MassYak85

I got an AquaBound MantaRay Hybrid a couple years ago and it was probably the best non-tackle purchase I have ever made. It has some really nice features for it's price point (139). It has a weight that will rival even some high end paddles (31.8 ounces) and it's "posi-lock" ferule system allows for 15 degree increments and extremely easy connect and disconnect. Also, they aren't kidding when they say posi-LOCK. There is zero play. The blades are a nylon-fiberglass blended resin and so far have been pretty durable. I push off rocks all the time. I went from some cheap aluminum paddle to that and it has made a world of difference. I don't worry about getting worn out from paddling a couple miles between spots anymore. There are definitely nicer paddles out there but I think for the price point it's got most others beat. I also got mine on sale so that helped my decision a bit. https://www.aquabound.com/products/manta-ray-hybrid-2pc-posi-lok-kayak-paddle

A lot less than his bullfrog I hope lol I got my 10 packs of Keitech crazy flappers a few days ago. After trying them I must say I'm really impressed. They have a great action on the fall, I think I have a new favorite jig trailer.

Just got back on Saturday, I was busy yesterday so I went to A1 for a night trip afterwards. I launched around 8, but I underestimated the mosquitos and almost called it quits pretty quickly. The temperature dropped and they quickly disappeared though. I wasn't really sure what to expect with the fish, but I did end up getting two decent bass, the bigger of the two was probably 2 1/2 lbs. The smaller hit a whopper plopper and the bigger one hit a jig. That bite was pretty cool. There was a deck light from someone's house and my line was laying right in the glare so I could see it and I saw the line jump as the jig fell. I swear I thought I had a 5lber on the line when I set the hook. My entire kayak swung 90 degrees towards the fish and I went to the fish more than it came to me. I went to net it and lifting it out of the water I was a little disappointed but I'll take it. I got both fish within 15 minutes of each other and after the the bite seemed to die, I think the cold might have started to take effect on them a little. I switched to a 10" power worm t-rigged since the jig was not coming through all the weeds very well but I wasn't able to get any on it. I think I may have had one bite but I blew the hookset. It was really cool to be out there though. The last few people were leaving as I was launching so I had the pond to myself. There was enough moonlight I could actually see fairly well even with my light and headlamp off. There was almost no wind too. This was my first true "night trip" but I'll definitely do this more often. @Janderson45 I'm probably only going to be able to get out again Wednesday so if by chance you are free and still want to meet up I'm game. Edit* Had to start getting stuff ready for school today but I had some time in the afternoon so I went out on Maspenock for a few hours. I only got one fish but it was my new PB smallie! 3.26lbs, not huge but I don't fish too many lakes where the smallies are very prevalent. It was a welcome surprise since I usually only get a few each year at that lake. It hit on a whopper plopper on a shallow rocky point. It's also extra sweet because last season I lost two smallies of similar size on the same whopper plopper. After some hindsight I started throwing the whopper plopper on a different (mod-fast) rod this season. Before I was using my Fast jig rod and they were getting off on jumping headshakes. Seems like it did the trick. She leaped clear out of the water and stayed pinned.

Oh man, I think I dislike the rod accents even more than the reel lol. To each their own though, that's a nice setup and I've heard great things about the reel's performance.

I'm not a fan of bright reel colors. It doesn't mean I won't buy one at some point but if it was my choice every one of my reels would be black or silver/grey. The one color I hate most is that curado 300e "vomit green" as I like to call it. I crossed it off my list when looking at swimbait reels for the color alone. Some will probably laugh at that but I can't stand how it looks.

You'll have to find one that is closing, I had 3 in my area but only 1 was closing. They were picked dry I was lucky to even find the stuff I bought.

This. I've also had some good days smacking dinks with a size 2 (or was it 4?) finesse wide gap and a 3 inch senko.

i only use the fat impact, the normal impacts are pretty thin and will get torn in half much easier. As for size, I'll go down to the 2.8 on a little jighead or up to the 5.8 on an owner beast hook. I'll use them as trailer in the 4.3 size.

This It's heartbreaking but if you use it as a learning experience and go back with a game plan you are now a step up on the next hook up with that fish or a similar fish. You were able to get a double digit to bite, that's no small feat in many places, go back and consider why that was the case.

More bearings a lot of times =/= better reel. In fact past a certain point, and especially in this case, I'd argue it makes it worse, because you now have so many low quality bearings in the reel your likelihood of one of them wearing out and affecting performance are much higher. Reels like this often times shove bearings wherever they can. I've heard of some putting 6 bearings in the handle....and I'll guarantee this one here has at least 4 in it's handle. Now what would be better, having 2 poor quality moving components in a spot, or 4....or 6? All you're doing is increasing the likelihood of failure. The sweet spot for any reel is having high quality bearings only where they add a worthwhile frictional benefit vs something like a bushing. And I'll guarantee a 40 dollar reel is not using high quality bearings. That being said the reel might not be terrible, I've never tried it, and for 40 dollars you might just be able to get your money's worth. But do not buy it for the amount of bearings.

