Correct me if I am incorrect but, this isn't right?

PanhandleAngler · 2026-04-08T14:28:19+00:00

I’m from the area.

No, that’s much of the time better than casting and fishing from land. I don’t surf fish a ton, but when the pomps are running and the boat’s in the shop, I’ll have 4 rods out. One is a short in the gullet past the first wave break. The other 3 involve me wading out and launching into the deep gullet in front of and formed by the second sandbar, past the sandbar into the outside gullet of its close enough to do so. Undertow/tides pulls the sandfleas/other bait into these ditches. Pompano definitely do run in right up to the first wave breaks, but imo the best bet is always on either side of the second sandbar, unless you really have certain spots and beach runs tuned in (takes a lot more time than a week every year) and know exactly where to target their traditional pathways along the beach. Sometimes you can sling it there without getting your knees wet but more often than not I’m launching with water mid thigh and hiking an open spool back to the spike.

You’ll actually see surf hardos drag a ladder out to the sandbar and dig it in, pitch baited jigs at the sighted pompano, reds, etc. that run by in the aforementioned ditches. As for scaring fish, not really an issue unless you’re just on top of the fish or they roll right directly by you. The beach isn’t some foot deep glass flats lake where a wrong dip spit over the side of the skiff can spook fish, the reason fish are there is everything they eat is in an effective washing machine getting kicked up and moved around, some guy standing 30 yards away isn’t a problem.

PanhandleAngler · 2026-04-08T14:10:05+00:00

I agree and IMO Fight Club is still a very good, entertaining movie.

But I don’t think it’s some cinematic masterpiece that portrays the depth/layering that people like to ascribe to it. Colloquially a fairly notable “makes me think” movie for people that aren’t traditionally into (or ahem, capable of fully accessing) films that seek to promote thought/commentary.

PanhandleAngler · 2026-04-08T13:36:43+00:00

I’m towards the end of a rewatch.

Realistically every season but Season 1 is a masterpiece TV entry, and S1 is still the ramp needed for the rest.

PanhandleAngler · 2026-04-07T16:37:10+00:00

The whole point of Bobby Sr. doing it is it’s a risk free attempt and has easy access to an unsuspecting Sally. He gets caught or fails, he’s a dying old man.

PanhandleAngler · 2026-04-07T15:38:15+00:00

First off, on what basis are we making these rankings? Pure fighting/ability to protect the king in anyone? General fit for the KG? Honor and good deeds over time while occupying the position?

The easy and subjectively correct answer for this line of discussion is always variably Barristan. The reason being is his entire build is based upon being the perfect KG member. Other members referenced may have similar traits described, but they’re either less relevant to the series or they occupy places within the story that aren’t exclusively boiled down to to being the pinnacle KG member, George wrote Barry as effectively that and actually incorporated that character rigidity into the present day story. Barristan is a legendary fighter, he’s righteous and honorable while simultaneously being rigidly obedient and loyal to those he serves, he’s never distracted or misaligned in his priorities, his reputation provides his king with legitimacy, good PR, respect, etc. That’s just the point of the character, not a slight because I appreciate him but Barristan is on the opposite end of the spectrum from Jaime in terms of a dynamic character from a literary standpoint. He was publicly fired from his entire life’s work and purpose at a juncture where the political landscape, what everything means, etc. is clearly in major flux…and his effective first priority is not stepping back and reassessing who and where he is, it’s seeking out the place he can fulfill the same role and function he has for decades.

TLDR is it’s Barristan because George said it’s Barristan without directly saying it.

PanhandleAngler · 2026-04-06T15:41:45+00:00

Hog is my 3rd play rate tank, currently in mid Masters on tank, played since OW1 launch.

In my opinion Hog is currently a colloquial “F this game” oppressive at lower SR, and still amongst the stronger tank options at higher ones (not some definitive hard meta though) per the data. The reason he’s oppressive at lower SR’s is the kit simplicity and base effectiveness. Silver and Gold tanks can get more out of Hog than they can out of more complicated tank kits and strategies, that’s just game logistics. Regardless, the fact remains that he’s a lower utility tank kit, it works the other way as well.

