Darren.

There's definitely a stigma placed on them as "simpleton" or "beginner" reels, so when you see a pricey model you (generic "you") look on in wonder at how good it could be. My kids and I have caught some nice bass, cats, crappie, pickerel on the Abu 276U (under spin caster). My kids have pretty much graduated from these onto Shimano spinning reels, but they're great (as stated) for loaner reels. There are plenty of fishermen who've been using these for decades who see no need to use more complicated gear. Kudos to them. Heck, periodically I'll use fiberglass or graphite long poles w/o reels! Talk about fun fishing. Sometimes I need to just let go of all the complication and return to the very basics of fishing. Just to clear the head. For some, an $80 Zebco is just the ticket. Just my .02.

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard! Manufacturers seem to be tending toward the long rods of late. I hate it. I'd recommend, if you can find one, a 5'9" Shimano Compre - last years' model. My fav spinning rod hands down. Not happy Shimano dropped the shorter rod range. From what I understand, St. Croix rods are a little stiffer than their rating, so a M might actually rate out (feel like) a MH. The Fenwick sounds like it might be your best bet. While I've never used a Fenwick, I did find this HMG 5'9" at Gander Mtn. Also in Light at 5'3"... Hope this is helpful.

I started out with a $300 fishing kayak I picked up at BJ's Wholesale club. It's a Pelican, and it was (is) very functional. If $400 is your limit, you can find a decent vessel. I've since moved on to a Native Ultimate 12 because standing was a necessity for me and I didn't want to futz with outriggers. I tried out a number of different yaks and fell in love with the U12. Out of your price range for now, but worth considering in the future. BJ's no longer carries the model (Pelican) I have (it's orange), but carries this which is more outfitted for fishing. Dick's Sporting Goods has their kayaks on sale (I think it's still on), good place to check. Two rods is great. I usually carry 2, well, sometimes 3... okay, even 5, but normally I'll take 2. Or 3. I started with the notion that less tackle is more. But, that changed. Unfortunately. LOL. Allow me to give you a piece of fishing advice, take it or leave it. Buy a kayak that can be used for fishing, not necessarily a fishing kayak.Why? Because you may find that the way the company outfitted their fishing kayak may not be an efficient fishing outfit. You may say, "why didn't they put that over there?" If you were to outfit a yak yourself, you decide where you want things. $.02. Finding a demo day at a dealer is a great idea. Also buying from a kayak-specific dealer is great as well as their staff will be more versed in the sport than DSG, or other retailer. I bought my Ultimate from Appomattox River Company in Hampton, VA. Fantastic folks. As for SUP (Stand Up), they'll be pricey. A Sit-inside will keep you drier, but not my choice, personally. Sit-on-top is probably the top choice. My U12 is a hybrid kayak/canoe. The SOT will have scupper holes allowing water to drain. Hybrids and sit-insides will not have scupper holes for drainage. There is SO much you can do kayak fishing in terms of outfitting the yaks. Happy to help with other questions, as are the other yak fisher-folk in the forum.

Hey, you don't need to buy braid scissors or anything special. Fiskars kid scissors at Walmart work great. I happen to have some medical scissors from an old Army medical kit I picked up at a gun show once. By far the best braid cutter I've ever used. Like buttah! They're now with me fishing at all times on a retractable lanyard on my kayak fishing PDF.

I'm a bigger fan of wacky than Texas, but I will do both. In addition to split-shotting, drop-shotting, etc. Weeds can be a nuisance for wacky rigging, but I still throw non-weedless hooks all the time. Just get used to cleaning it after each cast. Sometimes a few choice words are thrown in for good measure, LOL. Part of the reason is I'm out of weedless hooks... For me, wacky presentation brings in the most fish - by far. My primary go-to worms are the Zoom Finesse 4.75", Trick 6", and I'm testing the magnum out; other primary is Yamamoto Senkos. I keep trying the off-brands believing they'll work just as well, but they just don't. Not that they won't catch fish, I just have more strikes and hook-ups with Yammies than anything else I've tried. Got plenty of colors, but the most successful are the stand-bys: watermelon (magic), green pumpkin (magic, and with chartreuse tail). Senkos - watermelon gold flake, magic, green pumpkin/magic, gp/wmln laminate... Hooks: Gamakatsu Wide Gap Finesse in #4, #2, and #1. I caught my personal best 7 1/2 lber in thick grass on a wacky rigged senko with a #2 hook. Brought in a couple 2 or 3 pounds of grass along with her, not a single issue with the hook whatsoever. Also use the Split-shot/drop shot Gammies, have some Owner, but prefer Gammies. For TX rigged, usually stay 1/8oz bullets unpegged or 3/16oz, black, anywhere from a #1-4/0 hook, typically a round bend. Like the smaller profile Zooms here. Senkos typically thrown weightless. Just need to let them sink, work 'em slowly or vary the retrieve speed. Love to use around timber. Still fish wacky around timber, often to my frustration...glutton.

