Paul Roberts

Thanks, MassYak. I like the trim minimalist design you've done there. Interesting that single crab floats are offering some stability. Would be nice to be able to use something that small. How do you adjust height off the water with the second design?

Would "pontoons" close to the hull make any difference? How far out from the gunwales might you get stand-up stability? I know this is boat length, width, and hull design dependent. However, just thought I put it out there for fellow DIY kinda guys who've tinkered with this kind of thing. My boat is an entry level, 10ft / 31" wide (Lifetime Tamarak). It's reported to be a stable design. I'm 6' 150lbs. Will be adding pontoons (big 4" foam) to the gunwales to see what I get, before I build actual outriggers. I'd much rather not have them sticking out too far. Comments? Advice? (Even, "get a different boat" lol. If I have to sit, I'll sit. )

Nifty! Man, I don't have a lot of deck space left, and I haven't even got it wet yet! But, that's where the fun is.

I've seen those, and the zip-tie rigging, online. Thought they might end up a hassle. Will reconsider the mushrooms; Don't need the added weight.

Great stuff. What Choporoz, Brad, and John describe are my concern. I don't want to drift/spin around. What I really want is a bass boat, but my waters, and priorities, say otherwise. How about anchor styles? I'm leery of the folding spider type bc of sunken brush. I hear Brad's suggestion on the chain: How heavy a chain? I'm considering 5lb mushrooms. If it's too windy -white-capping- I'm not likely to be out there.

Thanks, all. Very helpful. Much appreciated. So far, I went ahead and ordered a trolley. Also bought a 7' and an 8' garden stake to try -diff diameters/weight. Rigging projects are always fun, whether its boats, tackle boxes, bags, backpacks, ... .

Thanks, John. I can see how the pedal drive would solve a lot of ills, since my float tube prob works in a similar way and its precisely maneuverable. Since I'm new at kayaking -using it for the (slightly) larger waters here- I'm not investing too heavily. No pedal drive. I'll be manually-powered all the way around. Will trade up as warranted. Eventually I will want to stand. That'll be the biggest reason to upgrade. May consider pontoons, but will start trimmed down. Fish grip sounds good, maybe to clip to the pole too. Thanks, Choporoz. Very helpful. Your 'dynamic' conditions put you in the seat I was hoping to hear from! Mine are not so dynamic though. Wind is about it. And you hit my biggest debate: trolley, or fore and aft anchors. A question about the trolley: I notice that people always rig their trolley's back from the bow and stern. I assume this is where stability is apt to be lost. Can a trolley be rigged so anchors could go all the way up and back?

I'm a boat position freak. Gotta have it -NOW! So... I can imagine kayaks blowing all around, wherever they are tethered from. I know I'll need to just get out there and play around. But, in the meantime... I'm considering: -hand paddle (Made one already; Guide in the Philippines used one to great effect from a banca -a heavy wood "canoe".) -anchor lock (bow, stern -both? I'd double anchor a boat, but a yak? Is that even safe? -anchor trolley (heard these can cause your yak to "snake" in current. True? Worth the time?) -stake out pole(s) (considering making a dropping pole for the stern) -clothesline retractor to handle anchor line. -cutters to cut lines if needed. Advice? Experiences? Loves? Hates?

I think that overall rod weight, and rigidity of material (MOE), are the most important factors in term of sensitivity. Balance comes in a distant third, unless it's somehow extreme, which can affect sensitivity and comfort -how many hours you can fish that thing before your forearm, wrist, and fingers wear out. Achieving proper balance can also mask, somewhat, the true sensitivity of a lower quality heavier rod. I balance my rods around the fulcrum -my rod hand- usually at my middle finger. I like them a tad tip heavy too. I've found that most outfits balance around that point anyway. As to long rods, what's important is the effective end of the rod -that sticking out past your fulcrum. This is effectively how much reach you have, how much line you can keep off the water, and how much tip travel you get. Adding length to the butt section of the handle to achieve length doesn't add to the effective working part of the rod. I consider the working area of the rod when buying or making a rod, and may lop off some of the butt section of factory rods. Also, the longer the rod the more I appreciate higher quality, lighter, higher MOE, compared with shorter blanks in which rigidity is easier to achieve. Being able to have power out in the tip and still have that tip be light in weight is more important the longer the rod. Long rods with lower quality blanks tend to feel tip heavy, which may be why rod manufacturers add butt length, or weight in the handle. Nothing worse than a tip heavy rubbery club of a rod that takes some serious weight at the other end to counter. Add a heavy reel and maybe some weight and it may be made to feel "fishable". But, that added weight affects the ability of a fish to move that rod in your hand, which is what sensitivity is. I don't believe in "magic vibes" emanating up the blank.

One thing to keep in mind, a lot of "bloody" or abraded tails are due to bass resting against hard cover like wood or usually the bottom. Males (mostly) dig the beds and, here anyway, I've not seen abrasion from digging beds. Seems "digging"/clearing silt is accomplished with water pressure, not as much by direct contact. Abrasion from contact is most common, here anyway, by resting on bottom. And infections can result from this. Abraded lower half of the tail is really common here. As to out of season spawn behavior... I'm not ready to comment yet. Still watching and following up on some stuff.

My Tat CT too. No worries. So was my Shimano BMP new out of the box. And that was... 35 years ago now. Still cookin' she is too.

