K_Mac

I have a contractor friend who builds mostly residential homes. He made a very comfortable living until the last couple of years. Before the crash $100-110 would be in the ball park around here. I am guessing it would be cheaper now. He has not worked much lately...

Any time you talk color you will usually find two schools of thought: one group says color means little; in the other group you will find some who say any color as long as it is black, or black/blue, or green, or brown, etc and the others who will say you need to match the hatch. I am in the color sometimes matters group. Over the years I have come to use three main color combos; black/blue, green/red, brown/orange or red. These three colors of jigs and an assortment of subtlety different colored trailers gives me many choices. I also use swim jigs in baitfish colors.

A couple of years ago while night fishing with my wife, I came to the conclusion that there are times when a weapon may be needed in order to protect myself and loved ones. While the situation ended with nobody hurt, I vowed I would not be in that situation again. I live in a quiet rural community, in a county that has one of the lowest violent crime rates in the state. Within the last month there have been two home invasions in the county. The "home defense craze" is a reaction to the world we live in, in my opinion. I spent hours researching the "best" weapon for personal and home defense. I talked to friends, including some in law enforcement. I came to the conclusion that like rods and reels, it comes down to personal preference. There are some reoccurring suggestions though. I ended up with three different weapons after shooting a variety of guns. My HD and camp/boat gun is a SS .357/.38 Ruger GP 100-4" revolver. My carry weapon is a Ruger SR9c 9mm compact. I have a Mossberg 500-18" in the closet. Any one of the three would work fine for home defense, though the shotgun is a bit unwieldy inside the house IMO. The thing that I was told by everyone who had real experience was that while buying a gun and some ammo may give a feeling of security, without training and practice a person is better off with a dog.

John I think after the first couple of pitches/flips it becomes a finesse technique even if it is a jig and craw that weighs an ounce and a half. For me finesse is more about presentation than size. Just my opinion.

What about a 2" shallow running crankbait or a 3" grub? I have caught some big fish on 100 series Bandit cranks and small grubs. I would rather eat dirt than miss a big bite because I wouldn't downsize my bait. I do admit I've never fished a three inch Senko though.

I think it not only depends on the bait being used, but the season and mood of the fish. There are times when the fish are really aggressive that hook up rates with a wide selection of lures is very high. At other times my percentage will go down a bit. One of the things that I have found over the years is when the bite is slow I have to force myself to stay focused. Only getting a few bites, and then missing them because I wasn't paying close attention has happened more often than I want to admit. I do agree with J Franco that persistence with a finesse rig can catch big fish. I have been known to take hours to fish a section of water that others blew through in a few minutes. That's not for everyone, but it works for me. FWIW I am one of those guys who expects to catch fish on every cast. It is that expectation that makes fishing fun for me. I understand that more often than not I won't get bit, and even when I do I may not land it, but I fish water that holds fish with baits I know work. Why wouldn't I be confident?

Good question. I've used the red and the marine Stabil. I have not had any issues either.

Tom Way2slow is right. There are many factors that determine how long a (any) battery will last. How far do you discharge it when fishing? How often do you do this? Do you charge it after each use? How do you charge it? Do you properly maintain that charge? Do you maintain the proper level of electrolyte? All batteries have a limited number of charge/discharge cycles. The more the battery is discharged per cycle, the less cycles available. It is capable of producing a finite amount of "power", and all of the above variables are part of the equation. As others have said, treated properly your Everstart battery should serve you well. FWIW there are a couple of "battery" threads in this forum that discuss these issues at length. They will help answer your question.

Root beer college instructors are just like every other professional group. Some are intelligent, caring, and committed to doing their jobs well. Others are idiots. Hopefully one semester and you're done with this genius. A college education is a valuable thing. Don't let the idiots get you down. Enjoy the ride.

Sorry to hear it. I hated to see him retire. I always DVR the show. I often will skip through it, but I always watched his segment. He was a smart, cranky old guy who said what he thought and didn't care much what the rest of the world thought about it. My kind of guy.

As A-Jay said damage to the nail bed can be permanent. I ripped/cut off half the nail on my right index finger when I was about 10 years old. I have two nails and a scar down my finger where it was cut. It looks relatively normal, unless you look closely. I was standing next to a guy when he lost both thumb nails on a big circular disk sander back in a former life. He was sanding the edges of a small plate with too large a gap between the wheel and table. It was not pretty. Both nails grew back just fine though. Glad you weren't hurt more seriously.

