LCG

In my experience the middle is always the sweet spot. But make sure to take the weight of the plastic bait into account along with the weight of the jig or weight. If your looking for Bass and are new to it, then keep it simple to start. Buy a pack of 4/0 Ewg hooks and a bag of 5" senkos, Texas rig it, and let it fall on semi slack line. enjoy :). That expride looks pretty nice hope you enjoy it, heard a lot of good things about it. To learn more techniques, read the forums here, a wealth of information.

Hello and welcome. Sounds like you have a pretty good idea of what you want. The stradic line of reels is very nice, the ci4+ being a bit lighter. The FL looks pretty nice though. As for rod, it's very personal. Length, materials of the blank, grips, guides, etc. Any of the rods you mentioned would serve you well. Of course depending on what techniques you are wanting to use it for. Myself personally, I use a Bass Pro Carbonite 2.0 6'8 M-XF as my all around spinning rod. Mainly used for Ned rigs, neko, wacky, drop shot, and weightless texas rigged worms. For reference, the rod is rated for 4-8lbs and lure rating of 1/8-1/2oz lures. I also find this length to be a sweet spot. I have also used similar spec rods from Fenwick, Shimano, St Croix, and lesser brands. I would recommend going to a local store and holding the rods and seeing their action in person. I actually had no intention of buying the Carbonite until I held it. It's now my favorite spinning rod.

I would highly recommend the Bass Pro Shop Carbonite 2.0 6'8" M-Xf for weightless senko either Texas rigged or Wacky rigged. Sensitive, light weight, affordable, and very comfortable to hold. St Croix, gloomis, Shimano, Fenwick, and a few other brands offer good value as well.

A #3 or 4 mepps undressed gold in line spinner has worked wonders for me. My only issue is that I have to use a snap swivel or the line twist is crazy.

I would recommend trying to keep your elbows tucked in and next to your body when casting. And don't try to cast a mile, light cast can go plenty far.

My two favorite rods are both xf. 6'8" M-Xf spinning rod and a 6'9" mh-xf casting rod. I am a soft plastics guy mainly. Personal preference at the end of the day.

I have the previous generation 6'9" ML-F. Great for Ned or drop shot. Decent for light texas rigged trick worms. A little light for 5" senkos Texas rigged. Good for wacky rig though. To be honest don't use it much since getting a BPS Carbon lite 2.0 6'8" M-Xf. The Carbonite does everything I want it to do very well. Still can't part with the Fenwick though, special place in my heart

Every magazine sells advertising, just the way it goes. Agree with everyone saying this site is the best place to learn new skills. Time on the water practicing what you've learned here will make you a much better angler.

I have debated this for a couple of years as well. Decided to buy a kayak because I fish small lakes, rivers, and ponds mainly. I can store the kayak easily, load it on the car in 5 minutes, launch it almost anywhere, and the overall price can't be beat. This is my fist year with it and I absolutely love it. Just went for five hours this morning. Great exercise and very relaxing. There is a learning curve like everything but it opens up so much more areas that aren't accessible. Have to pack light and come up with some creative solutions, but that's part of the fun. For a few hundred dollars I wish I would have done it sooner. I just have to learn how to enter and exit without looking like a beached walrus

I didn't mind Jon B's earlier videos when they were separate individuals. Now that they are a group, it's just painful to watch. Some of their stunts are just plain dangerous. Considering their target audience, it's scary that they may have influence over the younger generation. Much better channels to watch for knowledge and Entertainment than the Googans. Bass Resource Debo Online outdoorsman And many others offer far more quality content.

I use a Carbonlite 2.0 6'9 Mh-xf from the bank and kayak for the techniques you describe and I am quite happy with it.

After recently purchasing my first kayak a cheap pelican sit inside from Costco I couldn't be happier. Sure there are more expensive better kayaks out there but they are bigger, heavier, etc. I wanted something light, portable, and decently priced to access area otherwise unaccessible. The pelican does just that. And to my surprise it's decent for a big guy. Rated to 300lbs and holds me at 290 plus gear just fine. I use it in small lakes and ponds with low wind, its not a fast rapids, ocean type boat. Common sense goes a long way. It's much like the comment above. Ugly stick vs St Croix vs gloomis. In this case the ugly stick works just fine for its intended purpose.

Using braid as a main line will help with sensitivity and the slower action if you want to try soft plastics ie Texas rig, drop shot, ned rig, etc. Otherwise moving baits are your best best.

