Boomstick

It sounds like you have it setup right. But keep in mind I am talking about me. I’ve missed the rod slots in my blackpak before, fortunately I caught it before it fell.

Actually I didn't see that, I just saw rods over water and that looks like an accident waiting to happen.

Not in the slightest. It's far enough back it's out of the way. It's never really gotten in the way, I even learned to skip by simply casting right over it. What you don't see is the back of the seat. I'm pretty tall and my legs are long, so there is a lot of space there. I have to reach forward to change the settings. There is also a lot of room at my feet in the Bonafide SS127 so I have plenty of room to land a 26" bass and have some space leftover.

I always pull in the tag end and then both together. Haven’t had terrible luck with the palomar myself but I’ve had to pull some snags out on 10 or 12lb line and that sure took a lot of work.

Have you ever tested it with a scale. I wouldn’t go much over 3lbs on a 703sf. My kid recently had something similar happen. Was fishing a tube around a brush pile and I was a ways away and I heard “oh crap that’s a big one!” followed by a bunch of swear words. From what I could gather in a short period of time he hooked a big fish, had it go into the brush pile and shake the hook and the rod broke at the tip and again in the middle. Later on that day he tapped the rod and the second half the rod fell in the lake. It’s a Victory 6’10” ML/XF spinning rod. I filed a warranty claim on my phone but have yet to hear back but it’s still under warranty. We set his drag around 1.8lbs. In 2018, I leant my other kid my St Croix Mojo Bass toowater rod. He snagged a small weed and it broke. The drag was set pretty light too so I don’t fault him for it. I got a new one under warranty shortly after. My kid has a couple Fury rods and has yet to break either. Just fish them, they’re no good sitting in a closet. You do hear about people breaking them, but many people don’t as well. You usually don’t see posts titled “I went fishing and didn’t break my Fury today” if you catch my drift but when you do then you know there’s a problem.

The trilene knot is often recommended for fluoro and it does work but the uni works better. I’ve only broken off once and that was my fault - after pulling out several snags over a couple days I should have retied and lost a real nice one. I go for 5 turns, but I lose count and go with 4 or 6 that works too. The palomar is not great with fluoro and the double is much worse.

I feel like I might miss the rack and drop a rod in the water knowing me or knock one off landing a fish on the right side.

It's funny, you always hear people say you can go at least twice as fast on a pedal kayak. The Pro Angler seems to be the fastest kayak on my list (yes there is faster but I go for stability first). Yet 2.5mph on my Bonafide SS127 is a slow casual paddle for me. I've paddled about a mile and a half at about 3.3-3.4mph and felt that was maybe a swift casual. Yet I was unable to break 4 that very same day. While the Outback is a fine boat, I didn't put it on my list because I have seen them in stores and sitting in the seat, I feel pretty claustrophobic. If I had shorter skinnier legs it probably wouldn't be a problem.

I don’t think the Native is the fastest kayak to begin with, but I hear it’s quite stable. Some of it I’m sure is the drive but hull shape makes a big difference too. I fish freshwater but I wonder what I’d see in a difference in speeds? Also is the 360 drive worth it or am I better with the tried and true 180 drive if I go that way? The 180 almost seems like it might be quicker to switch when fighting a fish or blowing into a tree

My 110lb kid walks on the boat from the back when he doesn't have too many rods. He's also sat on the bow and fished. A few years ago, we were out paddling on the St Lawrence, ended up in a calm cove and since we had no gear, he decided to see if he could flip it. He had to get it rocking back and forth for a solid minute to get it to flip (in the seated position). Not a bad kayak.

