DogBone_384

Congratulations. Now get out there and fish from it!

Give it some time. They'll find you. I fish primarily in Eastern MA towards Plymouth. I have better luck in Plymouth, but the town just shut my favorite pond down to non-residents at 1700 hours. If you can't find what you need here, try RIFishfinder.com

Very cool.

Welcome to the family. There's so much info here it'll make you dizzy. It'll also get you through the winter if you don't ski or ice fish....

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Contact Delaware Valley Tackle. Like J Franco said: their sponsor link is on the right side of this forum. I've had several reels serviced/upgraded by Mike and am very satisfied with his work/pricing/service.

I REALLY hope his 4 game suspension doesn't interfere with Brady's bass fishing.... Garoppolo needs the practice anyway....

DVT & Siebert. Mike's done great work on many of my reels. Great service, communication, and pricing. A++

Good choice! It's the favorite of my fleet!

Casting: JDM Chronarch CI4+ on a 7' MF Veritas Spinning: Pflueger Supreme XT on a 7' ML/F Vendetta

Thanks. I didn't think there was anything that big left @ BHR, but I suppose the strongest survive. Heading to Little Pond in Plymouth after work with Fam. Hope to to catch a couple there @ dusk.

Thanks. I didn't think there was anything that big left @ BHR, but I suppose the strongest survive. Heading to Little Pond in Plymouth after work with Fam. Hope to to catch a couple there @ dusk.

How dare you speak such blasphemy! Confession after Sunday Mass for you!

I beat the Monkey by working two jobs and staying busy when I'm not working. I find the Monkey itch is its worst when I'm idle.

I'd get two setups. Of all the reels I own, Shimano, ***, BPS PQ, are my favorites. As far as rods go, *** and Abu's Veritas top the list. I recommend handling them before buying. When travelling light I bring a M casting & ML spinning setup. Good luck & go with what feels best in your hands.

Left my phone at work and needed to go to that big orange DIY store to get lawn fertilizer. Both are near Blue Hills Reservoir (BHR), so with the girls at the mall and the lawn cut, I dropped by BHR around 7:45. Heeding advice from many of you I brought little or nothing for tackle, and started throwing a 7.5" purple w/blue flake Culprit worm. While watching the worm come back to me on the rocks I saw something I've not seen there in at least a year: a school of little bait fish (assumed baby bass?) following the worm. A few casts later I get a tug-tug, so I set the hook and landed pretty close to the biggest bass I've caught there to date. On the next cast, tap-tug-tug, and to my surprise, another bass about the same size. The one thing I'll contribute to tonight's success is that I was using my new JDM Shimano Chronarch CI4, tuned by Mike @ DVT, and was getting noticeably more distance with the same size bait than my other reels. The bass bit further out than I've reached before. Maybe I brought some VA home with me. Add: my boots are 12" long.

Quitting? No. Taking a break, yes. No matter how poor I do up here I wasn't going to let a chance to fish down south get away from me, especially working two jobs. My free time is limited, so when something's not fun, it's not worth doing with higher priority tasks to be done. We'll see how it goes over the next few weeks. Thanks for your support.

The family and I drove to one of our time-share resorts in Gordonsville, VA for a long weekend. There's a lake on the property so I brought a kayak and some gear on the chance I'd get to fish somewhere outside Eastern MA. I managed to get out at dawn Sunday and caught three: two little ones and one I consider big for up here, all on swimming Senkos. I lost a good one on a bad hookset, but I'll take the three I landed. A nice weekend at a great resort. Funny how I had to drive 550+ miles to break my slump.... Now back to work....

https://store.snapon.com/Strippers-Cutters-Crimpers-Wire-Stripper-Crimper-Cutter-7--P648778.aspx

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Like other 128T owners found out is that the sealant Ascend uses at the factory doesn't always keep water that gets on the deck out of the hatches. I unscrewed the hatches and applied a bead of clear RTV silicone around the hole and reinstalled the hatches. Problem solved. I read some owners experience leaks in the scuppers where the upper and lower bodies are bonded together. My scuppers don't leak into the hull. The 128T is a great kayak at its price point, even with its minor flaws; probably the best 'value' fishing 'yak out there. It's big and stable (I call it our aircraft carrier.), and the swivel seat is all day comfortable. It was my first fishing kayak and cost just over half of what I paid for our FeelFree Lure 11.5. It's heavier than the Lure, but not so heavy I can't muscle it onto my truck's ladder racks, even at the end of the day. Another plus the Ascend has over the FeelFree is that it's made here in the US. I believe the FeelFree is from Korea, though I might be mistaken, off the top of my head. I really can't answer your question regarding waiting or buying now. That's up to you and what you tell yourself what you want to spend on a fishing kayak. I bought the 128T first because it got great reviews and was very affordable: I wasn't risking a ton of dough if it turned out I didn't like kayak fishing. I bought the Lure as a second one after paddling it and being able to hoist it onto my ladder racks more easily than the Ascend. Good luck with your purchase. Regardless of what brand you buy, fishing from a kayak frees you up to fish waters those 'big & fancy' bass boats can't.

Here are my Ascend mods: I took the hatches off and resealed them with RTV silicone. I installed my Lowrance's transducer through the hull by using a 3" PVC plumbing flange and rubber cover. I use a RAM mount for the control head. Pictures of the install here: http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/149282-kayak-bass-fishing/page-3 I swapped the Ascend rod holder for a Scotty. Our other two kayaks use Scotty. I took the foam supports out and duplicated them in 3/4" MDO (marine grade plywood). It better supports the hull's midsection better. I built a small tray on the rear support for the Pelican case I keep my battery and Lowrance control head in).

Two fish on one lure?!?!?!?! I can barely manage two bass per trip..... I have to get out of Boston.....

For fishing, a sit-on-top (SOT) is best. My first kayak purchased was purely on price: a Ascend 128T. It's big, stable, and has a great seat. After a season on that I purchased a FeelFree Lure 11.5. It's a little lighter than the Ascend, is built a little better and has the best seat I've come across. Questions I'd ask myself if I was looking for my first kayak are: What's my budget? I find the better kayaks are going to run you about a grand, or so. Top shelf kayaks like Hobie can cost $3,000+. Comfort? How long am I going to be out on the water? My daughter's kayak, a Redfish 10, has a seat good enough for casual paddling, but not for fishing for more than an hour or so. The Ascend and FeelFree seats are ALL DAY comfortable. How am I transporting my kayak to the water? I drive a Tundra P/U with a ladder rack. The Ascend is a little heavy to get up there by myself, though manageable. I can hoist the FeelFree solo even at the end of the day without issue. Your kayak WILL weigh more at the end of the day. The Ascend has tons of storage and the FeelFree has a rail system. Common accessories are: Fish Finder Anchor w/Trolley Milk crate with rod holders Do I plan on standing while fishing? SOT kayaks are generally stable enough to stand and fish from. The Ascend is extremely stable (I call it my aircraft carrier) but doesn't have as nice a platform as the FeelFree. I fish standing on both. If you can paddle the kayak you're interested in, do so. I bought the Ascend because it gets good reviews, is made here in the USA, and is very affordable. I paddled the FeelFree when shopping for our second kayak and was sold on the 11.5' over the 10'.

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