J Francho

You can usually find a nice pair of breathable sock foot waders for about $100. My current pair are made by Frogg Toggs, and are around 6 years old.

I use triangulation quite a bit. Staring at a GPS can help, but it makes my head spin. Out in the big lake, there aren't really 3 points to use, so we use depth and two points on shore. Not very precise, as I found when first using GPS, but it gets you in the zip code. That's Canada in the background, lol.

I can't really think of anything - baits or gear - that is really actually new. It's all a variation or evolution of what's been done at this point. Plastics, spinners, plugs, topwaters, frogs, and jigs. Most everything fits in those buckets. I feel like I'm already keeping it pretty simple, despite the amount of gear I own and use.

I can testify to this. My current rider needed carb work. I opted for a new carb since it was a little more than the parts and easier to replace the whole thing. I am not much of a 2-cycle guy, but my son is and I haven't bought any new lawn equipment in well over decade. My boat outboards usually go to a Merc technician, though I've changed a starter, and always winterize myself. I look at this way: my lawnmower poops out, the grass gets long. My outboard poops out, and I might be stuck out on Lake Ontario floating to Canada.

I click About Us and there's a huge page of info: https://www.walleyetacklestore.com/info/ There's even a telephone number where you can ask where their physical location is. I've never heard of them until now, but the domain has been around for years, with blog entries up until last year. The boat listings are very recent, and there's even one up there that is local, and that I've seen listed in other places. Seems legit to me.

6-8 each way for me. Any more and I'm not using a leader.

So, you don't have the skills and don't want to pay someone that does? Sounds like you're on an island. Living near the Great Lakes, there are literally a ton decent boat mechanics within an hour that all do good work and have good reputations. The dudes that can't do good work are weeded out pretty quick.

Either a H/F or MH/F depending on the cover and baits. Something bigger than 7'. Victory VTC71MHF or VTC74HF would both fit the bill. https://stcroixrods.com/pages/victory

They issue these when you establish residency.

I've used KVD on braid for years. It helps slow down fading, but doesn't do anything else.

We call them strawberry bass, but Black crappie works too.

Columbo

I'm not aware of any coating on Red Label line. KVD L&L only improves handling of all line and I've never had any negative effects using it for more than a decade.

Pretty sure he's part wolf and part cinder block. He has the IQ of the latter and his head is just as hard.

I been to Florida more than a dozen times, and fished every time. I don't need to go back. The fishing was pretty good though. My favorite there was fishing for snook and baby tarpon. Bass fishing, meh. Always seemed to be pretty slow. The fish were big though.

Coltrane says thanks. He's somewhere between sable and black and tan. He was the one light puppy in the litter. It's very wolf like.

I typed "bass fishing capital of the world" in google, and Lake Eufaula came up. Not what I would have expected.

Mackerel, mangroves, surf... that's probably why I wouldn't use a leash. What about people that are bass fishing? I mean, if I'm near trees, I won't store my rods vertically. I can definitely see where that would be a problem though I'd more worried about snapping the tips off than losing the rods. But I can't think of many (or any) situations where rods would jump out of a holder.

Is this the vicious dogs thread? I'll add my pic of a GSD eating a toddler.

Dumb question about leashes that I'll preface with the fact I have never used a leash while kayaking. Yes, I lost one rod in 15 years. Is the leash for if you tip over, or is it to prevent them from falling out of the holders? I ask, because you don't see leashes on fishing boats that use the same flush mount and rocket launcher style holders, and some of these run in way rougher water than any kayak. extra cordage in a kayak has always been an annoyance and possibly a safety issue in my eyes.

I don't use them, typically. The point of my post is that a shakey head, in its purest form isn't the same as a stand up rig.

As long as you don't eat or burn them, lead jigs and spinnerbaits aren't bad for you.

Probably.

I've never used jaw spreaders. Ever. Anyone got a video they can share of someone using them? Preferably one where jaw spreaders was the only way. I'm not knocking them, people seem to recommend them all the time, and I even had a set in my boat decades ago. I just never needed them. I must be missing something, or I just don't know the proper use.

I use a shorter rod for baits that need a downward twitch. I also prefer a shorter rod for vertical presentations, since you gain nothing with length. Otherwise, I'm 5-7 and most of my rods are at least 7', if not closer to 8'. I could be 4' tall, and fish with the same rods. I might need a bit shorter rod for the downward twitch presentation, though.