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I don't care what any of you say, I am going to continue to use my Steetz rods with my Zebco 202 Snoopy reels !!! Jim, you got it bass-ackwards; the Steez reel goes on the Snoopy pole, Jeesh, how many time do I gotta tell ya

Aint Texan, thanks for the link. I like the look of those jigs. They'll be the next ones I try, Cheers, GK

Modulus, in this case, is I believe the modulus of elasticity, which is calculated by dividing the tensile stress by the tensile strain. Or, the force applied divided by the deformation. Or, more accurately, (force applied X original length) / (cross sectional area X length changed). You have to measure everything, then calculate. By the way, I did not just pull this off the top of my head, I had to look it up. There are very few things in the physical world which are truly linear. With that as a given, you can see that playing with the numbers will result in a wide range of possibilities. Any particular material can be tested using various combinations of length, cross section and applied force, yielding a variety of possible outcomes. Which number do you think they use? And, keep in mind that the tesing involves straight line forces applied along the axis of the fiber, and has nothing to do with how the rod flexes. So, what good is this number for our purposes? I would say none at all, and would commend Loomis and Airrus, among others, for refusing to play the "my modulus is bigger than your modulus" game. I just got an Airrus rod. In talking with the owner of the company ( and, how cool is that? I placed an order, and he called me up to see that I got exactly what I wanted. Talk about customer service. ) he explained that the rod I wanted was a multi-modulus design. Different section of the blank have different modulus ratings. Not sure how you pull that off in a one piece rod, but I like the way it fishes. I'm thinking this is the next wave of rod building technology. I can see how a designer can apply different fibers, in a variety of modulus ratings, to different areas of the blank to create very precise, application specific actions. I can't wait. Sorry for the lecture. I couldn't come up with any other way to present this stuff. Cheers, GK

Berkley Power worms, 7" and 10" GYCB Cut-tail worms, the big ones, 6.5" I think Zoom Trick and Finesse worms I'm really trying to cut down the amount of stuff I'm packing around, so these are the worms I'm going with this year. All have been good producers. I'm also carrying a limited number of colors. Green and something like a shad color for clear water, brown and red shad for stained to dingy water, and black and blue for dirty water. That's still a lot of worms, but quite a bit less than last year's assortment. I didn't add the Senko to this list because I think of it as something other than a worm. Cheers, GK

I also tossed the spot remover jigs I bought. Couldn't keep a fish buttoned up on them. I really like Tru_Tungsten's Ikey Head jigs. Both the Weed Wacker and the Ike's Spike are fine jigheads. A little pricey, but once the fish is on, it ain't comin' off. Cheers, GK

I have no experience in this area, but how about these. http://www.ehobbytools.com/index.html?target=p_364.html&lang=en-us

Avid, as always, you're a hoot.

This bait was designed to be used with a pegged weight. Think light weight swimbait instead of senko, and you'll be in the ballpark. I've done well with them with either a 1/4oz or 3/8oz bullet weight, pegged with a bobber stopper. Cast it out, let it sink, and do slow steady crank. Jerking it or cranking too fast will make it spin. Cheers, GK

For the most bang for the buck, I'd go with the the Shimano Symetre, the Quantum Catalyst PT, or the Pflueger President.

Are you in a big fish area, and could use a swimbait rig all the time? If not, the finesse rig would be of more value to you. Just my fifth of a dimes worth. Cheers, GK

Clear mono, all the way, for topwaters. Doesn't sink like flouro, is not highly visible like braid. Cheers, GK

Another vote for the Daiwa Light & Tough series. Light, tough and sensitive, they are all you could ever want for $120. Are they the absolute best rods? Probably not, but that was not the question. I believe they are the best value. Cheers, GK

Powerbait worms, both 7" and 10" and craws and tubes are in the "don't leave home without them" category. I've caught a lot of fish with these baits. Gulp is a different story, for me. I find Gulp baits to be too stiff, with little or no action. I've had no success with Gulp baits. Cheers, GK

I use an EWG hook, rigged so the hook point and barb are laying flat on the top of the fluke. Not skin hooked, just laying there exposed. I miss very few fish, unless, like LBH stated, I saw the take and set too quickly. I vary the hook size from 2/0 to 5/0, depending on the depth I wish to fish. Cheers, GK

I know you didn't laugh. I wouldn't have either. Been there, done that, got the soggy shorts.

