut but I've used the trident type also. I don't think you can still get the spring loaded gigs but I'm not sure, haven't done it in a long time. Unless you have a small body of water and can shoot on it, a boat and spot light is the way to go.

I know some people opt for light line and spinning gear for Senkos but it just doesn't register for me. Senkos are heavy and I use a 5/0 EWG hook and make long casts. A 7'2"- 7'4" MH F rod and normally 14-17 lb fluorocarbon are what I feel is minimum to get good hooksets at the end of a long cast and getting fish out of cover. Braid sucks for slack line presentations IMO, which Senkos definitely are.

In the Daiwa lineup I would probably look for a MH Reg for those techniques. I like and use a Daiwa Rebellion glass rod for chatterbaits but I don't love it for spinnerbaits and definitely not swim jigs. I have an OG Tatula in 7'2" MH R that is great for all those techniques. It has enough power and a nice mod-fast action that isn't too soft. This is an older rod but I assume the powers and actions of the newer rods are still similar. There are some MH R Tatula Elite rods from the last series on sale at many places, I would look for one of those.

I use craws or the Rage Tail Menace, often rigged vertically, when I want a bluegill imitator, which is pretty often. I don't know if rigging it vertically makes that much difference but I don't think it hurts.

I think 15lb fluoro is a good middle ground size for those baits and techniques. Bottom contact baits are where fluoro really shines so that's what I would go with. I am partial to Sunline Sniper but a lot of people really like Invizx.

I've used spool bearings from all the big bearing companies and I've been disappointed more often than not. I'm usually putting them in higher end reels and I don't feel they make that much of an improvement over clean, (ultra sonic cleaner) properly lubricated stock bearings in most cases. The reels I saw the most improvement were the old green Curado E Series reels, for whatever reason. I still change out bearings sometimes because I like tinkering and it doesn't hurt but I don't normally expect to see a massive difference.

If you want a Lew's in that price range I would go for the Speed Spool LFS or the Custom SLP (on sale at TW). The SLX would be my choice of the 2 you listed but I would also check the JDM sites for a Shimano Scorpion, SLX or one of the Daiwa Tatula models. There are a lot of good reels in the <$150 range, I just don't think the Lew's Mach series is one of them.

Rangers are 14-8, 1st place in the AL West, 2.5 games ahead of the Astros and sporting a +59 run differential. I don't think this is their year but the future is finally looking bright again and the team is fun to watch. I'll take it

Has anyone had luck sending Costas in to get the nose pieces fixed? The rubber on mine has torn off on one side and you can't buy replacements. That's really the only complaint I have with them though. The glass is so much clearer and more scratch resistant than the glasses with plastic lenses I've had in the past and the weight hasn't been an issue.

Do they take proprietary knobs or do Daiwa knobs fit them?

I'm happy people enjoy fishing with whatever gear they choose but I haven't even so much as casted a spinning reel in years. I have no use for them.

I agree, 2 central time zone teams shouldn't have to start at freaking 9pm. This should be a great series. The Bruins are going to be tough to beat. I'm happy for Jim Montgomery though, he seemed like a great guy when he was here in Dallas, maybe liked to have a little too much fun though. lol

All my jr's were floaters too. I upsized the hooks but I don't remember off the top of my head what I put on them.

I dislike braid but I dislike it even more when it's new. I like it better when it gets softer and faded. I don't change it until it's too low and needs to be refilled.

Stars vs The Wild in the 1st round! Should be a great matchup and definitely some animosity there among the fan bases, at least from the Minnesota side.

Very cool bait! Gonna have to try that one out.

I always thought they smelled like Fritos. It's weird whatever it is lol

I think name recognition is a big part of it but also price. The Yamamoto's aren't cheap but the JDM baits are $10+ a bag and you only get 5 or 6 baits for the big sizes. People who are aware of the 2 JDM baits but scared off by the price and maybe not knowing the brands feel like they are getting more for their money with a trusted brand. Plus, the shape of the Yama bait looks slightly more like something a fish might eat, it kind of has a tail. lol