Darren.

Heh, welcome aboard. And you want to talk to @Raul, @A-Jay, @00 mod about Mexico

Pleasantly surprised. I'm liking what I see!!! As long as the W's keep on a comin'!

Absolutely! Mine is a 30 minnkota. It works like a champ.

Yep. You can buy one from bassyaks.com, though. Mine was coddled and tweaked with parts from local stores and so forth. It is actually pretty decent, but not as thorough as a BassYaks unit.

Welcome aboard! @Delaware Valley Tackle among the supertuners here...

Congrats!

My TM is foot controlled! LOL... well except for the fwd / rev. Steering is foot controlled.

Every kayak maker will probably join the party. Someone will make the killer leg-powered yak one of these days. Some think Hobie or Native already has...but there's gotta be something better out there. Competition brings it out!!

Indeed.

Would be pretty high on my list, no doubt. I'd also look at a Native Slayer, WS ride, of those in a similar price range. I would be electrifying it, so want one easy to make that happen. Would also consider (if I had the $) a pedal driven yak...

Never sat in one of those, but they get great reviews and are priced well. I've sat in the Lure 12 and it was really nice. I love the wheel in the keel design.

Excellent choice, but in order to get the right feel, you definitely want to get sit-in time either in a yak store, even better is to demo one on the water. At 5'7" I started with a 10 footer, but when I bought my main yak I went with 12'. You may find 10 to be a tad cramped with all your gear - if you take a lot. It is going to be easier to maneuver than the 12, but the 12 will probably track a bit better. Get some time in one if you can.

True, but it's funny since you're relatively the same longitude as Charlottesville, which I consider toward the western side of the state. We were in Farmville (Hampden Sydney and Longwood) for some soccer stuff, and there's definitely wildlife there!

DA bears... Indeed. Be careful. We only have bears in the western part of VA, to the best of my knowledge. I remember when I lived in WNY of mountain lions haunting many in the southern tier. Be careful out there!!

Yes, should be fine.

Welcome aboard! If you had a measurement of the girth it would be a little easier to guess. But at that length it should be in the 4-4.3 or so pound weight, give or take.

I have a 1000 size reel with 10# PowerPro, which is same diameter as 2# mono. Also had it on a 2000 size Daiwa Lexa and it worked great. I did use backing to save some braid.

Definitely some soccer stuff there...well, guess it could be some other sports, but stuff I see at our soccer training all the time - the yellow, orange and washed out cones, the water bottles (gatorade, etc.). When my sons leave stuff it usually gets reprocessed by antoher family...not exactly happy they leave stuff, though.

Awesome brownie! Congrats on the PB!

No can help with Dobyns rods, but welcome to the forums, Wayne!

see my reply in your introductions post.

Welcome aboard! Here ya go. Those measurements put it close to 7 pounds. https://www.bassresource.com/bassfishing/fishcalculator.html

Good stuff! With the shadows, it looks like your paddle is actually a weapon ready to eviscerate the pike...or cut the line.

Awww, don't fret, @A-Jay grows 'em special up there. Yours are just fine for a birthday gift

Good question. I've definitely experienced more bites and hooksets when I canNOT see the fish than when I can. So probably when I can't see. That said, it's fun when I CAN see the bass engulf the bait and set the hook!