Kayak Koz

It's too easy to have an accident and drop it in the lake when trying to dig it out whether it's in my pocket or a dry bag. I'm not as nimble and limber as I was in my younger days trying to maneuver around on a narrow kayak. I know my limitations. I also know I'm not the kind of person to go diving in after something if I dropped it into a deeper portion of the lake.

Temperature was 100 degrees out today with a heat index temperature of Hades. We're in for this for the next two weeks with the raw temperature being 100 - 104. I imagine the heat index will peg it at 110 - 115 or more. It's also breezy on the lake, so it's like getting hit by a blast furnace. The air is hot to breathe. I'm planning to head out on my kayak Friday night / Saturday morning around 2 or 3 am just so I can get on the water. I have another new Expride and some soft baits and lures arriving on Friday and I want to put them to use. But I don't think I'll be doing any daytime fishing for a while.

I'm still crying over South Carolina's lousy season. Too bad coaches can't be in the transfer portal!

I'm NOT the kind of person that buys a new phone every year. It seems like a waste of money to me. I had an iPhone 4, then my next one was an iPhone 8, and recently I picked up an iPhone 13 when when I switched carriers. So when I'm out on my kayak, I don't want to risk having it fall in the lake. I put it in a waterproof phone bag and that bag is placed in my dry bag. With all of that, if my phone rings I invariably miss the call trying to open things up and dig it out. And because it may be work calling me, I can't simply just ignore the call (as much as I would like to do that). So the other week I decided to make things easier for myself and bought an Amazfit GTR2 smart watch that allows me to answer phone calls and read texts on the watch. It's kind of like Dick Tracy (old guy reference) talking into your watch, but it's very convenient when I'm out on the water. It uses bluetooth for that connection, and the range is limited to about 10 feet, so I can't do things like leave it in my office and answer calls while walking around my hotel (that was disappointing). But out on the kayak, it's great. It's also waterproof. Another thing I like about it is that it's Alexa compatible. It says Alexa is built-in but it doesn't seem that way. The only way to connect to with Alexa is to leave the watch app open on my phone, and of course, as I mentioned earlier, the phone needs to be in close proximity to the watch for bluetooth to connect. Still, it's nice to come home, swipe my watch, and tell Alexa to turn on my porch light and lights in the house. The other thing is that on the watch, Alexa is text only and not voice for any responses. I know some people are wary of Alexa, but find it very convenient in my connected home and that's why I picked this watch over an Apple watch. The watch also tracks a range of fitness items, has weather forecasts, and can even store and play music. There are about 100 different watch faces that you can use and while most of them are blah, there are a few decent ones. Bottom line, I like it and at $199 I feel it's a good value.

For years I fished with Lew's $100-$130 reels and they were great. I caught lots of fish and had no complaints. As a matter of fact, in the past I had posted here on BR that I didn't see the need to spend $200-$300 on a reel. But late last year with some "found money" I purchased some Shimano Curado's (DC, MGL, and K) and of course I noticed the quality was better, but for me the "feel" was better as well. That was the biggest selling point. At this point I don't want to fish with anything else. When I upgraded my reels I also upgraded my rods by adding Dobyns, St. Croix, and Shimano Expride's to my arsenal. I mixed and matched older and new reels on these rods and what I found out is that I think it is more important to invest in a high end rod than a high end reel. If I was on a limited budget, I'd invest in upgrading my rods more than upgrading my reels. In fact, I've got a new Expride coming in on Friday and I'm going to demote one of my St. Croix or Dobyns rods.

