Bluebasser86

Welcome!

I learned I can hold my own fishing kayak tournaments. My first year doing it so I wasn't really sure what to expect. I made plenty of mistakes and learned a lot from them, but it still went pretty well.

I bought several things from the Gapen's booth at the local sportshow every winter. I was pretty young and can't remember if Dan was ever there, but sad to hear either way.

Seems to either have a pretty obvious parasite sticking out of the middle of the infected area, or possibly, the fish was gouged by something sharp and it's working it's way back out of it's body.

I use something similar to the black pipe in my garage. I just used bungees hooked to the end of PVC with the bungees hooked to eyelets in the ceiling.

Biggest redear I've caught in a long time. Not a Lake Havasu freak or anything, but about as big as they get around here.

I bought a Legend Glass rod for $150 last year during their BF sale. They had a lot of their premium rods upwards of $100 off list price. Not saying that's what they'll have this time around, but don't count it out either.

Took a buddy with me to the little lake I fished from my kayak last week. I talked it up, so I was really hoping it wouldn't disappoint. It was maybe a tiny bit more difficult than last week, but the bright full moon, no wind or clouds most of the day probably had a lot to do with that. We still put over 50 fish in the boat, along with a handful of baby wipers, a few crappie, a big bluegill, and a monster redear sunfish. Ned rig and jerkbaits ruled the day again, but Jon caught several on a Keitech also. My biggest of the day inhaled my jerkbait so hard my rod jumped in my hands on the pause. Probably 6-10 of them like this throughout the day, we just decided not to take pictures of them. I know this isn't huge compared to what they can be, but Kansas doesn't manage sunfish at all, so I get pretty excited to catch a big sunfish regardless of flavor. It was right at 10" and chomped a Ned rig.

I'd really like to go to Okoboji in Iowa and the upper Mississippi in the summer.

I've donated quite a bit of stuff to high school fishing teams. They're always happy to have donations. Another option is if you state puts on fishing derbies. I've donated a good amount of stuff to them for those also.

Missing a lot of key players and a sick QB today. That Jets loss is a headscratcher for sure though.

That probably depends on the state. I know our state record blue cat was caught not too long ago and was released alive after being weighed on certified scales. I don't think I have it in me to kill a fish that size just to have my name on a list that very few people even read.

Yes I do most days. It's not unusual to catch fish on 5-7 of the different rods I have on the deck.

I'd guess that's about what my box weighs when it's loaded for the day. The box by itself is listed at a little over 13lbs with nothing in it. Add in all the hard baits, jigs, weights, plastics, tools, and accessories, 60lbs is pretty easily attainable.

Saw a bait like this on TW and liked it so I wanted to see if I could replicate it. 1/2oz compact spinnerbait, wire trailer keeper, #3 and #5 Colorado blades. Tracks really well and gives a good amount of vibration in a small bait but stays down well.

Nothing wrong with either of them. I've got a Mojo spinning rod that is one of my favorite utility spinning rods I've owned, but I'm really happy with this new Bass X rod also and it's been very versatile. $20 is $20 and not a no brainer to everyone. That's several packs of plastics, a few cranks or spinnerbaits, a couple jerkbaits, a good spool of line, 1/8 of a tank of gas to get you part of the way to the lake, not just something to throw away for the frugal minded anglers.

I can fish all winter, but something I enjoy doing besides fishing and lure building, is walking the shoreline looking for lost baits during the winter months. Provided there isn't snow on the ground to hide them, I'll walk the shorelines of the more popular lakes and find all kinds of baits as well as assorted other pieces of fishing/hunting/boating/misc equipment. It's fun and good exercise. I've even found some pretty productive fishing spots that I came back to once it warmed up that I never knew existed while I was walking.

I didn't own one but I held one and these feel much lighter and more comfortable. I never got any of the older version because they were not real impressive. This new rod is very nice and fishable.

IMO, stick with the 20lb braid. I've had much better success with 20lb smackdown than I have with 10lb for some reason. The 10lb wants to wind knot on me much more often but it's not an issue for me with the 20lb and casting distance is still great. 6lb leader is okay, but 8lb lets you get away with a little more if you rub against a rock or limb. Like mentioned, get some lighter heads. 1/16oz is the gold standard for me and what I use almost 100% of the time. Get some quality heads, I'd suggest something other than the Zman heads like Sieberts Morel heads. Heard too many stories of people breaking the hooks on the Zman jigheads.

I've been using a St. Croix Bass X (the new version), 7' 1" M/F and think you'd be very happy with it for those applications and you'd save yourself some money for baits since it's below your price range. I've got a Diawa Regal 3000 LT on mine and it's a nice combo for an affordable price. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/St_Croix_Bass_X_Spinning_Rods/descpage-TSXS.html?from=basres

Drill a small hole in the belly of a rattling bait you want to make silent. Add a couple drops of superglue and shake. Epoxy the hole up and you should have a silent or nearly silent bait.

Most of my cranks are separated by 3 colors; shad, chartreuse, and craw.

90% of the fish live in 10% of the lake in most of the lakes here during the winter. That's not the case during the summer months.

I'm pouring my own though, not buying already made jigheads. I got a couple hundred packs from Barlow's

All water clarity but it shines in stained water, especially when there's a greenish tint like when there's algae blooms in the heat of the summer.