Choporoz

I like it, I think. First thought is does it fold up somewhat compact? Not sure how to fit that in the SUV.

Might be interesting to see how all kayak bass fishermen and women rank these factors. I think boaters might be surprised. -Initial cost -Storage -Maintenance Time -Maintenance Cost -Convenience -Increased accessibility -Exercise -'Feel closer to nature'/The 'kayak experience' I may be missing some big factors. But I think there's a lot fewer than imagined who would be in a boat if they could/would afford to buy one.

Why not? Not doubting you....I just can't wrap my head around why a misaligned bait couldn't cause twist in either direction. If you are right, however, maybe I need to design a bait with hydrodynamics such that it would spin against 'normal' twist and always be untwisting itself. I am going to be rich.

I wonder if reeling against the drag ever untwists the line.....

Strike King 7" Thumper has been a staple for me for years. It is my way of downsizing when CutR isn't quite getting it done. The Thumper is thin, but not exactly finesse....it is 7", but fishes like it's 5". It moves water, but can be crawled with minimal wag. Not quite curly tail...more than cut tail or speed worm tail. It appears to be getting phased out for some reason....or maybe just supply chain issues...I'm not sure, but they're getting harder to find. I'm stocking up now. But wondering if anyone has what they consider to be a similar alternative.

SK under the radar? I stumbled into Menace Worms on TW. They have ICAST by the listing. Haven't seen anything else about them, but so far it is the only thing that has intrigued me lately. Looks like something @Cattwould design.

Narrow weights, thinner worms, hooks without big bend at the top; I really like Owner Twistlock in grass. Light weights are a good suggestion, but depending on the grass and slim rigging, you may need/want heavier weights. Rip it if fish are active and near tops; work it very 'gently', if they are on the bottom. Sometimes you just need to concentrate on the outside edges.

+1 I spend a lot of time prepping stuff, but it never gets very organized. I dive in a couple times a week with great intentions, but 15-20 minutes in and I'm so done. My stuff is ready and in the car year round, so gear is mostly ready to go all the time. Regular tweaking, minor maintenance and re-tying leaders is as much of a chore as I can take each time.

I really like the Catch, Photo, Release aspect. Not having to worry about livewell management or culling. The apps cull automatically. The fish are back in the water after just a minute or so. Of course there have been some low-lifes that have cheated and the rules are continually adapted. The boards have improved over the years and the judges can see the meta data on the photos (time and location), so I'd like to think I can trust the system.

Fished a 45 yak tournament yesterday in 95 degree heat. We had a choice of five local reservoirs. I had never been on three of them. The other two are somewhat similar - I like both, one sets up better for me in fall. I chose the one I do best in summer. It's a fairly clear lake with well defined weed lines throughout. Lots of wood, but mostly inside the 20 foot contour lines. Outside grass edge is in 15-16 FOW around most of the lake. Surface temps were 86 at 6:30, and hit 89 by late afternoon. I headed out to a favored wood spot, but passing a point, I found stacks of fish on a point at 17 - 18 feet, so I just stopped and started there. I caught a couple 16 inchers early on the outside weed lines; casting CutRs and 7" Thumpers into the grass and gently bringing out to the edge and stop. That turned out to be the ticket all day. I actually tried to shake off the second 16. There was a fish twice his size following it in. Needless to say, I spent way too long at that spot trying to find her again. At 1030, I only had three keepers (12 in min). Then picked up one of the better fish I'd ever caught in that lake, right at 22. At that point, i was confident in the pattern and finally relaxed a little. Of course that's when things shut down for a couple hours. I caught a few 13-15s when it picked up again, then hooked a 20" kicker near the end. All the bass yesterday were in a foul mood, nearly every one jumped off the board. Spent a lot of time getting jabbed by fins while trying to keep them under control. Fortunately, none got back in the water before getting the pictures. First win since October felt pretty sweet.

There may be times when an alternative to Rage Bug is called for. I'll probably never know. I have had one tied on since it came out maybe 7 years ago. I admit there are times when I force it, but if I change, I usually go to a completely different form. I have had some moderate success with DBomb and Sweet Beaver, Bandito, etc. But never enough to buy more. I do keep some Pit Bosses around, but they don't get wet a whole lot. In my mind, I feel they are more of a jig alternative than a Rage Bug alternative.

