kayaking_kev

I had a young Raccoon in my Kayak, hooked myself with a Whopper Plopper Hook, and caught a handful of fish. It will be one we never forget!

How are you putting the hook on the Senko, with or without an o-ring? That could be a factor, along with the type of hook you're using. Some people use double o-rings and overlap them or buy specific double cross wrap o-rings so their hooks faces the same as if you just hook through the work. I always use a nail weight because I'm too impatient for a wacky rig, so my worm looks it's feeding on the bottom with one end down as I hop it, so fish usually grab it from behind, so I use one o-ring and face my hook parallel with the worm and usually hook them on top the top lip. I've tried a lot of different hooks, I caught my P.B. last year using a circle hook, but I find it fails often on smaller fish. I've tried different weedless hooks and didn't care much for them, I tried small hooks with short shanks and missed fish with those too, big hooks, etc.. I have yet to find a perfect one, but right now I'm using Gamakatsu Octopus hooks, I believe in 1/0 and they seem to being working good, but I just switched to them.

I have the SLX, SLX XT, SLX MGL 70, SLX DC. I like the SLX DC the best in some situations like windy conditions, even better than my Tatula SV TW103, but I don't like the weight of the DC. In most situations, I like the SLX MGL 70 MGL the most, followed closely by the SLX XT. The MGL is lighter and looks better. The regular SLX was okay, but just not a huge fan on internal only brakes and the bigger SLX logo on the side.

I don't know why but this one looks a little different to me and it fought like a smallie and I also caught it at a place where there's a lot of smallies and LM are rare. It's probably just a pretty LM, but I wanted to ask anyway just in case. Here is a link to the full video, it was the 4th fish I caught after the small bluegill tried to eat my squarebill that was half its size. I've only caught one LM before this trip at this place, but caught 5 during this one and a lot of people I talk to have never caught a LM out of there. The fish in question is hooked at about the 11:40 mark into the video.

Very Nice! I pull pics of each fish I catch after I edit a video, I'm at 184, but I have 8 videos yet to edit that have at least double digit bass caught in each video. Last year I numbered the fish in my videos and was at 515 at the end of the year, but didn't get all of them on video. I didn't think that was bad for my 2nd season fishing. Last I checked I was almost about 100 over my pace of last year, because the best fishing around here is just starting.

Of course the trash is a big problem, but one thing I haven't seen yet and this probably isn't just for bank anglers, but someone who catches a fish that looks about 2 lbs and starts yelling about how it's 5 lbs so everyone on the water can hear him and of course they never weigh it. There was a guy at a local reservoir telling everyone he caught a 8 lb spotted bass, when there isn't even any spotted bass in the place. He said the pros bring them from Kentucky Lake and put them there, when most State records for Spots aren't even 8 lbs. He has local people going around spreading the lie, I was even first told by a guy who asked if I heard about the 8 lb Largemouth caught the other day, and said some guy was at the local bait shop talking about it. A few days later I was at the boat ramp and I mention it and this guy that was there bank fishing, said it was him and that the DNR guy came and weighed it and told him it was a spotted bass. Two more days later, I'm out at 2 AM in my kayak half way across the reservoir fishing and some loud mouth shows up talking to himself loudly, 5 minutes after he gets there he starts screaming saying he just caught a 4 lb Smallmouth. I knew right then and there who exactly it was and only met the guy once. I also never heard a guy brag so much about his gear and it wasn't even the greatest, and then he started on how he made the spinner bait he was using. He was quite the character.

I got out of my truck one morning to do some wade fishing and two Turkeys just walked right up to me and let me pet them and wouldn't leave me. Right after that I had a snake chase my lure, and then later I had a clam close itself on my T-Rigged Worm getting the weight stuck inside. I have it all in one video. (I had to remove the link to the video because I saw I had a solicitation at the end to subscribe in it) Then in a recent video, I actually hooked a snake on a Whopper Plopper. I have a lot of run ins with snakes on the river, it seems that they try to get in the boat with me at times. I'm sure I can think of a lot more if I try hard enough.

I have thrown my 1/2 oz haze a few times and didn't get good hook sets when I got bites and kind of lost confidence and haven't thrown it since. It could of been my technique or that the bass were just too small.

I posted a pic a week or two of my first LM I ever caught at this Reservoir where I usually only catch Smallies, well last evening I caught 5 of them and 3 of them were pretty big for my area. All my friend I have talked to said they have never caught a LM out of this place and a guy who lives 2 houses down from the place and fishes it more than anyone said he can count on one hand the number of LM he has caught out of there in his lifetime.

I used an 6'0 Medium Ugly Stik GX2 the previous two years and caught hundreds of smallies on the Whopper Plopper 90, it's a pretty good rod for it, IMO. It doesn't take much of a hook set, basically just a small sweep to the side and start reeling. You don't want to be to aggressive with it. Now I'm using a Dobyns Champion XP 704 Glass rod to throw the WP, but wouldn't hesitate to use the Ugly Stik GX2 again.

My biggest Smallie of the year so far. 17.75" but only weighed 2.25 lbs, pretty typical for my skinny river. The 2nd one wasn't bad either. First one was caught on a a Champion XP 704 Glass rod with a Whopper Plopper size 90 Loon color and the 2nd was caught on a Fury 663c using a 5" Yum Dinger Wacky Rigged with a nail weight.

