Darren.

As a Bills fan who is going under the "coaching knife" yet again, with no franchise/elite QB in the stable, I look at KC as being in a good place. I think Andy Reid will do some really good things with KC, and Smith. Reid is starting fresh. He did great things with McNabb back in the day, maybe he can take Smith down the same road. We'll see. Smith was in a special place in SF. Phenomenal team talent and a QB for a head coach who knows how to whisper the right things into his QB's ear. Will Reid be able to keep the fires burning in Smith? We'll know soon enough. Let's hope KC can protect him. Maybe because I have no stake in KC I think this way. I would agree though, that, if true, what KC gave up is definitely in SF's favor.

Baits I just won't use? The really expensive ones, LOL. I've tried plenty of baits, stuff that hasn't produced for me: buzz baits, frogs, cranks & spinnerbaits (which rarely produce). I keep trying though. Stuff I don't bother with: A-rigs/Umbrella, Carolina (anymore), and there are others. I've said it before, I don't fish tourneys, when I hit the water I want to catch fish. What catches me the most fish and brings the most enjoyment: soft plastics, namely Senkos, Zoom Finesse, various creatures, minnows, etc.

Welcome fellow Virginian and kayaker!

Welcome to the forums, Luke!

Whoopee. Dark green goes right over my area. I also follow Henry Margusity over at Accuweather. This is his post from yesterday on what's coming: http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-blogs/meteomadness/the-snow-fun-train-continues-next-week/7017021

The only Sam Adams beer I liked was their IPA Latitude 48. Just can't seem to develop a taste for his other stuff.... Now Trader Joe's has some pretty good house beers. The Botswain's varieties are pretty decent.

Sierra Nevada is a darn good brewery. I tried the rye and it was good. Also tried their bigfoot, was pretty bitter, but something I could enjoy from time to time. Buddy of mine said it was the absolute worst beer he'd ever tried, tho. And he lived in Belgium for about 10 years, so he does know good brews. Guess that means I don't, LOL.

I definitely prefer a lighter approach, thanks in part to Gary Yamamoto's articles on his spinning techniques in which he touts 10 lb braid being capable for most bass angling needs. So I normally use M powered rods and 10 or 20 lb test braid plus leader, that's on spinning and baitcasting. I've horsed some pretty hefty bass out of thick slop and woody areas on spinning gear with 10 lb braid. I've also lost my share of beauties....

I can answer #1, but not #2 as I kayak fish. On baitcasters, the way I grip the rod and reel I usually let the rod tell me, and/or I line watch. Sometimes I subconsciously wrap my index finger around the front of the BC, just below the line and feel it that way... but it isn't something I do (like Hank Parker does) to feel strikes. Spinning gear is always line watching/rod feeling.

Don't think you'd go wrong either way.

I vary, spooling most of my reels with braid mainline, the "vary" can last a long time. Unless, of course, there's a completely unsolvable professional overrun on my baitcasters. Spinning reels go for at least 1-2 years barring no bizarre knots of no return.

By all means! I'm with ya!

Just for kicks, I handled a few Rage rods at BPS last night. Pretty nice. My opinion is changing/warming to them. The grips are nice, although I think I'm still a cork guy. The Avids were even nicer, though. So if I had the $ to spend, I'd probably go for the Avid. Was impressed with the Daiwa T rods, too. Really light and felt great for the price.

Great, look forward to what you get. Be sure to let us know, show it off, share pix, and be sure to slime it up and post pix! I spent months looking before I got the Native Ultimate. Changed my mind a few times, but did spend time in it as well as a few others in my price range before making my final decision. I've been very happy with it.

Already welcomed him in the thread, but since this is "official": x2!

On my Native Ultimate 12 I have a modified trolling setup, similar to how bassyaks.com does theirs. I've rigged my footpedals to be my steering, raise/lower motor, and have made a modified switch that I've rigged up next to me to go forward 5, reverse 2. It is a great setup, but I often think I'd prefer the Hobie pedal method (over the bicycle style that Native uses on their pedal yaks). I need to take some new pix, but here's an old one with an old bass pro predator trolling motor mounted.

Hi Jim! Welcome to the forums! Enjoy your show on NBC Sports!

Agreed. Ya figure when the department manager says so, it is so. I should know better.

Right, I should have said pedaled, in response to his saying "foot controlled". I differentiated to say it is foot powered and steering is at your hands. I've got enough drool on the Pro Angler from the web and Appomattox River Company that I could probably fill a small pond.

Powered. You control steering on your right or left hand. Here's the link to the PA12. http://www.hobiecat.com/kayaks/mirage/pro-angler-12/ And there's more storage than you can shake an Ugly Stik at.

Here's a fun one: http://connect.capstonepub.com/2011/09/commas-save-lives-a-plea-for-punctuation-.html

Joey the Flacco! I heard they were interested a while back, but it was just "interest" and not even close to likely. Which...would align to your second sentence. Off to Google to look it up....

Nice pix, Fish.

Adam Schefter just tweeted this:

Unless I'm missing it, I can't find the "Rogue Pro" on lurenet, which smithwicklures.com directs you to. I was under the impression it was new as they weren't on the shelves yet at BPS.