I hear ya. What I didn't say with my 7 1/2 pounder in thick weeds is that I had to play her and give her a bit of space. It isn't that I wasn't worried I'd break my line, I was sweating with each dive into the grass. Point being, if I was smart enough to have had my MH on hand, I would have, LOL. The lake I frequent is getting heavy with weeds about now, so I might just have to have it on hand just-in-case. I think we can all agree that in heavy junk/cover a heavier action rod, heavier line is gonna be better. That said, if you don't have it on hand, play the fish for all it's worth and have the net ready. That or do a Larry Dahlberg and jump in after it.

If a M-power rod is working for you in Kansas, where you say the bass are smaller, then that should tell you your answer. 99% of my bass fishing is on M-powered rods (Shimano Compre), 95% spinning with smaller 1000-sized Shimano reels, too. I have big-time confidence with M-powered rods. I have 1 MH rod (which lost 3" of tip, so a tad between MH and H now) rarely used. A M-powered rod in one brand may tend toward MH while another brand's M may tend toward ML. For instance, St. Croix rods may be rated at less power than actual rating. That's what I was told when rod-shopping at BPS, other places. Too, have a read here. My recent personal best of 7 1/2 pounds was caught in very thick weeds on a M baitcasting setup with 15 lb test leader (10lb test braid mainline). I pulled in a ton of slop, and she fought hard. I understand the golf-club metaphor, using the right tool for the job and all that. But not everyone can have the right equipment and have to use what they have on hand. YOU have to make it work. The right tool might make it easier, but you have to use what you have in your hand at the moment. If you were finesse fishing on a weed edge with 8 lb test and a 9 lber takes the line into the weeds, you can't say "wait, hold on, lemme switch to the H rod"... (crude example, but you get the drift). You're stuck with whatever is in your hand. So you can't set the hook as if it were a MH rod with 65 lb test and a stout hook. Play it with the tool you have an hope the line and hook holds.

Braid for mainline, anything else as leader. You only have to change leaders, tie 'em on with an albright, 7--10 wraps up, 5-8 wraps back down, or a uni-to-uni. Best of both worlds. Get used to braid for mainline, and a single spool of whatever will last you a very LONG time. I use BPS aluminum pliers with tungsten cutting blades to cut the braid and leader. Best cut for both. Clean and efficient. Got on sale for $20. I'll second the Symetre. Personally a huge fan of the Stradic, but Symetre is a fine reel in her own right. Today I caught a 5 and 3.5 pounder. Retied after each one. A lesson learned is a lesson not forgotten! (retying often, that is).

4 or 5" senko, watermelon gold flake

On the flipside of roadwarrior, I do trust the line. But I sincerely respect his opinions! :-) Learned a lot from reading his posts. I only use mist green between 6-15 lbs, and only for leader material now-a-days. Pulled in plenty of bass (including 6lber in my avatar on 10lb test), not to mention plenty of heavy, water-logged branches. To be sure for yourself, buy a spool and try it out. We all have horror-stories with various lines. One fisherman's fave is another's most-hated line.

That was a very interesting video. I use mono backing on my spinning reels so as to keep expense down and spread PowerPro spools further... Rarely, if ever, get to the backing when fishing. However, I have a question on the braid-to-leader knot used in the video. Personally I use an Albright (7-10 wraps up, 5-6 wraps back down the line) 95% of the time, uni-to-uni the other 5%. What is the point of having two knots with a loop in your leader? I understand saltwater angling uses different line-to-leader knots like the bimini, but I've not understood exactly why the extravagance and complication of such knots. My saltwater angling ignorance is showing.

