CountryboyinDC

Get with the program, nobody's using a bathtub to fish out of anymore.

Legit for sure. Had a great time with Lee a couple of years back. He'll show you where the fish are on Kissimmee, maybe ToHo, and that smaller lake he lives on.

That's the only thing I've learned to speak fluently.

I approve the dues payment for some of my subordinate employees to maintain membership in Toastmasters (it's not a ton, like $100 per year). It's not magic, but nothing training is. It doesn't seem to help with the folks who have trouble with English anyway, usually because of where they're from (e.g. non-English speaking country or Appalachian Virginia). It definitely doesn't help if don't show up to the meetings regularly. My takeaway is that you should really have a well-vetted public speaking class first, then join Toastmasters to practice and hone those skills. In those cases, I consider it money well spent.

For someone stuck in a hydraulic as retentive as one a low head dam can produce, unless you had someone ready on live bait (tethered swimmer), it's hard to expect a positive outcome. Even then, rescue might be impossible. Highly encourage the PFD wearing, but if you're in swiftwater, there are a lot of river features that can easily drown you with one on.

Baby D-Bomb on a T-rig with a 4/0 flipping hook with a pegged sinker. I'm sure the other beaver style baits work too, but I've only ever used these. I don't use any other ones, although I have a pack of Havoc Pit Boss baits that someone gave me a long time ago to thank me for something. I still haven't opened the pack.

Gotta have something for crankbaits IMHO. Whatever that means to you. For me, it means a softer tip than even topwater plugs and jerkbaits, most often rated moderate. I'd want that even before I get a heavy worm/jig/light flipping rod or the topwater/jerkbait rod, but that probably has to do with where I fish. A 7' MH/F rod has a lot of uses. With that and a finesse spinning rod, you have a lot of techniques at your disposal. The limitation will be the person holding the rod.

I'm all for celebrating what St. Patrick did, but let's not do that again until next year. #Guinnessheadache

I don't have a lot of either series - just 1 Victory and 2 LTB. I was not a fan of the Victory myself (7'1 MH/F casting), probably because I liked the Avid series quite a bit at that price point. A lot of the contributors on this forum found that the Victory series fish a little lighter than the other St. Croix lines. The Victory rods are themselves a little lighter in weight than the Avid or LTB series in the same lengths/tapers in general. So will you probably like the LTBs , especially at the BYGO price point. But they are a different series, and while I strongly prefer the Avid or LTB series over the Victory, I don't know that you won't.

At least you're not going to college after only 15 years of high school.

You can also just zip tie it to your truck antenna if you have an old beater truck like mine (I know a lot of newer cars have the antennas built into the windows). It'll get that squeal you're looking for. I've gotten to where I only throw the Caivtrons.

Not a lot of choices, really for tandem pedal drives. The tandem Pro-Angler would probably be pretty amazing on water, but I can't imagine lugging one rigged to the water. I can't imagine it being too fun on the river either, but I could be wrong. So the best choice I see is the Mirage Oasis. I'd have one if money and storage space was no issue. I'm not that keen on tandems, but when I take a kid fishing or the wife decides to join me, it would beat a canoe a lot of the time. The Oasis is not by any means perfect - it has no rails for mounting your rod holders, cleats, etc. It has little storage as I remember, only a tiny hatch up front, some tiny hatches in the floor, and the best storage is the tankwell, but even that's pretty small. There are a couple of flush mount rod holders, but not much else. I'm guessing these have gotten Hobie expensive and run $5k or maybe more now. The good things make it stand out in an uncrowded field. It has steering controls and the rudder raising mechanism front and rear. Doesn't seem like much until you think about when that might matter when 2 people are fishing. It is a Hobie, and pedals like a Hobie. Don't have one myself, but I'll admit the drive is the easiest to pedal on the market still. It has the reverse - this is one area where I feel like the other pedal drives are better than the Hobie, but with the Compass you'd have to buy or trade for a reversing pedal drive if you wanted one. The Oasis is stable enough for me, although I'd try it before you make it yours, especially coming from the Crew, which I suspect is pretty stable. And it is fast, especially if the two people on the pedals want to make it so. Shouldn't be a surprise - it's got to be close to 15'. And it's not super heavy - I know it weighs less than my solo pedal drive (Old Town Predator PDL). And you could use it on the river if you go occasionally. There just isn't a lot of demand for a tandem pedal drive fishing (or otherwise) kayak, but I think the Oasis is the best that's available.

