CountryboyinDC

For work, we still have some applications (Java based mostly, you'll love that as a developer) that won't run on any other browser. As for the Linux issues, I can imagine that issues would lie dormant (sometimes Windows and macOS aren't exactly speedy about addressing issues), it's just that hackers less frequently target Linux, from what I understand. I won't speak for the others, but my connection with them was on the general concern of having lost control of things we used to be able to own. There will always have to be 'mechanics' for whatever man creates, and you seem to fall into that category (to make sure I don't offend you, I'm not confusing you with desktop support; there's an ENT surgery resident on here that I would by this logic categorize as a mechanic of things innervated by cranial nerve VIII). Us lay people are then left feeling as though we have lost control, without really gaining much of the 'enhanced experience' we were promised from the previous iteration.

I used to use Linux back when I was doing a lot of image analysis using a Unix workstation (a Silicon Graphics, hard to believe that 20 grand would buy something with processing power less than a simple contemporary smart phone). @Hewhospeaksmuchbull obviously has more recent experience with Linux, and so it seems some of the issues that drove me off Linux like not able to work with files generated in Windows well are eliminated by the dual boot functionality. It's funny, I had that on a Mac too (not real satisfactory). For @Sam, there's not really much choice. Either you accept the terms Microsoft sets or you use a system that's less supported and more vulnerable. I don't think that there are many attacks that target Linux, but it is a bit less intuitive than Microsoft and Apple. The forced updates are a huge pain, but they're nothing like what I have at work. I think this is the way things are going to happen. You won't own a program, media, or a lot of other durable goods in the way you used to. The company that produced the product will decide what's good for you. Already happened with Adobe products (can't buy an indefinite license for anything), John Deere, and the list goes on. You can fight it or go fishing, I guess.

@A-Jay knows all the tricks. He can actually catch fish using them too!

That is right, but when we're talking about a 3 1/2' wide kayak, the secondary stability will be all but impossible to realize. Try to put a Big Rig on edge, and you're either falling out of it or capsizing. https://paddling.com/learn/primary-secondary-stability/ Primary stability sounds as though it will be the most important thing to you. And it's not unimportant to me either; I have to adjust my posture and thought process to even kneel in a whitewater canoe I have if I've been in my fishing kayaks. The tradeoffs to primary stability will be maneuverability, efficiency, and weight. But they're well worth it if your goal is to fish and not swim (I've swum a lot). I have a Old Town Predator PDL and love it. I stand easily in it, and it definitely won't be near it's capacity with you and 100 lbs of gear. But it's no Native Titan or Big Rig. They used to make a pretty neat standing platform for the Big Rig, and I think Yak Attack still does that is more adaptable. A strap is hard with a pedal drive, it just gets in the way. A standing platform does likewise if you're sitting and fishing, but you can put on paddle clips. If you're thinking of getting one of these, shop early. I think we're in for another summer where you can't find anything in stock. If you can wait a year, there might be a lot of deals to be had.

I haven't done much bed fishing the past 5 years, but I used to use a tube, rigged on a Shaw Grigsby hook with a piece of Alka Seltzer tablet stuffed in above a Q-tip head. It was better than anything else I tried, hellgrammites, lizards, etc., but it wasn't that great. That's why I haven't been really missing bed fishing. No moral opposition to it, I just am not all that great at catching them on their beds. Once the spawn happens, it's time to go turkey hunting.

It sounds as though by 'big guy's you may be implying that you want a motorized/pedal drive with a lot of primary stability. The Big Rig certainly fits the bill (haven't tried the Big Rig HD), as does the 14' Hobie Pro Angler. The kayak that one-ups even the Big Rig in this area is the Native Titan. They come in 3 sizes, and I've only tried the 13' model, but the stability is massive. Performance, well, not so great, but you can still maintain a pretty good speed. Steering with the Titan is among the worst I've experienced amongst pedal drives, but Jackson shares this design. You'll definitely want the Boonedox rudder upgrade and the BerleyPro rudder lines to go with it. If primary stability is not what's most important to you, holler back and I'll try to let you know anything I've found with some alternatives.

None that I've found. WSJ is about the closest, but it's pretty impossible to get away from hysteria and propaganda.

My neighbor's father's a wholesale coffee distributor, and so after my neighbor has board meetings, he usually brings me 5-10 lbs. of whatever is left over his dad gave him. I buy a bottle of his dad's favorite scotch every once in a while as a thanks. The one I like best is called Morning Warrior. Recently, his dad has been having some health issues, and I haven't been getting the coffee, so I've been buying the Black Rifle stuff by subscription. I like the Just Black pretty well. I'm a just coffee, nothing in it. On the rare occasion I get coffee out, Dunkin' makes the my favorite.

