kikstand454

Shakey head- trick worm.

Junebug or black for dark water- watermelon red or green pumpkin for stained/clear water. Start there. Tip- if you gently mash the tail of your green pumpkin lizard on the side of your boat- you now have a chartreuse tail.

The c-rig produces! You must keep the faith! I have the most luck with the c-rig on offshore structure. Bars and humps, main lake and secondary points. ... things like that. If you're in more than 12' of water, go ahead and bump up to 3/4oz. For that matter. ...you may want to do that anyway. Also- while many thousands of fish have been caught on c-rig and mono- you may want to move to a more sensitive copoly, flouro or braid. Steel, brass or tungsten will help as well. I like trick worms 2:1 over anything else. ...but any soft plastic will work. Have faith. ... it will happen! Its like fishing a jig. .... you'll fish it cluelessly forever and not get it- then you will have that one trip where it all comes together in your mind and you'll never want to NOT throw it. Lol.

This

Caught this " just inside the slot" red yesterday.... 26 3/4". Bantum curado cu200 Field and stream inferno 7'mh/f 15# yz ultrasoft Bone spook Jr.

Caught this " just inside the slot" red yesterday.... 26 3/4". Bantum curado cu200 Field and stream inferno 7'mh/f 15# yz ultrasoft Bone spook Jr.

Sheesh. If you're going to use mono- then big game is a highly regarded one. Other people like other types of lines. Life goes on. ( yo zuri hybrid FTW)

Well its late in the day and the suns gettin low. .....

ACK has a seat called the "gone fishin" seat. Its about the best there is. I love mine. I have had it for about three years now and its made a world of difference in my old tarpon. It makes 5hr paddles a breeze. I also recently added a little foam stadium seat cushion from dicks- but academy and bps have them as well. This makes the seat even MORE comfortable ! The old style low seats will probably never be as nice as the new lawnchair seats. ... but I think this set up is as close as you can get.

I have three Pts from around that era. An accurist, and accurist saltwater, and the blue pt tour . They have been rock solid in every way. I still use them today. Got all three in '08 I think.

I use bass gear exclusively out of the kayak. 7'mh/f rod, shimano cu200 greenies, 15# yozuri ultrasoft. The only technique that I think requires something different is using a popping cork. I use a 7'6" mh spinning rod and. 3000 reel with 30# braid. The extra length and no stretch of the braid makes working and setting the hook on the cork- ESP on a long cast- a breeze.

If you're going to use mono- might as well be big game. It will be different.

I would venture to guess that 75% of my fishing time is spent throwing a spook from a kayak. Now.....granted. .... this is for inshore fish ( trout and redfish)- but your question is about gear so its applicable. If youve never walked the dog before- much less from a kayak- then you will probably want to use your spinning reel. Pull off all that mono that you don't like ( or leave it on- whatever) and put a nice copoly on there ( I like 12# yozuri hybrid). Now. ...tie your spook on with either a loop knot of your choice ( I use the rapala knot) or get a small split ring. This will make the walking even easier. But walking a spook is one of the easiest things in the world to do. It just walks. Cast it out, get about of foot of slack in your line, and jerk the slack gently. Reel. Repeat. The spook will do all the work. When the bite happens, and it will, reel down- DO NOT SET THE HOOK until you reel all your slack up and actually feel the fish. Its going to be impossible to do this at first- but you must train yourself to hesitate on a topwater bite if you want to have a good hook up ratio. In regards to other things in this thread- I find it easier to work a spook from my kayak with a longer rod- but I do find the longer butt section a pain in the. ...well. ..butt. I also prefer a long 7' rod at least in the kayak so I can work the fish around the front of the boat without incident ( I have a 14' tarpon) . I don't like braid for topwaters. ...ESP walking ones. .. because when the lure swings back on its slack- it often catches the front hook on the line with limp braid. Mono and copoly seem to have enough tension to " get out of the way". For tannic like waters you are describing- bone, bone chart, gold black back, and fire tiger have been my top colors. Good luck! The spook is addictive!

I haven't met a big bite bait I didn't like. I LOVE the Yodaddy for punching mats. ..... love it.

I have a $5 eBay luggage scale and a pair of plastic fish grips. Works great for almost a year now. Accurate, light weight, cheap.

^^^^^ commit to ONLY throwing them. Then you'll see the light like the OP did!

.... I had a report last week from a friend and he and another guy caught 60 reds in 5 hours in oyster/Dickerson bay. He said most were slot sized. Made me want to punch him as I haven't gone in well over a month due to family stuff. The whole area is starting to turn on. ...lots of reports of trout and even Spanish ( already! ) on the flats at the lighthouse in St marks. I'm going Saturday morning ( finally! ) in the kayaks. .....I will report back.

If you have a place nearby that rents kayaks, you can EASILY get a nicer kayak used for that money. Rental fleets are typically restocked with every new model year- and they sell off the old models at absurd prices. Example- my buddy got a 15' OK prowler for $400. It was in barely used condition. Just an fyi.

Yes you can totally use the huge lead weights to punch mats. They will work fine. Now, wheather the large profile will make a difference to the fish, the less polished weight slips through the cover as well, or the unfinished inside of the weight frays your braid. ....well. ... that's up for debate. I prefer tungsten. You could elimanate the polish problems by using steel. But they'd still be huge comparitively.

Powerpro. Yozuri hybrid & ultrasoft.

*shrug* I have gone to ONLY #15 YZ ultra soft/ mint green for all of my inshore rods and all of my bass rods that are bottom contact. (Jigs, Texas rigs, Carolina rig) I have never had a single issue with it and like I said. ...its all I use exclusively now. The thing i like over regular hybrid is the mint green color and its resistance to kinking when backlashed. Also its becoming easier to find on sale than regular hybrid. I have a few 600yd spools of #12 hybrid/smoke that I use for topwaters and moving baits. I guess its just preference.

Ill check that out. 15# ultrasoft is what I use for inshore and bottom contact fishing. Thanks! You're going to love the YZ.

Holy cow that's a smokin deal ! Wish I could cash in on that! That would cover my 12# needs for the rest of my life. Lol.

Yes. Reds will hit plastics. I've caught them on everything you mentioned. However, I do most of my redfish damage with a spook or a gold spoon. Another option for you would be 1/4oz or so jighead and a gulp shrimp in new penny color. Fish it like a jig. Good luck..... nothing fights like a red!

I'm not familiar with your area, but I'm very familiar bass fishing in tidal water. In MY experience: A yellow #4 hildebrandt snagless sally/ gold blade is worth twice the asking price. White or yellow floating worms, worked like topwaters- will produce like crazy. Nows your chance to understand why lure companies sell the color "bubblegum'. As long as the water is moving, the fish are biting. If it stops, so do they. Falling tide is considered "best" but that's mostly because its easier for an angler to predict where the fish will stage. Rising tide is good too. Do NOT be afraid to fish for bass where you THINK the water is too salty. I have caught many many bass within a mile of the ocean. A redfish WILL break your heart during a tournement. Good luck!