NYWayfarer

Love my Shimano's. Great quality products from a company with a long standing reputation.

My dad always says there is nothing wrong with your money so there should be nothing wrong with what you purchase with it. You did the right thing getting a new one.

I would say the Big TRD was created to combat the argument that the Ned Rig doesn't catch big fish. What catches big fish? Big baits hence the big TRD. Like you said it's not the Midwest finesse style anymore.

Impressive list of brands. Made the bait monkey grab me by the throat. I am going to go buy an Arbogast Jitterbug and Hula Popper this week for some nostalgia fishing.

Ahhhhh that explains Booyah missing as well.

What happened to Yum? -----------------------------> I don't see them on the side anymore.

Stop making sense. This is a fun thread

You forgot, 21. Kastking reels are inferior as they cost under $100, unless you tried one.

Happy Birthday A-Jay. Here is hoping for tight lines on your day!

When is a Ned rig not a Ned rig? When it's not a mushroom head jig with a half a Z-man Zinkerz crazy glued on? That's the one Ned talks about in his video on the subject. Then Z-man made Shroomz head jigs and TRD's regular and big sizes. I consider those Ned rigs as well. I fish the small Shroomz head jigs with all sorts of trailers (3" Yum Dingers, Arkie Curly Tail grubs and Salty Chicken Feet, etc) I don't call them Ned rigs though. They all work and they all catch fish.

I bought a cheap Swiss Cargo carrier kit from Dick's Sporting Goods when I purchased my kayak. It works for the short trip I have to take to get to water. Anything further I would have to upgrade to something better. You would need something in the 12' range like the Field and Stream Eagle Talon or Shadow Caster they carry 450-500lbs but weigh closer to 100lbs. Car topping will be impossible without help. My Pelican angler kayak carries a max 275lbs and weighs 38lbs so it's easier to car top by myself. Anything heavier would have defeated the purpose of getting on the water easy and solo for me.

The Stealth is a great reel. If it was available when I first picked up a baitcaster I would have never gone back to spinning gear. Stick with the Stealth you will not be disappointed. Its light, casts a mile and is virtually backlash proof once brakes are set. As far as the rod I would upgrade to a Ugly Stick GX2, Berkley Cherrywood HD, Lightning rod Shock or Abu Garcia Vengeance. They are much better than the Agility.

I have had Bass hit my wacky rig senkos while retrieving them on the surface. That's my indicator to switch to a topwater bait.

I agree with this. I have learned the fine art of downsizing and I am happier for it. After many trips where my tackle box was, for the most part, untouched I have learned to take less.

I do the same. I also add a chatterbait into the mix.

Ditto. Bait-casters right, spinning reel left for this right handed man. I would have never even thought about switching my spinning gear from left to right until I read this thread. And I still won't

it's definitely in the Cichlid family.

Considering the pollution levels of some of the waters I fish (cough, Hudson River, cough) I won't be eating or kissing any fish.

The Doritos commercial with the pregnant lady and her husband eating chips in the hospital while she is getting an ultrasound. They all notice the baby on the ultrasound following the chip. The wife gets fed up with her husband and hurls the chip against the wall. The ultrasound then shows the baby springboarding out to get the chip while everyone is screaming!

More Yak fishing for me yesterday. I took a rare day off as the weather was almost perfect for a day on the river. A little hot but very little wind. I ended the day with 11 fish, 8 Smallmouth and 3 Largemouth. All caught on a red shad Senko or a watermelon/redflake Biospawn Exostick. The two best fish were over 2 pounds, one Largemouth and this Smallmouth. Even with half a tail he put up a heck of a fight including one jump that almost stopped my heart as that was the first look at his size I got and the thought that he shook the hook.

Thanks! Air temps were high 50's to low 60's at 6:30am Sunday by me. My wife came down to the river to take some pics of my maiden voyage. She is a pretty good photographer. It was one of her college courses. Glad to know those student loans were worth something I know she was really there to take pictures if I flipped the kayak and ended up all wet.

Finally got the pictures inserted my friend, check out the original post. I also posted in the "show your ride" thread. I purchase the Pelican Tracker Angler 100, a Dick's Sporting Goods exclusive. Its basically the Pelican Trailblazer model with 2 rod holders installed. $229 on sale, regular $299. Best feature of this kayak is it weighs 38 pounds. I am able to car top it by myself. Once at the water I am able to take it off the roof put my shoulder in the cockpit and carry it with ease. It really opened a whole new word for me.

Yesterday I took my new kayak out for it's maiden voyage. I brought a baitcaster rigged with a wacky rigged Yum Dinger and a spinning reel rigged with a Trout Slayer lure. First fish I caught was a 2lb, 11oz Largemouth Bass. He took up the whole front tray of my kayak. He was the best fish of the day. I ended the day with 10 fish total, 1 Largemouth, 1 Smallmouth and 8 Redbreast Sunfish (all sunfish were caught on the Trout Slayer) Overall a great day on the water. I am loving kayak fishing.

Wish we could delete more than one at a time. The process is go to page #, find photo, hit delete, confirm delete, repeat process. I feel sorry for those that have lots of pictures to delete.

Big is relative. For me a 3 pound Bass is big, to others it is a dink Big baits catch big fish but prepared to be skunked a lot. When my fishing partner and I are on the water I go for quantity over quality. Finesse fishing with smaller sized baits targets the most species of fish in my area. We will have days where I will catch 15-20 fish to his 0-3 as he is fishing with big 6" plus worms. Funny thing is most times my biggest fish of the day is only a few ounces short of his best catch.