Fishingmickey

PA14, I trailer and drive a Toyota highlander. Trailer is the way to go IMHO. I completely rig (rods, crate, chair, trolling motor, electronics, etc.etc.) the kayak in the parking lot. I tied off a 30' line from the bow handle on the yak and tie a loop in the other end and loop it over my winch support. Have all the straps off and back down and float it off. Get out tie the bow line off to the dock or beach it out of the way. Go park the car and hustle back, get in the kayak and go. My rig and unrig time is usually about 20 minutes. Launch and retrieve time is probably at or under two minutes. When I pull out. I back the trailer down so the rear bunk ir right at water level. Then I guide the kayak back onto the bunks. I pull it up on the bunks with the line rest of the way and pull out fully rigged. I make it a serious point not to be a ramp hawg. Fishingmickey.

Gad's you guy's are killing me. I am actually salivating here..... FM

Those look like they would kill the trout at night under the lights. FM

Ohioguy, For me it is more of a weight thing when matching a rod to a lure. A WP 90 weighs in at 1/2 oz. It's on the top side of weight range for a M rod and middle to bottom of the range for a MH. Your using mono which has some forgiveness with stretching and it floats. I'd think a medium in a fast action would be good or a MH in a moderate action would work well too. Medium in moderate might be too bendy for my taste. Action ratings between rods and even between different models in the same brands. I find the Dobyn's Sierra to be on the softer side action wise for the rating. St. Croix Mojo bass is a stiffer rod for the same rating IMHO. It is a trial and error thing for me until I find something that casts well, balances well and allows me good control of the fish after it's hooked. If I'm throwing a plopper it is close to heavy cover, along reeds or over submerged grass. I want some backbone when I hook a fish that is liable to do it's best to bury itself in the closest pile of the above. For me the answer is a Medium Heavy rod and mono line (Sunline Shooter Defier Armillo 13#). Hope my TL/DR post helped. Fishingmickey

Ever thought about a kayak? Not sure how your strength and balance is. But sliding a kayak into and out of the bed of a truck is fairly easy and a cart to roll it down to waters edge. I imagine the waters in Northern Idaho might be pretty chilling for taking a unintended dip. So that might be a serious drawback. Not sure what options are available in your area. But watching for auctions w/boats and searching classifieds can often find a gem of a deal. Especially true if you or a good friend (that works for beer) have any mechanical skills to repair a motor that has been sitting. Where there is a will there is a way! And god helps those who help themselves and others. FM

Hi bassh8er, I've been to Alaska several times. All of those times have been spent in the area your going to. I hope all four days of guided trips are not just for Halibut. One good day will get you enough Halibut for a year. You really need a boat to fish the Kenai right. There are very few places to fish from shore. I have caught fish from the Kasilof river at what I believe is called the peoples hole. This is the time of year when the Silvers are starting to run. You can catch Silver's on egg's. If your bringing your own tackle and planning on fishing for salmon. It should be fairly heavy, like 20# test. Bank fishing can be pretty crowded and you need to control your fish. A drift boat trip on the Kasilof should be a lot of fun. you might even get into a late season King. You'll catch a lot of Bo's (Rainbows) and some are decent. Good luck and take some pictures! Fishingmickey

Casio G-shock has been my choice for many years. FM

Hi Bulldog, I've been thinking of adding the Silverwolf to my arsenal. One of the things holding me back is the lack of line caoacity. Do you know of a good compatible spool that would hold 80-100yards of say 10-12lb Tatsu? Fishingmickey

Rapala's Salt water Skitter walk in white has done very well for me. It is slightly larger then the freshwater version and walks-the-dog very easily. Fishingmickey

I read through this thread and I think junk fishing as a term needs to be defined. The way I have understood the term "junk fishing" is junk fishing is going down the bank fishing what is (the junk) in front of you. So IMHO a kayak is excellent for junk fishing! Add a trolling motor, pedal drive and electronics and you've got a junk fishing machine. Fishingmickey

Beautiful Bass, Since you know the weight you can probably extrapolate the length and girth. Texas parks and Wildlife has a size chart that may be helpful. Fishingmickey https://tpwd.texas.gov/fishboat/fish/recreational/catchrelease/bass_length_weight.phtml

Well he ain't saying much here. Haven't checked out his "U" tube channel. Wonder if he is fishing fer subscribers?

Yes, but you use Yo-Zuri Hybrid which is the "big game" co-polymer equivalent. Both test way above the rated breaking strength on the box! I am teasing you just a bit Ken! FM

Welcome aboard! I think one of the best things to do when your learning is how to divide techniques. IMHO the first thing to learn to fish a a Texas rigged worm. Just keep fishing it until you can detect a bite. You'll learn what it feels like when a fish hits the bait. It will feel alive, not like you dragged it into something underwater. It will teach you how to keep in contact with your bait through out the entire cast. Watch your line, how does it move as your lure is sinking, if you see it moving to the side or stopping before it hit bottom. It is likely a fish has sucked it in. What does it feels like when you hit weeds, wood or pick up bottom slime. The thing is when a fish hits or picks up your bait you can tell. Also if you aren't sure if it if a fish or weeds, set that hook. Swings are free! Once you've learned how to fish a T-rig, fishing a jig is the same technique. Now you've learned how to fish bottom contact baits! Good luck! Fishingmickey

