patchtech

CCKF, which keeps me around the greater Raleigh area for the most part. The farthest lakes on the trail are about a 2 hours drive tops, over in the Greensboro area, but those long trips are fewer than CKA. Yeah, I imagine a lot of map studying and pre-fishing is gonna be in my future. Doing the mental work to break it down and trial and error. Figured it could only serve to improve my understanding of the sport. I also prefer shallower water generally, so it shouldn't be too hard to see certain things on google maps, and stick to fallen trees and whatnot. But def old-school fishing in my future. And who knows, as the season goes on, I might be able to get some kind of simple graphing device connected at least. Wiring and motorizing the kayak is just top priority at the moment for me.

Hey everyone! Been mostly lurking the forums the past few years, but this year I finally get to achieve my goal of doing tournament fishing! We have a low commitment kayak tournament circuit with an isolated enough region that I could reasonably drive to the launch point at every event on the schedule on the morning of. My "goal" for the year is to be a contender for the rookie of the year spot. This should, at a minimum, help me put in the work needed to actually learn. I've got no shortage of research and understanding to do, but wanted to hop in and ask/chat about it. I'm going motor first, as I already know my strength will lie more in covering water than reading the fish finder. I find joy in cranking so just need to formulate an initial strategy of finding them with a crankbait, then what I need to do to follow up. Also, anyone have any tips on sight-reading water to dissect it from maps/visible conditions?

3 minute penalty, Adrian Avena, moved him above the cut line

And this just happened.... 4lb3oz

While I agree, i'm sure they'll take this stop into account for next stop. I think they're still working to find the "sweet spot" and shot at 2lb as a starting point to see what happens.

Gotta love those storms coming through

@Sam Wow, thanks for such a detailed post! It's immensely helpful

Consistency has been my main focus too. Minimize variance to maximize my learning. I've been immensely happy with my Abu gear. And most of the responses in this thread just helped exemplify that at the price points i'm targeting (generally in the 100-150 range for either rod or reel), it's splitting hairs more than anything. I.E. most things are going to perform comparably, with certain trade-offs per brand. Just wanted to make sure, i guess, that I wasn't overlooking something significantly better at the same price points. Thanks everyone for your thoughts! And I'll see about expanding my brands next time I buy some rods/reels.

I'll have to take a look. I bought my wife a cheaper Pflueger spinning combo not too long ago, and it felt pretty solid. Recently gave it a deep clean and liked what I saw inside. Don't I know it! Mostly, I stuck with abu to keep myself from going crazy analyzing all the other options. Basically it was a "it's good enough" Yeah... Every time I walk into Cabela's or Bass Pro I have to remind myself not to empty my bank accounts.... I'm "lucky" to have both within reasonable driving distances... 15m to cabelas, 35m to bass pro.... And a Pick's Sporting Goods right near the Cabela's for good measure... (some forum filter won't let me use the D for DSG) I'm contemplating a cranking rod setup in the not too distant future. I'll have to branch out to one of the safer choices in the price point, just to get some reel comparison (pun definitely intended).

Was using 6lb mono, on a medium power, fast action glass rod. That was my only reason for throwing it the other day, learning the feel Glad to know I'm doing something right. I've been primarily a crankbait thrower for a long time, since it was "easy"... Keep throwing till a fish comes along with it. Thanks for all the tips, and will keep on keeping on with the senkos. I bought a few packs of em with some 4/0 hooks the other day online. Should be here in the next day or so, then will be all senkos all the time, at least until I develop more instinctive/reactive responses with soft plastics. Not necessarily because I like or hate senkos, just I feel if you do the same thing over and over, it gets easier to tell when these differences happen and focus on them. And there's a _lot_ of senko information on this board.

Told myself I'd put that in there and I totally forgot. Brain is mush today. t-rigged, weightless. And I was following the guaranteed to catch bass thread, so it was across bottom. There were patches of tree limbs, and some rock. As well as just dirt. Definitely didn't see any line movement on the surface. Figured it might be a hard one to answer, especially with second hand info. Was just wondering and figured I'd ask ? My assumption is, the resistance was probably some structure of some kind. It was consistent, and in roughly the same place. Just don't have a good enough feel yet

So, I was fishing senkos the other day. First time, and first time fishing plastics seriously in a while. I noticed usually when I moved the rod I would feel either no resistance at all, or a consistent slight resistance. I could not figure out which one to react to. I tried to set the hook a few times when I felt resistance, but nothing. Didn't set the hook when I felt no resistance. Maybe I'm overanalyzing after the fact, just trying to reconcile the two feelings. Any advice?