The original rating (given in the topic desription line) for the rod was 1/4-5/8 and 10-17. For most of the rods I use (BPS PQs, Carbonlites, and Extremes) this would fall in the medium range. A MH in the BPS rods would be 3/8-1 and 10-20 (which would be a heavy rating for many manufacturers. ) As it turns out, ChiCity's rod is rated at 1/4-3/4 which is about right for a MH rod IMO. I use medium rods for the recommended baits. The XMLTi will likely work for the recommended lures, although it may be a little heavier than ideal depending on how soft the tip is. Rod ratings are very confusing. With no industry standard, rod power ratings mean little. Rod action is a more objective measurement, but there are differences there as well. Just about the time you get a make and model figured out to know exactly what you like, the manufacturer upgrades or discontinues your rod and you have to start over. It's good for business.

Here is a link: http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/best_lure.html He may be right. I still am not a fan.

At that line/lure rating it is more a medium than MH by my standards. I agree with J Franco and would add small jigs and Trigs to the list. I am not familiar with the Cabelas rods though, and some rods have softer tips than others. String that thing up and see what works best! I would use 10-12# PLine CXX.

There have been rumors since early in the season that he was considering retiring this year. I don't think his decision has anything to do with Pujols. I don't know if he'll be back or not, but ain't nothing cool about Pujols leaving.

I like the faster reels (~30" IPT) for all techniques where I primarily use the rod to move the bait. For applications where movement is primarily done by the reel, a 6.4:1 (~26" IPT) is my preference. If I did a lot of deep cranking something a bit slower would be preferred.

I watched the press conference and he seems to be confident he is done managing. He may work again in baseball he says, but not as manager or GM because of the time required. He did mention (with a grin) buying a minor league team or starting a book shop. Only time will tell if he is done managing. I thought Mike Martz was done when he retired. I am just dumb enough to believe what people say.

He has been hinting about it for a while, but most of us didn't really think he was leaving. I have not always been a fan of his. He has mellowed over the years here though, and I had come to accept his quirks. He will not be easily replaced. Some will celebrate his leaving. I will not.

Both trips sound great to me. I would rather catch dinks with my grandkids than the biggest fish in any lake if I had to choose one or the other. While I love catching big fish as the Visa add says, fishing with grandkids is "priceless."

Looks like a good time was had by all! I celebrated in the quiet of my living room. I guess I'm getting old. I guess if you're going to get pepper spray, second hand is better than being the targeted victim.

Bud's has the Ruger 22/45 on sale for $258. That is well over budget, but a good price on a very good pistol IMO. My local gun guy swears by the S&W 22A. I have not shot one, but he has a couple and bought one for his father. They are listed for $232 at Bud's. I have not purchased from Bud's, just use them for reference. I can usually buy local for the same or less if I'm not in too big a hurry.

Maxximus Redneckus the deprivation and suffering in Haiti is at a level that is hard to believe. The natural disaster did not cause many of the problems, but they are much worse now. Your "turd is a turd" analogy is offensive, at least to me. These are human beings who are suffering. This church is attempting to help. How can you condemn that. One other thing, it has been my experience that those who have the least resources are usually the ones who give the most. They don't wait until they can afford to help; they just do. Yes, their are plenty who need help at home. That does not mean a group of believers can't also provide help elsewhere. Raider Nation Fisher this is a mission trip paid for by the members of a church. They have given of their time and money to try to help people who are suffering. Again, it's what the church is called to do. You don't know the commitment of this church to the local community. Churches that do this sort of mission work are almost always very active in the local community. If a church wants to help in Haiti, or Somalia, or anywhere else where inhuman conditions are present, don't they have the right to do it? Your 'tell me why wanting to help Americans is wrong' argument is made of straw. The only issue here is whether the church has the freedom to try to help outside of the borders of our country. I think they have both the freedom and the duty to do so.

Do we need "all" of the tackle most of us carry? Probably not. I have some stuff that I bought on impulse or before I figured what works best for me that is just ballast. I also have stuff that was once on my favorite list that doesn't get used much anymore. Most of us probably could easily get by with less. That doesn't mean we can get by on one bait IF we want to EFFECTIVELY catch fish in all conditions. My wife fishes with me regularly. She uses some sort of T-rigged plastic most of the time and at times out fishes me. Her personal best came on a chatterbait though, after I had found that was the bait to use that day. She knows that most of the time she can catch fish the way she likes to fish, but she understands that at times other baits and techniques work better. Your wife's logic: A: Plastics catch fish. B: Today plastics worked best. C: Plastics always work best. Tell her that her syllogism is faulty, and you need to buy a couple LC Pointers because of falling water temps.

Very nice! A fine fish in those conditions makes a man glad to be alive. Well done.