Backroad Angler

Ended up just upgrading to a better kayak. Thanks for your input though! Decided that waiting for a boat is best, as I am on the verge of graduating college and have more things to figure out than worrying about storing, maintenance and other such things for a boat. I will revisit buying a boat in another year or two, but I determined that I always want to have a kayak as well and the one I currently I have is a cheap 150 dollar pelican. I found a really good deal on a Feel free yak, that I believe will be awesome to paddle, and potentially may put a trolling motor on it. When the time is right, hopefully I can find a pretty good deal on a jon boat or even bass boat, who knows, give it a couple years and I might even have enough money to buy a new bass boat! Thanks everyone for yalls inputs

Quick question for everyone, I never really payed attention to the weight capacity of kayaks. But I noticed the native I ordered has a weight capacity of 325. Seems a little low to me. I'm 6'0 180-185 pounds, would this capacity work for me?

Ended up biting the bullet and purchasing a Native Manta Ray 12XT, thank you everyone for yalls inputs! Watched a ton of videos on it and seems like an awesome kayak. Also below budget, so I'll be able to buy a fish finder for it and possibly a trolling motor.

I agree with your statement, I am on the verge of graduating college and hopefully will land in a job that would give me some financial freedom in buying a nice boat. I have the money to buy a better kayak than the one I won and if jon boats were more readily availableble in my area and I could ****** a good deal, I would go that route, but thats not the case.

Around my area, the comparable jon boat t is pushing 40-50 years old with what I would buy a new kayak. Yup, the plan is to eventually get into tournaments, but I agree with you, It's a lot simpler to load up a kayak and just put it in the water, I know boats can be a hassle. Right, I get that. The kayak I have, I bought new from academy for like 200 bucks, It does do the job, but its not the most comfortable and I know there's better out there. I believe the end goal, I will eventually get a bass boat, but I know I will always own a kayak for light trips and quick trips, which leads me to just upgrading to a better kayak now, which it would last me years. Right and that honestly was one of my plans is to start taking people out to fish with me, I have my yak buddies, but for the people that don't have access to yaks, It would be a lot easier to just say hey i got a boat. The reasons I want a standing kayak, is not so much that I thought it would bring me better fishing. But that I know its a more stable platform and allows me to get up and stretch and not remain seating for a whole 6 or 7 hours or whatever. Very true "getting something that's closer to where you want to end up, but isn't still quite there is a waste of money that delays your end goal" but in this case, I think I will always have a kayak and upgrading to a better kayak now, might be the right choice for me at this point in life. I've actually met a few fisherman out at my waters in kayaks that invited me to tournaments, I live about 30 miles from a big city, San Antonio, so I'm sure there is a lot of opportunitiess for tournaments around.

I know I just posted about possibly getting a jon boat, but now I'm debating if I should just upgrade my kayak. I have been kayaking for about 2 years now, started fishing when i was 18, now I am 22, and got into kayaking to expand my areas of fishing about 2 years ago. I have looking at the pros and cons of each, but I wonder if just upgrading into a better kayak would suit my needs. I bought a pelican challenger as my first kayak, a simple, but pretty good kayak. Now I am thinking of getting a kayak that is more stable, to stand in and just overall bring better performance. The end goal is to end up in a bass boat, but I am a college student in my last semester and don't have a ton of money. My question is, would it be better to just upgrade to a better kayak and reap those benefits, or try and find a good deal on a jon boat and take that route? Thanks and any advice is appreciated.

Now to wait for a good deal to pop up, people around me want a unreasonable amount of money for a 20-40 year old boat. The jon boats at academy are out of stock, and having a hard time finding them anywhere else.

Gotcha, yeah from what I've seen the fastest MPH I could wish for is like 5 with a trolling motor, but I'm also fortunate to have a lot of smaller lakes near me, I don't think I would take it on a big lake.

Hey everyone, I am currently in the market for my first boat. I've had a kayak for a little over 2 years now and am at the stage where I'm ready to upgrade to a boat. I have been looking at 14 foot jon boats, have been trying to look at used options, but haven't had a ton of luck there. Either they are too old, or the price is way too high. Due to this, I am thinking about going new, and have a few questions. My first question is, due to not trying to a blow a huge amount of money, would a trolling motor suffice as my only motor? My second question is, does anyone have experience with the Alumacraft jon boats that academy sells? Any advice is welcome, thanks guys!

Dobyns sierra medium/fast super good rod for light t rigs, have had a lot of luck with it

Braid all the way

I would say that bass is in the 4.8-5.5 range. Nice fish!

This is a question completely from out of left field. Has anyone ever used like a spike it marker or even like JJ's magic, directly on the line, like before tying a lure on? I'm a straight braid guy for most of my fishing, but I'm asking if anyone does it on mono or fluro as well. I know it was/is common for people to sharpie some of the end of their braided line for confidence reasons and such, but I was wondering if using a spike it marker or whatever, would make any difference? Thanks

The place I caught her in, the water was pretty shallow. I caught her on a 4 inch senko Thanks!

Yeah I was thinking close to 4-4.5lb range, It was shorter, but the girth was pretty big.

Hey guys, caught this bass today and didn't have a scale or anything. Could anyone give me a possible size? I know pictures are hard to tell, but any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Like dodgeguy said, if fish don't want to bite, they arent gonna bite. I've used mono and braid on two different set ups on the same fishing trip multiple times, and one never necessarily outfished the other.

I was in your same boat and bought a cheap kayak when I first started out.

That bass looks more like a solid 5LBer to me than 4lber

You can set your brakes as well. The more brakes you use, the less it goes far. The less brakes you use, the more distance you can range, but you would be more suspecitble to backlashes if the wind is bad and you have to thumb your spool a bit more as well.

30 lb braid, I have never gone lower.

Lews BB1 has a deep spool and has the ability to cast super duper far if paired with the right rod

I'll probably start making sure I pull both ends at the same time from now on! Thanks for the replys guys

Why do you pull the tag end instead of doing it the other ways? I agree, wetting the knot is an important step.

Hey guys When you cinch a knot, whether it's a palomar, clinch, san diego jam knot, or whatever, do you pull on the tag end only? main line only? or both? to cinch it down. I've never really payed attention to it. I'm not sure if it really matters which way you do it, just got curious. I see videos and/or comments of people doing one way or another and wanted to see what everyone else does. Thanks