So, when I'm at the store I tend to gravitate to Abu Garcia stuff. No particular reason, except the brand stands out in my head from when I was young. As an adult, they hit the price point I'm buying in, and I know what I'm buying. In my day job, there's a saying, "nobody got fired for buying xxxx". Along that line, Abu Garcia fits for my fishing purposes. This unfortunately has left me without much experience with others, and leaves me wondering if I'm missing out on something better/different that could help broaden my experience. Thoughts?

Day 2 evening: Bass resource makes you want to fish edition So, I was reading the "best of" sticky, and came across Guaranteed to catch bass, and I had some time to kill while alone. I have a few senkos, albeit neon green and a red/blue, and a few larger worm hooks. I decided to rig it up weightless, and try my luck following the instructions from that thread from the inlaws dock. Sure enough, after some patience, I had a strike no more than 10 ft from the dock, where I know a submerged tree limb is. Alas, he as well got away, but definitely looked to be at least a keeper, and had a nice color. I think I'm going to give those thing a try almost exclusively till I get better at detecting bites/strikes.

Day 2: Learning more by failure (or This is getting (relatively) expensive!) Another overcast morning, no mist/rain today. It was pretty obvious yesterday that a lot of green sunfish that made their home in the rip rap have moved along, and most bigger fish have moved out of the area I'm fishing not long after daybreak. So I settle in for more practice throwing stuff and feeling it. Tried the split shot rig with one of the other poles I brought. Just not feeling the same. Will wait till I get another medium light rod to practice feeling the bottom/cover/bites. (Following the bass resource video on the topic) Pick up a spinner bait and start throwing that around. Apparently my knot sucked and after a few casts, it went flying while my line stayed on the reel... So I have an old rattle trap with a small bass type pattern on it. Figured I'd throw that around, and see if I can start consistently hitting the spot from yesterday near the neighbors dock. The 6lbs monofilament on the rod I was using just wasn't transferring anything, so I switch to my bigger reel with 12lb floro. Casting distance took a hit, but I can at least feel the crankbait. Decide to put my wife's reel on the rod, since it has 6lb floro. First cast, there's a loud snap and the crankbait flies across the cove while the line is staying on the reel again. Guess I didn't cut enough of the line off from where my wife got her beetle spins stuck in the rocks. Calling it there, as I can only tolerate losing so much in a trip and I didn't bring down my whole compliment of tackle. Definitely learned a lot though, about how various pieces of equipment interact with each other and what not. Can't wait till next time I hit some water.

The wife and I decided last minute to spend the weekend with my in-laws, so that means back to the dock for the weekend! Day 1 morning: Cloudy, mist/light rain, wind blowing into the cive. I wanted to work on my strike feel, so I started with a 1/0 worm hook with a couple split shot clipped a few inches above the hook. Used a curly tailed zoom worm. (Basically following the bass resource video). Didn't care about catching, just learning/practicing feeling the bottom and identifying structures, etc... I recently bought a bass pro tourney special medium light rod and an abu Garcia black max 6lb spinning reel, since most of my stuff is heavier, for this exercise. After I broke off the first worm, I figured what the hell, I'll take a break and throw a lipless shad crankbait, and tied it on. I was getting excellent casting, and was almost hitting the neighbors dock. Hit an apparent sweet spot by the rip rap near their dock. Got one strike, and got him hooked and started to reel him in. I wanted to practice "playing the fish" instead of just horsing him in, and he almost immediately jumped and threw the hook. A few minutes later, I hit the same spot and repeated the same situation, with a slightly bigger one. A few casts later, and I throw a wild one that wrapped around the trunk of a leaning tree. While trying to bounce my bait free, the rod snapped like a toothpick and I lost the crankbait. Such a disappointing ending to a morning of promise. Luckily, I brought a few rods/reels with me. We'll see what the next couple of days have in store!

This is my wife's favorite part of MLF/BPT. We had one of the previous cups on, and it was a Ike heavy episode. She got real into it then. Now every time someone on the screen gets hooked, she screams "OMG GIANT". My favorite Ike moment was on Jordan Lake during the 3rd bass pro tour event. Everyone catching 4+, the ONE time they put Ike on TV, he does his big one/giant, and it's barely 2lbs! Had me rolling on the floor laughing, even the hosts made a joke about it.

