camman

Santone McCall Rayburn Swim jig - 5/16oz in Black/Blue or Rayburn Red with a Keitech trailer.

yes a few years ago I had probably 10-15 packs that were new and had faded. I contacted them and sent them in and they sent me a replacements as well as a few stickers. Way cool. I've probably got 50+ bags of them now in my favorite colors.

New model must be coming out soon

I bought 1 pack to try...not for Texas rigging but for fishing flukes. I use ringed hooks sometimes in Saltwater when fishing live bait to get a more natural presentation...I thought about the same logic for fishing flukes for Stripers. Is there a difference? The only way I could see a slight difference is when I used a heavy leader (20lb +). It was not worth the extra money as I didn't feel like it got me extra bites. I went back to my normal style EWG hooks.

I agree 90% of the time color doesn't seem to really matter. My buddy and I fish and our favorite go to colors are different. His is Black/Blue and mine is Watermelon red/black flake when it comes to Senkos. 90% of the time we may end the day 1 or 2 fish difference. A few days a year one or the other color absolutely starts to crush the other color so we will switch.

Maybe the packages are old? Those were the quantities of the old packages before they lowered the price and number of baits per bag

I own a bunch of the older M1's and they do run light for their rating. The rods have plenty of backbone though. That being said I would not throw a Vision 110 on the older Phenix ML rods. I've heard the newer M1's are more like other manufacturers but I have not held or tried the new ones.

Can you poke through the foam in that area with your finger and see if it feels wet? How big are the holes? 1/2" or less? A plastic weld would be the best long-term solution, though you can use Marine Goop or the 3M marine sealant and it will hold fine, just clean the area first.

so my experience was with the CI4's not the new ones CI4+. I bought 2 reels and used them equally. When I first bought them they were super smooth. After about a year, 1 of them started to grind a little and I sent it to Shimano for work. I forgot what they did but when it came back it was smooth again. Maybe a year later the other reel started to wobble a bit. I used one that they repaired more and that one held up fine. Fast forward a little while later the Tatula LT's came out. I bought one and used it for a year with no issues. I ended up selling my CI4's and bought a second Tatula LT. Both have seen a lot of use and still smooth and are probably 3 years old. One did land a 10lb Striper and the drags have held up fine. They are lighter than the CI4's so depending on what rod you put it on will impact the overall balance.

second on the Tatula LT. I switched my Shimano Stradic CI4 to all Tatula LT's

Squarebill. Never leave the house with at least one tied on

Snag Proof Phat Frog or a Sprinkler

Another vote for the Daiwa BGs. Have a bunch from 3000 to 5000 and they are all beasts

i love using a texas rigged zoom speed worm. I swim them like a swimjig or chatterbait, but like to drop it in pockets.

No by opting with a bigger motor you don’t have to get a jack plate. Though it will help with motor efficiency and getting on plane quicker. Really the larger motor has nothing to do with fishing tournaments. The more weight you add (tackle, people, etc) it slows the boat done quite a bit.

This is the most important one

IMO you need to demo a kayak before you buy it. Everyone has their favorites and they may or may not be to your liking. Any good kayak shop should have demo days or opportunities to try the kayak before you buy it. I would just ask and see what they have. I know a few shops by me have them every few months and you can literally try a couple brands and yaks. Also you need to figure out what kind of fishing and paddling you plan on doing. This will help determine your kayak needs in terms or width/length/paddle/pedal and may help you narrow down your search.

Wow did not know that...I went to ASU for grad school. speaking of big cats, watched a guy pull a 15 lb one from Tempe Town Lake and release it

i throw one all year long, the only thing which differs will be the color and occasionally the size. Lots of good advice above. The one thing I found is that if I throw it like I don't mind losing it, my fish ratio went up. I throw them in/over bushes, trees, rocks, etc. I do break a few more and lose a few but you will be surprised how tight fish are to cover sometimes.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Plasti-Dip-14-5-oz-Black-Plastic-Dip-11603-6/202196703

I’ve broken a couple bouncing them of rocks or the boat. Interestingly enough the part that broke on them were the bills. I’ve done it to a few Lucky Crafts as well and those are a mix between broken bills or cracked baits

For smaller baits I use the VMC spinshot hooks, they seem to work better on small baits. For larger baits bigger than 4” I use the Roboworm Rebarb hooks. Thin wire but surprisingly strong

You in Phoenix?

Other option is to get one of those padded mats. I had one which I used in my garage and ended up getting one for the boat. I used the “hook” part of a Velcro strip and it would stick to my carpet and stay on.

Palomar for anything 15lb and under. San Diego Jam for anything over Uni to Uni for braid/fluoro