flyfisher

I can't seem to sleep well on a cot. Maybe it is because i am just used to using a pad on the ground and did it for years. So my vote is for a good quality sleeping pad or an air mattress should you want to go that route. As far as sleeping in the cold, a pad will do better on the ground than a cot up i the air. A quality sleeping pad will have closed cell foam which will be a much better insulator than the air underneath the cot. Also, if yo are getting wet inside your tent then you need a new tent. I have the same tent i have been using for going on 20 years and it doesn't leak a bit. It is a higher end Marmot and i haven't even had to seam seal it. I have slept probably over 1000 nights in that thing to in anything from sunny skies to torrential rains to waking up with 12"+ snow on the ground. Always been dry and warm. Camping is about a system and everything comes in to play to keep you warm and dry.

if you have a cart just wheel it all the way in to where it is floating. I don't try and drag my kayak on concrete boat ramps but it happens and i haven't noticed any ill effects to be honest.

After watching the video i stand by my original thoughts that he was the one with the classes act here not those kids. He left a spot and they wanted to fish it, that is how it goes. I mean maybe it was their spot and they wanted to fish it earlier but he was already there so they waited. He could have taken the time to talk to them and I'd bet that they could have become his biggest fans. He lost two fish and was ticked and took it out on those kids really.

Just because they are fishing a tourney it gives you a right to ask someone to leave a spot? I guess I was raised differently because even thinking about asking a non tourney angler to move from any spot seems childish and extremely rude to me. Now if you are talking about tourney anglers i know there are unwritten rules and the like but that is a different scenario entirely.

Not sure if you can poach a spot really. I mean he wasn't fishing there and the kids decided to fish that spot. It is what it is. I honestly feel like the pro asking the kids to leave his spot was a jerk move myself. I don't care if you are fishing a 100k tourney or not, you don't have any more right to the water than anyone else.

Mine is a model designed for kayaks so not sure if it would work for a regular boat but it is a yak attack park n pole in the 8' version. They sell them at appomattox river company too. https://www.yakattack.us/by-product-name/parknpole/ I have seen the DIY versions and I am sure they work ok but i have also heard of them breaking so i bought one that is designed for the purpose it is intended. I think you can buy links to make one that is in the 12' range as well which would probably work better for a regular boat. For me, it is an item that I will drive back home to get if i happen to forget it. After required gear to kayak, it is the top on my list.

just pull up the VDGIF and have a gander...there are a lot of kayak friendly lakes within an hours drive. I don't do much bank walking these days though so can't help there.

wind is the worst part of fishing out of a kayak for sure

he is right...

I do think it is all relative to where you live. Within an hour or so drive of me i have probably 15-20 electric only lakes and maybe 3-4 that are not restricted. That made my choice for me. I also don't buy into the whole i can get to places that boats can't. While it is true per se it isn't that much of an advantage around here.

your casts have to be on point and silent. It makes casting to wary big brown trout seem easy in comparison. They also have to be feeding. I have yet to catch one that is just cruising around.

If they are rooting on the bottom and actively feeding i like small crayfish imitations but they will eat almost anything as long as it is presented properly. You need to pretty much figure out where they are going and cast in front of them and let it sit. less movement the better in my experience. Any bushy small fly seems to work. the best though is if you find them feeding on top somewhere. I have had the pleasure of fishing for them on two occasions where there was a hatch and the fish were actively feeding on top. All i had with me were some brookie flies so i threw out a parachute adams and caught fish on almost every cast. I have heard of people going after them when mulberries are falling off the bushes and cottonwood tufts as well but i have never seems to be around at the right time for that to happen. Long leaders and super stealthy approaches are paramount as are heavy gear with light leaders. I know it seems counter-intuitive to cast a 12 foot 4lb leader on a 7 or 8wt but it works and is needed if you get into a bigger one because they will take you into the backing and you can't horse them but they are very leader conscious....makes me want to head out.....

i target carp pretty often on a fly rod and they are much more difficult to catch than a bass, without question. The fight they give is ridiculous. It is the only freshwater fish I have had take me into the backing on my fly rod and did so multiple times. It also seems that when i see them eating on a river that smallies are right behind them picking up whatever they kick out in their rooting. they don't call the the golden bonefish for nothing...

i have been a kayak fisherman for over 15 years and i originally did it as a way to get on the water around me which is mostly electric only or rivers. Since then i have had lots of kayaks and while I love kayak fishing, i love fishing more. If i lived in an area where i would do well with a regular motor powered boat, that is what I would get. I grew up fishing out of a canoe and I will take a modern kayak over a canoe every day in any conditions. Just having scuppers is a great reason to use a sit on top kayak, especially in rivers or rough water. I am able to stand and fish if i so choose but i rarely do given my current kayak has a raised seat. On the rivers though, i am standing the majority of the time as it allows me to see better and fish areas more thoroughly. A few corrective strokes with the paddle keeps me moving in the right direction.

i just flip my stake out pole around and use the handle side in the water when i need a push pole. Seems to work well for me.

I haven't seen a push pole that is DIY that works as well as a manufactured one. Many claim they do but i have seen enough people have issues that i doubt their claims. I will spend the money on a purpose built product. If i ever need a new stakeout pole this one will be high on my list. As far as my addition to the thread.. Yes it was expensive but i will take a purpose built trailer for hauling light loads like kayaks and bikes over a DIY version of a harbor freight trailer that bounces around everywhere and can't go over 55mph without upgrading the wheels and repacking the bearings every 6 months.

side imaging will also help.

I am with Rhino on this one. You will need a cart of some sort to haul it to the lake. Is it on a trailer now and if so can you just unhitch and use that to take it to the lake? Otherwise i would say like others did, get a kayak and a cart and you will be fine. I have a cart for my kayak and when fully loaded it weighs over 100lbs and i can roll it pretty much anywhere with limited effort.

it really depends on how wide apart your crossbars are in relation to the kayak. General rule of thumb i follow is you want at least 1/3 of the length of the boat between the crossbars. If this is true, then the bow and stern straps aren't needed. You also have to consider that bow and stern tie downs are not really going to help if your rack fails as slack will be introduced to the system and it will most likely fall off anyways. Bottom line is do what you feel safe with and if you feel better using the bow and stern tie downs then by all means do it.

It is up to you really. I fish a lot of clear water as well both in moving water and in lakes and when i made the switch to braid my hookup percentage went up because of the no stretch in the weightless soft plastic realm. I don't do dropshot on it but i will occasionally throw shaky heads and it does well there too.

straight braid of your preference in the 20lb class. i have been using that set up on a similar rod in the rage series rods for weightless soft plastics for years and have zero complaints. I don't use a leader and haven't had any issues.

they are a solid bait and they are a regular in my squarebill rotation.

6'10" MXF spinning rod with 30lb braid for me tied direct. The most important thing is sharp hooks and i never use superline hooks either. A nice sweep hooks and you are good.

I chuckle whenever i walk into bass pro and see those low monthly payments. I mean if you wreck that thing while towing, i would guess you are underwater within minutes of signing on the dotted line, unless you can insure it for replacement cost or whatever. I'll stick to my plastic boats for now

I'll take my Stradics and my Citica e series all day long.