Fishingmickey

You might look into getting it wrapped. FM

Me personally, I like the 75 size much better then the 90. I feel the "fatter" bodied 75 doesn't have the tendency to spin on itself that the 90 does. The fatter body acts like a keel to keep it from spinning. It's a more bite sized bait. I have had problems with the 90 picking up bits of weed or grass in the prop and then it spins on retrieve and creates horrible line twist especially when you retrieve it fast to go for the next cast. FM

Fine work Dr. A-Jay, hopefully the patient recovers fully. It looks like that short fat "stick" worm had been in there awhile and swelled. Was maybe half a senko? it looks like the other three had hooks still. FM

FWIW, I use mono for topwaters and spinning reels. Bait casters for sinking, spinner/chatter and cranks is fluoro. Brands Invisx and Tatsu for Fluoro. Sunline Defier Amrilo or shooter for Mono. Power pro for braid. Just my personal preference. FM

Go with the bigger boat. 10' isn't enough boat for someone over 6'+ and 200+ pounds. FM

If your using a quality line & tying quality knots I would look at your drag setting. You can always tighten it a bit but if it is too tight at the beginning of the fight you get heart break. Couple of quick questions. Are there zebra mussels where you fish? When was the last time you changed out your line? FM

I'm in the same camp as A-Jay. Fluorocarbon is a different beast. Learning the do's and don'ts of using Fluorocarbon has been a lengthy learning curve for me. Invisx, Tatsu, Sunline Sniper and Shooter are about the best I have found out there. I also agree with MickD if you going to use it as leader material get leader "grade" fluorocarbon. MickD pretty much nailed it! FM

7' St Croix Mojo bass mh/fast. about a buck thirty. FM

Ya might want to slow down a tad Schplurg. How big a guy are you? 140-150 lbs? The Ride 115 isn't a overly large stable kayak. hence that "shaky" feeling ya got when ya stood up in it. I'm guessing that ya might be a tad over that 140-150lb range from your profile picture. A decent sized SLA 80-100 amp hour deep cycle battery will probably be in excess of 75-90 lbs. plus another 15-30 for the trolling motor & mount. If ya can go Lithium ion you can probably cut the battery weight in half. But you still talking 25-30 lbs for a 100amp hours worth of juice, add yourself into that mix, a cooler of drinks, couple of fishing poles, tackle, anchor etc. etc. That Ride 115 will be noticeably more unstable and more then likely overloaded. My advice, get that anchor trolley, anchor, couple of rods and reels, a bit of tackle, lunch bag cooler, a good paddle, PFD, sunscreen and go fish for a month or two worth of fishing trips (20-30 times). Then if ya still want to "load" her up by gosh have at it. I really like your enthusiasm for the sport Kayak fishing! I'd just hate to see you go overboard on your first kayak. Dump it, lose a ton of gear, the high dollar seat and your shirt. Then your WS Ride 115 will be back on Craig's list. Take your time, ease into it go out and fish. Good luck! Fishingmickey

I used to use little bread balls. Get some soft white bread. Pinch off a piece with out crust and roll it into a ball. Pop it in your mouth and wet it just a bit so it is smooth then bait the hook. It works really well for small blue gill and perch. I also used them to catch Golden shiners too. FM

I didn't see any attack about using mono. Just a lot of variables in answering the question properly. FM

I think I'd prefer old school heavier brass gears over aluminium.

X3 for #3

One of the things you have omitted is how much do you fish and how much will you be fishing that reel. If your fishing once a week and using only that reel. I suspect you'll be fine. If your chunking and fast winding DD22's, 6 & 8XD's, throwing a large double bladed spinner bait and making several thousands cast per outing with 3-4 outings per week. It might not last you five years... you might have to replace the pawl, handle bushings or the thumb bar return spring. I've got two SLX's and they perform beautifully and are very smooth. For a Benjamin Franklin they are hard to beat. Good luck, Fishingmickey

I prefer to fish a spinner bait fast and mostly shallow. If the water is clear and there is deeper cover then maybe even out to 8-10'. Bounce it off of wood, brush, lily pads etc. Break the top of the water. twitch it. let it die and start it up again after it sinks a foot or two. Roll it over the tops of the weeds trying to hit the tips of the weeds. Throw it in those little ambush pockets. The back side (closest to the bank) of a weed line. Tie it on, turn the troller on 2 and commence to hitting everything you see. Make it dance! Spinner baits Rock! FM Add on: I have caught bass feeding on shad in 35-40' of water.