When I'm out in my kayak at night, the water is dead calm, and there's not another soul on the lake it's creepy AF. There's really no other way to put it. Here's another tip - wear a gaiter. It's no fun when you run into a swarm of bugs over the lake. Well, unless you enjoy picking them out of your nose and teeth. Were those bats or were those swallows? The first time I went out at night I had my electronics shut off and pedaled out of my narrow cove towards a reference point in the distance. Surprised the heck out of myself when I suddenly found myself very close to the shoreline and a lot further from my launch point than I thought I was. I now run the split screen with GPS when I'm moving locations. Check the regulations in your state regarding kayak fishing at night. I run a YakAttack VisiPole II which also acts as my safety flag during the day. Do I keep the light on all the time? No. But if there any boats moving into my vicinity that light goes on. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KMH9I5I/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I wear one variable intensity headlamp with both red and white lights and keep a spare in my crate. They also strobe if I need to try and signal someone. That was another Amazon purchase. Whether it's day or night, I always fish with a life vest that has a whistle attached. I frequently use VMC Touch Loc Snaps and these really come in handy at night for switching lures, but I tie on my soft plastics. During the day I have 4 rods on my kayak, but at night I cut down to three. Next time I'll probably cut down to 2, and I think I'll also leave my big crate at home and just bring a small, open crate, 2 planos, and a few soft plastics. It's going to be 98+ (before the heat index!) for the next two weeks so if I get out there at all it's going to be at night. With all that being said, I enjoy fishing at night. But I have a ridiculously busy work schedule, I get very few days off this time of year, and I'm already not getting enough sleep as it is. I had a day off this weekend, woke up at 4 am to go to the lake, but didn't have the motivation and went back to sleep. I fished in the afternoon and got heat stroke pulling my kayak up the big hill back to my hotel at the end of the day. Now I think I'll sacrifice some sleep instead of go through that again.

Did you get the Helix 7 MEGA with Di/SI? If so, let me know what you think of it. I have the Lowrance Hook2 5 tripleshot but I'm looking for more clarity and a bigger screen. The only time I get water through the scuppers is when I'm bouncing off some big wakes. Even then, mine drains well.

I saw that episode as well. At least it's not as bad as some of those shows and TV commercials where someone is holding a spinning reel upside down. I got Paramount+ free for a year when I signed up with T-Mobile. SNW is good. I also watched Picard and I'm catching up on 1883. But if you haven't seen it, watch The Offer. It's about the making of The Godfather. I had no idea what they went through to get that movie out.

Fishing is a great way for me to clear my mind and relax, especially when I am out on my kayak. But I have a bit of a double-edged sword going on here lately. I've been putting in a ton of hours at my hotel and have rarely had days off. So when I get a day off, my first thought is to go fishing. But my kayak is stored at my hotel and sometimes when I go there to go fishing I get sucked into things going on at the property and that either delays me getting on the water or I don't get out at all. But I'm going to try something different in the morning. I'm getting up at 4 am and should be on teh water by 4:30 and the hotel should be quiet when I get there.

My kayak has two built in rod holders with leashes behind my seat, plus two vertical rod holders that I never use. My crate has 4 rod holders, but I use one of those for my safety flag. I use the leashes to clip up my dry bag and not for my rods.

I keep my kayak in a storage room at my hotel. I have 4 or 5 rods, Lowrance unit, and my pedal drive stored in my office. It takes only a few minutes to pull it down to the lake and set everything up. But putting it away takes longer. I have to remove the electronics, pedal unit, and crate to drain any water in it at the end of my trip. Then I put it on my C-Tug, pack it up, then have to lug 140 pounds of kayak and and gear up that stinking, steep, twisty hill to put it away. That's more of a struggle than car topping it, especially on a hot day.

Tomorrow is my first day off in almost 2 months and I'm heading out early on my kayak. With fishing on my mind and being a bit bored (dangerous combo) I was surfing the TW website. Then I saw it - the Expride B I wanted was in stock (I already have an Expride A that I love) so I snatched it up. Then the floodgates opened a bit more. I ended up adding a Booyah Moon Talker spinner bait, a WE Screamin Eagle spinnerbait, a Jackall Spybait, some hooks, and a couple of packs of Z-Man Pro Crawz. Qualified for the free t-shirt and sticker as well. Now I'm on a roll. Time to look for a Father's Day sale on a Humminbird HELIX 7 CHIRP MEGA SI GPS G4!

