FryDog62

Yes, now I will side image and only drop a few waypoints on the outside edges of where the rock piles are. I used to spend a lot of time dropping dots on as many larger rocks as I could. Now if I mark the perimeter and come back with 360, I can actually see the better structure I want to cover and cast to it. It’s just higher percentage fishing for me.

For fishing winter/spring in Florida... fish are moving then and not on rock/structure. So would prefer Mega Live over 360 the time that I’m down there. I could take my Helix 10 but it is Gen 2 and not compatible with Live. Or, thought of taking my Garmin 10 inch, and buy the Livescope bundle... but then have to figure out where to mount the black box (Mega Live doesn’t have one) which could be a pain. And if I go Garmin, I wouldn’t be able to add a 360 later if I want. Kind of trapped either way and that’s why I wish I’d have just bought a Helix 9 or bigger a year ago...

LOL... yes this stuff gets expensive. This has all been for my bass boat up north, and for me its been worth it. But you're right, then there's the Autopilot kayak in Florida this winter... I should have bought a Helix 9 to add on either Mega Live or 360 Imaging, but of course I only got the Helix 7. Sitting here trying to figure out how to rat-hole some extra funds before January to upgrade when I get there. Two boats = two cost centers!

I have admittedly been a below average off-shore fisherman my whole life. I can beat the bank and power fish about as well as anyone else. But when the bite got tough or it got to be later in the season when fish glue themselves to deeper structure, I struggled. I’ve had Livescope (or the Panoptix predecessor) for about 6 years now and it’s great. But I think it excels early in the year when fish are moving. Has helped me especially with the spring migration and the jerkbait bite. From August til the end of the year in our part of the country... the returns on Livescope diminish IMO. Fish cling right to the bottom - especially to boulders, gravel, chunk rock. But they are there... you just can’t always see them on ‘scope.. Two years ago, I added 360 Imaging. It really becomes valuable this time of year when I find less effectiveness with Livescope. Being a tad Type-A, I was never patient enough in the past to spend the time side imaging and finding quality rock. Sure I found a few by chance and dropped some waypoints, but then going back and casting to “dots” on my mapping screen wasn't always great... I had so-so results at best and I’d eventually move on. Two years ago it all changed. Yes, I could side image and find rocks, but now with 360 I can go back and look at the waypoint “dots” but more importantly, hone in on real time images of exactly where those rocks were, their size, shape, next to weeds, etc. Then make targeted, repeated casts to high percentage areas with bottom contact lures - football jigs, Neds, etc. The returns have been phenomenal. The best lakes have been those with only a few chunk rock, small boulder filled areas. The rest of the lake is relatively feature-less, but these rocky areas are like Velcro magnets for bigger fish this time of year especially. It’s also allowed me to renew the use of the old "Ball and Chain" - aka Carolina Rig. Old guys like me used it years ago to find isolated, off-shore structure. We could “ feel" structure since we didn't have decent electronics to see it. Throw out a few marker buoys each side of the structure and try to pick it apart before the other boats saw your markers and jumped in on the fun. Those big, deep water hook sets are hard to beat!! Been a great two years finding the bigger gals in our northern waters. Looking forward to our last 2 months of fishing before it turns rock hard again around here... (see the photos of sweatshirts and coats on cool August mornings in Minnesota - lol). In the meantime, football jigs and Carolina on my mind...

Due to several wrist injuries/surgeries, I switched over to all baitcasting... except drop-shotting... hard for me to get the right action/control. I find you need the extra dexterity of a spinning rod to get the right subtle, finesse action. Bubba shot - yes, that I can get away with on a baitcaster...

He was upside down on his 0% interest, 84 month loan ?!?

You sir win the Big Kahonies award hands down!!

I kayak fish in FLA too... but not sure I'd go at night if there were gators present... especially in the spring/summer nesting season. Assuming you have some tactics if you find yourself in a close encounter?? Guy was just attacked near Tampa during the day. He was swimming, but I'm not sure a kayak would offer much protection: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/video-alligator-attacking-florida-man-lake_n_62ff02cae4b071ea958e4f55

Gator’s telling his wife - There’s some good structure here and a pinch point where the two-legged smallmouth types come by frequently - and they taste like chicken...

For $50 rods - I have 2 that I buy: Daiwa Aird, and Abu Vengeance. I find that the Aird has more flex so better for crankbaits, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits... and the Vengeance is a little faster/crisper for bottom contact, plastics, etc. Just my .02

Yes, I have used Neko for smallies... especially when the Ned either gets snagged too much, or I need to upsize and keep the small perch from biting. I’ve used mostly floating worms like GrandeBass and Squirrel tail. Have also used crayfish plastics (3 inch Savage Gear 4D craw). They definitely work!