I believe the 2 stage is the way to go, as others above have said. My driveway may be twice the size of yours and I live on a corner lot, so it has maybe 200' of sidewalk. I used to shovel it, and have 3 types of shovels. The issue was that I would have to shovel it before work, which meant getting up even earlier on a snow day, sometimes substantially so. Now, when it snows enough to bring out the blower, I end up doing the little old lady's 2 doors down, the people beside me with an infant and toddler, etc., so I probably don't save much time with it, but it's so much easier. Mine is a Troy-Bilt "3"-stage https://www.troybilt.com/en_US/prior-year-models/vortex-2890-snow-blower/31AH5DQ8766.html, which I don't believe accomplishes anything other than scattering snow. Looking between the brands, there are super premium (Honda), premium (Ariens, Toro), and pretty much everything else you'll find at Lowes, Home Depot, or True Value. The feature besides the 2 stage auger system I would insist on is a steering mechanism of some sort. Most use hand clutches, but some are more like an automotive differential. Without this, the transmission is much like what's found on a tiller. Very hard to maneuver, even with a light 24" blower.

Sex Panther - 60 percent of the time it works every time.

The Japanese Spydercos are spendy for what I'd use them for. I mainly carry knives to cut me free from something that might drown me or someone else. That could be some 550 cord or might be as thick as 3/8" rope from a throw bag. Really, braid could pose as much as much of a drowning risk, now that I think of it and you've described. I carry the small NRS knife on my fishing PFD, as I run an anchor and drag chain. It's not that great, tbh, but I've sharpened the non-serrated edge to where I feel that I could use it to cut free. For whitewater, I either carry a Gerber EZ-out or a Wichard Marine Offshore rescue knife. The first is folding, the latter fixed blade. Both have blunt tips, so you could hope to cut free froma wrapped cord/rope without severing an artery. Those Spydercos are definitely sharper, and they make a blunt-tipped one that could work. If they weren't $120, I might try one. I'm with @VolFan, though. I use some sort of scissors for most of my cutting while fishing.

I live in a split level with a gas furnace and central A/C. I'm a wimp relatively.

Where you are on the food chain has nothing to do with toughness. Think about the honeybadger. River bass live a hard life. And then you eat them.

Absolutely. I'm a terrible swimmer in current, even with a PFD on and using a paddle to get me to the eddy. They go upstream.

We have more violent helgrammites here in VA.

Gotta be a real man to catch one of them. Big ones draw blood like no crawdad can. I'd never seen one that color either.

It would take an extremely annoying sleeper to bother me. I sleep pretty well anywhere. When I was in the military, for parachute and helicopter assaults in larger (MH-47, etc.) helicopters, we would be seated "nut to butt" in rows facing the intended aircraft exit. Training or real mission, after about 15 minutes of flying I would go right to sleep, and end up leaning on someone behind, in front of, or beside me. Got such a bad reputation that other guys would give up a coveted space next to the side of the aircraft so I wouldn't end up leaning on them. I would pretty well sleep until we got the 3 or 10 minute call. Continues to this day - I'll fall asleep most anywhere if I am still and don't focus on staying awake. One of the main reasons I rarely hunt from tree stand. I've been told by my wife, that my propensity to fall asleep is annoying, among other things. It doesn't keep me awake at night.

ALX Zolo Brawler 7'6 XH/F. https://alxrods.com/products/zolo-brawler-76-xheavy-fast-casting. Mine's an older one with the cork butt (still split grip). The reel on it now is a LH Lews Tournamemt MP 8.3:1. I like a LH reel when I'm pitching or flipping; I'm more accurate with my right hand. I use 65 lb braid, I think it's Tuf Line XP. With this setup, you might throw an Alabama rig too, but it isn't going to do much else besides heavy cover. Mine sits a lot of the year.

I know the South Fork, but rarely fish that far south. It's a lot like the Luray-Bentonville-Front Royal sections I do fish, though, IMHO. Ned rig is not my favorite, but in deep pools with little current they have produced. I prefer th Nikko helgrammite over the TRD worm, though for that particular scenario. You can get them from Don at Front Royal Canoe. Grubs mentioned are good, I put them on a 1 or 1/0 worm hook with a 1/16 oz bullet sinker rather than a jighead. I just find they get snagged less. My favorite soft plastic has been the Keitech Fat Impact 3.3 in Tennessee Shad on a 3/0 1/8 oz keel-weighted swim bait hook. A 4" Senko is my desparation bait. As you probably know from experience, the bait is far less important than whether you're fishing where /when the fish are biting.

@Janderson45, thanks but I'm good. Had a great time with Lee Harrelson https://www.aeguideservice.com/ last year, and would probably look him up again if I was in central FL. I don't know what was going on in Nick's life, but by the time I finally got a hold of him and he said he wasn't going to be able to make the trip after all, he wasn't real apologetic. So, just based on that experience, I'd never consider him again regardless.

You'll get over it after a baby one's teeth cut through the 3rd brand new $12 hollow bodied frog you tied on. You'll find joy in knocking the slime off them with your bat. Some folks actually target them around here.