bilgerat

The only problem I see is memory/coiling problems from sitting a long time. That can be fixed by trailing it out behind the boat or walking it out in the yard to relax it. I generally keep my spools filled halfway with 'old' mono as you rarely get down that far in most fishing situations. This makes new spools of line last twice as long for me as I'm not filling an entire spool. Mono is cheap, replace it. Now is a good time of year to scout out clearance line from stores. I found Sufix mono at Wally World for $5 for a 330 yd.spool.

9-11 for sure. The recession. On a lighter note, the decline of television. Bad reality shows featuring unlikeable morons. You can't escape it. Talentless people famous for being famous. My daughters (born in 1996 & 1998) having the unique distinction of living in two different centuries.

Riding around looking at Christmas lights and displays with the family The Charlie Brown Christmas Special on tv Going to my in laws on Christmas Eve Christmas morning breakfast

The wooden outhouse in the background is a nice touch. Maybe they should have tried to blow that up.

Most retailers focus their "loss prevention" (theft) efforts on employees and let customers walk all over them with ridiculously liberal return policies. There are many times the customer is NOT always right and it could be better for your bottom line to tell them to take a hike rather than eat crap. Let them go poison someone else's (your competitor) business. There used to be a chain of home improvement stores out here in the Mid Atlantic region called Channel Home Centers. My wife worked there and told me how customers would walk in empty handed, go and pick an item off of the shelf and take it to the customer service desk with a bs story about "It doesn't work, fit, whatever and I lost the reciept blah blah blah" and they would get the cash for the item. The store was buying their own inventory for retail. By the time they started to deal with the problem, they had gone into bankruptcy.

One thing's for sure, aint no shortage of stupid around here No wonder our hobby is trying to catch an animal with a brain no larger than an M&M. And it outwits us more times than not

That brings back another good Christmas memory - Tonka Trucks. When they were made entirely of metal.

Jumping off of the garage roof with cardboard wings Gladiator style rock fights using the old style steel galvanized trash can lids as shields Sneaking into the municipal pool at night to swim Tossing a dead muskrat into a high school dance. That one got me lumped up courtesy of a senior - I was about twelve

..as asked for by .dsaavedra. Where to start ? Lawn darts Playing around the freight trains, putting things on the tracks to see them get nailed. Riding go karts, mini bikes, etc without helmets or any regard for safety of any kind. Throwing snowballs at cars - I regret this the most as it wasn't until I started driving and got nailed myself I realized how stupid it was. 'Bumper riding' - Waiting while a car stopped at a stop sign or traffic light on a snow or ice covered road. You then crouched down and grabbed the bumper and were pulled along. Big rope swing in the woods that went over a big gulley. We got this bright idea that one guy would swing out and when he swung back another guy would get on and so on...five of us on then the branch broke. Big pile of bruised 10 year olds in the gulley. Countless fireworks related stories..... Evil Kneivel was around when I was a kid. We made homemade bike ramps in the street. Too many injuries to list. Anyone that grew up in the 70's did this. I guarantee it ;D It's a wonder I made it past 15. I will say one thing, we had fun. It was a different time back then. Who remembers riding with your brothers and sisters in a big ol' station wagon barreling down the interstate at 75 mph without seatbelts ?

do you remember the REAL outside yard dart sets?? the ones that had steel tips? LOL ;D man them things were so wrong to have as a kid,lol. There would be about 5 or so of us friends playing with them and some smarty pants would yell "every man for himself" or something like that and throw one of those baby's up in the air and we'd all scatter so none of us ended up spiked in the head God, that was so stupid : ;D That's a whole other thread right there "Stupid things you did as a kid that should have killed you"

I shudder thinking about the Hess trucks, Hot Wheels, etc. my brother and I destroyed with firecrackers, M-80's, etc. All of the late sixties/early seventies stuff that is worth money now.. The gift I remenber most was from when I was about 5 or 6 years old. It was a toy cockpit simulator from a jet airliner. I was quite the airplane freak back then. Hey Robert, I had the Stretch Armstrong too. Did you cut yours open to see what was inside ?

This may help http://www2.northerntool.com/air-compressor-buyers-guide.htm As someone who has done my share of heavy truck tires early in my career, please use the utmost in caution. If you are new to it, take my advice. If you've been doing it then you know where I'm coming from.

Your apology is accepted. Thank you. In hindsight my remarks were out of line and uncalled for, so I'm offering an apology to you.

No attitude. I've NEVER lost a fish on a Tru Turn because of the hook itself failing and I've caught many good size ones. Of course I've lost fish by setting too early, not getting a good hookset, etc. which can happen with any brand hook.

You're welcome

Here's a link for free Tru Turn hooks (actually it's more like buy one get one free up to five packs) http://www.truturn50th.com/

IF you are mechanically inclined and REALLY want to learn, start with a reel you care the least about. You gotta start somewhere, no one was born knowing how to service reels. If mechanical things befuddle you even a little, then send them to Reel Mechanic. He will do right by you. If you still want to take a shot at it, post back or pm me and I'll try to help.....

Old school Tru Turns....yeah you can watch them rust and you occasionally have to dress the points up but they are some fish stickin' mutha's.....and they're cheap. I wish I had a dollar for every fish I've caught on these things over the last twenty years

I'm a journeyman diesel mechanic, so allow me to add my .02....Catt is right on when it comes to tools BUT there are suitable alternatives. You've all seen the Snap On trucks loaded with the high dollar tools. Over the years Snap On's service has deteriorated to the point most of the guys in our crew (myself included) won't deal with them anymore. Craftsman, Proto and S-K are a few that come to mind that are excellent tools. I can't have tools fail when I'm working on a tugboat out in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay and my Craftsman's have not let me down. The point is there is more than one choice. If through experience you like brand X, fine. I've used all of the tools I've mentioned, have you extensively fished with all of the reels you bash* ? *not directed at Catt. I quoted his response for the tool discussion.

Don't you know how this works around here ? It's ok to bash everyone elses reels but you crossed the line buddy > >.........

Breakdown of the different rocket fuel formulations.... http://www.hatterasoutfitters.com/s-mart/rocket_fuel.htm

Just because someone buys fishing gear does not make them an angler (just like me buying golf clubs....) So who participated in the poll ? How many times have you been at Dick's, Gander Mtn., Academy, etc. and have seen someone totally lost in the fishing section. If you offered them help or advice, they are one of the 52%. If the poll was taken on a site like this where the majority are experienced anglers, the results would be drastically different.

The Allman Brothers ? Way to go Dave, there's hope for you yet..... Enjoy... ;D http://www.coverbrowser.com/covers/worst-album-covers

Years ago in my first apartment we tried to decorate an entire tree with beer can pull tabs and labels peeled from bottles. The mission was a success......

Apply this http://www.atsko.com/shop/catalog/Sno-Seal-Beeswax-Waterproofer-orderby0-p-1-c-267.html to the Footjoy gloves and I think we're on to something.....