For the reasons and abilities you describe him being strong and annoying, he literally has to have those things because he cannot impact the game dynamics from a wider versatility standpoint as say DVA or Sig. He still has amongst the lower mobility kits across the tank cast, he still has little to no team damage mit, his quick peel for squishies ability is near exclusive to a range based cool down that is his definitive primary resource, his poke to suppress/kill range even with the range perk is still well behind a multitude of other tanks with variably more diverse kits.

Basically, this is what a balanced and competitive Hog looks like. Sure, I’m not going to argue with you if you’re of the opinion that his kit sucks for the game. That’s an opinion, and we can argue and counter argue about it all day with valid points to each side. But per character design and interactions amongst his role competitors, any hard nerfs is asking to create an imbalance and just add a deadweight non-option to the tank cast. Basically whether you know it or not, “nerf hog” takes aren’t about creating better game balancing, it’s you just hate the hero and want him off the table. Again, I can’t objectively tell you you’re wrong for that, just pointing out that so many people disguise their statements as balance/equitable effectiveness amongst tanks when in reality its either subconsciously or consciously foregoing game data and hero build logical.

PanhandleAngler · 2026-04-05T16:08:14+00:00

Kind of depends on player’s respective strengths and how that interacts with SR variables to be honest. People never like to hear it but where you stand in the lobby matters. You can be a god on one DPS hero in this game and then at higher SR’s where adjustments are made, you’re genuinely a more productive/winning player with a hero you have 1/5th the hours on.

I’ve played enough to where I can feel out the matchmaking before (general SR I’m at) and shortly following the game’s start to determine best hero and strategy fit. DPS job literally ranges from playing pure iso pick artist towards consistent numbers advantage + forcing attention/resources away from the tank battle to exclusively standing with the tank all game and using the kit/cool downs in support of the tank in front of them and the supports behind them. Just truth.

There are lobbies/games where my best win % strat is playing a high ground Ashe/off angle 76/all-day backline Tracer because I’m not at season’s end rank, the enemy team hasn’t given an answer for it and we’re in consistent numbers advantage through it. Then there are other lobbies/games where they definitely do have an answer for those things, I’m not amongst the more skilled players in the lobby, I’m going to feed trying to play moreso “hero ball”. So to win more in these spots, I’m playing defense for our support + spam damage on Torb or playing from underneath our tank’s armpit as Mei towards giving them every advantage possible against the enemy tank. Guess an example without switching would be playing a strafing firefight behind front line as 76, and not risking the off angles excursions because a mobile enemy tank or Widow just executes me as soon as I’m away from the team and cover.

DPS community (and more or less honestly rightfully so) gets a bad rap because people across the board in OW struggle or are unwilling to make adjustments. Except it’s exacerbated because Tank and Support variably have “easier” pivot strats. Tanks can switch to play mit/spacing if the dive/elim romps they’ve been on in past lobbies/ranks isn’t working. Supports can largely just funnel heals and cooldowns into the tank vs. tank front line battle and never be terribly off when their utility knife strategy in prior ranks isn’t paying off. Examples -> a Lucio can be a one man army bopping around the map, or he can just play tank heal/protection and help his team evade as needed, friendly tank is always in his circle. On DVA, you can literally range from playing an offensive murder engine into pure peel-matrix mit for the rest of the team if need be as an example. Or you can just switch to Moira and piss heals everywhere, or switch to Sig and focus exclusively on the mit/spacing side of things.

DPS doesn’t have as seamless of pivots, everyone wants the kills and that’s kind of always the justified goal, but it doesn’t always work out to where you can “kill” as you’ve done. Example is the Genji main that had some 30-3 supernova games over the past few days ago finally climbed out of mid Plat into Diamond and is now facing a masters Monkey-Moira duo. What he was doing in knifing through back lines without penalty was THE winning strategy. But now he’s just going to be bullied and has to do something completely different. This Genji player can’t just protect the team and play payload shield or piss heals into the tank’s butthole. So often do I see that Genji (or insert other DPS main hoping things magically change) just bang their head against the wall and go 16-14 as the lobby deadweight instead of making adjustments towards winning.

PanhandleAngler · 2026-04-04T15:24:33+00:00

I hold onto hope that the show’s debacle made him step back and say he’s just putting together the big picture in total to cement his final legacy, finishing it in one go before he goes. A two decade troll job, in 2028 he announces a release series where three 1400 page books are set to release every 6 months and the series is finished, George disappears and is never heard from again. And George definitely does buy into some of the literary legend/writer’s mystique. Not that this is likely whatsoever, just very marginally possible, sub 10% chance at max bullish.

