Dan:

If you pay the $30 will he send you a new one? If so, you should just take your losses.

I agree with pretty much everyone else. I prefer a 6'6"-7' Medium Extra fast rod

I'm having trouble finding any info on these rods. They seem to be the spinning version of the Zillions? Anyone own one or know anything about them?

He puts on a good show? That's not what I've heard. I've heard of numerous instances of him showing up HOURS late to concerts, playing 3 songs and leaving. The biggest fan of his that I know went to see him in Richmond and came back frustrated and less of a fan because he showed up late and only played a few songs.

Nice! I like the rod, too. That's a cool reel seat.

Umm, I wouldn't say they have similar styles. Hemingway is much more simplistic and he writes more about individuals while Faulkner tried to challenge traditional formats (one of his stories goes like 35 pages without a period) and he writes more about people as society. I just like both. And mattm, sorry, I'll keep it to myself. ;D

He killed himself at the place in Key West, right? Fourbizz and Hookem, you should definitely read more Hemingway. I have read A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Old Man and the Sea (short book about a fishermen, start there), The Sun Also Rises, some of To Have and Have Not and some of his short stories like The Nick Adams Stories and The Snows of Kilimanjaro. It was a long time ago so I don't remember a lot about them but they are great reads. The short stories are very good and read very fast. He has this way of saying things without actually saying them. If you read his work, especially the short stories you will see what I mean. It is called the "iceberg principle." They say only an eighth of an iceberg is exposed above the surface. He gives you the top eighth explicitly but it reveals the deeper aspects subtly so it is up to the reader to see the whole "iceberg." My high school english teacher was a national Hemingway expert. He was a high school teacher and college professor but he did a lot of research papers on Hemingway. He knew everything about him and his work so he really got us to read a lot of his stuff. If you like Hemingway, read some William Faulkner.

Not really a fan. I prefer underground hip hop. Check out Crown City Rockers and People Under the Stairs.

It's made by the same people who made Age of Empires so it has to be good. Definitely a cool idea for a strategy game.

Lol, Burley. I was waiting for that one. Micro, that is one of the reasons I chose to get a left hand retrieve baitcaster when I bought my first one. I fish a lot of soft plastic jerkbaits and topwaters so I felt like I needed to keep my more dexterous hand on the reel to allow me to better impart action on the lures. I've used right handed reels but I never felt like I was in control of the bait--any type of bait.

Shimano's 2500 sizes are best for bass fishing. With 8lb test, I'd get the 2500.

Back in early '04...I used rod wrap on my handle and foregrip...that is what motivated me to seek something better. Trying to put rod wrap on the foregrip was ridiculous; it was clumsy and looked like crap. The heat shrink is significantly cleaner. As far as rod wrap or the prince overgrip, it has no adhesive on the backside at all. You start it and wrap it on top of itself, and I finish it at the handle with a drop of super glue (I super glue the wrap to itself...not the handle). If you try the prince overgrip...you won't go back, and if you sell your rod it will look unused. That is the biggest bonus of the wrap/shrink combo. When you take it off...you unveil a rod with brand new cork. Ok, I gotcha. That's what I figured. I gotta tell ya, I think I'm going to go try to find that Prince stuff. It sure does look nice. None of my rods have foregrips so I can pass on the shrink wrapping. Even though it looks good, I'm glad I don't have to do the extra work.

Yeah, those guys aren't shy. Reading about the tube sock fashions is funny but seeing it is a whole different story. :-/

So why don't you use the prince stuff on the foregrip? Or doesn't it fit on the foregrip well? And what do you mean it isn't adhesive? How does it stick on the cork? It won't leave a tacky residue, will it?

Wow. That is a really cool idea with the shrink wrap. Why do you prefer the shrink wrap for the front only? Is the tennis wrap more comfortable or have a better grip? I've thought about using racket or bat grip tape for rods but I was worried it would leave sticky adhesive residue on the cork.

Yeah, I figured it was a problem with the way the VHSL works. By chance, what high school are you watching Burley? I know there are a lot of Group A schools down your way that my school would meet up with in state playoffs. My school was (still is) one of the only Group A schools in Northern Virginia.

I agree, I can't stand Nicholas Cage. He's terrible. My twin brother hates him even more. If I ever want to make him angry, I just rent a Nick Cage flick.

As far as freshwater, I've caught most of the main American species but I'd still like to catch a Muskie (just got some wire leaders and some glide baits to try at a nearby Muskie lake) as well as rainbow and brook trout (just got a fly rod) and a pickerel. The pickerel may sound weird but I don't have many bodies of water that have them near me. Also a snakehead (have a good fishery pretty close in the Potomac), redfish, and peacock bass.

Heat was definitely better, but it wasn't a bad movie. Don't waste your time or money on Bangkok Dangerous. It was absolutely awful.

I went to one of my little sister's games this week and it was awful. I don't know what type of training they get but there are some real goons out there. I played baseball in high school and we had some terrible umpires also. I remember one time that I stepped out of the box to get a signal from the third base coach and the umpire told me to hurry and step into the box so we could finish the game quickly....I also had a couple of guys who had strike zones that were unmistakeably swiss cheese shaped.

ewww, yuck! I actually just got done cleaning the exterior of my reels, my spools, my line guides, and the cork on my rods. All those things had some grime built up on them from fishing slop this fall. I am too scared to open up my reels and look at the interior, but most of my reels are fairly new so I think they can wait for a trip to ReelMech or some reel pro for a little while. I hadn't even realized how dirty a spool could get. I had to use a toothbrush to get that crap off.

Maybe belittling your music doesn't bother you, but it could bother other people. And as shown by this thread, it obviously does.

OK then. Robert Cray is boring. He may be able to play more scales than RHCP but at least their songs sound different. Now we're back ONtopic and waiving the "niceties" (aka common courtesy) while deliberately coming off as aggressive to other members. Great!

There is a 7 page thread on Briery Creek if you scroll down the Southeast Bass Fishing section.

I have to say I was very skeptical about the RT stuff last year but this fall I hammered them with the toad. It was by far my most productive bait at my local spot. If you have mats of grass, you need to try it. BTW, if you are fishing them fast, a smaller sized weighted swimbait hooks keeps them upright perfectly.