buzzed bait

super slick is a good line. may fade the color out a little faster than others, but i don't think the fish care.

nice catch lou looks a little cold in that pic for south florida!

catt, you're mostly right on. oddly enough though anytime i see deer movement on the way to the ramp it never produces a good fishing day. i've assumed that the deer moving and feeding would translate to the fish, but seems somewhat the opposite. i just LOL'd a little bit thinking about fish creating trails and "rubs" like a deer.

it's officially reached an epidemic status this year. both my wife and i have already had the flu this year. i hope people can avoid it, the remedy (tamiflu) costs a small fortune so avoid at all costs.

nice layout kidflex! pretty sure that's the point that the wife leaves me!

this is what i have, don't have a pic, but it's a very clean way to store them.

the kayak i had the duct seal in was an ascend fs10 which is essentially identical to your model. behind the seat, around the tankwell area is where i placed mine and it worked like a charm

i felt the same way, give it a while. it will grow on you.

not much of an observation there OP. its a swept handle with paddle style knobs and that's it. most lew's handles are 85mm or 95mm and i'm not certain they make any factory handles that are 90mm like the one you compared to. the paddle style knobs may look similar, but in hand you will know the lew's are a bit bigger and softer. lastly, since Lew's invented the "teardrop" reel (predecessor) to the low profile reel, it's safe to say most modern day reels are a "tribute" to lew's

Ed, it's worth asking, what model kayak do you have?

you won't regret it

big head, skinny body. i'd say 4 pounds myself.

only the side imaging won't work with the thru hull application. getting the transducer in the water is ideal, but the right method on a thru hull will work well. all you need to do is go to lowers or home depot in the electrical or havc area and ask for duct seal. just google duct seal transducer on google and you will see how to do it. i did that for over a year with my first kayak and a garmin echo 150 and it worked like a charm. i now have a lowrance 4x HDI that i have on a ram mount that sticks in the water. best part of the duct seal is you can move it, remove it, whatever and no holes no drills no mess no glue none of that. pretty certain you'll thank me later on if you go this route. as for that model fish finder, i am no help. i just read customer reviews until i'm blue in the face and make a decision based on the experiences of others. good luck, enjoy the new depth finder no matter which way you go.

nice chunker and a really nice looking fishing hole!

get the olympus tough. i love mine. I've taken it snorkeling, snowboarding, fishing, still ticking..... h*ll i lost the thing in the little TN river for a solid 10 minutes, found it and kept right on. super simple to use too.

I recently sold my 300e, but it's a sweet reel for throwing the bigger baits. it fits surprisingly well in hand and is not as bulky as one might think. My opinion is that it is worth the $50 extra.

i never have, but would really like to take a few combos/baits down to the football field for a real world test on how far i can throw it. then mix in some buckets or something to try and figure out at what length your accuracy begins to fail. but somehow i feel like i might be asked to leave or at the very least be looked at pretty foolishly. if i couldn't see the high school from my house i wouldn't care, but my neighbors would think i'm even weirder. they already think i'm weird for casting in the yard and tooling with my fishing stuff in the garage EVERY NIGHT.

i consider myself pretty fit and able and will admit that loading the 135 can be a challenge at times. if you're concerned about the size and weight, you're probably right. i load mine in the back of my nissan frontier and have it figured out, but could imagine it being pretty difficult to load up on a roof rack of any kind. it's a great kayak, but the weight is the only downfall. i'd say keep looking and not settle on an inferior kayak as you will regret it down the line.

i have a ride 135 and really like it. couple things to note: specs say like ~80 pounds, but feels like 100 when you're trying to load the thing that seat is ok, but as already mentioned the actual wilderness high seat is fantastic you can stand and fish out of this thing with absolutely no problem i wouldn't get the 135 without the rudder kit, it would be cumbersome to turn without in my opinion post says $800 OBO, you can always offer lower. that paddle is pretty good if it were me, i would probably continue to scout some deals. this time of year is perfect to find a smaller mom and pop type shop and bargain with them. not a lot of people buying kayaks in january so they will be more willing to haggle with you just to close a sale. either way, good luck and enjoy whatever you get

i'd have to say it's probably fishing the small mountain creeks for trout both in western NC and in Montana. lots of nature, lots of scenery and you really have to sneak up on the good spots. Aside from that, i really enjoy just catching a ton of bluegill. one particular lake in western NC is just loaded with them up to 2 or 3 pounders. you will tire yourself out catching them there, tons of fun with kids, family or newcomers.

i know! i'd been eyeballing it for a while actually because it was already marked down to $69. i wanted to get rid of some items i was hanging on to so that i could free up some space and fishing funds to purchase the citica for my new cranking reel. went back in last week and it was an additional 50% off the already marked down price so i grabbed it and ran for the register.

chronarch e was on sale $149 last time i was at cabela's..... may be discontinued.

Santa was really good to me, and i also scored some incredible deals right before christmas! The wife got me mostly all the baits, the Lew's BB1 and the *** Black 6'10"MF. I happened to find a couple mega deals and had to pull the trigger: $35 Citica 201G6 $75 Pfleuger Patriarch (2x) yozuri 600 yard spools (1x-8lb and 1x-10lb) for $12 shipped

a lot of mightier than thou going on here..... hopefully you guys never find yourselves out of work to the point you need to "cold call" on anyone. but if you do, and you end up calling me, you can rest assured i'll be the respectful one to decline and hang up the phone.

i have to say that acting disabled, acting as though you have a mental disability, acting as though you have a neurological disorder, etc. are lamer than the calls. grow a pair, tell them no thanks and end the call. these are people just doing a job that they need in order to pay the bills.