Turtle135

I went fishing twice after work this week on the local reservoir. Kayak, one rod, 4 jigs, bag of trailers and 2 spinnerbaits. No fish finder. No other anglers in my line of sight. Did see eight whitetail deer grazing along the side of the lake and two beavers who were busy eating whatever beavers eat when they are not trying to topple a tree. Was on the water from 6:00 P.M. until it got dark. Paradise!

Good to know! I know a couple of kayak anglers who are not inexperienced and they both had so much trouble with the side imaging on a Lowrance unit that they bailed on it. That was a couple of years back.

To those who have used side scan on their kayak, is there any issue with a speed you need to maintain to make side imaging functional? I have never tried it and I keep hearing different opinions.

fall, winter and spring: my biggest bass almost always fall to jigs summer: my biggest bass almost always fall to 10" - 12" plastic worms Most of the time I am on water that receives heavy fishing pressure. Presentations with few "negative clues" seem to work best for these educated largemouth.

If your state record largemouth bass is less than 12 pounds your odds are a lot worse. Most bodies of water in your state will not contain a single DD bass for you to catch.

congrats! for your first trip out pack light, maybe just one rod and a few presentations and don't forget a camera to get that picture of your first kayak bass

Aquia was actually fishing better than Mattawoman last year. Have you fished tidal largemouth water before? If you like fishing shallow vegetation you are headed to the right place. I fish on the Tidal Potomac River all the time and in June I will likely have three presentations tied on. A swim jig, a spinnerbait and a pegged t-rig beaver style bait.

Paca Craws in all three sizes (Tiny, Baby, Regular)

Do they allow bowhunting for snakeheads down there? Up here in Maryland on the Lower Potomac River we have a fairly active fleet of bowhunters out there and they seem to be keeping the Northern Snakehead numbers down compared to what we had 4-5 years ago.

plain old dull round rubber in brown and black p.s. - that is a Siebert Outdoors jig head with an Owner hook

In the tournaments in question the bass are judged by length. The standard for these catch, photo, release tournaments has become the measuring device known as the "Hawg Trough". He would carry three Hawg Troughs. One would be unaltered, one would have 2" chopped out of the middle and one would have 4" chopped out.

I have fished about 20 kayak bass fishing tournaments. 19 of the 20 were smaller field (20 to 40 kayakers) in my regional area. The other one was a national tournament down in South Carolina. I have never seen any drama at the events I fished. About the worst I've seen is someone extremely unhappy because he lost a monster right at the side of the kayak.

17 pound test Trilene XT monofilament with 1/4 ouce swim jigs most times. Where I fish swim jigs I want to keep them high in the water column and not bogged down in the weeds and other cover obstructions.

I started in a SINK back in 1991 as that was what was available in those days. Two unexpected and annoying issues were: 1. setting your paddle down on the top edge rails of the SINK makes noise and you will frequently have to grab your paddle when a gust of wind tries to sweep your paddle away (in a SOT the paddle sits quietly in your lap and is better anchored there) 2. bumping your spinning reel against the top edge rails of the SINK I my opinion a SOT is a much better platform for fishing than a traditional SINK.

Okay I was wrong. Apparently the individual has been cheating in his local club tournaments for a couple of years. He branched out competing nationally and that is what got him caught. However, I will continue to support my local series. We raise money for Heroes on the Water. The camaraderie and the fun we have getting together on our local fisheries makes it worth it to me. Can't let one bad apple destroy the positives we have going in our events.

I fish a series here in the Mid-Atlantic region. It is mostly made up of a tight knit group of anglers who are already friends, fish together or know the others contestants through social media. The winner will walk away with around $ 200.00 - $ 400.00 per event. I'm not saying people do not cheat for sure but as the payout is relatively small it would not be worth the risk of becoming a complete social outcast in your own backyard if caught cheating. I suspect the larger national tournaments (which are emerging right now) that are paying out thousands of dollars to winners will have to take severe measures.

somebody took a bite out of the Northern I caught yesterday!

Common issue. Wind some cheap monofilament onto the spool first, then connect the braid (I use a uni to uni knot) and fill the spool up. It won't spin on you anymore. Some people will put electric tape on the spool to give the braid something to bite into (and forgo the mono).

Never swam for a lure but did the plunge for a 4 pound largemouth wrapped up in a laydown. Unhooked her underwater about 6 feet down and set her free.

Now I have been talked into getting a new Mojo. I see a couple of the "St. Croix Mojo Bass Casting Rod 7'1" Med Heavy" in my near future. This is all the OP's fault!

I frequently will throw a stickbait texas rigged with a really light pegged bullet sinker but it is more of a lift fall retrieve. Now you have another presentation that you will need to keep at the ready!

how was the Senko rigged? wacky or texas "sans sinker"?

This is just my personal experience as a bass fisherman who fishes jigs and big plastic worms over 50% of my time on the water. A tip heavy rod robs me of my feel for the presentation. I prefer to detect a pickup on a semi-slack line. I do not want to be exerting pressure just to keep the rod tip up at 11:00 as I will miss any changes to the weight of the jig.

Welcome to the wonderful world of kayak bass fishing! I have no personal experience with this particular kayak but I do understand being 16 with a limited budget. Have you been able to sit in the kayak?