Day 3: Get up early, and have some solo time on the dock. Throw my entire tackle box at the lake, and nothing biting, or I'm unable to feel the bite. Unsure which, but very unlucky. Even the green sunfish stopped biting in the evening when my cousins little kids try to fish. Wife did manage to snag some green sunfish early in the afternoon, two at one time even! http://imgur.com/a/Ffv2WV6 Switching to live bait, at least for the kids, the next day. Day 4: Pick up some live bait. A dozen medium and a dozen large minnows, and a dozen night crawlers. (They were out of earthworms). Cast out some minnows on a bobber, nothing taking it. Ended up reeling in early though, as the kids were excited to fish as well, so I end up helping manage the nightcrawlers and putting pieces of them on the hooks. The panfish eat it up, and soon we're all helping unhook the fish they catch. Snagged pics of the two biggest the kids grabbed http://imgur.com/a/tnfsY9y

I stand corrected! Both hang out around this spot, so I tend to lump them together without much thought

Day 2: Started dragging a worm on a jig head, just searching/figuring out what's on the bottom. Worked to dial in my two baitcasters as well, so again no real attempts at catching, just fishing/getting re-aquainted with my gear. Wife wanted to catch, not fish, so I put on a panfish spinner on the pole from yesterday, and gave it a few casts myself. Lo and behoold, my only catch of the day. A baby green sunfish: https://imgur.com/a/95w6Fyd No matter how frustrated anyone gets, these guys are always good for a bite here.

Day 1: Arrived around 2pm, got luggage unloaded, and went to get the rods set up. I casted each of them a few times. I recently respooled them all, and it's been a while since I played with my baitcasters, so I was just getting the feel for them, and making sure they all still work. No intention of catching yet. About 5:30 pm, I cast a green lizard on a Texas rig with a 1/2 ounce bullet weight. We had just bought this rod for this reel (to replace a damaged one). 1/2oz was the upper limit of the rod, and I was getting a great casting distance out of it. After a couple casts, I hook a 2 pound catfish and reel him in. Another first, a catfish from my in-laws dock! https://imgur.com/a/bNYNvNz

Thanks everyone for the replies! With how detaild you were sam, I took the liberty to try to respond do what you said. HAHA ain't that the truth! I've only caught stripers and bluegill off the dock until the other day. (only get to go up there about once a year, and don't fish every time I go) Has been frustrating to say the least That's good to hear, as his dock is on the western bank of a cove. My entire casting range will be in this water. They have you sink the trees you remove just off the shore line, so there are at least a few submerged near the dock that have been there almost 8 years. I plan on taking one of my jig heads and dragging it on the bottom across the casting range to locate any underwater structures. Probably not. There have been a few changeovers, and i'm not sure what the relationship is at this point. I have not seen much. There is a healthy population of smaller sunfish, like bluegill, living in the riprap. Given the population in the rip rap, this would be a great idea. I even thought about grabbing a minnow trap to see if I could catch a good supply. For anyone interested, I'll make sure to post up as many as possible to this thread! I've taken a screen cap of a contour map I found, as well as the satellite view. After the initial drop off it looks like it stays pretty shallow and flat.

I'm going up to my in-laws place at smith mountain lake. My step father in law doesn't like fishing from his boats, so we'll be fishing from his dock. Where he is on his cove, it has a decent grade from shallow to about 40 feet deep in the middle of it. I'm looking for ideas on colors, lures, and tactics for snagging whatever bass may be hanging around this area. There isn't any grass or anything around, mostly open area with submerged brush. Some tree shade. He has rock riprap that is home to a smorgasbord of bluegill, etc... My wife usually throws a panfish spinner along it, and it's a guaranteed fish bite every cast. I finally caught my first largemouth from his dock with a dark green worm on a jig head the other day, casting past the shade from a tree and bottom dragging it across. That was about 2 in the afternoon, in case that helps. Thanks for taking the time to read, and thanks in advance for any advice given! Patchtech

Hello! Just joined the site, trying to get back into fishing. Growing up in a rural farm community, I regularly would fish from the local farm ponds during the summers. Once going to college and starting life, I've been a little busier and resource strapped. I would still get a couple trips done here or there to a local public lake over the years. My gear was in storage the past couple years, after we relocated. I've recently respooled all my reels and got everything cleaned up, and looking forward to really getting back into it. Just figured I'd introduce myself! Thanks! patchtech