.ghoti.

Just stumbled across this. 98% of all lunatics who ship bombs to their unsuspecting victims, use FedEx. After all, who would ship a bomb with a company call OOPS?

Divorce is very liberating. It liberates you from half your stuff, and most of your money. Very liberating indeed.

I'm going to make a prediction. We will never see a pic of Raider. Because Raider is NOT some 6'2", 300 lb muscle bound electrician on a Harley. He is really someone's 85 year old, 95lb, white haired grandmother, kicked back in her recliner, flowered house dress and comfy slippers, with a glass of cheap whisky at one hand and cigarette in the other, having an absolute blast with her laptop, yanking all our chains. You have been warned.

This may very well be the single most profound statement ever made on Bass Resource. A tip o' the hat to you, amigo.

Communication between different species has always been a problem. Just remember, Men from Mars, Women are ^%#$%ing crazy.

Pop the end cap off one of the knobs. If you find a screw head, you can replace the knobs, and maybe add a bearing or two. If you find a rivet head, you are S.O.L. Your only option at that point is the buy a new handle that has bearing supported knobs.

Now , there's a smart man. With the season almost over, no need to get in a hurry. And, who knows what TW will have in their Christmas sale. I got a Steez spinning rod a couple of years ago for $209. Then got a JDM Certate to go with it last year for less than $250. Waiting for a bargain describes my buying process to a tee.

I always liked hot sauce on french fries.

That is an eye opener. I've replaced a lot of tip-tips over the years, but I've never seen one in as bad of condition as that one. It should have been replaced a long time ago. Hard to believe it got to that sorry state without the owner noticing. As far the spliced handle section goes, custom builders have been doing exactly that for years. It's a way to get a blank for a specific application when none exists. This just a very poorly executed example. To simply assume that no other manufacturer would ever do such a thing is to do just that; simply assume.

I'm with flyfisher on this one. Keel weighted hooks in current, other wise unweighted.

In a nutshell, that's it.

I have a Tatula ML casting rod, that I'm very impressed with. It's hard to beat in it's price range, if you think you can use a mod-fast action. I now have three mod-fast action rods, and I'm liking the action more and more. A lot of the high end JDM rods are regular, or mod-fast, action, and I'm now thinking these Japanese are onto something we've been missing, but that's a topic for another thread. This rod loads well enough with light weight baits to take full advantage of what your new PX68 has to offer. I have a Alphas on mine, and that reel has never performed better than it does mounted to this rod. St Croix has a 6'9" ML-XF in the Avid series for less than 200 bucks, but I don't have one of those, so i can't comment on it. I've been more than pleased with all of the St Croix rods I own; Avids, LTBs and Legend Extreme.

From that list at Penzeys, I like the Italian and the Tsardust the best. Tsardust makes a great dry rub for any kind of pork, as well as great sausage. I have to warn you; once you order from Penzeys, all other herbs and spices are inferior.

Once you start amking your own sausage, the store bought stuff is unacceptable. Allow me to suggest this: http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeyssausageseasonings.html

Well, Happy Birthday, and you may as well buy two.

I wish I could give you a detailed review on the SS SV, but I've only done some "backyard" fishing with it. Been to busy to get out on the water. I am very familiar with the Alphas platform; I have five of them, so I have a few observations. First impressions; it's lighter than an Alphas, but not really enough to be noticeable when mounted on a rod; a little greater line capacity, which is irrelevant; drag is about the same strength, but is a bit smoother; 7.1:1 gears vs 6.8:1 or 5.8:1, and the SS SV is noticeably smoother out of the box than a stock Alphas. The biggest difference is the spool. I haven't put it on a scale, but with both empty spools in hand, the S spool is lighter than the Alphas spool. I was casting a bare 1/8oz jighead with it, but I can do that with a Alphas. The spool braking system is a different version of Magforce. I'll need some more time with ti to be able to say, with any credibility, if it's an improvement. SO, is it better than the Alphas? I don't know yet. It might be. This reel is being touted as the replacement for the legendary, discontinued TD-Z, and thus, should be compared to it. I have two of those, so I can offer a few observations on that subject. The S is a little lighter, the spool is a little lighter, the drag is better, the retrieve is smoother, it casts a bit better, and the difference in braking systems is up for debate. But, I'm comparing a new reel to reels at least ten years old. The two TD-Zs I have have are still fine reels. Will I be able to say that about the SS SV ten years from now? Who knows, but I do believe Daiwa may have a worthy successor to the TD-Z, and it's about time.

Contact Fenwick. They may very well send you a prepaid shipping label. They are very good at customer service.

It's good stuff. Won't solve all your problems. Like Mike said, it ain't magic, but it helps a lot. They used to be a Bass Resource sponsor, and a bunch of us got free samples at the RoadTrip, a couple of years ago. I've been using it ever since.

I have part of it right now. Just bought a Daiwa SS SV, and I have a blank still in the tube, wating for time to build it. Phenix K2, 6'8" ML-F, 1/16 - 5/8oz lure weight, 4-12lb line weight. The rod blank weighs just 1.23oz. I have a set of Recoils, a carbon fiber MVT reel seat, and some 6lb foam to turn into grips. 6lb foam is lighter, and tougher than cork. I'll be going for a minimalist build, everything I need and nothing more, hoping to get a finished rod not much over 2oz. 2.25oz is a very real possibilty. 2oz is pushing it. Put that together with a 5.3oz reel, and I'll have a bait finesse combo lighter than a lot of reels.

The rule is, you go down the slide, not up.

Don't over-think it, just try it.

I've made a note to self, next time I order a bunch of Daiwa parts, I'll get some of these. I order from a dealer who's about 50 miles down the road from me, and I only do larger orders. I hate to pay ten bucks shipping for 3 bucks worth of parts. I keep quite a few in stock, but I haven't done an inventory check lately. I'll try to keep you in mind, amigo.

LOL Now there's a solution.

I know I don't have any of those. It's what everybody else calls weights for the centrifugal braking system, and the reel should function just fine without one, as long as you have the other three.

You need your reel to match your socks?