drakesndrum

I typically launch near where I fish and fish smallish bodies of water and ponds. My main reason for wanting the motor is the spot-lock feature for fishing offshore points ...case in point yesterday I found several concentrations of fish in 18-19', but with the wind I couldn't hold, even on anchor to effectively fish. I doubt I'll be doing many long runs on full power. My graph is on a separate battery so that won't draw any power from the motor. Thanks for the help! All ears to whatever you guys are running.

Hello all! I am considering getting the Motorguide Xi3 kit from Kayakfishingsupplies.com for my SS127, and am wondering about batteries. Obviously lithium seems to be the way to go, but they are also super expensive. The kit recommends using a 100ah battery to the run the motor efficiently. For any of of you guys running this motor, or any motor, what battery setups are you running? I usually only fish 3-6hrs at a time, so was wondering if a 54ah battery would suffice, both for cost purposes, and to save space and weight in my kayak. Thanks for any help! Adam

Facts. Had the YakGadget system on my SS127 and it worked well for what it is, except in heavy current, where pulling the pole back up manually could be difficult. PowerPole Micro is the deal for sure, never looked back. I did just add an Anchor Wizard for front anchoring and in deep water, as the PPM isn't any good past about 5.5'. 5lb mushroom anchor for the AW. Good luck!

War Eagle Screaming Eagle 1/2oz, double willows.

Check out the Johnny Morris Carbonlite 2.0 rods for a little over $100. I've been very impressed with my two(6'9" ML spin, 7'3" MH cast), and I've fished much more expensive rods for years. Fuji guides, Winn grips, super light, and a good price point.

Wacky-rigged 4" senko style worms. Black buzzbait. White flukes. White spinnerbait. Craw-colored cranks. 1/8-3/8oz chatterbaits. Adjust to water clarity. White is never a bad choice, but I always bring green-pumpkins, and some black/blue if the water is dirty.

I love trying new things for river smallies. Spinnerbaits and topwater are probably my favorite ways to catch them, but if I need a bite right now ...it's a soft plastic. Fluke or wacky-worm 99% of the time. If it's cold just slow it down.

Lunker City makes decent ones as well, 3" and 5".

1/0 or 2/0 VMC EWG for either 4" or 5" stickbaits. The 2/0 works well with 4-5" flukes as well. No o-rings, just direct hook through the middle of the baits, I hook most of my bites. Bought some 2/0 Neko hooks to experiment with, but the EWGs work very well for me.

+1. They were climbing all over it yesterday in one of our local rivers here in VA. Rigged on a 1/8oz Owner Flashy Swimmer.

I tend to pause a second with T-Rigs too, especially with a 10" worm. Wacky rigs, however, Ive found that an immediate hookset is best to avoid gut hooks. Not sure why but the fish seem to really inhale a wacky senko more than a t-rig for me.

Usually with a frog I can toss it back in there and they'll hit it again. If that won't work, a wacky worm is what I'll toss 95% of the time. If I don't get bit in two casts, I move along.

I usually have three(3) rods with me when I hit the rivers around here for smallies. One spinning outfit(M or ML) rigged with a 2/0 EWG hook, weightless, and I'll swap out 5" senkos and 5" flukes, depending on what they want. Flukes usually get bigger bites for me. Next up is a baitcaster with a spinnerbait, and then a second baitcaster that I'll swap out a crankbait and topwater, depending on time of year. Hard to beat a Rapala DT6 in a crawfish pattern ticking off the bottom. For topwater it's usually a WP or Choppo 90, and then a 3.5" spook. Been fishing out of a Seaghost 110 for a while now, great river boat. Not the best to stand and fish out of however. Just upgraded to a Bonafide SS127, but haven't gotten it out on the rivers yet due to high water. Good luck!

Best fishing story Ive heard in a while! Sounds like a fun day!

Little bit NW of you, I feel your pain. Even the Rivanna got to flood stage at 17+' ...more rain tonight.

I bought a used 2017 Seaghost 110. Upgrades I did to mine were added the new 2019 front hatch and handles all around, which you can buy directly from Vibe. Anchor trolley is homemade with stainless carabiners(sp?) and 550 cord. Swapped out the rudder cables with wire instead of the factory string; check youtube for videos on that. Added a seat cushion under the mesh on the seat which helps some with long paddles. Bought a new paddle! Get a lightweight paddle, they're worth their weight in gold. Put a hinge on the console lid so it lifts straight up and down. Lastly just yesterday installed the YakGadget Quick Stop Anchor System. Check them out online, nice guy, fast shipping, and a nice product. They aren't as fancy as some of the boats out there, but for the money it's a nice ride. Love mine.

Plopper 90, have a 75 too but seem to have better luck on the 90. As far as NEDs go, I've caught fish on them, but end up getting hung up more than anything. I'll figure it out!

Floated the Rivanna today, still very low and dirty after yesterday's rain. Didn't think it was going to be as stained as it was, maybe 2' visibility. Bite was tough, only hits I had came on the Whopper Plopper around wood. Caught two, one 15-16" chunk and one dink. Tried topwaters, flukes, swimbaits, cranks, jigs, tubes, wacky worms, etc. Only thing they wanted was the plopper and really only the two I caught hit it hard.

There are a couple of pretty good rapids in that stretch also, and with the low water they were a bit tricky to navigate. My buddy flipped his yak, luckily we got all his stuff and he wasn't hurt. I believe I stayed way to the left side going downstream and got through them both fairly easily, although my big ass did bump bottom several times.

First time on it, but it was a nice float. Could spend days there exploring all the structure.

Floated the upper James yesterday from Howardsville to Hatton Ferry, low and slow was the word and low and slow it was. Fishing was a little slow, although my buddy did catch a pretty 18.5" smallie. Jet is out of the question, our yaks were bumping bottom A LOT. Good luck!

Hello all, relatively new to river smallie fishing, just started this summer when I bought my kayak. Fishing mostly central Virginia(upper James), just paddling upstream a couple miles, then floating back to the ramps. Anyway, I've had good success catching plenty of fish on each trip, some better than others. However I've not found any big fish yet, biggest so far is 14.5". River water temp was pushing 80 still yesterday. A friend of mine told me 60-70 degree water is primo. I guess my question for you guys is, do the bigger fish tend to move shallower when the water cools off? I haven't had many bites this whole summer in the deeper holes(can't see the bottom deep), most of my bites have been right along the shoreline in slow moving water around rocks and wood, or in shallow current seams. So I guess what I'm asking is, will bigger bass tend to frequent these types of structure as the water temps drop? Yesterday was a white fluke bite, caught a better class of fish. Lots of grass and leaves on the surface, found it very frustrating trying to fish a spook. I usually have a spook/plopper rigged, along with a fluke/wacky worm, and either a black jig/Ned rig for the bottom. Also throw small squre-bills on occasion but haven't had as much success on those. Thanks for any tips, I'm ready for cooler water and weather.

Any experience with Rodgeeks Carbon4 blanks or anything MHX makes? Keeping options open. The Rodgeeks are essentially St. Croix SCIV, same as their Legend Tournament rods. The 6'3" ML and M have my attention for river fishing. I have built a couple of surf rods on RG blanks and have been happy with them. Thanks!

Might check the REV out, may even cut it down(from the butt) a little shorter for river fishing. Thanks!

Awesome thanks for the tip! Built an SP844 two years ago for light saltwater; that thing has caught everything from smallies to juvenile tarpon. Great rods! Any experience with the REVS68ML-SB? I'm partial to one piece rods. Thanks!