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You are (or were) a fan of BPS branded stuff. Pinnacle makes Bass Pro branded reels, including the Johnny Morris reels. If you like BPS reels, you'll like Pinnacle. I've never heard anything bad about them (except that they weren't some else's favorite brand).

repairs@pfluegerfishing.com service@allstarrods.com I know the All Star email address is a general email account and can handle your request. I'd assume the Pflueger email address can, too. Or you can call them, they both list an 800 number.

If you want to bring gas prices down, don't drive so much. Current gas prices right now is driven by demand, not supply. There is plenty of gas, there is just a lot of demand for it. As long as the demand is high, prices will remain so. It's simple "supply and demand" economics.

This website updates it reports avery 2 weeks or so. http://www.lakeanna-va.com/GlennBriggs/fishing.html

HMGs have lifetime warranties.

I have a Johnny Morris Elite MH baitcasting rod, and several Team All Star IM10s MH baitcasters. The JMs are only a little more sensitive than the All Stars - though given the price difference ($179 versus $110) they ought to be. But I don't think they are $69 more sensitive. I will say the All Stars are very tough rods. I also have a bunch of All Star American Classic rods. Frankly, I can't tell a lot of difference between these and the IM10s. They run about $90. In terms of value, I think these are best All Star products, offering lots of sensitivity, lots of toughness and a great price. Plus, they are really pretty rods. I've also got a few Fenwick HMGs and an HMX. The HMGs are great rods - and in your price range. The HMX is a great rod, too, running about $70.

I don't really hate catching any fish. I don't particulary like crappie. I do love the occassional bowfin, though. Hella-fighters they are.

The high gas prices this time have nothing to do with supply, and everything to do with demand. There's plenty of gas to be had. The prices are going up because people are demanding lots of gas - not just here, but around the world, especially in China. It's unlikely gas prices are going to fall significantly anytime soon, and maybe never. The good part is is that since prices now are due to demand, it will have less of an effect on the economy. Yes, the price of everything will rise because everything relies on oil. But the economy will stay strong and the stock market will continue to climb. Unemployment will remain low. And everyone will will survive. One instersting aside is that since the cost of oil is so high, it may now be economical to start developing America's unconventional oil reserves. Most people think the largest oil reserves in the world are in the middle east. That's true with respect to "conventional" oil - sweet light crude. But oil exists in other forms in other part of the world. Venezuela's oil is dark, sticky and heavy - like tar. The majority of Canada's oil comes from "oil sands" (and supplies most of the US's imported oil). And what a lot of people don't know is that when we take into consideration these unconventional oil reserves, the United States is sitting on the largest deposits on the glode. Nearly a trillion barrels of recoverable oil exists in the form of "oil shale" located in Colorado and Utah. Estimates are that the US is sitting on 3 to 8 times as much oil as Saudia Arabia. The problem up until now is that cost of refining it. But Shell has apparnetly patented a way to extract super-high quality oil from oil shale with minimal impact at the surface - and they will be able to sell it profitably at $30 per barrel. Etimates are that these oil shale fields can yield as much oil as Prudhoe Bay did in it's best years and can do it for hundreds of years. Good news, indeed.

If the ghost is capable of moving a can opener, it's capable of moving a broom. Tell it to clean the house up. Seriously, though. It was probably just a.... Wait, you eat Lucky Charms? Maybe it just wanted you to eat the Wheaties. It's looking out for your health. Maybe it's a female ghost, and maybe she's hot. Man, you're lucky. A house cleaning, health conscious, hot female ghost.

One thing that has been productive for me with Rat L Traps (and knock offs) in shad color is burning them along at the fastest speeds I can manage. Normally I would fish them on a spinning rig with a 5.1:1 gear ratio. In the fall when the shad are moving again en masse I found that retrieving them as fast as possible on a 6.3:1 baitcast is productive. They buzz so loudy at these high speed retrieves that I can hear it and feel it in my aluminum boat. I'm going to try the same technique with my 7.1:1 reels and see if that works as well.

There's no mistaking you two are related. You and your father look just alike. Nice fish and thanks for the pics.

Today - about 11 feet low. There is almost no hard structure at all in this lake. Luckily, there is still lots of grass in the water.

