Kayak Koz

Garth Brooks did a Christmas album a while back and he recorded classics in Big Band style. Garth Brooks & the Magic of Christmas is one of my favorites. For some off beat Christmas music, nothing beats songs covered by Bowling for Soup.

It's all in good fun. But I have to admit that as I was typing that I was actually laughing out loud.

Let me get this straight - the guy with "the tug is my drug" motto says he's going to be polishing his rod and that it doesn't take long. The comedy here just writes itself ??

What is this "frozen water" that you speak of? ? We have daytime highs mostly in the 50's and 60's here although nighttime temperature have really cooled down our lagoons. With that, the bass fishing has slowed down to a rate of catching one every 60-90 minutes or so. I normally don't fish in the winter, but this year has been an exception. It gives me a chance to change things up a bit and try some different baits and techniques. Well, that's the theory. The truth is most of my summer stuff has been working this winter as well.

Personally, I would destroy any invasive species that I caught and notify DNR. There can be huge repercussions in letting an invasive species populate not only in that body of water, but also with the terrestrial plant and animal life. It may take years or decades, but a ripple can become a tidal wave.

I wasn't planning on fishing today but when I stepped outside, out on the porch there was a packing in the unmistakable shape of a fishing rod. Lew's had sent the replacement rod! First off, it was a HEAVY duty tube and other than a slight crunch on one end cap the package was in great shape. Lews also had the tip and butt end wrapped heavily in bubble wrap and it arrived undamaged. My original rod that broke was the Mach 2 baitcaster and they had informed me those were in low stock so they would send a replacement. They have three rods in that exact $99 price point - the new KVD series, the Tournament Performance TP1 and TP1X. Since the broken rod was a 7' MHF I asked them politely for the same in an all purpose rod. The rod they sent was the TP1X. My first impression is that the rod felt nicely balanced, and even after attaching my old Mach 2 SLP reel it felt a little lighter than the Mach 2 combo. Lighter is great when you fish most of the day with one rod. So I headed off to a nearby lagoon to test it out. The first thing I noticed is that the rod shaft is slightly thicker than the Mach 2. This exacerbates the hollow feel of the rod. In other words, the Mach 2 felt more solid. This isn't a positive or a negative, it's just a different feel. The touch on casting was great. In other words, there was no slop and it was easy to hit my targets when casting. I'd say it was even better than my Mach 2. The guides were smooth, and although not the smaller guides as on the Mach 2 casting distance seemed to be the same. This rod has the Winn Dry-Tac split handle grips just as my Mach 2 had. I know some folks hate the Winn grips, but I really like them. I also like the split grip, especially with an overhand pivot cast. However, the one thing I don't like is that the upper grip (near the real) has a larger diameter than the Mach 2. I have smaller hands and I appreciated the smaller diameter of the Mach 2. With the TP1X I found that my left wrist felt a bit tired and uncomfortable after fishing for a while. So even though the rod and reel combo seems lighter, it felt like more work to hold the rod. I'm sure I'll get used to this and my left wrist and hand will get stronger, but for now I find it to be a negative. Because more and more people are shopping online, in the future I hope manufacturers start adding specs and grip circumference or diameter in their product info. As for the sensitivity of the rod. my first impression is that it's not transferring sensation as well as the Mach 2. Where I fish we have muddy bottoms and weeds and no rocks and not much submerged timber. Now it could be that most of our weeds are dead or dying now, but weeds felt mushy when I brought a lure through them and not distinct like I usually felt with the Mach 2. To be fair, the model TP1X I received was an All Purpose rod as I asked for. I treated my Mach 2 like an all purpose, but it might have been specialized. Since the Mach 2 was 3 years old the model number did not match up with the models sold today. And as I said, the rod diameter was slightly larger as well. I did catch two bass today. The first was about a pound and a half and the way the rod reacted and bent it felt like a medium rather than medium heavy rod. Or maybe it was the way this very healthy little guy fought. Now it could be the way the fish hit the bait, but I did not feel the subtlety of the bite as it happened. It was almost like, "Oh, there's a fish on my chatterbait." It was a really poor fishing day and I went another 2 hours without a strike in various lagoons. Then as it was getting dark I told myself, "One more cast." I was fishing a black spinnerbait with a Colorado blade. I felt a solid strike, set the hook, and - nothing. I let the lure sink to the bottom and then started reeling in again. Sure enough, a follow up strike. This time I got a good hookset and landed a 3.5 pounder. I paid attention to the rod and it did react more like a traditional MHF, but again it felt mushy. Now I'm not drawing any final conclusions about this rod after fishing one afternoon and landing only two fish. What I can say is that it is a really nice rod and well put together. I think the biggest issue I am having is that it is a lot different than the main rod I used for the past three years. In fact, all of my other casting and spinning rods felt significantly different than my Mach 2 and because of my comfort with the Mach 2 I fished it 95% of the time. So I like the new TP1X, but I need to get used to it. Today I fished chatterbaits, spinnerbaits, and crankbaits with it. Next I need to try some ground contact baits and that will help me get a feel for its sensitivity, as will catching more fish. I'm very grateful that Lew's sent me such a great quality replacement. I plan to fish more in the next week and get a better feel for it. I'm sure that in a short time it will feel like the old friend my Mach 2 rod was. I only wish that top grip was slightly smaller. Hopefully the more I use the rod the more it will compress a bit.

