J Francho

I don't get it.

Pretty cool, and pretty weird.

Ascend is a good boat to get you off the bank, and get your feet wet in kayak fishing without breaking the bank. If you can afford better, do it, but get some seat time before making the decision to commit on a $1000 or more boat. Having the Ascend will give you the opportunity to better assess what you REALLY want in fishing kayak, if you decide to upgrade.

Looks great, boostr!

My personal opinion is that this should fall on the banks' shoulders. It's their product they offer to stores and consumers, and push it as the safe and convenient way to pay. Then prove it. Stores buy into the banks' processing system, and pay fees. It's the banks and thier processing that needs to be held accountable.

Never been caught, but I have accidentally been fishing without a license, or with an expired one. Thankfully, NY has changed their stupid "fall to fall" season pass, and gone to a license that is valid for one year after purchase.

I'd say on par, both in durability and performance. OS7s are louder.

Could be your buddy is just better at it.

That's some impressive bad luck. Dozens of bearing sets, not one bad one.

That's an awesome VA trout!!! We have those little stinkers here too. They get a little a bigger. Handle on the rod is 21" (keeper size), for reference. Only problem, they turn into fish popsicles up here:

I shop on paycheck Friday.

If you throw them out, you're paying extra for the shields and all the rest. If you buy steel shields, you only paying for the rest. Here's a better option: https://www.hawgtech.com/node/4 $16 for a pair.

Bent rod pattern is a strong one. Hard to ignore.

Just make sure they're dry and store in dry place.

You make a good point. She can also carry my man purse, and not look silly.

Money no object, one that comes with a guy that can retie my rig perfectly in about three seconds.

I wouldn't. It's five weighted swimbait hooks on a weighted rig. Usually works out to about 2-4 oz. If you want to use a lighter rod, use a lighter rig. Picasso makes a nice Jr. rig with a hard foam head. I usually rig it with 2" boot tail grubs on little ball head jigs.

There's a raunchy joke in there somewhere, Sam.

Flipping stick, TD-X 103HSDL, and 65# braid.

I've always thought a crank with a kitchen sink printed on the side would be a great seller. "I threw everything AND the kitchen sink, and still blanked!"

You've hit on every keyword to trigger automatic banning from northern moderators, lol.

Then buy steel shield bearings, or unsealed. Sort of like buying an insulated rain parka, and throwing out the insulated liner because you just need to stay dry. And why are we making excuses for such a great product? When ever someone says performance sucks after installing them, you get "Oh, it's okay, the seals swell, just throw them out." Silly. Every time I see OS recommended, I laugh out loud. They're good bearings for sure, but over priced, over hyped, and not the bag of donuts everyone makes them out to be. Personally, I think they did a good job several years ago, hooking all the reel techs up with their wholesale plan, after practically giving them away at $7 a pop for anyone with a coupon code. Got a ton of bearings in reels that probably never needed them. Flush the bearings, put some quality lubricant in them, and see what that does for you.

Exactly, Catt! That gets the bait to snap up, and out of weeds. You're not trying to rip it through the weeds, though I've had that work too, but it's more hassle, less fish.

Action merely describes how much of the rod bends under light pressure, and how quickly you get into the rod's power section. Medium to medium heavy rods, I like a fast to x-fast action. As cover dictates, and I step into heavy and extra heavy powers, I prefer a moderate fast action. These are rods where detecting the bite has more to do with sensitivity of the blank than tip flex. In heavy cover, I want the hookset and weight of the fish distributed across the entire blank. In less than slop, using M to MH gear, I want to be able to quickly flick set the rod, and a faster taper drives the hook point home. Hard to describe in words, but can be felt with time on the water using different tools.

Was he at the front of the boat?