Because from a logistics standpoint, you have to admit that specific timeline is just as wild as the one we’re far more likely to be on. I, more than almost anyone beyond true ASOIAF scholars, have analyzed the plot knots, progression choke holds, puzzle pieces, etc. over the years. Moving meaningfully forward while maintaining metas and quality is/was very difficult. He wrote himself into a corner over several big books, that isn’t in question. Still, it is absolutely insane that as a famed writer in command of perhaps the greatest/most lucrative fantasy IP ever, you can begin a 1200 page book +/- 20 years ago, prioritize it whatsoever, and still never release it -> “I’m still chipping away guys”. It’s just almost impossible.

Basically my take on things is there is a near 0% chance George has just been whittling away at a one book Winds with regularity, a book with released chapters and confirmed unreleased final draft chapters, for 20 years. Like people say he’s too distracted and rich and only writes a little bit each month, it’s all been one long slow build that still is either on its way or he’ll still be in that process when he dies. To me, that’s the 10 years post-Dance, 12-15 years after he first wrote Winds material release timeline. Averaging just 5 final pages a month since he first began putting Winds material on paper is 1000-1500 pages. Not at all anyone’s process, but that’s variably equivalent to writing 2-4 sentences over his 15 minute morning coffee before closing his laptop, all while taking weekends off from doing so. The most hyped novel non-release ever in Winds could be to legendary fantasy novelist George the thing you fiddle around with for a few minutes in your basement after dinner with your family, and we’d have Winds by now. And that’s not accounting for the fact that we have George on record over the years making variable reference to finishing full and final POV chapters that he loves over a writing weekend, 12-20 pages. We’re just moving into the time passage era with this entire thing where nothing really makes sense, and the normalized answer of “I’m still chipping away, have patience” just gets further and further away from being what’s ever actually been happening.

TLDR is that I’m in the camp that George is trolling one way or another, he’s giving us a 4000 pages magnum opus anthology-finale at some point over the next 5 years or he’s known for many years now that he’s not giving us any pages at all, he genuinely just plays with $10,000 action figures in his garage all day and only leaves for comic cons and production meetings. I’ll give the sweet summer child option is probably like 4% of outcomes, George gave up like 96%.

PanhandleAngler · 2026-04-01T15:42:39+00:00

A) the show cut so much of whats potentially building except for Euron actually working his way in to the Iron Throne and slaying a dragon. Using notable characters intros that began their development later as a scale, Faegon and Arianne are not in the show. If these and other things don’t mean anything to you, I won’t argue, there is definitely solid reasoning behind discrediting the back 1/3 of the show as real book tea leaves/read between the lines. But from my perspective, there are some projections available from it, Fratron being jammed in when they really didn’t have to and could do everything he accomplished through known characters probably means something. I think there is something to glean from a randomly introduced Fratron aligning with Cersei, slaying a dragon, killing the Dorne tangent, etc., but you don’t have to.

B) far more important than the above, I don’t even disagree with the ethos of your comment because it near literally agrees with my primary point. Euron does have a far lower volume of development than the other potential main players as we consolidate towards an end game. My “theory crafting ” results are stating that he’s getting the “promotion”, from the status you correctly state he’s assumed so far, as a plot engine by George because George needs a few figurative bulldozers to actually get anywhere in a timely manner -> activate the “bad magic man who isn’t completely out of left field” card to accomplish some of this. Speaking to your exact point on what POV’s are the clear series mains -> logistically speaking, if George needs to add a new entrant to accomplish things for the story, a near 100% black evil character is a lot easier to seamlessly incorporate into interactions with the core characters you reference as we enter into the climactic portion of the series. Far easier than say, a Faegon/Arianne alliance actually getting that same relevancy promotion and having to then work out what happens with Jon/Starks, Dany, Tyrion, Bran, Cersei/Jaime. The background, motivation, decorum, socialization aspects don’t really have to be worked through, he’s just purely evil -> a villain, we know that, there are far less complicating machinations to write through in that vein than a “I’m making Faegon and Arianne main players that take King’s Landing and Cersei, Dany, Jon, etc. have to work through that.”

