CountryboyinDC

When I'm using a chunk for a trailer, it's because I want to avoid bulk. I still believe that I want the bait to have some action. The Paca chunk is what I use mostly, and most times it's on a finesse jig. I know a lot of people who take the opposite approach and look for more subtle chunks with more bulk. I don't fish when it gets super cold.

I have the 6.2:1 on a glass rod for crankbaits, and it's a tad fast for my taste. I probably would say that ratio would be great for spinnerbaits, maybe okay for baits that you fish a ways and then just bring back (jigs, T-rigs), and probably on the slow side for some topwater baits like frogs or buzzbaits. You could fish any of tlhose baits with it too, a 6:1 reel was a fast reel not so long ago, but we've become impatient all of the reels that pull in 30+ IPT these days.

I don't know a lot of ponds in Columbus. When I was there I fished the Hooch quite a bit. There were some pretty good shoal bass at that small lake between Columbus and Phenix City, I can't remember the name. Drug my canoe there a bunch of times. Just make sure you don't end up at Victory Pond (it means you're in Ranger School).

They quit making the Vixen for a while, and I started fishing a Sammy's and Rovers. Got to say I'm waiting for a sale (probably Veterans Day), and I'm getting a few Vixens. I am down to one Rover and am probably not going to buy more, but I do like the 3 hook Sammy. Never fished Guntersville though, but an off-white is usually a good color in a lot of places I fish.

Thanks for the responses @J Francho, @A-Jay, and @Big Rick. Sometimes there are things that just pain me to pay what they cost, and dollar apiece split rings are one of them. I guess I should just go ahead and get a good supply of Owners. Then I'll probably throw every one of the plugs I've put them on in a tree on the first cast with the $3 worth of trebles, knowing my luck.

So everyone seems to recommend the Owner split rings, which are not cheap. Anyone used anything else they liked, SPRO or maybe another one? I've never had one fail from bass fishing, but I have had them pulled into an egg shape. And when you do need to switch out the trebles a lot of the time the split rings get 'sprung', for lack of knowledge of the correct term. I bought some Eagle Claws at Cabelas, and those get sprung while I'm putting the new treble on.

Another thing about reels made for resistance baits - they tend to have longer handles.

I don't know if I can believe this, but this catch was somewhere on the James, according to some members in my fishing club, who are more linked in fishing-wise than I am. I can remember the my younger days, before all the fish kills, when the James was the big fish river rather than the New.

Okay, thanks. I will have to try that out next time I'm out.

And you're holding the rod with which hand?

I have a 6'10 M-moderate Legend Glass, and I want to sell my graphite crankbait rods now. I just bought a 7 1/2' Kistler Feel 'n Reel rod (H-moderate) on their sale, but haven't gotten to try out 10XDs or anything yet. It was on sale a few weeks back, sorry I don't have more experience with it.

Okay, thanks. I sometimes hold like that when I'm pitching standing if I need to line it up real well. I'm going to figure this pitching sitting down thing out - it could come in real handy.

I think I know what this means, but to be sure, does it mean hold the bait in your non casting hand about reel level? @J Francho should be changing his screen name to something with ninja. Flipping from a moving kayak - now that takes holding your mouth right. I'd be lucky if I didn't end up swimming.

It may hang up less, particularly if you reverse rig it, but I think the Neko rig in much of any current is a pretty lousy presentation. As others have said, weightless Texas-rigged or with a small bullet weight work well.

Wow, I thought the bit about the gear ratio/tire size would be the kind of thing to bring folks to the same page. Guess not. @Dennis1972, why don't you just buy a reel for cranking? 25 IPT may be okay, or you might like a BB1 (probably closer to 20 IPT) or something else really slow. I don't want to go even farther down in the weeds, but if you take off line, there'll be even more difference in the retrieve speed (assuming you turn the handle the same revolutions per unit time) between the end of your cast and when you've finished your retrieve than if you casted from a full spool.

@Jim Sutter, I didn't mean to be smart, I just didn't understand what you were asking. As others have mentioned, there are just times when fish are going to swallow the bait, particularly if they're smaller, and grubs, worms and Senkos are the baits with which this happens the most for me.

That is a fast retrieve! I use eBay all the time, mostly for buying, but sometimes for selling stuff too. I think everything I've bought has been new, and as described. The sellers are a ton better at shipping in a hurry than a lot of other online retailers most of the time.

That looks kind of interesting - I've seen the REI ads for that paddling trip in email and have fished Aquia starting at Widewater. Do you launch on the VA side and cross the Potomac? How was the fishing?

I'm so confused, I thought we were bashing Lews reels.

I've never done experiments like @king fisher, but I only use the Crazy Alberto, mainly because the FG or bobbin knot take more time. I didn't know the FG was failure-prone if the braid was thicker than the leader. The times I break off, it's always down the leader, usually at the terminal knot.

I think the answer is to set the hook, but I might be misunderstanding your question.

I think that reverse, particularly if there's no shifting required, is a huge help. If a fish gets in front of you, even a relatively small one, your kayak goes where it goes rather than vice versa. When I go from my pedal drive to my paddle kayak, I'll forget and throw a crankbait in to the front rather than to the side before I remember that I don't have that reverse to hold me. Being able to back up hands free really makes your time fishing more enjoyable. The Hobie kayakers don't have that yet, but there are advantages to the Hobies too, for sure.

I think the EX123 is a SINK, but I haven't seen it in person. I think that what @Choporozsaid hits it on the head. Once you stop fighting the notion that pedal drives are heavy, delicate, or whatever, to say nothing of what they cost. That said, when I'm not on the river, I'm in a pedal drive (OT Predator PDL). If you're fishing a 800 acre lake, you could get a kayak that paddles really well (Jackson Kraken, WS Thresher), but once you get there they won't be super stable so you can stand and fish. I'm a simple guy, but pedal drives really are all that.

Everytime I think I've had a great idea someone like @OCdockskipper comes along and has not only had the same idea but has improved on it tremendously. The dragonfly scenario doesn't come along often for me, but I want to try some of the ideas posted here and see if I can really get into them. Who'd of thought it?

You could always use the Hover Lure. That one looks like a dragonfly, I'm told:-) Seriously, @OCdockskipper has the same experience I do. If you can skip a Senko (for me, that's weightless on spinning gear), you'll likely follow a couple. Never tried putting a skirt on one, but maybe you could just use a Fat Ika; they skip pretty good. I didn't make an art of it, but I got a few bites that way a couple of times. There's a Zoom toad that floats. They're made out of a funky plastic, not quite like TRD worms or Nikko helgrammites, but they do float. I've yet to catch a fish on one FWIW.