Sometimes the honesty is refreshing, and funny. I'm sure it would have been edited out of the show if they thought it would tick off the sponsor. But Jimmy's got a point about people going in after them at some point. That's a lot of $ to lose on a snag.

That's a hoot! Bass thumb. Wait for his first catfish thumb...

Beauts! And on spinning gear!

For finesse, 6 or 8 lb, IMO. I've used 8 on a non-finesse BC and it performed extremely well.

Welcome to the fold, vettenuts. Kayak bass fishing is a blast, you'll enjoy every minute ... hopefully :-).

Well, I'm going to say no, they're not as good as Yamamoto Senkos ... for me. That said, I had a lot of success on the watermelon gold flake Yum dinger until it seemed to disappear from store shelves. Senkos -- for me -- have out produced Dingers. That's just my experience. I'm all for saving a buck and try to do so all the time. I will buy up a few bags of BPS worms during the Spring Classic determined to make them work like Senkos. They will catch, but they don't act/fall like the real McCoy. They just don't. Doesn't mean they're bad, they're just a knock off. Don't know what Gary Yamamoto did to make his products work so well, but he did something. This is just my .02.

I believe Roadwarrior means letting line out behind your boat as you motor along. It helps get the twist out. If you're shore-bound, then tie off the line to a fence post, tree or such and walk off a good distance, give a nice stretch to the line -- not too hard -- and reel back in with constant tension on the line. Should help with the coils. Won't solve the issue, but should help.

Yup. Quienyo, do whatever you feel confident in. If you want to experiment/practice, then do so. You can and will gain confidence trying other mainline to leader knots if you want to take the time. Otherwise join the club of those with BOXES of line-experimented-with-but-not-used. LOL.

Why is that? Just curious. I was leery when I first started out, but once I gained confidence in tying braid to leader knots I've not looked back. I've only had knots fail when I screwed up. So I learned and practiced tying them till now I'm 100% confident they'll hold. I've pulled up some serious junk off the bottom when hung up without breaking -- not to mention some big fish.

I echo A-Rob's advice. Go with braid for the mainline and tie on the Hybrid as leader material. No more memory issues as braid just works better on spinning gear. It's what I use on all my spinning gear. Been testing out the 8 lb Hybrid in green and have been pleasantly surprised. It works great as a leader. I use a modified albright knot mostly with plenty of wraps up and down the line. The stuff is seriously hard to break even at 8 lb test. Give braid a shot, you'll have a ton of leader material till kingdom come!

Much of what the OP said actually confirms what my MD told me. I'm still in a lot of pain, and both arms, at that. I've yet to get the cortisone injections, though that's what my MD said was next. Some days are better than others sans meds, but usually I take Advil to work thru the pain. I find that paddling my kayak simply adds to the problem, so I'm reverting to a trolling motor setup on my yak for the time being. The tennis elbow brace (used to play) is a band that wraps around the upper arm just before the elbow. It has a ball or something in it that "mashes down" the muscle, etc. distributing the load, as it were. At least that's what I think I understood it does from my MD.

They've been hitting soft plastics for me there. Worms, lizards. Weightless, too. Water temp was in the low 60s yesterday. Water also extremely clear in spots. All have been caught in no more than 6' of water off of lay downs and bushes, and I've been on the rte 64 side.

Count me among the few who prefer shorter rods. Perhaps it is the places I fish, my height, the kayak, but I don't really like to go past 6'6". That said, a 6 to 6'6" MXF rod should be able to handle most everything. Something to be said for MH, but some rods (I believe like the Avid series, correct me if I'm wrong) are a tad stiffer than their rating. So one MXF may be stiffer than another, and more on the side of MH. I like the 2011 Compre rods from Shimano, the Avids, Carbonlites are great as well. If you can go to a store, put your reel on the different rods and get a feel for the balance and such, you'll probably be happier with your choice. My .02. And for reel size, look, I'm a small-reel fan. I use a Shimano Stradic 1000FI with 10lb PP braid main, 6-15lb leaders in various material. I have brought in some beasts with the 1000FI. I lost what we deemed a 7-8 lber just out of reach of my net the other day. Hauled it in w/o a hitch before she tail-danced and spit the hook in the net. The 6 pounder was caught shortly after. Again, no problem. A 2500 would probably be the biggest I'd go, but that's me. For the size rods you're looking at, a 2500 should be fine unless you want to go 3000 which is same size, but deeper spool.