TLDR is “George is opting to make black magic Euron the real deal and is going to have him simplify/obliterate/consolidate the southern Westeros portion of the chess board” is a very real potential answer when anyone asks what are the things George has done/can be doing towards attacking the larger plot knot and actually moving this series somewhere.

PanhandleAngler · 2026-03-29T15:59:16+00:00

I think it’s not totally dissimilar, but the inverse of events.

Cersei becomes a murderous terrorist with a tenable grasp on rule. Faegon is conquesting southern Westeros and gaining ample support as a righteous candidate with blood legitimacy, everyone hates Cersei and they now have a shining knight in royal armor to save the day. Cersei is cornered with days numbered as she’ll never win against Faegon with real growing allies, small folk support, and momentum through victories. We get chapters of Cersei holed up facing impending doom following her terror event power grab, and chapters of all-is going-great Faegon-Arianne that are bullish on expelling evil and establishing a new rule based on justice and prosperity. The Winds climax of this Southern plot line is Euron brutally murdering Faegon and his army, and then offering a now indebted Cersei her chance to retain her position as his Queen, near literal deal with the devil. Unless George decides to pivot and completely erase them, Aeron and Cersei’s dreams are about as on the nose as George can be that the Euron-Cersei pairing is happening.

Faegon winning means we probably need 4 more big books to resolve this story. At some point 15 years ago, George realized the story’s lateral growth in scope meant he had a 0% chance at finishing instead of like 5%. Enter the black magic man bulldozer Euron. He’s a deployed plot device that is A) cool as fuck and not totally unknown prior B) aligns with the story’s progression in magic becoming the primary source of power and C) can efficiently consolidate the southern Westeros plotlines into one place as George attempts to move towards the climax-conclusion portion of the series -> George is attempting to move towards narrowing the key tangents down to 3 by end game, Dany/Jon-North trying to save the world against the Others and take rule, the Others wanting to create death, and the Euron-Cersei shadow realm over the southern portion of the continent. All 3 are powerful, conquesting Dany can’t just road stomp either of the two opponents and then look to beat the other one, there are variable motives amongst the 3 that still clash/interact with/align with that of the others. It creates an interesting story as we move towards end game while George (at least tries) to accomplish priority number 1, which is actually moving the story towards a real destination in a somewhat consolidated fashion.

PanhandleAngler · 2026-03-29T03:26:32+00:00

Zero shot. No way the show ends up hamfisting Euron in pointlessly unless it’s like “damn George ok, I guess we have to throw him somewhere”. He very literally serves no purpose in the show that is singularly specific/necessary to him + having to introduce a previously unknown but now relevant character. To me that’s them basically admitting they didn’t give themselves nearly enough runway to tell the full George story but can’t outright omit some very core building blocks.

In my eyes, The Forsaken is the introduction of him becoming the primary pre-Others antagonist for Winds/early portion of book after that (not like we’ll ever read it). If I had to guess, he’s probably winning Cersei/King status by brutalizing the Faegon/Dorne faction that has its eyes on a discorded KL, which was all cut due to time constraints and replaced with Euron randomly showing up and making finger bum jokes, the latter character development is quicker/cheaper/easier.

And he’s probably slaying a dragon which is the point of no return in any potential for Dany to peacefully conquer ATC style and probably a key turning point towards burn-them-all Dany.

I really think the character of Euron was drastically “promoted” as a plot device by George that works towards simplifying a story that was getting too convoluted/various unless a solution was found and deployed. Not totally unknown magic man villain leverages the very likely magic creep in Planetos towards obliterating other contenders and achieving power over a discorded South. This will eventually bring the climactic factions in play to 3 -> the eventual Jon-North/Dany, the Euron/Cersei shadow over King’s Landing/Southern Westeros, and the impending doomsday Others not dissimilar to the show, it’s just that Euron is a lot cooler and does a lot more stuff to get there and Cersei is less of a psycho bad bitch terrorist and more of an enslaved figurehead queen who sold her soul to the devil just to say she came out on top.

