T-Billy

Roy's voice was unbelievable. Gene Vincent, Edie Cochran, Johnny Burnette, Little Richard, Jerry Lee... What an era.

He pretty much invited RnR guitar. Listen to everyone who came after him, you'll hear variants of his licks. Plus he wrote his own songs. Elvis fronted a cover band.

Sorry to hear brother. The wife and I will put you both on our prayer list.

If Rock n Roll had an official anthem, this would be it, from the real king of RnR IMO.

I've never fished a Fogy, but it has the same blade that I use. As you stated, that blade will start with just a slow turn of the reel handle. The Thunder Cricket doesn't compare. It doesn't start as easily, work as slowly, or shake as hard.

Learn to make your own if ya wanna fish 'em deep. This bait starts faster/easier, and shakes at a slower speed than even the Jackhammer. The turbo blade from Barlows or LPO also has less lift. Deadly when crawled along the bottom or fished with a stop n go retrieve. 40' might be asking alot, but 25' isn't a problem.

Stay in your lane Choporoz!!! ?

A buddy of mine catches lots of big smallies in 15' - 25' of water on a ned at night. He hauled a 23"+ just a few weeks ago. I fish jigs and Trigs at night without a rattle or beads. Bass find 'em just fine. A chatterbait is awesome many nights, but sometimes, mostly on slick nights, it's just too much for 'em and I'll get a lot of short strikes. I recently started throwing a paddletail swimbait on those nights. I don't think I've had a subtle bite on the swimmer yet. They KILL that thing.

Last year the lake closest to me had the most weed growth I've seen in it since the 80's. This year it has far less. Sometimes the milfoil hangs in there late into summer, some years not so much. Don't know the reasons, amount of flooding, sunlight, water clarity, disolved O2, all the above? But growth varies wildly year to year in some lakes.

? You can't put that cheap stuff on that high end gear of yours!!! That's like filling a Ferrari with E15!!! ?

I throw those little swimmers on a 7'2" M-F Ark Cobb Series "One More", Curado 70 MGL 7 speed, 8# Trilene XT. Works great for me.

Looks interesting, but I'm a fan of simple easy to maintain gear. May give a G3 a try.

4# Suffix elite for crappie. 6# XT for bass. I spool it up pretty tight. My spools are fine.

Replacement policy, sure, but I wouldn't expect or ask them to warranty it. When I broke a Sierra, I called Dobyn's, told them it was my fault and purchased a replacement at their discounted rate, which really isn't a discount IMO as you pay for it with the initial purchase. Their rods are nice, but they're pretty steep for what they are. I'd prefer rod makers offer either no warranty or a very short one, and pass the cost savings down to we consumers. If a rod's gonna break due to a defect it's gonna happen the first time you load it most likely.

I've boat flipped em over 6#. Heavy rod, short line, had the fish heading in the right direction, NO HIGH STICKING!!! If I had broken my rod, I'd have went and bought a new one instead of expecting the manufacturer to pay for my stupidity.

RIP Dee.

I just bought my first spool of 131. It is very smooth and quiet through the guides. It's long casting, but it's not a night and day difference over the smoother 8 strands or X9. At first I wasn't impressed for the price, but it started settling in on the spool over the course of a couple hours and began casting further and got noticeably quieter. I've only fished it a couple nights on a chatterbait rod. We'll see how it goes over time. I'm not sure if I'll buy more or not. I like it so far, but it's pricey and I've been happy with a couple cheap braids on my moving bait rods. They're, Angry Fish in 40# and SeaKnight W8 Manster in 30#. Both are smooth supple 8 strands that are very similar to J Braid, at a very good price. They both get mixed reviews on YT, but I've had zero issues with them. I threw an A rig on the 40# AF all spring, landed some nice musky, and pulled some tree tops up from he depths with it. It's plenty strong. I got both in low vis grey and they're holding their color well with no bleeding issues. Outstsanding stuff for the price. Next braid I try will probably be that Duel X @bulldog1935 has been touting.

If your fishing bottom contact baits around rock, 832 is definitely the way to go. J braid is a little smoother, and more supple, but not nearly as abrasion resistant IME, but it will serve you well as long as you're not dragging it through rock. No other braid I've tried stands up to rock like 832.

Tharp series is the sweet spot with ARK IMO. No compromises made here with hardware. Great rods that fish above their price point.

It's flouro. They're all bad batches. ? Spool it up with XT and never look back.

Give the Alberto a try and fish as long a leader as you want. Quick and easy knot that's small, passes through guides with ease, and is very strong and durable. I cut my tags flush and have never had one slip or break. The only thing I do different than this video is, I give the braid an extra wrap though the loop at the finish. Don't sweat the wraps back being perfectly in between the initial wraps. They'll fall right into place when you cinch it down.

Casting: 105mm paddle handles on all. Spinning: Don't really care. I've been fine with every stock handle I've bought. Besides, with the advent of BFS, spinning is just for crappie fishing anyhow. ?

Great 40 ton blank, Fuji guides w fazlite rings and a very comfy and secure reel seat. 7' M XF Outstanding rod at $129.

We all appreciate you brother. You start a lot of interesting threads. Keep up the good work. ?