Kayak Koz

I know there are some baseball dads and coaches on BR so I thought I would post this. Way back in the day I was a college baseball pitcher and for a number of years I coached rec, travel, All Star, and middle school baseball. I gave it up this past year because I wanted my son to get away from me coaching him and drive his own destiny on the ball field. Plus, he's at a stage where he needs more advanced coaching. That being said this COVID-19 situation has ended competitive baseball for the time being so we've been working out lately. Matt has been primarily a P/SS but routinely plays other positions including catcher so he's experienced at all of them. Long term he profiles as a P/1B/ maybe corner outfielder and not a middle infielder. But he loves to pitch and next year he's hoping to make varsity as a freshman. A lot of baseball academies, all major league teams and most college teams use Rapsodo or something similar to analyze things like pitcher velocity, spin rates, spin axis, vertical movement, horizontal movement, etc. What's great about these systems is that a pitcher can make grip alterations, finger pressure alterations, arm slot changes, and frankly any pitching mechanic changes and see how it changes the shape of the pitch. Unfortunately our local indoor baseball academy does not have one and I'm not about to drop 3 grand on one. But the last month I stumbled upon something called PitchLogic. It's a baseball with built in sensors that tracks most of the same information as Rapsodo and in side by side comparisons the data was close to identical to the Rapsodo numbers. Best of all it's "only" $250. Not cheap, but not three grand either. Diamond Kinetics also has a baseball sensor called Pitchtracker but it has only basic information AND they charge you an annual fee to access the data. PitchLogic has no annual fees and you can export data for any time range and have it emailed to you in CSV format. Anyway, the PitchLogic arrived and we got to use it for a brief 10 pitch session today before the thunderstorms rolled in. My first impressions are "WOW!" I mean when I was a kid we had to go to the library and pick up a book to see what a curveball grip looked like and then when we tried it out on the field we relied on our catcher to try and tell us what the ball was doing. Then if you changed your grip or arm angle or mechanics you had to rely on the observations of your catcher or coach to see if they noticed anything different with the pitch. Now, you throw a pitch and you have a face full of data staring at you and you can quantify the results of any changes.Today Matt only threw four seam fastballs and he wasn't really loose as we raced the oncoming storm. He hadn't thrown in a month and his lower half mechanics were sloppy, but what was pretty neat is on the last two pitches I reminded him of what his lower half should be doing and he gained 3 mph. Since I have no idea what his spin rates were before we're putting together baseline data now. What will really be interesting is tomorrow when he starts throwing his curve and changeup. We'll develop some baseline numbers and then experiment with some changes. One nice thing about the app is not only can you chart and track pitch types but you can also up to 5 track variations of those pitch types. This way you can easily compare the results. Anyway, so far this looks to be a great tool. Once I collect more data I'll post some screen shots. My first impression is that this is a great tool and worth the investment.

Very nice! Getting quality lumber at a decent price is a challenge so kudos to you for taking the initiative to do it on your own. I've been able to do a decent job with the builds but where I still struggle is with the finishing work whether it be stain or paint. I took some time with the above project and applied acetone, then a mix of acetone and paint, sanded, then paint, sanded, and paint again. I still have one more light sanding to do and then apply the poly which I hope to start on tomorrow. I'm praying it turns out decent. The good news is I now gace a decent amount of scrap wood to practice my staining and painting techniques. You did a great job on yours to bring out the beauty of the wood. That's some amazing work. For some reason it kind of reminded me of guys who glue different types of wood together and then cut it into bowls. I'd love to learn some of those techniques but for now I'll stick to my blocky furniture!

That's quite an interesting base on that table. I would not have thought of that. I don't know why, but I'm not big on 2x4 builds for indoor furniture. Outdoor furniture or shop tables I'm OK with. Initially I drew up plans for this using 2x4's because it was cost effective, but after dimensioning everything out it was pretty bulky and really heavy so I opted for using 1 bys instead. My son is now interested in helping so I think we'll do a matching side table next.

I can't remember how much it was but years ago my son had a police car model complete with lights and siren. For Halloween he dressed as a police officer and had a little notepad with him. After receiving candy at a house he would say, "I'm sorry but I have to give you a ticket" and would tear out a page with a thank you note that he wrote on it.

Spinning rod or casting rod? I fish mostly using baitcasting setups but when I switch to spinning gear I end up yanking everything to the left for a while until I get my touch back. If that's not the case for you my guess is you're dropping the rod and throwing across your body on the bank as opposed to a more over the top cast on the kayak.