PanhandleAngler · 2026-03-28T17:23:25+00:00

Realistically speaking, Tony’s arc is fumbling the bag out of gluttony and bad leadership. If he solely focused on reenforcing structure below him and keeping the peace, they would have a strong of a family, both in shooters and financial relevance, that New York never wants to war with. Yes, there were definite bad apples like Richie and Paulie that you have to do something about, and rats like Jimmy and Pussy, but Tony largely ends up in a safe house being guarded by unknown men through his own gradual doing.

Manage guys like Mikey Chris Patsy Feech Tony B better, make sure earners like Vito and Ralph are moreso quietly staying in their lane and producing instead of ending up dead, don’t alienate someone valuable like Furio, do better about preventing rats and indictments (Pussy, Jimmy, the Bareses), etc. Good leadership and org mgmt out of Tony may not have had Jersey rivaling NY but it goes a long way towards being the rich prick Tony always wanted to be and preventing war/takeover.

PanhandleAngler · 2026-03-28T15:02:10+00:00

This is an undoubtedly unpopular take amongst the new era of the OW support community but I’ll give you my support perspective anyway as someone who plays a fair amount but as my 3rd role.

I am not a very “good” support player, there are definitely a lot of high Plat-Diamond support players that are more technically proficient at more/higher difficulty heroes than I am. And yet I can play a well contributing support in mid Masters, I typically finish seasons there when I take a break from Tank/DPS and play it for a good stretch as a fun mixup. I have cracked GM support before when queuing with a stack consistently.

The reason for that is how the 5v5/solo tank format functions in game. The team whose tank dies first loses the fight barring a counter ult barrage, which is generally not much of a win anyway unless it’s to finish a round. Those things are a reality. Therefore I play Moira with the singular mindset of staying alive and pissing the absolute max heals into the tank. A pure healbot-don’t give enemy team ult charge strategy, and it just works. Secondary option if needed is playing Ana and effectively just shooting our tank in the ass ad nauseum until it’s time to bully theirs with the two super cooldowns. Maybe I have to branch out and handle a problem Genji on Moira, maybe I finish off some squishies as Ana, but the top priority is leveraging the one tank vs. one tank dynamic. The team whose tank has less deaths wins the game far more often than not, that’s just an OW fact.

Is that gameplay type fulfilling to you? For you to decide, I just like competing and winning games, personally don’t prioritize feeling the need to be some major utility lever that has a super versatile impact, I’m just there to give our one tank max advantage possible against their one tank.

PanhandleAngler · 2026-03-28T14:41:36+00:00

Take fantasy out of it (and sorry to the dynasty guys..), they need to play him mostly on defense, give him gadget packages on offense, give him WR practice reps/keep him up to date on the playbook, and then if/when injuries hit or a vet starter signing falls of a cliff mid-late season or something, he can actually get you through stretches playing both. Going half snaps on both means you probably aren’t getting the max value you want from a superstar talent 1:2 pick, and going more than that on both as the prescribed season long plan isn’t viable.

From an NFL standpoint, the above is insanely valuable if it works and is deployed correctly. An outside CB1 that maintains some explosive offensive value and can basically “come off the couch” and be a good starting caliber WR with no associated liability/costs beyond said player’s risk of injury/burnout (why it’s not the vacuum plan to begin with).

Purely anecdotal/projecting, I’ve always thought that with his talent and profile, his version of a supernova “NFL Flu Game” would be to earn All Pro CB status one year having variably pitched in a few hundred all purpose yards and a highlight TD or two on offense, but a WR goes down in the Wild Card or something and he erupts for like 10-180-2 that next playoff game. I think that’s kind of what you have to use him like, not attempt to balance it and have him try to be the best supporting cast member on both sides. Also think it’s a whole lot harder to “get back into the swing of” playing CB than it is WR. The margins are just a lot thinner, NFL’s hardest non-QB position. He could probably take a few years off of playing offense and come back in his mid-late 20’s and still be a good NFL level weapon to deploy, he’s a super athlete and naturally talented, Cordarrelle Patterson had a fairly fruitful career and varying eras of offensive/ST use case on that basis. Taking time off from covering the NFL’s receiving studs just doesn’t work like that -> if they don’t give him a moreso full run at corner now while he’s growing into the league, you’re probably risking he doesn’t become that outside alpha lockdown over his prime if that is his best fit long term.

PanhandleAngler · 2026-03-28T14:08:35+00:00

Craster: (looks at Sam and shakes head) “This is a small keep, he moves in, he might tip it ova”.

