Terrierman

Bucketmouth is a pretty good description of that fish.

Yowsa! JoeD I never figured you for one of those really open minded types.

Talking strictly about line on spinning reels: Ham got me off 4 lb maxima onto nanofil for casting distance and feel. He is right. I still like 4 lb maxima for leader. Alberto knot which is a PIA to learn but then once you get it you got it. Not as user friendly as spooling up with mono. But still and all, a superior line/leader combination if you are more concerned with catching fish than with convenience. Do not get the low vis nanofil if you want to use a leader. That stuff is hard to see with old eyes. White with mono is tough enough.

Too bad that is sold. Beautiful work sir.

There'll be plenty of time for quitting when you're dead. Until then, hang in there and keep on trying! And my best buddy who's dead now would say to smile while you're doing it.

Pretty much catch one fish at a time regardless of three or five hooks. From where I sit it's a dumb rule. But willing to be educated as to why it makes sense.

White bean soup made with a sweet Vidalia onion, a stalk of celery and a cubed ham steak, simmered to tender savory perfection. And a johnny cake, made with raw honey to add that touch of sweetness, done in a hot iron skillet and then oven baked to a golden brown, slathered in fresh creamery butter. With a side of pickled beets. Us poor folks has got poor ways.

I only buy stuff made in the USA Missouri Christian County. Good thing I only buy hay.

Heirloom variety tomatoes can be grown from seed that you save.

I hope none of you self righteous pricks ever get sick or injured.

If you can make me feel like they do, you are in.

I bought two of those in 6'6" for Christmas presents for grandsons. They're nice rods. I think you will be happy.

The best part is I caught one on my very first cast before my buddy could even get his bait wet! Now you're talkin'

I fell on ice and tried to catch myself with right arm bent at the elbow. Unsuccessfully. Complete rotator cuff tear all the way off the bone. 90% tear on bicep. I fished the first OAF White River jigjfest with that injury. It hurt and I was on some good drugs at the time. But I could still cast. After the surgery I could not and did not want to do anything at all for about the first three weeks. It gradually got better and I would say by three months I could have fished again but it was way early spring and I didn't actually do much fishing until about four months. The thing the therapists all stressed to me was to take it easy, you don't want to go back into surgery for that one again. I'm pretty much well now. They say it takes a year and that's about right.

You can thank January and February for that mostly. A lot of February I like. Next week reminds me why I prefer April. And May. And usually, June.

Good luck on the surgery. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. Do the therapy but be careful not to over do. And seriously, good luck.

I caught 13 fish on 16 casts on ned out of the same eddy on one my local flows. There really are a lot of fish in the water.

Bogs are better boots anyway. Mark me down as another one who despises HSUS.

Thanks for the kind words. I'm getting towards the end of my career and it's nice to look back and think (hope?) I might have made a little difference for the good once in a while.

I only ever fish weedless heads with that bait. I've used gamakatsu wacky jig heads with tungsten wire guards and they are really good but $3.00 each. And then went to regular round jig heads with multi heavy mono weedguards that I trim length and number of monofilaments. They worked good too, but I wonder about and always look for a better way. And now I've got a batch of Dave's heads with a single wire guard and they look really good. Point being you are right about losing them a lot without a weedguard. Rocks and wood in the river will just drive you jack batty otherwise.

No stogie?

What kind of spinning reel is that if I may ask?

You are a fish killer FF. I had a pretty good day one time kind of like that from the bank on the Red River below the dam at Texoma. Lot of fun. You do it on a regular basis. Kudos.

There was a time when getting the new Bass Pro catalog was a big deal too.

I bought both the lifetime fishing and hunting permit for $70 when I hit 60. Great value.