Bass Junke

Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.

Went fishing Saturday morning. Got on the water around 6am. Boat ramp does not open till 7am on this pond next to my house, so I launched down the street in this little cove. As I was launching one of the steps I took left my right leg sunk up to the knee in mud. Thankfully I took off my flip flops. Fast forward a few hours after a nice morning of fishing. Obviously after being in knee deep mud I got onto shore bare foot and started pulling in my kayak. I get my feet tangled in some mono on the ground. I can't leave it so I start gathering it up. It must have been about 30 feet of mono and wouldn't you know it, at one end a cheezey swivel and a 4/0 EWG. I was horrified, some people are so irresponsible.

If spiders that size ever fell into my kayak I might have to abandon ship. Yikes!

Overhanging trees are my kryptonite. I carry 6 rods and all are sticking up at various angles. I have a Vibe sea ghost, 2 flush mount rod holders and four on my crate. I have thought about external adjustable holders that can be angled lower. Unfortunately that is just 4 more things that have to be added and removed each trip. I was fishing a section of the Charles river one day and I hooked into about a 2lb fish that immediately pulled my kayak under a tree to make matters worse I got the line just off of the tip of my rod hung in the same tree on a tiny branch that I can't quite reach without my rods bending from the overhang. Pulled the 5 rods behind me down and laid them on the deck, got under the tree, and got my line free. This took a couple, when I finally landed the fish he was just sitting on the side of my boat, probably tuckered out. A guy on a bass boat saw the whole show, asked later, he got a good laugh at my expense. This is how Vibe will keep me in the family. Anybody look at the Shearwater? That boat has rod storage for 8 rods right out of the box. 4 flush mounts at different angles and 4 holders along the gunnels with tip protectors.

I don't like braid on spinning reels. I don't like leaders. I used 8lb Sunline Sniper on a spinning setup for a season. It was fine, a little springy at first, but it settled down and I fished a whole season with that setup. I have pretty much settled on some form of co-poly. Lately it has been P-Line.

https://www.fishfindermounts.com/product-page/15mm-magnetic-transducer-mount-kit This works pretty awesome. I bought the more powerful magnet for 10 extra bucks. I don't use it anymore, the Sea Ghost has a recessed compartment for a transducer. The issue with this is you need to be able to access the inside of the hull and the outside of the hull at the same time. I would have a hard time using this on the Sea Ghost because I have no access to the inside middle of my kayak if that makes sense. A magnet needs to be on the inside and outside and they have to be applied together.

Where are you? Where are you fishing? Have you posted on the local forum?

I take horrible selfies and my buddies give me crap. So I use this. It is a railblaza but their are plenty of options for your car should be able to modify for your boat. Just an option.

Exactly what I was thinking. I have already assembled ( again I don't plan on casting my own heads) about 30 spinner baits so the gears have been turning since your post. I have also been thinking and researching Alan's method of opening an already existing line tie. I think the hardest part is finding the right pre-made jig with a good shaped head, the correct line tie orientation and a large enough line tie for the blade to move around. Also as I understand it, the blade moves better if the tie is unpainted, another consideration. Production jig heads that might work. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/BOSS_Sparkie_Jig_Head_4pk/descpage-BOSSSPK.html https://siebertoutdoors.com/products/ols/products/dredge-brush-jighead https://www.lurepartsonline.com/Classic-Grass-Jig

What an awesome idea. Thanks.

alien 1: " I like to drop a spoon right near the ice cream stand, I can usually pick up a human or two from there." alien 2: "Thanks for the advise. Lately dragging a cheeseburger on a C-rig across the sidewalk and under the oak tree has produced some larger than average humans." alien 1: " Cool! You should have been here yesterday, I caught a 500 pounder."

Thank you for posting that spread sheet. Very cool.

This is my first experience on any kind of forum. Never really felt the need or understood the draw. So lucky for me I have found not just the best fishing forum, but maybe the best forum of any kind on the web. Most of what I know about fishing is because of everyone here, thank you to everyone especially the mods, they do a great job at moderating but more importantly they pump out some great info all of which I absorb like a sponge. Perhaps even more important, although I do not post on this site as much as many others, this entire group of forum members really feels like a big family that I have got to know well. Before I start soaking my keyboard with tears I better stop. Oh, and thanks Glen, how could I forget about you. You made this all happen. You got us all together.

I pretty much only fish from a kayak. All my casting rods were either 7' or 7' 1". I liked that length. I wanted to build a heavy rod for pitching into weeds and pads. Decided to build it a little shorter 6' 8". I pitch alot with that rod and a 7' Bu Coo. Even pitching from a seated position, there really isn't much difference between the two.

