Choporoz

I love the Visions. But, if I felt the need to stick to a budget some day, I could probably make do with $17 Pointers.

google fishing kayak and milk crate....pinterest is as good a place to start as any....you'll want some ideas

Funny...I was thinking about starting a thread on these, myself. I posted years ago that most any would do, including Rapalas, but I swore off of those this weekend. I've had more trouble with hooks going through the fabric, especially on the edges...they're more trouble than they're worth. I may have my wife make up some DIY's with duct tape, but I have doubts about the durability of those. I've used the Rapalas, Bait Gloves, Hawg Pockets, and others. I'm not totally satisfied with any of them. I'll look into some of those mentioned above....some look pretty costly, but if they work well and last for years, they'd be worth it. Open to any other suggestions, as well.

I'd forgotten about this post....lol. I quickly became a huge fan after that first outing It is still nearly invisible, but I got used to that in most conditions....and I picked up some chartreuse to try out this year

Gliss fraying has not been an issue for me at all. But, while I've used it a lot over the past year plus...my experience is somewhat narrow: I use only 12#; only on spinning reels; and only with a leader: 6# and 8# Yo-Zuri Hybrid -- Alberto knot has never once slipped when tied well (7up/7back; interwoven, minimize overlap.) I've not had a reason to try it for other applications.

Got out for a couple hours before winter decided to come back in a hurry. Glass to whitecaps in about 5 minutes.

I've rented V-bottom boats from Sturgeon Creek Marina a couple times. Can't recall if the tiller was 10HP or 20. Unfortunately, I don't see them listed on their web site any longer. Just pontoons. I never found another place on the lake with rentals other than pontoons....though there may be one. I've done a bit of bass fishing from pontoons in the past - not ideal - but with a big trolling motor, it can be done well enough, of course. I put a trolling motor on the transom, and a Humminbird Fishin Buddy on the gunnel of the V boat and did just fine with two in the boat. I'm hoping they'll still have them this year. Was a fair amount of demand -- had to call and reserve on some weekends.

No worries. In fact, your OP is additive. You've linked a light I've never seen before that might well be worthy of consideration.

Very little...maybe $50 since Thanksgiving....mostly blade baits. But, its about to get started. I don't spend much in the off-season. No need - I'm the guy that loses one lure and within a half hour of being home, I've ordered three more....just in case. Had a nice day a few weeks ago and lost two blade baits in one wind-shortened outing. I've gotten no less than six since then...just in case

The good news is that you won't be looking to spend a ton of money on chatterbaits any time soon. I took your approach a number of years ago. After hours of use, maybe two hits and zero fish. I didn't use a chatterbait again for a long, long time. Now, its a favorite. But....I went against a lot of the grain written above. Slow rolling a chatterbait more than a foot from any sort of cover (or along the bottom) yields absolutely nothing, nearly all year. The only exception is for a couple of weeks post-spawn. And maybe that's because they'll eat anything then...IDK. But I throw a lot of chatterbaits along secondary points in creeks for a time in the spring. 1. Standard Z-Man chatterbait was one of the worst baits I've used for hook-up ratio -- hopefully, that has improved....I'm sure it was partly me, but I'm convinced something was wrong with the design, or materials. Get some from @Bluebasser86 or Sieberts next time. 2. I ALWAYS use a trailer. I use Rage Bugs 80% of the time. And the other 20%, I use Incrediclaw (Slim). Those will be a little cheaper and more durable than Rage Bugs, if that's a big concern. 3. I have little problem throwing them into wood. A lot of my chatterbait fish come from deflections off of laydown branches. 4. The other time that I find them particularly useful is when there's three feet or less between the grass tops and the surface. Many days, there's no better bait for pulling them up out of the grass up here

Send a note to fishnkamp if he doesn't see this and post or pm. He's a fan of that lake. As to more general info about that type of lake/situation/season, perhaps there's archived fishing reports on the interwebs? You've read smalljaw.com?

I've not used that bait....but it does look a lot like Optimum Baby Line Thru. For a 4" BLT, I use trebles, burying one in the belly....IIRC, about a 1 or 1/0

I agree with you completely, @Darren. My impulse to 'correct you' came much more from my anal need to point people to the actual state regs, instead of relying on what we tell them here on BR. @LadiMopar, I turn my light on at sunset (and put trebles away), and turn it off at sunrise. Because the light is above and behind, it never interferes with night vision. In fact the light goes straight out (and up), not down, so it doesn't affect me at all. In addition, I wear a headlamp....all the light I've ever needed. The flag is very comforting on busy rivers and Chesapeake traffic areas.