The peacefulness and tranquity of nature is therapeutic. Just stopping to look at the world around you can be surreal. Hope you are doing well and glad to see that you are getting back into fishing. It's a great sport and a fantastic way to spend some quality time with someone special or just by yourself.

I guess it's going inside the car. Thanks guys.

I finally had a chance to take out my first kayak that I bought in the spring. It's a cheap pelican sit inside that I bought on sale from Costco. Went out for 3 hours and had a blast. So incredibly tranquil, the ability to access area that were completely inaccessible before, and to do so silently was amazing. Loved it. I would like to store my PFD, paddles, and emergency kit inside the cockpit while travelling. I have it on top of my car using foam blocks and four cam straps. Mounted top up, as it normally is in the water. If I wrapped a tarp around the cockpit area and bungee the tarp down around the kayak, would this be safe? I obviously don't want stuff flying out of the kayak while on the highway.

I had the 6'6" mh-f casting rod. Fantastic rod with great sensitivity, excellent workmanship, strong backbone. The only reason I sold it was the micro guides. I am a braid to leader guy and it just didn't work for me. St Croix is a solid choice and if your ok with micro guides, I am sure you will be very happy. I replaced it with a BPS Carbonlite 2.0 with semi micro guides which work much better for me. YMMV.

Keep it simple to start. 5in Senko (I prefer bps stick o's) and some 4/0 round bend worm or EWG hooks, and some weedless wacky hooks. Weightless Texas rigged senko and a simple wacky rig senko is a pond staple. Will produce bites if there are bass. For a moving bait, I would go with a spinnerbait with or without a trailer, your choice. The senko is extremely versatile and there are so many ways to rig it and make the presentation different. For bluegill, take the senko cut it in half and throw it on a 1/16oz jig head, aka ned rig or better yet buy zman TRDs which are designed to float, catches everything that swims both big and small.

When you set the hook all you need to do is reel down until the rod loads up, then lean back. This will give you the best hook set, it's not a Texas rigged creature that you have to cross their eyes. As for the fight, always keep a bend in the rod so as to keep tension on the line. Those small hooks work well and you should land most that you are hooking into. I have used a Fenwick hmg 6'9 ml-f, a st Croix mojo 6'8 m-xf, and currently using a carbonlite 2.0 6'8 m-xf rod. All have worked well. 10lb braid to a 6lb leader. Set your drag so that it just starts to slip on a decently hard hook set (just for good measure) and you should be fine. Always use 1/16iz jig heads, I like the Berkley ones personally. Love the ned rig technique and it is my go to lately.

I use bass rods for multi species. They don't know the difference :). But seriously its about playing the fish and setting your drag appropriately to what your fighting. I have caught numerous carp, catfish, trout, and panfish on my bass gear with no issues. I would never try to horse a 30lb fish in, rather play them until they tire out. I also have carbonlite 2.0 rods with no issues so far.

St Croix has the avid or mojo in two piece. Hard to do it all with one rod but there medium is pretty stout. Fenwick and Abu Garcia also make stout medium rods. I recently bought some Bass Pro Shop Carbonlite 2.0 rods that are nice, I Beleive they have two piece models as well.

I have owned the mojo bass 6'8 m-xf spinning rod and a avid x 6'6 Mh-f casting rod. They were both stout rods that were definitely under rated. The medium fished more like a medium heavy. The medium heavy casting seemed better in that respect. Great sensitive rods that should last a long time.

In the spring, I bought the 6'8" m-xf spinning rod and the 6'9"Mh-xf casting rod in the Carbonlite 2.0 model. No regrets at all. Very comfortable and lightweight. Plenty sensitive for me. I find the xf action to be perfect for my style, not too fast and not too slow. It replaced my former favorite rod the st Croix mojo 6'8 m-xf which I really liked but it was a little too stout for what I wanted. My spinning rod is paired up with a Pflueger President XT 30 spooled with 10 lb braid and a 6lb copolymer leader. It's my finesse set up. Mostly ned rigs, drop shot, neko, and lightweight Texas rigs (zoom trick worms and Senkos).

I have a tatula and a fuego. Actually it prefer the cheaper fuego. Both are strong reels but I don't see much value in the twing system personally.

The beauty of the ned rig or midwest finesse fishing is the simplicity. Pretty much any rod medium light - medium power fast - extra fast action. I am partial to fenwick hmg ml-f and bps carbonlite 2.0 m-xf for the technique, but a $20 rod will do the trick. As for reels I have two president xt size 30 reels that have been going strong for 2 years now no sign of wear.