Thanks for the info. One area that seems interesting is the three forks on the NW side of the lake. There are a lot of points in that area where bass may come up to feed from the depths. But it's 3.5+ miles from the launch and with a kayak rental I'd like to spend more time fishing than paddling.

I've been thinking about taking my son to Jocassee this week, renting some kayaks, and fishing for largemouth and smallmouth. Has anyone fished there lately? Any particular spots we should try? We'll be launching from Devil's Fork State Park. We are also considering Table Rock State Park (SC), Paris Mountain State Park (SC), and Croft State Park (SC). These are the easiest places for us in the SC upstate to rent kayaks.

I'm still pretty much a novice at woodworking but I find I enjoy it and have enjoy drawing up plans and learning new techniques. I've also met the Bait Monkey's cousin, Shop Monkey and that has led to some new purchases. This time it was a router, router table, and a bunch of router bits. And clamps. I've found out that I can never have too many clamps. My latest project was a coffee table for the living room. Because I'm still new at this I again used inexpensive white wood from the big box stores. It does take a while to find pieces that aren't cupped or warped too badly and don't have too many knots. For my next project I may step up to select pine or a hard wood. Anyway, I sketched out a plan and my cut sheet and went to work. One thing I wanted was for the table top to have a little bit of decorative variation to it rather than just a flat, boring top. So using the router I cut about 1/16" along one side and both ends of the middle boards at about 1/8" deep so when I joined them there was a small groove. I also used the router to put a rounded edge on the outside pieces and used a pocket hole jig (another Shop Monkey purchase) and pocket hole screws to assemble the top. The base was pretty straight forward. The legs were made up of 1x3's glued together. But when I put it all together the square legs looked rather boring. I don't have a lathe (yet) so I could not turn my own table legs. I looked for some stock legs but didn't find anything I liked. So I took the base apart and after some trial and decided to put my new router to work again. I cut a v-groove around the perimeter of each leg and also edged each corner of the leg to try and enhance its appearance. It's not great, but at least it's not a boring square leg. I did see a video of someone that built a home made jig to turn their router into a lathe type device and he made some great, decorative pieces. I may give that a try in the future. Again, looking to make the table more decorative I made some faux drawers on each of the sides. At first they were rectangular, but that looked boring with a rectangle on a rectangle. So I cut the corners at 45 degrees. I then used a Roman Ogee bit around each edge to give it some definition and added half shell drawer pulls I purchased at a big box store. It didn't come out perfect, but I'm not a pro at this. But it passes the eye test. Now hopefully it will hold up over time. All along I had decided I wanted to paint the table rather than stain it. I also wanted the top and the base to be different colors. Almost all of the wood furniture (entertainment center, bar stools, sofa table, etc) are espresso in color so I went for something different. It's a lighter brown top with an off white base. It took me a number of different paint samples to get the right base color. I probably should have gone a little darker with the top, but it will do. I still have one final sanding to do and then apply a finish. If I use wax it should darken the top a bit, but since it's a coffee table and needs to be durable I will probably use polyacrylic. Anyway, I'm pretty happy with the way this came out. Now my son is interested in giving woodworking a hand so I told him I will help him build a matching end table. I'm not sure what my next project will be but I'm leaning towards either a kitchen table or a computer work station. I also have an idea in my head about a wood wall art piece.

I bank fish so it's impractical to have a ton of setups. - 5.5 ft light spinning - 6.5 ft MH spinning - 6.5 ft M spinning - 7 ft MH baitcaster - 7.5 ft H baitcaster And you know what? 99% of my fishing is done on my 7 ft Lew's Mach 2 SLP MH setup. I can throw most any bait on it and I catch a ton of bass. Occasionally I throw the heavy setup if I'm fishing lily pads or want to throw a decent sized swimbait. Some days I think I might want to get a Tatula or Shimano but then I think, "Do I REALLY need that?" To each his own, but I'm just fine basically sticking to one setup.

Where I fish, during the day the fishing is great between 11 am and 1 pm but falls off after that until 4 or 5 pm. The earliest I usually fish is around 7 am but really haven't had any luck. Plus, the humidity is unbearable in the summer mornings. It's tough for me to get out on the banks earlier than that because it's dark out and we have to be wary of alligators. With that I prefer not to fish in the dark.

If the baits you're using aren't landing the fish it's time to change baits and tactics. Confidence baits are one thing, but if they don't produce they aren't of much use.

