ACGOG

Howdy! I'm interested in trying out some of the Mike Bucca Bull Shad baits. I was recommended the 4x4 and the Wake to try out. The issue is I have absolutely no idea which ones to get. Normally I'd grab a couple but at $70/each I can't really do that. My question is, living in TX what would be the best colors to go after? Should I get the Knocker or the Silent? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Howdy! I've got a Jackson Coosa HD with an Elite 3.0 seat that I'd like to try and get another inch or two of height out of. The design doesn't look too complicated where the bars go in but I can't find anything out there. Anyone know of a universal option or solution? Seems like everything out there these days is made for Hobie or Old Town. Thanks!

Stick steer? I'd love to know how to set that up. I'll look into the rudder cord you recommended as well. I ran it through some refrigerator waterline tubing in the hull and melted the plastic on both ends and so far haven't dealt with a lot of rub. I got to test it out on the water a few weeks back and it works decently well without being able to go to one extreme angle or the other but I did notice that with my age one of my knees was starting to hurt by the end of the day 😅. My buddy said to move my seat back a little and that should help, which I think will also help with the extreme angle issue too. I'm hoping the weather keeps up to test that out this week.

Morning! My DIY trolling motor on my Coosa HD came out pretty awesome but I have a ton of extra stuff everywhere that I'd like to clean up, the primary culprit being my fish finder. Currently I'm running it in my center gear track utilizing the transducer scupper hole that's built into the Coosa. Not shown is the transducer cable, which is what, 10ft long to go a whopping foot down. I moved my seat up to deal with the steering pedals better (might move it back, need to do more testing) and the FF has become very cumbersome in that spot as a result. Because of the DIY nature of the trolling motor I've been getting recommended a lot of YT videos of people's tournament setups and a lot of them have this bar or mounting system or something that goes across their bow right before the hatch for their fish finders that I can't seem to find anywhere. On top of that, it doesn't seem like a single one of them has any issues with a huge transducer cable or location (they may just be running them into the hatch, but then where's the transducer?): I'm not sure if this is specific to a certain brand of kayak though. The FF is a tripleshot as well so the transducer doesn't sit completely in the dedicated hole. I have to be very cognizant of how shallow the water is so I don't rip it off, which is another issue as a lot of the rivers here in TX are very low and I have to drag the yak across rocks sometimes. Hobie has dedicated covers for them but Jackson currently doesn't for the Coosa that I can see. As of now I don't get a ton of value out of the side-scan and figured I could buy the smaller transducer, but then I'm losing out on one of the benefits of having a tripleshot. I've seen some transducer mounts for trolling motors but I'm not using the motor all the time and would like to avoid that if possible. I also get in and out of my kayak quite a bit and don't want anything mounted to the side, especially since the next thing I'm doing is adding a small track so the PWM will be mounted directly next to my seat. I've looked around and I don't see a transducer with a shorter cable, and all the research I've done says that cutting the cable and crimping/soldering it back together to make it shorter is a very bad idea. Putting it into the hull itself won't work for the tripleshot either, and if I were to do that I might as well just use the dedicated scupper hole to get more accurate temp readings since I'd need to buy the smaller, flat transducer anyways. Sorry for the long winded post. I'm pretty happy with how everything is turning out and I'm very close to finishing up my kayak and this is the next problem to solve. TL;DR: What is the bar mounted system for fish finders some anglers are using? What do I do with the extra transducer cabling?

Yeah I'm just going to add pegs on the track, will be easiest.

Sometimes the easiest solution is the best solution lol. I'll pop those on when I get a chance. Here are a couple more photos from the install. I made a box for the PWM that I'll eventually add track mounts to the bottom. It plugs in via 2x SAE plugs (I'll add a more permanent labeling solution than the sharpie later):

Thanks guys! It actually looks even better now that I've added some tubing; I'll try and get another pic later. It's a MinnKota 40lb thrust I found on FB that had only been used once or twice for $50. I didn't want to spend a ton of money on something I thought I was probably going to mess up lol. I'm not 100% sure where I'd put the bumpstops?

Hey ya'll, Finally got around to doing a project I've wanted to do for the past 5+ years: installed a trolling motor on my kayak. I installed my own rudder pedals but one issue I've found is that if I turn the trolling motor too far in one direction or another it basically gets stuck. With enough brute force I can turn it but I'm worried about breaking the ferrule/something else. Does anyone have a solution? I was thinking about adding some kind of grease or lube to the drum instead of putting stops in the pedals so that I wouldn't have to worry about losing turning radius but I don't know if that would work. Should also note, this is on a Coosa HD that didn't have a rudder so I installed my own pedals and cables. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

This is exactly what they did. I sincerely love Shimano's customer service. Thanks for the tip (no pun intended lol)!

Oh sweet! I'll give it a shot!