That's interesting because I have various chatterbaits in green pumpkin and bluegill colors and for me those rarely get bit. For me it's either the blue/black or solid white that perform.

Blue/black Chatterbait Elite with a blue Zoom Vibe Spped Craw trailer. Almost every bass I have caught this winter has been on that combo. The best part is that combo works great year round. I have chatterbaits in many other colors and trailers in all shapes and sizes and nothing comes close. The overwhelming majority of what I catch is on either a chatterbait or a buzzbait.

Greg Hackney. Even if we don't catch anything it would probably still be a great day on the water.

I have a habit of pinning the rod into my thigh or gut and horsing the fish in. So my best guess is that by doing so it creates a stress or pivot point between my hands and the end of the rod where it is pinned up against me. So the fish is fighting and flexing the rod above the reel and my pinning the rod against me created another flex between the reel and the butt end of the rod. The rod blank is pushed into the cap so that major stress point of the flex that I created would be at the top (opening) of the cap sleeve covering the rod. If you look at the photo of the cap you can see that the rod broke right at the edge of that sleeve. You can even see the rod blank inside that cap sleeve. The rod was 3+ years old and it could be that a design flaw or a build flaw contributed to that or it was just my fishing style combined with all of those 5 and 6 pounders I landed over that period. Maybe with my short wingspan I need to switch to a rod with a shorter but end.

Do you want to stop the cast and crank? Here's what you do: 1. Cast 2. Crank - Crank 3. Open Bass Resource on your phone 4. Crank - Crank - Crank 5. Check email 6. Crank - Crank 7. Check social media 8. Crank - Crank - Crank 9. Call your mother (long pause) 10. Crank - Crank 11. Repeat as needed and cast again.

I just heard back from Lew's and although the rod was out of warranty they stated that because it was such a weird break they will replace the rod. Since they don't have the Mach 2 rod available they are sending me a TP1X series all purpose rod (TP1X70MH) as a replacement. So needless to say I'm ecstatic that they took care of this. I appreciate that they took care of me. I know we all have our favorite brands of rods and reels, and while I don't have tons of gear like many here on BR, I do have multiple setups and most are Lew's. Since I've never fished with a $700 rod and a $500 reel I can't compare my Lew's gear to those, but I fish a lot and catch a lot of fish and I'm more than satisfied with my gear and over the top satisfied with their customer service.

As I stated, I don’t have a large wingspan so the butt end of this larger split grip rod is often against my side or on my thigh for leverage if I have to horse in a fish. And unlike a lot of areas, 4, 5, and even 6 pound bass are pretty common around here. Dinks are rare. The average smaller bass landed is 2-3 pounds. Looking at it up close it looks like a stress fracture that had a blowout. Lew’s contacted me yesterday, received photos, got my information, and had me scrape off the part number on the rod in preparation for replacing it. Since there is low stock on my rod they are looking at a suitable replacement.

Well, as I stated, I don't do exaggerated hooksets or try to cross their eyes. Sharp hooks do the job for me. No, I have fold down seats and the rod gets put in through the trunk, not the car door, and I've never closed the trunk on it or stepped on it. At home the rod is put away in a rod stand that I made. I'm a frugal person, so I'm careful with my possessions. My teenage son, on the other hand....

Never happened. I'm ridiculously careful with my stuff.

Lew's just got back to me about a replacement. It seems they are low on Mach 2 rods and might need to substitute which I assume will be an equally priced rod. Does anyone have experience with their Tp1, TP1X, or KVD series baitcaster rods? My preference is a 7' MHF all purpose rod.

