Bankc

KVD is what I recommend as well. I had to get it online, but a little bottle will last many years (or it does for me). I mainly use it for taking the memory off fluorocarbon and making it easier to cast. Unlike other line conditioners, it's not an oil-based lubricant, but a water-soluble silicone. As far as making the line last longer, I don't think it does anything for that, other than reducing backlashes, which will put kinks in the line. With fluorocarbon, once it stretches, it doesn't shrink back (unlike mono). So it gets brittle with use and needs to be replaced more often than mono or braid. I can get about six months out of it as a mainline before needing to replace it. If longevity is what you need, go with braid, and maybe use the fluoro for a leader.

I get checked at least once a year. Usually, it's during a holiday weekend, like Memorial Day, 4th of July, or Labor Day, but not always. Once I couldn't find my paper license, but then I remembered that I kept the email receipt from buying it online, and showed the warden that, and he was okay with that. The fines around here for fishing without a license are pretty steep, from what I've been told.

I fish from a kayak in crowded lakes, so this kind of thing happens to me all of the time. From a kayaker's perspective, moving is hard, slow, and deliberate. So you usually choose a straight line. It may have seemed to him that he was moving towards that spot long before you made your way around to it. So it's possible that both of you were thinking the same thing. But you did the right thing. The way I see it is, whoever is fishing faster should go ahead, and give plenty of space as you move around. Just like golf. I don't mind fishing behind someone else either. It happens almost every time I go out. I usually catch more fish than the boat that moves in front of me, as I can see what they're doing and get a sense of what works and what doesn't. In a crowded public lake, all of the obvious spots will be hit up many times a day by many boats. So pretty much everyone is fishing a used spot. A good angler knows how to adjust to that, where a bad angler blames their circumstances.

Not really. I make it a point not to invest too heavily into a new type of lure that I haven't already had a lot of success with. So when trying out something new, I'll just buy one to see how it works before committing more. And if it's a dud, which many wind up being, then I've got something I can throw into areas where I'm not real certain I'll get my lure back. I do a lot of bank fishing in the reeds, so it's good to have lures I'm not afraid to lose.

Nope. I wouldn't buy a second just to tide me over for the warranty work. That's expensive and defeats the purpose of having a warranty, in my opinion. I'd likely just keep using one of my other rods, or pick up a cheap, used one that I could flip without losing too much on to hold me over. The thing about a fishing rod is, while you can definitely tell the difference between a good one and a cheap one, it's not likely to affect your catch rate all that much. If you're a professional or do a lot of tournaments, then I could see it mattering, as one missed bass can cost you a lot of money. But for most of us, we buy the nicer gear because we enjoy using nicer gear. Not because we're relying on that 1% difference to feed our family. Then again, everyone's budget is different. Some people can't justify buying one St. Croix rod, as it would ruin them financially. Others could buy the whole company and not make a dent in their lifestyle. So it depends on where you're coming from.

You're probably not going to be able to find a kayak that's stand up capable in that price range anymore. A few years ago maybe, but even on the used market that will be tough to do these days. That, and finding one that's stand up capable and under 75 lbs will be tough, though not impossible. In that price range, I'm going to suggest looking at Pelican and Lifetime kayaks if new, or check out what's used locally in your area. Lifetime and Pelican are the two largest makers, and due to their scale, they are going to offer you the best value at that price point if you're buying new. They are not, however, the best makers out there, with noted problems with quality control and often not the best designs. They are also blow molded instead of rotomolded, which means they can have random thin spots in the plastic. You get what you pay for. Though I have a Lifetime Yukon (same as the Teton Pro) and have fished it regularly for four years, and it's held up well. I like it a lot, but at 85 lbs, it's both out of your price range and too heavy. But it does remain one of the cheapest and lightest stand up fishing kayaks available new. That and the Pelican Catch 100, which would meet your weight requirement, but will blow by your price range.

In the winter, I use waterproof rubber wading boots. The water is cold and I don't want to get wet. In the warmer months, I take old tennis shoes, drill holes in the soles to let the water drain easier, and just wear them. It's cheap, easy, and effective! Then I store them in the garage. I'll often bring a second pair of shoes so I don't have to wear wet shoes all day when I'm not in the kayak. I replace them about once a year. And since I go through about 2-4 pairs of sneakers a year at my job, I've got no shortage of old tennis shoes.

I didn't even know this was a thing! But it makes sense to me, and since it's free to try, I will be doing this from now on. Thanks guys!

Professional fishing is all about product endorsement and self-promotion. I'm betting most of these guys know better, but they also believe it looks better in a photo to hold the fish sideways.

