Micro

I don't doubt that Greentop can get it before any other retailer in the state. But if it was available to them now, it would be in their store. Greentop is on the cutting edge of getting newly introduced products into their store. BTW, I just bought another Daiwa Sol at Greentop. They had to match BPS's price of $199. The Sol retails at Greentop for $229, $20 less than just about anywhere else. The fishing manager was quite alarmed that Daiwa allowed anyone else in the state to undersell them. Apparently Greentop has an agreement with Daiwa that allows them to sell their reels cheaper than other dealers in the state.

It's a way for manufacturers to cut costs buy reducing the use of more expensive and more scarce cork, all while fooling the average fisherman that their product with less cork is trendier and sexier.

I agree. Daiwa hit a home run with this one. I've owned the Curado 200DPV and the Revo Winch. The Zillion perfomed as well as the Curado with light baits, and much better with heavier baits. The Zillion performed much better than the Revo with light baits, and just as well with the heaviest baits.

No kidding. Those are awesome. They look like they put my Galcos and Don Humes to shame.

Some great handgun wallpapers. http://lundestudio.com/firearms.html

If you think one of us is going to sleep with you, you're sadly mistaken. ;D

I'm still wanting to make a trip up there to catch some of these fish. None down here in southeast Virginia.

I wonder a little why these fish are not more popular with fisherman. If they lived in Brazil, people would be flying there to fish for them. But since they are right under our noses, most fishermen consider them nuisances or trash fish. Pickerel are one of the feistiest fish you can hook into. On light tackle, a 2 lb pickerel will put a 2 lb bass to shame. They just don't give up. Bowfin, these things are pit bulls. They will literally destroy plastic baits. Pulling up a 2 lb bowfin is like pulling up a 10 lb log. On top of that, they remain mean out of the water and will gladly snap down on a misplaced finger. Their friggin teeth are all out of proportion to their super hard, bony head. I love catching these fish.

What were they feeding on?

I know Redline has a lot of top-end tackle. But casting from Louisiana to Florida may be a bit much even for him.

I have a few of these and I like them a lot. Great jerbait for ripping. They have a very erratic action. And they dive pretty deep for such a short lip.

Ever notice that people who notice the whining in some Revos says it doesn't affect casting performance? That's because the whine is a characterisitc of the type of bearing used, not a problem. Revos use two different types of bearings, depending on when they were made. Early STXs had open HPCR bearings. Early SXs and Ss had closed stainless bearings. The open HPCR bearings were noisy, and the closed stainless ones were not. This led people to complain the STX had bad bearings. It didn't. They were just different bearings and noisier than the cheaper stainless bearings. The Abu switched to closed stainless bearings on there STX. The noise went away. People said Abu fixed the problem. Then Abu introduced the Premier with open HPCR bearings. They made noise. Leading people to complain the Premier was defective. Now, Abu uses open HPCR bearings on all Revos. Newer ones are noiser than older ones with closed stainless bearings. I've owned 11 Revos. Every one with open HPCR bearings whined when casting. Every one with closed stainless bearings were quieter. Without fail. To determine which ones you reel uses (assuming it still has factory bearings), take the spool tnesion knob off. If you see the little balls in the bearing under that knod, it uses open HPCR bearings. If you can't, it's closed stainless bearings. There isn't a lick of performance difference between these two types of bearings.

Ambassadeur Salty Stage. Look how shallow that spool is. http://www.purefishing.jp/new/2009/08/17_1/index.html For some wild cranking action... http://www.purefishing.jp/new/2009/08/17_2/index.html

The cool part is is that he didn't just leave photos. He left a treasure trove of other stuff, too. Stars and Stripes newspapers His Marlin 1893 .30-30 Rifle He was the last known surviving member of the Lone Scouts - founded by W. D. Boyce, the same man who founded the Boys Scouts of America Membership card I don't know how I will even beging to archive the stuff he left behind. He left behind more than 1,000 photo slides. No telling what is on them.