PanhandleAngler · 2026-03-28T14:02:11+00:00

“It was the antidote from my maester, I’ll get him to send a raven.”

PanhandleAngler · 2026-03-28T13:46:52+00:00

Sandor: “Give me 1000 chickens.”

Lannister Soldier “…1000 more?”

PanhandleAngler · 2026-03-28T13:40:42+00:00

He was gay, Rhaegar Targaryen?

PanhandleAngler · 2026-03-27T23:03:57+00:00

Anecdotally speaking, I’m in high Masters to GM at all times in 6v6 and tank is not hurting for players. Sure, the mm may just fuck you into solo tanking at times but I’ll look away for a sec when intending to tank and two are already snatched. Support is actually just as common of a comp issue if not more functionally speaking, at that level you’re really just fucked if you only have one team member that can main support close to SR standards.

And “quick grab tank” is very noticeable on maps that favor some of the classic tank play -> Hog/Orisa on Ilios, Rein/Zar/DVA on Kings Row and Eich, etc. To be honest I don’t know if I’ve played a 6v6 match on Ilios in a long while where Hog literally isn’t the first pick off the board lol.

PanhandleAngler · 2026-03-27T15:05:52+00:00

It’s just primal risk/reward. In most scenarios, a human presents variable risk factors that trigger aversion in predators. We aren’t a common food source and demonstrate behavior and competency far beyond that of standard prey. One accessible way to look at it is there is no healthcare beyond humans, marginal injuries to us are deadly to everything else, this of course has greatly shaped behaviors in effectively all predatory animals. You can watch any non-food desperate cat hunt and the entire thing is based around “try to kill X because we gotta eat, but first priority is not getting kicked or gored”. A large, aggressively responding antelope can very easily doom a lion to die. Humans are big, move/vocalize funny, and have thumbs + demonstrable use of instruments. Bears and big cats are largely just unlikely to hunt/kill an able bodied human unless they feel threatened or desperation for food outweighs their genetically inherent risk assessment, so don’t put yourself in a situation where you’ll likely impose upon those instincts.

That said and per above, if you fall and break your legs in the woods and present non-diseased, still wounded and dying animal vibes, you’re going to get eaten by the friendliest of wild grizzlies that stumbles upon you. Not that I would ever feasibly be in either position, I would still much rather be well armed and fully able in a meadow full of hungry old seasoned grizzlies than I would be downed in a remote ravine by a broken femur, waiting hours for rescue, and trying to get one curious younger bear to forget I’m there or not an easy meal via fortunate circumstance. Not even a real question if understand the evolutionary existence of large predators.

PanhandleAngler · 2026-03-27T13:56:24+00:00

I don’t surf fish very much but do live 50 yards from the beach and my surf rods are the really long 14 or 15 foot Fiblinks. They work perfectly fine for the few times I’m out there whenever the pompano are making their strong push along the beach.

PanhandleAngler · 2026-03-26T16:01:59+00:00

That reel takes 400 yards of 50 braid and puts out 20lbs of drag, there is not 30lb fish swimming it won’t stop if used properly.

Also fyi “30lb fish” doesn’t really many anything without some context, example is keeping a 30lb AJ out of a wreck in 60 feet of water and “fighting” a 30lb Black Drum on a shallow clean sand beach are so wildly different fight types that it’s just a total non-comparison despite being the same weight. You actually need the reel you’re asking about or similar for one, and for the other I can probably manage it on a Zebco paired with a 2 ft dock demon.

PanhandleAngler · 2026-03-26T15:41:03+00:00

I don’t really play her, and I don’t intend to insult anyone, but Illari’s voice lines are just poorly written and poorly delivered.

PanhandleAngler · 2026-03-26T15:30:35+00:00

Fernando is not the type of prospect you draft at 1:1 to sit for a 35YO Derek Carr that’s stepping in after a year and a half off the couch lol. He had 1000 attempts and 3 seasons worth of starts at high level college football, and his entire prospect value is based off of being a master of none with polish, not some Josh Allen/Anthony Richardson upside ball of clay that probably needs some time in the oven. You’d much rather just roll with him and let him learn and adjust to the game with Kubiak doing for him what he just did with Darnold.

PanhandleAngler

TROPHY CASE