Chris Catignani

You forgot Woods, Normandy, Wheeler, Wilson, Pickwick...and a little further out: Percy Priest, Old Hickory, Cheatum, Cordell Hull, Barkley and Kentucky Lake. These are all just in the middle part of Tennessee ( and on N. Alabama line).

Definitely a good skill to have.

(If you have the same reel) You could use an extra spool...and you never know when you will need parts. Typically, parts don't go bad...but I have seen some rubber gaskets turned into goo...

I think you own to something here....we can just call it "fishing practice". Tonight: Knot tying.

I like to use a little shorter rod (6' 10") so I can get the tip low and swing it up for the pitch. Sure you can do this with a longer rod....but I think the shorter rod works better in close quarters. I also dont flip with braid...this in itself is another discussion.

Funny how the river just takes you where you need to be...usually!?

I had one...we gave him a nickname of Saadam ?. I had to leave early one day to pick up my daughter and he got mad and demanded I tell him why I had to leave.

Its not so much your limitations in this case. Its never a good idea to strip and rework a brand new rod. Stripping a rod is like 2.5X the work of just a new build. So...just keep it for now. It might make a good Christmas present. Put a tip on the old rod (it might make a good Christmas present ;). Now...you still need a rod. Build it from scratch.

Jymie Merritt - bass Bobby Timmons - piano Benny Golson - sax Lee Morgan - trumpet Art Blakey - drums The 1959 - 1964 Messangers

Was atempting a stitch of several photos with limited tools...but, to my suprise, there is a hawk in the middle of the third frame.

Hate to hear it...I have really started covering up pretty heavy these days.

All I can do about that....is this...

From the article: “...in the future, I think we’re going to be looking in different avenues as far as using magnets, as far as metal detectors, as well as possibly cleaning the harvested fish as well to ensure our anglers that we’re having a clean and fair tournament,” West added. Uh....lead is not magnetic.

I agree....for that matter...I've never had a guide pull out with just a regular wrap (no blocking or locking).

I may be mis-reading this. But for me a locking wrap would also be a blocking wrap. Like this @ 2:30

Yep....

Yup...good advice. There are days I will go out and just use a technique that need improving.

In my part of the woods it comes from coal. The Cumberland Fossil Plant has output of 2,500 megawatts...thats 16 billion kilowatt-hours a year. Cumberland Fossil Plant (tva.com)

Smallmouth hitting acorns is....ugh...hate to say it....nuts. There is also the possibility that acorns just happen to be falling on their favorite spot.

You can consider Alien Pros Tennis racket tape. Amazon.com : ALIEN PROS Tennis Racket Grip Tape (6 Grips) - Precut and Dry Feel Tennis Grip - Tennis Overgrip Grip Tape Tennis Racket - Wrap Your Racquet for High Performance (6 Grips, Black) : Sports & Outdoors The up side is that you could just remove it and your back to a split grip. Like @MickD says...its an easy thing to replace. But being 8'8" its a beast to ship.

I been using the boxes for the last 20 years. Like @PhishLI says about the salt and hooks...no bueno.