I'm considering making the jump to a pedal kayak. As a larger person (6'3/300lbs) what pedal kayaks should I be looking at? Today I looked at the Old Town Sportsman 120 PDL and the Native Propel Slayer Max. The Old Town is generally a safe bet and probably my cheapest option and I know the kayak is stable and good to stand on. What I really didn't like about it is I cannot lay down a rod on the front quickly anywhere and no back handle. The Native Propel Slayer Max gives two rod holders on each side that are out of the way when pedaling, although one will be rendered unusable once I mount my fish finder and anchor wizard on the rail. There's tons of space in the back of both units. If I could find a way to center mount the fish finder on the Slayer Max and not block the horizontal rod holders, I could find another place for my anchor wizard and I feel I could set it up pretty nicely. Others on my list: Hobie Pro Angler 12 or 14 Jackson Knarr Jackson Coosa FD Bonafide P127 - although the pedals get in the way of a lot of my favorite SS127 features, making the Sportsman or Slayer Max look promising. I've ruled out other Hobie models because while they're probably fine boats, I feel pretty claustrophobic in them, the area my legs go is a bit narrow. Is there anything I'm missing?

I can't believe I haven't posted. On many kayaks, it's rather difficult to mount your fish finder in the center. If you can find a way, it's absolutely worth it. I would go a 9" screen if you center mount it and a 7" on the side - but be sure to keep it close to you but not too close you can't paddle so it's easier to see and it will be more out of the way when casting as well. The YakAttack mount works great for the center mount, but if you have a side mount get a Ram mount they are more adjustable. Here's a first person view:

My vote for a fairly inexpensive but quite stable and well outfitted kayak is the Old Town Sportsman 120 or even its little brother, the 106 (get the 120 if you can). It's fairly well equipped, a paddle holder in the side, 3 built in rod holders (one is for rigging and you can't paddle while using it). Basically add a YakAttack BlackPak or similar crate and you can store 5 rods. Then buy an achor wizard and anchor trolley. There's a built in cupholder, and you can fit another tray underneath the seat, plus some compartments you can store tools inside. It also has a place to mount a transducer and it works well with the Garmin mount (I had to cut away a little but of the top of the mount to make it fit, no big deal). The only things I don't really like about it is there's no place to store rods by laying them out on the deck (very common with most kayaks actually) and it doesn't come with tracks in the back, although they can be added. Also there is no easy way to mount a fish finder in the center, which is another common issue. The hull of this boat is great. It's stable enough for my fat ass, but I find it doesn't rock on the water, making it easy for me to stand and fish and not lose my balance. I have a Bonafide SS127 myself. I have it setup near perfectly with a center mounted fish finder and I can lay up to 4 rods down on the deck, although 2 is more ideal. The things I don't like is it's slower than the Old Town (at least 1mph in top speed) and it's more stable as in harder to flip, but it rocks in waves making it hard to keep my balance when I stand. It also needs the rudder or flex wings to track straight - I have the rudder and it solves the tracking issue but without it if there is any wind or current it's near impossible to paddle straight. My other complaint is the pads are poorly glued to the floor and pull up. I'm 6'3 / 300lbs for reference, so unless you're heavier than me I doubt you'd have an issue with either of the above. These do look really nice. You can upgrade later on to a pedal unit if you so desire as well, offsetting the cost of the expensive pedal drive. It was on my list of pedal kayaks to look at, but at 38" wide, it won't fit on my trailer. It's also not easy to turn quickly due to its width. I often hear a lot of complaints about the seat. On the other hand, some people love it. I'm guessing heavier people cause the bottom of the seat to hit the bar and then it becomes a problem. I would suggest spending more time fishing out of your kayak (maybe travel light as needed) just to make sure that kayak fishing is right for you. But I can confidently say that the Pelican Bliz is not designed for big waters, or larger people so I am not surprised you were having issues. I would be afraid to throw down an anchor on that thing if I was half my weight on the most stable waters.

Absolutely! A lot of it depends on the size reel you're using. A reel rated for 6, 8 and 10lb line usually works well with 6 and 8, but 10 is usually a bit iffy if it will actually handle well. If you have a reel rated for 4, 6 and 8 then 6 may be a safer choice. Usually a 2000 or 2500 size reel will work nice with 6 and 8.