You'll do just fine. I did it myself better than 20 years ago. I think that may have been the best thing I ever did. It was also one of the toughest. There ain't no time off. Good luck. Cheers, GK

DP, nice work, you're an artist man. JFisher, SPEAK ENGLISH

Nice bag. You're a young guy, you can handle it. I have two bags that hold 8 3700's and two bags that hold 6 3700's. If I put two on each shoulder, I can't make it out of the parking lot. Cheers, GK

You know, with all the publicity that Dolly the cloned sheep got a few years ago, you'd think most people would at least have an idea what one looked like. I can still buy the idea that these folks had never seen one, thus did not recognize it. But, how dumb do you have to be to want something bad enough to pay $1600 for it, and not at least know what looks like?

A worldwide survey was recently conducted by the UN. The only question asked was: "Would you please give your honest opinion about solutions to the food shortage in the rest of the world?" The survey was a huge failure... In Africa they didn't know what "food" meant. In Eastern Europe they didn't know what "honest" meant. In Western Europe they didn't know what "shortage" meant. In China they didn't know what "opinion" meant. In the Middle East they didn't know what "solution" meant. In South America they didn't know what "please" meant. And in the USA they didn't know what "the rest of the world" meant

I use both, and do not have a preference based on application for either. For some, the round reels may be uncomfortable to "palm". You'll just have to try one to see. I have fairly large hands, so it's not a problem for me. I'm using Daiwa Millionaire's, and these are relatively small round reels. They are the first round reels I've bought since back in the old days, when you spelled baitcaster Ambassadeur. There are some very good round reels still out there. Calcutta's, Abu's, Luna's, Millionaire's, etc. Go to your tackle shop, have them mount one on a rod, and give it a feel. You might like it. Some peolpe do, some don't. Cheers, GK

Green is a good color line for most waters. Unless you're doing a lot of soft plastics fishing, and need to be a line watcher. I always use something more visible for those applications. Part of my problem, or maybe all of it, is being color-blind. Some lines are just very hard for me to see against the water. Green is good choice, if you can see it. I have ZO-Zuri Hybrid Ultra Soft on one spinning rod. I'm going to leave on for a little longer to give it a fair trial. It has more memory than XL, but, the coils disappear after a few casts. Berkley's Transition does the same thing. The first couple of casts are kinky, then it straightens out and performs nicely. On a baitcaster that is. I haven't tried Transition on spinning gear. Cheers, GK

Quote "Any time I have a chance to catch an 8 lb. fish, I jump on it. " Amen, brother. In a lot of places, carp are a prized sport fish. But not here in the USA. Never understood that. For my money, they're the best fighters in fresh water. Try stalking them with a fly rod sometime. Awesome! Cheers, GK

Quote "You sure know how to make a guy sitting in his office staring at rain jealous" Ditto Nice fish. Nice looking pond, too. Cheers, GK

It's hard to beat XL on spinning gear. I've tried just about every brand out there, and keep going back to XL for all my spinning reels. I simply have a lot fewer line problems with XL on spinning tackle. I do use flouro and co-poly lines on my baitcasters, but we won't go there since you didn't ask about that. All of the co-polymer and flouro lines are stiffer than XL. That means more line memory, more "hairballs", and shorter casts. Some of them are so stiff, the only thing they're good for is making slinkies. Yo-Zuri Hybrid is one of those. Don't even try it. Zo-Zuri Hybrad Ultra Soft is quite a bit better, but still not as limp as XL. P-Line CX and Suffix Siege are OK for baitcast gear, but not so good for spinning. Suffix Elite is comparable to Zo-Zuri Hybrad Ultra Soft. Both are OK for spinning, but not optimum in my book. You'll get a lot of opinions on this topic. My best advice would be to buy the smallest spool you can get when trying new lines, only remove about half of your existing line, tie a back-to-back uni knot or blood knot to join the new line to the old, and fill it up. I do this on all my reels, spinning or baitcasting. Saves quite a bit over time. I like your philosophy. Welcome aboard. Cheers, GK