haggard

When Vol logic fails, you can always check with a 'dore

For lightweight yaks not much. Beyond that? Weight and convenience. Trailer can be backed into the water and the yak floated without hitting the ground. Pulling it out of the bed, need a tote or cushion system if you don't want the heavy yak scraping pavement. "Everything in life is a tradeoff." (wise HS teacher said)

I owned a 1500 size pickup with a PA12 (worked fine with bed extender) and had the same concerns as you. Don't want to leave my rods outside, wanted to lock them in the cab. My pickup was a regular cab, not even a 4 door. It worked, and just barely, for my max length 6' 9" rod. It could be stored at an angle, just barely. My M.O. was carry the rods on the PA horizontal storage while driving, but cram them into the locked cab if I was away from the truck. Worked fine. The PA12 is a heavy beast. Awesome yak, very comfy for long days on the water, and the quality and features are unmatched. It's the Cadillyak. But be prepared for its weight, and you really need the pedal drive - it can be paddled but it's not great in that regard. Doesn't need to be trailered, but you'll want to launch and load very close to the water, and if not, at least have a tote system. I absolutely loved mine but traded down for a Hobie Passport. I miss the large dry hatch, fully adjustable comfy seat and the 4-rod horizontal storage, but no regrets. Any specific questions just ask.

More putt-putt boating than fishing today but finally anchored down at the far end of the lake and made some casts. One largemouth responded, only fish of the day but made the day. Felt odd not wearing a flotation vest and I don't recommend that (it went missing, must replace it) but my butt sits on a floatable cushion. Bass quickly released. Got her on the go-to setup: green & white paddle tail worm on a 1/8 oz jig head, with medium-light / fast spinning combo. Extremely productive on this southern Maine lake.

Not much fishing last year, and a late start this year. But today was good. First bass in 10 long months.

Technically speaking it's about $5 higher than your specified "sub $100" but if you're looking for quality, versatility, flexibility and ~$100, consider the St. Croix Triumph series TSR60MF (6'0, medium power, fast action). St.C website erroneously calls this "TRS60MF" in some places. Disclaimer - I'm a St.C fan. I bought a couple of these as backup/loaner rods but have to say I'm really impressed with the quality and if it was my only rod I wouldn't be disappointed.

Hi Jeff - I appreciate small and light, very easy to handle and lift, but if you're looking for a "fishing kayak" then 10 ft is as low as you can go without making important sacrifices. You can get smaller by using a float tube, but that's not a fishing kayak. For kayaks, while shorter might be better for size and weight, the tracking becomes worse - as you dip the paddles to left and right sides, the yak tends to immediately steer left and right, instead of moving you forward in a straight line. Also depending on your height you might find shorter yaks are really uncomfy. I'm 5'10 and I wouldn't want to be in anything shorter than my 10 ft yak. It's tight, but not uncomfy, but wouldn't want it to be any shorter. If you're looking for short, small, light weight, good fishing ability, low cost, I highly recommend the Sun Dolphin Journey 10 SS. Bought mine a few years ago for $185 new. It's tippy, so you need to keep a low center of gravity, but it works, and once you learn "the feel" you can adapt to it. I call mine the "SS Last Resort" but do so jokingly, just to poke fun at it. It's a sit-on-top model, which to me feels much safer than a sit-inside model, though it does come at the cost of a higher center of gravity. It's small enough you can throw it in the bed of a pickup truck, and light enough that you should be able to lift it onto the roof rack on a car. I think an 8 ft fishing yak will be hard to find. The smallest I've seen for a fishing yak is 9.5 feet from Hobie but I think that's been discontinued, not to mention it was really pricey (not to say that's bad - Hobie is high quality). If you can settle for 10 feet, you'll have a lot more better choices.

St.C Avid AVC66MF St.C Avid AVC66MHF Lucky to get these a year or so before they were apparently discontinued. At least I assume they're disco'd; the entire Avid casting lineup disappeared from the St.C website sometime within the past year. The Avid spinners remain, along with the Avid Trek spinners/casters which also like.

The only thing worse than getting skunked is getting ticked. I carry these "Tick nippers" any time I go fishing/camping. They work well. The trick is don't close them too tightly around the tick - don't squeeze the nippers like pliers; they're designed with a small gap between the blades that lets you get around the base of the tick without cutting through it. Pull up firmly and the tick usually pops right out.

A big part of the problem, not saying it's the only one, is population, or more specifically, population density. More people competing for the same number of (or fewer) resources.

Couple "new to me species" cod last weekend at Boon Island Ledge off the Maine coast. Minke whale sightings were a bonus.

