Stringjam

Win 7 - 64bit

Just completed building my first PC. I was a bit amazed when the thing actually turned on and worked. Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD5 Processor: Intel Core i7 930 HD's: 160GB Intel X25-M SSD (System, Apps) (2) 750GB Seagate Barracuda ES drives in RAID 1 (storage) Memory: 6 GB G.Skill Pi DDR3-1600 Graphics: Sapphire Toxic ATI 5850 - 1GB Misc: PSU - OCZ ModXStream-Pro 600W Corsair H50 CPU Cooler NZXT Alpha Classic Case ASUS optical drive

Yes - - but so is being fat. I wanted a diet that worked and worked quickly. I lost 65 lbs. and then started eating a healthy diet to maintain my weight. It worked for me.

Easily. Atkins diet. You'll probably lose a lot more than 10 lbs. if don't cheat. I lost 5 lbs. a week on it (after the second week).

x2. Glad to see you back on this forum period. Was beginning to wonder if getting married had you giving up the carving and painting already :-X Actually, somebody dug this one up from the grave....I painted that bait last year. ;D I haven't painted or carved anything for quite some time, and probably won't have much of a chance to for the next couple of years (going back to school...full-time, and working..full-time. )

One thing to note about lessons: Choose your teacher carefully!!! I started taking music lessons when I was 6 years old, and have taken years worth of them for piano and least 4 years of guitar. If you don't get a good teacher, they can be pretty worthless, and you could actually harm your technique and knowledge base with lame instruction. With teachers charging anywhere from $40-$80 an hour you can really rack up some money. Some music stores will hire just about anybody to teach. Don't overlook the internet......it's been the most valuable learning tool I've ever used. Download "Guitar Pro" or/and "PowerTabs" and get yourself over to www.ultimate-guitar.com These programs are a big step above plain old tabs. The format includes audio (each note lights up as it plays through the piece) and both standard notation and tabs. Download all of all your favorite songs and start playing. I would do this along with learning your technique and theory (scales, arpeggios, chords, reading, etc...). If all you work on is the mechanics and theory, you will burn out and you won't enjoy playing (I practiced that stuff up to 8 hours a day for a couple of years). You have to play music, too!

I've caught a buttload of bass on both the Kamakaze Treats and the Berkley Hollow Belly. I use the 6" version of both....the Kamakaze has a deeper belly and throws off a bigger profile.

Realistically - no. Most people, unless they're extremely musically gifted, would not be able to say they "play guitar" by the end of a summer, or even learn the fundamentals. That said, if I were you, and wanted to learn how to play the guitar, I wouldn't worry about the time frames for getting to a certain skill level. Just get started and enjoy the ride! It's something you can work on and enjoy for the rest of your life. If you get an acoustic, get it set up with light-guage strings. Buy the best instrument you can afford. If you know any guitar players, ask them to come with you to play the instruments and evaluate the playability. A well set-up, good sounding guitar will make a HUGE difference in how enjoyable your learning experience will be.

Yes - snaps, always on hard baits. Use a quality snap like a Berkley Cross-Lock. There's nothing weak about them, and no reason not to use them. And I swear, if one more person writes something about how using a snap "makes" you not check your line condition.... : Blaming a snap for your own inability to determine the condition of your line is like blaming your car for running out of gas because you're too lazy to look at the gauge.

I know I would be absolutely terrified if a 13-year-old girl (and honor roll student) pointed her finger at the board. If I was the teacher in that situation, I would probably jump out of the window - screaming in a visceral frenzy for fear of my life.

Just started throwing some swimbaits - not really in typical fashion, though. Mostly tossing 3:16 Mission Fish in gnarly cover, where I would typically fish a jig or some such. It's working. Also trying the Black Dog Weed Slinger, though to a lesser degree. It's quite a bit harder to get a soft entry into the water with it, and it typically hits like a brick. I think I'll probably do better with this in deeper cover where that isn't an issue.

Charlie-O....yellow/black back (or a good copy....aka BigM)

Cotton Cordell Spot Jackall TN/70 XPS Rattle Shad Spro Aruku Shads The XCalibur XR50 is fine if all you do is reel fast. Slow it down and it drops what little action it has to begin with. One of my least favorite vibes to date. If you like that body shape, get the Red Eye Shad or Yo-Zuri Rattlin' Vibe....both of which I prefer. I would definitely recommend getting a Cordell Spot to start with, though.....you'll have a benchmark to observe just how overrated some of the other "new" lipless baits are. I still use them and think they're some of the best lipless cranks ever made.

Pretty obvious from the avatar. Stringjam usually refers to an informal get together of stringed instrument players - mainly in bluegrass circles. A little inaccurate, since I suck at bluegrass and play mostly electric guitar, but it's what I've used on various forums for over a decade.

I don't care for country music from any time period. But I'll take bluegrass any time.

Stick with the CrossLocks......they are a far more secure design than any duo-lock. Berkley makes a good one. Owner makes the strongest one I've ever used, but it's hard on the fingers. The other good thing about the cross-locks is that you can use a small enough snap to match up well with lightweight balsa cranks, and still retain the strength. I can pull apart duo-locks of similar size simply pulling the knot on 12 lb. CXX.

Tossed an * last weekend with some very good success. I've always been a fan of DT hula grubs, but the * is a much bulkier variation of the theme. Great action, and the fish dig it.

This is why I hope I never have a jury deciding my fate.....people are getting so f'n stupid.

The foiling is looking killer, Marty!

She'll fish for awhile, but she mostly enjoys jumping out of the boat at random. Scares the crap out of me. We met at my sister's wedding about 5 years ago and started dating shortly after.

Some of the pics: Then it was off to Cancun......so nice. When we got back to Springfield, it was 35 degrees. Harsh.

I'll be interested to see if it works.....considering the ballast is so far away from where it would typically be placed.

You can get MB PopMaxes all day long for less than $20 on ebay. I've bought used MB stuff for less than $10......just keep an eye out.

Well designed snaps increase the action of cranks. I hear a lot of people say they're just another point to fail. Stop using cheap snaps and they won't fail. A lot more people have line failures due to split rings than snaps. Using snaps has nothing to do with how often you check your line or retie. Blame yourself if that happens, not snaps. The most secure snaps are the crosslocks, but I use the SpeedClip quite a bit for cranks....just not on walking baits.

Great looking pattern!