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I'm a member of that site. I'm "SkyChimp" there.

David, Alabama is a great state for snakes. At least I think so. Fortunately, hearing is not the primary human sense for detecting snakes. Snakes are notoriously quiet. Even rattlers are sometimes known not to rattle. Snakes, by the way, are deaf. The best way to detect a snake is to keep your eyes open. If you live in an area where snakes are common, avoid placing your hands into areas that could harbor a snake. If you have to walk in areas where you can't see what you are stepping on (like high grass, especially near water), I recommend and good pair of ankle high hiking or work boots. Heavy leather is usually enough to stop a bite from most indigenous venomous snakes. And most bites to the lower extremities occur to the foot or ankle, not higher. Also, avoid walking around barefoot at night. Studies have shown that the most common snake-bite victim is young, male, and under the influence of alcohol (< true, not a joke). I have a lot of exerience with snakes. I've been hunting, catching, keeping and releasing wild snakes for around 30 years. My experience is that snakes want to avoid human contact. I can assure you, if you spend time outside, you are nearer to more snakes than you'll ever know. For every 1 you see, you probably walk past 10 and never know it. They simply don't want anything to do with you. In my experience, venomous snakes aren't really anymore aggressive than non-venomous snakes. Some of the nastiest, ill-tempered snakes I've ever handled were various species of non-venomous watersnakes and racers. But they were always aggressive because I caught them or messed with them. Northern Black Racers, very common in Virginia, will sometimes stand their ground and fight you. Snakes with bad reputations, like cottonmouths, are sometimes aggressive. But I've seen some that were downright placid. We have a reservoir here in Newport news, Virginia with a very large and healthy population of Cottonmouths. I've seen many cottonmouths there, and caught a few. I've walked next to them, nearly stepped on them, and accidently squatted over one that I didn't see (a real heart stopper). None acted aggressively. Most will lie motionless until they know they are discovered. At that point, they usually try and move away. Some will stand their ground and display an open mouth. However, they can and will bite. Studies have shown that the hotter it is outside, the more aggressive a snake may be. We don't have a lot of rattlers around my part of Virginia. Our Canebrake Rattlesnake (a coastal variety of the Timber Rattler) is endangered in southeastern Virginia. We do have some, but they are rare. Of course, they sometimes rattle, sometimes not. But you aren't at a disadvantage by having poor hearing if you simply keep your eyes open. Rattlers live in the same habitat as many other snakes. Just keep you eyes open if you believe snakes can be present. Copperheads are neat snakes. They are the least venoumous of the North American pit vipers. They are pretty snakes, and pretty easy to identify. They are usually more of an upland snake and usually avoid wet areas. Keep you eyes open, and never mess with a snake you can't identify. The only snakes that can be confused with venomous Coral Snakes are certain species of non-venomous Milksnakes. I'm not sure you have any varieties of Milksnake in Alabama that look like Coral Snakes. If you see a snake in Alabama that looks like a Coral Snake, it's probably a Coral Snake. Avoid it. They are highly venomous. Unlike pit vipers, they have a neurotoxic venom that can cause paralysis of breathing and heart. Alabama is a great state for snakes. Attached is a chart showing the various snakes found in southeastern states. Note that the snakes are listed by common name (ie Common Kingsnake). However, the common name may be the common name for several subspecies (ie Common Kingsnake includes: Eastern Kingsnake, Outer Banks Kingsnake, Florida Kingsnake, Speckled Kingsnake, Black Kingsnake, etc). Also, any snake listed for your state may not exist throughout the entire state. Some snakes have limited ranges within a state, and limited further by the proper habitat.

I've got several All Star rods, but no Instincts. I've never had to use the warranty, but I certainly wasn't put off by it. All Star rods seem to be very vell made. I think the Instinct is their economy model made in China. But the components seem very nice (that's a normal rod tip). I've held them in stores and if I were in the market for a rod in that price range I wouldn't hesitate to buy one.

I thought the purpose of a bead on a weightless texas rigged bait was to prevent the pick-up of grass on the knot/hook-eye. I sometimes put one on the line when I'm fishing a toad in scum and it does help a little at keeping muck off the bait.

I know gold cermet is pretty and hard and expensive. But according to Fuji literature, it's not as hard as SiC and only a little harder than Aluminum Oxide. It apparently has great heat disipation properties. Zirconia appears to be much harder then gold cermet (and a little less hard than SiC), and with a titanium nitride coating it looks exactly the same. It's got very good heat disipation properties. Why is gold cermet considered the ultimate guide? It seems to me that it has nothing on titanium coated zirconia.

