Mobasser

When I left the union work, I was already getting a little banged up in my late 40s. Knees, shoulder, and a hip starting to bother me. I hired in with a general contractor, remodeling and rehab work. I enjoyed this work much more. Being a union door hanger is a tough job. When I left the union, I actually made a little less money on the new job, but money isn't always everything in this type of work. Had I stayed as a journeyman, Im sure I'd have worse physical problems now.

Catt, I agree on the big commercial doors. When I was in the union in KC MO, I hung a lot of those type doors in office buildings. I don't know that I ever did 10ft tall doors, but many similiar. It wasn't bad work, and I made good wages, but the pace they required put a hurt on you at the end of the day. I was a journeyman then, and when it was almost quitting time, a foreman would walk through with pen and paper, and take count of the doors that were hung.He was usually a millright, or master carpenter. If he didn't get the count he wanted, he'd start asking why., and you better have a good explanation. He had to report to the big man, so he was under the gun just like all of us. There was simply no room for a slowpoke, and it was very hard work. Following behind the door hangers, we're carpet guys, then apprentice carpenters would glue in plastic( covebase) baseboard. They learned to install that stuff so fast it would make your head spin. Everything was a race against time, to meet the deadlines.

J Francho, I love all those design features you've mentioned. I wonder if you guys have ever seen doors with a transom window above them? They were made this way on older two story homes. Most had a coal furnace in the basement. In the winter, folks would open these windows to allow the heat to circulate between rooms, as it was rising. I worked on houses that still had an outside coal door in the basement wall, where the coal was shoveled in. I always liked the look of them, and we would always leave them if we could. Some restore crews always take them out, and drywall them over. They were a neat looking design, but had a purpose also.

With all the work I did over the years, residential new homes, lots of commercial work, and restoration, the old homes are my very favourite. I loved restoring an old staircase, hanging the old doors, and finishing these old homes. If you get into this work, it makes you realize just how much work went into an old house, and how much time they spent on details years ago. Lots of hand work went in, from all the trades. In Kansas City, like most cities, there are many huge majestic old homes. It's kind of sad to see them become chopped up, and made into apts, or just left to decay. I'll always admire them for what they are, a testament to good carpentry work, from years ago.

I'll add to this thread. I didn't see too much mention of doors here. One of the harder parts of carpentry work. When I worked as a finish carpenter in new homes, we always hung hollow pre hung doors. I never had much trouble with them. Commercial office doors can be hard, because they're so heavy, and some are taller than standard doors. But for me, the hardest of all were very old doors in old houses. We restored a couple of homes that were 100yrs old. Some folks like to save the old doors, and it's a good idea if you can, because all the ones I've seen are solid, and with some work( wood filler, paint etc) can be made nice again. But after so many years, the house has settled, probably more than once, and the door frames are usually way out of square and never level. I've fought with these old doors, test fitting them, then trimming them just a slight amount, to get them to swing and fit well. I've never been happy until they close easily, and latch as they should. They can be tricky.

I think some of this may come down to our ages. Lots of younger guys have probably started bass fishing with braid/ leaders, or flouro lines. Us older anglers grew up with mono, and many of us still use it. As an example, not long ago I was looking at high end rods at a local.sporting goods store. The salesman was a much younger guy- probably early twenties. We started talking about the different models, and he saw me pick up a nice Shimano rod. He asked what line I used and I told him monofilament. He said" oh, it would be a shame to buy a rod like that, and string it up with monofilament". Obviously, he didn't know me very well. Had I bought that rod, the first thing I would have done is bring it home, and string it up with monofilament. It's worked well for me for a long time, so, it's what I use.

jj, I always try and do this too. For the most it's true. I've known people that I've treated very well, and have been let down by the way they've returned my good treatment. Never the case with my dogs. They always appreciate and return the good treatment- in they're own way.

