drew4779

The BPS spring classic is coming up soon. You may be able find a decent combo there in your budget. The PQ is usually dirt cheap for that sale and I believe it is an aluminum framed reel.

I use the boca pliers as well. I've never broke the pliers, but did break the pin on an old pflueger trion.

I haven't camped there in about 20 years and can't remember the name of the camp site but there were trails that led from our camp site to the water (about a 100 yards down hill). If your kayak is a lighter one, it shouldn't be a problem. It was on the eastern side of the lake. You could probably identify it on google earth (twin knobs...maybe?). I remember the rangers came and made us move our tents. There was a gravel area and grass area at each site. We put our tents on the grass, which evidently was wrong. Dont know if this is common in other places but I've never camped anywhere else with a designated gravel tent area. The gravel was freshly laid and very sharp. It tore up the bottom of one of my buddy's tents who packed the wrong tarp. Most everyone is focused on muskie there but I've caught some nice bass out of cave run. Good luck!

Weird?...I've never had a problem tossing a weightless 4" senko with a 3/0 hook with a MH/F rod. I dont have a bps carbonite rod but my brother does, and he seems to do fine with it (I think he usually uses 4/0 hooks). Senkos are heavy for a plastic. It's not going to fly like a lipless crank, but you should be able to toss it an effective distance. What line are you using? Note: I'm tossing a weightless t-rigged senko 99% of the time, not a wacky rig.

I own many rods in that price range. Of the ones I own, I prefer St. Croix, Ducket, and Fenwick rods. I've never owned a Dobyns rod (as I've never found one locally), but have always heard good things. I will say that I've had issues with the guide inserts on the St. Croix Premier series rods, but no issues with Mojo or above. I have 3 premiers and all are quite old (I'd guess 15 years) and I've lost one insert on two of them. Don't know if it's a build issue, a me issue, or just bad luck.

Isn't grey a color?

If I'm reading your chart correctly, bass can still see a blue or black lure at depths a red, orange, yellow, or green lure wouldn't be as apparent. Now I've never personally caught a bass deeper than 25 feet, but if a black lure is still visible at 90 feet, wouldn't that stand out best on the bottom? I've seen this research before. I'm no scientist, and have no reason to disagree with it. When fishing jigs, I fish black (any color added is from the trailer) 90% percent of the time. I only use other colors when tossing a jig shallow or in very clear water. It could be a confidence thing (probably is), but a black jig with a black, blue, or purple-ish trailer has preformed better for me than any other color in water 10 feet or deeper.

I feel like most of us who started bass fishing as kids have been though this. I remember blowing a whole paycheck in high school on a K-Mart going out of business sale where a buddy and I bought nearly the entire fishing aisle. But before that, we would go to yard sales and badger our parents to take us to flea markets. We would also scour the shore lines and over hanging trees for lures other fisherman were too troubled to get un-snagged. But you asked about cheap lures that will work, so... almost any soft plastic will catch bass, regardless of brand name. Cheap spinners will catch bass too, but may fall apart easily (although I've had not-so-cheap spinners fall apart as well). Crank baits like the above mentioned rebel craw is what I learned on, and will catch just about anything that swims. A jig is probably one of the best ways to get those larger bass to bite, and can be found for a couple bucks.

My favorites will always be any of the Eastwood movies...especially "The Outlaw Josey Wales", "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly", and "For a Few Dollars More". I did enjoy some of the newer westerns out recently - "The Son" and "Godless" (I think that's what it was called).

My personal preference is mono for trebles, braid for most top waters, and fluro for most everything else. I've been experimenting with a braid to fluro leader for my drop shot rod but I haven't had enough time with it to decide if I like yet or not.

I typically use the same crawls I would use in the summer, but just dont separate all the appendages to kill the action and create more of a gliding effect. The only problem with this is that the fish will tear the appendages for you after a bite or two.

Yep...this was my first thought as well.

X2!

I had a gen 1 and it broke on a hookset. In 2014, I was fishing Okeechobee with my dad and he grabbed one on a whim at a nearby bait shop (gen 2). He used it for that trip then gave it to me after. I fished it hard till August of 2018 when my brother shut the car door on it. There's now a small crack on the butt. Its since turned into a go to t-rig rod for high abuse situations (hiking and kayaking). It also gets the call if I'm on the bass boat by myself and have room for a dozen rods on deck. Overall, I like this rod. Its light enough and sensitive enough, and I've not had any of the issues with the eyes and inserts others have had.

Flown with a fenwick methods many times as recently as last year. No issues as a carry on with Delta. Check you tackle though.

My three daughters have all used spinning reels from the get go (around 5 years old). No issues.

I hope you're right. There's a lot of people out there that are very unhappy with this deal.

I believe this is in addition to what is already known as Jessie Owen's.

AEP update... https://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/story/news/2019/10/02/ohio-dnr-acquires-31-000-acres-aep-recreational-use/3845124002/

It depends. I'm a novice in a kayak and doubt I'd be comfortable on big water like Erie. You may feel different. I've had some scary times on Erie both in bass boats and on walleye charters. Either way, I'd definitely check out AEP. There's been a lot of rumors surrounding the place and a lot of land has already been sold off, so I'd go while you still can. A portion has already been rebranded Jessie Owen's State Park. There's a lot of ponds that you can easily get your kayak on without having to trek through the forest, many you can drive right up to. The ponds you can't see from the road tend to produce better but I've also caught many 3's and 4's (and a few 5's) from the roadside ponds. If you go to AEP, remember to print a permit (free) and I'd suggest to map out what ponds you want to hit prior to going using Google maps. The maps at the park are terrible and the cell service is spotty at best.

Shimano reels are fantastic, among the best...but so are daiwa reels. What you are currently using will no doubt get the job done. It's all about personal preference. My favorites are my shimano reels but I also love my daiwa reels too. The K is an upgrade over the fuego but if your happy with what you already have, then wouldn't worry about it too much. Fuego's are nice quality reels.

There's a product available called bait cloud (I think?). I've never tried it and have no idea if it actually works. Its a ball you toss into the water and it dissolves into a scent cloud...essentially a type of chumming.

Great reel.

I have a micro magic and micro magic pro and have no complaints. No issues whatsoever.

Only when fishing certain parks that require it and I used to when I would take my daughters fishing when they were young.