MassYak85

Swim Jig: Keitech Fat Impact T-Rig: Berkeley Powerworm Jig trailer: Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver

What do you think the storm tomorrow will do to the fishing? I'm thinking of going out and have had some of my best days in some pretty nasty weather.

Not sure if I'll use it since I just placed an order a few days ago but that's awesome, thanks

When I used to work there I think the base employee discount (the one you would get) was 25%, might have been 20 but I'm pretty sure it was 25.

San Diego Jam is what I've been using this year for all my mono/fluoro and I haven't had one break yet, using it for 6 - 20lb lines.

Braid: Uni Fluoro/Mono: San Diego Jam (my new favorite) Braid to Leader: FG or Alberto The only exception is tying plain hooks for fishing plastics I'll use a Palomar sometimes.

That's the best part PVC and old milk crates are your friend.

I think if you're only willing to spend 200 that right there is going to be your best bet. The only other kayaks I've seen at that price range are not conducive whatsoever to fishing, and frankly seem like junk. Your other option is to look at the used market. Like Choporoz said, that seat looks pretty uncomfortable but a cushion will help.

Pretty good list right here

I'd say it depends what you want to do. Do you want to actually be out on the water fishing? Or do you just want to be involved in the industry somehow? If the second one is fine then there are probably a good amount of design/manufacturing opportunities with lure/reel/rod companies.

THIS^^^^ Also trying to use a stakeout pole and the bottom is too muddy/or rocky for it to stick in.

I actually have one of these laying around lol, never used it though

I know many like it but Power Pro Super Slick 8. I've never disliked a braid more, and never stripped off and tossed freshly spooled line so quickly.

Make sure to include the costs other that the kayak, like paddle, pfd, safety gear (flag, light, whistle etc.), roof rack, and any mods you might want to do (anchor trolley is a basic one that will do a lot of good). I think you can get all that done for under 1000 if you look around. I use a 500 dollar sit in and it does what I need just fine. I've done a bunch of mods to it and I had to get roofracks and I upgraded my paddle so again, definitely under 1000 all in all.

Nothing that's strictly new but a couple things I haven't put a ton of time into yet. Shakeyhead for the tough days (got some roboworms that look too nice not to use) and swimbaits (hudd 68, some wakebaits/rats, s-wavers).

What lb test leaders are you using, and which knot? I'm a braid to leader guy and generally like pretty stiff rods for most applications. I use 12 - 20lb fluoro generally with 30 or 40lb braid, and use either an alberto or an FG knot for the connection and I have never broken either. If anything fails it's either the leader to lure knot or somewhere where the line got nicked. Only thing I can think of is maybe try backing off on the drag a little, like you said there needs to be some give in the system, and if you lock down the drag then the lighter lb leader is probably going to give first.

First two bags of Power Worms came today, 3 more packages and 14 more bags to go.

This is usually my go to as well.

Sounds like a good day! I was out on quinsig again today, 7am - 1pm. It was a much nicer day than I was expecting, very sunny and just a light breeze. It was a pretty strange day as far as the lake is concerned, starting off shallow it was almost 70 in some spots! So spent some time shallow seeing if any were still spawning, didn't see a ton of activity and didn't catch much. So went out to the main lake...saw temps as low as 54, so I'd guess there's still a decent amount that haven't spawned yet. Also, starting out there was tons of dead vegetation and muck floating on the surface, when I left it was gone (maybe it sank?). Only caught a couple small bass there, but did have fun on my med-light spinning setup slaying some rock bass, perch, and dink bass with a grub before leaving. Packed it up and headed to Maspenock. The wind really kicked up and clouds started coming in. Only thing I was able to get them to bite on though was a shakey head. Got about 4 pickerel and about a 2lb bass in a few hours. Water temps also varied a ton, I saw as high as 68 and as low as 59.

Generally I go with a 2/0 - 5/0 for most baits. I go a little smaller for stuff like drop shots, and a little bigger for stuff like swimbaits. I generally like 2/0 - 4/0 straight shanks for worms, the exception being 3/0 - 4/0 EWG's for senko style baits. I'll also use 3/0 - 4/0 EWG for baits like lizards, beavers, anything on the thicker size basically. I usually don't consider appendages, I usually base my hook choice off the main body of the bait and how much hook I need to get a good gap out of the bait when I set the hook. Sometimes if the bait allows it I'll also go up or down one hook size to vary the fall rate when I'm rigging weightless.

Went out today on A1 in my kayak. Got there around 9 and left around 3. It started off overcast with a little wind. I got two small bass and a pickerel right away to the left of the ramp. Once the sun came out and it warmed up they didn't seem to be feeding as actively, so I decided to just paddle around for a bit and explore. With my outriggers I can stand so I was able to get a pretty good view of the shallows. There were a ton of 2 - 3 lbers up shallow, some seemed like they were on beds but were easily scared away so I don't think they were guarding eggs yet. I couldn't get any to bite sight fishing. All of my bites came on either a swim jig or a plain paddle tail swimbait. I did also get a dink pickerel on a spinnerbait. All in all I got 3 bass and 4 pickerel. Not great, not terrible. It was a beautiful day though so I can't complain. The "lunker" of the day was about 2lbs even. Pre-frontal ahead of Sunday's 20 degree temperature drop, should be good.

Frogs, worms and swim jigs would be my go-to's. I have also had luck with the johnson silver minnow. It comes through weeds very well.

Yea it's weird I used to love fishing sunny days with slick calm water, and hated even the slightest wind. But now it's those 15mph overcast days with impending rain that get me excited. Of course if I'm fishing out of my kayak I have to be reasonable. Whitecaps will send me home just because effectively moving around looking for fish becomes nearly impossible.

Their webapp is really a great tool for scouting out new places. It's not perfect, there's some nice holes at some of my local spots that don't show up, and the most egregious I've seen is coming across a shallow sand/rock island 4 feet underwater in an area it says is 30 feet deep, but it's nice to have an idea of how a place generally lays out.

Lol that's ridiculous. As long as they get here in a reasonable amount of time I don't really care but it is very wasteful and I can't imagine what they are paying in unnecessary shipping fees.