Champ188

Good stuff, Seth. Sitting in a recliner with a critter piled up on you just can't be beat, IMO. Don't know what we'd do without all/any of ours. Nice smallmouth and gobble-birds, by the way. I'm too much of a dang softy to kill anything on four legs anymore, but birds I can shoot. Gonna get back into turkey hunting someday.

Gosh dangit, gotta have a thread like this every now and then. Especially in the winter.

To clarify, being moderator here does not give Bill access to anyone's private messages but his own. Fishdoctor, I told Bill (completely outside of the forum) that I had offered you the reels, the price I offered them for and that you declined. I did so in case he knew someone else that might be interested. Bill formed and voiced his opinion from there. Unlike our modern-day kum-ba-yah society, OAF posters are entitled to have their opinions and voice them. If they happen to be contrary to someone else's convictions --- which is the case 99% of the time --- it doesn't make anyone a hater/criminal. I've fished with Bill and he has no personal vendetta against any one gear maker or retailer. He simply insists on top-shelf equipment, and who can blame him since he makes his living with it? A professional auto mechanic doesn't use bargain-bin handtools. The fact that someone doesn't like a product and says as much is not reason to take offense, label them a hater (happens too often here, if not this time) or anything of the sort. Heck, someone speaking negative about a product just might save me some money/frustration. I'll take the bad AND the good info anytime.

To borrow the punchline from a recent Cox TV ad: "Can't get this with satellite!"

Good stuff, Seth. Hats off to you for taking in rescue cats. Donna and I have six full-time housecats, all rescues. You're a good fella.

Probably a little of both, 5bites. And to clarify, I'm not a bunny hugger. I myself don't hunt but fully support the practice. Death by starvation/disease is far worse than a bullet/arrow. Besides, I haven't met many pieces of meat I didn't like.

Are you gonna get a fancy Walmart jersey with your name on the back?

I'm a bunny hugger. And a Henry hugger. This is 20 pounds of the best dadgum pet I have ever had. Never had one you could interact with on practically a human level, but this is one smart cookie right here.

You're gonna like those heads. A lot. And I'm repeating old news here, but for the benefit of any who may not know, you will say far fewer curse words and spend far less time getting your thumb and index finger separated --- each still with its respective skin --- if you'll use the Loctite Gel Super Glue. Trust me, I know these things.

Only Ned knows the Ned rig better than Super Dave.

Slipped my fragile mind that BPS doesn't carry Lew's reels, even though they are literally neighbors. Yet another reason not to do business with Johnny Megabucks. No trouble. There's a Cabela's 10 miles south of me.

I have two of the Johnny Morris Signature Gold Series casting reels that were purchased new a few years back in Springfield and rarely used. Being a Shimano Chronarch/Curado guy, they just didn't fit my hand like I thought they would. They retailed for $269.99 each and with my 25% outdoor media discount at the time, I gave just over $200 each for them. Gear ratio is 6:4:1 and they have 11 ball bearings. I'll take $75 each for them or $140 for the pair and will ship them to you. They'll bring $50 each at the annual BPS reel trade-in event in a few weeks. Slight boat/lure rash on the inner portion of one of them (I'm bad to hook lures onto the reel when moving around the lake) but otherwise no dings, dents or bends. I can say without a doubt that neither reel has more than 50 hours of use. Pics below.

Waste of money that could be better spent on jerk baits, Warts, jigs, etc.

Ya'll get off QB. He posted that at 6:40 a.m. We all know that if he isn't gone fishing by that time on a Thursday, he's already drinking.

Might try Jug N Plug in Shell Knob. Walmart also carries the Strike King Zeroes.

You guys are my heroes. I don't know that I've ever caught a dozen keeper brownies in a single day, much less in a couple of hours out of one spot in January on a crappie jig. Awesome.

Sure, fishdoctor. I will shoot you a PM.

It's a shame, but there are guides out there like that. They really do a number on the reputations of the guys who bust their butts to put their clients on fish and keep their rods bent throughout the trip.

Hard to tell if his head is up his rectum or hidden under a turban.

You are all over it, kwall. As a former guide and one who will likely guide again someday, I always tried to educate my clients as much as entertain them. Of course, some just want a good time and a Ziploc baggie of filets at the end of the day. And that's fine. They can be a lot of fun to guide. But the real fishermen want to know what, when, where, how and why ---- info they can take away and apply to their own style of fishing. That's the real value in a guide trip. Otherwise, you have nothing but a $400 baggie of filets.

Game and Fish agencies in some states are wise enough not to stock saltwater fish in freshwater impoundments.

Rest assured, 23 pounds = A-rig.

Don't know about crawdads, but I know plenty of people with eyes in their rectum ---- coz that's where their HEAD is.

I have a bunch of the old CU200 Curados that are finally starting to wear out to the point that I don't want to invest in new bearings and such for them. I do have one E7 and it's a darn fine reel. In fact, it's one of my jerk bait reels in the winter. I like the 7:1 for getting the jerk bait down to max depth with just a few turns of the reel handle.

One idea might be to go ahead and buy some of the $50 PQs but maybe not quite as many, saving some money back for one higher-quality reel. There are baits like regular ballhead jigs, Senkos, etc. that you don't need to throw as far, and frankly, a football jig is heavy enough that you can pretty much launch it out there on just about any reel. But for your jerk baits (tough to throw in some conditions on ANY reel), Warts, topwaters, etc., you might have yourself a couple of the better, smoother reels. And you don't have to break the bank to buy a nice reel that will throw a mile. I have several of the $149 Lew's Tournament Series (TS1H) reels and just love 'em. Do the trade-in deal at BPS and you can knock em down lower. I believe you can get a nice long-sleeve microfiber T-shirt from Lew's too, although not sure. I'm way too big for a 2XL, which is their largest size, so I never pursued getting any. Now if they start offering sublimated pro-style jerseys, by gosh I'm getting all of those they'll let me have. Hell, I'll sew two of them together if I have to in order to make one to fit me.