I've been waxing nostaligic over some of the stuff I got from my grandfather when he passed away. Fortunately, he was a prolific horder of stuff, and a very good photgrapher to boot. He served in the US Army in the '20s in the Panama Canal Zone where he was a backseat photographer in a DeHavilland DH-4 biplane. During WWII, and the Korean War, he was an officer in the Transportation Corp. He kept his camera handy. Here's a few of the hundreds of pictures he left us... My Grandfather, going to work USS Los Angeles, Panama Canal Zone HMS Renown going through the lock in the Panama Canal. This ship hunted the Graf Spee in WWII, and engaged the German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. Another view... USS Saratoga, survived WWII, sunk in an atomic blast... Old airplanes... Head of the US Army Air Corp in the top photo.. I have hundreds more photos like theses. Some takes of ships that never survived WWII. Many pictures of submarines. Some of Admiral Byrd's ship passing through the Canal. Many aerial photos of the harbors. My Grandfather was present when Lindbergh visited Panama and I have very many unique photos of Charles Lindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis. These have never been seen before, and never published. He also had a penchant for the indians living in Panama and went among them photographing them (lots of boobie shots ;D), as well as the flora and fauna (snakes, lizards, other critters). He kept an ocelot as a pet. He left me a dinner menu from the China Clipper. Currency from every country he was in. He left me old Stars and Stripes News papers from VE day. A newspaper from when Lindbergh's baby was found dead. He left me photos of trains in England, france and German. He left me a piece (a chunk really) of a V-1 flying bomb that went off near his depot in England. He left maps for tracks, and photos of trains in Korea. He had a fascination for prisoners of war and photographed them in Korea. He left me many color photos he took of North Korean and Chinese prisoners that came and went on US trains. I've had this stuff since 2001 and I've scarely scratched the surface. I'm going to start to scan this stuff to the net. If anyone is interested, I'll post more stuff as a I do. (I'm sorry I have to mark the photos as "copyright" but I've encountered theft of some of the few pictures I've put on the net. )

It never gets old. It never gets fixed.

Daiwa Zillion High Power for small to heavy cranks. Daiwa Sol for very light lures. There's lots of good rods out there.

Some days it doesn't even pay to go out.

Went fishing for a few hours this evening. Took only on rod and reel and bank fished. Put my line through the level wind eye then threaded it through all the guides. Tied on a lure. Turns out I somehow managed to loop the line through the reel frame. Cut line...start over. Threaded the line properly. Tied on lure. Instead of cutting off tag end of line, I cut the main line. Try again. Make cast. Crank down beside pier. Snag, break line, loose Daiwa lure. Tie on new one, try again. Change locations. Swing back for cast. Not only snag a limb, but manage to tie a knot around it. Break twig, untangle line, try again. Cast lure. Snag lure at end of a bunch of crap a beaver piled up. Step into water in dry shoes. Retrieve lure, try again. Shoe away flies, snag treble hook in finger. Pack up, go home. Deal with chiggers on ankles. Fishing tonight sucked.

Just a run of the mill nematode. You've probably eaten some in your life and never known it. After freezing and cooking, they are dead and harmless. But they are unappetizing to look at. That's why fish packers run their fillets over a table with a bright light shining through from the botton - in hopes of seeing these inevitable things. I had a friend at work that found one in a piece of salmon he got out of our cafeteria. While other people marveled ar it, he just ate around it. He did get a free meal out of it, though.

Maybe a redear sunfish? A picture would help.

Shoot, I bought my last Curado D brand new from a tackle shop for under $100.

I'm surprised he sold that. He even used the reel in his avatar. Nice pick-up Redline. BTW, when is that frog rod by Otter Rods supposed to be done?

8lb Yo-Zuri Hybrid breaks at 12 lbs. Think of it like this: It's 12lb test line with 8 lb test diameter. I use 8lb test with my Daiwa Sols for finesse fishing, topwaters and lighter crankbaits. But I'd use if for t-rigging moderate sized baits, too.

I use two different stick - depending on the technique I'm using. For jerking, I use my Fenwick HMG 6'6" medium (GT66M). Like RW's Avid, it's stiff enough for good jerking, with enough softness for trebles. The handle is short for precise, one handed work. For ripping, I use my Fenwick HMG 7'0" medium (GT70M). It has the stiffness and softness of the 6'6" rod, but it has a much longer handle. I like that because I like to bury the butt end into my side and elbow, and make nice long sweeps.