BrianMDTX

I have 20 and 50 lb. Smackdown. Never had that issue.

Lefty Kreh is easy-peasy. 30 second easy. Very strong. Not very big either.

Dodges were known for fender rust inside to out. That’s for sure. And Maryland uses a lot of brine now, but when I first got the truck they used megatons of salt. Removing the tank solo requires a floor jack. The bed? You have to have a crane or gantry hoist, unbolt the bed, disconnect the wiring for lights, etc. I’ll have the tank dropped and the repair underway before I got the bed ready to remove lol. And definitely not a solo job at almost 63.

Been in Texas for four years this month, but my ‘05 Dodge Ram 1500 still bears the scars of 14 years of Maryland and road salt. Had an EVAP leak. Found out the lock ring for the fuel pump totally disintegrated from corrosion. As well as the steel studs integral to the tank that the lock rings attach to. So…either spend $800-$1000 for a new fuel tank plus a new fuel pump and lock ring, or repair the current tank? But how? Well, thank the gods above for Google, as I found out there is a company called Gas Tank Renu that sells a repair kit that allows you to install a fuel pump with a large, flat ring with self-tapping screws and sealant for less than $50.00! Still have to drop the tank, but total cost with a new pump (old pump still works but with 177K miles on it, I’d be a fool to reinstall it) will be less than $300.00. Big difference! The repair kit is on the way, so time to drop the tank, prep it (have to grind down any remaining stud remnants to flush) and clean the tank out and get ready to install the kit. I’m sure it will be the last fuel pump I ever install on it lol.

I love Senkos in black w/blue laminate. And black/blue jigs as well. Black and blue is a great color.

Stick worms 5” Senko. No contest. Lately it’s been Black or Blue w/Black Laminate, but historically it’s a #956- Watermelon w/Copper Flake-Orange w/Red Flake. Also good ol’ #297 Green Pumpkin ”Standard” worms 9” Mann’s Jelly Worm- Blackberry 6.5” Zoom Trick- Watermelon Red 6.5” Zoom Mag 2- Purple

Interesting as spine in arrows is very important. Spine is a measure of deflection. Most good arrow builders will ensure that all arrows are fletched similarly with the stiffest area of the spine oriented in the same location (**** feather/vane oriented to the stiffest side). So I would think that orienting the guides to the stiffest side of a rod (every rod) would yield a similar result. But how much of a difference that would make in a tapered blank (rod) vs a straight shaft (arrow) is probably not worth losing too much sleep over. I would doubt that running the guides over the stiffest or the least stiffest spine orientation in a rod would change the action from a XF to F action, etc. An archer needs as much consistency as they can get arrow-to-arrow. And even then, only archers who are highly skilled are accurate enough to see a real difference in accuracy by matching fletching location according to spine orientation. Unless anglers were using six exact MHF rods fished exactly the same, I would think it would not matter. And even if one did, they probably would not recognize a difference.

If you’re from Canada, you probably hear a lot of what Canadian forces did in WWII. In the US, it’s mostly what the US did, followed by Britain. But the Canadians fought like hell, and they were all volunteers. I just watched a great movie on Netflix last week, “The Forgotten Battle”. About the Battle of the Scheldt, which occurred shortly after D-Day in The Netherlands. The Scheldt was an area still heavily fortified by the Germans and prevented the usage of Antwerp as a deep-water port that was required to resupply the Allies push into Germany. If not for the valiant effort of those Canadians, the war in Europe may have turned out differently and Soviet forces may have been able to occupy most of Germany. We should all be proud of their accomplishments!

For all you know, your uncle may have flown missions alongside Jimmy Stewart!

Ok. I thought maybe my memory was slipping lol.

I always thought a HF rod over 7’ was a good choice for frogs. What’s your choice?

That is not true. The largest gun in US Navy inventory is a 5” gun. That pales in comparison to an 8” gun that were the armament on cruisers, let alone 12”, 14” or 16” guns on battleships. Modern US warships may have cruise missiles, which are vastly more expensive per shot (albeit with a much longer range). And yeah, not Higgins boats. But any amphibious assault is going to land troops by water. Without sustained heavy naval gunfire, it may not be pretty. And never say never. After the USSR dissolved, many thought an invasion and land war in Europe was a thing of the past. To which I think most Ukrainians which vociferously disagree. It could be North Korea. Or Taiwan. Who knows what the future holds?

Me, too! Braid on a spinning reel is a godsend!

@Mike L God bless Sergeant “Uncle” Jim. If not for men like him, where would we be?

