wasabi_VA

I generally stick to a limited number of presentations in my bass fishing but bought a few specialty jigs over the years. Any suggestions for specific plastics and rigging for these?

Hit the upper James River this weekend and caught a few nice smallies. Got so dang excited about the biggest (my PB) that I didn't get a length. I don't know what I was thinking aside from also dealing with a kayak in pretty active current. Caught them on this older Bagley crank - anybody know what model it is?

Well... I made a mess of it putting it on, may have used too much. But cleanup was easy. It is more like rubber cement than epoxy/glue. It peeled off or scraped off easy with a razorblade so I think I could get it off if needed.

I'll have to check out that tape next time at Lowes. I went the kydex route. 0.80" kydex sheet from Amazon for $12, enough to make several guards. MarineGoop adhesive. Feels darn near bulletproof, no worries about dragging it across anything now including those rough concrete ramps.

Welcome @TheKurrent ! I'm always down for a trip if you ever want to go somewhere west of Richmond. I'm near Charlottesville and fish almost all of the local waters. Would like to spend more time on the James but am usually chasing bass, crappie and catfish in the local reservoirs, lakes and streams.

The pockets would hold loose bags easy but I was hoping for some better binder or method to keep them from spilling out while rummaging around inside.

I have the Cabelas version of this BassPro Advanced Anglers II Large Tackle System. It holds 3650 sized boxes in the main compartment. I'd like to keep some plastics in a binder in the side pockets but not sure which binders might fit. I have the large black binder shown to the right in my photo but it is too wide for the pocket.

It's time to respool several reels that have aging 20lb braid on them. I'm a cheapass so periodically do things like reverse spool form one spool to another to get that fresh braid down underneath but I've already done this with most of these reels. It's time to pony up and buy a fresh bulk spool. I'm a Powerpro guy - will probably get that, but admit I haven't paid much attention to the other brands. Any suggestions for a bulk spool - maybe 600 to 1200 yards?

I was going slow, probably only wind moving me as I fished. Scroll speed is on auto and usually scrolling very slowly as I'm in a kayak. No more than 3.5mph and usually closer to 1.5 - 2mph while fishing. I use a 20v lithium power tool to power my Garmin. Garmin specs say 10v - 20v.

I don't consider the right side (77kHz) to be clutter. That looks like good fish returns. It's the left side (200kHz) where the returns look weak to me. Yes, there is more separation and I'm giving that though but I just thought the right side was a better looking return. But am unsure so thought I'd ask.

I remain confused over the 200kHz vs. 77kHz frequencies in my Garmin Vivid Striker 4cv. Just when I think I understand then the results I get on-screen turn it all upside down. I watched a popular video and literally made notes so I could carry them on the boat for reference: 200kHz - narrower cone, more power and more detail. 15⁰ cone 77kHz wider cone, less power/detail. 45⁰ cone But I feel like I see the opposite in my images. For example image #1 has 200kHz on the left and 77kHz on the right. I feel like the 77kHz view is showing better returns/more detail. I don't understand why the supposed more powerful 200kHz view is showing weaker returns. Picture #2 - same situation. Stronger returns/more detail on the 77kHz view and weaker returns with the 200kHz view. Generally I do run CHIRP for both 200kHz and 77kHz, still had the same results. It makes me want to use the 77kHz for fishing these bottom fish (crappie) but according to the beam specs the fish may not be under my kayak with the 77kHz frequency since the beam is supposedly a 45 degree cone, or a 37'*0.83=30.7 foot wide view of the bottom. Instead I think I should use the 200kHz frequency with a 15 degree cone which gives me a 9.6 foot view of the bottom. Why am I getting such better returns with the 200kHz beam?

I have a pair of maybe 10 year old fishing bibs (Gander Mountain Guide Wear) that are still in good shape and getting a lot of use this season. The waterproofing still seems Ok as far as leaking through to my clothing but water doesn't bead up on them anymore. Will spraying 3M Scothguard help with this?

No luck today. I went down lake and found some pods of suspended baitfish but didn't mark any fish hanging around them. I still jigged a blade bait but no takers. Ended up marking crappie in spots and got distracted wearing them out. Odd I didn't see any fish arches near those bait pods.

I want a spare spool for either my Daiwa Legalis 1000 or my Fuego 1000 but the few I found are pricey. Gotta a source for spare spools?

