king fisher

I bought a Hobie Outback a few months ago, I fish for a couple hours in it almost every day. I have had some of the most enjoyable fishing experiences, of my life, and some of the most frustrating experiences kayak fishing. Don't get discouraged, the frustration goes away with time on the water. I recommend fishing with yours a few times before you start to buy accessories. The Hobie Pro Angler comes equipped with rod holders, slots for pliers, etc., lots of places to store gear, and a great pedal system. Depending on how you fish, you might not want anything more than a PFD and if the water is cold, rain gear, or waders ( you will get wet in all but the calmest conditions). An Anchor system can come in handy when I bass fish, but I use the anchor less now that I learned to plan my casts and boat position more in advance. A milk crate works as well as anything to store tackle boxes. If you are going to use it on lakes that can get rough, or salt water, I highly recommend taking it out with no gear, and practice getting in after flipping a few times. Also practice launching and landing, on a beach with some wind and waves. A little practice in less than ideal conditions, will give you a good idea of what you are capable of handling without risking any expensive fishing equipment.

I have way to many, but for some reason feel I need just one more. Especially one with a new Coastal SV. Where does it end?

I use a pair of gloves. I can rap the line around my hand without cutting myself, and am able to use both hands if I need too.

They are all similar. I would make sure what ever brand you buy, has a quality ball bearing swivel. I make my own and have every combination you could imagine. All a person really needs, is a couple different sizes, a dark color, a light color, and a few different blade types and sizes.

I would add, do not talk politics. While guiding I had had to learn to bite my tongue, smile and laugh at any political comment no matter how stupid I personally thought the comment was. Because of that experience, I do not want to hear someones political views while out fishing for fun, even if I agree with them. Same goes for jokes, The joke I think is great might be highly offensive to the person I am fishing with. I try to error on the side of caution when it comes to all conversation.

I have fallen through the ice fishing, Flipped rafts in rapids, numerous close calls while flying to my favorite fishing spots in marginal weather, had to shoot a brown bear, worst part was the bear didn't stop the bullet and it put a whole in the oil filter of my Honda outboard, ( killed a bear and Honda in one shot). Hooked many times, worst was with a size 12 /0 hook buried deep in my leg with the other hook on the double hook lure still hooked to a dorodo. Worst close call was when I was 14, lost the biggest bass I had ever seen right at my feet resulting in sever psychological trauma, and over 40 years of nightmares.

You can buy Blue Fox Vibrax #3 spinners with an optional single hook. Just as effective as one with a treble, but kinder on the fish. You may hook a few less fish, but once you have one hooked you have less chance of loosing it. Not sure if Mepps offer a version with a single hook, but you could buy hooks and change them out.

I am a big spinner bait fan. I haven't fished a chatterbait very much. I bought one a few years ago to try. I didn't catch any bass on it, but it sure worked on the brown trout. The same day and location the brown trout crushed the chatterbait, the brown bass attacked a jerk bait. I guess you never know, with fishing. The bait Monkey talked me in to buying a couple Chatter baits, so I will have to give them another try. Even if they work great, I'm sure they wont replace my spinner baits. Just another tool in the box.

I have broken or seen rods broken every imaginable way. Here is a partial list. 1. Shipping- Once had a rod I ordered arrive by mail broken 2. Puppy - I had a lab that destroyed everything. 3. Airplanes- One from a crash, another from a failed air drop 4. Car doors - most common 5. Snags - Very common, don't want to loose the lure, so why not break the rod too. 6. Fish- horsing fish very common. Once had a client break a fly rod in 6 places, but still landed the fish, 7. Stepped on- More than once 8. Ran over- Car, beaching boat, ATV, even a snow mobile 9. Shot - fools and guns very dangerous 10. Camp fire- Fools and alcohol very dangerous 11. Bears- More than once. - Don't worry about bears getting your food. They love rod handles more 12. Porcupines- Don't store rods under a cabin 13. Lifting 5 gallon bucket of water. - I won that bet, failed attempt to lift a 5 gallon bucket of water from the dock in to the boat. However the FG Knot I tied held 14. Rod defect- Very rare 15. Stress relief - ( politically correct term for temper tantrum) intentionally hitting rod on side of boat witnessed many times, or one time only I watched a friends dad break a new rod over his knee, while mumbling something about taking kids fishing. Just a few that I thought of right now. There are many more.

Sorry I'm off topic, but does any one know how well the Curado K holds up with salt water use?

