.dsaavedra.

thanks a lot guys! Sam, i definitely have been spending much less time around the forums, but i still lurk every day. i've been spending most of my internet time over at reddit. so addicting! i didn't run off and get married but i did meet a girl at school and we've been together for a few months. i even showed her how to airbrush the other day and she painted a crankbait! it looks pretty good, i might put up pictures soon. i don't know if "like" is the right word, but i didn't have too bad of a time. first semester was okay, i hung out with my good friend chris from highschool all the time. he failed a few classes and dropped out so i didn't know too many people by the time second semeseter rolled around. i started opening up to some new people about halfway through the semester and made some good friends. i did well in most of my classes, they were tough but not too difficult. i did fail calculus 2 though and am taking it online right now, it sucks so hard, i hope i can pass this time around. no job yet (put in several applications when i got home from the summer but i haven't' heard back from anyone). i really need the cash though! also haven't been fishing with my dad at all this year, its kind of sad. now that i have my own truck and am driving everywhere i do most of my fishing with friends. i want to get back on the water with him though. just painted a bait today so i'll have some new pics up for you guys tomorrow, and i'm planning a few new swimbait designs

i like that american shad

thanks guys. i am pretty confident this thing is going to crush some bass. jigfshn, both hooks are gamakatsu size 4.

i carved this bait like 2 years ago but i have been holding out until i can paint a bluegill pattern that i like really well. i decided to give it a go a few days ago and i'm really happy with the way it turned out. it floats on its side at rest. has awesome twitching action, it looks just like an injured fish. it will swim like an almost normal swimbait if you reel it pretty fast. its mostly a finesse topwater swimbait.

i like these a lot, they're not overdone like so many dressed trebles are.

ohhhhhhhhhh mannn that was too funny! :lol:

this is very true, the tungsten bits don't leave you anywhere close to a finished body. they are just great for ripping off a lot of wood fast for your rough shape. i like to do the major rounding and tapering with the tungsten and then go over that with a coarse dremel sanding drum to get rid of all the grooves left by the tungsten. after the coarse dremel bit i start to sand by hand starting with 80 grit from a belt sander and moving up to 400.

these look awesome as always. you paint some pretty realistic baitfish patterns.

way too much

it's a crankbait rod

hmmm says they can't ship it to me. i found a guy locally who can repair rods and reels, i think i may just take it to him.

pic of the damage. i wish i knew how this happened

these look really awesome

get a structured tooth tungsten carbide bit. they are boss for carving wood.

i use my Dremel extensively for lure building

that is a really awesome bluegill paintjob

i noticed the other day that the top half of the ceramic insert on the tip guide of my st. croix avid is missing, and the bottom half has a few chips in it. i realize this means i have to replace the entire tip guide. is this something i could do myself (i have no rod building/repair experience) or should i send it out to someone to have it fixed? it is going to be pricey to send it to st. croix to have it fixed even though it is under warranty so i don't really want to go that route. is there anyone here i could send it to that could replace the tip? (PM's welcome)

i do like the louisiana shads

2 more weeks....

isn't that a good thing??

word.

you forgot to mention that when the first lightning strikes, the shadow from the car is still pointing the same direction as it was before (down the street) instead of the way it should have gone from the lightning (towards the woods to the left)

soda. i can understand people calling it pop, but it just doesn't make sense to me to call all soft drinks cola/coke/etc. because those are actually specific kinds of soft drinks. i once saw a map showing the distribution of the nicknames. it's fascinating how distinctly defined the areas are where its called soda, pop, coke, etc.

wow that shiner looks awesome, especially on that jerkbait