MassYak85

Oh oop,s my bad, yea we're on the same page. For some reason I thought you were the OP. I took "This is what I do" to mean that you use the hooks the OP is inquiring about.

Yup, congrats to the Eagles. They showed they had what it took to beat the Pats, to play a full 60 minute game. That strip sack was clutch by the Eagles D and probably prevented a game winning drive by Brady. That's what you've got to do if you want to win against them and they gave it their all. Foles is an awesome human being and definitely has my respect. Even in the loss Brady shattered a couple more records, only QB with 500+ yards in a superbowl and only QB with 10k+ postseason passing yards. On to next season! I think Brady and Belichick still have one more in them. I just hope they both choose to go out on a high note if they get the chance.

I used to work there and their choices on stocking the fishing section were pretty suspect. You'd have ever Rapala lure you could ever want, but we would be out of stock of power pro and 832 braid almost constantly. It would fly off the shelves and we'd get minimal restock of the stuff. That's not on the individual stores though, corporate decided what to ship.

9/10

Have confidence in the bigger stuff! The 130 gets ANNIHILATED by 2lbers.

??? Spool the fluoro exactly like you would the mono ???

Fair enough. I would think having an infinite choice of weights and an infinite choice of hooks would be more customizable than having the two linked more or less but that's just me, do what works for you I guess.

Forgive my ignorance as I never use these, but why not just peg a bullet weight in front of an EWG hook?

Again I'd like to avoid inflatable. I sometimes just go out paddling with friends and mess around and we get wet so I'd rather "getting wet" not mean $20. Most of my use will be during the summer. MA doesn't have brutal summers like down south but 90's and humid aren't uncommon so it's got to be able to breath well. I also stay out on the water for a while usually. I've had some twelve and fourteen hour days so comfort is something I don't mind paying for. *Edit. I decided to go with the Stolquist EBB. The price was right from Austin Canoe and Kayak. Thanks for the input everyone!

Just to clarify, I am not looking for a vest designed for fishing. I want it to be as low profile as possible (no bulky pockets in front). I also do not want an inflatable.

So I went to REI to try some on this morning. I narrowed down their selection to two. Astral V-Eight: This was the most comfortable one I tried on, and it fit the best. I liked the high back cushion and it had a lot of ventilation in front which is something that would be nice for fishing in the summer a lot. My biggest gripe with it was there wasn't many options for managing loose strapping. It also had mesh pocket in front, which I am trying to avoid (less things to get hooks caught on the better). It was also a bit pricey. Stohlquist EBB: This fit very well too, although I'd still give the nod to the V-eight for that. It was a bit cheaper and was very minimalistic as far as the pockets go (a good thing in my mind). It didn't have the venting of the V-eight in front. It seemed like I was better able to manage the loose straps with this one too. If anyone has tried either of these and can speak to the longevity, as well as how comfortable they are in the heat that would be much appreciated! I think right now I am leaning towards the Stohlquist.

Thanks for the suggestions so far guys. I might take a trip to REI tomorrow to try some of those on.

Haha I was actually thinking something similar when I posted. Like I said I'm flexible on price for that reason.

Alright, confession time. I rarely wear my life jacket in my kayak unless I feel hypothermia is an imminent threat should I tip. I want to change that this year. Currently I just have a cheap water skiing life jacket, it's not exactly the most comfortable thing, which I know isn't an excuse, but is one of the main reasons I opt to leave it behind my seat when out on the water for long days. I'm looking for something that is comfortable first and foremost. I don't need or even necessarily want any pockets or mesh or anything like that (the less things I can get hooks tangled in the better). What are some of you guys wearing currently that you would highly recommend? I'd like to keep it around 50 bucks but I am open to upping that if you can convince me.

Mattlures soft gills, but for a weedless presentation I am a huge swimjig guy.

I had to email their customer service to get the schematics from their archives. If you send me a PM I can email them to you.

Booted off? As in by the cops?

I'd be willing to give those a try depending on the price. Do you know if they are going to come in any other sizes?

I'm in a similar boat. I've only really been serious into bass fishing for like 4 to 5 years now. Before that was just either bobber fishing for whatever bit as a little kid, or tossing rubber worms at any piece of visible cover that looked "fishy" hoping for a bite, paying no attention to conditions. 4 or 5 years ago I realized how much I enjoyed the sport and started doing....the exact WRONG thing that I should have, with a little of the right sprinkled in. I started buying tackle, making sure I had situations covered to my satisfaction. I could tell you he theoretical reason I made each purchase but I still struggled to apply that theory. It's only been the past couple or few years that I started trying to actually pursue what matters; knowledge. I joined forums, started reading tons of articles, watching videos and trying to learn how to succeed, not buy it. I still buy tackle pretty frequently but I realize now what I should have realized 4 or 5 years ago...no lure is a magic bullet. No matter the conditions, the lure itself should not be my focus, it should be on finding the fish, and every lure or tackle purchase needs to be in pursuit of that goal. Once I find them then I can worry about the subtle differences that might get me extra bites. I've been doing a lot of reading this winter of some of the classic books on bass fishing and already I feel I have gained more knowledge than in all the past years. Whether I can apply that knowledge or not is what I will be working towards this season.

Oh man, there's plenty of tiny lakes around here that I love fishing but of all the places I've ever gotten a line wet if I was forced to stick with one I'd have to go St. Lawrence River.

Okay that helps, so this is a "swimbait" rod you are after then. In that case you will be doing a lot of casting. You say you don't want to get fatigued by a longer rod. It may seem counter-intuitive, but this is the opposite approach you need to have for these big lures. Most swimbait rods you see are long (most are up around 8') for a very good reason, you need that length for the rod to load up and cast these lures, if you have a short rod you are going to be hurting yourself, both in casting distance, and probably in a literal sense. When I got my 8' rod for throwing 5oz huddlestons and similar swimbaits, my first thought when using it was not "wow, I wish they made this in a 7'2"....it was "wow, I should have gotten the 8'6". You need to let the rod do the work, with a short rod these big lures are going to make YOU do the work and you will wear yourself out. Check out some of these, they are pretty good beginner options: https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-RDCOKUMA.html?from=basres http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Daiwa_DX_Swimbait_Casting_Rods/descpage-DXB.html http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Dobyns_Fury_Casting_Rods/descpage-DFC.html If I may ask, which rods did you check out in person that seemed "huge"? With advances in rod making many of these longer swimbait rods are actually fairly light.

Is this for swimbaits? And when you say huge what do you mean, were they heavy, was the blank thick, are they "too long"? Because trust me, at those weight ranges you want NEED a longer rod (think up around the 8' mark), both to cast the baits effectively but also to save yourself physical discomfort. If this rod is for fishing bait on the bottom then that's a different story and something I have little experience with.

That's interesting to hear (and sad about t snapping). It seems spiral wrapped rods are starting to become more popular as of late, at least in the swimbait game.

Yea, I come down here after ice fishing in MA for a week and am greeted with a foot of snow lol. At least we get some nice days in the 60's sprinkled in.

I actually saw skim ice on a pond on the way to work this morning in VA Beach haha.