RB 77

Nah. At first it kinda-sorta did, but then then I thought "to each their own". My frezzer is full of Tuna and Dorado. I love to eat fish, just not fresh water stuff. Now poaching (overlimits, undersized fish, snagging, etc), thats a whole other can of worms....

Plastic worm. I'll take a purple one please...

Love me some translucent pink worms for the finesse game!

The good news for you is that you have two things going for you in your favor; one, you have a pre-planned purpose for each cast. That is a crucial fundamental that will greatly help your learning curve. Two, you are documenting your catches. This will help you to develop patterns easier in the future. Keep up the good work.

Well, I think your results might have to do with the nature of the hook being a "cutting" point instead of a "conical" point. Owner makes versions of both and I much prefer the conical point. I have noticed in my experience that the cutting point tears too big of a hole in the fishes mouth and makes it easier to thrown the hook. The conical point pierces just enough to get past the barb and not much else. I have used Trokars, Both style of Owner hooks, Mustads, etc. and always find myself going back to my trusty Gammies for fresh water Large Mouth Bass fishing. Salt water fishing, that’s a whole different story...

I tube, yak and boat. The only time I have ever went into the drink is on my yak! Wear your PFD and stay safe my fellow yakers.

PFD's are crucial! I have an auto inflatable and it works like a charm. Don't ask me how I know, it was my mistake. I'm just glad I had it on when I discovered it worked as advertised. BTW, that was a great write up A-Jay and I'm sure it will be helpful to some of the BR members. Good on ya!

Holy Guacamole! I have never seen anything like that in my life. That’s kind of like finding the golden ticket for the chocolate factory.

Out here in the west if you can't fish deep, there are a lot of days you ain't catching! A variety of techniques will work but I would say the number one all time producing technique for me (and quite a few others) is drop shot. I know, I know many people dread the idea, but trust me it’s saved the day for me more than a handful of times. Low and slow. Weight for is dependent and depth and current, usually between 1/4 - 1/2 oz. with 3/8th being used the most. Always a size 2 gammie split shot drop shot hook. I usually use a 4.5" or 6" finesse worm. Darker colors for stained water, lighter and translucent colors for clear water. Less is more. I will let that rig set as long as possible without moving, shaking, dragging it. Sometimes after what seems like an eternity I will give the rig a quick pop and it will result in a strike. Other times they just plain eat it on the dead stick.

Staying with a presentation or technique or switching it up varies greatly for me. Sometimes I give a spot, presentation a few minutes, sometimes quite a bit longer. I rely on instinct to let me know how long to stay with something. Time on the water is really the only answer to help dial this in. Sometimes I still strike out. It happens to the best of us. I know that answer is somewhat cryptic but a good rule of thumb to follow is that the more active the fish are the quicker you can switch things up, and the less active the slower I go. IE; if the fish are actively feeding in the warmer months I will switch rods/ techniques presentations fairly quickly. If it’s the middle of the winter and I know fish are around I will stay with them for quite a while. Dragging a jig or worm for hours on end in 40+ foot of water on a long tapering point is not out of the question or even uncommon for me if I know some fish are stacked there...

The first thing that popped into my mind was the Shimano Waxwing. I know it is billed mostly as a salt water bait but the small version looked like they would be deadly for a schooly reaction bite. Nope! Just like salt water bass fishing I busted one out in the middle of a WFO bite and it took what seemed like forever to get a bite. I love Shimano reels, but the lures... We'll see. I just bought a ton of Flat Falls which have been absolutley deadly on the Tuna grounds this season. Don't think I havent been spying the smaller compact versions for some suspended and deep water structure freshwater applications.

If you are going to use the combo primarily for reaction strike presentations I would lean a little more towards focusing my budget on the reel, if you are focusing more on bottom contact presentations I would be focusing more of my budget on the rod.

Classic! The penguin makes it that much better! Haha. For me the "go to" is protein bars and small bags of peanuts. Jerky if i'm feeling spendy. Lunch is usually a sub. For drinks water is a must and an ice cold sports drink is a thirst quencher!

Oh shoot! I missed the first time through. Scratch that punch rig presentation. You would need much more stouter gear. The weightless, weedless stik bait should still work fine though, although if you plan to continue to fish heavy cover you might want to invest in a heavier set up at some point.

I dig this frog. I like all three styles for different applications. I like the Jr. for ponds, the regular for most applications and the popper for more open water applications. I have a variety of colors that work well, although you'll see me with the black or green most often. I don’t sleep on yellow though for that high visibility.

I like a 6" stright tail. Greens, Browns, purples, and black. For your purposes you might want to try a weightless, weedless stik bait. With out the bullet weight, this is about the most weightless rig I have found. If you need to get down deep, try a punch rig with a heavier size weight. 1/2 -1 oz. should do the trick.

I yak and have lost some gear before, it isnt pretty. The best solution is to teather your gear. You can also build kayak specific rod. Heavy on the foam grips.

Fair enough, I'll take your word for it. Haha. Well, at least were in the cork club together. Haha. Full cork rear grip, with a cork fore grip please!

I don't know if I'm qualified as an "old" guy, but I'm north of 30 and south of 40 for whatever that's worth. Haha. Maybe it's the nostalgia of fishing with my pops when I was a wee youngster and using cork grips. I'm curious to see the demographic as well...

Yeah, I like my cork with a little cork and a side of cork. Haha

The truth! Well, I don't know about death, but I hear ya just the same. Haha

Yeah, now that you mention the slippage issue I remembered the one other application I religiously use the Palomar for, Frog fishing! Straight braid with a generous tag end does the trick. It's just been so dang long since I've thrown the frog I almost forgot. Haha. Looks like I going to have to go track down some grass mats!

Yeah, that's pretty normal. It sort if bugged me at first, but I'm not bothered by it at all anymore. BTW, I tie an SD Jam knot 99% of the time anyway. The Palomar only only gets tied for drop shot.

I have a couple Batson rods that I built that I absolutely love! Super great blanks. A pleasure to fish with.