Same as when fly casting in to the wind. Adjust your technique, and don't expect the same distance, or pick up the spinning rod. Depends on how strong the wind, and how much you want to fight it. Most of the time a long cast is not required to catch fish.

Neither one is better than the other. They are both tools design for a certain job. They both have advantages and disadvantages. They both can be the best or worst option depending on the situation. I prefer to use mono as my default line. If I determine floro would be better because of a certain, technique, water clarity, sink rate, etc. Than I will switch to floro. If I can't find a reason floro would be a significantly better tool for the job, than I will stick with mono.

The motor should pee regardless if the thermostat is open or not. All the pee or tell tale indicates is the water pump is working. If there is water coming out the back of the motor, than the pump is working and the thermostat is open. Many times there is no water coming out the tell tale because the line or fitting in the cowling is blocked. I carry a piece of wire, or straightened swivel in my tool box. Many times all that is required to do to unblock the pee whole is stick the wire in the whole breaking a clog in the fitting. If by cleaning the line the water starts to flow, then your water pump is working. ( still may not be producing the correct volume or pressure but working) To check and see if the thermostat is operating feel the water coming out of the pee whole. If the pee water is hot, then the thermostat is not opening. No water coming out the exhaust is another indicator the thermostat is closed. If the water pump is not working the motor will over heat immediately turn off and replace impellor or take to qualified mechanic. If the pump is working ( strong stream coming out the tell tale) but thermostat is stuck ( no water coming out back of motor, and pee is hot) you can remove thermostat. Inspect to see that there is no weeds or other debris causing the thermostat to stick. If no sand or weeds, then with cap to thermostat off and thermostat removed, run motor for a few seconds. There should be strong water flow come out the whole made for the thermostat. If you have strong flow then replace the cap without the thermostat and use motor until you can get off the water. Remember to get a new thermostat. Don't run for long periods of time with out the thermostat in place. I have seen many water pumps replaced because of no pee when all that was needed was to clean out the tell tale fitting in the cowling. Likewise, I have seen many motors over heat because of plugged thermostats and the operator refusing to believe the cooling system isn't working because the motor is peeing strong. (strong pee does not mean the thermostat is opening allowing water to cool the motor, only means the water pump is working) Jet motors get clogged tell tale fittings, and stuck thermostats regularly. Usually they just need to be cleaned. Most of the time an easy fix.

No body like salmon? Fresh King, Silver, or Sockeye is my favorite, Salt water fish. Wahoo comes in a close second. Yellow Perch, crappie, and bass are all great fresh water fish. Sure hope none of my fly fishing purists friends read this, but I have been known to eat a wild rainbow trout once in awhile. Not as good as bass or perch, but delicious all the same.

Best fish to eat is one I catch and some one else cleans and cooks it.

I agree with your order in general, but have seen exceptions. Of course location and depth, are are always the most important. You can't catch fish if they are not there. The grey area comes with speed, size, presentation, sound, and luck. I have seen times, when a bass will hit a red rattle trap fished slow, fast, and anywhere in-between, but wouldn't hit a chartreuse one at any speed. I have had times, when a black spinnerbait is working with a slow, steady retrieve, as well as fast with pauses, while at the same time I couldn't buy a bite on a white one. Many times, I have been able to catch bass on small or large jerk baits, but they had to have some silver or gold flash to get bit. These are the exceptions. and agree with your order in most cases. As far as luck goes, I would rather be lucky than good any day.

I watched a comparison video where a guy fished both. He would fish one for a certain amount of time, then switch to the other one for the same amount of time. He tried them on a couple different ponds, and switched up which one he started with. Although not a great experiment due to limited time, and number of variables it was interesting. It was basically a tie, with a slight edge going to the Crazy Crawler. I always preferred a Jitterbug over a Crazy Crawler, but did catch some nice fish on the Crawler when I was a kid. Price is the only thing keeping me from buying the Pompadour, I'm sure the Bait Monkey will get me over that hurdle some day.

I have seen small color variations matter, but not often. Large differences more often make a difference. If the only spinner bait you ever fish is black, you will catch fish both day and night but it sure wouldn't hurt to give a white one a try some time. I have caught bass on a pink spinner bait with chartreuse blades, ( I made for silver salmon) but not as many as one with white skirt, and gold blades. I do believe if the bass are eating crawfish with orange claws, it is a good idea to fish a crank bait with some orange on it, over a chrome colored one with chartreuse highlights. Doesn't have to be a photo copy of a crawfish, just a similar over all color, with some orange somewhere.

