Bankc

I use sonar more for scanning the bottom than looking for fish. Fish can hide pretty easily on sonar, whether they're deep in cover or hanging out on the bottom. And, especially in my lakes, seeing fish doesn't mean seeing largemouth bass. There are lots of other species in my lakes that are around the same size as LMB. But for finding cover, transition zones, bottom composition, thermoclines, and water temperature, sonar comes in pretty convenient. Add to that GPS maps and the ability to mark spots and it comes in pretty handy. But it's still far from a sure thing. On a lake that I'm really familiar with, I may not even turn it on, because I already know everything of use that it's gonna tell me.

Both. But not in the same year. I think it's just the combination of many factors that triggers it, not just one. That's why it remains a little mysterious to this day, despite the generations of research by millions of humans over the course of history that's gone into deciphering this code. Watch the tree leaves. That's usually the best indicator of fish migration patterns, in my opinion. Nature knows more about nature than we ever will.

I've never caught a bass off a hard jerkbait. At least not while jerking it. I caught a few, many, many years ago when I thought they were just long, skinny crankbaits and fished them with a steady retrieve. I fish stained waters though. But I do alright with soft jerkbaits sometimes.

Nice work! And good job on keeping at it and finding a way to make it work instead of giving up! You know, one of the greatest indicators of longevity leg strength. Specifically, being able to get up off the ground under your own strength. Upper body strength is nice, of course, but it's really leg strength that determines both the quality and length of your life. Losing leg strength causes you to lose your balance, which increases the odds of a fall. And we all know how deadly falls can be to the older populations. In other words, I'd worry less about body weight and working out with dumbbells and focus more on exercises that strengthen your lower body and legs. Not only will that help you with balance and getting into and out of your kayak, but it's also one of the most important things you can do to increase, not only the length of your life, but the quality.

I've ran just one brake many times, as well as many other combinations where the spool is unbalanced. In theory, it's best to keep it balanced. But in practice, it won't make much of a difference if it isn't. Like Mike L. said, it's probably best to rotate them. Spread the wear out. Or do like me, and wind up changing them semi-often for other reasons. Even my best "set and forget" reels get tweaked several times a year due to changes in weather or aging lubrication.

I choose the blades based on depth and speed. Double willow for shallow and fast, single Colorado for deep and slow. Double willows seem to have more lift, but single Colorados don't need as much speed to get thumping.

Pitching. I can technically do it. And I've practiced more hours than I care to think about in my backyard. I've watched a million and a half how to videos. But there's still something I'm not getting. Maybe it's because I'm in a kayak. I don't know. But I've seen tons of people pitch lures really far out and I can't, for the life of me, pitch something more than maybe 15 feet. It's frustrating. Also hard jerkbaits and rattle traps. I just can't seem to get a bite on either of those. Maybe it's the stained water without much vegetation that I fish. But they just don't produce for me, and I don't really know why.

I don't. My reel's drag will slip, even locked down, long before even 30# braid will be tested. My rods will break too. Though, on the next cast after pulling a bass out of some nasty salad, I often do wish I had used 65# braid. The bird's nest created from the line digging into my spool by cranking on that thin 30# diameter line can take a lot of fun out of your day.

I know colors can make a difference. But I'm not confident enough in any bait to stick with it long enough to cycle through colors if my first attempts weren't working. Nor am I rich enough to own a whole bunch of different baits in a whole bunch of different colors. So I usually pick colors based on conditions, and if that doesn't work, make big changes until I stumble across something that does. My order of things to change goes: Depth -> Location -> Retrieve Speed -> Action or Rate of Fall -> Profile Size -> Sound -> Color.

I wouldn't sweat it. But do keep the seller's contact information, just in case. You probably won't need it, as I'm sure they've seen good deals before, just like they've seen fraud before. And I'm sure they're pretty aware of the difference.

My favorite is whatever brand pays me the most for me to say they're my favorite brand. As of today, the spot is still open, so I don't have a favorite. Until that day comes, I'm going to have to go with whatever brand is on sale or cheapest, which is the next best thing.

Check your local regulations, as they can differ. But generally, for a kayak all you need is a flashlight or lantern that is easily accessible, under USCG rules. Unless you have a trolling motor, then you only need an all-around white light, so long as your kayak isn't capable of speeds more than 7 knots.

I wouldn't risk it. High likelihood of getting caught and paying a lot more than $625 in use tax. Plus that money goes to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, so it'll come back to you over time.

