Fishingmickey

Thank you Bait Monkey, may I have another or fifteen please! FM

I've found that a 8lb dumb bell works great. I've never had it get hung up and unless it is totally blowing stink it doesn't drag. If you pull up a wad of hydrilla, veggies it's very easy to clean them off before bringing it back on board.

I would love to see the a true (made out of cedar) Heddon Dying flutter.

Feel Free makes some very nice kayaks for the price that come with a good seats! The seat is a serious part that insures your pleasure is focused on fishing whilst on the water. If your butt is aching or you've got no back support it just doesn't become fun after the first hour or two. Another "big man's" kayak to check out is the Diablo amigo. It uses what's called a "Larry" chair for a seat and it is probably one of the most stable kayaks out there. https://www.austinkayak.com/Diablo-Amigo-Recreational-Kayak/ACK12734P.html

I'd look at the Hobie Compass. Yes, it is 1900.00. I think it ticks a lot of the boxes regarding reliability and has the mirage drive. It is much lighter then almost another other pedal drive kayak out there. That fact make it car top-able. FM

You might take a look at some of the Abu Garcia Ambassadors. I know the C3 & C4's used to be very nice reels. Check Ebay or Amazon and you can probably get one at a very nice price. They have the line capacity and they are robust enough for swimbaits. FM P.S. I said used to because the ones I had were made in Sweden and were pretty much top of the line 20+ years ago. They have stood the test of time.

Honestly Paolo, If your targeting Snook, Tarpon, Barracuda and Jack Crevalle with light tackle suitable for bass. Your just going to ruin your gear if you hook a fish of any great size. Meaning hook a 75-100# Tarpon on a Diawa 103sv with 14# test and a short medium action rod in a stand up fight (meaning your not going to run the fish down in your boat) your going to destroy your tackle. I think there are ways this can be done catching giant fish on light tackle. With higher line capacity reels and longer rods with more of a parabolic bend to them. Good luck! And Welcome to Bass Resource! FM

As Jamie said it does. It is also panoptix live scope capable. The GPS store has the 93SV UHD w/transducer with navonics maps and panaoptix in a bundle for just over 2K. If you bought them separately. It's 899 for the 93SV, 349 for the UHD Transducer and 1499 for Panoptix.

The Garmin 93sv Echomap UHD w/transducer retails for 1049. FM

I'll agree it is a beast, tons of load capacity and storage room and stable as a battleship. I rented one once for a tournament and to check it out. After that experience, I bought a PA14. I'll be honest with ya. The Titan is a pig. It's like the semi truck of kayaks. It's slow to accelerate and get up to speed enough (water flow over the rudder) to have it turn (just like the PA14). It takes forever to turn it with the stock rudder and I'm not sure how much the Boondocks after market rudder would help. Just like the PA you'll need a trailer or a pick up truck to transport. It is not car top-able unless you have a pick up with a serious rack and winch system to get it up there. Between the two, I would honestly think the 19 Outback would be a much better buy. FM

If I had to do it again, I'd get the Hobie Compass at $1900 I think it is a d**n good buy. You've got the proven Mirage drive tech. It is much lighter then the PA or Outback models making it easier to pedal or paddle. I also think it is very capable of being paddled too if your want to float a river or get into some places where your pedal drive won't go. JFranco is one of the moderators here and has a Compass. He could talk way more intelligently then I with his first hand experience. I'm running a PA14 now. FM

I do the same thing, stops before and after the weight. It also works as a impromtu carolina rig. Slide the stops up the line a foot and a half or so and your carolina rigging with out the bead. I will use or switch to elaztech baits to get the bait off the bottom too since elaztech floats. Strike king is making worms in Elaztech plastic also so you don't have to use just Zman baits.

X2, I was thinking the same thing.

