the reel ess

Yeah, the issue is the seat area is molded "butt-shaped" and I live in the sticks. I'll probably do as @Darren. did but with PVC peg legs. The bottom of my yak is not flat at all. And I doubt it's stable enough to get the seat very tall.

Is this the seat that came with your boat or is it aftermarket?

I have the 10' Perception Sport Pescador, which is the old Tarpon mold. So that seat is what I'm trying to get away from. The back is okay, but the seat is causing my legs to get numb after a while. I have to squirm to keep blood in the lower legs. I've considered a NuCanoe Frontier or just getting a flat bottom jon, but I'll still want the ability to get into skinny waters. What do you mean by the perch?

Mine is a thin cushion that's fitted to the molded in seat with a back support, but I want to make it more comfy in lieu of actually buying a new kayak (cheapskate) just to get a better seat. I'm getting to the age where that seat gets pretty uncomfortable after a few hours. I've seen some good ideas on YouTube and I'm weighing the options.

Thanks, this is all great info.

They have a black with blue legs on their website, but if you click it it says out of stock. Makes me wonder if they've discontinued it. http://www.booyahbaits.com/booyah-pad-crasher But fish can't see the yellow on the back of the frog anyway. Maybe it helps anglers see it.

One of the best advantages of a kayak for fishing is the extremely shallow depths you can fish with them. I never knew how shallow big fish could be caught before I used the kayak. Do you find that the propeller is in contact with the bottom or stumps or fouled by weeds often? Do you just tilt up the pedal unit and continue on with the paddle when you're too shallow?

It's my second favorite. The Poppin' Pad Crasher is my favorite. I've noticed that when you throw a frog on a mat of lilies it helps to make a disturbance and not just pull it across the pads. The popper disturbs the pads more. And when you get it into the open it offers a little more action with the "pop" and walks more easily.

I have an order in with Cadman for 6 custom jigs and some painted heads and wacky jigs.

For a worm, unless it's HUGE, I use a straight shank worm hook. If it's bulky (Craws) or really short (Hula Grub) I use an EWG. If the bait package calls out a hook, as is the case with Berkley, I'll buy what they recommend if I don't already have it. You can bend out the EWG hook a bit if you feel the need.

Some people purposely mismatch their jigs and trailers.

Yeah. But the only problem is it won't stay mossy long. It'll be mint green before you know it and it will never wear out. LOL. I colored my braid a few times before I realized it doesn't stay long. Hey, fish will bite an A rig. I caught a lot of fish on straight braid for years, but lately I've started using about a 3' mono leader except for with the frog. I haven't really noticed much difference in bites. It will allow you to break off if you get hopelessly hung up on a log with your 30 or 50# braid. I certainly haven't noticed any downside to leaders as long as you use a good knot and I haven't broken one off yet.

Cordell Super Spots work better for me, followed by the regular size Trap. I don't have any others except for an Academy Brand H2O Express model. It works, but the finish is coming off it and it hasn't caught enough fish to justify that. Where I fish, I'd rather have a cheap one in gold that a good quality one in any other color. The Spot is "golder" than the Trap.

The resurgence of the do-nothing rig reminds me of my age. That was big when I was getting into bass fishing. Until recently I was using a vintage 1983 Daiwa Procaster PMF1000 Magforce reel with the push button spool release. They sent me replacement parts free three times. The last time I got into it to fix, it fell apart so completely that it was no use trying to salvage.

They are indigenous, but they were not originally as widespread as they now are. They've been stocked across the nation and in HI. Here in the southeast US, they're pretty much everywhere fish are found.

I thought I was on this thread, but it was another so I'll give my $.02. It sinks fast, so it swims nose-up, which looks weird to me. I haven't gotten a bite on it and it's really difficult to cast well. I finally settled on a 7' MH spinning rod and kind of lobbed it. Honestly, this is about the same experience as most hard swimbaits I've used.

Throw a few in there and you'll know there are some. Fish get into oxbows so I see no reason they wouldn't be. But they also have a knack for knowing they can get caught in a shallow place like that and tend to shy away from it. When I was young my dad and I would fish for spawning crappie in this tiny cove in L Wateree in the spring, especially on very windy days. When water was rising or holding steady the bite was great. When dropping, they got lockjaw. Then one day I saw them swimming out the shallow sandbar entry to the cove as water was dropping.

I will be the first to admit I'm not a flipping or pitching aficionado. But I'm using PowerPro 30# on my jig rod with a 20# Big Game leader. It seems to be doing pretty well. Since those are usually shorter casts I could probably just use straight 15# Big Game mono. But I also use that rod for T rigs sometimes and I like the lighter (limper braid) line for that.

My Chug'n Spook came with good hooks. If they won't dig into your fingernail, sharpen them. I use a 6'6" M Lightning Rod with a 7.5:1 Lew's Tournament MB reel and 15 lb mono for big topwaters. I have more expensive rods, but this one feels perfect for this application. The line and rod give enough to keep from yanking hooks out. The reel is fast enough to keep fish headed your way when you get them turned. If the fish wants to jump stick that rod in the water and keep pressure on them. BTW, this is a really good lipless crank combo.

Welcome. I live across the southern border. Technically I work in Charlotte, but I work from home almost all the time. I pond fish and use a kayak most of the time too. The Catawba R below the Wylie dam is a good place for kayakers with some big bass to boot. Baden and Tuckertown lakes are beautiful, with little traffic. Stumpy Pond south of RH is a good one too. I'm sure there are good places in and around Charlotte proper. Where do you fish up there?

With practice, you'll get the hang of staying out of the abdominal cavity. You can really stay away from that belly meat. It's most likely to hold contaminants anyway.

Oh the egg on my face. But in my defense the thread popped back up today like it was recent. You're a young buck, you still have time to get some more 10+'s. I'm an old man. I might have to go to Mexico to get mine.

Check your PB.

Fact is, I don't have every color of every bait. I usually buy a couple colors of each bait I have a lot of confidence in and go with those. But nowadays, gold/black or some version with metallic gold is a confidence color for me. I used to only buy cranks in shad, chrome or firetiger. If I was in a situation where someone was skunking me with a bait and they didn't offer to loan me one exactly like it, I'd probably try a different color, then a different bait altogether.

I'll switch to what's working. I had that exact experience. It was my friend's gold/black Trap vs every other color I had in my box-I didn't have a gold. I tried bluegill, chrome, craw and TN shad. He skunked me, at least on that bait. I bought a couple gold/black ones and caught fish. I haven't thrown another color since at this place, though I did buy some Cordell Spots and an H2O Express knockoff to try, all in the same pattern. So far, the Spot is the best. It's also the darkest shade of metallic gold. There are shiners in this lake. I've caught some of my biggest bass there on this bait as well as some crappie.