I often super glue my plastics on jigs and stuff, and will fish them until they wear off. I've often found that fish will bite torn up plastics better than new ones. Not always. Probably not even most of the time. But often enough that I don't swap them out just because they're getting torn up, unless it effects the bite. I think sometimes bass prefer a defenseless crawfish with no claws. But if I'm Texas rigging them, and the hook will no longer stay buried in the plastic, I'll either reposition the plastic, like cut down the head of the plastic a bit to shift the hook position so that it will stay buried, or swap it out for a new one. I've got more soft plastics than I can carry with me. But I see no need to swap them out just to get through them quicker. If I want to buy new lures, just to buy new lures, I prefer to buy crankbaits.

First off, what's your budget? That'll determine whether you're in the market for a wet cell, SLA, Gel cell, or AGM. As for size, you should probably figure out what size battery you have now. If the sticker is worn off, measure its dimensions. That will determine your AH rating. Typically, you want the most AH you can fit. So if you have room for a 100AH battery, that's what you want to go with. From there, depending on how you answer those questions, we may be able to recommend a brand. For some options, however, brand won't matter. Like if you need a wet cell, group 29 battery, there's only one manufacturer of those, but they sell them under a bunch of different brand names. So you buy one that's the cheapest, since you're getting the same battery no matter who's sticker is on the box. In other situations, brand will make a difference.

I've always found that if you're catching channel cats, then that's a good sign that bass are nearby and feeding. It seems like whenever I catch a channel cat, I can usually hook a few bass by just moving over a few feet and casting the same thing again. Yes. From the right clear water lake, catfish can be alright. But they're bottom feeders, and their meat gets pretty nasty in the wild, especially if the water is stained. I like catfish, but I don't cook the ones I catch. If I want catfish, I'll buy some at the grocery store.

Nope. First, I kayak. And second, my car gets pretty decent gas mileage. However, if food prices continue to rise, I might have to switch over to crappie and walleye.

...said the man who has never snagged dirty underwear. After you've fumbled around with sticks on the bank trying to free the hook of your $12 jackhammer without touching anything, one tends to undergo a change of heart. If not the first time, then surely by the third time in two years.

I prefer braid with jigs for this reason. I also like a pretty stiff rod with jigs, as softer rods require a lot more force on hookset. They definitely require a bit more force than T-rigs. Also, it seems to me with a jig, you sometimes want to wait a half second longer than a T-rig or the like before setting the hook. I'm guessing that maybe it's the weight of the jig or drag of the skirt or something, but I'll often fight the fish for a full second on two after a good hookset before they get free. And when I reel the jig back in, the trailer is either missing, ripped in half, or pulled down the hook. Almost like they didn't get the whole jig in their mouth when I set the hook. My hookup ratio seems to be a lot better if I wait just a half second longer before setting the hook with jigs. Like when you feel the tap-tap of a bite, wait for the second tap. Don't go on the first. However, sometimes luck plays a role. Last Saturday I went out all day and got at least 10 bites. And I don't mean nibbles, I mean full on bites as in I felt something, set the hook, and fought something that fought back. And all 10 got off! I was losing them on everything that day. T-rigs, jigs, walking baits, crankbaits, spinnerbaits, everything. One threw the lure right as I was starting to reach out to lip him. I have no idea what I was doing wrong, because it sure felt like I was doing everything the same old way I always did it. But sometimes you just have "one of those days". The next day, everything was back to normal. Actually, a little better than normal, as I landed my biggest fish in two years on a jig in a pond that I swore didn't have anything near that big in it!

There's a small lake near me that used to be an unofficial dump. First it was a quarry, then it got abandoned and filled with rain water and all of the locals would just dump their garbage in there. Tons and tons of car parts (it's right across from an auto salvage yard). The city took it over and turned it into a nice lake at great expense. But they didn't do anything to keep it that way, and it's quickly going back to being a dump, because the locals don't care. I was at another small lake deep in the country about two months ago and saw two guys in a beat-up, old pickup truck dump a washer and dryer off a dam into the lake I was fishing. I couldn't get close enough to ID them. Some people are just raised to believe that they're the only ones who matter, and if a lake they're not using is cheaper and easier than the city dump, that's what they'll do. And the city certainly doesn't have the resources to monitor them 24-7. In fact, I've probably called the police out to that first lake ten times or more to report prostitution.

In my opinion, anything less than 6" in rod length is pretty much equal. Sure there will be tiny differences, but they won't fish dramatically different. At least not to me. And even 6" isn't a huge difference. I have a 6'6" rod and a nearly identical 7' rod, and I doubt one has enabled me to catch more fish than the other due to length. I notice the difference, but it's not effecting the way I fish. I have a few old 5'5" rods, and those are pretty different from my 7' rods. I have to Ned rig rods, one is a 6'10" and the other is a 7'. I can't even tell you which is which right now without looking at them. They're different brands, so I notice the power and speed, which are rated the same on both rods, much more than the difference in length.