My earliest recollection of seeing that is probably 20 years ago. There were stacks of various heights at random places along the Canadian highway between Vermillion Bay and Red Lake. For years, I thought maybe it was something symbolic for First Nation people. Apparently, it's just something people do at random, sometimes out of the way places. Sort of cool, I guess. Like Kilroy. People who see it, notice and wonder about who was there before them; without the more permanent, vandalism of something like graffiti.

Hard to catch fish that aren't where you are fishing.

Again, I am not familiar with Hoodoo, but my Hobie will pedal through emergent weeds or pads. The Native will not. However, it isn't all that difficult to pull the drive up on either and just paddle or push.

Never heard of Hoodoo. I have a Hobie (fin) and a Native (pedal). I prefer the Hobie. Noting in that paragraph should be construed to mean that I think a Hoodoo is better than Seastream. Koz has been down on the Hobie reverse for a long time. I am not. And I don't recall ever hearing a Hobie owner say they don't like the pull cable reverse. Would it be nice to be able to switch to reverse without the cable? Sure, I suppose. Would I swap fins for prop to get it? Not a chance.

Been patiently waiting for Starlink. I had not heard about the deposit increase. That stinks....I was procrastinating getting on the list since the available date kept slipping. I have Viasat now, and while speeds are OK, I'm paying much more than Starlink monthly. The biggest reason I can't wait to switch is the data limits. When we hit 100GB, we get throttled back to 1996 dialup speeds until the end of the month. Satellite is the only viable option I know of until some sort of ground based rural broadband infrastructure becomes available. Honestly, I don't know how folks out here managed during the remote schooling/working days of the pandemic. Not many can afford satellite internet.

I didn't know anything about forward facing sonar when I watched Patrick Walters on Lake Fork a couple years ago. Watch some of that performance and you can't doubt the value of the technology. When you can steer a jerkbait into a trophy and stop it right in front of its face, fishing has changed. I'm not saying I want it or even agree it is right. But I wouldn't question whether it will likely put more better fish in the boat.

Do you really think the answer could be 'no'?

They sprayed my lake two months ago and I had no idea until the weeds died after about a foot of growth. They're coming back nicely now. This is my first year on the lake. Late last summer, the grass was awesome. Rarely emergent, well defined lines...consistent depths for outside edges.... I was pretty worried when they suddenly died back, but I'm ok now...lol. Could well be that they spray every year, and I just had no idea.

Oh...that is different. My club has a SMB river tournament every year. Hate it. I'm too old. The good fish require long floats with light 'rapids'. (They call them 'riffles', but much of the year, I think they're rapids.) Fun when I was younger. Less so now.

This thread is a good reminder. I gave my hand paddle to my wife. Now that she has a 'paddle holder', I need to get my hand paddle back. (Curiously, her Native Propel came with no way to secure a paddle.) I go for months without touching a paddle. But one time last year, I had a cable fail on the Potomac .... downstream. If I didn't have a paddle, I'd probably still be adrift....maybe somewhere in the Caribbean about now. I always have a paddle with me....and usually a Backwater hand paddle, too....even though I (almost) never use them. I keep a paddle in my truck all the time, so I probably would never have to make the choice....but...would I go without one....probably....but I'd also be nervous all day.

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/search/?q="Daiwa Tatula 100"&quick=1

I enjoy watching tournaments where every minute of competition, the players have to make decisions about whether to target LMB or SMB. Particularly when there's some distance between them.

Sorry...probably should leave the sarcasm to @Deleted account. The simple question has an enormously complex answer....or maybe no real answer. Some bass go 'deep' soon after the post spawn feeding frenzy. Some never go very deep. Deep is relative and means something different on every body of water....even differs in places on same body of water. Where I was fishing yesterday, the bass would have had to travel nearly a mile to get to water more than 6 feet deep....but they did seem to find depressions and cuts only a foot deeper than surrounding areas. I fished a lake the other day where bigger fish were caught around 18 foot....but caught big numbers in 5-7 FOW during a very active feeding window. Bait, structure, weeds, temps at depth, current, etc. all play a role in what depth you might find bass.

Late yesterday surface temp was 88.6. I didn't catch any bass in less than three feet of water. I did catch a couple between four and five foot deep. So....I'd venture to say maybe 88?