J Francho

There's the rub.... I can paddle my C140 3.5-4 mph using VERY little effort. Optimal speed for most bass baits is one quarter that speed. When I fished Lake Ontario, it was like being confronted with a huge barren desert. Trolling (in a traditional deep-v lake boat) was a good way to locate large groups of smallmouth. Catch three in a short amount of time, and we'd anchor up in the area, and drown tubes.

Those OK under the seat scuppers should always be plugged. In fact, I think my OK came with the plugs for them. The rest I had to buy. BTW, the purpose of the scuppers is two-fold: they add rigidity to the top and bottom halves of the hull, and they allow the boat to be self bailing. If you're not running rough conditions, you can plug them without worry.

Applecare doesn't care if it's destroyed, but you have to be able to produce a phone. That's the derp :/

KVD L&L is required equipment for all my fishing. Sunline Sniper shouldn't bee too bad, even without line conditioner. Did you overfill the spool? I generally only fill my spinning spools about 2/3 full when I use fluoro.

I don't treat stated ratings as gospel. If the bait is not finding bottom, or it is digging too hard, I grab another bait. After you fish enough baits, it gets a bit more intuitive.

Typical human behavior: fear what you do not understand. It's actually HARD to go slow enough in a kayak to effectively get into that sweet 3/4 - 1 mph zone, and stay there. Never mind the mechanics of well executed trolling.

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/cast-adjust-baitcast.html

No, but I just ended a Facebook update with, "and GO!!"

I bought a Whopper Plopper. I feel so basic now.

I've been in many, many kayaks, and I can testify that scupper design does come into play. Even some brand name boats have poor scupper design. The OG Coosa comes to mind. They were like little water jets pointed straight at your butt. The front right scupper of the original Ocean Kayak PBG had to be plugged, if you weren't using a through hull transducer that it was designed for. I can also tell you that increased load will invariably make bad scupper design worse. All that said, remember this: YOU ARE INCHES OFF THE WATER, YOU WILL GET WET.

Are you asking about Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) only baits, or just for Japanese baits offered here in the US?

Just throw what you like to throw, and fan cast the entire perimeter. As it warms into the mid 50s, the fish will start to be shallow.

Get some foam practice golf balls, and plug them with that.

I apologize - I have the Assassin. I was able to get some real life pitching and casting in. Spooled it with pink Super Power Braid. I have to say, everything is right with this reel. I set the internal centrifugal brakes to a clack or two less than max, and zero magnetics, and it casts great. It wasn't fussy at all, like many entry level reels. Really, the only thing to test now is durability.

Email is an ineffective way to communicate with customer service. Because they're on the west coast, they're open later, if that helps. Their hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday - Friday Pacific Standard Time. So, that would be 11 - 7:30 EST.

I'll never understand why someone emails a corporation? Just call them, the number is above.

Your reel is still under warranty.

Those are staple smallmouth baits.

You just aren't used to it yet. That's a jump in 18", and I definitely feel that when switching rods.

I'd love to test this out....if I could tie one that held! Definitely a "me" thing there.

White jigs are common during the spawn. They're easier to see when the bass totally engulfs the bait.

The point behind the bead and the swivel is presentation. The fluke can be rigged a bit offset, which gives a random action, and the swivel keeps the twist at bay. The fluke looks like it's chasing some smaller food item, and would be distracted and vulnerable. If you've ever done some big swimbait fishing, this notion of distracted, feeding prey items works. As far as connection knots go, an Alberto is a better knot than an Albright. The Alberto is a overlapping weave, whereas the Albright is a twisted jam knot. They both work really well, but the edge goes to the Alberto. Striper fisherman have been using it for decades. Also, as far as swivels go, they're appropriate in other situations outside the Carolina rig and the fluke rig. There's another, double fluke fluke rig that employs two swivels - Donkey Rig. A swivel on a split shot rig can free up the bait too. I put the weight on the main line, above the swivel. Small tip: start at your terminal rig when tying up. That way you can use a strong Palomar knot on most connections.

It's also a great spawn bait.

Any time I've attempted something like this, it ends in a big CLANG! I generally stick to senkos.

Try a bead, swivel, leader and fluke.