Fishingmickey

Power poles? Serious lithium battery for the trolling motor, Maybe upsize the trolling motor for those windy days. Rod holders for trolling. FM

E or I model if they are in good to great working condition, go for it (especially if it is the "E"). FM

Sending positive thoughts your way Catt! Hope you and your wife are feeling better soon! Fishingmickey

7" Echomap has side scan and down scan and chart plotter besides the traditional sonar, I don't know what features the 7" Striker comes with. FM

I'll just add this, The seat is everything in a kayak. if your not comfortable fishing after a couple of hours and your legs and other lower extremity areas are falling asleep or worse, your not going to like it. Seriously you need to demo as many as possible. You don't give your size in your post or location in your profile. Kayak's are weight sensitive. You can get into trouble with one fairly easily. How much "stuff" are you planning on fishing with. Rod's, reels electronics etc. How are the water conditions where your going to be fishing. Open water, lots of weeds, shore line plant growth, (big lake, small pond, rivers etc.) How windy is it? So take all of those things into mind when making your decision on what to buy. There is a lot to consider before pulling the trigger, IMHO tournament Kayak fishing is a blast and very challenging. I've been doing it for over ten years now. Good luck on finding what your looking for. Fishingmickey

I received my order Tuesday. Going to give'em a road test Sunday. FM

IMHO I think side imaging really comes into it's own when scouting out cover or structure. So you can find those spots well outside of the down scan or traditional sonar. It's much easier to find drains, road beds, brush piles, rocks or small humps. and your covering a fair amount of ground 50' to 100' out from each side. Note: my experience is out of a kayak so no bow mounted trolling motor that is turning. So moving slowly in a kayak and using side scan is very helpful in finding those types of structure or cover. FM

Heck Abu, Just fork over the dough for a Calcutta Conquest 200 - 300 and be done with it. Or heaven forbid get a Diawa Lexa! Oh the irony and agony of making a decision. If you want the inside skinny find a used Curado 300E or EJ. The old school Curado greenie! FM

Congratulations Lrgmouthshad!!! A good friend of mine won the 7th hour. FM

Glad you made it back safely, Koz! Having fished lake Fork more then a few times and in very breezy conditions you painted a very accurate picture of how dangerous that lake can be in a kayak. I really hope that the next few days are less eventful on the drama side. Looking forward to hearing more of your fishing reports (hopefully with a Lake Fork monster pic.) Best, Fishingmickey

Thanks, Mike

Some beautiful Maine Bass, Swamp Girl!

Toxic, The subtle differences are for where in the box they go. The back wall dividers will have a rounded edge on one side. the middle one will have both bottom edges square. The front ones will have a rounded edge on the front and a notch on the top for lid clearance. I think to Plano ones are also marked Front, Middle and Back on the tab. Hope that helped! FM

I saw that TW is carrying them. Read the description and the two reviews and looked at the pictures of the rods. Looked like very nice rods especially for that price point. I may have to pull the trigger on one. Regards, Fishingmickey

I've maybe hit a plateau and will continue to try and maintain. I feel like I have a ton of knowledge and I continue to learn everything I can. I wish I had more time to fish. Work and life's obligations. I fish, so there for I am. FM

Wow, do I weigh in or not. I think todays rod's graphite rods from a good manufacturer are plenty sensitive to detect bites. Bite detection is a learned skill. I look at it this way. Did I reel or move that lure into something or did it feel like something alive "hit" it. If you want to learn bite detection you have to use either a soft plastic (worm or your favorite creature bait) or a jig. You'll learn to feel that tick, thump or mushy nothingness that indicates a fish has inhaled your bait. Sometimes it is just a feeling that the bait got heavy or the line is getting tight. Put in some serious time with either of the above and your ability to detect bites will greatly increase. The bigger fish will sometimes be the hardest to detect because of their ability to suck a bait into their mouth without moving. Sometines your line will just start moving off without feeling anything or other times it will just be a "light tick" and a heavy feeling. Set the hook! Swing/sweeps are free. I have to add my .02 in on the under lying line debate in this thread. I preface this is just my opinion! Braid is both the least sensitive and the most sensitive. Fluorocarbon is the best for transmitting bites on bottom contact bites. On the fall it transmits better due to it's being stiffer (less limp) then monofilament or braid. hence the term "jump" (mine line jumped a foot when that hydrilla gorilla bit) that is used when getting a hard bite on the fall. Monofilament transmits bite detection almost as well as fluoro does. I don't use the co-ploymer lines at all. I imagine that they are the same as fluoro or mono. Braided line being very limp has no bite transmission when it is anything other then taut/tight to the lure. Braided line when taut lets you feel everything that's happening at the end of your line. So it is also the best when taut and least when limp. In summation I use mostly fluorocarbon for "normal" casting and retrieving jig or worm bottom contact fishing. If I am pitching or flipping to heavy cover or through matted or heavy weeds with a heavier weight or jig then it is braid and I am tight to my lure through out the cast and retrieve. That's my .02. Fishingmickey

Hi Rboat, I wouldn't try jumping it. I'd be very scared of blowing something up or letting "the smoke" out. I think you'd stand a good chance at frying your lithium battery if you tried jumping it and maybe even cause a explosion of the lead acid battery, or battery fire/fry your lithium battery. It would also depend on the size of the motor and battery rating. A trolling battery in lithium Ion wouldn't be rated for the amp draw needed to turn over your starter. Depending on the size of your trolling motor full load amperage rating verses your motor starter. Regards, FM

Different year models maybe? FM

If it is smaller shad an underspin has worked for me. I have also had luck burning a spinner bait through the school. But you have to get the bait there when they are boiling. Once they go down the party is over. The caveat is, I haven't had that happen over weeds this is in open water like 30-60' deep. So cookie baking it is, Tollhouse please. I'll bring the milk. FM

Mary Anne

Hi Abu, I think you prefer trolling, not just as a fishing method. I have both ( Met's, Bantam's, Zillions and Alpha's of recent vintaqe) and they are all stellar reels. FM

Ohhh Koz, You've done it now... Good luck on Fork. It is a beast of a lake to fish. We should talk before you go. FM

Does the the lake you fished last time have Zebra Mussels? Their shells are like razor blades. FM

I'm kinda like F14, I bomb cast is when I am throwing deep diving crank baits. I used 30# braid and when it bird's nests on a bomb cast I have launched some of deep diving crankbaits into low earth orbit. I also frequently bomb cast chatter baits and lipless cranks. It's more about covering water then anything else. FM

Beautiful Perch, not to mention the multiude of Basses. Fine work, Swamp gal! FM