Choporoz

crazy physics, right?? Doesn't even take a hook set....why does it move up the line ever?

Good points, both. I live in a townhouse with zero on-site boat parking options. Nearest 24hr access storage with electric outlet is over five miles away and $120/mo. Even the most basic cleaning and maintenance challenges would be compounded immensely comared to garaging a boat at home. The time/hassle point is another reason I have a kayak and not a boat. The time that I spend upgrading, cleaning, maintaining my Hobie, cart, roof racks, etc....amounts to a few hours a year. I expect that a boat would require ten times that, if not more....hours stolen from being on the water....or spent with the family.

I know its an old thread, but thanks for posting it up, @Ben Lyson. I laughed at the fogs three years ago....now, I'm right there with them. Hours on end with a chatterbait is what does me in. Motrin helps...switching presentation for a while helps. But, I think I've still got a bowling brace around somewhere...going to have to give it a try. I've got a couple 12 hour tourny days coming up.

What rez?

+1 Saw all the chatter here about them a few months ago. I watched no more than 3 minutes of two different videos. Never saw a reason to watch any more. Never saw a reason to get upset about them, either. They may as well be making videos about basket making or something else I have no interest in watching. Unless someone here is talking about them, I'd not remember they exist. I don't begrudge Gene trying to forge his way into making a living at it...and if that meant he had to leave BR to do it, so be it. But, I agree...while I used to read most everything he posted and watched all his videos, I haven't seen but probably two or three since he left here. Saw him mentioned here on BR a couple times, so I watched a video of his. Have to admit that this FOG almost bailed in first minutes after seeing how young he looked...lol. But, I stuck it out and was hugely impressed. I have only watched a couple of his videos, but I have a good deal of respect so far.

Its a good question. And I agree that good information can be a bit difficult to nail down. (Part of the problem here is that BR Search ignores three letter 'words' so searching 'PFD' doesn't get you much.) And interwebs information is somewhat confusing to me, too. I also kayak fish most of the time. At risk of oversimplifying, I narrowed search by evaluating 3 broad categories. 'Foam' type, as you described; manual inflate, and auto inflate. Within those categories, there is a pretty wide range of prices and options, but that's where I started. I ruled out manual inflate early, because I think my greatest risk to need my PFD is something catastrophic, like a boat collision, or flipping in rocky river, and I want something that will work if I get knocked out. Likewise, auto inflate would have to be one of those sensitive, super shallow hydrostatic models. I shied away from that option mostly for two reasons: cost and laziness. I don't want to trust my life to my naturally negligent and lazy self doing proper maintenance. Additionally, I know that the good autos have come a long way, but I have small (unfounded?) concern about accidental inflation....not just the trouble and cost, but fishing remainder of day after it has inflated in heavy rain or accidental dunking. So, I have the 'foam' type. I don't like the bulk or heat, but, I wear it 100% of the time on the water, and honestly I don't notice it most of the time. I got a Stohlquist Fisherman model and have been happy with it for several years now.

There's a lot of Northern LMB waters with year round fishing, so I suspect the seasonal pressure variable could be accounted for

Depends entirely on how thick the worms are. I use 3/0 and 4/0 worm hooks on regular Culprits. Fat Max gets an EWG or 6/0 usually. Length of the worm is not nearly as important as leaving enough gap for bunching up an hooksets

I"m with @schplurg. Check my license. Please. Between State and county officials, the waters I fish are pretty heavily patrolled. I used to get checked frequently. For some reason this year, the four of the last eight times I was out, I was passed by officials without being checked. Must be the Hobie...

Not sure how relevant to your questions....but it makes me wonder...What makes any one fish 'harder to catch' than any other? That is, if you remove most external variables....put one N LMB next to another N LMB...same lake, same size, age, sex...what traits (or experiences, or intelligence..??) make one more catchable than the other? If there was a way to know...or there are good theories...it might help get to your answers above, Paul...maybe

That explains the white truck....Last I was in Nebraska, all the pick-ups were red

@J Francho...sticking around another day?...maybe I'll run into you up on the mall tomorrow....as sparse as it will be, should be easy

Sorry.....it was a smartazzz non-answer to your question. If you haven't seen Office Space, you should. This entire section of this entire forum is pretty much dedicated to answering your very broad question...so instead of answering, I was playing with you

^ That's what it comes down to. Seems you either like the neoprene or you hate it. No question the blanks are great. I have not handled spinning Rage rods. But I love my 7'1" MF Rage casting rod.

Swingline

It depends. Today I may be fishing shallow pads flats for 6 hours and throw nothing but a Rage Bug, Chatterbait and frog. Tomorrow I might be fishing a reservoir with ledges, laydowns, deep stuff, and shallow stuff and toss the kitchen sink. Most of my fishing is from a kayak and I take 6-7 rods most days and if I'm getting bit out the gate I may not use 5 of them.....some days I use 7, trying 15 different things with them.

https://www.sliderfishing.com/product.sc?productId=70&categoryId=20

Haven't found a durable bait for kids yet.....I resign myself to threading parts of worms the entire time. Two tips: - jigs work, but as with hooks, shorter shanks work best for gills - my crappie jigs have longer hooks and kids don't get reliable hooksets - slip bobbers are awesome

Like a couple other posters above, I try to keep nylon line to end of Boomerang blades and braid to the inside. In my head, it keeps the edge a lot longer that way.

I have used Boomerang for years and love it. However, I also keep nail clippers on the same lanyard just for clipping non-braid leader tags. Unfortunately, I've never found scissors or any other cutter where the blades slide across each other that can cut close enough reliably without ever knicking the line adjacent. Knives don't work much better for me for that application. Anyone use any durable, sharp nipper type cutters that they would recommend?

Most of the time, I throw Megabass, Lucky Craft, Duo Realis and Rapalas. However, I have been pleasantly surprised by the Livetarget rainbow smelt. Not even sure where I got it, because I've always avoided the brand (thought the baitballl stuff was gimicky, so I put my nose in the air when I passed them in the aisle.) But I must have gotten one years ago in a LTB or MTB and it fishes every bit as well as anything else I use. And for the price, I will be getting more.

So sorry for your loss, Blue. Saturday t-storms turned deadly here, too. At least one kayaker dead, a number rescued...believe there still may be yakkers and/or boaters missing. I was on a lake and watching storms passing just south. One eye on my line and one eye on the clouds for over an hour as I slowly worked my way closer to the ramp. By the time I decided enough, I was fortunately only a couple hundred yards out. I pulled the yak up the launch as the wind immediately went from about 10 to 60 in mere seconds. I was wrong to push it, but came out ok. Easy to see how someone could get caught by surprise when those summer cells pop almost out of nowhere.

Me, too. But it is so difficult. I will try to force a plastic that I have no confidence in, just because I feel the need to use it up. In the meantime, I am rushing it or using it in a way not really ideal and giving up on it quickly. Too often, my brain gets in my way....and not just fishing...lol

Yep. Not entirely their fault. Current models they operate in pretty much demand that right now.