Craig P

I love my coffee, I'm a French Press guy with a fancy grinder and electric kettle. I even have a fancy espresso machine too. I don't use that one much but it's nice when I want something a little different. Speaking of different, I got into cold brewing a few weeks ago and I am really enjoying it. I'm surprised that the same bean I use for hot coffee tastes different cold brewing. It's smoother, more floral and sweeter. It takes a day to steep and if you let it sit another day after filtering, it just gets better. It's easy to make, you can use a water bottle, put in a measured amount of grind to water and leave it in the fridge 18-24 hours. Filter and enjoy over ice.

I use a Physyx in both casting and spinning. Both are geared towards lighter use, the BC is the 68MXF paired with a Curado BFS and the spinning is the 71MF with a Vanford 2500. The handle is what drew me to the line, in my hands, which are not small, they just feel right. They have become my favorite rods the last couple of years, sensitivity and casting accuracy is top of the line and I never worry about a fish becoming unbuttoned. I have heard of some reel seat complaints, though I have not had any issues yet. Their warranty is what made me choose them over the Poison Adrena and when one is in one hand and the other in the other hand, you’ll have a difficult decision, especially if the handle just feels right.

You’re in for a lifetime of learning trying to figure it all out….and that is what is awesome! about bass fishing. And as soon as you figure something out, at times, it seems they change the game. For me and my simple start. If I look up and the sun is hurting my eyes, they won’t be looking up either so I’m looking for bottom fish and I am fishing the bottom/falling baits. If it’s cloudy, early morning or late evening where they will be looking up, I’m throwing things they can look up to. Wind is just water or current speed. If it’s not windy, I’m throwing slow moving baits. If it’s windy, I’m throwing moving baits. Water color, I’m trying to throw something that contrasts with the water. Some people swear by white in clear water and while I do throw white, every other color seems to work well too but some days, one color gets lit up. Why? I believe it is because that color matches what they were already looking for that day. My favorite learning process along this journey though is taking just one bait style to the lake or river, regardless of conditions. It forced me to keep trying and trying until I finally found a cadence to make them strike. I may switch color in the process but that is it. I’m convinced bass don’t care what they’re looking at, as long as they see it, you’re in the game. Now you just need to elicit their built in attack reaction, like a cat. Yes, I may have played with my rod and bait (no hooks of course!) to make our cat finally attack it. You may not figure out what worked that day but I promise you, something will work.

Super old. Maybe worth $40 max. The current version of that finder with a color screen and modern hardware / electronics sells for $140.

I'll definitely be keeping an eye on it. Good to hear their customer service was good to work with. I have everything hooked up now and working fine, can't wait to actually use it! Loved my boat, it just got repetitive and boring for me with it's limitations, so I completely understand wanting to revisit your Titan for variety.

All 3 were bad? That is some incredible odds. What were you powering? What satisfied the requirement?

Since buying a kayak for this season, I've been watching some of the youtubers who do the tourneys. The Susky is insane to me, you need mid-90s to get into the top 10. I have no knowledge of the rules but many of the competitors are standing in the water with their kayak strapped to them, I suppose that makes a catch legal? I am just under 2 hours away and I have never fished it. Now that I have a vessel to do so, maybe it's time to change that.

Things are coming along nicely with my new kayak. Sorry, this is going to be a long post, what else is a guy to do in single digit temperatures? Shovel snow? Ugh! I am thankful that part is over, for now. I mentioned in another post about ordering a LiTime 100ah battery. That has already been received and set up in the battery box and being store inside as the garage is cold right now in PA. I wanted to get the kayak off the floor to work on and some of the kayak stands sold online seem cheaply made to me for their price. With that, I found myself at harbor freight and found these 40" work platforms. Strong and reasonably priced, they can pull double duty for me with painting or working overhead in a room with 8' ceilings. 9' for you taller people. ;) If the hull on my kayak were shaped different, I would have continued the search but it sits perfectly flat on these and I like having something that is a multi-tasker. And did I mention, strong! I spoiled myself with a BlackPak. I am a minimalist when it comes to fishing tackle but this crate with a latching lid and endless customization is going to be great for all of those incidentals most kayakers like to have on hand in the event of issues. What really sold me though were the rod tubes with built in hooks on bungies to hold the rods in place. I do have an Engle cooler with 4 rod tubes leftover from prior kayak ownership but since I wanted to get fancy this time around with the BlackPack, I still needed a cooler solution, and I found this kayak chair cooler online. For less than $50, I am impressed with its quality and size it expands to. I can get an 18 pack into that thing easy! LOL More like a couple bottles water, a coffee thermos and some granola bars but a guy can dream right! At the very least, it will be nice to have a purpose-built organized solution. Finally, you can see a fish finder on the seat. I thought long and hard about this one with wants, size, future possibilities, financial commitment, etc. I decided all I really wanted was something small with superior side imaging. Of all the brands, you cannot go less than a 7" screen to get great side imaging and through my research, the Helix 7 MSI G4 won. With that, the search for a non-network version (cheaper) ensued and as luck would have it, I found it for $599.99 at a.....forgot how to use English's not far from me. With $60 in store rewards, even better! I ordered a Ram track mount today as well as a Nocqua battery to complete an easy install next week. I even threw in a guardian angel to the order as well. I do not intend to fish in the dark, it's just not my thing but it will be a necessary item for early morning launches. I still need a couple of things like a tow/flip strap, I'll make that, a good multi-tool, a net and I am sure I'll think of other things..... Thanks for reading if you made it this far! ;) Of course, the obligatory pic!

I guess I already achieved mine with a recent purchase of a kayak. I sold my boat last year with this in mind to be able to fish places I cannot get to with a boat. Looking forward to using it chasing river smallies this year, LM too of course! It would be nice to meet some fellow kayak anglers to fish with who are into fishing as much as I am though. Maybe that should be my new goal.