I echo @MN Fisher - recommend YZ Hybrid 6 lb. I use it on my ML/XF spinning rod and it casts well and handles decent sized fish well. Keeps things simple with no leaders, and from what I hear it doesn't stretch as much as mono yet it's reasonably senstitive.

Only you can answer this one. If you enjoy the process of discovery and learning, then working on perfecting the drop shot could give you some memorable days on the water. If you measure happiness by numbers of fish caught, using an alternate tried/true technique might be the ticket.

Welcome to the forum. My fishing experience is limited (about 4 years now) and I haven't tried the BFS but I did own a trio of Curado MGL 71. In my experience the main benefit of the MGL was its compact size (more comfortable to me), rather than its ability to handle lighter lures. The lightest I most often used on it was a Texas rigged 4-inch plastic worm with 1/4 oz bullet weight and a 3/0 hook. It worked great. I tried lighter lures with it but for me a spinning setup works much better. Only reason I sold the Curado MGLs was because Shimano came out with the Bantam MGL which is basically the same compact size but in a one-piece aluminum frame, which is something I had been wanting for a while. Bantam is roughly the same as the Curado MGL as far as lure weights go - my lower limit with the Bantam is the same 1/4 oz Texas rigged worm. I would guess that if Shimano puts BFS in the name, the Curado BFS will do better than the Curado MGL with lighter lures.

Probably not - unless you're throwing heavier lures (1/4 oz or more) and find that you cast those more accurately with a baitcaster as compared to a spinner. Baitcaster keeps the reel tighter/closer to the rod axis which can give a tighter, more accurate, less wobbly feel than a spinning setup.That's not to say a spinner isn't accurate in the right hands. For lighter presentations (say under 1/4 oz), in general (there are exceptions), a spinning setup is the way to go. If you're having trouble on the bank, I think there are more productive solutions than getting a baitcaster.

^ This right here. I did most of my growing up in the 80s and early 90s when the normal tip for dinner out was strictly 15% and was surprised to hear, recently, from a co-worker who also works as a server, that nowadays 20 or 25% isn't uncommon if not the norm. I was a little shocked but decided what the hey, try it. Assuming the workers actually worked hard, then for one-offs such as fishing guides, wedding photographers or moving/storage company's crews, a crisp $100 bill, cash (to each worker) - if you can afford it - goes a very long way. Most recipients will never forget and will always appreciate. I like to think the reward reminds them of the value of good work and encourages them to work hard for the next client. It's important that it's a Benji, and a new/crisp one, not a few $20s that have been passed around.

I was gut hooking a few when fishing for smallies in ~30 ft of water, with mono line, probably because I wasn't detecting the bite quick enough. I switched to braid for more sensitivity, with a decent rod (for the same), and I think this helps, but I don't really have a lot of data yet to know for sure. As for recovery, I carry 7-inch wire cutters and cut the hook ASAP, about halfway down the hook, to get rid of the lure and weight (usually it's Texas rigged) so there's more room & visibility to work. This also gives some room to back out the hook - which requires rotating it (along the plane of the hook) - otherwise the eye end would bump into fish parts and prevent rotation. With hook snipped, go in through gills with needle nose pliers (I find forceps are often too weak) and for barbless hooks, rotate the hook back out (i.e. the wait it came in, don't push it through). For barbed hooks, if you can see the barb end, rotate it through (which should be easy since you've already snipped away the eye/bend end). With hook now out, go in through the mouth with needle nose pliers and take out the hook. I wouldn't take the freed-up hook out through the gills. If the whole process is taking a while, let the fish recover under water periodically. A net helps. I highly recommend barbless hooks, at least until you start seeing fewer gut hooks. Barbless is also helpful when you the bottom of your own foot.

I say you're getting your money's worth out of that reel.

Check out Tim Moore - he's usually on Lake Winnepesaukee but guides on other waters as well. He might be a NH-only guide though, but maybe he has some recommendations.

Like they say in the real estate business: Location, location, location.

Just curious - assuming we're talking about printed catalogs - with lead times on printed publications, along with supply chain and shipping disruptions, what's the advantage of a printed catalog vs. going online where you can search/filter ability and near real-time inventory info on a per-store basis?

Calm water, no wind, early mornings or dusk, slow it down, way down. Give it a pop, then wait, let everything settle down. Repeat.

A little sour cream goes a long way.

If you have to wear your polarized sunglasses over your prescription glasses, Cocoons. They're relatively cheap ($40 or so) and the thin coating wears off the lens after a couple seasons, but when they're in good shape, they work well and block the side light as well, and the polarization is very effective at seeing into the water. You get what you pay for. In this case, good cheap fit-overs, made of plastic, that need to be replaced once in a while.

Lots of shiny.