I took some pics of my pet snakes tonight for another website and figured I'd post some here, too. I'm a snake nut. Hunting for snakes is my "other"' hobby. Here is my Corn Snake. She is the offspring of two corn snakes caught in Shennandoah County, Virginia. She's a killer and can dispatch a large live mouse in well under 1 minute. Here is a pic of my "little" Eastern King Snake. She's the offspring of a Newport News, Virginia and Hampton, Virginia eastern king snake. She's little, but lightning quick. She's a messy eater and routinely chews her mice to disgusting pulp befoe she eats it. Here is my other Eastern King Snake. I caught her in Hampton, Virginia. When I found her she was in bad shape. She had been attacked by something which tore two large gashes into her side. She had a skin infection and was malnourished. I took her in, treated her for mites, parasites, skin problems and wounds. She has gained a considerable amount of weigth since I've had her, her wounds have completely healed, and she is strong as a horse. For those who never really appreciated snakes, here are a few facts: 1) Kingsnakes (and Milksnakes) have a particular blood serum that neutralizes the toxic properties of rattlesnakes, copperheads and cottonmouths. They are immune to the venom of these snakes and routinely prey on on them. Kingsnake attacking a Copperhead 2) If you have ever taken high blood pressure medication, or recovered from a stroke (or know someone who has), thank a snake. The primary medication for these maladies were derived from snake venom. In fact, the first stroke medication was made directly from snake venom. Today, snake venom has significant medical importance. The neurotoxic properties of snakes like cobras and coral snakes show promise in helping Parkinson Disease sufferers. The hemotoxic properties of pit vipers like rattlesnakes and copperheads may yield medication to destroy tumors or reduce blood lipids (cholestrol). 3) Most bites from venomous snakes in the United States are "dry," meaning they inject no venom. However, injection of pit-viper venom (rattlesnake, cottonmouth, copperhead) into the human body can produce astonishingly severe wounds. Rattlesnakes, cottonmouths, and certain subspecies of Copperheads have venom with hemolytic and myolytic properties - they destroy blood cells, connective tissue, molecular bonding chemicals and muscle tissue. You can quite literally "melt" as a result of a severe bite. Deaths are rare, but severe scarring, loss of limbs or function is common. With Cottonmouths, secondary infections such as gangrene are real concerns. Additionally, snake bites produce some of the most expensive injuries you can incur. Antivenom (aka antivenin) called "Crofab" costs as much as $2,500 per vile. Even a minor bite will sometimes require 4 vials of the stuff, and severe bites may require up to 20 or more. Treatment for severe snakebites can leave you $300,000 poorer. Snakebite pictures (not for the feint of heart) http://www.venomousreptiles.org/libraries/Snakebite%20Photos/0 4) There is no such thing as a "Water Moccassin." Water Moccassin is a popular nickname for any snake in or around water. Usually, it is intended to refer to cottonmouths, which are highly venoumous. Many non-venous water snakes are killed each year in the mistaken belief that they are venomous cottonmouths. If you see a snake in the water, be careful. However, there are ways to tell to a good degree whether a snake in the water is a cottonmouth of some other harmless species. Water snakes will with their bodies mosty submerged with their head out of the water: http://www.learnnc.org/lp/media/collections/fieldguide/medium/northernwatersnake.jpg Cottonmouths swim with their bodies mostly above the surface of the water: http://www.fws.gov/backbay/images/Images%20For%20Web/cottonmouth.jpg If you are unsure, and you live in areas of the coutry where there are cottonmouths, be careful with any aquatic snake. Please be kind to snakes. They really are amazing animals.

Does anyone know who makes the reel seats for BPS rods?

I hope you like your SX as much as I like mine.

I've been reading the Kilster thread about ill-fitting reel seats and got to wondering whats so special about Fuji components. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying Fuji isn't great. I'm more inclidned to buy a rod with Fuji components than without. But recently (thanks to Flechero) I've come to realize there are several other makers of rod components that seem to make really nice components that are the equal of Fuji. And I'm wondering if I haven't been overlooking some good rods that use components from other companies. Fuji Aluminum Oxide guides seem to be the standard guides on rods these days. It's light, hard and durable. Fuji makes Hardloy, Alconite, Gold Cermet and Silicone Carbide (SiC) guides. All of which are highly regarded. SiC is very hard, but apparently brittle. But companies like American Tackle make aluminum oxide guides as well. Their high end guides are titanium coated zirconia. Zirconia is almost as hard as SiC without being as brittle, and has good heat disipation properties. The titanium coating makes them very slick. This combination seesm to scream BRAID! As someone stated in another thread, higher end Bass Pro Shop brand rods use really nice reel seats. I have no idea who makes those seats. I do have a couple BPS rods and I really think they are better than the Fuji seats on some of my other rods. I guess what I'm getting at is that Fuji seems to the most common maker of components. Why don't we see more use of other brands like American Tackle on rods?