I always go as light as possible. Until a fish breaks me off to prove otherwise, lure presentation is king.

Awesome! I think I am going to pick up another smaller one for a future graph.

I'm an FG fan just because it goes through the guides nicer. On the boat, in the heat of the action, I rarely tie the FG, I'll go with the Alberto to save time.

Both @Standard and @Kayak Koz and others posted some great info in the Fluxjet thread I created, and I see them posting here, they were both very helpful. I ended up skipping the Fluxjet and very recently purchased the Old Town Sportsman 106 MK. I knew I wanted 10-ish feet for easy pickup truck transport as well as stability. The reason I went with Old Town after much research was history, build quality and stability, IMO, they win in all categories' vs other kayaks in this size range. If you have not already done so, queue up YouTube and search for factory tours of the brands you are interested in. Alot of info can be had from them. I was torn on the pedal drive or motor drive but after comparing the hulls in both options, same 106 by the way, the 106 motor hull is superior in width and height over the 106 pedal drive hull. I also liked the idea of hands-free fishing as steering is done via feet, rather than hand with a pedal drive. The motor version comes at a premium though and like you said, you'll have to add a battery and that adds an additional expense. I won't suggest what you do with your wallet because I will always spend it. ;) but I would not sweat that registering thing. My dealer took care of the registration. I've also owned boats, registering is just renewing like an automobile registration, a fee and a sticker, nothing big. Good luck in your search!

Which transducer are you running? Other than the LS.

When a friend and I purchased them years ago, we put them through a test. We both walked into the water up to our upper chest and stood there in 38-degree water for several minutes to know what to expect. It was impressive how warm we remained. Had we dunked our heads, that would have been different, but I do recommend this test, even if after your first trip in the drysuit. Knowledge is king right? One thing we learned, you do get hot in a drysuit so layer your clothing accordingly. You want to avoid getting into a sweat situation and getting cold from the sweat. My only other thoughts, if it came with zipper wax, keep up on the maintenance, those zippers can get difficult to zip. If not, pick some up. Chapstick works in a pinch. I was recently looking at a few, my have the prices changed! Ugh!

Yeppers. I had Bluetooth with the ionic battery I had previously and really liked that feature.

I pulled the trigger on the LiTime. I even picked up their charger with the order. I was just going to grab a Noco 10amp but LiTime's was $20 cheaper and if I ever have an issue, they can't blame the charger. ;)

Thanks @casts_by_fly I had a couple of Garmin Echomap Ultra 10"ers and FFS setup on the boat I sold. This time around, I just want simple but with your comments, I suppose I probably shouldn't close the door.

Wow! Nice price! I looked at your color hard, it came down to that one or the once I chose. Apparently, this color was a limited production run with this one being #007. And the colors look great in the back of my truck! ;) Very noted! and will do. Just as a precaution, I did pick up a new prop/nut/pin as well as a new lock knob in the event I break any of it. I also picked up 8 check valve scuppers too and didn't hold back on the paddle. I know I won't use it a ton but the lighter carbon one felt much nicer.

I seen your recent post with your finders. That's alot of screens! LOL but the geek in me loves it! I am leaning towards the Helix 7 MSI GPS 4, mainly for side view and map contours. Not cheap but I am working with a nice budget with the proceeds of selling my boat so why not right. Who knows, those inches could go up yet, I just need to use it and find out how I like the configuration come spring. I guess I could always buy another drysuit.....ugh, but I don't know how deep I want to get into that. I still love beating banks to scratch the itch when it's cold.

Hard to deny the cost of the LiTime over Amped, Ionic, etc and I've seen many Will Prowse videos, I trust his opinion and it's worth a try. I am not sure about the finder yet. It's been 10 years or so since I have been kayak fishing so I'll need to get use to the layout and operation of this kayak before I decide what size finder can fit and where it won't affect a cast. On my last kayak I had a Raymarine 5" that I was happy with but these eyes aren't getting any younger so I am thinking a 7" might be needed? I'll have to visit Cabelas and see some in person side by side again.

I have been wanting to get back into a kayak since last summer, I even sold my boat last season in preparation of moving on. I missed kayak fishing and the number of places I can fish in a kayak vs a boat is a TON more in my area. I had narrowed my search of many kayaks down to the Sportsman 106. I just wasn't sure if I wanted the pedal version or the powered version. Today I had time and took a trip to my local Old Town dealer in Ephrata (Lancaster Marine). Some real nice people there to say the least. Between the pedal vs powered version, I could not deny the hull design of the powered version over the pedal version. A little taller and a tad wider. Steering with feet for true hands-free fishing is also just a tad nicer too. I will need to pick up a battery yet and I'm sure I'll want a fish finder, nothing crazy this time around. Can't wait for it to get warmer!

Thank you for the comparison between the two. I do appreciate it. The Jackson was not on my radar "yet" as I am looking at the smaller ones but will keep it in mind. Speaking of that MK you have, I found a steal of a deal on a MK locally. Used only a few times and selling for $2k, with a battery and cart too but the seller does not have the original bill of sale. That presents a pain in the butt (technical term) in Pa and of course raises some flags on why the current owner never registered it or has the bill of sale.

Just a follow up. I requested my deposit back yesterday. Hopefully that is handled quickly. ;) They have had a delay and January deliveries were pushed to February. I don’t know that it would affect my late summer delivery but I would wager it would. Mostly what made me change my mind is the weight of the kayak. The numbers were not correctly represented in videos to what the website now shows, higher of course. I also looked at the stand up video many times. It’s not sure footed as other brands. Leaning Old Town Sportsman PDL 106 now but that could change….

Pretty cool. Nice catch too!