Deep, 16 (suspended) to 35 (bottom). Which blade bait? I have some smaller steelshad I use crappie fishing.

I'm fishing a small reservoir that has a long, windy feeder river. The smallies go back up the river in warmer weather but I believe many of them winter over in the deeper water of the main reservoir. I suspect they are feeding on suspended balls of shad and I'd like to target them while we're still in this winter pattern. Any particular lures you suggest? I only have downscan and no side scan so I am going to find them under the kayak and drop down, either targeting suspended or bottom fish. I mostly throw 3" curly tail grubs to them in summer.

I have some neoprene NRS Boundary boots I wear when cold water kayaking but thinking of a pair of fishing boots for spring/fall. Anybody have either of the Simms or Huk boots? Wondering how they fit and if they feel like big boots or what since I'll be pedaling my kayak.

I think I would lean towards the Helix 5 SI as I tend to look up a lot of stuff on how to use it and resolve issues and would think there was more stuff online I could find. It seems like it is discontinued though with no 5" replacement on the Humminbird site. I see it available at BassPro though.

Thanks. I like having mapping but spend 95% of my time watching the depthfinder for fish (I crappie fish a lot)

Looking to replace the Garmin Striker on my Old Town Sportsman PDL 106 with a sideview unit. Suggestions? Don't want a massive screen getting in the way on the small 'yak. I currently use a Navarre scupper mount for my transducer which holds it tight up under the center of the hull. The outer pontoons of the kayak hull are slightly below the bottom of transducer and I'm wondering if a similar mount for the sideview transducer will crate issues or not. The benefit of my current mounting is it protects the transducer from most obstructions including sliding in/out of my truck tailgate.

Good point. I'll throw some larger plastics that might look like Fallfish.

A stream I fish in Virginia seems dominated by Fallfish and it's 95% of what I catch even though even though it has LM and SM bass, bluegill and rainbow trout. I would think it has crappie as they are very common in other waters around here but never caught one. I'm wondering if the Fallfish are eating up all the other species eggs/fry and is why they are all I seem to catch. The stream has the potential to be a bit of a honey hole as access is very difficult and the limited number of landowners rarely fish it. I get into it using a difficult method of launching and recovering my kayak and I've never seen anybody else fish it. It is the upper reach of a small river where a dam creates a deeper and slower moving stretch about a mile long before it turns into an unfishable creek. The stream is dominated by shallow stretches of 2 to 5 feet and then several deep bends of 10 to 20 feet. The shallow stretches have a good bit of fallen trees so it looks fishy as heck. In 15 trips I have only caught a few bass, rainbow trout I think swim down from the far upper reaches of the feeder creeks and then lots and lots of Fallfish. They are fun and I'm thankful for the pullage but I want bass when I'm targeting bass. I throw a lot of usuals like jerk baits, grubs, plastic worms, jigged spoons in the deeper water, spinner baits, etc. I keep telling myself the bass are here but the bite is so dang slow when focusing on them until I use small enough lures these Fallfish can get in their mouth (their favorite seems to be a 3" curly tail grub - they are aggressive as heck). Think they are pushing out the bass?

Is she hard on her car too? My ol' lady is hard on cars, vacuums, basically if it can be banged around then it gets banged around. All the chair and table legs have damage from her banging the vacuum cleaner against them, same for the decorative molding around walls and doors. Her cars get dinged up fast, she runs over every pothole and dashboard, etc. look like it was a rental car. I don't get it. Glad she doesn't fish hardly ever. My worst reel doesn't look anything remotely like that after 25 years. But I agree - keep mouth shut. Everything but that reel lip looks like I could tolerate. I'd buy her cheaper stuff if it was me since she doesn't seem to be much on the finesse side of things.

I prefer a bearing but not a deal breaker for the price point. I think most of the spinning reels I've owned just had a bushing and they all did fine.

I'm thinking of picking up one of these Daiwa Fuego LT 1000 spinning reels for fishing small streams. I'm usually only catching 12" bass and sunfish. I have a couple of the larger Daiwa Fuego LT 2500XDh reels which have done great the past couple years. The 1000 is around $85 on eBay. Any thoughts on a better reel for the price? I haven't kept up with reels and am thinking this Fuego LT line has been out a few years so not sure if they have released something that is a better option.