There's a lake I'll occasionally fish that can get really crowded during the summer days with nice weather that falls on a weekend. And it's not a large lake, nor is it by any major cities. But I've seen it where everyone forms a line and circles around the lake in counterclockwise fashion, beating the bank. Every boat is evenly spaced and traveling at about the same speed so no one passes anyone, and no one stops. You launch, hop in line, and everyone moves a bit closer to one another to let you in. I kind of wanted to stop and work a spot, but was afraid to. It all seemed so well organized that I didn't want to be that guy who messes it all up. The center of the lake was open and a few people were anchored there. But I just followed the crowd until the noon time sun hit and most everyone else left. I don't know if that was a conscious decision someone made, old habit, or just something that happened on its own, but it made fishing a lot less fun. And really weird. Though I will say that it's at least fair. Everyone gets to try every spot. There's a lake I'll occasionally fish that can get really crowded during the summer days with nice weather that falls on a weekend. And it's not a large lake, nor is it by any major cities. But I've seen it where everyone forms a line and circles around the lake in counterclockwise fashion, beating the bank. Every boat is evenly spaced and traveling at about the same speed so no one passes anyone, and no one stops. You launch, hop in line, and everyone moves a bit closer to one another to let you in. I kind of wanted to stop and work a spot, but was afraid to. It all seemed so well organized that I didn't want to be that guy who messes it all up. The center of the lake was open and a few people were anchored there. But I just followed the crowd until the noon time sun hit and most everyone else left. I don't know if that was a conscious decision someone made, old habit, or just something that happened on its own, but it made fishing a lot less fun. And really weird. Though I will say that it's at least fair. Everyone gets to try every spot.

I've seen lead acid, alkaline, and lithium polymer batteries explode. I had a lithium-ion battery overheat on me, but not catch fire. Still got hot enough to melt plastic and scorch wood. Things can happen. But life is, at its most basic, a risk assessment exercise. I'll take my chances with a LiFePo4 battery in a boat. They're about the same risk as a lead acid or AGM. I will not take a chance with a LiPO (lithium polymer) battery in a boat! Those things are CRAZY dangerous! Look up some videos of those exploding for fun afternoon!

Yeah. I've not used mend it nor anything like that. But I imagine MEK and acetone, which is two of the ingredients in PCV cement, might do the trick. Assuming it's not too caustic and dissolves too much of the soft plastic before evaporating and melting it back together. And I wouldn't want to do it on a plastic kayak. Might have to try some experimenting yourself to get the proportions right so it melts it just enough to work without creating a huge mess. Personally, I just save them and remelt them later to make new baits.

Hard to say. The fish can move to different areas at different times and for different reasons, so there's not always a clear answer until you get out there and establish some patterns. The chart alone is just one piece of a much larger puzzle. But I would want to try just off the point in the lower section, where there could be a funnel directing fish. And I would also want to try the areas above that where the depth lines run closest together. Where exactly, I'd probably want to run over it with my sonar to see where the fish are holding. It could depend on the current, cover, or whatever else is around that, but sonar would narrow down the best spots fairly quickly. Either way, if I saw that on a map ahead of time, I'd probably want to check it out. It could be good. It could also be too deep for the bass to want to relate to any of it. Usually what I'll do for prefishing is mark a bunch of spots I find like that in my mind. Then, once you get out on the lake and either find some fish with trial and error or by sonar, note the depth at which they are holding. Then look for features like what you have there in the lake, that occur at the depth you just noted. Then again, I'm no pro. I'm not even good at fishing. I'm just better than I ought to be.

I wouldn't want to risk creating a bigger problem by trying to solve a smaller problem. I'd look for the source of the leak and see if you can seal it with some silicone-like adhesive. The wood on that transom looks good to me, and I wouldn't be apt to replacing it until after I identified the source of the leak and confirmed that replacing the transom would actually fix the problem beyond what some sealant could do.

That's par for the course. Boat control in a kayak is pretty difficult and time consuming. But you'll get used to it. Anchors do help tremendously but are also a bit of a pain to use. Plus, when you anchor, the wind will blow the kayak around your anchor point, and it can spin and face your kayak the wrong way depending on which direction the wind is blowing. That's why a lot of kayakers use an anchor trolley or two with their anchors, so they can keep a good position and direction, once adjusted for the wind and current. Sometimes, anyway. What I'll do, as noted by others, is retrieve your lure so that the drag created by your lure helps to keep your kayak positioned. I'll also "paddle" with my rod tip in between casts to keep me on line. Just little movements to correct coarse and prolong the need of bigger movements with your paddle. I also will use a drag chute or drift sock to control the speed of my kayak as the wind blows it around. And I'll often try to set up so the wind blows me in the right direction. Often times, with, let's say a north or south facing wind, I'll find a bank that runs parallel to the wind, and let the wind carry me from one end of the bank to the other, and just fish along the bank as I drift. You often fight the wind or current in a kayak, but sometimes you can use it to your advantage.

