Darren.

As I've suggested in other posts, you could always try braid for your mainline and several different spools of copoly, mono, fluorocarbon and switch out leaders as needed based on conditions you'll be fishing. I have one of those Plano spool boxes I take with me now, with 6 spools of copoly in 6, 8, 10, and 15, and two spools of pure FC in 10 and 12 lb test. As well, I usually take two, or three rods with me. They'll each have a different leader tied on.

Take this FWIW. I like a 7.1:1 ratio for everything. Just like the fast retrieve. I slow down the cadence of my retrieve if I need to. But when I want to reel in the lure and not look like Road Runner winding up for a sprint, 7.1:1 rocks for that. I'd up to a JDM 8.x:1 ratio if I could afford it.

That's a solid point!

When I lived near Rochester, NY I fished Gravel Ponds (south of the city) a few times at night. Only once did I have success, caught an absolute beast of a bass -- 23" on a jitterbug -- at night. So yeah, if you can fish at night, it's worth the effort if for nothing else than to try it out. Down here in VA, I have to be off the local waters I fish at sundown (or thereabouts), so no night fishing. I'd love to hit these spots at night, though. Jitterbugs, other top waters would surely elicit some strikes.

Not seeing this at my reservoirs in VA. Seeing plenty of shad runs, and bass being caught. No dead shad. But turnover is definitely on the way. Stiff chill in the air here this week, our waters have gotten quite clear in the last week, but things are a-changin'... Temps vary between 67-70 depending on the sun.

Wow, impressive! Never thrown a swim bait myself.

Interesting topic/thread. I guess I wasn't thinking of the myriad of "guests" possibly lurking for fishing location info. And here I thought I had it figured out, LOL!! I often see "Bing" as "online"... But I lurked for a while before I joined, too. Learned a lot from the forums here, hope I've been able to contribute as well.. Phenomenal resource.

That's a happy haul, KyakR!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard, Mike!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

100% agree here. I've been having a great early fall on my usual bevy of soft plastics. Even added the Jika rig to my fishing arsenal and done extremely well (by my standards, that is). It has crossed my mind to throw some hard lures, but I continue to throw soft plastics. Haven't tied a hard lure on in months. Primary rigs (of late): Mojo, Jika, Weightless Wacky, Weighted Wacky I'm using a baitcaster for heavier rigs (4/0 hooks, heavier weights, etc), and spinning setup for lighter stuff (1/0 round bend hook, 1/8oz weights, etc.) Weightless will be on both depending on what's working what's not.....

First, as Paul said, check with your local authorities in your neck of Canada. In Virginia, you can pretty much go anywhere w/a kayak w/o needing a permit (other than fishing permit) unless specified by the "owner" of the body of water. I.e., local reservoirs here require you get either a yearly or per day permit to kayak (and/or fish) on them. So you'd need a fishing license, then a separate permit for kayaking. Before I recommend even buying a "cheap" kayak, I recommend finding a local kayak shop where you can go in, ask questions of the staff, sit in various models, and perhaps even demo some on the water. That's truly the best way to get your feet wet in kayaking. And cheap is relative, so you'd need to specify what kind of money you're thinking here.

I just want somebody to take Charlie Moore off of the NBC Sports Network. I mean, COME ON MAN! They left him but took away so many fishing shows that were 100x better than watching Charlie catch a few bass, smoke stogies and eat at expensive dives. Rant over. As y'all were.

Welcome aboard!

Great hauls, ww2farmer!

Welcome aboard, Jared!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard, Brian!

The Gammy Wide Gap Finesse are -- IMHO -- the best weedless wacky hooks out there. I have tried the Owner wacky weedless, but the guard is rather flimsy. That said, the hooks are excellent! All that said above, I've begun experimenting with building my own weedless wacky hooks. Normally I like 2, 1, and 1/0 hooks. I will use 2/0 for really big worms, but I've found the 1/0 sufficient for most big worms that I use, 5, 6". For my own rigging, I use the Gammy Wide Gap 1/0, and use Malon-7 coated stainless cable from BPS in 20 lb test. I will usually wrap it around the shank with some braid, and use thin shrink wrap tubing to bind it. So far so good. 20lb was the sweet spot, 30 and 40 were just too stiff. Take it FWIW.

And so it begins! Enjoy every minute of it!!

<gollum-speak>What is "break", Precious?</gollum-speak>

Read about this tonight. Absolutely disgraceful. Prayers, and such, and all the best to AP.

Welcome aboard, Dylan!