gman and hatidua: Don't mind anyone else having a latte or fishing little flies--you guys don't tell me I have to lay down my dynamite stick to join you.
I do happen to be an enthusiast of the long rod and have 5 outfits from 4 weight through 12. I bought my first rig in 1957 and have a reputation as being an expert at catching highly selective largemouth bass over their spawning beds in small ranch ponds. Actually, you may enjoy the story of a trip I took to Wyoming with some South Texas Latino buddies of mine. One of the guys and I took time off from hunting biiiiiggg whitetails to go over to a bridge at an obscure river. There was a huge hatch of what I think were tiny midges going on and big trout were rising in the pool right by the freaking bridge. My buddy was throwing chunks of corn (enormously illegal) at them on the tip of a 2/0 hook and of course, nothing was happening. I did not have a flyrod. My friend was cursing up a storm and swatting the flies and said, "I might be able to catch some f*%king fish it weren't for all thes GD bugs getting in my nose." I told him, "Ray, there are people who would pay $5,000.00 to be here right now." He said, "If they were, I wish they had these f*%king bugs up their ass." Then we drove into town, bought a case of beer and by the time we got back to the ranch we were hunting, he was waving a 1911 in the air swearing he was going to kill a doe with it. I had already hid the clip.
Fred: I'm glad you like contact with the fish. I like watching you having contact with the fish.
fishhead: I put guys who like to gaff big, green ling in the same category as the fringe group that hunt feral hogs by baiting a tree, climbing into it and jumping out to kill the boar with a Bowie knife.
Russ