The most annoying thing about the C3, IMO, is the machined aluminum crank. It's got sharp, squared off edges. Otherwise, the it seems to operate very smoothly. The drag knob looks cheap but after messing with it it seems to be very sturdy. It's definately a niche reel for someone hankering for a little nostalgia.

That's what they do in Richmond. In Hampton Roads we get in our cars and rearend someone on the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel.

I didn't call Randall a liar, I called his condemnation of an entire line of reels based on a short experience with one BS. Sorry if that offends. Unlike Muddy, this will be my last word on the issue. If you wish to ban me for my opinion, 'tis up to you.

I see you are still at it despite saying several times you were done. What makes me an expert? That seems to be rather important to you. To answer your question, I am not an "expert," anymore than you are. That is not to say that I don't know what I am talking about. I'm 41 and have been fishing as long as I can remember, and have been stripping and cleaning my reels for most of that time. It's not unheard of to gain a little understanding under such circumstances. I've seen reels break, wear out, or go on and on and on. In that time I've learned to identify what is junk and what isn't. Of the reels I've owned and/or used, I like very much what I see with the 800 series. The extensive use of aluminum - body, side plate, rotor, bail asembly; an extra thick heavy duty bail; two bearing that keep the spool from oscillating under drag; extensive use of brass internally; carbon fiber drag system, etc. I bought this reel based on the reviews of people who use it - hard. The 804 seems to be a very highly regarded reel for inshore and striper fishing - tougher fish and rougher environments than that reel would see on a bass lake. Do a search on the forums at StripersOnLine.com or TackleTour.com. I'm not alone. I'm not sure how someone can draw a conclusion about an entire line of reels by saying "not quality made reels" when they have experience with one (which apparently broke), under what has been described hard and abusive use. That measure wouldn't pass in a high school science class. Like I said, I don't know Randall. No doubt he is a fine fisherman and fine man. But my experience with the reels, and those of many others - who use them much harder than I do - are diametrically opposed to the assertion "not quality made reels." Maybe "BS" was too harsh. Perhaps I would hve been better off, and more accurate, saying that he had insufficient experience with the reel to draw such a condeming conclusion.

I believe it was. That was a 7 year drought. I guess the same problems would arise if that happened again to that extent. I'm not sure what a short term drought (fingers crossed) would do to bass recruitment in the Chick.

Gene, I'm not making a commentary on the man's character. But I have a hard time believing that the reel is as he suggests. The reel is built for fresh water and inshore fishing. The thing is built like a tank. I haven't read anywhere, on any forum, that the reel can't stand up to hard fishing - just the opposite. If he is using the reel in such an abusive manner that it simple breaks, or strips gears, or the bail break, then I doubt there is a reel made that can handle it. Show me a reel that is so substantially better made that it can handle that kind of abuse.

Try this. A local tackle shop has one on hand that I used to find the value of some old Heddon lures. http://www.flc.com/index.html

Yeah, I haven't found them at BPS, either (haven't checked their website). I bought mine at a locally owned tackle shop.

http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/dp-news_snapshotjames_1019oct19,0,1820409.story I too have noticed an improvement in clarity on the Chickahominy River and Morris Creek. If drier weather persists, then maybe we will start seeing more grass growth in waters that receive a lot of run-off in wet weather.

I like it better than the Abu Garcia bag (they had a similar offer). The Abu bag is more of an overnight bag - not a tackle bag.

Hostility flows uphill, condesendence flows down hill. Neither one are pretty.

Sorry Randall and Muddy, but Randall's experience is so far and way different from the plethora of other reviews on Cardinals that it find if extremely difficult to believe (why would anyone throw away a reel that could as easliy have been returned for a refund or repaired under warranty?). I would have been screaming at the company had those things happened to me. I've been fishing these reels for some time now (802, 804, 502 ALB) that I have come to a very different conclusion - one way more consistent with other people that have fished these reels. Take a look at the Tackle Tour foums if you want to see a number of reviews on Cardinal reels and you won't find any like Randall's. I've also stripped them down and found them to be extremely well made. That's why when I here someone say Cardinals are "not quality reels," I believe they are so OBVIOUSLY wrong, that they look ridiculous when they say it. It's one thing to prefer one reel over another, but to say that, again, smacks of BS.

Are you talking about a rod with a telescoping butt - like many flippin' rods? Or a true telescoping rod - like an old car antenna.