For 20 (ish) bucks savage gear makes the shine glide, you could scoop up some new or used 8" hudds, the 3:16 8" rising son is a good option, and the savage gear 3D line through trouts have a good s action and are very durable. Generally with swimbaits you get what you pay for but any of those are solid options for starting out.

I was in Dick's over the weekend and they had a 5$ off megabass lures sale....I was sooooo close to grabbing one to try but I talked myself out of it. One day.

That's the problem, I store my Plano's vertically in a milk crate and if I put them in a bag or directly into the plano they would all fall to the bottom, bunch up, and deform.

x2, although I haven't completely replaced the swing impact because of their larger variety in size and color (if Eco Pro came out with some 2.8's and 5.8's and a few more colors I would completely switch), I do think the Exo Pro's are just as good for a much better price.

Okay I've tried experimenting myself and have read up but have not really found a good solution to this. I'm sure most if not all of you are very familiar with the "clamshell" type packaging popular with Kietech and other brands. How the heck do you guys store these things? Right now I've settled on throwing them in a gallon ziploc but it's a huge pain, and I can't take it with me in my kayak so I usually can only bring 2 or 3 individual packages. Any other soft plastics I store in a deep plano which works very well, but the clamshell packed ones take up way too much room to do that. So I'm curious what you guys do, specifically guys who fish from the bank or from a kayak.

Same here, some are too small for some hooks, some are poorly placed, and in the worst case, some will even foul up the line if it goes slack. I prefer the Fuji keepers to most stock ones.

@Janderson45 Yea sure if it works out that sounds great! And I hear you about them being deep in the thick stuff. Sometimes when I'm frog fishing and not getting bites what I'll do is just start paddling around in the lily pads and look for swirls, that way I at least know when I get in a spot that is holding good fish. It works pretty well actually. On the western side of A1 I've paddled back as far as I could into those super thick pads and I was still getting blow ups on my frog where it was so thick I couldn't go any further. Also I'd recommend in the early spring before any of the vegetation has a chance to come back, find a nice clear day with no wind and just take a paddle around with some polarized glasses in the shallower areas. There's some very interesting bottom details especially in that shallower section to the left looking out from the ramp. I am still not sure what they are, but I can only describe them as dredges that snake around on the bottom. They're about a foot or two deep below the normal bottom and maybe 2 to 3 feet wide. And they are shockingly well defined. My best guess is that the beavers use them to move around under the thick matted vegetation in the summer. But I'm also guessing the bigger bass might also do the same thing. I haven't had a chance to test that out yet unfortunately, but if I'm right and you could somehow remember where they were I think a well placed punch rig or frog worked right over the top could be deadly. I almost considered putting a couple sticks in the mud next to it to mark them. But that's the catch, they're relatively narrow and once they're covered by vegetation It's going to be very hard to find them again I think.

@Janderson45 Oh man, that's heartbreaking but exciting at the same time. I've mentioned it before but I had a close encounter with a similar class fish back in the spring. Knocked about 5ft of slack into my line fishing a mattlures bluegill and I couldn't catch up to get a good hookset. But the amount of water that thing moved swimming away was unlike anything I've ever seen. It literally looked like a small torpedo got shot in a 50ft path away from by lure. It's interesting because I rarely do too great size wise (fish over 4) at A1 but stuff like that keeps reminding me they are definitely in there. Sorry to hear about the rod though, I'm sure Dobyns will take care of you. I've got to try punching more, I have the gear and have done it a couple times at A1 with success but it's pretty low on my list of favorite techniques.

If it's the kind of much I'm thinking of, I don't. Even with a grass jig I'll pull up a ball of muck that not only completely obscures the jig but takes about a minute to get off. If it's that kind of stuff I'll opt for a weightless worm and try and find fish that are willing to hit on the fall, or go light enough that it can just rest on the stuff without getting to cluttered.

Alberto or FG knot are my go-to's. If you are comfortable with the alberto now I would stick with it.

If you guys haven't done so yet I would suggest hitting up your local K-mart if they are one of the stores closing. Snagged all of this for 4.50, about 80% off retail for the lot.

I've seen them as low as 40 or 50 bucks online, I kind of wish I had pulled the trigger on those. And yea the silent killers are almost always cheaper so I could go that route. If you are interested in a second I do know a couple US places selling the 175 for 90 and 100.

I was dragging a worm and snagged some line. I started pulling it in to get it out of the water and low and behold there's a little catfish on the end, very much alive and kicking.

I've got a 9" slammer on the way and am hoping to try some night trips in a couple weeks, I'll keep you guys updated on how that goes. Now that you mention it it would be cool to see the sun set and rise while out on the water in the same trip, I might do that. I've had success at dusk before but I've never stayed out super late. Maybe 9 or 10 is the latest I've gone. I've been tempted to get a 175 myself but I'll need to wait for a serious sale to even consider it.

Yea I bought a few different sizes hoping to use some as trailers and some as T-rig baits. Also got some smaller size red ones to use on little football heads as a good craw imitation.