CountryboyinDC

I am not super up on the Perceptions. I thought it might be like my old kayak, the WS Ride. At one point they started making them with framed seats. As worn as mine was, I just waited until my patches wouldn't hold and bought another kayak. I agree, a framed seat is key.

For the current market, the Sea Ghost is a pretty good deal. If it's the paddle that came with the kayak, it'll be a good spare, but it's pretty heavy. I don't think I've ever seen a Pescador Pro without the framed seat. It might have some age to it, which doesn't hurt anything. The framed seat would drive me to the Sea Ghost, though. They're nice general purpose kayaks.

Amazed this hasn't been shut down yet..... I will take any of the 3 approved vaccines when they're available to me. I am in a category which means that I will be among the last, except for children. I am not a vaccine advocate, and I have no wish to compel folks one way or another on their informed choices. I will say that these vaccines have more polarization than I've ever seen, and I wish that they didn't. I am surprised at the reports that military personnel are refusing to get vaccinated. It must be a far different military than the one I served in. I don't know this for a fact, but I would imagine that refusing a vaccine would have been the start of the refusant's chattering out of the army. I certainly got my share of vaccines there that most in the civilian world never get - anthrax, smallpox (2nd dose), yellow fever, etc. To be honest, most of the guys I was serving with weren't too concerned with vaccine safety. If we were truthful, we were more concerned with the '40 go over, 39 come back' odds we had for Rangers on a 100 day deployment (actually, I calculated the odds, and it was 1 in 43.2 chance of being KIA), to say nothing of the chance of getting wounded in a life-altering manner. My wife works (several layers below) the organization that Tony Fauci leads. Shemanages a scientific portfolio for the organization. Her scientific expertise is truly in rheumatic disease, although toward the end of her postdoctoral training, her project did explore the effects of this autoimmune phenomenon in allergic diseases. She has been dragged into the work of creating and helping manage programs that are better suited for someone with a respiratory pathogen background, as have all of her colleagues. She is much more on the fence about the vaccines, not because of what she knows, but just as an outlook on life. I think that's what this comes down to - your outlook on life. Influenza and SARS-CoV-2 certainly lie outside of the norm for the risks of the vaccines (think C. botulinium, poliovirus, etc.) where the disease for which you're being vaccinated has a high probability of mortality or at least unreasonable morbidity. It may mean that I can go back to relative normalcy or that I get cancer, rheumatic disorders, and who knows what else. We're not promised tomorrow, make your decisions wisely, and please don't get mad at your neighbor for the decisions he made.

Stren Original is certainly not Defier Armillo, but I use it from 6 to 17 lbs (the heaviest mono I use for freshwater). I doubt it's changed much since this forum started, but for what I use it for, the other lines would do nothing more than empty my wallet faster. It does stretch, but it's manageable on the reel. And you can find it almost as many places as you can Big Game, which I usually see in spools too big to fit in the leader carrier I have. BTW, I like Mean Green, and don't think this will matter for the purposes listed, but it's a sinking copolymer, not a nylon monofilament. In 17 lb, it has some memory, not like some fluorocarbon does, but still some.

I wasn't trying to trigger any OCD tendencies, I promise. It looks like you have all the tools (spool pin pliers, etc.). I finally broke down and bought the hedgehog tool this year. I was always trying to remember what 2 sets of pliers worked well last time for the job.

I've found the reels to be all over the place with the lubrication they do during assembly. I take the spool bearings off regardless, soak them in some isopropanol, and then let them dry out. I use a drop of spool bearing oil on each. I do that before I put on any line. Otherwise, pretty much I do the same as@Bass_Fishing_Socal does.

I haven't, but I did try just a fiberglass garden stake. A couple of issues with the garden stake. 1) You get fiberglass splinters in your hand. 2) The stake eventually splits. I would imagine the 2nd thing will happen to you even quicker with schedule 40. I would try sanding the fiberglass before PVC.

He was definitely feeling froggy. Too obvious?

$900 is better than any price I got when I went out looking for tires 2 years ago. It was just over a grand for 4 Michelin LTX A/T2s with tax. They're 265/70 R17s, 10 ply, which might not be the same as yours (this is an 08 diesel truck). For me, the good service means a lot, and is hard to find even where I am, so I'd probably stick with them, but that's probably just me being a sucker for good service. I think this might have a big part in the wear difference, but I'm certainly no expert and don't go through 2 sets of pickup tires a year to say definitively. I had one other 1 ton (single rear wheel) truck, and the tires on it definitely didn't last, although to be sure, they weren't the best tires (Traction King). If tread life is the goal, the Michelins have the hard compound that makes that happen, but as I said, if you're not putting a lot of miles on them, they have a reputation for dry rotting if they're not garaged. It sounds like there's a lot of positive experience with the BFGs, so they could also be your best bet.

I don't have firsthand experience with the Coopers or Goodyears you're looking at. I have had the BF Goodwriches on an S-10. Those replaced Uniroyal Laredos which had good threadlife, but practically nonexistent traction. The BFGs were pleasantly quiet and worked well in the snow and light mud I had them in. I now have Michelin LTC A/T2s on my 3/4 ton Dodge. They're okay, but they're Michelins. My biggest problem with Michelins is that the compound they use usually dry rots before the tread wears out unless you can keep them out of the sun. Otherwise, I'd give them good marks. What's the price difference between the Coopers and the Goodyears?

If they're talking about the Vixen or Repoman, they're probably talking about how they go for over $100. I still like the Sammy, especially when the seem to want a pause in the retrieve. Sammy's start walking easier than Rovers or Spooks, in my opinion. Now when you need the bait moving, the Sammy doesn't do so well for me.

