cheezyridr

i think if we had a contest, even on the water i fish all the time, many of you would probably out fish me. i'm ok with that. i don't fish to be the best. i dont fish to outsmart the bass, or learn the structure or any of that. i learn those things because i am fishing, but that's not why i'm there. i'm there because i enjoy it for some reason. i dont really think deeply about why. i do, and that's enough for me. i can catch bass when all of my friends cannot. we play around with who's better, but i'm just playing along. i dont really care. when i hook a decent fish, i dont reel him in quick as i can, like alot of folks do. i like to let him fight back some. i like being out there, wading in a stream, or walking around a pond, looking for a spot i want to cast to, where i think a bass probably is. when i was in my 20's, i used to fish 4 times/week, for hours. at that time, i had casting accuracy that was insanely good. i did take pride in that. it's fun to be good at something. i thought about what kind of shot i might have in a real competition. i decided that wasn't why i was fishing, and never tried it. i dont fish nearly as much anymore, and my eye sight isn't what it used to be. i can't cast like that anymore, although i still cast well. i lost 3 of my favorite lures last weekend. a small price to pay for the peace fishing brings to me inside.

one rod, my st croix medium and the sv lite. i have a belly pack to hold a handful of lures and terminal tackle. i leave the phone and wallet in the car. that's the sucky part. i dont get to take many pics that way.

when i was a kid i would walk to the crick 6 miles away with nothing. i could find discarded line and a hook if i looked around hard enough. i would use a piece of a stick as a bobber. bait was easy to find. i could stop at my grammas on the way home and get a cold glass of water and maybe a ham sandwich, and a hug.

i love the lew's stuff i have tried. might not be the fanciest, but they work well, and have huge bang-for-your-buck. i have a shimano curado dc, and it's ok, but not my favorite. you being a smallmouth guy, i wish you lived close enough i could loan you my daiwa jdm sv lite. i love this reel more and more each time i use it. it weighs nothing, it's tiny, and comfortable to palm, and throws tiny lures insanely far. the spool is really shallow though, and if i ever hook a monster at the end of a long cast, i might be in trouble. hahaha

i fish from the bank most of the time, and i miss my 5 1/2 ft pistol grip rods. but i probably miss them because i haven't even seen one in 20+ yrs. i've come to really like split grips.

man, you aint just whistlin' dixie. i've seen some of the guys i work with have ridiculous arguments over it. it's as bad as politics or religion. hahahaha

the one thing that is...not so much a plus, but not entirely a negative is, the best reels are japanese, and we're very friendly with them. they dont behave like china does. arigato nihon! sore wa yoidesu! (thanks japan, it's good!)

i lost 3 rods at once, many years ago. i was fishing below a bridge near my home. i heard some shouting, and i looked up. 1st wife was on the bridge, and as was usual for her, she was upset about something. i reeled everything in and and climbed the stairs to get me to where she was standing. i dont remember what she was mad about anymore, it was ages ago. i had my rods leaned on the rail as we argued over something that was probably stupid. she reached over, grabbed my rods, and threw them off the bridge. if my son wasn't there, i might have thrown her after them. hahaha. funny thing is, i snagged one of them about a year later. it was garbage, but i brought it home to show her anyhow.

no offence meant towards you, but the part of your quote i bolded is uninformed. we're not supposed to talk politics here, so i wont take the risk and go into the whys of it. my own personal experience as a sheetmetal worker is mostly in the shop. it's a production environment, and i've been doing it over 3 decades, and for 2 of them, i have been either lead man, or forman/supervisor. hiring isn't easy, but it's not for any field. this problem is not specific to manufacturing. kids want to start at the top and work their way up. lots of them get discouraged and quit. in my experience, we keep maybe 1 in 5 new hires. the ones we do keep though, are great guys. smart, motivated, on time, dependable. it seems like there is no middle ground. they either suck, or they're great. i think manufacturing can be done here for things that were sent off shore, but it's going to require an investment most people aren't willing to make. you're going to struggle in the beginning, and there wont be any profit in the early stages. these days, people with money to invest want profits right away. the idea of investing in your community seems to be a dead concept

i don't know that particular reel, but the features listed make it SEEM useable. however, you can ask anyone here, the best bang for your buck is going to be a lew's combo, like the mach 2, or similar. i have one, and i kid you not, it's as useable as the reels i have that cost 3 times as much. it gets severely abused, and never lets me down. it casts great, very adjustable, and has a pretty decent drag system. all that said, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING is learning to properly set up your reel. youtube is your friend. learn to pick out backlashes, because you're going to get them. patience is key. i still do occasionally, and i've been using a casting reel since before there was even such a thing as mag brakes. on the plus side, once you learn to use one, the sensitivity, power and accuracy you'll get from them will make everything worth it many times over. this is a little more money, but soooo worth it https://www.amazon.com/Lews-Medium-Heavy-Right-Baitcast/dp/B084MJVM8N/ref=asc_df_B084MJVM8N/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=416666287396&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=4482644048465362608&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007476&hvtargid=pla-905559445107&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=90730212221&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=416666287396&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=4482644048465362608&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007476&hvtargid=pla-905559445107

they sent return labels in the tubes with both rods. i i shipped it out yesterday afternoon.

