Choporoz

Same here.....but I suspect maybe a small part of the reason for me is that I quit throwing it? Admittedly, any topwater outside of mats and pads is a big hole in my game.

Feast or famine....cashed some checks, won an important tourny (to me), but failed to limit on high confidence waters a few times. Got a place on a nice lake and found some good fish while fun fishing there....we picked a good spot, so....good year

I was on the high school shooting team. We had a range in the basement of the school. (Mid 70s)

I bought a DX 744C to fish jigs from a yak and never got to liking it much. It is relgated to spinnerbaits, jikas and swingheads. I wish I could pinpoint what I don't like about it. Sensitive enough, but never felt balanced well for slow bottom contact. I ended up with Kistler Heliums and love them for jigs. Used to be that their sales were at your price point, but I'm not sure anymore since the regular price jumped. Hopefully you can get to a decent B&M and handle a bunch of different rods.

I approach these conversations the same way I did when I was a bowler...and when I was a golfer. It is one thing to dominate consistently on your home course, lake, lanes....quite a different thing to dominate at different venue every tournament.

With regular KVD Line lube, YZH is a tremendous value....up to 12#. Even KVD L&L doesn't do much to tame 15# YZH....which makes sense since it is probably equivalent to 90# Fluoro

I made a cross country move in my late 40s. I took what I could fit in a large sedan. Everything else was gotten rid of. Sooo liberating...ever since, I get more pleasure from getting rid of stuff than from keeping it

Great advice above. Couple other things to consider regarding hooks. Make sure those points are sharp! Also...I use 40# braid to leader with craws and beavers/bugs quite a bit. When I switched to lighter wire hooks, specifically, Owner Twistlock Light, my hook up rate went way up.

I guess gullible fishermen are the mother reinvention

I think the 'rules' about treble hook lures and braid and fast tips has more to do with physics around leverage than about 'ripping hooks out'

I know it isn't rational, but I have zero confidence in Rage Swimmers....I will go way out of my way to get Keitech...or use 'wrong' colors or sizes of Keithechs...just to avoid Rage Swimmers. If desperate, I'd probably go with different style like Rock Vibe Shad, of Lake Fork Magic Shad if I couldn't get Keithechs. Lure confidence is a funny thing....

Agreed...1/16 Spider head with finesse-y worm comes through all but the worst snot grass. T-rigged small worms with1/16 cylinder weights also work well in most grass

Is that the important question? Or is the important question, "Even if fish can see the line....Do they care?" I believe that all but the blindest bass can see 4 lb test line in most water.

I take eight rods in my kayak. I will pick out the eight rods I think I want in my hand that day based on body of water, time of year, weather, etc. With 8 rods, there's guaranteed to be some redundancy and overlap. However, Newtons 7th law of fishing guarantees that within 45 minutes of launching, I will be kicking myself for not choosing to carry a particular rod that day.

No superstitions, but rituals? Absolutely. Most involving preparation, loading, unloading, etc. If one step gets off track, my day can go south quickly. If someone 'helps' in middle of process...or even starts a conversation while loading/launching, I'm almost certain to forget something. I haven't documented, but I'd bet if I made step by step instructions for load to launch of my yak and gear for a tournament, there could be 500 different steps....I'm not too far on the OCD spectrum, but a little actually helps when you're old and your memory sux

So...I'm probably the outlier around here. I always rig the Rage Bug horizontally on a chatterbait, but a few of the better and more experienced anglers on here generally prefer vertical. I leave the arms on, but I leave both ends attached...they don't flap. Pearl or white is the only color I need almost all the time. ( @roadwarrior and @A-Jay are the two who helped me take chatterbait from bane to favorite in short time)

I've used paddle tails, Zakos, grubs, rage tail craws, and I don't remember what else. Nothing ever outfished a Rage Bug....so that's all I use now

I'm with ya, dmv. I hate the cold, so I'm pretty committed to not complaining about the heat...but the humidity here in NOVA the past few days is something. Last night, I was sitting outside after dark enjoying a cigar. It was only 74 degrees, but I was still drenched in sweat after 20 minutes.

SKRT is all I need in 10" worms.....10 in Anacondas...or downsize to 10 in Thumpers, if necessary. I have a few Recons left that I use on occasion, but stopped buying them....they catch fish, but they break if you look at them wrong.

Parents both smoked a lot when I was growing up...in the house, car, restaurants.... Dad quit in around 50...Mom probably closer to 60. Neither had related health issues. While trying to quit, Dad tried smoking cigars and figured it'd be a safe transition, but he started inhaling cigars, so...not so much. I chewed Red Man and dipped Skoal for 15 years in the Navy....quit cold turkey. Started smoking occasional cigar several years later, while still in the Service....probably about 16 years ago. Now, I average 2 cigars on a workday...up to 6, maybe 7 on a fishing day.

Couple thoughts.. .based just on some images online, the gt56 has much better definition....but that transducer looks huge; no way that is fitting in my Compass ducer hole, unless BerleyPro already has dome some magic for it. I guess getting unit without transducer gives you the option to get older gen ducer (gt52 or gt54) instead of forcing you into current top of the line.

I love it. The Compass was a real challenge to put on the Durango. Not just heavy, but the rudder fixed underneath meant I couldn't stand it on the stern (and slide it up) like my other kayaks. I have no room for a trailer at my townhouse and this turned out to be great solution.

Some tournaments allow 30 or 60 minutes after end time to upload pictures. Most that I have fished do not. It is your responsibility to get to a place with service before cut off time.

Thule Hulivator