Darren.

Haven't used either rod you mention, but if I had the money, it'd be on the St. Croix. Name synonymous with quality, reputation is stellar... Everyone I know who owns one among other rod brands absolutely loves it.

Ditto on the prayers for our friends to the North... Good fishing post-storm. Haven't been able to get out yet myself, but sure have the itch.

That's good info to know. Especially since...well...perhaps I shouldn't have, but I have purchased a Lexa 100 in 7.1:1 ratio. Picked it up for $115 + free shipping on ebay, new. I'll apologize to my wife when she inevitably will find out. Soon. Maybe a dozen roses will help ease her stress over the rash, irrational purchases by her husband. Since I've only known Quantum baitcasters, I suspect I won't know the difference with regard to centrifugal vs. mag brakes. My Shimano experience is with spinning gear, which is top notch, so baitcasting will see a different trek. I'll let the group know what I think when I get her out on the water. Likely to spool with 15 or 20 lb yellow Power Pro + leader.

Welcome to the forums, WDinarte! Great to have your experience added to the group.

Indeed, they will hit just about anything. I've caught several big pick here in VA recently on wacky and TX rigged worms. And also true, at least in my experience, cooler waters = more pickerel.

Only thing I'd think would make a difference is with "bright" lines. I see a lot of crappie, bluegill fisherfolk using neon/bright lines. But I use the same setup I mentioned above regardless of what I'm targeting. 10lb PP Yellow + a leader. The leader is where it comes in handy for me, I can tie on anything from 2lb to whatever, the mainline stays the same, and lasts a long time.

Yellow PowerPro, 10lb test mainline + leader of various materials.

Might could use that once Hurricane Sandy passes our neck of the woods.

So long as items get checked off the "honey-do" list, she is okay with me fishing. But if I'm fishing more than checking off items, it gets dicey. Enjoy it while it lasts!

Hi Austin, welcome aboard!

Welcome to the site, glad to have your experience on board.

Welcome aboard, Caylub!

Piggy-backing off the OP's question of reel size, have any of you guys gotten hands-on with the new Daiwa Lexa 100? (LgMouthGambler, I am NOT defecting just curious...though my only baitcasters are Quantums right now Shimano sold me with the Stradics.) I'm not worried about being spooled, or max drag, heck, my primary spinning setups use Shimano Stradic 1000FI reels and I never fear the bass! Would really love a 50 size Shimano, but price-wise, watching intro vids from various sites, the Lexa sounds like a decent reel, yet with my dual fishing elbow pain, lighter would be better...

A very warm welcome to you, Scotty! Now a Tiger fish, THAT's a fish, mate. Toothy critter and then some!

Time to step back and relax. Breathe a little. Way too serious here.

There ya go! Hey, a dink is a fish and not a skunk! Given I fish soft plastics most of the time, I consider myself fairly proficient at "slow" fishing. The bite has been quite good this fall using soft baits. I haven't thrown any cranks or spinnerbaits, but I s'pose I'll have to take a rod for those techniques just to try it out again. I just can't seem to get into that stuff though. Fairly one-sided fisherman by those standards, I guess. But it works for me, so I keep doing it. Don't fish tourneys, just for fun.

Skeletor, thanks for your opinion, wasn't really looking to be schooled in scientific testing. I'm well aware of what's involved, and I find Brian at Big Indiana Bass has a wealth of experience under his belt regardless of how he presents it in a simple blog post. He's done plenty of other testing that validates his opinion and experience citing studies, etc. Not gonna argue that point, or your experience in science. And yes, I've read Tackletour's reports, VHAWK's line testing analyses, and many others over the years. Point of fact is that we agree that different lines can be used for different applications. Fluorocarbon does not guarantee a better outing than mono. But the bottom line is that the man with experience is never at the mercy of the man with an argument.

Given your $500 limit, I'd check at big-box stores like BJ's. I bought my first fishing yak there for $380, I think it was. A good yak, a SoT (Sit on Top), that is still in use within my family of boys. I have since graduated to a Native Ultimate which is a yak/canoe hybrid, but that's out of your price range. Other options, if you're patient, is to wait for Dick Sporting Goods' yearly sale, but it's around Spring. You can find some good fishing yaks for under $500. In fact, there's a decent starter angling kayak at Dick's right now for $399... All of this said, if you have a local kayak store, visit it and talk to the folks about fishing, your budget, etc. There's plenty of help to be found, especially from folks who may fish your local waters! You'll love kayak fishing. There's so much you can do, so many places you can go where regular boats may not be able to (shallows, etc.).

Saltwater reels do tend to be larger, the components used are typically far more resistant to corrosion. FWIW, Shimano reels are geared for BOTH salt and fresh, but you can buy salt-specific reels if you want.

I'll stay on point and second RW's comments. Stick to Hybrid. Colors are better (my opinion, obviously not everyone's). UltraSoft tends toward the milky side and I just didn't like it. While I use P-Line Floroclear and love it, I also like Hybrid in camo green. Just ordered a spool of 10lb off eBay. As well, I'm a braid mainliner and use P-Line or YZ Hybrid as leader. This way I don't have to deal with line jumping off the spinning spool, etc. Only Smoke color I've tried is in 4lb test but I didn't find it as reliable as green or clear.

While I don't have an Emotion, I'd recommend the anchor trolley just above the water line. And if you can afford, one for each side. That's the one thing I wish I did, and plan to correct on my Native Ultimate. So many situations I've found myself in that I wished I had a trolley on the left side.... But sounds like a good deal on your yak, something to give you many happy years of yak-fishing. Good on ya, mate!

Welcome! Tips, etc, all welcome here.

Welcome aboard, fellow kayaker!

Suffice it to say there are a LOT of opinions on the matter. And there are some good scientific papers on the topic as well. You can Google it and find some good stuff out there. In fact, just yesterday Big Indiana Bass posted another of his looks at fluorocarbon from a scientific perspective. Worth a read, as well as his previous posts on the matter. But braid and FC are two different animals, obviously. Braid is limp, FC is not. Braid is "fabric/fiber" wound, FC is "not". Braid is solid color, FC is not. Etc... Braid is excellent for mainline using a leader of whatever for various fishing purposes. This is my approach, and I have found it works best for me on my spinning gear (and I have it on my BC gear as well). This way, should you opt for it, you can buy a spool of expensive FC and it will last a long time since you'll only be tying on leaders, not spooling your entire reel with the stuff. The braid mainline will last and last and last... As for sensitivity, there's debate all over the board here, and it's mostly around personal experience for those of us who get foggy-eyed when the science equations start dropping over refraction indexes and such. For me, I do think FC is probably the most responsive for slack line as skeletor said; however, I've had no problems with my braid+leader for this. Here's a key here, if water conditions are right (light winds, low waves, calm) the braid reveals the slightest twitches telling me something's hitting my line. I'm using 10lb Power Pro, too, so it really moves/jerks if my terminal end is getting sniffed by a fish. In rough conditions, FC is probably better than braid+leader. But again, that's debatable. If money is an issue, don't break the bank on FC thinking it will make you the best fisherman out there. Much of that depends on you, your style, etc. Heck, there are people who have used mono their entire fishing lives and out caught all of us combined. Would they have done better with FC? Ha, therein lies the question, eh? So just my .02. I've got spools of FC that sit around because I'm simply not using them. I didn't find them more advantageous over my P-Line Floroclear, Yo-Zuri Hybrid lines enough to switch out.

Pop some popcorn, pour a nice drink, sit back and enjoy the fireworks!