Darren.

Hey DVT, I've looked, and am seeing the 1000FJ kit is only 1 carbontex drag as opposed to 3? Can you confirm?

7.6?! Wow, I'd have guessed higher, but then I can't figure the weight. That's still seriously respectable! That said, I've caught 6 pound bass that were fatter than an overinflated football which I thought were closer to the 7 pound range. Needless to say, that bass is a roly poly, a weeble that wobbles and won't fall down!!! Congrats!

I have and use fluoro as a leader connected to braid. But I mostly use copolymer (Yo-Zury Hybrid and P-Line Floroclear). I've had success with the XPS fluoro I have, but just feel more confident with the copoly. Since I only use it as a leader, I'm want to try some Sniper one day when I've got cash laying around. So best of both worlds, IMO, is braided mainline for manageability and a leader of copoly or pure fluorocarbon.

They're much bigger than the BPS in Hampton, which happens to be (or was) the smallest BPS in the nation! Either way, the sales are going to be the same. I'd be as disappointed with the Richmond store as the Hampton since the items I was really interested in are not on sale or will be on sale, but online only. Grrr.

You bet. Here's a thread discussing rivets vs. the well nuts I posted above. I've used both, but since my kayak is more of a hybrid (Native Ultimate 12), I can use bolts, rivets or well nuts...and I've used them all. Rivets are "easiest" for me, and you can actually find rivets that have a rubber washer for sealing. http://www.jaxkayakfishing.com/phpBB/topic33702.html

Yes, 3 lb anchor for sure. Probably enough to hold a 5 or 8 (max).

If you go the rivet route, you want to use something like these, which have slots in the aluminum so they fan out and secure better than the standard rivets you find in places like Home Depot.... http://www.austinkayak.com/products/268/Pop-Rivet-Black-Anodized.html

Beautiful baby! You DID get your wife's permission to post those pix of her, right?

You have options. Since your yak is an SOT, you do want to use marine goop/sealant if you're using self threading screws, or rivets. Rivets are "permanent", self threading screws leave a hole that you can patch if you feel you put the cleat in the wrong place. You can also drill out a rivet, so technically not permanent.... There are also these, which will compress when tightened: http://www.austinkayak.com/products/1096/Well-Nut.html

Went to the BPS in Hampton, VA this afternoon and it was a ghost town. I was super disappointed. I was hoping to buy some Stik-Os, but they're not on sale until the Classic goes online-only. Used to be more BPS baits were on some sort of sale, and the Stik-Os were usually 3 for $10! I know prices rise, but good grief. Absolutely nothing like before. I realize I went on the second-to-last day, but it wasn't the amount that wasn't stocked, it's the lack of items actually on sale. Ended up using my $10 in points to buy a lone 25 pack of 1/0 Gamakatsu split/drop shot hooks. And they weren't even on sale.

Splendid! Congratulations!

Welcome aboard, Mike!

Welcome aboard, Chris!

Have a read here, plenty of thoughts on the reels.

Welcome aboard!

Not me. Totally up to you what size you want to fish. I prefer short rods because I'm often in very close quarters and would be unable to cast a long rod, but can do so with a shorter rod (5'9 - 6'3"). Longest I like to use is 6'6". May change some day, but for now, I don't want anything longer.

Sure. Just make sure you put a flag on the back of it if it extends more than a few feet.

I used to top a 16' aluminum grumman canoe on a 2001 Odyssey. You just need to have good bars, or enough foam blocks for the gunnels. Tie down front and back, cross ties. Should be fine.

Unfortunately no, I really don't have any books I could recommend for Android. I dwell in the OS X world and never ventured much into Linux. I used to be an IT manager for a global telecom, so my troubleshooting practices followed me As for Firefox, they lost me back at 3.0 when they inexplicably dropped support for AppleScript language. I could never get an answer as to why, and the devs would say they were working on it -- for years -- but they never added simple commands back into the mix. So I never looked back -- well, I download and check every new version to see if they fixed it, but they haven't and I don't know if they ever will.

For wacky rigging, I use from #4 to 2/0 Gamakatsu Wide-Gap Finesse, or their Splitshot/Dropshot hooks. Most common for me is a 1/0 Split/Dropshot hook. Personally I don't use an O ring, prefer the hook to be perpendicular to the bait, and straight thru the plastic, which you could do with two O rings cris-crossed at the top of the worm.

No, I run iOS, but I have experience with Android, and I have to deal with multiple platforms in what I do. Firefox lost me as a customer years ago. I use Chrome. It is just a troubleshooting step to eliminate the potential that blockers, scripts, etc., are causing issues. As well, any third-party add-ons should be disabled. If it works when Firefox is clean then re-enable the add-ons one at a time and test each time until it fails. Then you've found the culprit.

You could really go for either. Me? I prefer a kayak, or a hybrid kayak/canoe. I ended up buying a hybrid in the Native Ultimate 12. Exceedingly stable, and allows plenty of storage. For the prices you require, head to a kayak store and look for previous year models. They're usually priced well below full retail. Another hybrid is the Wilderness Systems Commander. Do you have a kayak store nearby? Is standing in a kayak a priority?

LOL. I don't take baths.... Showers for this ol' boy. But I HAVE tested lures in the bathtub before. ONLY to observe how they fell, or ... I better stop.

As Legolas said when Gandalf died, the pain was still to near... The best one (I assume) was one of two. The first I got to see, the second I did not. First: youngest son was in the front of my 12' Native Ultimate kayak. I had cast a 4" Stik-O in Black/blue flake over toward a shoreline and BANG. Had a serious fight on my hands. Got the bass to the boat, a couple feet off the bow, my son was stretching his short arms with the net to get it when she tail-danced, spit the hook into the net, and dove back to the depths. Laughing the whole way down. The second one was when I was experimenting with Storm swimbaits. Very similar experience to the first but my son was not with me then. Each of the fish I guess were in the 8 pound range. I'll never know....the pain is still too near, LOL

I'll just welcome you to the forums! I don't normally fish those lures you're asking about, so can't be of much help there. Only one I'll throw on occasion is a spinner bait....