I did the same thing to my trolling motor. And I agree, it's much better this way. More efficient and faster. You do lose some torque, but in a kayak, you don't need that torque. You're not pushing much weight, and all you lose is a tiny bit of acceleration. It handles wind and current even better with the increased efficiency. Weeds might be a problem. I don't know. I don't fish a lot of lakes with much in the way of weeds, so I've never had an issue. And I pull my trolling motor up and paddle over thick weeds anyway, as I can't access my stern mounted prop from sitting inside my kayak. I will say, however, that getting weeds or line out of the RC prop is a lot easier than getting line or weeds out of the standard prop. With the standard prop, I have to pull the prop off to get under the cover. With the RC prop, I can get in there without tools or fear of losing the pin. The only drawback that concerns me is breaking the prop. I've yet to do that, but it is a lot thinner, so I could see it breaking more easily. I'd bring a backup with you, just in case. I bring my old prop, and of course bring my paddle so I've got a plan B and C should it ever fail. I think a lot of these people are just weary of change. Especially when it originated from a YT video, which as we all know, has more bad ideas and loud voices than good ideas. But I think this is one of those cases where the idea is actually really clever. Now, I could see why this wouldn't be a good idea on a bass boat, as with a bass boat torque is much more important than speed or efficiency. And you can easily access and clear your prop on the water. But in a kayak, the RC prop is the way to go. In fact, if I was Minn Kota, I'd make a kayak specific version of my trolling motors and include a prop like this and charge more for it. Or better yet, design a toroidal prop for even quieter and more efficient operation. This is one of those things, that until you actually try it yourself, you won't really realize how much better it is.

I'm on open book. I don't believe in keeping information to myself. My secret spots are probably known by 100 other people that I don't know and hit them up when I'm not around. So I might as well share them with my friends too. A high tide raises all ships, and making the people around me better will make me better as well. If I had a fishing buddy who didn't like to share that kind of information, I'd be fine with it. I'd probably given them a hard time over it. But that's what friends are for, right? There's a lot of things I'll look for in a friend, but fishing secrets isn't one of them. You can keep your fishing secrets, so long as you're willing to be labeled that guy who keeps his fishing secrets. Now, if all they do is take and never are willing to give, then that's not really a friendship. So I'll move on pretty quickly. There are a lot of people like that in this world, and I have no need for them in my life. I'm not saying it has to be 50/50, but if I get nothing out of it, expect me to put nothing into it.

Happiness is a state of mind. We choose to be happy or not happy. Happiness doesn't happen to us. We decide to be happy. Now, admittedly, it's easier to choose to be happy when everything is going great. But it's still a choice we make, because we can be sad when everything is great. And we can be happy when everything is bad. It's up to us to decide how we feel. It's not often easy, but it is ALWAYS within our power. You say you don't care for bank fishing, and I get that. And you say that it's hard to make friends, and this is very true. But bank fishing can lead to friendships. Often times familiarity leads to comfort, and being comfortable around someone leads to friendships. So if lots of people see you there fishing all of the time, some people are going to eventually come up and talk to you. And after enough people come up to talk to you, someone is eventually going to really connect with you. And then you exchange information and hand out some time. And maybe if you hang out with a few people a few times, someone will want to be your new fishing buddy. It's all about being available and forcing things to happen. You have to just let it happen. But to let it happen, you have to be there WHEN and WHERE it happens. And no one know when and where that will be, but we all know where and when that WON'T be. Which is at home, alone. It's a lot of work with a lot of false starts and frustrations. But the reward is worth it. And lastly, who cares what you drive? Who cares what other people think about you that don't know you? Anyone who judges you based on what you drive isn't someone you need in your life. All of that superficial outward appearance mumbo jumbo means nothing in life. Someone will always have a better truck than you and someone will always have a worse truck than you. You will always be somewhere in the middle, so what does it matter where in the middle you are? If you need something to feel confident in yourself, then you'll never actually feel confident in yourself. Confidence comes from who we are on the inside, not what we have on the outside.

Are you sure there is brush down there? A lake I frequent has lots and lots of standing timber, but no brush.

I'd check all of your wire connections. When you started having this issue, you replaced the wiring, so that's a good place to start looking. I'd also disassemble the motor and check the insides of it. Check the bushings and commutator. If the commutator or bushings has gotten dirty or damaged, it could be a cause. Also check for any foreign objects and make sure you're not getting water inside it. Plus check the windings for any charring or indications of shorts or overheating. I'd probably measure the resistance of the windings as well, to see if any of them are off.

I had a reel with braid on it that I loaded up when braid first came out. I remember wanting to get the kevlar braid, but couldn't afford it, so I got the Spiderwire made with Spectra. Now, Spiderwire is made with Dyneema. Same thing just different trade name coming from a different supplier. It was probably close to 30 years old when I pulled it back out and started fishing with it again. That old braid worked just fine, until I lost the rod to the bottom of the lake. Braid lasts just about forever. It'll lose its color over time and get frayed and weakened with wear. So it can wear out. But it won't age noticeably if it just sits there, unused, and out of the sun.