I saw somewhere someone using Livescope on their kayak with 40AH. I plan to add it to my yak this winter and currently have a Dakota 18AH... thinking of combining with a second 18AH = 36AH.

I've never found a baitcaster that is well balanced if all fingers aren't in front of the trigger and index under the front of the reel, thumb across. Its a great grip... and center-balanced, not tip heavy. Someone told me once for every 1 inch you grip behind the center of gravity, it takes up to 33% more strength to set the hook/fight the fish.

I have the same kayak and Helix 7. Unless you have a need for 360 Imaging or Live the H7 is all you need.

Either could work and you have to experiment... but as a general rule of thumb, I start with a swim jig. I have found sometimes a Chatterbait to be too bold and “in their face” to start with and go back later to find the more subtle swim jig to be the ticket. However, there are some days when a bold offering is the only thing that works and you need a Chatterbait to tick ‘em off into biting.

Great luck w/Swagger, just received another order from them yesterday ?

That is great to hear... was my biggest concern stringing it up ?

Trying braid for awhile is admittedly an experiment for me only. I have two BFS reels (Alphas Air TW, Curado BFS) and have usually used 7 lb Sniper fluorocarbon and it has worked great. I am putting braid on the Curado because it’s on a ML rod (versus the Air TW which is on a Light rod). I am heading this week to a lake where the bite this time of year is lighter jig worms and ripping it out of weed cover is easier with braid than fluorocarbon. I previously used this rod with 20 lb 832 braid on a Daiwa Alphas SV70 and frankly the casting distance sucked. Other than that, the set up worked reasonably well for 4.5 inch 1/8 oz jig worming. Will likely switch back to Sniper after this trip... but I will say after I spooled the Curado with 15 lb 832 I gave it a couple casts in the green space by our house and it launched several yards beyond the park boundary (startled both me and a couple squirrels). How it performs on the water when wet will be interesting... also wondering if the thinner 15 lb braid will bury/backlash after fighting a fish or encountering a big snag. Again, it’s an experiment... Due to wrist injury/surgeries... spinning equipment is pretty much in the rear view mirror for me. I’m only 1.5 years into this BFS thing but so far it’s replacing many/most of the spinning techniques I used to do and I enjoy it, but still experimenting/learning...

The Texas rig pins the bait horizontally... it’s a subtle action and really only the tip of the tail moves much. But there is something about the profile they hit hard. Slower actions seem to work best. Used it on a split shot only once but same results.

Problem is with BFS, by the time you put on backing... then a line to line knot to braid... equals less spool capacity - so you barely have enough line on a long cast. I think tying the braid directly to the holes in the spool will save main line distance for long casts and hopefully no line slippage... Thank you, that's likely the solution for me... I assume once the braid is tied off to the holes in the spool that it will not only be secure, but no line slippage...

Will do... thx. So, do I really need backing? I do that on my non-BFS reels to prevent line slippage, but maybe its not needed here?

I already have a spool of 15 lb Sufix 832 that I'd like to use first to see if I like using braid on BFS... assuming that would suffice. I can see if I put a lot of backing on, it could limit the amount of mainline braid and I don't want to spool the reel on a long cast.

In fairness, I haven’t used any other reel on my NRX 852c than a Steez SV TW. I paired them on purpose to skip weightless plastics. Phenomenal. That being said, the rod/reel seem to balance very well. You would get more casting distance with a BFS reel, but if you want to be able to throw lighter lures in the wind without backlash, or to skip a weightless wacky worm, it’s the shizzz...

I use the 3.8 as a Texas-rig around cover. They work great, especially around pressured fish that have seen a lot of presentations. The biggest advantage with the Bellows is it’s unique profile. I have fished through an area that holds fish and not catch anything - go back with the Bellows and catch 2-3. I don’t think color matters, it’s the profile. They smell like Fritos, maybe fish like those too... One caveat - I use them very sparingly at approx $2 per plastic. They don’t last long... maybe 2 fish before they get torn up. They are a good back up plan to have when the bite is slow - -

Have used only fluorocarbon on my 2 BFS reels, but plan to convert one over to braid. What backing if any are people using before spoiling on braid? I’ve heard some use mono, some tape, some nothing at all. If it matters, this reel is the Curado BFS. Initially, I tied mono backing but on long casts would almost get down to the line-to-line knot due to the shallow spool of a BFS reel. Seems like there could be something better. TIA