pcakes55

Anyone have an address for the Merrimack river boat launch in Concord called the "cornfields" launch?

Looking for peoples opinions on this stick. Anyone?

Thanks for the tips. The bass were definitely off beds and in post spawn. The only fish we did manage to catch were completely random, could not put any kind of pattern together.

What are some of your techniques? I had a tourney over the weekend. Saw a lot of 3-5lb largemouth AND smallmouth in 0-6 feet of water, clear water/sandy bottomed lake, not much cover. Everything we threw at the fish spooked them from a mile. Discuss

Been having a pretty good year so far, here are some pics:

You can still fish with the trolling motor. There are plenty of places in our area where you don't need an outboard at all. Do this until you can afford to fix it, don't let it ruin your season completely

I throw my 12' in my Tacoma short bed, I use a bed extender from Harbor Freight ($50) because I don't like the indent I get in the hull from hanging over the tailgate.

Good review. Planning on looking at a 2014 this weekend, it has a 50 4-stroke on it. Do you think that it will feel under powered? I see you have the 60 on yours.

Anyone seeing fishable open water besides the rivers?

Lake Winni gets rough man. Not only from the wind but there is a lot of boat traffic on the weekends...however staying close to shore should be no problem, especially within the no-wake zones. The shoreline there is heavily populated so if you get into trouble you should be able to swim to shore and find help pretty easily. That being said, I would feel much better in a sit-on-top style kayak. As far as tips on Lake Winni, I would feel perfectly comfortable putting in somewhere around Weirs Beach area and fishing from there to Governor's Island, as well as the Paugus Bay area; a majority of those areas are no-wake zones. Take advantage of being able to get into tight spots where the big boats won't go. Just stay within your limits and always have a plan if things go awry.

I was thinking something like this: http://www.skifflife.com/files/2013/05/SkiffPornTemplate.png http://www.skifflife.com/files/2013/05/IMG_20130426_085238_429-1024x577.jpg Scyounggun, do you think this would be comfortable to fish one person on the front deck and one person on the back?

Has anyone ever rigged one of these to bass fish out of? This would be for small ponds & lakes. Front casing deck, trolling motor, etc? Are they stable enough to fish off the front deck, or would it be really wobbly?

Still 12+ inches of ice in Hudson area as of this past Sunday

Any sit-on-top kayak will have more problems with the wind compared to a sit-inside; there is more mass above the water line to act as a sail. It would probably be comparable to your buddy's Cuda. Best way to remedy this is plan your drifts. It would also help if you add an anchor trolley/drag chain, but you can add that after you have some time on the water. You will never enjoy the wind in any kayak..I wouldn't let that weigh in as a decision factor for whatever kayak you do buy. The bottom of the wheel sits flush with the keel... I haven't noticed any kind of drag from it to speak of.

The Slayer has the geartrax grove along both sides, you could purchase the paddle holder such as this one (it may be included with kayak when bought new, not sure): http://www.nativewatercraft.com/accessory.cfm?id=118 Personally, I slide one end of the paddle between the front bungie straps and the cover of the front stoage area. I find this keeps the paddle secure and out of the way, but easy to access as well.

SLAYER. I researched kayaks for almost a year before i bought one. Doesn't get better than the slayer. Comfort, stability, accessories, high/low seat, list could go on. I worried a lot about speed of my kayak when I was buying it. Honestly between the slayer and the two you are considering, there will be no noticeable difference in speed. I paddle with two people who have Tarpon 120's, arguably a MUCH faster kayak than the Slayer. However I out paddle them 100% of the time. In the ride you will not be able to switch from the low/high seat positions while on the water; that is a huge drawback. I think the slayer is easier than the Predator, but I am not positive on that. The Slayer has a better overall design than both, in my opinion; ESPECIALLY for fly fishing ( I do both). For me, it was between a Jackson Cuda or Slayer. Slayer was more comfortable. Good luck

Thanks for all of your input guys, I appreciate it. I went to check the boat out today, lots of chips out of the hull and the skeg looks like it's been through hell. Might have to pass on this one and wait for something else to pop up unless I can get it for dirt cheap.

Coleman Crawdads are pretty sweet; super stable. You can find them cheap and add whatever accessories you want.

I have a Native Slayer 12 which I would highly recommend taking a look at. 90% of the time I am casting and paddling standing up (even when boats make wakes as they go by). Not only that, but the seat is also extremely comfortable. I usually have it in the "high" position and never feel tippy. An added bonus is the small wheel that comes already mounted on the kayak...makes transporting the kayak MUCH easier. I love kayak fishing. There have been times where I am fishing in the same vicinity as bass boats and I will pull up 10 fish while they just watch and catch nothing. Being able to sneak up on fish without a motor is really underrated. One tip I can give you is to bring as little as possible. I can pack a ton of **** into my kayak on a trip, but it can become a real pain in the ass having more than a few rods with you...one of the most annoying things is being blown by the wind into a tree/dock and having your rod tip(s) get hung up (or break!)

What are some of your thoughts on this boat? I know everyone says buy the biggest that you can afford. I can afford a bigger boat, but I can also pick this up for about $5k which seems like a good deal to me. I'm just having a tough time making a decision...right now I fish with a partner out of a jon boat and we do tournaments (and we do well!), but this year I want to step up to something a little more seaworthy. The largest bodies of water I will be on are roughly 6,000 acres; with the majority of fishing being done on small lakes (hence my interest in this small boat). The boat is a 2003, just under 16 feet and is powered by a 75hp 2-stroke Mercury. My main concerns: - Really short rod locker. I would probably not be able to fit many of my rods without extending the box (if its possible?) - SMALL live-well. I would most likely need to convert one of the storage compartments into one for tournaments. Anyone ever do this successfully? - I don't care about speed really...but does anyone have a rough estimate what this thing will run on calm water? Thoughts??

I have both a Premier 7' MH crankbait rod (graphite) for all around, as well as a Mojo glass 7'8" (fiberglass) for deep cranks. Love both of them. I don't have experience with the veritas winch, but it is probably comparable to others in its price range. Based on my opinions of the mojo, I would HIGHLY recommend the 7'4" mojo glass; I think it's a good compromise to cover both medium and deep divers. In addition, the glass loads up with less effort to cast long distances, compared to graphite.

Deep cranking? All around cranking?

Thanks for input guys. Went with the 742. Will post my thoughts/impressions after I toss it a bit.

Thanks. I agree that the dx is no doubt a better quality rod (I have a few). I'm mostly torn between the 702 or 742 for my applications. I'm a little bit biased towards the 742 but Im concerned that an 1/8th jig head won't load the rod up enough when casting.

I use a Mojo tube/grub rod, straight 20lb power pro. I can feel the smallest tick bites with it and it has the perfect amount of backbone and action for skipping and dragging big fish out of cover (in my opinion). This is coming from a tackle snob. I've caught all of my biggest fish on this rod using a senko.