yakingfisherman

jigs, topwater, wacky rig worms in no particular order.

spinnerbait or a chatterbait just kills them in the wind.

Im 21 so I fully understand the money part. The fs12t is a good buy at its price point. What im saying is I dont think the extra money for the fs128t is going to be that much different from the 12t.

I have the 128t. My advice, don't buy it. The hatches are horrible. The front and back hatch are pretty much impossible to open. They require handles on them just to get them to open. The two hatches are too far away to even get them if you are in the yak. Everything leaks and will require you to seal them up. The rod holder that comes with it is useless as it gets in the way of paddling. Took it off and installed a scotty further up away from my paddling. It is a beast to paddle and horrible in the wind. The stock paddle holder also sucks. A regular bungee cord system would be much better. The area I fish has no current so it tracks decent becuase of that. Not sure how it will handle in the river. It does not glide well. You will have to put effort to make it move in the water. It also is just ridicously heavy. I doubt that the yak only weighs 84lbs without the seat. Feels way heavier and I am no weak guy by any means. It's a pain to haul this thing back to my car after a day of paddling and to put it on my roof rack. Also it has no side handles but you will need them if you carry the kayak by yourself. I mean the kayak is not all bad. I actually only spent $450 on it and got the wheels and a bb sunrise paddle with it from a buddy of mines. A great deal but spending full price on this yak is not worth it. I am glad I got the deal from my buddy because I was actually going to buy one for retail. I only had it for less than a year and already have plans to upgrade to another yak before this year ends. It is not all bad though. It does allow you to stand up and fish and it does have a lot of room. The middle hatch and one directly behind you can store some stuff and is reachable. But honestly, if you are looking to buy this yak I advise you to spend a little more money and get a better one.

lol this post made my day!

I have an 4x hdi model on my yak and love it. Has sonar and down imaging. I thought about the 3x model but knowing myself I would of regretted my decision the moment I received the unit. I say spend the extra $100 for a 4x hdi model or even better that 4hdi from gander. Don't go cheap now knowing you are going to replace it within the year. BTW, I bought my unit brand new from amazon for under $180. Look around for deals!

i leave mine in the clam pack. The only ones that aren't in there are the ones on my arigs or if I'm using them as trailers.

10-12lb xl or 14-16lb sunline super natural

There are a few that I use but hands down super spooks always seems to be tied on when they want some topwater.

I have ZERO fishing experience with the helios rods but I have held one and like others have said man they are light. check them out if "lightness" is what you want.

you are going to get a lot of different recommendations for the best 100 dollar rod. No such thing as best but just preference really. I like the *** rod for the $100 price point. My advice is to go check out a few in store and get a feel for them. I must of have went to the store to check out $100 rods numerous times and was never impressed by any. Pulled the trigger blind on an *** rod and have no regrets.

15lb braid is too thin on a baitcaster and will probably dig into itself. Like bruce said go at least 30lb braid. I think 30lb should be a good all around braid for you if you want braid on the bait casting set up. As far as the spinning setups, I would go with trilene xl on them since they are fairly light set ups. That's just my preference tho. Many others will chime in with thier preference and make it harder on your decision lol.

Yes i did adjust the sensitivity. I leave it around 70-78%

My fishfinder shows both sonar and down imaging. I use split screen all the time to shwo both options.

Usually the area is 12-18 ft where they hold so the paddling shouldnt scare them.

Sometimes my elite 4x hdi won't mark fish while I paddle on my kayak (or so I think it doesn't). There are some areas that I know hold fish. When I paddle over the area sometime I wont mark any at all. However, When I drift back over the same area my fish finder is filled with fishes. Now I am not paddling fast by any means so I dont think im going too fast to not mark fish. Is there a reason why fish get marked when I'm slowly drifting/stationary vs paddling?

Something in the 6.4:1 ratio usually is good because it allows more versatility in the retrieve.

I have a fs128t right now. Looking to upgrade sometime this year hopefully. The lure 11.5 and ride 115x have been the two yaks that I have been debating on getting. Look into the ride 115x if you haven't yet.

Kvd squarebills 1.5/2.5

I use to do braid with alabama rigs but I switched out to 25lb mono instead. I like that better. But as far as 50 vs 65lb braid I think either of the two would be fine.

agreed with the phenix M1 H. They have great customer service as well!

stradic ci4+

3/8 or 1/2 oz

I have one bluegill and one shad swimbait. I bought them a while back because they looked interesting. Haven't caught any fish on them. To be fair, I hardly use them. From experience, they tend to helicopter from casting. They are a little light and smaller than I expected. Hooks are ok but can't expect much for five bucks. They do swim pretty good though. They don't run sideways on me. I'm pretty sure they catch fish but I just haven't put forth the time with them.

12lb sunline super natural