Dens228

Having grown up on mono line I have only used it for leaders the last 5-6 years. I was all braid all the time. Tried FC and didn't like it and then realized I used the cheapest I could find to try it. Now I use braid for everything except cranks, jerks, and my contact jigs, those are FC. I also don't ever use leaders anymore.

My rods always have the same reels/line. Most will change lures depending on where I'm going and conditions but usually it's just color. My jig rod is always my jig rod My plastics rod is always my plastics rod Etc. I do have some rods for multi purpose.......my two cranking rods also get used for poppers, jerkbaits. I fish out of a kayak so try to limit what I bring to 6 or 7 rods. If I was on a boat I could easily see myself with a dozen.

Frog Deep crankbait Jig I went out yesterday under what would be considered pretty good conditions, moderate wind, cloud cover. I caught plenty of bass. I tried all sections of the water column. Only the opposite ends of the spectrum worked. About half were caught with a frog up tight to shore or on slop in 3 feet of water or less, and half were caught with a deep crank in 20 feet of water. Absolutely none were caught in between.

I was fishing for bass in July using a 3/8 oz spinnerbait and caught a 38 inch pike. Yes, it ruined the spinnerbait but was well worth the fun.

This is my third year in my 127, I love it.

Swim jig/paddletail or an underspin/paddletail.

Not around here........a lot of people are getting close to full retail on good condition used kayaks. People don't want to wait months for the kayak they're looking for.

How do you like the Thunder Cricket?

I've never had it happen. But I've had bills break on cranks and such. Fish long enough and everything happens sooner or later. Lures don't last forever, and some don't last long at all.

Reaction Innovations Spicy Beaver, 1/4 oz weight, pegged or not pegged depending on what I want it to do.

I like throwing underspins with a paddletail. Like WRB said above, I usually catch larger bass if I let it sink a bit under the bass busting the shad on the surface.

A 20+ pound musky on a Flatside Special must have been quite a battle. What lure did you have tied on?

I was going to say the same as above. It was the Levante that had breaking issues, not the OrochiXX. The Braillist was the first OrochiXX I ever purchased, it's my jig rod. I now have 8 Orochi XX's, various models. Never, ever, had one snap. And obviously love them.

I still get a few per year, but they aren't as bad as way back when and I usually get them out quickly. Now that I've said that why do I get the feeling I'll be cutting line off of a reel within the next couple of day...........

My most productive lure that last couple of weeks has been an underspin with a 3.8 inch Keitech Fat.

Welcome to the addiction. This morning I fished a small quarry that has virtually no shore fishing access, a tiny spot to get the kayak in, no boats can get in there except maybe a small jon boat. I had the place to myself and caught a couple dozen bass.

I've only purchased kayaks for fishing but have had several. It's not on your list and is a bit bigger than you say you want but the Atak 120 was a very nice fishing kayak that paddled and tracked unbelievably well.

Braid to leader is like Chevy/Ford on fishing forums. Answers at both ends of the spectrum with various reasons for either or. I fished 30 lb braid on T-rigs/plastic for the past several years without a leader. Sometimes I would tie a leader on, most of the time I didn't. I fish water from inches of vis to 15 feet of vis on a regular basis and never saw a difference. This year I switched to a Hi-Vis braid and my ability to detect strikes before I felt them has gone up, out of caution I added about 5 foot of 12 lb mono leader just in case of line shyness. Fact is I am not convinced of line shyness but on the other hand using a leader I can keep retying and when the leader gets too short I tie a new one on and my mainline stays intact, except for about 2-3 inches with each new leader.

This screams spinnerbait to me. Any colors with a touch of chartreuse in the skirt and a little chartreuse JJ's on the tail of the paddletail trailer.

I have a white with some blue strands. I throw it in water with good vis.

When I was a Lew's guy every reel came with a little bottle of oil. Diawa reels, no oil. So I bought a bottle for something like $10, should last a lifetime though.

Clear or pretty clear water. I tend to forget about them come summer but bait fish die all year round, jerkbaits work all year round.

I've been on some ramps so slick that no shoe or traction has been invented that will save you.

This past Monday I was at a quarry that has a thermocline at 16-18 feet most summers. Monday it was at 12 feet. Clear water, 79 degrees at the surface.

MegaBass Orochi XX, either a Tour Versatile or a Diablo SpecR.... Paired with a Tatula Elite and 30 lb Smackdown.