I'm also trying to figure out if I can put Boondox Landing Gear on the Native Slayer 10. I don't think it's going to be possible with the Sportsman 106 PDL, since there seems to be no hull access. The Native Slayer looks like it has a small hatch in the back where I might be able to use the wire trick to feed the bracket through the hull. I'm having such a hard time, but I always do this when making a big purchase. Most of the kayaks I want are back ordered anyway, so it gives me a little time to decide, but I'm anxious to make a decision and place an order. I wish there was a kayak with the lightness of the Native Slayer, the flip up Rudder of the Sportsman 106 PDL and hull access to make installing the Boondox Landing Gear easy.

The spot lock feature isn't in my budget, but if it were I would be afraid the motor noise would scare away fish as I don't normally fish too deep. Can't you also control the Auto pilots with the foot pedals also and not just the handheld device?

That particular one isn't, that's the Autopilot 120 and 136 only I believe and are a lot more expensive.

I would like a Hobie if they had one about 10' and it had a 180 drive and was under $2500. Lithium batteries are too expensive for me.

I 2nd the Hank Parker Speed Stick for $40 from Walmart, I always recommend that one, great sensitivity for the price.

This was kind of funny. I caught my first LM out this reservoir where I usually catch smallies, and I thought it weighed 4 lbs, but got home and looked at the pic and noticed my scale somehow got put on ounces and read 40.0 ounces and not 4 lbs, so it was 2 lbs 8 oz. instead. Was missing a fin also. In my defense it was dark out.

Wow, a Slayer 10 Propel for just over $1000? Nice! What sale was it? That's what I'm figuring, a trolling motor would be better to move long distances, but a pedal would be better to hold position better. I rarely use an anchor because I'm always trying to cover water and only make a few cast in a certain area in the places that I fish.

First problem is pedal kayak or kayak with a trolling motor (Old Town Sportsman 106 MK). Which will be easier to bass fish in from a kayak? I feel like with a pedal kayak, you can easily make small adjustments while working a spot or drifting down a bank, but with a trolling motor, you're going to have to keep engaging the throttle and making more noise. The downside to pedal kayaks is that I would have to get a strap for the pedal to be able to operate functionally due to a handicap, and even then there is still a little uncertainty that worries me. The advantage with the trolling motor is you can get farther faster. But, there is having to lug around a heavy battery for the motor. My biggest concern is when the waves or wind are pushing me closer and closer to the bank and I need to constantly adjust as I'm fishing. A kayak is lighter and will get pushed around more easily than even some of your lighter boats. I'm wondering if it would be too much of a hassle and if I should go with a pedal kayak instead. As far as specific kayaks go I have it narrowed down to 3. Native Slayer 10 Propel $2099 I love that it is super light. I don't like that it doesn't have a hole for a transducer. I don't like that the rudder is fixed on the bottom. I don't like that it isn't as wide as the Old Towns. Old Town Sportsman 106 PDL $1999 I like that is has a transducer hole. I like the rudder can be flipped on top. I like that it is 36" wide. I don't like that is weighs almost 15 lbs more than the Slayer. Old Town Sportsman 106 MK $2499 I like that is has a transducer hole. I like the rudder can be flipper up. I like that it is 36" wide. I like there is a cover for when the trolling motor is removed to keep water out when paddling. I like there is a tray to lay your measuring board on. I don't like that it weighs almost 15 lbs more than the Slayer. I don't like that I would have to carry around a heavy battery for the trolling motor.

Got my first Melanosis Bass at Indian Lake in Ohio.

I find that just about anything I throw for smallies, the Rock Bass will smash it also. I even threw a 1/4 oz frog once because the smallies were having problems with the 1/2 oz and ended up catching a rock bass instead.

No cut off, as long as I can get it for a good enough price to where I can sell it for what I paid for it. I have $550 rods and $350 reels, but an Ugly Stik Gx2 for moving baits and a Lew's Hank Parker Speed Stick for bottom baits do just fine, and both run $40 each or cheaper. Daiwa Fuego CT or Shimano SLX reels or even an Abu Garcia Black and Pro Max and you're good to go and can catch plenty of fish.

I have a DC and a SV reel and both have their places. The DC is better in the wind than the SV, and I don't think it's near as close as some try to claim. And, the SV is a lot lighter. I have the DC on my Heavy rod and SV on my Medium rod, and wouldn't want the opposite on either.

When bank fishing I like to take one all around rod with me. I need to be able to move around constantly and can't be lugging around multiple rods. I've taken 10 rods with me before, but I have the leave my rod mule bag laying around while I move and I don't like leaving thousands of dollars worth of rods and reels just laying around, especially in my City. When I Kayak I take multiple rods, but can usually get away with two, one rigged with topwater and one with a follow up bait. I like to travel as light as possible, if I had a bass boat with rod lockers, I would take a ton of them though.

I guess it is a bit tricky. I think everyone I've seen who actually had the same setup always said they had plenty of life, but I don't know how they use the motor to fish and for that matter how much I would use it. What about at full speed, I thought I saw something like 2.5 hours at full speed, does that sound about right in normal conditions?