I've made post about dogs before, and I'm still a dog lover. With good treatment, every dog I've ever had, has returned this good treatment, with loyalty. With fall coming up, I'm always reminded of my granpa,. He was a farmer here in Missouri, and an avid quail hunter, during the late fall. My grandpa always had three or more bird dogs on the farm, and most were usually given to him. They were the runts of the litter, and were never expected to be good hunters. Most of the hunters dismissed them as weak, too small, timid, and would say they were gunshy. My grandpa knew better. Here's how he trained them: he kept some wings from the qauil, from the year before, and froze them. He would thaw one out, and tie it to a piece of fishing line about 4 or 5ft long. This went on the end of an old cane pole about 10ft long, which hung in the barn. Getting the pup out in the yard, he would give them a good smell of the wing. At first, all the pups would just try anything to get the wing. Every time the pup made a lunge for the wing, he would jerk it away a few feet. After a few times, the pup would start to approach slowly, and wait cautiously for the wing to move again. Without realizing it, the pup was learning to go on point, and stand still when he caught the smell of the quail wing. Over several years back in the 60s, I watched my grandpa take the frail, weak pups, and turn them into outstanding dogs. Our best one ever was an English Setter named Butter. Butter was born with a slight yellow tint to her fur, and didn't have the proper look of an English Setter. I entered Butter in the pup class in a field trial her first year. The day was hot. They would plant dead quail in a field, and see how good the pup could locate them, and hold on point. That day, there was a large hatch of yellow butterflies in the field. Butter approached the birds slowly, but couldn't keep her attention on them, and would chase a butterfly. The man who was running the field trial told me" son, you better take your butterfly dog home, she'll never be any good". At 12 yrs old, I was devestated. My grandpa said " don't worry, she needs a little time". We worked with Butter through the whole summer. The following fall we entered her again in the first year class. She took first place, and outperformed every dog that was there. Many were expensive, full bred pointers and setters. Some guys offered to buy Butter from granpa, but he'd have none of it. That hunting season, my granpa, dad, my older brother, and to an extent me, shot full limits of quail on many days,with Butter leading, and the first on point every time. When Butter retrieved a quail, my grandpa would kneel on one knee, and open his hunting coat. Butter would drop the quail into the pocket of his coat every time. She had a great, long life on the farm, and loved being in the field every year. It was a huge loss to all of us when she passed on. My grandpa loved all of his dogs, and gave them only the best treatment, almost spoiling them. He took the runts, the losers, and the dogs that nobody wanted. Through kindness, and good training, he turned them into loyal, trustworthy champions. Years after, I realized he taught me a huge lesson through all of this. Get a dog, any breed, and treat him with kindness. He'll return this kindness with a trust and loyalty that is second to none. This is why Ive been a dog lover all my life, and will be for the rest of my days. They are, and always will be, our best companions.

J Francho, have you had poor results with Ardent lubes?.And a second question, have you tried any of the Lucas products?

I've never used a braided treble hook, and this is the first I've heard this term. I don't think it's anything new. Years ago Heddon had a rotating treble hook on many of they're baits. Sounds similiar

One topic which always seems to come up here on BR, is fishing lines. We have many threads on which rod or reel to pick, and usually, many folks can reach a general agreement on which ones are good. Fishing lines, on the other hand, are a hard one to call. One thing I think any experienced angler knows, is that a good line is just as important as any part of your tackle. The line is your connection to the fish. I've been a monofilament fisherman for all my life, and I still like monofilament lines. Starting out with Stren in the early 80s, I found Trilene Big Game, and have used it on casting reels for a long time now. It's worked well. It's seems like the big issue is with lighter lines, for light line/ finesse style fishing. Most all will say to use a braid/ leader combo, or a flourocarbon line. I've stayed with mono, and havnt had the line twist issues that many complain about. To be honest, I can't say that I've ever felt any mono line actually stretch either, even though stretch is a common complaint. I store my line spools in a shoebox, out of the sunlight, and run the line through my thumb and finger, to check for any nicks or abrasions, and with the low cost of mono lines, I can respool several times over the course of a season, on any of my reels, if I need to. But, It seems like monofilament lines are no longer popular with bass fisherman.They still sell a lot of them, but most bass fisherman won't recommend them anymore. I've been told I'm missing fish, and that I'm stuck in the past with my line choice. And, I would never be critical of another anglers choice of fishing line. It's all personal preference. But, I see monofilament lines losing an uphill battle here, and being replaced by newer technologies, and what many say are better lines. In defense of monofilament lines, I've used them for almost forty years now, and, any fish I've lost in that time has been my fault, and not the fault of any mono lines I've used. Would anyone care to comment here, and, do we have many members who still use monofilament line for most of they're bass fishing?

Light t rig plastic worm is my confidence bait.