I use the Plano A-Series 2.0 Tackle Backpack. It holds five 3600 boxes plus on the inside has a large, zippered compartment where I have at least 10 bags of soft plastics, a scale, fishing tool, a bottle or two of water, a spinnerbait box, and a bunch of other stuff. There are also snap compartments on each side and one in the back. You can lay the boxes flat or stand them on end. There's enough room on the inside section to add another 3600 box. It holds so much stuff that it was getting too heavy for me so I cut down to 4 boxes and took some soft plastics out of my bag. I've had it for three years now and done a ton of fishing with it. So far it has more than held up to the task. It costs about $80 but I bought it on sale at Dick's for $49. It would still be a great value at $80.

Keep in mind that aquatic vegetation removal within communities is not always an aesthetic issue. Depending upon where you are there are EPA regulations that must be met for stormwater conveyance systems.

For me, jigs always get a trailer. Spinnerbaits get a paddletail trailer in the early spring. Chatterbaits almost always get a trailer unless I'm throwing a light chatterbait into cover and want a slower initial fall.

I fish them naked (no trailer) and they are easily in my top 3 producers on the water. I prefer the 1/2 ounce size mainly because they handle the choppy water better and days with chop on the water are the best time to fish them. In calmer waters I'm more likely to fish the 3/8 ounce. Strike King Sexy Shad buzzbait has been the best for me.

Some days the heat kicks my butt and some days it doesn't. As a bank fisherman I can sometimes find respite in the shade of a nearby tree. I keep a cooler or water in the car nearby. However, if I go trekking from lagoon to lagoon on foot the heat can be problematic. Adding 3 or 4 bottles of water to my tackle backpack makes it heavy for an older guy like me. But as I age I'm less inclined to go fishing on hot days. To be honest, I haven't fished in a month. Between the heat and generally poor bank fishing in my area it hasn't been worth the effort.

It seems to me that if the water really is that shallow throughout that as it warms up any bass are going to be seeking cover in the heaviest weed areas. I wouldn't even bother trying to fish middle of the column baits. I'd fish something weighted and hop it along the bottom. If that fails I go slow on the topwater with a Pop-R or a frog. After that I speed it up with a buzzbait or a Teckel Sprinker frog. The Sprinker can be fished fast or slow and like the Whopper Plopper creates a disturbance on the surface. But the Whopper Plopper is a weed catcher, especially if you fish a larger one that initially sinks below the surface on touchdown.

1. When I go to fish one of my favorite spots and someone is already there 2. When I'm fishing one of my favorite spots and someone horns in on it 3. Alligators swimming over and camping right in front of me 4. Alligators chasing my baits 5. Alligators chasing me

I don't think I've caught anything on a Whopper Plopper in two years. Prior to that it was a crazy top producer. Then it was like all the bass got together and had a meeting and decided not to strike those baits anymore. Seriously, not one strike on them in almost two years.

I believe there was an episode of River Monsters that had a segment on those little buggers. It just seems to me a lot of the fish in Asia are much bigger and nastier than here in the US. I suppose that's in part because those areas are under developed compared to here. As for ocean fishing mentioned above, I've never been a fan of ocean fishing. I was sticking with freshwater species in this thread.

My take: 0.5 lb - 2.5 lb meh, could have taken a nap instead 2.6 lb - 4.0 lb I'll take it 4.1 lb - 5.5 lb Now we're talkin' 5.6 lb - 7.0 lb Oh baby! 7.1 lb - 9.9 lb - Grow dangit! 10.0 lb + I can die in peace. Make sure you put my PB on my tombstone.

If you watch River Monsters and similar shows, the freshwater aquatic wildlife in the U.S. is pretty tame compared to places like Asia. Sure, we have pike, musky, and maybe even walleye that can be pretty vicious. But I've never heard of those attacking humans and ripping off private parts. Then there are those overseas fish with human like teeth - scary. It's not just the teeth, but it's also the size of some of those freshwater fish. I mean, we get excited over 25 pound catfish here. Over there they have catfish that could conceivably swallow a human. I'm glad a live here. I'll stick to bass fishing.

Expect a visit by the Secret Service by the end of the day.

For all the folks on BR that have been bitten by the Bait Monkey and aren't sure how or why their garage is wall to wall with baits and gear they don't use, now might be the time to open your own shop on eBay. You might even be able to turn a profit.

Stained water? Blue/black Chatterbait with a speed craw (small) or Pit Boss (large) trailer. Don't be afraid to throw a white chatterbait in that stained water as well.