You can use a regular jig head tonrig 'shakey' style. The jig heads that are designed for shakey rigging will have keepers (often screw locks cast into the jig head) that will keep in it place better. I would try some good made-for-shakey jigs first. They aren't that expensive, and I think you'll find them more satisfactory.

I don't worry much about the kayak hanging over, so long as it's halfway or so supported. They're really not that heavy. If you were looking for one that doesn't drag, the Boonedox one doesn't, but it's pricey.

There are some things you just have to experience to understand. In the service, there were several instances where there were no opportunities to shower for several weeks. Some guys still took Fabreeze showers, I just said to heck with it. After learning that insects leave you alone (as do a lot of people), I decided it wasn't all bad.

I try to follow the Ron Swanson pyramid of greatness on this one - cultivating a manly musk puts your opponents on notice. Also I've found through experience, that after a few weeks without a shower, you develop a 'crust'. Most things that would bother you such as mosquitos and chiggers just leave you alone. The fire ants will still tear you up if you happen to crawl over their hill; the crust has its limits. I've been told that this musk/crust is inappropriate for the office environment, so I use the cheapest soap I can fine. I echo the great topic sentiments, but threads like these beat what's in the news.

Inshore anglers use 7' leaders with good success. I will generally start at about 3' using a precise measuring instrument like @TnRiver46. If it doesn't get hung up, or worse, fish nibbling in the sinker/beads/swivel, I leave that length. If either of these things happens, I shorten the leader, I'd imagine to 18", but again no ruler or anything. I know some people that really catch them on Carolina rigs that go to the trouble of measuring them, though.

They've had the best team money can buy for decades, but this is getting ridiculous.

For my Predator PDL, I have a 250 cm Werner Skagit. I don't think you need super expensive, unless you plan to put the pedal plug in it (I bought it) and paddle it across shallow flats or something. I'm about 6', and of course the seat height on the Predator PDL is fixed.

As several others have stated, if the box will seal, likely it will float. My advice would be to tie down everything you don't want lost. For me, I use this crate I made, and it keeps a bunch of 3600 boxes, 4 fishing rods, and 4 bottles of water secure and is easy to get into. Haven't paddled that one, but it looks to be about like a 10' Tarpon, capacity-wise. You're kind of pushing the limits on that one at the weight you're bringing between your own and whatever you bring with. The kayak probably will be a little squirrelly. You definitely shouldn't bring it in difficult water (Class II or greater whitewater or chop of any magnitude), and please keep your PFD on. But at least you aren't strapping a outboard to a truck cap.

I use Yum Money Minnows on a Alabama rig sometimes. They go on Picasso swimbait head same as a solid body paddle tail for me. I did try them on a keel weighted hook, and I didn't see a huge difference between them and Keitechs. Obviously, a lot of people have different experiences, or else no one would go to the trouble they do with Basstrix (dipping the tails in boiling water, re-gluing the eyes, etc.). If you do go the keel weighted route, it will probably help to slit the bellies, or have a much wider gap hook than I use. I tried the Zoom ones, and the packaging was less than ideal, most of them had to get the boil treatment to swim straight.

Since the pandemic, my wife says I have become complacent with a Tackle Warehouse wardrobe. I do have about 2 weeks worth of t-shirts that come free with orders of a certain amount. I'd shop local if there was one, and I do buy what I can from the tackle shops around where I can fish.

I can't go with Rodman at power forward. I was a Bad Boys fan in the day, and I'd still put the Mailman there. I just don't know about anyone who likes hanging out with Kim Jong-Un. 1. 6" Roboworm straight tail in People's Worm 2. 4" Yamomoto Senko, watermelon red & black 3. 5" Yamomoto Senko, #359 4. Missle Baits 48, milk money 5. 7" Powerbait Power Worm, black grape. The last one I haven't fished in a couple of years. I keep a bag or 2 of them since I fished with an old dude I worked with in college that I asked why he never fished anything else. He told me he'd caught more fish with a Powerbait worm than most people had lied about catching. From what I saw, he was probably right.

Polyethylene kayaks can take a ton of scuffs, scrapes, and reasonably hard impacts. Much more often, the boat will be pierced by a blow from a sharp object (usually rock) than worn through. So it's ideal to take it for a few minutes on the water, and if it isn't take a good light and inspect the hull very carefully. But for buying, scuffs do detract from the value considerably. And I tend to buy scuffed used boats because of it. I know my boats are going to end up scuffed.

