Felix77

Absolutely ... I use this for my yak. http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11492935 On long trips I add a ratchet strap around the middle of the yak just to make me feel better. ... and by long I mean trips of over 30 minutes including highway. I just took my yak to Ocean City, MD (6 hours one way) and this held up extremely well!

For fishing into grass I have had success the following ways ... 1 - Texas rigged weightless. Glide it around, through and on top of the grass slowly. Think slow drag 2 - Texas rigged weighted - For pushing it through into the grass deeper. More of a flip and pitch presentation to specific targets. 3 - Wacky on a weedless wacky hook. Use a presentation very similar to #1. Remember while it's a weedless wacky hook it will still get some weeds. That can be a PIA sometimes.

x2 on the Strike King S11's. Love mine.

Spinnerbait as well.

The general rule of thumb is bigger baits for bigger bass. Of course you get the outlier small bass that will hit a 12" worm and get caught but in general it seems to hold true. To me it is also about location, location, location. Schooling bass tend to be smaller in general. Those lunkers don't run around much but tend to stay near isolated cover. Some days they are tight to it and other times they are lounging around it. Combine this idea with the bigger bait and maybe you will catch yourself a lunker soon enough. Good luck.

I bought a Ride 115x and it held me comfortably at 280lbs. Lost weight down to 246 and its even better.

Made me laugh!

I bought a Rapsody Rod Dock Star at a state federation tournament on Chatauqua, NY last year and I absolutely love it. It's 6'3" and only $99. Great rod at a great price. http://rapsodyfishing.com/shop/index.php?route=product/product&path=60_64&product_id=52

I love PowerPro but I decided to try the new Seaguar Smackdown and so far it has not disappointed. 15lb test on my spinning rod.

In my first year I overwhelmed myself with baits and tackle much in the same way that you described. I entered tournaments and found myself lost in the mess in my tacklebag and it cost me time fishing and the worst my confidence. What I did was begin forcing, and I mean forcing myself to bring 2 rods out with me "fun" fishing. One rod was a power fishing technique. The other was a "go-to" finesse technique. Examples: 1. Power Fishing - Spinnerbait (several colors) Finesse - Weightless Senko 2. Power Fishing - Topwater - Sexy Dawg Finesse - Mojo Rig with finesse worms 3. Power Fishing - KVD 1.5 Crankbaits Finesse - Small finesse swimbaits (for those I wanna move fast days) I dedicated time that day to working those baits in every possible way that I could find. Not only did I improve in those techniques but I slowly regained my confidence. Depending on my mood I will vary the power and finesse techniques BUT I try to steer away from bringing more than 2 of any given technique, on any given day. As you regain confidence your 12 rods will reduce down your essentials for given tournaments. Good luck

What he said.

I'm a uni-to-uni guy as well. 7 wraps on either side works for me. I have tried the Alberto (Modified Albright) and the regular Albright. I just suck at tying it so I revert back to the uni.

Your confidence lures should work just fine.

Thanks for the input all! I opened her up and there was a TON, and I mean a ton of lube in there. I cleaned up as much as I could making sure to leave a reasonable amount to keep the gears churning. I will test this out first. If it goes beyond this I am going to exchange it for something else. Guess you can't win them all!

I recently purchased an Abu Garcia Ambassadeur SX Casting Reel. #1 - To try out a round reel #2 - Because of it's 5x:1 ratio maybe use it for crankbaits (Square and/or deep divers) I got a chance to try it out this past week and with 50lb test I didn't seem to be able to get any distance on the cast. It made a lot of noise but I am not sure if it's the gears or the line going through the guide. I was able to loosen the spool control a ton and still not get much distance compared to my other baitcasters. I am a total noob with this type of reel so any tips, advice on what I could be doing wrong. Was it a mistake to buy this rod for this purpose?

Strike King fat baby Finesse worms. Great on a Mojo, Drop Shot or wacky. Just love them.

I use straight FC 8-10lb test. Invizx

I do all the time. Finesse is your friend indeed. My go-to desperate situation setup is a 1/8oz mojo rig, a #1 or #1/0 hook and a robo-worm. Like a little spaghetti for the fishies ...

I absolutely love my Rage Blades. I caught fish after fish on them after slowing down my retrieve as RW mentioned above. If I want to move faster I up the weight and it works just fine for me.

Freakin Sweet! Just caught my first few bass on a spinnerbait last Friday. It happened to be the Megastrike one. The only Spinnerbait I could catch bass on for some odd reason.

It's funny. I used to count my first year two years ago. I gave that up late last year. All I know is that I have caught plenty enough to keep me wanting to catch more. My last excursion scouting out a spot from my Yak I caught well over 13 fish and lost a handful at the yak.

A medium rod is a bit light but you can get away with it. For spinning I use at least a MH (6'6" pr 7') Remember to set your drag tight otherwise you won't get the jig hook penetration you need.

I mojo/shakey head my trick worms generally and run a weighted t-rig or weightless with my senkos. Both are great but SLOW is the name of the game. That is tough for me sometimes.

Funny because I seem to get bit on any other color than Red Shad. Even Sweet Potato Pie gets more hits for me. I guess I need to try it some more.

I recently bought a Ride 115x and I am loving it! Congrats on the new Yak and those fish. Kayak fishing is certainly addicting!