there's only 1 place that does it around here anymore. when i called them, i told them i don't know anything about the process, and wanted to know if i drop off my rod, about how long they might have it. they got annoyed with me and gave me a short answer. that helped me decide not to take my rod there. well, that and not wanting them to shorten my rod. i buy most of my stuff online or at walmart, because the few tackle shops left here now are kinda rude, even when you're the only guy in the store.

a couple of weeks ago i noticed the tip of my mach 2 rod is missing the insert. when i called the local tackle shop to ask about repair, they said they could do it. however, when i inquired about it, they said they would clip off the old tip and glue a new one on the end. i don't want that, so i ordered a custom speed stick to replace it. while i was on the site, i also ordered a couple of lures and a line stripper. my order arrived today, and there were 2 rod tubes taped together. i figured they did that for strength. i opened the first tube, and there was the rod i ordered, in perfect condition. schweeeeeet!!! i was about to put the tubes out with the trash, and i decided to look inside the other tube, in case they sent me a 2nd one. i dont need 2 of them, and i only want to pay for one if i only need one, right? i opened the other tube and inside was a duckett pro series timmy horton. it's a $180 rod! i checked my invoices and they only billed me for the lew's. i called TW and told them what happened, and i am sending it back to them. they had no idea. i was tempted to say nothing but i just can't bring myself to do it. maybe the god's of fishing will reward me with a monster bass this year? access to a new private hole? i'm hoping. hahahaha has anything like this ever happened to you? it's the first time for me

i have yet to be disappointed with any of the lew's rods i own. in fact, they've stood up to abuses that i should be ashamed of. i just picked up another, as a matter of fact. it's a custom speed stick, and i can already tell it's a good one. it came in the mail just an hour ago, so i haven't actually used it yet. ? i have a st croix mojo that i'm pretty happy with so far. i also have a curado that's pretty nice. those rods i am careful with, because of what they cost.

i like the doom stuff, sabbath, monster magnet, etc. i like 80's metal (true metal, i dont care what anyone says) but at my core, i'm just a rocker. i like meat & potatoes. ac/dc, hardbone, thundermother, bullet, texas hippie coalition, that sort of stuff. but since the topic of music came up, i want to complain a little. when i lived in toronto, they had a great music scene. for $80 i could rent a fully equipped rehearsal studio for 3 hours. i mean everything. high quality amps, pa & mics, drums, a couch and a fridge, soundproof room. every friday nite each band member showed up and paid $20, and for 3 hours we could play and write original music on the cheap. not counting bass fishing, it was the most fun you could have with your clothes on. now i live in delaware, and it's a musical black hole. there are no rehearsal studios at all. no one wants to jam or write original music. if you're not interested in playing brown eyed girl to a bunch of drunks, no one has any interest. i sold my strat yesterday to fund more fishing gear. i did keep my les paul though. playing to mp3s in my living room is boring as hell anymore. actually, this state sucks donkey balls. unless you own a boat and want to drive 80+ miles, all you're going to catch is dinks. almost all the ponds in new castle county are posted no trespassing, and the ones that aren't are over fished, or filled with snot grass. if my grand kids didn't live here, i wouldn't either

i don't understand the point of having it, and not carrying it.

so, last weekend, i decided i wanted to get a dog. i started looking on craig's list to see what's available in my area. i came across an ad, "talking dog, free to good home". like any reasonable person would, i assumed the talking dog part was a joke, and contacted the person who placed the ad to see if the dog was still available. it was, so i made arrangements to go see it. i get there, and upon meeting the guy, i made a comment about how i got a chuckle from the ad. he says to me "no, i'm for real, he's in the yard. you can go back there and meet him." whatever, i've heard huskies make noises that almost sound like words, so i just blew it off. we walked around the side of the house and went through the gate. the dog comes up waggin his tail, and i bent down to pet him. i say hey boy, how you doin? as one might. well, i about crapped my pants when the dog looked me straight in the face and clearly said "i'm doin fine, how about yourself?" i said, holy moly! you really are a talking dog! this is amazing! what's your story? so the dog sits down and says to me well, i figured out how to talk when i was still just a puppy. my first owner took me to the government. they put me in the whitehouse where i would sit in the room with foreign diplomats to secretly listen in on their conversations. when the administration changed, they sent me to the tsa where i learned to sniff out bombs and drugs. i did that for years, eventually earning a distinguished service award. i got tired of the work, and decided to retire. i settled down with a nice female, raised a few pups, and long story short, ended up here. it's not working out. i couldn't believe this, so i looked at the owner and said i would take the dog, and offered him $1000. it was all the money i have. he refused the money and said to just take the dog. i said to him, his story is amazing! why would anyone want to give away a talking dog, especially one with such an incredible history of service to our country as a patriot? the owner looked at me and said "that's the entire problem. he never did any of that stuff, he's a chronic liar"

