desmobob

The darn airlines and their ever-changing baggage rules really make things a PITA. In the good ol' days you could carry on pretty much any length tubes and they'd stow them in a closet in the cabin. When I went to Mexico in 2012 I duct-taped my 4-pc travel fly rod tubes to my carry on bag so it was "one carry on piece" as per the rules at the time. No problem from NY to LA and LA to Loretto and back again. I was amazed how many folks were flying back to LA with coolers full of fish! I would probably opt for a large, rigid checked case for rods these days.

I can see every other photo (and there are lots of them) on this page, in this thread, and throughout the forum. What the...? The blank square where the photo should be is sort of pulsing on and off like it's loading but that's as far as it gets. And when I left the page up to see if the image would eventually load, I got an alert that the page was using significant energy and was reloaded. Macbook Pro, Big Sur 11.6, Safari 15.0

A-Jay, I'll I'm seeing is a blank square with the little blue question mark... ...or is that the idea?

Do you have a break-away section in your lanyards? I nearly got strangled in the woods by a compass hung around my neck on a piece of paracord once. I think that might be part of the reason I can't warm up to neck knives.

You can't ask for much more than that. ?

Is that a V or chisel grind? Neat knife. I've tried a few neck knives but never really found one I liked. I'm a perspirer and need something very corrosion resistant. I'm guessing the titanium carburization takes care of that?

One of my favorite little pocket knives (what I consider a true "pocket knife" rather than the "tactical folder" I usually carry) is an old knife made by Camillus in NY in the 1950s and 1960s and sold by Lipic as an advertising knife. They are readily available on the used market. It's larger than the typical pen knife that it looks like and is a little smaller than the average stockman type knife. It has that one additional blade that makes the knife extra-handy without being bulky or heavy: a combination screw driver and bottle opener. A little steel wool and Mother's polish will remove the advertising imprints on the scales, if desired. Here are a couple of them, one faux mother of pearl with advertising imprints removed and one white with the imprints intact. The white one was new in the package for $12, shipped. Their quality far exceeds anything in that price range today! Old-fashioned carbon steel... not for use in the salt.

I have a pair of the Daiwa Ardito 3pc. travel rods, one M and one MH. A 1 oz. bait would be at the top of the rated range for the MH, but I've never tried throwing anything that heavy with mine. I think they're decent rods for the affordable price.

I have my fishing-specific tools at hand when I'm fishing. I clip a Boomerang line snip to my belt or the D-ring on my pants or shorts and I have fishing pliers and a Boga grip in sheaths attached to my leaning post. I just have my normal every-day knife in my pocket; usually some model of a one-hand-opening folder from Benchmade or Emerson.

The largest Mepps I have is that style, but it's very big and the minnow is shaped much like a catfish instead of the generic type minnow.

You're inspiring me to throw some inline spinners and reminding me of the old days. When I was a kid, there were four lures that I would buy from the local store when I could afford them: Rapala floating or countdown minnows, Daredevle spoons, Heddon hard baits of various types, and Mepps inline spinners. I had Mepps from the smallest trout size on up to the pike size (even one with a big rubber minnow trailer), with or without the squirrel tail dressing on the treble, and with gold, silver or black blades. They seemed to work well on every kind of fish I was after. The smallmouths on the local lake loved them. Mepps used to have a note on the back of the spinner package or in their ads asking for squirrel tails to purchase. I think I remember them offering ten or twelve cents each....

Duck season is open, so I brung the scattergun... ? It was like a summer day, and just a couple of flocks of wood ducks and three mallards flew by in sight, but not in range. The bass were hungry though (and all great fun on BFS gear).

An acquaintance who owns a small apple orchard started replacing a lot of older trees a few years back. The old ones were cut and the wood stacked. I asked if I could take some wood and he told me to help myself. I took one box full. Big regrets after I had used it all... I should have filled the car to the limit.

Beartooth Lions' Mane? If so, they're delicious! Lightly pan fried in butter, the taste and texture is a little like lobster. And none of the harmful/poisonous fungi look anything like them. They're about the only wild fungi I'll forage.

I never pass by one of those "Ten best..." lists you run into on the 'net. I believe I've seen WT 101 score high on a list or two, up against some pretty fancy competitors. Folks often overlook the common, everyday boozes as a place to look for a favorite. Heck, my favorite rye for years was cheap ol' George Dickel. (Didn't Dickel used to distill it themselves? I believe it's an MGP product now.) "Taste" is what YOU like, not what someone tells you should be liked...

I have some spinning reels that are designed to be used on short (24") ice fishing rods and they are noticeably angled up to aim the spool at the first guide, which is pretty close to the reel on these really short spinning rods. Edited to add photo... You can see the extreme angle here: A conventional spinning reel doesn't work very well on these short rods because it lacks that feature. The angled vs. not angled reel on conventional length rods might not be that noticeable but I'd guess it would have some affect on performance.

I always keep fly fishing gear and an ultralight spinning or BFS outfit and tackle in the back of my car. But I can't remember the last time I've used it... ?

^ +1 I'll stick to the Speysides.

Forgot about that... even after doing some winter steel head fishing last year...

My debit card was hacked and I not only got my money back from the fraudulent purchases, but I was even credited for a charge I didn't recognize and reported, but was legit (name on the account was different than the business name, which is fairly common). When I pointed it out the bank later, they said don't worry about it ! My concern about relying on debit and credit cards is that if there was ever some large-scale hack, virus, or whatever that shuts computer communications down, people without cash on hand would be in a big bind. But every time I start building up an "emergency" cash supply, I end up tapping into it or spending on something. ?

I think Dave Scadden's fishing-style inflatable SUP has a seat/cooler/gear box option. I can't imagine a long day of fishing, all done while standing.

I really like the idea of the smooth, open deck of a SUP for fly fishing. Then, I remember that I'm a spastic klutz with only rudimentary coordination and realize all my nice fly fishing gear would likely end up in Davy Jones' locker... As a fly fisherman, I know there's sometimes a fine line between wading and swimming. I've crossed it plenty of times. I'd bet the line between stand up paddle board paddling and swimming is even finer!

I guess you didn't see my attempt at humor there. ? Although you could use other presentations if you had a good chainsaw to use along with the power auger. Even trolling would be an option by adding the snowmobile... Anyway, our bass season closes in the winter. Most bass guys target other species then.

In the north, you need something like this for several months and a vertical presentation is pretty much your only option... topwater action gets really, really slow. ...and it's handy to have something like this on a trailer after you put up your bass boat for the winter:

For you real black powder fans, bad news released by Hodgdon today. There has been a history of incidents at the plant since they moved it to Camp Minden in 1997, including an explosion and fire this year in June. Maybe the National Guard is kicking them out of the camp!