Maybe no bait fish in your lake had all those colors, in that exact combination, but I would bet there are bait in the lake that have a portion of one or two of those colors. Just like a rainbow trout bait looks similar to many other species of bait and works very well in waters with no trout. As has been said every time this topic comes up. Color doesn't matter until it matters. When it does, the Bait Monkey has made sure I am ready.

For me it is spinner baits. I will change size, color, blade type, slow roll, wake surface and everything in between, trying to get one to work, when I should just change to another type of bait. I almost became a fly fishing purist because of the same stubborn attitude. Thankfully I like to catch fish too much to let my hard head take over completely.

I fish two lakes with next to zero fishing pressure. I prefer to fish hard baits, but there are many days, I have to fish soft baits to catch fish. Some times the reason is I can rig the soft baits weed less making it possible to get the bait in the strike zone. Other days the fish are in an area accessible to both, they just plain prefer a soft bait. Some days I can over come the fish preference to soft baits, by covering more water, and getting more reaction strikes, but other times fishing the hard baits is just a waste of time. I much prefer the days, when I can make long casts, retrieve fast, and get crushing strikes on my favorite spinner bait. There are days, when I am stubborn and late to change, but fishing is all about fun, not just about how many fish I catch. I have a friend that prefers the subtle bite of a worm, and can slowly fish a small area all day. The only hard baits he ever brings with him are surface baits. ( Proving even the most hard core finesse guy can be seduced to the dark side when the surface bite is going off). Can be a real circus when we fish in the same boat. When I do fish pressured waters, I have noticed the fish are more picky about what they want at any particular time with both types of baits. Numerous baits and techniques may work on at the same time on a waters with little pressure. This may just be my imagination, I do know I am fortunate to be able to enjoy some solitude where I fish.

I just talked to a friend in Chapala. The spinner bait bite has been going strong for the past week. He completely destroyed 3 spinner baits in one day. Travel restrictions keep me from getting in on the action. I would love to have bass tearing up my spinner baits right now. I can always buy or make more baits, but currently, can only dream of big bass breaking them. I don't mind the travel restrictions, I look at it as once in a life time inconvenience, but I do think there should be a law against someone self Isolating on a lake with an insane bite going on being allowed to call and brag about the fishing. One good thing about spinner baits, is you can always salvage some of the parts to make more when they break.

Has any one ever tried hollow core pencil lead? You can cut to any size, and if it gets snagged the lead would slide off rather than break your line. Just an idea. I have never tried it myself.

I have ran jet boats for over 30 years, and highly recommend them in many situations, but weedy flats is not one of them. Not only will you be constantly stopping and pulling the weeds out of the boot, but you will also have to clean the thermostat on a regular basis or deal with over heating issues. A mud motor like Go Devi or other similar brand is far superior in shallow weeds. If there are only occasional weeds where you plan to fish and you don't mind stopping to pull them out, than a jet will work fine.

Hula Poppers have always been one of my favorite surface lures. When I was a kid I fished a shoreline, that had a rock shelf, that was 2-3 feet deep, and came out from shore about 4 feet, then dropped straight down 30 feet. The only way to fish the shelf was to cast from the opposite bank across a channel. The cast across was at the very limit of my cast with the gear I had. I even left a couple lures on a power line that crossed the channel. The bass would hit many different lures if I could cast clear to the far bank. The Hula Popper was by far the best lure for this spot. I could work it in the strike zone before the drop off longer than any other lure. I would cast it to the far bank. Let sit as long as I could possibly stand, then give it a quick pop giving slack immediately, so it would move forward as little as possible. If I did it right, the sound was a deep blurp, instead of a splash. If done correctly I would get bit every time. After a few pops the Hula would finally be out of the strike zone and I would reel in take a couple steps down the bank and cast across again. I had a big advantage over my friends that fished the same spot because I had the Hula Popper. My one fiend had a Dying Flutter, that worked well, but couldn't be cast as far, and didn't stay in the strike zone as long. His brother had a floating Rapala that he could only cast to the spot if there was a tail wind. 30 years later I was back visiting family and went back to that same spot. I had a rod that made it easy to cast any number of lures to the far bank, but had to give an old Hula Popper a try. I managed to snag the bushes, on the first cast, but was lucky enough to pull free. A couple casts later, on the first big pop I hooked and landed a two pound large mouth. I don't fish the Hula Popper very often. I don't have the kind of patience to work it correctly any more. When I do find a time and a place to fish one, I'm never disappointed in the results.