Thanks for the feedback. In the future, I'm not looking at the Mega 360 as an upgrade. Rather, I'm considering the new Mega Live.

I currently have a Lowrance Hook2 5 (Tripleshot with side scan) on my kayak and have been wanting to upgrade to something with a 7" screen. I think my Hook2 was just fine for my first fishfinder, but I think my old eyes need the bigger screen to see more detail. My first inclination was to pick up a new Hook Reveal, but the Humminbird Helix Mega Di and SI looks like it provides a lot more detail. I've considered Mega Live or something similar, but that may be overkill on my kayak. With the unit I'm looking at I can add Mega Live in teh future anyway. If you have the Mega SI and DI, how do you like it? And if you've had a Hook2, is the Humminbird Mega a leap forward or a baby step?

I came up with 5.06 pounds.

Are any of you running transducers designed for transom mounts on kayak mounting arms, or does that even matter? I currently have a Hook2 with a skimmer tripleshot transducer (has sidescan) attached to a Yak Attack Switchblade. But now I'm looking at upgrading to a HELIX 7 CHIRP MEGA with side imaging and GPS. It looks like I can just remove the transom bracket from the transducer and attach it to the arm. I'm not missing anything here, am I? I don't want to spend $700 and find out this won't work. If I do upgrade, I think I'm going to take the Yak Attack CellBlok of the rail and Velcro mount it behind the seat, then get the proper plate for the display mount, then attach the Switchblade directly to the rail instead of attached to the CellBlok.

Absolutely nothing. I want to add a few more Exprides to my arsenal, but they are hard to find. I'm also thinking about moving up from my 5" Lowrance fishfinder to a 7" or 9" display for my kayak but I haven't quite convinced myself yet.

I'd be scared out of my mind,

No. But it ticks me off when I find a spot that should be holding bass and there's nothing on my electronics and still nothing when I fish it anyway.

I don't know about the spinning rods, but the only thing I regret about my Expride casting rod is that I cannot find two more to buy today.

I have 3 Curados. Here's how I currently rank them: 1. Curado DC 2. Curado K 3. Curado MGL But here's the thing - they are all great reels. MY personal opinion is that the DC outshines the other two. And for no particular reason I prefer the K slightly over the MGL. But these are the three that I utilize most in my arsenal. Honestly, you can't make a bad choice here. You won't regret picking one over the other.

This is my buddy Boomer. His breed may be a Chiweenie, but he's really a Velcro Dog. If I go to the living room, he comes and sits on the couch with me. If I go work in my office, he follows me and will hang out in his dog bed. He's been out on my kayak for a quick spin, but I don't take him fishing because there's not a lot of space and I'm worried he'll get too hot out there. But here's something weir. He has this ritual when I get home from work. He has to have a Pupperoni treat when I get home, followed by dinner, followed by a Milk Bone. He will NOT eat them out of order. If I give them to him our of order, he'll sit next to me and stare at me. If I ignore him, he'll paw at me until I get it right. Weird dog.

As soon as I saw this photo, I imagined your dog thinking. "Take that Shaun White!"

I stayed off the water this weekend. There were too many rookies and pleasure boaters out on Oconee all weekend. One of the bad things about Lake Oconee is that it's really narrow throughout, and even to get to some of the more quiet coves I have to traverse some heavily trafficked areas. That's not a lot of fun, even though my kayak is stable. Even with my big kayak and safety flag I still worry about people not seeing me when their avoiding all of the other boats and jet skis out there. I didn't feel like dealing with that this weekend. It's going to be that way most of the summer - and hot outside. My game plan is to do a lot of night fishing from 2 or 3 am until I start work in the morning. The only problem with that is I'm not sure when I'm going to sleep!

I hate hearing about stuff like this. Holiday weekends on the like remind of New Year's Eve on the road - it's Amateur Hour. As much as I wanted to get out on my kayak and fish this weekend, I stayed off the water. There were too many boats and rental boats out there for my liking.