Alpster

Hey Kent, Just heard from Muddy. Notify the local authorities and warn the neighbors, they aren't nearly as bad as they look. The mooks will be showing up at your place on Saturday evening. Express our appreciation to "the boss". Muddy will have to cast one of my Shimanos before the week is out. We will see what we will see. LOL Ronnie

rosewalt, If you mean spiral wrapped rods, there are many members who use them, build them and are big fans of the concept. Spiral wrapping only applies to bait casting rods because spinning rods already have the guides on the bottom of the rod. Baitcasting rods need the spiral wrapping to move the guides to the bottom of the rod to enjoy the inherent advantages of a spinning rod. Line twist is not usually a problem for bait casting reels, so spiral wrapping should not affect this one way or the other. I would say, from my experience with several spiral wrapped baitcasters, that casting distance is not affected at, but and the general performance of the rod (fish fighting) is enhanced a great deal. JMHO Ronnie

My dad used to say "I'd rather play and lose than not get to play at all." I just hope to celebrate one of our BR boys catching a hawg. I don't care who it is. Ronnie

Kent, Sounds great to me. Let me clear it with the mooks, and we will make it a plan. All we need is a low amp 110 volt plug and the bassbuss is a hotel on wheels. It will also save us the cost of a campsite in Little Rock. I hope it works out and I appreciate your hospitality. I am pretty sure the "3 mooks in a buss" can deal with some BB ribs. 8-) It just keeps gettin better & better. Ronnie

Ben, You were a winner before the competition started. 2 Ounces away from regional champ is a pretty good showing in my book. Congratulations on a great representation. Also congratulations for recognizing what a privelige it is just to participate. I woudn't be more impressed if you had won 1 st place, attitude is everything. You are da man! 8-) Ronnie

Sounds great Avid, The bassbuss is going in the shop this week to get a tune up and going over. A little house keeping and it will be ready to roll. This last month is going by quick, but not quick enough. JMHO Ronnie

I use a Shimano Calais CL200 on my MBR844C and it's a fisherman's dream, but almost any low profile reel will shine on this rod. JMHO Ronnie

Quite a mile post! 8000 & growing. Congratulations to the staff! ;D ;D Ronnie

........boat River or Pond? Ronnie

We will be rolling right through Memphis on the 2nd day, but it will be evening time. Early lunch at Carl's outside of Nashville, dinner around Memphis and we will take a nap around Little Rock. Will be rolling into Fork about lunch time Sunday, if all goes well. See you then. Ronnie

CRANKBAITS...............but I'm really trying to master them, honest. Oh, I guess to learn them you have to use one every now & then, huh? Ronnie

Avid, The Bassbuss itenereary is roughly 1600 miles and around 22 hours road time. Muddy man, Brutus (the 2 mooks) & I will also be heading out from the East coast on the morning of the sixteenth. Carl (Riskkid) has graciously offered us a lunch stop at his place along the way. My daughter & I did an even longer trip on the motorcycle last summer. The journey is half the fun. LOL Are we there yet?!!! Ronnie

You may have noticed the Fordam wood carver hanging at the left end of the table. I want to try my hand at wood plugs. Most of my time is spent rod building, my homemade power wrapper is not in the picture, but it's on the new table now. The plastic boxes with drawers are from Staples office supply, but I have seen them at WalMart and Sam's. Ronnie

If I were doing the surfin I could just hear the guy throwing the dynamite yell...."LOOK OUT BAD THROW"!!! That was pertty creative, you've got to admit. Ronnie

It's brand new, give me a little time. This is as neat and clean as it will ever be. LOL Ronnie

Dodgeguy, I always use 50lb PowerPro on bait casters. I also use the lighter lines (20lb/6dia) on the spinning gear and have had no problems there either. I think what happens sometimes is, a lot of guys (including me) use braids in nasty cover and thick weeds. I think that the few who are having trouble with screwed up guides are just not paying attention to the crap that clings to the line when they fish in this stuff. The line itself isn't hurting the guides, it's the debris that acts as an abrasive. I keep a towel handy to wipe the muck off the line every few casts when working thick veggies and I think it saves the guides. This is just my experience. Your mileage may vary. Ronnie

The only stupid question is the one you don't ask. LOL I did a double take the first time I tied on a Chatterbait. It has a cool action, wait till you see it. I almost jumped in the water and bit it myself. ;D Ronnie

SHIMANO-SHIMANO-SHIMANO--LA LA LA LA. You thought it would be easy didn't you? ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D Ronnie

Tie your line to the snap. Git er Dun! Ronnie

If I could only have one rod, it would be the MBR844C. You can fish anything with it. JMHO Ronnie

I have been trying to rework the tacklemaking work bench in my office so I can get some work done whithout having to move everything off the drafting table. I built a 10 foot long addition to my fly tying bench (15' total) and am in the process of setting it up for rod building, etc. Two 36" hollow core doors married to a 1/2 sheet of plywood and covered with thin pile carpet. Attached to the wall with 24" track shelf brackets and a couple of cantaliever braces. Total cost about $100. I am pleased with how it turned out and with the current weather, it looks like I'll get some use out of it. Tight wraps, Ronnie

Fancy wrapping there Cornel, meticulous work and some real craftsmanship. Thanks for sharing the pics. Ronnie

I use 20lb PP (6lb dia.) on my 1000 series spinning reel and I can't imagine the advantage in a thinner line. JMHO Ronnie

A couple of questions..... How do you get 35 lbs of baits in that little box and how do you fish all day with only two rods?? ;D Sorry for joking, this really is a challenge for me as I usually fish in a 16' boat all by myself and can carry nearly anything I want. I am going to give your challenge a try as I have been thinking about doing just that a lot lately. Though it's a little like trying to decide which one of your kids to take on vacation. LOL Ronnie

WELCOME to the board Chunkie, You are right that a broken rod can be repaired and you point to an excellent article on the RBO. I think we should look at the article a little closer before rushing into this repair. I've read this article on RBO before and if you read it carefully you will see that the author says plainly that not only is it a difficult repair, but most professional rod builders won't do it. Also, I have built more than a dozen rods in the last 6 months and I am sure I don't have graphite or fiberglass sleeve to fit PBF's rod as described in the article. A couple of quotes from the article...... "I have repaired lots and lots of rods where the cost of the repair was substantially greater than what it would have been to replace the rod with a far better one. Sentimentality is usually involved here and I have no quarrel with that, as long as all the facts are laid on the table." see my original post. "The skills involved in repairing a rod can be more demanding than the skills involved in building a rod." "As many of you have concluded by now, repair work is a labor of love. And I have found it a lonesome labor. I can find all sorts of builders with talents far beyond mine, that will readily engage in discussions about finishes, spine, handle shapes, guides, thread art, (I hate it) any subject pertaining to building a better and/or prettier rod. But as soon as I broach the subject of repair I'm looked at like I'm some sort of weirdo that should crawl back under the rock from whence I came." I am also pretty sure that splicing a rod together with a sleeve and wrapping it with thread & epoxy is going to have some effect on the action. JMHO Ronnie