You will likely want a MH/F rod and 15 or 16lb fluorocarbon. You can throw 1/4 finesse jigs on a M/F spinning rod with 8lb fluoro/mono or on a M/F casting rod with 10lb or 12lb fluoro.

I have a Tatula CT with 65# braid, and a Tatula SV with 50# so I'll use what feels appropriate for where I'm fishing.

I have the Tatula frog rod and 7'6" flipping rod, I don't get to use them all that often. Unless I'm frog fishing or in a lake with particularly heavy cover, my Steez Bottom Contact (MH-H) is usually the heaviest rod that I use on a regular basis. M and MH rods see regular usage.

So with the new job, my vacation resets on July 1, so I took the last two weeks of June off. The first week, I had a cottage on the north end of Lake Dunmore. I just dragged my kayaks up the hill and put the rods and electronics inside. Last August, I had finally started to learn the lake pretty good and found the patterns for August. Mid-late June was a bit more challenging. The only reliable ways to catch fish were to skip docks or throw topwater at night. I got a few decent bass and lost what would have probably been at least a 6 pounds when my knot broke when I went to grab my net (probably should have retied that jig in retrospect). That was a bit disheartening, feeling like I'm certainly getting a new PB only to lose it at the last second like that, but the rest of the trip was fun. I even made friends with the local store's cat. I will definitely be going back next year, either in August (when I know the patterns) or for the full two weeks. One thing I will mention is that out of nowhere, I can skip like a pro. In the past it was like give me three or four attempts and I'm sure to get one of them where I want it, but this trip my first attempt went exactly where I wanted it. As a challenge to myself, I tried to do it again, and did it successfully 4 more times as well - on the 5th it skipped a little bit too high and hit the dock but otherwise would have been perfect. The second week, I camped at Gifford Woods State Park. Across the street is Kent Pond, which has a lot of small bass and a ton of perch - but the big ones kept jumping out. The first day we caught a few perch. My youngest son hooked a giant bass and his rod broke. The second day, I caught at least 8 bass, two over two pounds, my oldest son caught a 3.2lb bass which is the largest he's landed and my youngest got a few in a wood pile. The third day we all got skunked - there was a strong wind and chop, and the spots that produced for us the prior day did not produce. When I was packing up the kayaks, a local told me they were all by the creek channel - we spent most of our time around the wood pile and by a hole that was quite active the prior day.

I never have a problem myself. I suspect it's because of my tall and large stature, people take one look at me and decide they're not Karening today.

Same, I have that on mine and my kids. No issues with any of them.

I should be more specific - for structure fishing in open water and light weeds, not wood or moderate or heavy cover. But the taper is great for open water.

Up here I will get bites on occasion up to about 10 ft but most of my usual frog targets are usually 3-4 max. Most our water is clear though. the 2 1/4” LiveTarget is my normal goto frog but in deeper water I’ll use the 2 5/8”, or also if the pads are real thick and/or large.

I’ve gotten a number of decent smallies using the standard 3/8 or 1/2oz football and arky head jigs I normally use for largemouth. You can downsize but it’s not required. I would think of downsizing like you would when fishing largemouth - the finesse jig will usually get more bites and in the case of smallies you may get some smaller fish you wouldn’t get on the full size jigs. I usually do use a chunk trailer - smallies love craws. I definitely would also suggest bringing out a drop shot and a tube as well.

I can agree with all of this. I would ideally walk the frog on my 6'10" MH/F Tatula, which doesn't have near the tip of the 7'1 MH/XF, maybe even a little less than I'd like but I still prefer it because it's shorter.

I have the 7'4" Tatula frog rod too and have nothing but good things to say. It's a beast of a rod and can pull them out of anything and casts quite well too. How's the medium heavy work out in really thick lily pads? I'd be hesitant to throw a frog in real thick lily pads with my 6'10" or 7'1" MH Tatulas although in sparer cover they do work.