Both of those asking prices seem a bit high, but the pandemic has pretty well eliminated any end of year pricing you'd normally get to use to negotiate a better deal. I wouldn't go much above what you plan to offer, though.

The Old Town Sportsman Bigwater looks for all intents and purposes to be an OG Predator with a few nice upgrades (deck mat) and few things worse. The Predator was/is a pretty great all around boat. It paddles reasonably well for such a wide boat (I think it's 33" or thereabouts), has a pretty good seat, and it stable enough that most people can stand. It has a hull design that ensures that it will weather vane pretty badly in any wind if not equipped with a rudder, but it has high flotation throughout. It is a good boat for a lot of water. I don't have the seat time in the Bonafide RS117 that I do in the SS127. They have similar hull characteristics. They have stability that is amazing. As good or better than my Predator PDL. As such, the paddling experience is not all that great. They don't have any perceptible glide, they're about like my Jackson Coosa HD. You can't put them on edge to maneuver. If the Bigwater gets blown around a bit, the RS117 is a sail. But pound for pound, they are about the most stable kayak I've encountered. And they have a good layout on the top deck. And a lot of anglers will want these boats for those reasons. If the boats were the same price, or nearly so, I personally would go with the OT. Actually I'd go with it even if there were $300 or so separating them, all other things being equal. But that is because I would probably use them in a way that paddling was somewhat important. A lot of anglers don't really do much of that; if they need to cover any distance, they slap on a trolling motor. If you're not planning on paddling, I feel the RS117 has a better topside features. Both companies have solid reputations and I don't hear about a ton of problems from either. If you're not in a hurry, I'd wait until the pandemic is over. I think plastic is going to be cheap. I've just got to figure out how to make more space.

I don't recommend anything this extensive for you, this is actually just my training bag from time as a Special Operations Combat Medic. I took a picture to show how stuff can be made smaller and organized into functional use rather than just left in original packaging, which is usually far from waterproof. I use a vacuum sealer to make them so. It also leaves supplies far more compact. I will make an appeal for folks to consider tourniquets more seriously. Planning to use a cravat, or triangular bandage as @MN Fisher termed them, is one of the leading reasons the KIA rate in Vietnam was so high. They were used (or not) and failed making exanguinating hemmorage the predominant cause of death for servicemembers in that war. They can work on the upper extremities, and do better than thong underwear which I've also seen used in the attempt of a tourniquet. They require 2 cravats, one to make the circumstantial loop and the other to tie off the windllass. There are better ways. If you're carrying 1 or 2, 1 should be the rachet strap tourniquet (actually developed by a fellow Ranger). This one functions in the same way the originals did, but has a lot more 'creature comforts' https://www.chinookmed.com/item/05182/m2-inc.-tactical-ratcheting-medical-tourniquet-rmt/1.html?source=froogle&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIyNzGzNmE7gIViYVaBR355ABCEAQYASABEgLDuPD_BwE. The original was really just a rachet strap that fixed back on the buckle, worked like a rachet strap, and cost $3. This one is probably more comfortable for training purposes, but when you need a tourniquet, I doubt tourniquet comfort will be a concern. Other ready-made tourniquets are fine for upper extremities, the CAT tourniquet worked well for me. It's light, fast, and easy to use on yourself. Tourniquets are shunned by civilians, undeservedly so. They do not cause irreversible tissue damage, especially not within the first couple of hours. You can convert them to pressure dressings after they successfully stop the bleeding, but that shouldn't be a focus (getting to a facility that can manage the injury should be). For tourniquets remember, it goes over a single bone above the joint (thigh or 'upper arm's, even if the injury is at the wrist or ankle level. It works best against bare skin. Tighten it until the bleeding stops, and check frequently.

Sometimes there are no words. I guess if a guy can cross the Irish Sea in December on a jet ski, a feller can luck out after doing incredibly stupid things on the water, but someone needs to make sure this guy has a PFD.

I usually bring along some Fish Grips (regular size) when I'm fishing in snakehead or walleye territory (so far my hands are safe from the ravages of walleye) https://yakgear.com/product/fish-grips/?utm_term=&utm_campaign=YG+Shopping+-+All&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=6073396121&hsa_cam=10715409963&hsa_grp=106050225539&hsa_ad=453352827568&hsa_src=u&hsa_tgt=pla-293946777986&hsa_kw=&hsa_mt=&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5su24bKA7gIVlYpaBR3VNwmeEAQYAiABEgK91fD_BwE. They also work well for bass if you need to set up a measuring board, phone, etc. I just leave a carabiner tied to mine with a piece of 550 cord and tie that off to my anchor trolley.