An interesting aside to this is the Naval Gunfire Debate. With all four Iowa class battleships now floating museum ships, and the cancellation of the 155mm Advanced Gun System for the Zumwalt class destroyers, the US Navy possesses nothing larger than the 5” Mark 45 guns for naval bombardment during amphibious landings. Bombs and missles are not quite the substitute for sustained heavy naval gunfire in support of amphibious operations. During the Gulf War, Iraqi shore defenses were shelled by the 16” guns of Missouri and Wisconsin. After a hiatus, Wisconsin took station off the coast to resume shelling and launched its Pioneer UAV to spot targets for the guns. When the Iraqis saw the drone, they surrendered to it vs facing another round of devastating heavy naval gunfire. Should US troops ever need to invade the shores of an enemy nation again, the lack of heavy naval gunfire may play a role in the success of the invasion and increase in casualties.

Even without the reserve Panzer divisions, the invasion almost failed due to the struggles at Omaha. Had all those German tanks been available, the beachhead would likely have become untenable and the invasion may have failed. Allied airpower was superior in numbers but would likely not have stopped three Panzer divisions assigned to Field Marshal Rommel. Of the 2nd, 21st and 116th Panzer divisions assigned to Army Group B under Rommel, the only division that saw any significant action on D-Day was the 21st Panzer at Caen. It stopped the British and Canadian attack and allowed reinforcements to arrive and secure the area. A battle tasked to take one or two days stretched into two months. Rommel knew that keeping the Panzers in the rear areas in reserve would have opened them to air attack unless moved forward under cover of night or bad weather. He knew that with the varied terrain of coastal France that the invasion needed to be met and thrown back into the sea on the beaches. Fortunately Hitler, along with Field Marshal Von Rundstedt and Generaloberst Heinz Guderian, did not share that sentiment.

Every invasion has a D-Day and H-Hour. Yet say “D-Day” and most will know exactly what your are referencing. The Sixth of June, 1944. The largest amphibious invasion the world had ever seen. Had Hitler released the Panzers immediately and repelled the invasion on the beaches, things may have ended up drastically different. Thankfully he took a sleeping pill and Modell would not awaken him.

It’s a 7’ 0” MHF Texas-Carolina Rigs, Jigs rod. It does not have a numerical power rating number. Just listed as Medium-Heavy and rated for 1/4-1 oz, 15-20 lb. line. I think the standard Helium MH are all 4 Power. So it’s likely a 4. I have no issues with hooksets with Texas rigs or jigs.

Right now it’s no contest. A Kistler Helium 7.0” MHF and a Daiwa Fuego CT100XS with 15 lb. Sunline Shooter Defier. Fishing a Texas rig is my favorite way to catch bass and this rig is great for that.

Normally 5”-6”. Except when skipping Senkos under overhanging brush. I find it easier and more accurate with 3” max. @Darth-Baiter Some might find a question like this to be a little foolish, but it’s questions like this that most do not often ask that can make a big difference in our fishing success.

Maine. Such a beautiful state. And Allagash White to boot!

I’ve never taken pics of that. Thanks for putting that bug in my ear! I’ll do that next trip!

Umm…after this weekend, I thinking I’m swapping out the Jelly Worm for a Rage Tail Craw. On either a 1/8 or 1/4 oz. tungsten bullet weight and a 5/0 Gamakatsu EWG hook.

No. I fished there last weekend but this weekend I stayed local. Neighborhood pond.

I posted two weeks ago that my arm was going to fall off from casting as I was going to fish as much as possible while my wife was in Europe with our oldest daughter. She’s due back around 5:00 and had some chores to do this morning so I didn’t hit the water until 10:30 or so. I learned something new (to me) today. I’ve read numerous times that varying weight (to vary the fall rate) can make a difference, but I’ve never seen that in action until today. With limited time I only brought two rods, but only planned on using one. Once again, after yesterday‘s results, I brought my Kistler Helium MHF with a Rage Tail Craw on a 5/0 hook with a 1/8 oz. tungsten bullet weight. It was the same exact set-up as yesterday. Even the craw was the one I caught nine bass with on Saturday. Today, it was dead. I thought about switching over to a 5” Senko TR on my finesse rig, then on a whim, I re-rigged with a 1/4 oz. tungsten bullet weight. Bingo! That bit of difference made a big difference. Caught four bass and had to go. Sad to say, I had to retire the Rage Tail Craw. It gave its all for catching 13 bass over two days! I bit two of the segments off and it still kept catching bass!