And some days we all like a little quality background music while we dine. Okay I gotta ask on account of your screen name. Are you a Phish guy and not a dead guy? If so, either way girls pretty much dress and act the same. Might as well join both camps.

Thanks. That is pretty much how the guy on you tube did it.

Volt meter, sorry my mistake. Something like this. Purchased from Amazon.

I have everything on my kayak you are talking about. I am using a 12 ah LiFe Po battery. I have used it for roughly 10-11 hours still does not need to be charged. I have red/green light in the bow, white lights in the stern, a pair of red cabin lights, a removable 360 degree white light, a hookup for sonar, and an amp meter with 2 USB ports. The 12ah battery runs it all without much of a drain. LED lights use very little power, and that is really all we are talking about, sonar and a bunch lights that all aren't going to be on at the same time anyway. I have an old 7ah lead acid battery that will run my system all day. I do not know what you are talking about in your second paragraph. I do not have a Hobie and I am not familiar with the other products.

My first kayak was a Vibe Skipjack. This is a 9 foot kayak, about 47lbs. I used that for a little over a year and bought a Vibe Sea Ghost 110. 11 foot kayak about 62lbs. I am 5'10" about 165lbs. I have exceptional balance, have no fear of water or falling (those last two points are often not taken into consideration but I think are important) I stood up in the Skipjack. I could do it but not fish, the bow went below the waterline and became unstable. I stand in my Sea Ghost all the time. Cast, pitch, work the rod and set hooks while standing. Is the Sea Ghost a kayak known for its stability, not really. Would I say that anyone could stand and fish from this kayak? Definitely not. Is it stable enough for me, you bet. Now fishing out of a 9' kayak was great. Very maneuverable, 2 paddle strokes and you have spun your kayak 180 degrees. The Sea Ghost has a rudder, before I bought Sea Ghost I questioned the need for a rudder. I was amazed at how difficult it was to maneuver and turn my boat. The rudder helps a lot. One of the reasons I bought both of my kayaks was because of weight. I can lift my Sea Ghost onto my roof ( at 55YOA I need a bit of a rest afterwards) but I don't. I tilt it onto my roof and the only piece of equipment I use is a rubber backed shower mat. After realizing how easy it is to tilt your kayak onto your car weight is no longer factored into my future purchases.

Yup, rod holders is mostly what the crate is for. I do carry 5 3600 boxes inside the crate. I guess my only reason for wanting to get rid of the crate in is the lack of a secure cover to keep contents inside.

I painted a regular milk crate and modified it and works well. But I like your idea better. I was looking at this one. https://smile.amazon.com/DEWALT-DWST08204-Tough-System-Extra/dp/B005HNJR0E/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=tool%2Bboxes&qid=1620915708&sr=8-5&th=1 I need to go home and measure my tank well.

NRS makes them with laser cut holes for better airflow and to cut down on your glasses fogging. They are made from the same material as all their silk weight clothes. I have mentioned before the NRS silk weights are the lightest UPF50 material I have ever worn. Downside, the buffs only come in puke green and grey.

Norton Reservoir has a lot of mussel beds. Last year I caught 2 mussels in 2 consecutive casts. Both were latched onto the shank of the hook and neither had the hook point inside their shell. Sorry no pics.

I sure hope some palms were greased to get that peanut butter sandwich through the patent office, maybe the same should be said about the chatter bait. I was an abused child BTW, I was forced to eat PB&J's with the crust on. So sad. This all started with Mike from Seibert's mentioning he had jackhammers on sale. I was going to jump on his site and order a few. I went home and was looking at the one jackhammer I have, this thing isn't worth 12 dollars much less 17 dollars. I'm okay with spending 4 or 5 dollars for an original chatter bait. Besides the weed guard and the gold blade, I don't see much of a difference to justify 10+ dollars to the price. Maybe if they were appropriately priced Z Man would not need to defend their patent so often. Anyways, thanks everyone, I guess I don't feel like I will be doing something wrong anymore.

Thanks again. I, like you love to tinker and be creative. Again, I doubt I will ever pour my own lead but I have been tying my own jigs, building and tying spinner baits and buzz baits. This seems to be the next logical step. I will probably build them with and without split rings. Patents are important, they protect peoples design ideas. Not sure what Z Man's patent is on, the entire design or just the blade directly on the line tie. If it is on the former, no worries, don't like their hooks or skirts and not to fond of head itself. If it's the latter then lots of resourceful guys are probably violating a patent. No worries though, won't be selling any of them, just fishing.