Micro

Here's a close up of his good side...

You're right, the bigger they are, the more docile they are. And here is one that I caught in the water while fishing last summer. It has an eye cap that had not been shed, and a mite infection. I kept him for about a week and treated him for the mites, and treated the eye until the eyecap shed. I brought him home in my cooler. I think he thought he was a cobra. Gorgeous snake, though...

Here's another black rat I found this spring...

I found this 7+ ft black rat snake last year under some piles of tin on some land adjacent to a farm. I had seen him there before, and I've seen him there again this year. He is the most docile wild snake I've ever caught. This is the only picture I have that shows the girth on this snake. In this pic, he's lying on my shoulder. I'm 6'4' and 300 lbs and he looks big on me. He's a big boy. I suspect he's living well on squirrels and other big critters.

Glad you're coming come, albeit for a little while. How much time left on your deployment?

I like scaly critter, too. Not only do I have some herp pets, I'm a herper, too. Love going out to look for snakes. Here are my snakes - an Eastern King Snake named "Shadow" and a Corn Snake named "Snowflake" - don't ask, my kid named them. If were up to me, they'd be called "snake A" and "snake B."

Nice gun. Is that the actual gun you are considering buying? I like the Houge grips.

I have a 15' jon boat with a 15hp 4 stroke. I can fish all day long and cover a lot of ground on half of my 3 gallon tank . Getting the boat 30 miles to and from the lake in my Silverado is the other problem.

What led to the fall of Rome?

HMG?

I've never fired or even held a Brigadier. But I've owned three 9mm 92FSs (2 blued, 1 stainless) and two .380 Cheetahs (all Italian made). The 92FSs had about the smoothest slides I've ever felt on any gun, custom or not. And the open slide design is ultra-reliable. Recoil was very manageable. I had Trijicon tritium sights on one of them. I don't know what I can say about them except they are exceptional guns, meticulously finished, and super reliable. Mine all had decockers, which I liked. You can't go wrong with a Beretta. The ONLY thing I don't like is the .40 S&W round. It's a high pressure round and cna accelerate wear on your gun if you shoot a lot. I'm partial to the .45 ACP.

No need to stop using your SX-HS. I have two of all the Revos - except the Premier, and I use them all.

I think you hit all the salient points. I owned a Premier for two days, then returned it for an STX. I agree with everything you said. The part I particularly agree with is the weight part. It was super light - more so than I liked. This is precisely the reason I never bought a Shimano Chonarch 50Mg. I must be the only one in the world that appreciates a little heft. I also thought the spool looked flimsy - though I'm sure it's quite adequate. The spool was drilled more than the STX's spool, and the the internal reinforcements definately looked less beefy than on the STX. Premier is a fine reel, but I knew I was in for a love/hate relationship with it, when I knew I already loved the STX. So decided to stay with what I knew.

Why not take it back? You just bought it last week. I've got two 7' medium PQs, and I think they are OK, but they don't really compare to my Fenwick HMG or HMXs. I started out liking the handle, now I don't. But they weren't bad deals - got them on sale for $59 each.

What you are talking about tightening isn't a magnet, or the brake. It's the cast control knob on the side of the reel where the handle is. I don't have a Citica, but I have several baitcasters and they are pretty much the same. Setting the cast control knob so that you lure falls when you jiggle the line is the way I like it. I can get good casting distances and minimal backlashes. Others may have a different preference. The brake is on the other side of the reel - under the sideplate. You'll see the knob to get the side plate off. When you do, you will see the brake on the end of the spool. It has six pins with a little plastic weight on each one. You turn a brake ON by snapping it UP above the first tab (that holds it down). You turn it OFF by snapping all the way down so that it doesn't move. A lot of people like to have two ON and 4 OFF. I'd try this first, then adjust them as you see fit or if you just want to experiment. I think, though, that when you have more than one ON, you ought to try to make the ones that are ON symmetrical. In other words, if you have two ON, they ought to be directly across from one another. It sort of balances the brake.

Wive's tale - they don't destroy the bass population. The lake I was fishing is both the best lake in Virginia for bowfin, and one of the best lakes in the state for bass.

Welcome back, Reelmech!

Yes, I use them, and they produce for me, especially in the fall.

Through the miracle of technology, we are able to unobscur Burley's picture and reveal his honey-hole to the world...

The truth is probably that they are so close that it could comes down to which one you think is prettiest. So...

Abu Garcia Cardinal 600 ALB.

I agree. I switched over to YZ Hybrid 12# on my plastics rigs. I hated it at first, and it was a disaster on my spinning rigs. But once I got used to it on my plastics rigs, it's the best I've used yet. I can't detect any appreciable stretch, either. And it transmits vibrations extraordinarily well.

Me likes Newmo already ;D

Just hold your rig upside down. Problem solved.

I have two of each (two S, two SC, two SX and two STX). The S casts as well as any of them - except maybe the STX which may have a slight edge in casting ability. But what the S may lack in casting distance over the STX, it makes up for in a more effective brake. The magnetic brake on the SC/SX/STX/Premier provides a range of braking force from very moderate to none. If you rely on the brake on a reel, the Revo S is the way to go. It may be less accessible than the brake on the STX, but it does provide much more effective braking IMO. The cast issue is a bugaboo. At normal fishing distances, I don't think there is a practical difference between the S and STX. The brake on the S is more effective. So I think the S is the more practical reel. It's certainly less expensive. The STX seems a little more refined, has nicer amenities, but it costs 100% more than the S and only offers a little better performance. Nevertheless, the STX is my favorite. But you can't go wrong with an S. It's a terrific reel.