Choporoz

I don't know about Mebane, but the few times I was in N.C., I was quite impressed with the non big-box brick and mortars; the mom and pops. I have zero mom and pops around here and I still won't go near a BPS. Hopefully, you've got some good local tackle shops nearby.

Best advice I ever got was to read BassResource. Maybe one out of every hundred fish I see jump, I can confidently identify it as a bass. 90+ I can identify as non-bass. Of the non-bass, there are times when it is small fish fleeing from hungry bass. So, my point is...that chasing jumping fish gets to be a fool's errand most of the time. It will suck your time on the water until you can confidently identify what's jumping and why.

Just fine. As with any leader set up, make sure you trim your tags real close.

Considering a trip up to put the yak in at Perryville park for a tourny. I've read the regs, but won't admit that I'm positive about anything. My interpretation is that I need a MD non-resident Tidal license. Is that correct? Also, I don't see a 'sportfishing', or 'combo' license. I'll need both tidal and freshwater to fish Upper Bay and Conowingo or Black Hill Lake. Correct? Thanks for any/all info!

Had a good morning out there Sunday. I had prepared myself to fish deep, a technique that I REALLY need to work on. But, I didn't get around to it. Was kept plenty busy dropping t-rigs down ledges and working chatterbaits around grass. Two biggest went 19", and numbers were fun. They really seemed to be stacked up. When I found fish, I caught more than one, sometimes much more in a smallish area. When I didn't catch fish, I could go hundreds of yards without a bite.

In just the last month, I've caught snakeheads, gars, snapping turtle, perch, blue cats, channel cats, crappie, bluegill, rock bass....but the "most impressive" was a few years ago on a DT-6:

@Hook2Jaw, its a good question....not certain if its leverage, or inattention due to having to devote a bit of near constant attention to boat position, or just mental -- but I felt I was missing a lot more bites in the yak than I ever did in a boat -- doesn't seem to be the case for trigs --- I could be way off, but I think margin of error is better with t-rig due to the time a fish holds a trig vs the quick spit of a jig...again, maybe its a mental problem, but I have absolutely successfully stuck a higher percentage since I have thrown the jig less ...and t-rig more

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I'll send the pp via pm....I am always willing to offer value for value I still get banner ads, pane ads, etc. And, please don't suggest that anyone that desires free access to stuff on the interwebz needs to accept whatever ads are foisted on them. All web commercial entities thank you for not blocking ads...you represent the model web sucker consumer

Like @IgotWood, I used to begin with jig when possible. As my platform has moved from 50/50 kayak/boat to more like 95/5 kayak/boat, I find I begin with t-rig much more than jig. I absolutely love fishing a jig, however, my bite detection and hook setting just hasn't been as good with a jig from a yak. Especially, if its windy -- I've just gained higher confidence in trig than a jig in recent years. The t-rig very often gets hit on the fall. If the bite is a real slow bottom bite, and the weeds are manageable, I will go with something finesse-y on a shaky head. I will, at times, go with bigger, bolder shakey heads, but still only when I'm planning to slow-drag, or dead stick. I know full well that a lot of shakey heads can swim a bait well, I just don't do it much.

I'll support the raise. But, I do think the forum should work WITH ad blocking software....not against it.

I always text my wife minutes before I launch with the exact location that I'm launching the yak. (Mainly because I'm indecisive enough that I often change my mind about where to go after I've pulled away from the house.) I always text my wife minutes after I get off the water. I'm anal about sending those texts....however, I'm probably not going to be filling out forms any time soon.

It almost has to be....hard to justify what they charge, if it isn't

I fished a tourny that was somewhat simillar last year. We all used these collapsible baskets like we used to use when I was a kid keeping bluegill and crappie. We did have one kill out of eight or nine boats....sad, but not as bad as I feared.

Braid to leader has other pros and cons not listed above. I use it on some rigs, not just for abrasion resistance, but also: -so I can break off, if I need to -I don't consume braid every time I retie A big con for many is the inclusion of a possible failure point -- or even reduction in overall line strength. I typically use leaders on most of my rigs. Yesterday, I was fishing straight 40# braid on a t-rig. Two examples from yesterday alone: 1. I got the rig wedged bad in some rocks on a somewhat deep ledge, and couldn't work it out. I couldn't break it and had to cut the braid just below the surface of the water. If I'd had leader, I could have left a LOT less line in the water. 2. I hooked a 19 inch LMB in serious wood. I don't think there's any way I could have worked her out if I'd had a leader. With straight braid, I horsed her through and got her in the yak.

Never heard of them, either, but first glance, that Wahoo looks like it has a lot of potential...especially at the price point.

Agreed. It was just one guy's opinion, and there are nearly infinite variations that work for others. But when the guy (Schwartzkopf?) first posted it, there was fairly general agreement that it was a solid starting point for anyone. Might seem counter productive, but you might consider 4 or 5 different line types to start. Mono on one, flouro on another, Yo-Zuri Hybrid on one, straight braid on one and braid with leader on another.... Few of us got to our current preferences without some trial and error. I think I'd have been better off learning pros and cons of each myself early on instead of all the experimentation that I've done. You can read a thousand posts here about flouro for this, mono for that, braid bad for such and such....until you find what works for you, it is mostly noise. If you fish different sorts of waters, that can make the variables even harder. I loved Gliss with leader for some spinning set ups for years. Then I fished some different, rockier water and was frustrated beyond belief. So, the line answer is rarely simple....even for those of us who want it to be.

Do you have preference regarding line type? Lots of strong feelings regarding straight braid vs flouro vs mono vs co-poly/hybrid vs braid with leader, etc. Do you have a starting preference? If not, and you'd like to really simplify, I'd say you could put 30# braid on the baitcasters and 15# braid on the two 7' spinning rods; and maybe 6 or 8' flouro on the ML. I really wish I knew who first posted this chart, because I'd like to give appropriate credit, but some member here made and posted it a few years ago. I found it helpful.

Hadn't noticed with colors, but flakes definitely make a difference....flake size and amount change it up noticeably

I don't know about Michigan, but here in Virginia, EVERY time I fish a new-to-me lake, somebody there tells me that shocking surveys there in the last two years turned up 10 pound LMB.....EVERY single lake? Really? LOL

Not so much an override. The fed law simply states that if states don't have any law explicit to kids and pfd's, then fed regs prevail. So, if a state does have a law, there isn't a fed reg that applies and can be over-ridden. I think it's a good compromise to bow to states' rights to make their own rules, but if they don't....well, then the feds get it done

Quite some years ago, I read "use red hooks on crank baits and poppers -- bass see it as injured baitfish"....and in the same week: "use red flouro lines because the red line is invisible to bass" Coincidentally, right about that same time I quit caring about the color of my line, nor of my hooks

Absolutely. I'd have no problem leaving that requirement to the insurance companies to mandate, if they chose.

I've got a pretty solid libertarian bent. So, I don't necessarily mind adults who chose not to wear a PFD after 'honestly' considering the risks. However, the social media 'influencers' and those putting kids at risk don't get a pass from me, and do deserve to get 'called out'.

That does stink. But, lesson learned. TourneyX sends you confirmation if your fish submittal went through. If you don't get that email, it is totally incumbent upon the yakker to get in to the TD well before 'lines-in'. Then you can swap SD cards, hot spot, NFC, blue tooth, USB, WiFi, etc....lots of options in-person. I fish two different clubs. Both use TourneyX. In one, the TD takes submissions up to 30 min after lines-in, as long as photo meta time stamped before 'lines-in'. The other has no such 'extension'...if I don't get email confirmation of fish submittal, I make sure to get back to the ramp/TD prior to tourney end.