Howdy! On my Conquest 842S the inside of the top guide came loose. I glued it a couple weeks back but it popped out again so it seems it's time to replace it. On the website all it says is it's a Fuji Torzite guide. However there are quite a few of them out there in a few different sizes. Can someone help me figure out the size or the model of the one I need to get? Thanks!

Okay thank you everyone.

Thanks! I'll give these a shot.

There was a topic on the main forum a little while ago regarding treble hooks and how they mess with a fish if they really hit the lure. This convinced me to flatten the barbs on my treble hooks. That being said, I've had multiple fish hit my whopper plopper and I lose them every. single. time. It's been about 4 at this point, but that's 4 too many. Is this simply a technique thing? Do I need to wait for the fish to get on it more? Or should I go ahead and just replace the treble hooks with circle hooks or regular EWG hooks? Any help is greatly appreciated!

Howdy! Maybe a dumb question... I get my Shimano and Daiwa reels serviced once a year or so and I'm wondering if G-Loomis does the same thing for rods? Over the years I know some of the blanks have gotten bent and I've had to put them back as best as I could figure, and the top tip blank on two of the rods has come off that I've had to glue back on. Will G-Loomis look at the rods and put the blanks back in line if they're off? Will they inspect each one to make sure they're not coming apart and replace the top ones? I'm not even sure if rod servicing is a thing?

I live close to a lake and I unfortunately don't own a boat (and with twins on the way, I probably never will ?) so I pretty much do nothing but shore fishing. I wake up at 5:30, generally get out of the house by 6:15 and try to get back a little before 8/9, depending on whether or not I have zoom meetings. A couple of weeks ago I had someone tell me I had nice calves (lol) and asked if I was a biker, and another friend who I hadn't seen in awhile mentioned I was looking pretty fit. I didn't think anything of it until I did the math and realized I was trekking anywhere from 2-3 miles every time I went fishing. This is while holding 3-rods and a loaded backpack, so I can tell you from experience it definitely helps a lot! I think I've shed anywhere from 20-25lbs since I started my morning routine. Good luck!

That's what was linked in the original post. I'm just going to jetpack out of this since I don't know a lot of the context and nuances of this stuff, but interesting conversation nonetheless.

Got it. I was basing my statement off of the Instagram post information that said she died a few weeks later. I'll edit my post.

That Instagram post was from two weeks ago? It says he caught her then two weeks later she died? What am I missing? I'll absolutely amend/delete my post if I'm not getting my facts straight. I also removed the ML article per your statement. I just thought it was very interesting, didn't know it was controversial since it'd already been brought up.

Edit: I got my information wrong about Dottie. It was pointed out she died a few years after this. In the Instagram video he very clearly says she was found dead a few weeks later. Man, worst thing about this story is hearing that Dottie died. I remember hearing stories about her getting caught a few times before. Might just be age, but I'm sure holding a 25lb bass with a single hand by the lip a week or two prior had nothing to do with it... ? Sad.

First thing, you should definitely stop using plastic water bottles. If you're consuming that many bottles each time you go out I'd recommend either a camelback or a refillable water bottle. There are tons and tons of those off-brand Yeti's available now that'll keep your water cool without having to pack a small cooler, or you can buy a backpack that you can slip a bladder into. Edit: Not sure if this has been said in the thread already. If so my apologies.

Real late to this, but I primarily do shore fishing and when I'm not it's kayak fishing... I never, ever get close to boats. Ever. No matter what size. No idea what that guy was thinking. Might have seen your nice setup and thought you knew what you were doing or something? Not sure if it was an etiquette thing or an ignorance thing. I have to tell you, nothing bugs me more than when I'm shore fishing and some turd in a huge fancy boat trolls right up to where I'm casting and starts throwing lures into my spot. I generally just stand there and stare at them and for the most part it makes them uncomfortable enough to leave (having polarized glasses helps lol). Love it when they ask if I've had any luck too. No matter if I've caught something or not the answer is always "no."

Hope I'm not too late to this. YGK Soul Upgrade X-8 (the name is ridiculous) is by far the best braid I've used, hands down. It's tough as hell and is so incredibly smooth. The casting distance is also insane. It's a little expensive but it's lasted and I've had zero issues with it. It's also surprisingly not lost any of its color either. I'll see if I can take a video or something of the cast when I get the chance.

I agree, 100%. It's probably just muscle memory but that doesn't mean they can't break the habit! I wrote MLF this morning (probably should have done that first) to see if they would consider implementing a rule against it. I'll report back if I hear something, but it seems like it's universally despised - which is great ?.

I very explicitly looked at the Bass Pro Tour rules and guidelines and there's nothing in there about the proper way to handle a fish. That's a big reason I wanted to bring this up as BR is the absolute biggest bass forum on the internet. Maybe someone will see this? I don't know but I'm glad to see others here are in the same boat, and lots of good fish pics holding them the right way too ?.