Boomstick

I have, which is why I like the Garmin. I thought it was cake to use.

If I was going for a PDL unit myself, I would almost certainly go with an Old Town Topwater, it's the best value unit on the market (at least for higher end models)... but it's designed for lakes and probably will not be the best surf kayak. I have watched reviews of the Pelican where it literally broke during the review on the reviewers first or second time out with it, which certainly makes me wary of them.

I'm starting to look at fish finders as well for a kayak I'm planning to buy and rig out and I am likely going with a Garmin Echomap 74sv or 94sv or the largest that I feel I can comfortably fit really. I chose the Garmin because it doesn't break the bank too badly and I have always found them extremely easy to use. The picture quality isn't the best, but I imagine that won't be too much of an issue to be honest, also I can afford a 9" where I would be looking at a Raymarine Element 7HV or a Lawrence HDS 5 for the same price, and the larger screen should help with my inability to see anything in the sun.

The Ballistic LT is one impressive reel as well. I got one for my girlfriend for her birthday last year.

Thank you for this. I have recently noticed something similar with a guitar company. The owner has recently came under scrutiny for some of his less questionable use of his followers to bully anyone who doesn't do what he wants, and I recall seeing some of his expensive models with extremely major defects like fret edges that could literally cut your hands, which is not a problem on even a $200 Squier, let alone a much more expensive guitar. So after hearing others complain about this, I looked up reviews and I am pretty sure they were all fake, maybe even left by company employees -- even if they had to buy 3-5 of each model to get it to say verified user. I no longer trust review sections on sites that are selling products. Instead I will look to select Youtube reviewers who I have came to trust. I recently watched an overall negative review of a kayak I plan on purchasing, but I thought the woman who gave it gave her honest opinion and also detailed what it did right, and as it turns out what she liked about it is what I am personally looking for. It would be hard to fabricate things like that just to give something a positive or bad review. I might have to buy a cell phone if it's a good enough game to feed my fishing itch during the colder months. I have only found one fishing game that's worth a d**n to be honest.

I will have to disagree. I hope they are replaced, but not because it's been mandated but because someone has discovered a biodegradable option that works just as well if not better and there's literally no need to use anything else. I would be okay with that, let the buyers decide.

Punch mats is not my normal style, but there are some places where it's the best bet. So I keep it snug as I can. If it's too snug, it won't stay straight so I leave just enough slack for it to remain straight as it turns, like what A-Jay was saying. You can tell if it's too snug by turning the hook at an angle from the line, if the weight turns on its own bottom curve, then it's too snug.

I have a medium President combo, it's actually not half bad for the $50 or so I spent on it!

Good deal, good lures. I would be all over that deal myself.

As far as lures that you mentioned, the Big Bite Baits senko knock offs are great and I picked up a ton of them at Dick's Sporting Goods for $1 or $2 a pack, as are the Creme lures pre-rigged swimbaits (use the 3" for bass). Yum Dingers are also a decent cheaper senko alternative that are sold at any Walmart. But I wouldn't worry too much about cheap as I would on buying quality lures that work. You don't have to go out and buy the LiveTarget frogs that I love, but at least pick up a Booyah Pad Crasher over the cheapest alternative as they are cheaper and hold up well and catch 90% as many fish. Buy Strike King, Booyah or War Eagle spinnerbaits instead of the River2Sea and Terminator T1 spinnerbaits (which I happen to like). Over time if you don't snag too many, you'll have a collection of usable lures that work. The bait monkey always wins --- always.

I got the pleasure to see Rush play live in 2003, what a show! Neil Peart was a total beast behind the set, he will be missed.

Well I don't really fish many tournaments but I have the hardest time getting up in the morning, and once I do it takes two large coffees or about 4-6 hours, whichever comes first to really get me going.

My significant other encourages me. She noticed that with the three new rods that I added this year that I have no more space on my rod rack, so she bought me a fishing cabinet to replace this old plastic cheapo cabinet the boys used to use for toys that I took over for fishing gear that doesn't fit or come with me in the tackle bag. So she bought me a fishing cabinet with a rack to hold storage trays on the bottom and an open shelf on the top and 5 rod holders on each side. I don't have plans to buy any more bass rods in the near future, but I can let the boys use a side for their rods and make mine more accessible on the rack and put the catfish and trout rods which I use less facing the wall, and maybe add some better trout rods too

Let's say I am glad I do not live in an urban area. Even some of the lakes in our smaller cities are full, on some days I can't find a spot at a causeway I fish frequently in the summer, although it's real nice real late in the season when hardly anybody shows up (early in the season is another story though). I don't hunt, but the same thing largely applies and there's more pavement and less places to hunt.

