Choporoz

I wasn't really speaking about the rods....but that can work, too

Maybe you just need to upgrade

Good question that I often consider when I'm on the water. The thing about a good spot is that unless/until environmental conditions change....it is still a good spot. I may tend to revisit spots in or near moving water more frequently than those in still water. A great laydown in a tidal river might reload constantly throughout the day even if it is getting fished continually. Same in a river. A lake without current is different. But the fact is that fish move....I think we forget about this sometimes when fishing. Some move only a little over the course of a season. Some move all over...all the time. So a good spot can still reload with different fish after just a bit of a cooldown.

This was my reaction, too. Last Saturday I had no less than six good bites that never made to the boat. Terrible hook up day for me. Five were Olympic class acrobats, flying well above the surface. One, however was quote memorable. I was fishing brush in 17-20 foot of water. I cast t-rig out and waited for it to hit the bottom. It didn't. Never felt a thing. I slowly turned reel handle a few times looking for feedback from a fish or branch...anything. Nothing. Increased reeling speed, with laser focus on rod and line. Felt like line had been cut clean off....big bass had ate my lure and swam right at me. Never felt it until she was almost under my kayak. By the time I realized and caught up, my hookset was weak and a quick surface broach and another one was gone. If you landed fish, you figured out how to detect a bite better than you acknowledge. I won't jump into the stretch and sensitivity arguments....but I will mention that braid is a lot cheaper than most realize at first....at least it was for me.....for me, a spool of braid lasts 3, 4, maybe 5 times longer than other lines.

I can't say enough good things about my Quantum Smoke reels. I have 8 or 10 and I like them a lot better than the Tatulas, Lewis, Abu, and Okumas I have. You can get them from reputable vendors on eBay for well under MSRP. In fact I picked up another new S3 last week for $102 shipped.

Of the 7 or 8 characteristics of a reel that I consider, color is number12. I used 65# braid on frog rod years ago, but I no longer see a need to use anything more than 50.

Shoulda gone fishing. We tried to tell ya about the joy of letting the yard go 'natural'...just a couple weeks ago ....but....no....someday maybe you'll come around ?

Where to launch can be such a challenging question on a large body of water. Even moreso in the spring, when spawn stages vary up and down the lake or river. Fish are acting different....temps range widely, and clarity can be all over the map. I, too, made wrong ramp decision this weekend. I opted for what I thought was best temps, but clarity downlake seemed to be a bigger factor.

Probably GP SKRT Cut-R. I'm always amazed at the fluke popularity. Aside from a couple amazing days, I very rarely have much success with it.

+1 Depending on your unit and map programs, you may want to load up the maps for your destination before you go. One of my biggest complaints about my EchoMap is how long it take to do updates

I'm limited to eight in my kayak the way I'm set up now. I'm having a heck of a time narrowing it to just eight for a tournament tomorrow....facing a couple game time decisions

- use with (or diy new) lure retriever - as mentioned above, put new tip, or cut to next eye and see what it works for. I had a 7'MHF rod that is now an excellent 6'10" HF frog rod. - attach microfiber cleaning cloth and dust ceiling corners and ceiling fans - beat rugs on clothesline - tomato stakes - diy kayak safety flag

What if it isn't just digital companies? Maybe the rest of us are all AI....you might be the only one left. In fact I'm pretty sure I know of maybe a few that are only artificially intelligent.

@J Francho and @WRB i got some years ago based on glowing reports here, but couldn't get bit on them.....probably didn't give them a fair shake.....

I'd be interested in hearing his interpretation the 'agreement'. I'm guessing this is more communication problem than anything....compounded by the philosophical differences in opinions about harvesting fish.

...and logs...and rocks....and docks....don't ask me how I know. Great picture here https://www.foxtailcustomrods.com/post/high-sticking-101

The shaming hasn't diminished in the past 14 years. If you see a pic of someone holding a bass in a kitchen or backyard on FB, it is guaranteed to bring out someone to complain very quickly.

Appreciate the additional info and perspective, @RDB. My bias comes from someone who never enjoyed boating unless there was fishing at the center of focus. And, as a relatively new lakefront owner....and as someone who spends most of his time on the water fishing from a kayak....so admittedly not really a position of much understanding....good thread despite the divergences

I fished a dock last weekend that had a lift with a pontoon on it. About fell out of my yak when I got around the front of the dock and saw not one, but two 300s mounted on the stern. Would have like to have seen that wot.....from a distance

Lol. New study funded by Marlboro finds that cigarettes actually cure cancer. Even the New Hampshire Legislature report based conclusions on boat mfr 'studies'. I don't have the science to back up my suppositions, but I'd theorize that wake boats passing within 150 foot of shoreline (almost?) always contribute more to erosion than if there weren't passing wake boats.

Do not underestimate my backlash skills....nor my impatience in pulling them out Would three 5% degradations within 12 inches of line still be 5%? Or is it now some factor of 3 times five percent? We need an engineer in here Hmmmm.....40 years ago this month I was in a statics class looking at a problem similar to this. Not long after, the university asked me to take a year or two off...lol

Mostly highly annoying. But....when you are in a kayak or canoe not too far off a seawall when a wake boat passes, it's a whole 'nother level of frightening. The comeback waves colliding with more incoming can be insane, partly because the effect is nearly impossible to predict and prepare for. I admit that my dislike for wakeboats went up considerably after I became an owner of shoreline on a recreational lake. There is really not a good comparison between a ski boat and a wake boat.

I use braid to leader with some pretty micro guides. I tie Crazy Alberto, which is probably quite a bit bigger than an FG which I haven't used. I guess I just don't get irritated by the knot like you do. Sounds like the answer is to skip the leader. But BM strongly disagrees.

Every mark is a bass until you don't get a bite. ?

Complex physics with a pile of variables. I do believe that hooksets from a seated position in a kayak are considerably more challenging than when standing on a bass boat. Forget the angles for a minute. Even if the hookset energy doesn't move the kayak much, the yak is already susceptible to greater motion from current, wind, tide, wakes, etc. The angles from horizontal are an issue, but so are the range of angles from straight ahead. I make crazy, often ineffective, hooksets over my shoulder that I'd never have to attempt from a boat.