NorcalBassin

Definitely thinking you should just wait one more week. If there are a handful of essentials maybe just buy local or pay the regular price at TW... buying $400 of things and returning all of them to just reorder the exact same things is going to be a red flag. Better yet, what's going to be in that $400 order? They're about to get too much of my $ as well...

Definitely Simms. Awesome waders, great customer service, and most of the line is made in the USA.

Best of luck on it being a much quicker recovery than you're expecting... maybe your PT will be a fisherman and incorporate some on the water time as part of your rehab.

Since you're planning on 8-12 pound test (assuming you're not referring to braid) you're probably going to need a 2500 series reel, which will make it semi-difficult to get much below 9 oz for under $100. I have a Shimano Symetre 1000 on my NRX 822 SYR with 6 lb fluoro that I've been really impressed with, but you'd lose quite a bit of line capacity if you go into the upper range of what you're planning on a 1000 sized reel (to keep it light). Best of luck with your search!

Uh oh, you're supposed to tell me it's not as sweet of a rod as I've been hearing! Now it's almost inevitable!!

I'm doing my best not to pick up one of the new HP's in a 742c to throw small tubes and jigs on, but I'm getting weaker by the day...

Wow, what a tragedy and shocking for how young he was. I'll be giving my daughters an even longer hug tonight...

I have some PQ's for backup/friend reels and those things have pretty much been bulletproof. Excellent reel for the price.

If it looks like a prey item to them they're going to still hammer it... somewhat similarly a lot of guys catch huge bass in Clear Lake on rainbow trout swimbaits even though no trout reside in the lake.

I have some fish hammer it in just the right/wrong way for a one and done (rare), but I've also caught 10+ on the same tube minus a couple tentacles. I prefer to fish small tubes with an open hook (traditional jig head), so the worst part for me is retying the rig. However, if that's the issue it means I'm catching fish and if I get too lazy and they're aggressive enough I can go with a Texas rig and peg a small weight.

Tackle Warehouse has a $70 backpack bag that is set up for you to be nice and organized (separate areas for plastics, three 3700 boxes, holster for pliers, water bottle holder, etc). The prior model had some durability issues, but this one seems to be pretty rock solid. It should also be 20% off for the Black Friday weekend.

The Gitzit Chub Tube (3") in brown craw has brought hundreds of fish to my boat... it's right up there with a grub for putting fish in the boat when I have someone with me that just wants to catch as many fish as they can. My personal favorite is the Dry Creek Drop Shot Tube (2.75"), but since you mentioned crappie fishing I'll also mention Canyon Plastics sells "mini-Gitzits" with a thin profile (2.5") that we do well with throwing into the creeks flowing into the lake where pretty much all the predator fish congregate.

One is a disposable, the other is something that will be reliable for many years

Just being outside and on the water pushes work and life stress right out the window... best preventative medicine out there for me.

BR is going to crash if pics ever make it into this thread...

Out of those 3 the Avid gives you the best bang for your buck. That being said, all 3 of those manufacturers make fine rods with solid warranties so you'll be happy with whichever you end up choosing. Best of luck!

Selfishly, I don't like it because I'd have to pay sales tax on anything I get from Cabelas online (if a store or distribution center for the company resides in CA we have to pay sales tax). The BPS I've been to (Manteca, Rancho, Vegas) were all nicer than the only Cabelas I've been in (Reno), but I've heard some of the stores you guys have in the Midwest and down south are much nicer than what we have out here.

#1 buckshot is generally considered the "best" option due to the size of the pellets, number of pellets (~16), and ability to penetrate 12" of gelatin. It's less likely to overpenetrate walls while also producing more wound trauma vs #00 or #000, but then again the proximity of those most important to you (and next door if close) needs to be the first thing you consider when choosing your HD rounds. Anything is better than nothing and a loaded shotgun pointed at anyone is likely going to put an end to any robberies/assaults.

He uses Quantum... obviously he doesn't care about the quality of his gear. Outside of a miracle he'd smoke me with that set up, possibly even if the drag was broken.

Congrats on the sweet build. I was really close to adding an AR-10 to the collection but decided to hold off in favor of the Ruger Precision... assuming the waitlist starts to shrink at some point...

Sweet. Please don't convince me... I struggle saying no to my daughter when she wants anything to do with fishing!

You can get some good deals on SA's clearance lines as they either come out with a newer model or sell the same line in a new packaging. I like their "Mastery Series Trout" line and it's currently on clearance from $74.95 to $37.95 at Madison River Fishing Company's site. I have it on my 4wt Sage SLT and have been please with its performance. Best of luck! http://www.mrfc.com/MadisonRiverShopping/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=4

Yep, sounds about right. Just like background checks for ammo Gavin Newsom wants to push through. Born and raised in CA and still love it here, but life for the outdoorsman in CA continues to get more and more limited for "reasons" that do not make a whole lot of sense.

Holy cow, this thread came back from the dead twice! My daughter loves Ike and I thought about getting her one for her birthday when they came out, but I can't imagine it's any better than the Veritas she likes to use (because Ike was using it on tv).

Small tubes on a 1/16-1/4 oz jig head are my go to bait for LMB (spots and SM too) when the bite is slow with "funner" things. In the clear water lakes I typically fish they'll literally hit small tubes year round and the big girls will also inhale them if you drop it on their noses.