Darren.

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!

Greetings!

Welcome!

Gary Yamamoto has some great info out on the web if you Google it, as to what colors he primarily fishes. That said, Watermelon Gold Flake is one of those. BPS carries it. Others that I've found good success: Watermelon Magic, Greenpumpkin Magic, and I'd love to try some of his GP with chartreuse tip. But recently I've been experimenting with Bass Pro Stick-O worms and having great success with Pepper Frog/Hot Orange in 4 1/4" and 5 3/8". I've been slaying bass rigging these wacky, Texas, and split shotting them.

Short strikes can be yellow perch, sunfish, bass, etc. I've watched decent sized bass short strike, though not the norm as they tend to inhale and take it with those big mouths. If using a circle hook, you'll want to wait a little longer and let the bass take the bait, then reel down and easily sweep your rod, don't do a hard hook set or the circle hook won't set. Circle hooks were designed for saltwater (required in many places now) so as to make the fish hook itself in the corner of the mouth. Better for C&R survival, less gut hooking, etc. There are a lot of wacky-specific hooks out there. I actually use non-weedless most of the time. Favorites are the Gamakatsu Wide-Gap Finesse in 4, 2, and 1 sizes. I caught my PB on a size 1. I'm not a believer in using big hooks for wacky. That's just me. Anyhow, Gamakatsu and Owner are my favs, with Gammies used majority of time. As for making your worms last longer, a very short piece of heat shrink tubing (as Chris said) is better than an O ring (IMHO) if I use anything at all. I always hook my wacky worms perpendicular thru the worm, never parallel, though some do that and have success. I am not one of those people.

Great stuff! Enjoy these times with your Dad, and pass them on!

Welcome, Dan. You'll find a TON of knowledge from the vast experience at this site. Enjoy discovery.