It does fold up nicely. To use it shorter would require some fancy jerry-rigging...like bending the last section down and duct-taping it to a lower portion of the pole. Not something I've ever considered. I've gone under trees and bridges and had to remove rods from holders, but I've never had the light/flag get caught up in anything. Not disputing your comment; VA leaves a little room for interpretation - but, my read is that an all-around light required for boats, may not be necessary for kayaks. Although a ready flashlight is, at a minimum. https://www.dgif.virginia.gov/boating/wog/equipment-regulations/#Navigation_Lights "Unpowered Vessels A vessel under oars and sailboats less than 7 meters (23 feet) in length may display those lights prescribed for a sailing vessel, but it they do not, they shall have ready at hand an electric torch or lighted lantern (Figure 8) shining a white light which shall be exhibited in sufficient time to prevent collision."

My dealer threw in a Yak Attack visipole when I bought my Wildy just over three years ago. They aren't exactly cheap, but I wouldn't hesitate to pay retail if I lost it. The flag is fantastic on busy waters - and the light is perfect. I've never had to replace the led module, nor the batteries...and I fish at night a lot.

@J Francho, I agree, that more context and background to any question in an open forum such as this is beneficial. It took me a little while to understand that here. What took me longer was how much context and background might be missing to the replies. It takes a while on here, but after a few months, we start to have an idea of what fish, waters and conditions a person is using as their baseline to answer. @A-Jay , @Catt and @Bluebasser86 might post seemingly conflicting answers to the same question -- if a reader doesn't yet know that the conditions each of you is facing might be entirely different. I'd go out and try something that A-Jay threw successfully last week with no success .....never realizing that he'd been bagging huge pre-spawn smallies in deep, cold, clear water, while I was targeting LMB in warm, post-spawn muddy tidal waters

+1

From the online manual: https://minnkotamotors.johnsonoutdoors.com/battery-chargers/portable-chargers Maintenance: When the battery reaches full charge, the charger voltage is reduced. A flashing GREEN LED is lit to indicate the battery is in Maintenance Mode and ready to use. After 24 hours, the charger automatically turns off and a steady GREEN LED is lit to indicate the battery is in long term Maintenance Mode and ready to use. The charger will automatically resume charging when the battery voltage drops below 12.6V

I use 12#. It is thread-fine (equal to about 4# fluoro.) It isn't perfect, by any means, but it is special. Pros: Very fine; zero memory; casts a mile - for me, probably twice as far as fluoro or mono; no stretch - VERY sensitive Cons: -Some people have reported fraying, though I haven't had that problem -I've used moss green, and depending on conditions, it is totally invisible, so line watching can be a challenge. I'm trying chartreuse this year for first time -It is so thin and wispy, that wind and light lures can be an issue -- a lot of slack on a cast and you can get a wrap on your rod tip, which if not caught quickly can be a nightmare -Your leader knot tags have to be trimmed extremely carefully -- a sloppy tag of even a 16th of an inch will allow slack line to get caught on itself in wind

TW sales suck...when's the next one? Why shop there? For me, its a combination of selection AND prices. Sales are nice, but .... unless there's one coming up in the next week or so, I don't generally try to plan purchases around it. Their prices are good now. Memorial Day, 4 July, and Labor Day, were sale times, IIRC from years past.

Not really. Check to see what you have already. I used to use Yo-Zuri Hybrid for nearly everything. So, I have spools of varying amounts laying around (6, 8, 10, 12 and 15#.), as well as some fluoro and P-Line. So, I use YZ 98% of the time. For 12# Gliss, I generally use 6" YZ. For 15# Power Pro, I might use 8". For 50#, I've used 12 and 15.

I've never talked to anyone who has had a problem with portable MK chargers. I, on the other hand, have gone through 3 last couple years. Warranty service is good, so the last couple didn't cost me, except for return postage, but I won't buy them again. I bought a NOCO Genius from Amazon after the last MK failure and HIGHLY recommend it. BTW, I also used to use WM batteries. Switched to Interstate and wouldn't go back.

I think that's a common feeling. I know that I resisted leaders for a long time. But, IMO, now's the time to give it a try. You just may find that it isn't as onerous as you think. Pick a knot (I like https://www.***.com/fishing_knots/alberto-knot , but there are other good ones that are popular with members here, blood, FG, surgeon, Uni/Uni, etc) and spend an hour or two this winter tying and retying. It will become much easier than you imagine, and the improvement to your fishability, or at least flexibility will be very welcome. You get over the objections (knot thru guides, extra point of failure, PITA, hard to do on water, etc.) pretty quick. And what it give you in abrasion resistance, saving on braid, ability to break off a bad snag, etc.) are all very welcome. Making that first cast with light braid after using other line on spinning gear will be awesome.

There's at least one. Not sure how we stumbled into it, but Andy Nelsons, up north of Baltimore, was as good as any I've had north of NC.