SawStop builds a good saw, from the worksite type on up to their cabinet saws. None are $600. Therein lies the rub. There was a time when Powermatic, Delta, and a host of others built good power tools here in the US. They found out that building cheaper tools in southeast Asia and other places was better from a net income perspective. My brother has a Rigid contractor saw and it's pretty nice considering. He doesn't use it daily, but he has a pretty nice wood shop, and so it gets used. I really appreciate it when I use my Task Force yard sale job on a project around my house. Certainly the Rigid is no green Powermatic cabinet saw with an outfeed table like my cousin has, but at the price point, I'd say it's pretty good. I don't have a ton of Bosch tools, but I've been told by people who know that their routers and laminate trimmers are about the best on the market these days. My miter saw stand is Bosch, and it is solidly built and pretty well thought out.

Looks like a Wingman https://wingmanoutfitter.com/. It sounds like the canoe is the right solution for you.

I forgot about that one, usually canoes are more easily converted from solo to tandem. There are some kayaks that adapt pretty well, but the canoe rules in this regard. I'm trying to get you to buy a junker car from one of my kinfolk. I do belong to our HOA (Eudora Civic Association). It costs $50 a year, and it's unincorporated. So my the 2 partially buried tractor tires at the end of my driveway may bother some people, but I'm not getting violation notifications.

Amen. And a junker car in front of the house somewhere.

That's probably the ticket. A place of your own and you'll always have something to work on. I'm pretty sure I know of about a dozen sources for that particular commodity, and that's just family members.

I like most of what you said, but you can definitely stand in a canoe too. I wouldn't recommend you try it in my Dagger Encore or a Jensen racing model, but you can definitely stand and fish. A couple of people that I fish with turn 360 in their Wenonah Fisherman and Old Town Osprey. Definitely could do it in a Sportspal.

I thought this bait would be just what the doctor ordered for early spring river smallmouth. I had tried the Storm version pre-rigged goby, and it didn't have enough weight (I think I bought the heaviest one they had at Gander, 3/8 oz?) to get down where I wanted to fish them in some deep pools. So I got one of the 3/4 oz Dark Sleepers with high hopes. So far, I have no fish with it. There may be another use for it; obviously people are catching them with it. It did just what I wanted it to, just couldn't catch fish with it.

Cabelas has the Lowrance Elite-12 Ti2 Fish Finder/Chartplotter with US Inland Charts and Active Imaging 3-in-1 for a cool grand. I believe that's about $500 off retail. https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/lowrance-elite-12-ti2-fish-finder-chartplotter-with-us-inland-charts-and-active-imaging-3-in-1?irclickid=Qm3VkVUTxxyJWqJxTV1LXQupUkET7H1tuWvWQU0&irpid=10451&irmpname=Slickdeals_LLC&sharedid=&irgwc=1&WT.mc_id=ir10451&WT.tsrc=AFF&cm_soc=AFF

I fished most of my life out of a canoe on rivers. I got my first kayak over a decade ago, and I don't believe that I'll go back to routinely fishing from a canoe. The canoe has a couple of advantages - it can carry a lot for its weight and if you need to portage for any distance by yourself, the canoe is easier. By carrying a lot, I don't mean tackle. Carrying a dozen rods and a bunch of Plano boxes is no great trick with a sit-on top kayak using a crate. I mean a couple of barrels, big packs, 60 quart cooler. The kayak's advantages are it paddles better (for the most part), sheds wind better, and with your paddle in your lap is easier to correct your position and direction. It also offers better mounting options for all the gadgets we end up using IMHO. And for sit-in kayaks, it offers self recovery in deep water, something that is virtually impossible with a canoe. That said, a guy in my club makes his Wenonah Fisherman do everything he wants as he paddles with a SUP or a canoe paddle, switching between fly and spinning gear. I've seen folks with those wide aluminum canoes (not Grummans, just can't remember the name) rigged up like small bass boats. I've dragged both canoes and kayaks across railroad tracks (it seems like every secret spot on the river involves dragging down a steep bank across railroad tracks), and while the kayak is usually smaller, both are doable. I would say get a dolly you can make either work for small ponds.

Where are you supposed to hide the mash? If you leave your barrels in the woods or an outbuilding somewhere, a revenuer is bound to find it. Got to hide it almost in plain sight.

That's why everything looks the same. The developments are 400 houses with about 4 models, and the only thing to tell them apart is the vinyl siding. I'm not crazy about sprawl, but I hate the city worse. If you want to see something that looks like it needs some housekeeping, go to the city IMHO. I would take the country any day over the conveniences that suburban areas have. The traffic and general crowdedness get to me.

I was offered a chance to transfer to a place 40 miles to the nearest Walmart (Hamilton, MT). I thought, 'How much closer to heaven could you get?' I talked to my wife, and it became apparent I would move there alone. I can understand why there would be a shortage of rental real estate. There's probably a dearth of tenants too. I'd try to learn to like something about the place with jobs as hard to come by as they are now. And rural living does have it. It's easy to get to know people, even those you'd prefer to know less. There are usually lots of outdoor opportunities close by, and you're not shoulder to shoulder the way you are in suburbia. I grew up in a rural farm district and wouldn't change that for anything, but I don't believe I'll ever get to live there again. The experiences there made me as self-reliant as I am, and as comfortable by myself as I am. It's taken over half my life living otherwise to get me to develop the social skills I have (which are just north of house breaking).

Welcome Kenneth. Lots of DC area folks active on here. It's a hard area to fish without a watercraft of some type, but some folks find a way. There are all kinds of clubs to help you find like-minded people in the area.

Somehow I have an almost uncontrollable urge to grill up some drum.