michaelb

The lefty kreh leader knot is easier to tie than all these other options and works well with light line. I would try that option.

I like the Kaku Guru better than the XRT, have you looked at that option? Kaku has been leading and innovating on these hybrid kayaks for years. The Kaku is much simpler, which i prefer generally as a design. If you want to sight fish, you can stand on the seat.

I am not convinced this matters; which is to say you can hand a pro any one of 100s of colors of senkos and I bet they would catch fish. I always have black senkos (and get blue flakes, but again, any flake may work); I like green too. On sunny days, I will sometimes switch to watermelon. Not sure there a compelling need for more colors than that or what you have now.

I fish for bowfin and they love spinnerbaits and yes they destroy them. Your snakeheads may be bigger too. I have switched to the Rollie martin mega strike spinnerbaits. They have a swinging hook; that will hopefully reduce leverage on the wires and reduce that damage. I do think a big bowfin can and will destroy anything, but this may help. They are otherwise pretty durable generally. Other suggestions to make your own or buy Muskie versions also make sense.

I regularly swap trebles for inline singles; I am on my kayak and I don’t want to deal with extra treble hooks swinging around a thrashing fish. I usually just swap the rear tail treble (and remove the middle one entirely if needed) and leave a treble up front. I don’t really see a difference in hookups; but I wouldn’t really know; but its way easier and safer to release fish. I bought all the sizes (since I did this on big pike and Muskie lures) but for crankbaits mostly use 1/0 and 2/0. I try to match the overall size.

Senkos are so expensive that I think the rule is that you are required to fish them down to the past possible option, snipping off ends or reversing it, etc. those last nibbles and bits still catch fish. If you are using a baitcaster you have to be careful because at some point, you will lose those remains off the hook and will end up with a birds nest to deal with.

I am also in the mega strike camp. They are reasonably durable, but also having the head swing definitely reduces twisting and bending force on the wire, and so I have not have these bend very much at all. I often target and get hit by pike, and they love spinnerbaits, and don’t really bend these up. I also do think that the swinging hook helps land fish and holds better, particularly if you have fish go wild and start jumping.

Not sure we know how fish see things, but isnt black the most visible color, particularly from below. Seems like there may be situations where making the line darker makes it more noticible; but my guess is that none of this matters. I use flouro leaders and high viz braid because I like that combo for a variety of reasons.

It’s hard to fish out of a canoe for a variety of reasons, including the high sidewalls and the need to stay centered. But canoes are awesome for hauling stuff and for carrying. I would love a $3000+ solo canoe to carry to small ponds, and would fish with it. But I think for your use a paddle kayak is the best choice. I like the Jackson Bite; crescent has really nice paddle kayaks including the ultralight if you have to carry it to the water; otherwise I would go slightly bigger so you can stand and fish.

Palomer if it fits; SD jam with heavy flouro; FG for leaders, or the lefty kreh leader knot. I do tie a loop knot also called lefty kreh but often have to look that one up.

I feel like if you are not throwing senkos you are probably just playing around with all the new gear you bought this winter.

Why is pounce better than other Seaguar leader material, like abrazx? The description suggests it’s not as good at knots and handling as other leader material. I have switched to using sunline leader which handles great and seems really tough, but most of my leader is in 40 lb and up, for pike. I have 10lb blue, but have thought about going to a 15 lb leader for drop shot and other finesse.

I use screw lock hooks that are EWG for senkos. They hold up much better than t-rigged. I haven’t really noticed a diff with hookups on any hook choice. Its possible those are too heavy for some times, and I do wonder about trying smaller lighter hooks again, but I catch tons of fish on senkos on the screw lock.

Why straight 15lb flouro for moving baits like a swim jig or a spinner bait? Don’t pike love these things too. Seems like they would cast farther on braid and I would use a leader for pike; but I may be missing something. Seems like any 100 sized reel could work, but I do use my 150.

Smallies are a bit hard for me to predict and can be mysterious, but either of the first two weeks of June or the end of May can be good; and then they school up in deeper water and shoals all summer, so any time can be good (or not, but that may be my lack of skill).

Panic sets in. Fish are rejoicing.

I use a drift sock on my kayak all the time. One of my favorite ways to fish. This is usually over weed beds with a paddletail, sometimes retrieving and sometimes let it fall with the natural flow of the wind and waves; or a spinner bait if I am really moving. I am drifting backwards and casting sideways to the wind (since upwind can be challenging).

I like the megastrikes too. This is one of those instances in which you can believe the hype. The swinging hook does help with hookups, and it makes a significant difference if the fish starts jumping keeping it on the hook because it can’t get any leverage.

I use skinny dippers on a jig head or a weighted swim bait hook. My go to set up.

I like danco pliers, they have tons of options. I don’t like side cutters and prefer not to have the split ring tab either. I had an aluminum pair but got the steel and like those a lot. I like ego nets for kayaking, because you can buy the head separately from the net, to mix and match, so I have a short floating handle with a large head. My pliers are on my PFD and tethered. Other tools are tethered or I use a float for some tools in my crate.

I have been kayak fishing for 20+ years, and didn't think I could flip my big fishing kayak. But just like HawkeyeSmallie, I was reaching over to grab a lure snagged just under the water, and that was an enough to flip me out. Also in shallow water. I stand as much as I can and I have definitely gotten better at that skill. I have sometimes crashed down on to my seat (in waves from wake) and so one of these days I am going to miss and hit water instead. Also, in wind, when the boat starts moving around, hitting the end of your anchor line can definitely be like getting kneecapped, and so that may put me down someday too (I use a retractable dog leash, not a fixed line, and that adds a lot more give and makes that stop much softer).

I have had the kaku wahoo 12.5 for many years. It's a great boat and I like it a lot. which kayak are you looking at? They are a small company, made in the US, and yes if you email or call customer service, you get to talk to one of them. They pioneered the concept of hybrid SUP/Kayaks, so open uncluttered simple decks. The wahoo is designed for open water and it paddles very nicely. Crescent kayaks are similar and I like the look of them too. I think the zulu is still the coolest kayak on the market. I want one; since it would be fun to have a peddle drive. But now they have the guru, which is huge, and that would be really cool with a motor. The seats on the zulu/guru are unique since you can stand on them. But I also really like the idea of having seats on track, so you can adjust the trim of the boat, to push the seat back out of the way to stand in the middle, or have a dog or a kid, or to load up camping gear.

Shelta hat and fish monkey guide gloves. I like the shelta hat because its stiff enough to stay on in wind or speeds up to 20. I like gloves for paddling and also protection, sun and hooks and gills.

I use 40 or 80 flouro leader material. I can tie the 40 and so use that with an fg knot and 5-6 feet of leader. I make leaders out of the 80 with crimps. I will say many musky shops sell crimped flouro leaders like that in the 80-150 range. I don’t notice a difference in action on moving baits and catch fish including bass. I haven’t tried the tieable wire above and am curious about that. I use 20 flouro leader on my bottom baits like a senko and have definitely gotten sawed off by pike.

Start with a simple no drill half trolley. Rig a fixed line from behind your seat to the rear. Put a float on your anchor line and clip the anchor line to your fixed line. Tie a grab line to the clip. The boat will be anchored from the rear which is what you want, but you can pull the clip to you with the grab line to pull it up.