Fishingmickey

Kistler - built in Magnolia, TX. Excellent customer service! FM

I think there is more rods and reels listed "sorry, out of stock" then in stock on the Digitaka site. I've done some serious perusing since the dollar is strong against the yen. FM

Those exclusions kinda suck the life out of it for me. Oh well, still better then a kick in the pants. FM

Well TN, I don't use it for flipping heavy cover. But I do like using Fluoro for bottom contact baits and increased sensitivity, because it sinks better. It leaves a lot less bow in the line then mono. I do think it is hands down better because it is heavier and stiffer then mono. I've been playing with it for several years now and there is a big difference in brands and quality. I've been down the buy the cheap stuff route. The three best I have found so far has been the Tatsu, Diawa Samurai and Seaguar Invisx. I've tried the Sunline shooter and sniper. They are good too, but I don't think they are as good as those first three. FM

I've had a pipe dream of building a fishing catamaran kayak like the Blue Sky except out of carbon fiber/kevlar and having the pontoons detachable. Something along the lines of 12-14' long and 40" wide, pedal and the ability to add trolling motor driven. I've thought about this before there were Blue Sky catamaran "kayaks". FM

I am paying more then a hundred dollars a spool. 1000 yrd spool of 12# Diawa Samurai is 120.00. 1000 yrds of Seaguar Invisx is 106.00. A 1000 yrd spool of 12# Tatsu is 241.00 on TW. I do get a lot of changes out of a spool though. FM

Gregorym, You've gotten a couple of great recommendations, The Diawa Aird-X and Berkley Lighting. I don't think Berkely is still making the lighting rod. Berkely is now calling it the Shock rod. It has some bad reviews due to the plastic reel seat breaking. Shimano has the Sellus for about 50 and the Convergence for 80. I have had a Sellus for several years (baiutcasting rod). Falcon has an HD model that is 70-80 depending on which one you get. If it is anything like the higher end Falcon rods it would be a very nice rod for the price. Shakesphere/Pure Fishing has the Uglystik relabeled as GX2. It is probably a lot more sensitive the the earlier composite "unbreakable" ones. It's about 50 or so. As far as size and action. Something between 6'6" and 7' Medium/fast or MH/Fast. If your fishing much for smaller panfish. I'd go with the medium if you do much crappie or panfishing. FM

I've got a local store (Outdoor Alphas) here that I go by and visit every couple of weeks or so. They've got a decent selection and yes the prices are on the higher side. But I can go on my lunch break and I usually drop a few bucks (50-100) each time I stop. They do stock a good selection of Megabass lures. FM

You might try a jigging spoon like a Cotton Cordell, Acme or Hopkins. They're good for a winter time bait when the bass are schooled up deep and lethargic. FM.

I'm not a fan of Miliken fishing. But he has a you tube video out that has a small swim bait rigged with a jig hook and a nail weight. Juggle or something like that. It looks very interesting to me. FM

People that never do any more then they get paid for never get paid any more then they do. FM

I have a couple of glass crankbait rods. I have the Curado glass 7'2" mhm crank bait rod and a Dobyns Champion 7'3" CB glass. Both do a excellent job casting crankbaits a long way and are a pleasure to fish with. I'm very happy with both rods. I just recently got a Alpha Anglers Chatterbound and it is very similar in action, feel and performance to Curado and Dobyns. I use 12lb Diawa Samurai FC or Tatsu FC for most of my cranking. If I am going XD6 size and up then I upsize to 14-17# test FC. Fishingmickey

You coil it neatly and I stow it next to the seat. I have about 40 - 50' out when I am anchored in 20' of water. FM

I use a 8# dumbbell and 75' 1/4" or 5/16" line. has been my kayak anchor set up for years. That will normally hold me in 20-25' of water unless it is blowing stink with big waves. Then it will drag FM

You've got the right idea!

Slayer Max 10 propel. If you want to go deeper down the rabbit hole add a NK180 on the back. Going really deep? Put a XI3 on the bow and have spot lock. https://nativewatercraft.com/pages/slayer-propel-max-10 https://newportvessels.com/products/kayak-motor-nk180?cmp_id=17453038517&adg_id=140073966160&kwd=newport trolling motor&device=c&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhIWGkvfu-gIVqhNMCh3aaQRzEAAYASACEgIY6_D_BwE https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/motorguide-xi3-freshwater-gps-kayak-motor That should give you more to think about. FM

I have a Diawa Zillion on a Poison Adrena. FM

Tank's a lot for the update AJay! FM

1/2 oz chartreuse spinner bait, Fat free shad crank bait in citrus, 3/16oz T-rigged 7" Pumpkin-seed Berkley power worm bit down to 6". 1/4oz jig head with a 3" smoke colored grub. FM

Casts_by_fly is pretty much spot on in my opinion. The 18 Bantam MGL you might find for under 200 if you can find one JDM. The Metanium or 22 bantam is just over two hundred. Or as Fishtank said the Zillion HD or SV bats way, way above it's price range. I'd get the zillion HD if your wanting to cast for Striper too. FM

Hi AlabamaSpot, I tie the improved clinch with Fluoro. It just works well for me. Six turns and loop through the loop and gently cinch it tight. Same knot I've been tying for many years. I don't think it kinks at the knot where it's under tension. When I first started using Fluorocarbon and had some backlashes. Which I picked out in my old style monofilament way by tugging and picking. I found that I'd have an unexplained line break from where I had kinked the line from pulling on the line to pick out the back lash. I still backlash with fluorocarbon but now I pick out the backlash much more gently and the unexplained line breaking issue went away. So my deduction was don't kink the fluorocarbon. I'm not sure how hard the OP is setting the hook. But braid (again IMHO) breaks pretty easy with a sudden shock load. Like a hard hook set or chunking a heavy bait and having a birds nest or line dig-in suddenly stop it in mid-cast. I'm fine with the disagreement hence the IMHO. I don't tie the palomar on Fluoro or Mono, so no real world experience with it. Regards, FM

IMHO... Fluorocarbon line and Palomar knots don't play well together. Braid and Palomar do play well together. Fluoro hates to be kinked. FM

What WRB is saying is use a centering pin spring attached to the eye of the jig and take a piece of plastic worm. Screw one end of the plastic worm onto the center pin spring and take the other end and shove it over the hook point. Hope that helps. Fishingmickey

I use mostly 7:1 or 8:1 reels. When I am throwing a deep diving crank bait. Like DD22 or 6XD - 8XD I do prefer a slower retrieve ratio reel. Like MNFisher said it's about torque. With a hard pulling bait it is much easier to reel a 5 or 6 ratio reel then a higher speed like 7-8 ratio. I don't burn big crankbait's I want them thumping slow, deep and making bottom contact. That means reeling slow and steady. IMHO that is when a slower retrieve ratio reel shines. FM

Hello Thunder, I do have the Avid Trek in spinning. I have used it several times. It's a fine rod IMHO. It has a excellent case too. I've used it the last couple of vacations to Maine. It's hard to tell much difference from a one piece rod. FM