Darren.

My advice for any new fishing kayak is to fish out of it for a while and determine your own preference as to what should be where in terms of mounts, etc. A milk crate is a great DIY which you can mount PVC to for rod holders, etc. Definitely consider dual (both sides) anchor trolleys. While I don't have dual at this juncture, it is something I've always wanted as it would make for much better anchoring in wind and such. Bottom line is your layout is personal. It's yours. Fishing kayaks come with mounts and all that that may not necessarily be in the best positions for YOU. That's where fishing for a while and tweaking thereafter will make it YOURS.

I'm 100% behind Luck on this (love the "Adam Bomb" reference). Dude finished college knowing full-well of the gladiator mentality and limited lifetime of players in the NFL. Smart. Fans disappointed? Heck yeah. I hope they can step outside of their "fan"atic-dom and put themselves in Andrew's shoes. But what do I know!? I'm a Bills "fan"atic.

^^^ 100% this (highlighted in bold/red)

Welcome aboard!!

I do braid on every reel (spinning and casting) I have, and add a leader of 6, 8, 10 generally, but will go from 4-15 at times. 10 or 15# Power Pro Super Slick 8 for braid. Can go a bit lighter, of course. Braid is stronger than we think.

The only thing you might want to consider is a ML setup for lighter baits. Otherwise, probably what you have is just fine for what you're doing. My "finesse" setups span from 5'9" - 6'6" rods (prefer shorter) and Shimano Stradic 1000 reels. The "go to" is probably my 5'9" (shortened from 6') St. Croix Premier MLF spinning rod paired with at 1000 CI4+ reel.

In my own completely unscientific testing...it doesn't matter as much as we think. I've used numerous scents and plain ol' plastics with whatever scent they have in them. My results have been fairly equal leaving me to conclude .... I forgot what I was going to say.

I'm in the 1000 size, but for all my bass fishing, LOL. Size doesn't matter to me. Good drag and a balanced setup rule the roost. I have a 3000 size reel and it's ok, just not my favorite in terms of weight. Balances tip-heavy rods well, though. Interestingly, many of the newer reels in 2500-3000 size, especially Shimano, are smaller and lighter than in years past. So they are obviously an option.

Hi Connor, welcome to the forum! I'm sure some folks will chime in with some good advice for your desire to find a club.

Welcome back. Cute little pup Sorry about the "life" stuff. But you seem to be in a good state of mind.

I do not like to listen to music when fishing. Don't like listening to others doing so, either. Sound carries crazy well across the water, and I'm not a big fan of country either, @FishTank, which is what I hear the most .... As others said, I echo, sounds of nature = best music on the H20, IMO.

Welcome aboard! Be sure to look at the forum rules as there's one about bashing a company...it's actually toward the bottom of the FAQ. Hope you find a resolution. I know several people who've built rods via parts from Mudhole, with good results. Might be a fluke that escalating up the chain will resolve. Good luck.

Welcome aboard, Matthew! It's awesome you had success with PB&J. I have had limited luck with it, so don't use it much. Hank Parker used to say it was one of his favorites. Guess that nudged me to try it. I say keep using until it stops workin' for ya!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard, Brad! Thanks for the reports

It looks like you are set with a user name and all. Perhaps a moderator can shed some light on your issue. Meanwhile, welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard! "Best" is such a subjective term as it pertains to fishing gear. One man's best is another man's worst. So...fwiw. When I throw a buzz bait, albeit rarely, I'm using a do-it-all baitcaster (my Chronarch 90e) with 20# PowerPro, and I always use a leader (don't have to, just how I roll). I've used 8 and 10# leader when throwing buzzbaits (2 diff sizes) and caught on both.

Welcome aboard! There's an old adage: when the going's tough, slow down. And when you think you've slowed down enough, slow down some more. So with regards to TX rig and Ned rigs -- and you may have done this already -- try different retrieves. Tip down, then hop the TX rig back nice and slow. Pause and shake the rod tip at some point (or don't). Ned rigs can be fished many ways. Like a jig, dragged across the bottom, jigged up and down just above the bottom, steadily retrieved, but not fast, etc. Hopefully @JediAmoeba will have some great advice for you on those waters.

Bubblegum, no less!! My nemesis color that works for everyone else! Weeguards for all my wacky hooks! Solid info. Thanks! Pertaining to Yumdingers, I can only fish those on wacky jigs or drop shot given the lack of salt. I find they do not sink well, if at all, weightless in my waters. Or at best, super slow sinking. Do you use Senkos or heavier worms for "weightless" or do you find Dingers to work fine?

Ooo. @Catt! Sorry about the Crucial. I've got a cork (early OOs) Compre with the finger cutout in the cork. Actually have two, but "gave" the other to one of my sons so he had a rod to fish with at college. I dread the day they break since they're not made anymore.

Welcome back, Rich!

Welcome aboard, Dan!

The kids would really enjoy it, I bet An elderly Korean gentleman got me into fishing long poles in the early 00s. He was always sitting at the end of the dock with about three to five long poles out, thin Asian-style floats with bottom rig hooks. He'd just sit there until a float started moving off...one day gave me one of his floats and got me started his way. Found allfishingbuy.com and sent pix of the floats, and they were able to order some. http://www.allfishingbuy.com/Pole-Floats.htm

Personally, I find the thinner wire hooks penetrate and hold better than thicker hooks. I have a lot of Z-man Shroomz and really like them. Recently bought a pack of 1/16oz hooks off ebay, they have a wire weed guard and so far I'm mixed on them. I've caught and lost fish on them. They use Mustad Ultra Point hooks so says the description.

I'll take any fish over a skunk! Haven't done it in a while, but I really enjoy using a long pole (no reel, fixed length line) and catch all sorts of fish. It is a lot of fun, used to do it all the time when my sons were wee lads. We caught everything from white perch, catfish, sunfish, yellow perch, crappie, bass, pickerel, eels...and turtles. One of these day's I'll break 'em out again and just have fun.