Choporoz

Never noticed or paid much attention in the past, however, this year I found that buzzbaits casted more or less into the sun were far more likely to get hit than buzzbaits away from or perpendicular to the sun....other variables being about equal. Too much for coincidence, in my opinion. Not sure if it does/will apply to frogs and spooks and poppers. But if I had a large flat, like a pad field, I almost always had more buzzbait blowups when casting into the rising or setting sun. This went for both hits upon splashdown, and during retrieve, which seem they should have different sun angle effects. Not sure how to interpret this related to vision/visibility, etc, but curious if anyone (everyone?) had noticed similar or different?

I am not sure Yak Attack ever had kayaks, just accessories...and stickers. Same with Harmony. I don't recognize the design on the bow, but someone will....so you know what make it is. It looks like a great starter fishing kayak for $400. I couldn't use that seat for long, but I'm old and fat.

My back started hurting just looking at the picture

The perfect caption to those sunset pics on FB fishing group pages.

There's a lot I love about the whole fishing experience. But much of it is greatly diminished if I'm not catching. My wife will tell you that I am not generally a relaxed, happy person when I come home with a skunk or a near skunk...or a bottom half tournament finish. I do focus a lot of that less than positive energy on what I might have done better/different....as opposed to just being grumpy. And I'd rather be on the water struggling to catch than off the water. There's only been a few trips, usually involving gusty winds, where I come off and wish I hadn't gone out at all.

I have a Native and a Hobie. No truck, but I car-top on SUVs. I really struggled with the lift for some time. I stood them on crates, with rudder inside the crate....I used curbs and blocks....nothing worked well. Carrying the Hobie upside down works ok. The Native seat is a PITA to put in/take out, so upside down wasn't a good option. I now use Thule Hullivators. Hobie now offers some sort of rudder protector thing, but I never heard that anyone really likes it. Maybe OT (or an aftermarket company) has something similar that actually works

Horizontal Jigging 2022?

Lol. Not even close to fishing related, but probably my favorite right now is I Am Athlete.... former pros, mostly NFL, but also NBA, WNBA, XFL....just talk sports for 40-60 minutes. Doesn’t even have to be about teams I care about - it is just cool to hear their perspective on sports....not just games, but business, and locker room relationships, etc.

I wouldn't be opposed to more general freshwater fishing talk, I suppose....as long as there's not much from those annoying trout flyfishermen... ?

Anyone listen/recommend any bass podcasts? Last time I looked, maybe 3-4 years ago, the pickings were slim. Now, I see maybe a dozen or more. I'm not too optimistic, but maybe one or two are good? (I am doing a lot of driving and NFL podcasts (and one football/general sports) podcasts aren't going to take me far after playoffs.)

Curious whether you have tried Magnum Bug on swinghead? I am only fishing for LMB and no nothing about your kind of fishing, except what I read and watch from you....but, I upsized a lot this summer to magnum and had great success getting bigger bites, particularly on rocky points. I also got some good LMB with it on the fall in open water, which rarely happens for me with 'regular' size SKRT Bug. Gained new appreciation for KVD 5X this year. Was a size I had skipped previously, but was Goldilocks for a couple months when normally, I would have alternated between 2.5s and 6X. As to plastics, I cut way back on variety and got to where I was confident that plastics were the deal, I'd catch on SKRT Cut-R, Bugs, or Thumpers, or ned (TRD and Baby Goat). Caught more and better fish on buzzbaits this year, but that was simply because I tied it on more than ever in the past.

Bottom bouncer was first thing I thought of when I saw these a few years ago. Tokyo rig has worked ok for me, but I've still been tempted to pull out a bottom bouncer and try it....until I remember that those I have are for walleyes, not bass. ?

Used to have one and used it. Usage dropped way down and getting rid of it became a better option than trying to store it. Seems to be a common arc. Probably a bunch around you that would be available cheap if there was a way to ISO, like a local FB group

Not unusual for me to pull away from the house without yet having decided. I'm lucky to have lots of options. Sometimes wind plays a big factor. Upcoming tournament schedule drives me to a lot of prefishing decisions. Living on a lake much of the year now will certainly make the decision easier each morning now.

Fluke in various whites is money. 3, 4, and 5' senkos, usually green pumpkin, but junebug also. Rage Menace is killer in any color. Jigs in holes. For small plastics, I love Owner Ultra ball heads. Snags less than anything else I've tried in current. I've tried dropshot in Shenandoah, but it is mostly frustrating due to current.

Good deal on the Garmin. I just paid $1700 for a 9 and a 7, being installed on boat today, coincidentally. I have a 7 on my kayak and that's fine for me, but I know plenty of guys who swear by a 9. The arm will work great. @J Franchomay offer some tips. I don't recall what all went into my decision to switch to Garmin a few years ago, but I think it was largely for two reasons; more intuitive and a touchscreen. Both reasons may no longer apply. Now, I'm stuck in my ways and want to be able to have same maps and functionality across all units.

1. I don't know anything about that motor, so my first question would be whether any one brand will integrate with the motor. 2. I switched from Lowrance to Garmin, but I don't strongly recommend one over the other. 3. That Garmin price sounds too good to be true. Does that include a transducer? 4. Does that yak have mounting place for sidescan transducer? If so, will it work with any brand ducer? Probably aftermarket options, but might affect overall initial cost.

@Functional, for me, pedal vs paddle was really night and day. I know some who paddle, love it and do well - in fact our current club AOY is a paddler. I paddled for 3 years. After getting a Hobie, fishing from a kayak was 100 times better for me. I'm probably not 2 hours from you (Mayo); if you'd like to come up and try fishing from a Native and a Hobie to see how you like it, PM me and we'll make it happen.

Got a boat, kept the kayak. Love being able to gear up and launch and recover in almost no time and with almost no maintenance. Also, I'd hate to give up these spots

I agree that the gear makes the fight different. A 2.5# smallie in a river on ML spinning rod is much 'better fight' than a 5# LMB in a lake on a HF casting rod with 50# braid. But mostly, I am saddened at the thought that a number of you haven't had the opportunity to catch a SMB.

Maybe instead of 'all-in', you go 3/4 in. Compass or Slayer Propel 10 at bit less cost.....and keep the boat. Boat is awesome, but yak is too. Best of both worlds?

There are some great threads on here about boat buying, but I'm not too good at digging them up. If the dealer is reputable and has a track record of good service (customer and maintenance), I'd be fairly comfortable...at least, a lot more confident than buying from a FB or Craigslist stranger. I never heard of a survey....is that like a CarFax?

I often wonder from the other side of the ball....why don't teams start playing their 2-minute offense in the first quarter? Hurry up the whole game? Sure looks easy late in the 4th a lot of the time

Maybe will happen this year

Probably all in my head, but something seems to switch here in mid-December: best bite switches from blade bait to Ned stuff....almost overnight. This one on a Baby Goat. Caught a few on regular size rage bugs, but the better fish were eating smaller bites.