Riphair, Fluorocarbon line really hates to be kinked at all. When it is kinked hard like tugging on the line to get out a backlash it creates a very weak spot at the kink. When you pick out backlashes it has to be done gently. I've had the same problem happen to me and wondered how in the heck did the line break that deep in the spool. It was because I was picking out backlashes the same way I used to with mono. Once I changed my technique the problem went away. Just be gentle when your picking out a backlash and don't tug hard when it comes tight. Also make sure you get the backlash completely out before you crank the line back in. Fluorocarbon really is good line, it just has it's own set of idiosyncrasies. Once you learn the do's and don'ts it's pretty good stuff! FM

Down is the engaged position, Ohio. FM

I have found the same thing to be true on some of my other Shimano reels. My Scorpions really perform much better with all four brakes engaged. I think Phil77's suggestion is spot on. FM

I'm in the same camp as Gimruis and DitchPanda. No thanks. FM

I've got a Diablo Amigo and a PA14, I've had the Amigo for seven years now. It is very stable even more so then the PA14. It is a pig to paddle especially in the wind. The optional skeg is necessary or the kayak will spin very easily. You can turn it around inside of it's own length. It is a great river boat because of the stablity and shallow draft. It's a fine fishing platform for the lake. It doesn't like big waves or big breeze. it becomes a beast to paddle in those conditions. The hatch cover gasket is hickey on it (doesn't seal well). So when your taking waves over the very low bow and you'll get water in the kayak. The Diablo Adios and Chupacabra are made of a different plastic then the Amigo and the construction is of a higher quality. The Amigo is the same plastic as all of the other roto-molded boats. I think that the Adios and Chupacabra are a ABS (hard plastic) thermo-formed boats with the bottom hull and the top deck made in two pieces and then put together. They are a sweet boat too. Very popular with the fly fishing crowd here in Texas. FM

Fluorocarbon, IMHO is definitely a you get what you pay for proposition. Invisx is a good FC line. it was one of my go to lines. I haven't tried Abrasx yet. I've gotten hooked on Tatsu and Daiwa Samurai fluorocarbon. Yes, they cost a lot more but I think they perform much better then anything else out there. They are thinner and more supple. I only fill half a spool the other half is mono. I get usually three fills out of a 200 yard spool. FM

Gera, I run a Torqueedo 1103AC on my Hobie PA14. The PA14 is the tank/semitruck of the kayak world especially after I load mine up. The 1103AC is rated at 155lbs of thrust. It's supposed to be the equivalent of a 3hp motor. I very seldom run it at full throttle. I can do about 6.5 mph wide open carrying a tournament load. Including me, batteries for live scope, 93SV and trolling motor, and too much gear and tackle to mention. I'm probably pushing 500 lbs. If I back off the throttle and run about 5mph I am running about half power. 1100 watts is full throttle. At 450-500 watts I'm cruising at high 4's to 5mph. I really like the Newport motors. They do a lot look like a Torqueedo knock off, I'd check the weight difference between the two (36lb and 55lb thrust). If it is minimal I'd go with the higher thrust motor. Having more power IMHO is not a bad thing to have. One of the reasons I went with Torqueedo was because it included the battery in the motor purchase. It was a complete system with remote throttle control unit (it displays battery percentage remaining, speed, calculated range remaining and power usage). battery ( 29volt / 31amp hour), battery charger and motor. Newport wasn't in business yet when I bought or I might have very well went that way. Go as high as you comfortable can battery amp hour wise. 50+amp hour would be fine for most day trips unless your looking to make long runs at higher speeds. You could get two 50 amp hour batteries and have a back up battery. A lot depends on how long your going to fish, how far you want to travel on the water. Do you want something that might be able to go a couple of days or trips between charges? Maybe do some remote overnight camping? Are you going to run a fish finder, navigation lights, power anything else off of the same battery? There is a lot of advantages to having a sweet electric motor set-up on a kayak that makes it so much more fun and versatile. I don't think you can go wrong either way 36lb or 55lb thrust. 36lb won't eat the battery as fast at full throttle as a 55lb will. A 55lb will use less effort to get the same job done and have power in reserve if needed. The competition is really heating up in the lithium battery market. More companies making batteries, technological improvements and prices are coming down. Check for warranty. I have Dakota Lithium 23 amp hour for my live scope box and they say 11 year warranty on it. I've got a FPV 17 amp hour for the 93SV unit with a one year warranty. The Torqueedo is two years, Good luck in your hunt! Fishingmickey

I'll throw my two cents in. Fishing bottom contact baits where I can feel the bass pick up the jig or worm. I have a much higher landing percentage with them , Spinner baits including underspins and vibrating jigs are probably next highest, Spinnerbaits and chatter baits tend to get tossed more during head shaking jumps. Crankbaits are next and same thing head shaking jumps are when I lose fish. If they are really active choking the crankbait it is a lot less fish lost on the jump. If they are just swiping at it or just getting a single hook in the side of the face or skin hooked it's a 50/50 chance to lose them especially on the jump. Topwaters even the bass miss them sometimes or knock them into the air. Frogs are probably my lowest percentage bait on getting hooked up well like 60% bite verses land. If you don't get them coming quick and they don't choke it. They get down in the slop and are gone. I should fish a frog more often and I believe it is a timing thing. Set too quick and you take it away from them. Too slow and they bury in the slop and get gone. Just right, double hook in the top of the mouth and they are yours! So in summation to answer your question as to landing percentage.... It varies a lot. It's fishing! FM

Maybe put up some nesting boxes or like a Purple Martin house and give them a nicer place to nest? FM

I've got most of the above. I use several Dobyn's Sierra series rods. I think the Sierra is a very good choice too. I think they do fish a tad lighter then they are rated. JFranco's recommendation is good too! I do like a shorter rod for target casting. FM

Well maybe if he caught it on 4# test on a Snoopy rod from a stationary boat....Naaah. FM