What I've found is the smaller fish are easier to catch. They don't have years of experience dealing with fishing pressure and recognizing lures behind them. I do a lot of bank beating, and this is usually good for numbers, but so does everyone else in my area. So the size of the fish you can find there usually aren't as good. 1-3 lbs on average. My biggest fish have come from deeper waters way off the bank. But I find it a lot harder to find and catch fish in deeper water, so I don't do it as often. It's a lot easier to target a laydown you can see on the bank than a small rock pile on a point in the middle of the lake that you can only graph. So for me, to catch the big girls usually means giving up what's easy, and doing what's hard. Not only that, but being good at doing what's hard. Finding the fish that most other anglers pass up. Because years of being passed up is what enables them to grow to those big sizes.

They will last about the same as a regular lead acid battery. So if your old, lets say 54Ah battery was enough to last you all day, then a 54Ah lithium should be fine as well. The reason why they say lithium batteries have double the run time, is because you're not SUPPOSED to run a lead acid battery below 50% capacity. However, lots of people do (myself included). And a lithium battery doesn't mind being run down to as low as 20 and sometimes even 10% capacity. Also lithium batteries have a longer lifespan. They can usually last several thousand charging cycles, versus just a few hundred for lead acid, before they start to degrade significantly. However, this is just an average. That doesn't mean YOUR lithium battery will last 10 years or more. It just means that a lot of them can. 54Ah will get you probably an hour and a half of full speed on that trolling motor. Running it at lower speeds will significantly increase the available run time. A 54Ah lithium battery would be equivalent to about a 100Ah lead acid battery, assuming you never drained the lead acid below 50%, which is not a rule everyone adheres to. If you routinely ran that 100Ah battery until it died, then you'd need at least a 100Ah lithium battery, probably bigger. Do you have a battery that you've been using already? What size is it? How much to you typically drain it? That's the best way to know how much power you need.

That's up to you. Every kayak will have pluses and minuses. Designing a kayak is an exercise in compromise. Generally speaking, however, Ascend kayaks are not highly regarded. Your best bet it is to get out there and look at a bunch. Better yet, see if you can find a store that will let you try a couple out on the water. In Knoxville, I'd probably check out River Sports Outfitters or some other independent shop near you. Small, independent shops tend to have the most knowledgeable staff and carry a lot of different brands so you're more likely to wind up with one you really like. And while you might pay a bit more for a kayak at a place like that, you're a lot less likely to wind up buying a second kayak a year from now to replace the first one that you don't like because of some unforeseen problem that you didn't know enough about at the time to recognize it as being a problem.

I've got a friend that catches those all of the time. He calls them 9 lb. bass. Somehow, he always has his scales with him, but never his camera phone.

Too many factors involved to say. It could be immediate. It could be weeks or months. There's more to consider than just the presence of one guy. I'd just go right over there immediately after he left, and maybe try something more finessey. See what happens. Sometimes you don't have to wait. Sometimes just giving them a different presentation is enough. If nothing works, maybe come back in a half hour to an hour. Typically, I'll just go try another spot or two and eventually work my way back whenever it's convenient. If still nothing after an hour, then try it again in two or three.

My rule is six rods. I have space for six rods in my kayak, so I limit myself to just six rods for everything. All of my rods have to be able to do multiple techniques well to make the cut, or else they get replaced. I mean technically, I probably have fourteen rods total, but a few are old and sentimental rods that I inherited. And a few are species specific, like for saltwater or crappie/panfish fishing that I rarely use. And one is a spincast rod and reel for guests to break. When you voluntarily limit yourself to just six, it's kind of surprising how easy it is to get by with just those six and still be able to do everything you want to do well. I'd hate to limit myself to five, because I feel like six is the bare minimum. But then again, I'm betting if I put my mind to it, I could get it down to four and still feel like I have all of my bases covered.

Don't wire them together, in either series or parallel. You can do this with two new batteries of the same type and size. But you're mixing old and new batteries, and two different sizes of batteries. The old battery draining the new battery will be a given. But there's also a risk of one battery blowing up the other. And you don't want a sudden explosion followed by being covered in hot, sulfuric acid while out on the water. What you can do instead, is hook up a switch to switch between the two batteries. That way you don't have to rewire anything, but can just flip a switch. It's okay to set up the switch so both of the negative terminals are connected all of the time. So long as both of the positive terminals aren't connected at the same time as well, the circuit won't be able to drain from both batteries at once, which is what you want to avoid. A simple SPDT switch, with the appropriate voltage and amperage rating (and probably a good idea to get a waterproof one in a waterproof container), connecting both of the positive terminals on the batteries to a single positive wire in your circuit will work.

I don't have the capacitance to sit through a lengthy training session.