CenCal fisher

I don't use mine for landing bass but they are nice on a kayak when I want to put the fish back in the water while I get my phone out for a picture. They are also handy when it comes to putting a fish on a scale

I'm pretty much at a 50/50

You should feel some of the bites with this setup. Watch your line to see if it moves off to the side, stops sinking before it hits the bottom or falls slowly then quickly speeds up. You can start setting the hook on everything that feels different until you learn what a bite is or if you get tired of snagging brush start reeling when you think you had a bite and if you feel weight on the end of your line set the hook. It takes some time to learn what a bite feels like, telling you what it feels like isn't the same as actually feeling it

Hook sets are free until you set your hook into a stump and have to break it off. What lures res are you using op and how are you from aging them? What brand and model rod are you using and what type of line is on the rod?

Correct, if you buy the two pole licence which is $10 or $15 more (I think $10) then you can have two rods in the water

You might find a few fish on beds but I wouldn't spend much time trying to find them. Spotted bass really like the morning dawn color. Those roboworms should work well, I just like drop craws a little more

Finally someone who doesn't have a scale but took measurements!

I'll probably be there on Sunday morning. Go to Walmart and pick up a pack of missle bait drop craws in pinkalicious and 4" robo worms in Aaron's magic. I normally catch all of my fish on the drop shot with a few on mid to deep crank baits. If you have a trout pattern swimbait that might produce but I haven't started fishing swim baits yet. You should catch plenty of spots but a fish over 3lbs would be on the large side. When a tournament is held there the winning weight ranges from about 10-15lbs Last weekend I was catching them on the drop shot about 15' deep. I talked to some me other guys and there were using senko under docks. The previous weekend there was a spotted bass spawn but I wasn't fishing there then. I would start off fishing docks docks then if that doesn't produce switch to the drop shot at various depths until you find the fish that are active. Just a heads up, the lake has a no wake until 8 rule

It makes my day when they scrape against that shallow rock pile you were catching fish on

Well I guess I won't be getting the rebate I just sent in

Limcat razorcat in 9 major and a cz shadow 2

I had that same kayak, I picked it up on sale for $250 and used it for a year until I upgraded. I was happy with my purchase at $250 and would recommend it at $200. the seat gets uncomfortable after about four hours and it isn't all that fast but it's cheap, light and easy to transport. What's your height and weight op? I'm 5'10 150lbs and would say I was near the height and weight limit to be comfortable in that kayak

Don't worry about it, if everyone used the search function the forums would be dead. It seems like every thread about a gear question gets the "it's been covered try searching it" response, but people continue to reply to the thread so I'll keep the tradition going. A walmart kayak isn't complete junk but with a cheap kayak you are giving up a lot to keep the price down. Forget about comfort, stability, or speed, all of these were sacrificed to keep the cost down. Check craigslist to see if you can find something used in you price range or even the same sun dolphin kayak for $100

With 12lb floro and a bait caster you will be fine without line conditioner. I had 15lb red label on my bait caster and it wasn't hard to manage without any line conditioner.

Like others have said $1000-$1500 will get you a good setup that you won't want to upgrade after your first outing. What I was looking for when I upgraded my kayak was a stadium style seat, 12ft or longer, a wide enough hull to stand in and a low hull weight so I could carry it if I didn't want to use a cart. A transducer ready hull was a plus but not a requirement. Also make sure that you are well under the max weight capacity. At 280 I wouldn't consider any kayak that didn't have a max capacity of at least 450lbs. If i were you, the vibe sea ghost 130 would be the kayak I would compare everything to when considering other options. It has a rudder, stadium seat, high weight capacity, rotomolded, a low hull weight for what it offers and it's under $1000

Braid will probably get the bait down deeper if you use a braid with a smaller diameter than the pound test floro you planned on using.

I tried fluorocarbon, but I like dragging a jig and couldn't give up the sensitivity of braid. With braid on my reel it's like I'm running my finger over the bottom and with floro it feels like I'm doing the same thing but with thick gloves on.

I have some rapala braid scissors but normally I just use the scissors on my leatherman or the knife on my leatherman

It sounds like your problem is with the spool tension. It's a little knob on the reel near your drag star. YouTube "how to dial in a bait caster" and you will find some videos that will help you out. I think bass resource has a video that covers this's.

all all my walmarts have are those tru-turn hooks that look like bent nails. The crank baits are a big score

An extra fast vs a fast tip isn't that big of a difference. I found that a fast tip will cast lures near the lower end of a rods weight range better than an extra fast tip. The extra fast tip will do everything the fast tip can but might give you a little better hookset. I like slower action rods, but some people like faster rods.

Lighter line will make a noticeable difference, but check the diameter of the line to make sure it's actually lighter. One brands 12lb might be another brands 15lb and you won't notice much of a difference going from 17lb to 15. If you want maximum depth use 20lb braid. Also keep your rod tip close to the water or stick it under water if you really want to get deeper. For every foot you put your rod tip under the surface you should gain about six inches of depth. Your bait will be at its deepest somewhere around 2/3 of your retrieval distance so if you have some deeper structure you want to hit plan your cast so the structure is somewhere in the middle of your retrieval. There was was a good thread about crank bait depth on a walleye fishing forum, but can't find it. If you spend some time googling you might be able to find it.

Buying a used rod is a good way to save money on a rod. Just check to make sure the guides aren't missing an insert and look the rod over to see if it's had the tip replaced or any obvious damage. The rods are at least two years old so don't expect them to look perfect. Rub a q tip in each guide, if the cotton catches the guide will need to be replaced so that it doesn't cut your line. I would pay around $80 per rod if they are in fair condition. The two heavy rods can be used for the same things it just depends if you like an extra fast tip or a fast tip. You could throw frogs, heavier jigs, Texas rigged plastics with a weight, basically any single hook bait that falls within the rods lure weight range. It's a stiffer version of your 7'6 rod that will do a better job of handling heavier lures in thicker cover. If you get the 7' MH rod you would have three rods which essentially do the same thing. Your spinner bait rod, the crucial and your 7'6 rod probably all have a lure weight range within 1/8 ounce of each other.

It's not garbage but at full price I wouldn't buy it again. The line isn't as round as other brands of braid which made it difficult to pass through the eye of some hooks and jigs to tie a palomar knot. I used 30lb and never broke anything off, I had an extra strong jig hook straighten when I got snagged on a tree but the line didn't break. My other complaint is the the line digs into to spool worse than other braids of the same breaking strength. Stealth is quieter than other braids but it wasn't as high visibility as I wanted

I hooked a big one on a frog last summer. It sounded like a toilet flushing when it took my bait under. Sadly the fish came off as I was reeling it in