Hmmmm... that could be. Comparing spinning to casting would require the same mass, line diam, and lure, though. I think my most sensitive rods are my UL to L spinning rods. They are also the lightest rigs I own, and use the finest lines. My most sensitive casting rigs are the lightest ones, with the right lines; They are most easily moved by tension from the fish. Not sure my MH spinning rigs are any more sensitive than my M/MH casting rigs. Again, "not sure". Which might just be saying something akin to "semi-valid"?

Agree with you. Both spinning and casting rigs could be equally sensitive. I think you are correct saying that detection tension starts in line, then to the rod tip, then on down to the rod handle. Can't see it being any other way. I did a video on rods -what makes a rod t hat can FISH-and discussed sensitivity. In it I have a slo-mo clip of a strike... coming down the pipe.

Feed 'em -a LOT! No joke.

Oh, man... I love it all. Wish I could put as much into all species and types of fishing as I have my trout and bass fishing. So... standing back, and just letting the feelings come, I guess I've always loved stream smallmouths, bc they are so willing and strong and in such neat places. And small stream trout fly-fishing. I like streams bc of their structural complexity and small ones bc of the intimacy they provide. Plus, my dad and I used to wander backroads fishing every little crick we came to. We caught many species on UL spinning tackle and tiny jigs, mostly, and enjoyed them all, from chubs and dace to surprise smallmouths, trout, and pike. I developed strong feelings for the mystery and sense of adventure we found in such overlooked places. Yeah, I think that last -those little cricks- does for me. In the meantime... I've got to figure bass out... before I die!

To add to Brian's post... Peak metabolic efficiency studies put that number at 82 to 88, with majority of them down at the lower end of that range. The variability is probably due to population variability. One would expect southern fish to be able to handle the heat better. But, I'm not aware of any studies that have looked at that. There are, however, studies that looked at the opposite -cold resistance- in which northern fish excel and southern transplants... die. Interestingly, FL Largemouths (floridanus) have shown a similar range for peak metabolism with northern fish -in the low to mid 80s. Lethal temps for all -when metabolic enzymes collapse- is around 100F. Acclimation temps weigh in heavy too -just what the starting temp was. But, the above numbers are pretty sound as fish never experience the drastic alterations that can be tested in the lab. All this CAN be moot however, when there's food involved. Bass have been known to feed in water >100F in power plant lakes, but for very limited periods. The problem with a high or peak metabolism is that while low to mid 80's could allow for maximal growth, the fish has to eat enough food to at least cover maintenance, much less grow. And that's tough to do in most waters. And they have to expend the energy to catch that food. If there's enough food, you may find a good bite in 90+F water. I believe Brian has found just such a thing on his shad filled reservoirs. In my vegetated bluegill based waters, things can simply shut down for periods -at least during the daylight hours.

This is true, but runs roughshod over some important details... Also bc bass are cold-blooded, they can forgo eating for extended periods. Metabolism is a balance of energy in (food) with energy out (maintenance and activity). Activity is always the most costly. So, behavior can mitigate potential outcomes. An awful lot of bass lose body weight during heat waves.

Congrats on your success! Hmmmm... I really can't remember. I gain new insights all the time. Each season, more and more comes together. I do a ton of reading, both fishing, fish, and ecosystem stuff and that simply takes time to acquire. One thing I've noticed over the years is that I get more out of everything I read now. Even fishing articles I read years ago, I can now "read between the lines" a lot better -get more out of each of them. In education circles, that's called "transfer", the ability to take what you know to better access new information and ideas. Yes, it is a progression. Enjoy the journey, I say. As to "instinctual", or maybe long term memory and second nature... Our bodies have a "record button", and the more you see and experience, the more you'll recognize when you're out there on the water, or in the woods. One of my favorite quotes, paraphrased: "There is only as much beauty available to us (in nature) as we are prepared to appreciate. And not a grain more." -HD Thoreau

Jigs may be one of the easiest lures to lose fish on. Any slack and that compact weight can be shaken or thrown. As Todd2 said, keep that line tight. Get a good bend in the rod and maintain it. Only thing I can think of, unless those fish were crappie and you were a bit too zealous with them; They don't call them "papermouths" for nothing.

What he said ^^^ Little to add. Except maybe that length -frame length to hang that weight on- is important. In my small waters, instability simply doesn't allow it. Hot summers, cold winters, and variable vegetation growth take their toll.

I've always had the issue of being a decent photographer and a decent fisher. But... I could never do justice to both at the same time. GoPros have largely solved that. However, I wear two GoPro's and do feel a bit silly. They add to my gear load too. Ditto the extra batteries; I get just shy of 2 hours per battery. To save review time, and battery, I turn them on and off throughout the day.

John's always been famous! Fun to see him in his preferred natural environment. Fun fishing with you J!

Summerti'me, and the fishin' ain't easy...

Air temps are now in 90s -pushing 100.

Probably bc people have drag set tight. They then adjust -usually at boat-side, with a short line- by stripping line off. The only time I do it is when in my float tube. And I do it on almost every fish. From watching my GoPro footage of my catches, I realized that I do it bc, to land a fish when I'm sitting so low on the water, I need a certain amount of line out to reach them. In buckling down on the fish at the end of the fight as they approach the boat, my rod tip is low, and the line is then too short to land them. So I strip out a few feet of line at the end of the fight. I only do this with casting gear, since I don't use the drag at all on my spinning reels. As a back-reeler, I can adjust line both in and out with a partial turn of the reel handle. I control tension directly, rather than having the drag do it. SO I never have to reset any drag "settings".