plymouthrockbass

I started kayak fishing last year and i was in the same boat you are right now...no pun intended. but i ended up getting a native manta ray and have to say it was well worth spending the extra money. I began looking for kayaks in the 250 or 300 dollar range but quickly found that almost all of them werent of any real quality. Your going to want a sit on top. More room easier to move around and they typically have a wider body which makes them more stable. As long as you dont mind getting a little wet from splashing fish. I worked at dicks sporting goods part time for a few years in the lodge and i cant tell you how many "cheap" yaks i sold to people even after i explained the cons. And more often than not, they ended up back in the store as a return a couple weeks later. Kayak fishing has been a blast for me and its my favorite way to fish now. Pond lakes bays ill take it jsut about anywhere. But dont go to cheap because it could leave you with a bad experience and steer you away from a great way to fish! One more piece of advice...test the kayak before you buy it!!! Thats what made me choose the native, its one thing to look at it and say it looks nice and will do the job but if you try it out in the water before you buy it you'll find a yak that you'll feel completley comfortable in....good luck!

- Worm: like finesse? or senko?. my finesse plastics rod is a 6-8 MXF with 10lb braid and a 6lb flouro leader on a spinning settup. - Spinnerbaits: 6-6 MF with 30lb braid & 7-0 MHF with 30 lb braid as well - as for pitching and flipping that all depends on what you'll be throwing, i have a settup for frogs, jigs, and then plastics. Those are three pretty basic pitching/flipping setups

cant give you much advice here seeing as how ive never used a falcon or allstar rod. But i have used st. croix and thats the reason ive never used either of the other two rods. There's just no reason to switch because ive been so happy with st. croix. I started out with a premier, its a great rod, sensitive and light but good quality. And st. croix's customer service is par none. St. Croix would be the way to go IMO

i fished fireline for 3 years and finally switched to power-pro. In my experience fireline is nowhere near as good of a line as power pro. Fireline is far less sensitive and its not strength wasnt close for me either. Now this could be my know tying ability or choice of knot but either way ive had much more success using power pro the past couple years than i did w/fireline

I wanna try using more cranks in deeper water. Also id like to get comfortable with fishing jigs. Im gonna get a few new jigs come springtime and spend some hours practicing.

Id like to hear some info from experience as well. Ive read alot of good things about this line and am thinking about spooling up a few reels with it this spring. Using mostly power-pro, I would be interested in finding something new and better if possible. Skeptical about all the good reviews tho, it seems every company has a product they showcase at icast and that item gets a ton of promotion so people will be persuaded into buying it.

so after the trip to bass pro shops ive made one decision. im definitely getting a Stradic CI4 to go on the spinning rod. Still havent come to a complete conclusion on the rod. I guess im leaning towards the Cumara. Both were very light and fit the reel very well. I was surprised when i found myself liking the grip on the cumara more than the avid. I usually always go for the cork grips but the cumara's grip felt good. And the CI4 just pairs up alot better with the cumara looks wise. I know that shouldn't matter but when theres not much separating the two rods looks can play a part. The clerk at BPS turned me on to another rod that i had read about a little over the past few months. The new TFO G. Loomis rod. I was VERY impressed with this rod especially for the 100$ price tag. It was very light, great tip sensitivity, great backbone, and a good looking rod as well. I will definitely have my eye on those in the future, maybe as a backup rod or a light setup for trout and panfish.

ya thats the exact avid i was lookin into getting for a spinning rod also. I fish mostly senkos and t-rigs. Im headin up to basspro today hoping they'll have a few cumaras there so i can compare them to the avids. Idk how im going to decide i swear one day ill be thinking avid and the next day ill be on the cumara :-/

I can't decide between the two...im looking to get a new spinning and casting rod for bass fishing this year and i cant decide between either the cumara or the avid. Ive fished st. croix rods before and like them but ive read so many good things about the cumara that its making me want to try them out. I fish shimano reels and have never had a problem. for the spinning rod id be looking into the 6-8MXF paired with a CI4 2500, and for casting i was looking into the cumara reaction 6-9MHF paired with a curado. anyone have any opinions on either of these rods and would i be better off with either the cumara or the avid? thanks!

shock absorption is a great point. although mono and flouro give you a ridiculous amount of stretch compared to braid, sometimes its good to have that little bit instead of ripping a hook right through the fishes mouth. I think im going to try a flouro leader for a few months come spring time. i think ill even put one on my ice traps

this summer did seem unusually tough. Did most of my fishing after work at night and thats when i had the most success. Caught my biggest this year in mid march and it was a 5lbr. but during the summer the days and afternoons didnt produce much. The summer before seemed to be the complete opposite. Owell, gettin ready for ice-fishing ;D

How about the new TFO Gary Loomis rods? they're a little heavy but ive heard really good things about them. And if G. Loomis puts his name on it you know it cant be a piece of junk

im getting a new combo for weightless texas rigs and senkos, I was planning on getting a new stradic 2500 with a St Croix Avid 6-8mxf rod. But for a little more money i could get a 2500ci4 with a 6-8mf Cumara. the only reason im leaning towards the st. croix and regular stradic is because i like the look of the older school rod and real as opposed to the new sleek black look. but the weight difference is a lot and if it might make that much of a difference in the number of fish i catch than i could get used to the "newer" look rod and reel. This isnt my money either its insurance money because all my gear got blown up from lightning last summer so as long as its no more than 220 for each im good.

I bought a Sahara this summer and used it on a 6-6mf st. croix rod for senkos and texas rigged worms. I loved the reel until it got struck by lightning and basically disinigrated. But im thinking about replacing it with a stradic and possibly the stradicCI4. anyone have any use with the CI4 and could compare it to the regular stradic?

Alright so ive been faced with this dilemma for a number of years now. I switched to braid on basically all of my bass setups 2 years ago because of the sensitivity braid provides. I do alot of finesse fishing and the braid and superlines seem to give alot more sensitivity plus easier hooksets. I've read alot about attaching a flourocarbon leader to the braid because braided lines tend to be so visible. Id like to see peoples opinions on this. Personally i dont think it matters all that much. Ive used moss green powerpro and fireline for a couple years now and have caught plenty of fish. big fish at that. even in clear water. More often then not, bass are caught on a reaction strike. Bass are territorial and predators, its in there makeup. When they see a bait it will eventually entice them to attack it even if it has a green piece of braid trailing from it. Does visibility of a line really matter? The only reason i ask is because im afraid to attach a flouro leader because i dont want to lose the feeling of the braid. I feel like id detect less strikes if a flouro leader was attached. Thanks everyone!