I think I was around 12 or 13 when I first learned about it. My brother and I had been fishing with plastic worms, but we were nose hooking them, and hanging up too much. A guy that owned a hdwr store where we bought our plastic worms, ordered some eagle claw #95 hooks and bullet weights for us. The rods we had were not the best for this, being a softer action, but it was a turning point. We quickly realized that we could cast them all over the pond, without getting hung on weeds.

Thought I would add, just got home from a trip this morning with my buddy. Fishing a clear quarry lake near home. We switched rods for a good time, and I used his Slider rod. Ended up catching three fish, biggest at 16". Casting with 1/16 Spider head is very good. Also used 1/8 Standard Slider head, with great casting distance. Plenty of power to land these fish, and overall weight is no issue, with size 200 Lews reel- 6lb mono.Aside from the nostalgia factor, the rod is an effective fishing tool, and loads of fun. Seems to be perfect for this type of fishing. It could very well become a new favourite.

Like everyone, I felt so so many emotions when this attack happened. Fear, anger, and a sense of helplessness. When I made it home, I was sickened by what I watched on TV. I never thought that an attack of this scale would ever happen.

I was working on a house rehab, in an older part of Kansas City Mo, with two other men. That day, we were working on replacing the plumbing from the basement on up into the old two story house. We had the radio on while we were working, and heard the news of the attack. After that initial news, we were almost in shock. We looked at each other in disbelief. One of my crew said, I think I should go home and be with my family. We picked up tools and went home early for the day. I watched the events on TV. I've never forgotten that day.

Good info on my favourite bass bait. Novice anglers would do well to read up on this thread. Whenever I read threads like this, it reminds of a seminar I attended many years ago by Larry Nixon. He. mostly talked about structure fishing, with various baits. At the end of his seminar he held up a plastic worm and said" learn this". Mr. Nixon was 100% correct.

Yes. If you could get a Mithcell 308 or Cardinal 3, you'd probably have a pretty accurate rig. I'm plan on using a 1000 size Diawa, with an AR switch of course. Those are very nice reels. But I wouldn't expect to get this glass rod too weigh in at 7oz. It sounds like fun though.

True, it's hard to say how close they are to the original. I think they're relatively close. I looked it because it was different, and cast well with a 1/16 oz Spider head. I'm sold

J Francho, thanks for posting this pic. I tried to describe this rod as best I could, but a picture gives everyone a better description.

An older friend that I fish with recently ordered this rod. The rod is a 50th Anniversery rod, and a very close copy of the rods that Charlie Brewer sold, and pictured in his book " Slider Fishin". The rod is made of fiberglass, with three double foot steel guides, and a steel tip guide, with an insert. A dark yellow color, black guide wraps with red trim set this rod apart from the current rod colors that are popular these days. The rod features a cork Tennessee handle, approx 8" long. Mike had his rod rigged up with a size 200 Lews reel and 6lb mono. I made a few test cast in the yard, and casting distance was very good, on par with a 6ft Fenwick HMG that I've been using. I imagine a 1000 size reel would work well also. This rod helped to clear a few myths I've heard over the years about Slider fishing in general. I've heard some folks recommend an ultralight rod for this style of fishing. This rod is no soft, whippy ultralight. The action is closer to a stiff med action, with a slight tip flex in the top 8" to 10". This one would probably work well for wading fisherman, or in a kayak or canoe, or those that fish creeks, with bankside obstructions to deal with. For anyone here on BR who've ever wondered what the original Tennessee finesse fishing style made famous by Charlie Brewer, Billy Westmoreland, and a hand full of others was all about, this rod is as close as you can get, without having a rod custom made. It's a total throwback. My old friend Mike likes it so far. In his words" it's a sweet little stick and, puts the fight back in my bass fishing". I'm planning on ordering one soon. Cost is around 53.00. Monofilament line in the 6 to 8lb size should work well.

Dave, there's so many definitions out there anymore, it's hard to keep up with them all.

It can pay to know a retired carpenter. He may still be willing to do some side jobs, and remodeling projects. The problem a lot of folks have is time. If your working everyday, and trying to get things done after work, or on weekends only, some bigger jobs can drag on too long, simply because you can't put in the hours needed to get them done.

Many may disagree, but a basic T Rig would be my choice. In thick grass, a straight tail worm may come through the grass better. But don't overlook a curly tail style also. A curl tail worm hooked around a grass stalk, and pulled away, can be a trigger for a strike.

I'll always consider. a T Rig as sliding bullet weight, straight or offset worm hook, and plastic bait of your choice.