MassYak85

I don't know man those 2 negative reviews out of thousands...guy is probably pretty shady.

More braid IMO, but I am pretty partial to using braid to a leader for most applications and letting the rod be the shock absorber.

A couple years back they actually upgraded the hooks on the 130 size. I have an old version I bent out the hooks on when I got it so I swapped them. I ordered a second one a couple months later that had the new hooks, and IMO they went a little overkill. They are d**n sharp and d**n strong hooks. But I actually swap mine out to slightly lighter hooks with a thinner wire (I believe I have St-36's on mine now). If you can get away with doing that the bait will sit higher in the water and fair better in waves.

Welp, pulled the trigger on that cart I had going in Tackle Warehouse. I'll just let the backordered stuff trickle in. Most of my purchases this year have been pretty planned out, although I shortened the timeline I had planned. So now barring any massive sale or need to replace something I should be good for a while. I'm all stocked up on line, clothing for summer (sun gear), new baits, replacement setups, etc. Only thing I could see myself caving on is a replacement frog setup if I start getting on a good frog bite.

If it makes you feel any better we actually got snow down here in Virginia from that storm too

I love my 7'2" HF Tatula for jigging, and I plan to get the 7'4" at some point to replace my current frogging rod. That said I don't think you could go wrong with either.

I've got quite the TW wishlist going and have to fight the urge to pull the trigger lol. I might break it into two orders, some of the stuff is backordered.

Seems like a nice yak! But that is a sit-on.

Ditto, I can stand in my sit-in if I want...only because I have outriggers. And I consider mine fairly stable as far as sit-ins go.

It's mostly a trust thing if I am replacing stock hardware. If it seems blatantly cheap or dull I swap them, or if I am doing something that requires a heavier/lighter hook than what they provide.

I always check in walmarts. 9/10 times there's not much, but every now and then I find a sale where I am just like "what are they thinking" and have to take advantage.

If you do stick with the heavier mono the 35 is probably a better choice but if you do go with the 10lb braid I'd definitely drop down in size a bit.

Bearing count isn't even something I look at when considering a reel. You can add 10, 12, 16, or even 18 bearings to a reel and it will not matter one bit unless they are good quality bearings. In fact, I think some of these companies using bearing count as a selling point are actually making the reel WORSE by adding so many. Consider where the bearings are in the reel. Once you get up above 10 they usually start adding 4, or even 6 or 8 to THE HANDLE. Now ask yourself, bearings are meant to reduce friction in areas where a bushing would be making contact with a shaft otherwise, but nothing is friction-less, including bearings. So if I have 1 bearing on one side of the handle, with X amount of friction...what good does it do to add another? Am I not doubling the amount of friction by stacking two bearings on top of eachother? What counts is good bearings in the places that count, and not overdoing it in the areas that aren't as critical. Quality spool bearings are probably the single most important factor when considering bearings.

I'm not sure what the curado 200 actually feels like in hand but I have a tatula HD200 on my fury 795 and it doesn't feel too small. Also the handle length is not long by swimbait rod standards. I bought it partially for that reason.

I use a 30 size for my 7'0 spinning rod and it works well IMO. I wouldn't want a bigger reel but I don't think the 35 would be necessarily overkill either depending what you are trying to do. But for 10lb PP I'd definitely go with the 30 size.

Seconded, I have experienced it first hand. The reel is still usable but if you aren't used to holding down the thumb bar during the cast it will catch you off guard. Also seconded, just got one for lighter swimbaits. It's a great reel.

I have and love my Ascend 10, it's the older model though, I think they updated them. I am in the minority as far as sit-in vs sit-on but I like being a little more enclosed. It helps keep you drier on those days when whitecaps are splashing into the side, or it's 30 degrees out and you had the brilliant idea to take the kayak out. Keeps you a little more protected. It is also pretty light, especially compared to many of the larger fishing sit-on tops. That being said I have HEAVILY modified mine. The only things left would be a fish finder and micro pole....but at that point I would have almost double into the kayak as the kayak costs, so I would definitely upgrade before doing that. The 1 nice thing about the Ascend you might not get with other minimally priced kayaks (but should look for no matter what your price range is) is it has a very nice seat. I frequently stay out all day (sun rise to sun set) and stay comfortable. Beyond that it is very minimal. I believe they changed the layout behind the seat with the newer models but mine has an indent for a bucket or crate (like you can see in the pic), as well as two flush rod holders and a scotty mount in front. But those are the only "features" it really has. The "waterproof" pocket is a complete joke btw, I wouldn't trust it. I carry two dry bags behind my seat. One for excess fishing stuff (clamshell packaged soft plastics, large worms etc) and a small one with some emergency supplies (first aid, phone charger, batteries, headlamp, emergency food). One of the nice things about a sit on top is you have almost 100% accessibility to the underside of any surface, so mounting things and customizing is super easy. No matter what you go with, comfort is your main goal. Obviously it has to be equipped enough to accommodate your gear and fishing style, but it doesn't matter how nice it is if you are feeling sore after 2 hours. Whether that's because your arms are sore from paddling, your butt is sore from sitting, or you chaffed because your life jacket didn't fit right. Other than the seat, make sure you get a nice life jacket, and at least a decent paddle. I wore a cheap water skiing life jacket and used an old heavy aluminum paddle for years and years. And you know what, the life jacket stayed behind my seat, and I never paddled more than a mile from the ramp because even in this 55lb kayak (call it 250lbs with me and gear in it) it was hard to get around on the water with that paddle. The best investment I made was getting a nicer paddle (aquabound manta ray hybrid) so that I wouldn't get fatigued paddling. And the most recent one, and something I should have done a looooong time ago, was get a nice life jacket. Try them on at a store, and see which fit best. I don't even really notice mine is on now that I found one that works for me (stolquist EBB). A comfortable life jacket is one you will actually wear. Here's my setup:

I have never broken 50, tbh I can't tell much difference. If you are one to lock down your drag 65 might dig in less.

Lol sounds like my first fish of last year. It was a nice secluded pond I was fishing from shore. There was a nice laydown and I casted a weightless fluke to the end. Twitched it, let it sink, twitched it and there was a huge swirl. Really got my heart racing but I got it near shore and it was just a nice healthy pickerel.

I use them interchangeably. I just spooled up with 65 because I bought 4 spools of it at a crazy discount last year. But I would use 50 in almost anything as well so if you have 50 I wouldn't feel the need to jump up.

I'm not saying he's bias, or even that he was wrong, but my issue is all his data was reported by anglers. So it is going to inherently be telling of both the fish and the anglers themselves and there is no way to necessarily separate them in all cases. Just an example, if I was to say that of a sampling of 1000 anglers under X conditions, 75% of the fish were caught in less than 10 feet of water. Does that mean that X conditions cause 75% of the catchable bass to move shallow, or does it simply highlight the fact that most fisherman are bank beaters? I didn't pull that from his book but I remember a couple similar things in there.

Good to know, the exposed blank was one of the reasons I went with the Tatula in the first place.

I've heard KVD's book is good but I haven't read it. I honestly wasn't a huge fan of high percentage fishing. It was a good read and there was interesting data but I felt he drew conclusions that could just as easily be telling of fisherman as it could the fish.

I buy 95% of my fishing gear online. Most of the deals I have gotten on rods and reels have been from Ebay. Just check the seller rating and reviews. I don't buy used stuff though.

Let us know how you like it! I love my normal Tatula's and want to try one of those eventually.