It broke after the hookset as I began to reel in. When the bass took off and pulled the rod the butt end went up against my stomach. When I countered the bass pulling is when it broke. It’s a 3 year old rod and I keep my gear in good shape and store it properly. It’s my primary rod and I’m in tune with every vibration with it. There was no sign of cracking at all. Also, when I overhand cast I hold the butt end in my left hand and I have not felt anything unusual like a strange vibration or looseness in the bottom of the rod if it had been cracked. Often times the butt end goes up against my hip, side, or thigh for a second or two if the fish is a decent size. I’m not a big guy and it is a 7 foot rod. Maybe that led to a micro fracture over the years. Whatever caused it, I liked that rod and I’m not happy about it. With the recent passing of my dad I moved to take care of my stepmother and money is tight as I need to find a job (2 upcoming interviews so fingers crossed). I have a few other combos somewhere in the storage unit with my furniture. I just need to clear a path to find them! My reel seems pretty sensitive to the combination of drag and tension. If the drag is locked I get a lot of spool issues even with 30 or 40 pound braid. As for hooksets, I reel down and give it a pop and let the sharp hooks do the work. Not once have I ever tried a cross their eyes hookset. If you’re a smaller guy like me (5’7”) and have shorter arms those longer butt ends will end up against your side or thigh sometimes when you’re reeling in and perhaps over the years that caused a micro fracture that eventually exploded.

This is a MH rod. But note that this broke just after hookset while I was battling the fish and trying to reel it in, not when lifting it out of the water. The rod blank is one piece and extends into the knob itself so the knob is really a cap. You can see that in the close up of the knob and how part of the blank is still sticking out. That thread may have been used to strengthen a resin join between the knob and shaft and to prevent the knob from slipping off. I can tell you it made one heck of a loud sound when it broke.

I've been thinking - perhaps when the butt end hit my rock hard abs it simply couldn't take the stress. ?

I haven't caught anything on an A-rig or on a large swimbait. Oh - and a plain, soft plastic craw. I catch plenty with craw trailers, but never when throwing them on a hook and fishing them solo.

I was having a bit of a creative mental block today while working on something for a new business I am starting so I decided to clear my head for a bit and do some fishing. So I hit a bank spot that had been good to me this winter. I'm fishing a narrow end of the lagoon that's about 150 feet wide and I immediately notice a big gator about 100 yards out, but it's cooler weather and he's going to be too lethargic to be much of a bother. Anyway, this time of year a black and blue Chatterbait Elite with a blue Zoom Vibe Speed Craw has been my go to bait and I'm fishing it again. My first cast is to the left, parallel to the bank just a few feet off the bank and a foot or two from the far side of the bank. There's some decent bank and aquatic vegetation all around this area and a good spot for bass. But nothing on the first cast. My second cast is about ten feet further up the side, and when I get the bait about 25 feet from me I feel the bait being inhaled and a good size thump. I sweep set the hook and start to reel down and reel in. I feel the bass pull and I know it's a good one. I gain half a foot of ground and the bass made a run for it. As the rod dipped the butt end of the rod came to rest between my belly button and sternum. I barely pulled on teh rod as I reeled and heard a loud CRACK and the butt end of my rod went flying into the tall grass in font of me. So now I'm fighting this bass while trying not to impale myself with what's left of the end of my rod. I was so stunned that I paused for a second and in that second I thought the bass got away. But with arms extended I'm now reeling in and fighting the bass. There are about 5 people around me that were out on a walk that stopped to watch. Somehow I managed to get it close to shore and lift it over the tall, thick shore grass without sticking myself. For the fight she put up (and it was a strong one) I was surprised when she weighed in at only 5.1 pounds, but still a nice fish nonetheless. But after two casts my day was done. As I'm in the process of moving my other rods are buried somewhere in a storage unit. The rod in question is my Lew's Mach II SLP baitcast combo. I like this rod and reel combo and it's only about 3 years old so I'm really disappointed it snapped like that. I reached out to Lew's via Twitter but haven't heard back from them yet. I didn't take a picture of the bass, but here are some of my deceased fishing rod.

Last week there was a Pay It Forward line at a Dairy Queen in Minnesota that lasted for about 900 cars. Makes we wonder about the person that broke the chain. https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/09/us/pay-it-forward-dairy-queen-trnd/index.html

I thought they were eggs when I first saw them as well. So I took a photo and then did some image researching to find out what they were.

We have them in our lagoons down here. From what I had read about them they are one sign of a healthy ecosystem.

I find that the pool noodle is just about long enough for me but not wide enough ??