NYWayfarer

Same here. It becomes second nature after awhile. I do it without thinking, sort of like breathing.

Just like some humans are smarter than others, some fish are smarter than others. If you are talking species as a whole, Cichlids are pretty intelligent as far as fish go. When kept in aquariums they will come to recognize their owner. I had a 10" Oscar in a 8' long aquarium that used to follow me when I walked by like a puppy. I was even able to pet him when I lifted the top off the tank.

I believe @DroneFisher is correct and they are sold out. Good news is I have heard that the Kastking Royale Legend and Assassin rods might become available tomorrow.

My son's first Bass. I had to help him hold it to get a decent pic. Good times and memories. They grow up so fast and they forget how much they liked fishing once they catch a whiff of the fumes (perfume and car fumes) We have only been out a handful of times this year as he is busy with the girlfriend and hanging with friends.

I will stop using a soft plastic once it starts looking worn out. I save them as Dingers, Senkos and Ochos can be cut in half and used on jigheads. Other baits like Grubs and creature baits can be trimmed and used as trailers.

Sounds good to me. The White Max should be a fine reel. I didn't want to scare you off of it I just noticed from comparing mine that the Spartacus, which is the lowest cost ($45) Kastking baitcaster I have, had minor issues, like a sticky cast button. These disappeared at the Stealth and above price point. If you have any issues with your White Max contact customer service and get a replacement.

If that's your budget the White Max is the best you are going to get at that price point. For the record I am by no means a crankbait fisherman but when I do it's on my Stealth.

This reel is almost identical to the Kastking Royale Legend except the slower gear ratio and white paintjob. Both have good reviews. I am sure its a good reel, for the price point. While I don't have any experience with this particular reel I do have 4 Kastking baitcasters (Spartacus, Stealth, Assassin and Speed Demon from lowest to highest cost) Personally, I wouldn't go any lower than the Stealth price wise anymore. I think the reels at the Stealth price point and above are the perfect mix of low cost and great quality.

That's a MONSTER Bass for the capital region of NY Grats!

Awesome fish! You are doing our home state proud right there.

I am the opposite of a jerk. I share info for free. If someone asks me what I used I gladly tell em' I caught it on a wacky rigged senko or a ned rig. It's no secret anyone can catch on these baits and fish will always bite them. As far as fishing spots go I have a few so if someone is in one of my favorite spots I move on to the next. I rarely stay in one place for more than 20 minutes to give everyone a chance at. I had a guy pass my kayak yesterday on his Lund (no offense A-Jay) and throw his hands up in the air. I can only imagine that was him trying to say why are you in that spot as why wouldn't you just wave like I did? He anchored about 50 feet away to start fishing. Once I left he moved in and anchored there wouldn't even look at me as he passed. Really sad when people act this way. If you think about it I don't know this guy but I do know we have one thing in common already, fishing. We could have struck up a convo about that rather than getting pissy that I was in a local hot spot first.

I buy the Field and Stream brand when they are buy one get one 50% off. They have stood up to occasional fish slime and blood just fine.

I have not had the problem with meltdown but I have had lots of problems with twisting baits. Elaztech seems to have a mind of its own after casting a few times. It gets wrapped around the hook to the point where it becomes unusable not matter how durable it is.

Thanks everyone!

I am impressed with the Lew's Speed Stick line of rods. I picked up one of the DSG exclusive Carbon Fire rods when they were half price. I can say it is the best rod I have ever bought for $40 I love the Winn Grips and how light it is. I will have to check out the Mach series.

My tip is experience is the best teacher. Go out and spend as much time fishing as you can.

For panfish I love the Trout Magnet and Trout Slayer. For the Magnet I sometimes switch out the soft plastic body it comes with and use a Berkley Gulp minnow. Gulp 1" minnows on any kind of small jig head are fantastic panfish bait. Big panfish seem to love my Ned Rig. Z-man has the finesse TRD and the Big TRD they need to make a Tiny TRD for panfishing.

After seeing your post I picked up a 12 pack of these last night at my local Hannaford. Great local beer.

I bought my son a couple of Pflueger Spincast models years ago. The underspin and the Trion I believe. They were pretty tough reels. I would recommend them over the plastic kiddie reels or the budget Samurai combos places like DSG sell. I still have the underspin and it works fine on an ultralight set-up.

I like the slot as I am not a fan of skin hooking. I fish a lot of open water so I don't have to worry about getting hung up too much.

I am in the same boat (pun intended) as you. Kayak fisherman with 2 rods. I bring a baitcaster spooled with 12lb line on a Med/Hvy fast action rod and a spinning reel spooled with 8lb fluoro on a Med/Light fast action rod. I take a small assortment of baits for each rod as follows: Baitcaster: Topwater (Whopper Plopper, Hula Popper and Jitterbug) Large tubes Assorted worms in the 5" size for wacky, Texas, Carolina and shaky head rigging Creature baits for punching Large flukes Crankbaits 6 to 10' divers Spinning: Small tubes Ned Rig Dropshot baits Small flukes Changing out baits is pretty quick and hasn't been an issue for me. It has made me tie a better, faster knot.

My home bar is pretty modest. My drink of choice is Black Velvet over Coke Zero with a twist of lime. To me BV is a decent whiskey for the money. Always have a few bottles on hand. However when I do have some extra scratch my favorite drink is Macallan 12 For a home bar I would recommend a bottle of Crown Royal XO Its great tasting and the bottle is a nice looking top shelf addition.

I don't know if this was always available but I was able to change my display name when updating my profile. Dropped the finesse from my name as I am not only finesse fishing anymore due to this site. Added NY to my name as it is my home state.

I use the size 90 in Bone color. I haven't swapped out the hooks as they are super sharp and thin enough. River Smallies love the Plopper!