Dan:

Micro, when I was in the Richmond BPS a couple weeks ago, I picked one up and it felt like a pretty nice reel. It felt just as smooth and sturdy as the other reels I picked up like the Tierra, Pflueger Supreme, and the new Symetre. I have no idea about the durability and long term fishability though. You might want to look at the Pflueger Supreme and Shimano Symetre also. They are nice reels and only a little more expensive although they are also a bit heavier. I am very close to buying one of the TD-Pro baitcasters. and btw, the BPS site has been slow for me ever since they changed the layout.

What Sam said is great. I know what you mean about putting together all the knowledge. I've watched countless hours of fishing shows but in reality, they offer pretty similar advice. Just make an emphasis on mental notes about the most important things you learn. Before you go out, consider what the conditions will be. Water clarity, temperature, weather, types of cover, etc.. each difference in those considerations presents a problem that you can solve with information you have learned. For example, if I know I am fishing cold, dingy water, I plan for those conditions and tie on a slow moving, dark colored bait, knowing from what I've learned that bass are more likely to be lethargic in cold water and dark colors show up better in dingy water. Obviously your plans might not work like you think they will when you are actually on the water, but that is what all the rods are for; tie on different variations of baits or other techniques, for example, besides a slow moving dark bait, I might tie on a reaction bait that makes noise, knowing that the fish may be tricked into a reaction bait and the noise will help with the poor water clarity. More importantly than memorizing tips like what colors to use in different water clarity, or what depths to fish during certain times of year, determine the reasoning behind those decisions. Don't simply memorize the information you hear, but instead process it and think about why those things are true. This will help make sense of conditions and bait/technique selection as well as fish location.

This is why I'm glad my FCS team has playoffs, even though my team was ranked #1 at the end of the season and would therefore play in a NC game under the FBS system...That being said, I don't think a playoff will eliminate controversy because even with the FCS selections for the tournament this year there have been people who are upset that their team wasn't chosen over teams that were. It would be the same for the FBS teams who get left out of the playoff selections, ie those number 9 teams that get left out of an 8 team playoff system.

I voted for other. My new favorite is a Yo-Zuri bait that I don't know the name of. It has a soft, spongy coating and they walk amazingly well. Another favorite when I want a bait with a loud sound is the Rapala Skitter Walk.

I would go for the 100. The larger size probably won't deter many smallies when the topwater bite is on. I catch lots of smallies, including smaller fish with 4" walking baits.

me and my roommates call him "Football Jesus"

I honestly don't care anymore because I think Alabama/Florida (whoever wins the SEC championship) vs. Oklahoma and Texas vs. Florida/Alabama (loser of SEC championship) would be great games to watch no matter which combination it is. Of course I say that strictly as a viewer with no interest in who wins. It seems that USC will be playing PSU, but where does that leave Utah?

what do you mean you can't right click?

I dunno, GT looked good this week. LSU has looked awful as of late. daviscw, watch out for Richmond, they are a good team. I sincerely hope they beat Appy so we don't have to play you all again.

Control+C and Control+V

looks like a chinese knockoff to me. get a hudd instead... ;D

Walking a frog takes a different rod action than walking a stickbait. It's is a much more compact rod action. Very small twitches.

Is that a River2sea?

oh, lol, I didn't know. Chances of our teams playing again in the playoffs are pretty good

It is a D-1 school, it's just D-1AA. We have about 17,000 students. We beat App State earlier this year after being down 21-0 at halftime. That was an awesome game.

I didn't get to see it. Did anyone see the Marching Royal Dukes from JMU? If so, how were they?

nice work!

That's funny, I only got that joke because I know the address from sending in deposits. McDermott Freeway, right? Haha

at least you can get a free soda out of it...

nice dude. Those zillion rods are AWESOME. the cara's handles are sweet too.

I was just going to type that out.

I'm getting a custom made G Blank rod. Not sure if I'll have it by christmas though.

I seriously doubt that. And tons of high end manufacturers have great warranties.

nope, when I read it, i was just reminded of "Ahem, Uh Ok. The industrial revolution to me is just like a story I know called The Puppy Who Lost his Way. The world was changing and the puppy was ... getting biggerSo you see the puppy was like industry in that they were both lost in the woods. And nobody, especially the little boy - society knew where to find him. Except that the puppy was a dog, but the industry my friends that was a revolution."