Hi Tristate, A Wilderness Ride 115 = 11.5' long and has a 33" beam. Not sure how large of a human you are. From the reviews on the web, supposed to be pretty stable pretty stable. But then ask what size was the reviewer? 150# 5'8" maybe who knows. If your a big guy like much over 200 and 6'1 or 2" plus your center of gravity will be higher then the 150 5'8" guy. How good is your sense of balance? Your new to kayaking/kayak bass fishing I'm assuming since ya said it's your very first kayak. Go out with someone that has experience. Make sure you bring a change of clothes and a towel in a dry bag possibly even something to start a fire with. Have a game plan for if/when you flip. Bring a couple of rods and a hand full of tackle. Buy some rod floats. Carry the tackle in a lunch bag or box that'll float. Wallet, cell phone, car keys and must have's in one of the smaller pelican type boxes. Your location has you pretty far north. Water is going to be hard for awhile yet? i know come spring time that ole fishing itch is gonna need scratching bad! Take baby steps while you gain experience (shorter trips/closer to shore). Until the water warms up enough that hypothermia isn't quite the issue it would be if the H2O temp is 40-50. Above all wear your life jacket!!! Your going to flip the boat. What happens is you'll get your center of gravity outside of the center line of the kayak just enough. Your reaching to unsnag that lure or land that fish just beyond net reach. You'll know very quickly when you get your center of gravity too far out. The kayak will squirt out from underneath you lighting quick and you'll be in the water. Good luck and happy kayak bass fishing! Fishingmickey P.S. Lot's of great advice above in the previous posts.

Thanks Countryboy! One on order. FM

Paul, Not dropping a bundle but not going cheap either these rods and reels I listed IMHO are solid gear, The 60-150$ Shimano's in the 2500-3000 size, Diawa BG and Fuego LT's same size. A lot of peeps like the Diawa spinning reels because of the heavier bail. Plflueger President model in that same size 25-30 is highly regarded lower end reel. I'd suspect the Plflueger Patriarch is very nice too. I think those all are pretty darn good spinning reels for the price and going up in price on all three brands are nicer reels but I think the increase in price doesn't match a increase in performance (cut loose the hounds and paint me as a nasayer). Regarding rods, St Croix, Doybns, Shimano, G. loomis etc all make really nice spinning rods. I have used and still use the St Croix Mojo bass series and Doybns Sierra series. You can put together some very nice set-ups for under three hundred. Happy hunting for a spinning rig. They do serve a purpose with the lighter baits and techniques that the bait caster can't fill as nicely. Fishingmickey

The Shimano Poison Adrena, Zodias and Expride's do get a good bit of love on here and G. Loomis is a Shimano brand. I used a couple of their Sellus rods a few years back and liked them just fine. Fishingmickey

I'll fish a wacky rigged Senko before I buy anything Googan. FM

I should work on fishing a wacky rigged senko... maybe. FM

Garmin 93SVplus 9" screen, sonar, side scan, down scan and chart plotter w/maps and transducer. Use the Ram mount 1.5" H-rail ball mount for the head and Ram's transducer mount (I mounted the ball on that accessory plate). 600.00 for the unit and a hundred plus or so for the mounts. Makes for a neat, clean and removable installation. FM

I throw a 1/8 oz Owner EWG 2/0 jig head with a 5" finesse worm. i'm using a medium light fast action Helium 3 paired with a Curado 70. It's casts well but I'm not trying to do bomb casts with it. FM p.s. TW has the Curado 70 for sale 129.00. Sold out now.

I sometimes think that being dry makes it slip better "smoother and easier" on FC and cinched slowly. Mono I use spit. FM

I haven't been using Kistlers as long as some of you guys have (5 years +). I have eight to ten of his rods. Helium3's, Mag2's, KLX, KLX S2's. I have had no issues with any of them with one exception. I did break a Helium3 about a third of the way down working a chatter bait, not on a hook set or high sticking. My suspicions are the rod had either gotten hit by a lure on the back cast or damaged by my handling and I didn't noticed that I had done it. They warrantied the rod and sent me a new one. I had it in hand in two days. I've got nothing to say but good things about Kistler the quality of the rods and their product support. Fishingmickey

!0# braid is awfully fine and difficult (for me to see) to tie a FG knot. On spinning I go 15-20# and then size the leader for the conditions. Normally 6' long 8-12# leader Fluoro or Mono. FM