I have 2 SXs and 2 SCs. I can't detect a performance difference between the two. At $79.99 the SC is the best value going.

Come on, it doesn't matter what his price range is, everyone is going to recommend G Loomis and Shimano.

I think the Premier is available at Cabelas now. http://www.cabelas.com/prod-1/0049256122374a.shtml

I like Real Magic. I don't use it as a lubricant - it's not intended to be a lubricant. However, it has its uses. I do mist my reels with it then wipe it off with a soft cloth. It really removes the finger prints and smudges on all the bling they stick on reels these days. I spray my plastic baits, spinnerbaits and jigs with it. It does prevent sticking as advertised. It also makes dried on grass (inevitiable when fishing grassy areas) come right off. I spray hooks, swivels and such with it. Real Magic is a good dry corrosion inhibitor. Real Magic is a water repellant. I spay it marabou jigs to return them to their fluffy, feathery state after use. Otherwise, letting them simply dry causes the feather to become stiff and hard. Real Magic ain't magic, but it has its uses.

5/0 Gammy EWG or a 5/0 Zoom Horny Toad hook works best for me. As long as you don't hook it through a leg, it shouldn't affect the action any. You'll also get better hook ups with the larger hook.

No, it's still going on. I just tried it. You have to add it to your cart, then "view your cart" and the discount will show up.

Nevermind, I saw your answer in the Pony Pasture thread.

I've uploaded an aerial view. The area encircled by orange is where we fished for the most part. I haven't been to the hidden dam, but I see it on the aerial view. When you say move up river, do you mean up above that dam? What's the best way across the river to that dam? It doesn't look very far from the parking lot on the map, but that dam is a pretty good hike.

That was me - black shirt, sunglasses, black fanny pack, white shorts. I had my 12 year old with me, or at least somewhere near me. I think we caught all our fish, except the cat, in moving water. Now that I know that area a little better, I'm going to start exploring more. How's the area a little further up near the dam? Where that big tree is stuck?

Nice. That is about the size of the biggest I caught today, maybe yours is a wee bit bigger.

Thanks, I'll try that soon. My goal today was to at least catch some fish, and hopefully a lot of them since I had my 12 year old son with me. He had a great day - lots of fish. Now I'd like to catch some bigger fish. Where were you? I was fishing about 100 yards upstream from the concrete steps that lead down from the parking area. I was fishing aroung the grassy islands and in the big calm area between the rocks down from the spillway and the rocks that all the bathers like to lounge on.

Good Lord, man. They are nice reels - doesn't matter is its spinning or casting. Wish my wife bought me nice stuff like that.

My son and I went out to Pony Pasture on the James River (Richmond, VA). We fished from 9:30 AM until 12:50 PM. Between us, we caught 21 smallmouth, 8 redbreast sunfish, and I caught a 20" channel cat. None of the smallies were very big. The smallest wasn't much bigger than my thumb. My largest was 11 inches. I caught several around 9-10 inches, as did my son. The small fish were brightly colored. The larger ones were very bronze. The sunfish were surprising fighters. We caugh a couple of large ones and they put up quite a struggle. The catfish was a surprise as it was caught in very shallow water with a tiny jig. I learned a few things today: - Bass Pro Shops Squirmin' Grub (1") on a plain jig head worked best. Solid white produced the most fish (and strikes) including the catfish, followed by gold with metal flake, then black. Bass Pro Shops Triple Tail Grub (2") in electric grape on a plain jighead produced well (not as good as white, but better than gold and black). Chartreuse, watermelon and pumpkin produced no fish and only a couple of strikes. The smallest jigs caught the biggest fish. -Blakemore Roadrunners with a gold willow blade and a 3" white Triple Tail grub produced a few strikes, but no fish. The same Blakemores with flukes produced no strikes or fish. -Spinner baits of any kind produced no stikes or fish. - I really like Stren Magnathin line. We both fished with 6' light action roads and casting even tiny jigs was easy. Abrasions did not seem to be an issue. Line twist seems minimal, noticably less than with standard mono. Anyways, it was a fantastic day. Warm, clear water, few bathers, and only a few other fishermen.

It's a nationwide problem. CSX railroad has placed signs near boxes warning copper thieves of high voltage as well as the number of people killed along railroad tracks stealing copper. Copper prices are apparently very high right now.

Years and years ago I used to work for a rental car company that delivered rental cars on dollies towed by Dodge Dakotas with 3.9L engines. They routinely when 7,000-10,000 miles between oil changes. Half the miles put on them were towing other cars. We sold them at 75-100,000 miles. They ran and ran and ran. I don't remember ever having mechanical trouble with one.

The Shimano posse isn't done fishing yet, that's why Shimano isn't winning at this moment.