Up in Western Massachusetts it is 62 out right now at 8:38pm and was 64 a few hours ago. Tomorrow and Monday will both be above 60. I wish some of the lakes were not frozen because this is some of my favorite fishing weather

It's a tie at $19.99 between the Megabass Pop Max or Megabass S-crank. Since I don't yet own a boat (someday), I never fish larger swimbaits, but that's something I hope to get into someday.

There is only a difference on a normal guide when the guide is far off to a side. On some of my non T-Wing reels, there is definitely is a loss of distance in that scenario, but I can't tell on the T-Wing

That seems to have the profile of some Lucky Craft cranks I've used -- a profile that works really well at night time in the early summer up in the northeast.

Some people don't like the T-Wing system, but personally I don't understand why. I mean if you are on a budget, by all means go ahead and get the Fuego, but I can sometimes get a Tatula CT on ebay for as little as $10 more depending on the current pricing, and for only $10 or even $20 or $30 more, the Fuego is going to be a hard sell over the Tatula. I would either have to be really strapped for cash or maybe just need an extra reel that I will only use for very limited presentations. As such, I do have an extra casting rod for which I do not have a reel for and plan to alternate with my 5 casting reels, so maybe a Fuego could see some limited usage in this situation. The reason I like the T-Wing is simple - on reels that don't have it, when the guide is all the way on one side and you're casting, it slows up your cast, often quite significantly. On the Tatula or reels with the T-Wing system, that simply does not happen. I do not have any issues with my Tatula reels spooling funny either.

Use black crankbaits for stained water or night fishing!

If you are running braid and a leader, I would absolutely definitely without a doubt get the Avid. I run straight mono on mine (either 10 or 12lb), so technically I could have got an Avid X as well and I would be happy as well but microguides and braid and leaders do not mix well. The M/XF "topwater" rod has less backbone than the M/F "jerkbait" rod, so at the end of the day you may actually have more bend in the extra fast once you land a fish, it's just a difference of how they bend. The extra fast is a true medium where the fast is a medium plus as I would call it. But that is an interesting point about the handle, I actually had to check but yes the Avid X does have a longer handle where it's fairly short on the Mojo, and I do find the handle on the Mojo to be just about perfect even with larger hands.

Most of my rods are Daiwa Tatulas. My jerkbait and topwater rod is the St. Croix Mojo Bass Topwater because the mediums in the Tatula lineup at the time had no true medium rods that fit the bill, and my finesse rod is a St. Croix Avid X 6'9" ML/XF. I got my oldest son a couple of Dobyns Sierra rods and they are also fantastic rods and my youngest son has some Mojo Bass rods and they're also really nice as well. Any of the above will run you between $130 and $170. There are also many other rod manufacturers out there that make quality rods at a similar price point and many more that make better rods (and sometimes for less money) than Favorite as well, but this is what I have experience with.

I use the 6'8" M/XF Mojo Bass Topwater rod for light to[water (primarily poppers and jerkbaits. It's one of the few St Croix rods that is not heavier than it's label where the 6'8" M/XF jerkbait rod is a little heavier, so it has a good amount of bend. The M/XF Avid X is the same blank, and is absolutely perfect for these types of presentations and works well for smaller weightless soft plastics. I am 6'3" and I also find the 6'8" rod is the perfect length for these presentations to keep the tip from hitting things in front of me. I like it for topwater and jerkbaits over a medium/moderate rod that many prefer for better landing ratios. The first advantage is that since the bend in the rod is fairly uniform, you have better control over the action you impart on your lures. The second advantage is that with the extra fast tip I find that when you get a bite right when you are twitching the rod, I am usually able to land the fish where I have lost a good number of fish in the same scenario on a more moderate tip, especially fishing a jerkbait where it's underwater and you don't see it right away. I hope this helps you with your decision.

What? Foles threw for 352 yards on 33 attempts in the Minnesota game, 3 TDs and 0 picks with a passer rating of 141, even better than the Super Bowl. Wentz hasn't equaled that game in his entire career by many aspects, never threw for 352 yards in a single game, and his personal high, 348 was on 45 attempts. I guess they weren't losing that one either way, but Foles had a fire under his ass that year. And any Cowboys player since Emmitt Smith retired has really been that good. They have a long standing history of having overrated players who can't perform under pressure or whatever, like Tony Romo who in terms of stats was great but couldn't make a game winning/tying drive to save his life.

The Ranger is the better equipped boat here, but it's also older. The power poles would be really nice for sure, but at the same time if that's what you can afford then I would say the Triton might be the smarter buy but newer doesn't always mean better condition either so maybe not. However you may have more negotiating room on the Ranger, so don't rule that out.