Yes Power pro 30#. I was using straight braid and got hung up in about 17' of water. It was windy and I was getting blown around in my kayak and cranked the drag down and thumbing the spool trying to get it to break. It was dug in the spool pretty good. I ended up pulling off about fifty yards of line before I got past the "dig-in's".

The only thing I can add here is that with bottom contact baits where in my opinion and a few others that post here. Sensitivity is most important in bottom contact baits! Fluorocarbon line sinks. Monofilament floats. This difference has a tendency to create more of a bow in the line with mono then fluoro. Not having that bow in the line gives you more direct contact to your bait resulting in better sensitivity. I feel that not having that "bow" also can make for better hook sets especially when you have more line out. Here is another observation/opinion of mine and I will probably be getting the popcorn eaters out in force with this one. Both fluoro and mono stretch that is pretty much universally agreed upon. My add is this. I think that they stretch differently. Mono is a more uniform stretch being that it stretches sooner as tension is added then fluorocarbon does. I also think mono recovers from being stretched/strained much better then fluoro does. For what it is worth I use pretty much top quality mono and fluoro line (Seagar Invisx and Tatsu, Berkely XL and Sunline Defier) are currently my favorite flavors. Let the naysayers and other feel free to chime in! Fire up the popcorn popper. Fishingmickey Horse hockey! I'm not talking decades ago BBBF (before braid before fluoro). I'm talking last weekend. It does dig in on bait casters. Especially after you have been using straight 30# braid and tried to break it off. Spinning rods I don't have much experience with using braid. FM

I remember having a reaction to Nettles in my younger bank stomping days. The stems and undersides of the leaves have small cactus like needles like some of the thistles do. Bull nettles are really obvious plants to avoid. They are different then regular Nettles. Like the others have stated wear long pants and long sleeves. With today's newer fabrics they can be comfortable to wear outside when it is hot. Fishingmickey

Do more research especially on the motor. Sounds significantly over priced to me. Are they offering any warranty to go with that "lightly used 8 year old boat". IMHO keep looking. Good luck! FM

WRB was suggesting this: Consider Sunline Deifer Armillo Nylon 13 lb line.

Upgrading to a decent seat might run you a hundred bucks. Only kayak seat company I know of is Danuu. I'm sure there are others out there. FM

If it is running well you might get 200-500 for it.

Take your time, save your money find the right sized kayak for you with the best seat possible. I would avoid the cheapest available. You could essentially be having to trust the performance of the kayak with your life. Search the ad's, Craig's list, Face book, local paper, visit your local kayak stores if ya have one. See if they have any consignments. Find you a Native water craft, Wilderness systems, Feel free, Old town, Jackson, Bonafide, NuCanoe, Vibe or even Hobie etc. A good reputable name brand that isn't pushed by some big brand name box store. Good luck, FM

The Citica is a excellent reel and been around for years. They are phasing them out and can be bought for buck and a quarter on TW verses the buck for the SLX. The SLX's are nice too. I have two of the Curado 70's and K's. Which Curado are you thinking about? FM

Speaking of Heron's, Choporoz. I did catch one a couple of years back. I was working along a reed line and I cast my spinner bait. Right as I threw a long cast the heron took off from a gap in the reeds. He/she flew into my line. It caught him/her across the wings and got wrapped. I just thumbed the spool. The Heron came down out of the sky and was sort of flopping it's wings on top of the water trying to get away. I got the bird next to the boat and grabbed the bill. I covered it's head with my rain jacket. I folded the wings and lifted the bird into the boat. I saw my spinner bait dangling, cut the line and dropped the lure into the hull. I un-threaded my line from around the bird. I then let the very unhappy heron go. This was during a kayak tournament and unfortunately it got witnessed. Needless to say I got a good bit of ribbing at the awards that afternoon. FM