Choporoz

Well, any human being will cast about in a moment of stress. ...

I don't risk having that empty bottle out of reach. I keep it in my crate. I neglected to mention it in the 'tools' thread, but that empty bottle can be most important thing in my yak after two thermoses of coffee.

What are the 3? I would need to think a bit, but I am pretty sure that jig and chatterbait are 2 of my 3.

I have loved the low maintenance aspect of kayaking. Off season maintenance was limited to reels, rods, lures, etc. But my neglect has cost me a little bit. A couple of my carts had wheels that were shot from sitting outside with loads on them. My Wildy has 60 some screws...just happened to check a couple the other day and found 42 that needed a quarter turn or more...some much more. Examining my roof racks yesterday, I found spots near load-bearing areas with significant, maybe dangerous rust. What are some routine maintenance things you yakkers do annually, or monthly....things some of us may not think enough about?

Always with me on my kayak: Boomerang snips Hook file Forceps Fish Grips Jaw Spreader Folding knife Lighter Cigar cutter Reading glasses Plug knocker

Any. As long as its mostly white.

Got some for Christmas. Only fished the 3/8 &1/2 so far. Got a few dinks, but haven't lost a bait yet. They come through cover pretty well. Not sure the action is any different than Sick Fish or Trash Fish, but the hidden hook is a nice touch. Not a lot of places I fish where an exposed hook is fun, so I think when the grass starts coming up, I'm going to appreciate these even more.

I use braid to leader on a dozen rods with micro guides.

I always have a MF baitcaster in my yak...sometimes as many as 3

I bought a Sienna years ago...maybe 2012 or 13? Not sure the model, but it's a bit of a tank: FD, green spool...maybe 3000ish. I used it quite a bit for several years with zero problems. It is on a shelf now, but not because there was anything wrong with it...just because Bait Monkey said to get new ones

My initial reaction was to advise against, however, having thought a bit more, it isn't necessarily a bad idea. Cabelas used to pair up some good house branded rods with name brand reels and offer deals. Not sure where that is now with BPS merge. And Lews combos are generally well regarded. I imagine other retailers will offer deals on some combos, too. My first baitcaster was an Abu combo years ago. Served me well enough, and at decent entry price point....but neither the rod, nor the reel lasted three seasons.

That's a great idea! I bet Armor All would be perfect for golf club grips, too.

My point is that, while the three mile stretch of river here is a posted no-wake zone, you may well be ticketed if you try to transit it at 40mph...whether you make a wake or not. There a race boat that launches where I do many Sundays. He could do the 3 miles with no wake in about 2 min. But, instead, he has to take a half hour, idling a huge wake and rattling windows. May not be right, but it is the reality. And the river is safer for kayaks because of that reality.

If concerned, you can thin out your weedguards. Cut a few strands out completely, though. Don't trim the whole bunch shorter....that will just make it stiffer.

Trick question? Around here, a No Wake Zone is a section of navigable water, in which creation of a wake by a watercraft is prohibited....that's my interpretation...not legal language. However, a common interpretation is that you gotta go slow there....I don't think there's a speed limit, per se, but if you try to fly down this busy, no-wake river on plane, you are likely to have the sheriff or dnr called on you....whether you left any wake or not.

One of my favored kayak launches is in midst of half a dozen marinas. Fortunately, all no wake. The bass boats are good....the 45+ footers are good....the weekend 25-30-something footers (maybe age, too) are a disaster in the making.

Despite the truth in that...facts may not help you if you try to apply that logic through a no-wake zone

I'm no expert, but I dont think that manually flipping the bail affects line twist. What it does do, is dramatically reduce the chance of (twist-induced) loops to appear on your spool. It's the loops that are going to make your day suck.....twist makes loops more likely, but manually operating the bail results in fewer spool loops.

Tons of state/local/regional tournaments....all over the country

Me, too. I'm one of the ones donating. I'm pretty good with a plug knocker, but I'm not spending a lot of time retrieving (mine, or anyone else's)....my fishing time is more valuable to me

18# Gliss to Yo-Zuri Hybrid leader on all of my spinning rods at this time. Leaders are 6, 8 10 # test, all tied with Alberto knot.

The lack of an option to make a wishlist or save a cart at TW saved me a ton of money in years past.

All good advice above. I will suggest something completely different. Find another hobby. Despite how it may seem, you are just beginning your fishing life. Maybe I focused on the wrong thing in your OP, but I'm concerned that you already got burned out for a period. I'm not saying to stop fishing, but maybe something that will complement fishing....rod building, or tackle making...fly tying...volunteering with Healing Waters or Heroes on the Water.....something to think about

Good advice, @Brad Reid. One more trick that makes the Boomerangs last longer is cut flouro and mono near the tips, and only cut braid back deep in the jaws. I find flouro dulls them faster than braid.

Two full seasons with Fox Outfitters Firefly...about $20 on Amazon. I've been extremely happy with it. I keep mine in my kayak crate all the time, so it had to be very weatherproof...it gets rained on throughout the year. This one works when I need it. However....I do not use it for line watching. It only gets switched on when I need it. Two main reasons: even with red lens, it can screw up your night vision...with white lens, night vision can be hosed for quite a while after just a half minute.....and the bugs....might not be much problem here in Feb....but the rest of the year, it's a bug magnet.