the judges who continually let this scum out of prison instead of locking him up long ago, as a habitual criminal, are every bit as responsible for the the deaths of those 3 men as the man himself. one of the the truly sad parts of this is, there will be no consequences for them. there needs to be a system put in place to remove those people, and the law makers who enable these situations, to face consequences. at the very least, it shows that we need to: be more involved in local politics excersize and protect our 2nd amendment rights recognize that the things that allowed this to happen are part of a deliberate plan to destroy this country, and take the necessary steps required to put a stop to it. we all lead busy lives, but it should be painfully obvious by now, especially considering recent events in the news, that we ignore these things at our own peril. i grew up with 2 people who are/were much like this. one of them did 30 yrs for sodomizing another man with a stick and leaving him for dead. (at a local bass pond, coincidentally) when he finished his sentence, he went right back in less than a year. the other guy was never caught, but destroyed himself with drugs and died a couple months ago.

for the first time in my life i spent $300 on a reel, and $200 on a rod, just a few weeks ago. i liked them so much i did it again yesterday, when i discovered my older lew's rod has a bad tip and no one wants to repair it. sometimes i can understand spending a little more. there is a point of diminishing return, but you do get more for your money in some cases. that's my preface to say holy crap $18 for a chatterbait? glad i don't live in Missouri! they don't cost anywhere close to that here.

a buddy once said to me "truth gets told in a joke, and it's so true. your post was gold! hahaha #6 i experienced recently. a buddy who had been bugging me to take him fishing all winter. we are in my car, it's in reverse, and i am ready to take my foot off the brake and back out of the driveway. his phone rings, and it's his g/f telling him she's lonely and he needs to get over there right now. he looks at me and says "i gotta go". that was the last chance he'll get.

ok, i understand wanting to keep your stuff nice. i'm like that with my guitars and my bike. i dont flip my gear so resale isn't an issue for me. i couldn't if i wanted to. no one i know (locally) uses anything not available at walmart anyhow. they all think i'm stupid for spending what i do, even for the lew's combo. my rods live in my car for about half the year, so keeping them pretty would be impossible. i just recently bought a daiwa sv lite ltd. i LOVE this reel. holy cow it's on a whole other level than the mach 2 i have. i can cast little tiny spinners and plastics for a mile! it weighs next to nothing, and it's almost impossible to backlash. i balked at spending this much money for a reel, but it turned out to be well worth it. i spooled it with 10 lb mono, and paired with a st croix mojo 7 1/2 ft, med lite with a fast tip. i do alot of creek fishing, and i wanted a rig for that. the creek i fish is mostly small mouth, largemouth, and red eye, but big ones are pretty rare. i am terrible at casting a spinning rod, so this solves most of my problems.

ok, i'm sure once someone explains, it's going to seem really obvious, but i have to ask: why do you guys care about the paint? are they prone to decay? what am i missing?

i just bought one of these reels, i am waiting for the ups guy RIGHT NOW. i go to the porch every 20 minutes to see if it's here yet. of course, the weather is crap this weekend, so i wont get to use it right away. but i am soooo psyched. it's my first high end purchase. i am hoping i will be able to cast the smaller lures that are better suited to the places i fish most. my other rig is a mach2 combo i bought a couple years ago. it's a good all-arounder for bass. it's still not here yet

i just ordered a daiwa sv lite that i plan to spool with 8lb mono, on a medium lite rod, so i can throw small lite weight lures. i dont anticipate any real problems doing this. my regular bass rod is only 12lb mono, and i never have problems...as long as i dont cast directly into a tree full of vines like i did a couple days ago with a brand new chatterbait. ?

like all of us, i hate the trash and the inconsiderate people. but one thing i really hate is when some guy has 50 lb test wrapped around a 16oz. bud can, using a 3/4" nut for a sinker. fishing for carp. when he snags, he throws the whole mess into the river for me to snag later.