Alpster

Flooded timber, lilly pads and thick brush & weeds. Every cast should catch a fish or snag my lure. Ronnie

Another thread about shorter rods. I have a 5'6" stick. http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1169949043 Ronnie

Chris, I quit flipping a long time ago also, I pitch exclusively. I have to admit I have been disingenuous as I have often refered to pitching as flipping, just to avoid explaining the difference. I have found that spending my time practicing pitching has improved my catch ratio dramatically. JMHE Ronnie

Hale, Great pictures! I was working with a teenage kid from Mississippi that had a summer job with his dad on my jobsite in Hammond LA. He was interested in fishing so I invited him to fish on the Tangipahoa river. We were fishing along the river bank when he noticed a gator about 10' long, floating about 100 yards downstream of my little 14' jon boat. He got so nervous he didn't know what to do. I tried to reassure him that it was a common sight and the gator wouldn't bother us. The alligator did that slow sink and went out of sight. He was convinced that she would suface, turn over the boat and eat us both. If he weren't so scared, it would have been funny. I finally had to head back in and call it a day. Amazing. Ronnie

RW, Youngsters want to be pro anglers for the same reason that they want to be rock stars. It seems glamourous and fun all the time. I studied music in college and made a record in 1979. Made money as a musician till arthritis took my hands. When you get to the level of making a living in music or pro fishing, it will become some of the hardest work there is. Constantly traveling, being away from family and your whole world is affected by your next perfromance. If you have such a passion that you are willing to sleep in your car, work 16 hours a day, eat peanut butter (no jelly) at every meal and utterly depend on the kindness of strangers, you might have a shot at getting by. That's the reality of most musicians and pro fishermen. JMHE Ronnie

OK, I'm going to give you my secret fish batter recipe, then I have to hunt all of you down & kill you. Not really, but the next time you fry fish, try this. It is very simple to do. In a stainless or glass bowl mix the following... 1 cup of cream or 1/2 & 1/2 (whole milk will do in a jamb) 3- whole eggs (no shells) lol 1/2 cup of yellow mustard (don't substitute spicy/deli type) 3 tsp of salt 4 tsp black ground pepper Mix this with an elec. mixer or beat it with a wisk untill smooth. Soak fish fillets in the batter for about 5 minutes. Mix 2 cups of yellow corn meal with 2 cups of 4-seasons itallian bread crumbs. Coat the battered fish in the breading mixture and fry as you would normally. Mustard is the magic. 8-) Ronnie

Raul is right on, as usual. I have an Aero Stradic. In my opinion there is no better bang for the buck, but I haven't fished with everything else. BTW WELCOME to the forum! Ronnie

The one that I built doesn't either, at least not like RMs. Remeber this rod is only 5' 6", so balancing the rod called for a rather short split grip, but I like the way it turned out. The picture is the grip from my Lamiglas MH. Ronnie

I can barely lift my bag for the Jigs & plastics. ;D It will look pretty funny to have six rods in the boat with the same baits tied to each one. Different color & sizes only. LOL Ronnie

Good work Matt! It looks like Jigs and plastic worms took a lion's share. That's good news for me, cause they are my favorites. Ronnie

Great looking jigs! I don't know how you would use a whip finiher around those weed guards, unless you are glueing the guards on afterward. It's only tricky to tie whip finish knot at first, with a little practice its a breeze. JMHO Ronnie

Try a "Pyrex" measuring cup, They will stand up to very high temps. Just a thought, I know nothing about dipping tubes. Ronnie

Yep, me too. If I get to smaller than a 3/8 I will start pitchin big worms or switch to texas rigged worms. JMHO Ronnie

Where do you live? You can't get into a matinee where I live for $7.50, more like $9.00. Go figure......

It pales in comparison.... Tiger Woods endorsement of NIKE was worth $100,000,000. I know it's not a fair comparison, just a trivial fact. Ronnie

Mardi Gras was great when folks came from out of town. It's hard to describe a party that will shut down the whole city. It was a killer to get anywhere in a car, because they think nothing of closing down a major thorofare for a parade. You have to love it to live there. LOL Ronnie

Almost wet my pants! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D Ronnie

Key words here, "as long as you don't switch hands". Catt & I are right handed with cranks on the right side of the reel. Switching hands is mandatory and the reel crank points upward. Does this make sense? Ronnie

Application to the Broken Fins Well boys, I have lurked here several times and always bailed because it would take too long to tell my story. Well here's the Reader's Digest version. I was diagnosed with Rheumatiod Arthritis more than 20 years ago. I have always responded well to the treatments and drugs and for that I'm constantly thankfull to the Lord. My hands are all knarled up, but I can still wrap rods, tie flies, cast worms and aggravate my kids. LOL If you read the FDA warnings on the drugs I take (Humira injected and Methotrexate) they read like a recipe for death. LOL Philippians 4:13 in the bible says: "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength", well, that's the truth. I am working on getting an evaluation on getting both knees replaced in the next few months. If I am a canidate for partial knee resurfacing then I can have it done before the Fork trip and I can dance at the party. If I must have total replacements, then I will wait till after the trip to start the process as the rehab time is extensive. I will fish Fork with you guys, you will just have to put up with a little whinning. If this sounds like I'm feeling sorry for myself, then you are hearing me wrong. Just like my buddy (whom I haven't met) riskkid, I celebrate every day I get to breath. It only hurts when I laugh and I laugh all the time. ;D ;D ;D Ronnie

Keith, Thanks for saying what I was thinking. Ronnie

I have a tendency to point my reel crank up for all casting, including pitching. It's more important for long casts that you do this. For pitching/flipping it's just habit for me. The handles will be up for right handers. I think that Catt is a lefty. Ronnie

You will have to kick in at least a 1st round draft choice and a couple of Shimano DCs for Riskkid. ;D ;D ;D Ronnie

Catt, You read my mind. Let ESPN name the game and we back our challenger LBH. I would be in for a cash donation or a custom wrapped rod, whatever. This would be a lot of fun and there's really no way to lose. Ronnie

Their loss. Ronnie

Culprit. Ronnie