Bankc

Throw a bunch of different lures at a bunch of different weights, and you'll figure it out. It'll cast easiest at some point. And it doesn't all have to do with the weight of the lure. Some of it has to do with how fast you whip that rod. But once you hit the sweet spot, you'll notice you get maximum distance with minimal effort. There's some science behind it that helps to explain it all, but since there's no agreed upon standard for rod specifications in the industry, it doesn't do much good to stare hard at the numbers and try to math all of that out. So it's best to just take those printed rod specs as a generalized starting point, and put your trust in your own personal experience to make the final decision on where any given rod casts best.

Just the side scan? I had a problem with the side scan on my Hook 2 recently. It slowly stopped showing detail over the course of two years. It would still show the bottom and all of the bottom contours, but the bottom started to look barren, even when I passed right by a tree. Turns out, my transducer was wearing out. I've learned with these Lowrance Tripleshot transducers, they're pretty fragile. Don't run them out of the water, and don't allow them to bang on things. Replacing my transducer fixed it. I also got the BPS "extended warranty", which I almost never do, because I figure I'll be replacing it again in another two years. Also, you may have to turn up the contrast on the side scan or adjust the palette. I have my contrast usually around A5-A10 (auto plus 5-10). Especially if you have it set to 800 kHz, which seems to not produce as bright of an image as the 455 kHz. Or maybe you're right and you just need a bigger screen. Even if it is a transducer problem, replacing the whole system might make more sense in the long run. I considered it, but didn't want to spend that much money just yet.

That's what I'm thinking. It's hard to tell just from one picture. If you move around the lake and everything looks like that, then it's probably not fish, but something else. If you find pockets that look like this and other places that look empty, then it's probably fish. However, it's probably not largemouth bass, as they don't often congregate all throughout the water column like this (in my experience). In my local lakes, a picture like this usually means white bass or crappie. Largemouth bass will usually show up as 1-10 fish, all huddled around a piece of cover or structure, at around the same depth. Usually. We don't have large smallmouth populations near me, and I understand their behavior is different, but I don't know exactly how so.

I fish it like a jig or crankbait (or spinnerbait). Either lift and drop, making sure to lift it fast enough to get it to thump, or a steady retrieve, often with a few pauses in between. Sometimes fast, sometimes slow. The trick to a bladed jig, in my opinion, is to find grass. I can't get them to produce in open water, and they'll get hung up on wood too easily. So grass is the only place I have luck with them. They're basically spinnerbaits to me, only designed for grass instead of wood.

I don't even carry a tackle bag when bank fishing. I typically rig my rod up beforehand, and then just fish that one thing. I'll usually bring along a second incase I get hung up, and just hook it onto my jacket or jeans. I guess that's the good thing about having a kayak. When I want to spend a whole day fishing, and try multiple approaches, I'll bring my kayak and load it up. When I don't have the time to mess with all of that, I'll simplify it down to just one approach and concentrate on maximizing what I can do with that. It forces me to become a better angler with my chosen technique. Plus, getting through all of the vegetation along the bank greatly reduces the amount of tackle that I can even throw from the bank.

They're the most consistent colored crankbait for me. And the weird thing is, we don't even have perch down here! Instead, we have lots of sunfish like redear and bluegill. We also have lots of shad and minnows around here, but shad patterns don't seem to work as well. I think it has more to do with the stained water I fish in. Bright yellows and greens like chartreuse, firetiger, and perch always seem to outproduce more muted colors for me. I can't say as though the perch pattern jerkbaits work well for me. But then again, none of the jerkbaits work well for me. Again, probably the stained water.

I often go with about one rod's length of leader. I hate feeling the knot on the spool of my baitcaster with my thumb. So I like to rig it up so that the knot stays just outside the reel when I cast. With spinning reels, I'll usually go a little longer. Maybe up to two rod lengths. I like longer leaders because I have to retie them less often. However, if you leader is going to be really long, then why use a leader at all? I'll usually retie a new leader once I'm left with under a foot of leader.

5% average? It's like a friend mine says. "If I put your head in ice and your feet in the fire, you'll have no reason to complain because they'll both average out, right?"

Situations like this remind me of some lines from George Herbert. "Do well and right, and let the world sink." "Living well is the best revenge."

Or you could try some waterproof cable glands.

Same here. I have noticed a tendency to start off power fishing the shallows, and slowly work my way towards finesse fishing deeper water if the bite doesn't come. I feel like I'm fishing harder if I can feel my bait working the entire retrieve. I also throw way too many glide baits because they are just too fun to retrieve! And for whatever reason, I only catch channel cats with them. And I hate having to unhook a channel cat! But glide baits are like remote controlled lures, and you can make them do just about anything, dart and roll, shimmy, swerve, spin around... So I just can't say no!

I have a Hook2 5, and it's fine for me in my kayak. First, if you haven't had your eyes checked in a while, do that. Almost everyone will eventually experience a decline in eyesight as they get older, and lots of problems can be fixed or treated. Secondly, do you have a sun shade on it? I have to have a shade on mine, or it's useless on most days, even cloudy ones. Third, make sure you're not wearing polarized glasses, or if you are, take them off when viewing the screen. Polarized glasses don't get along with LCD screens, because LCD screens are polarized themselves. If all of that checks out, then the best you can do if go to the store and try out a couple of fish finders in the store. Test them from the distance that you've got yours mounted at to see how they compare. Also, test the 5" screens at the store to get a baseline, as the store's lighting will be a lot better behaved than what you'll experience on the water. It might also be wise to cut out a piece of carboard and place it over you existing fish finder and sit in your kayak with it, to get a feel for how big is too big.

Lakes. Most of the year, the rivers near me are shallow enough to walk across without getting your shoes wet.

Caught a bass about two weeks ago and gut hooked him. It was a mess to get the hook out and took a couple of minutes (dunked him in the water every 30 seconds or so). When I finally got him free and put him back in the water, he struggled and floated up on his side. He lost a lot of blood. So I grabbed him by the back and held him along the side of my kayak and puttered around at about 1/2 mph for about five minutes to get water flowing over his gills. He finally kicked free and swam off. I don't know if he survived, but I at least felt better about trying something.

If it never worked right, there might be something wrong with it. I'd take it apart and see if something is misaligned, missing or broken.

The longer the kayak, the more stable and quicker it will be through the water. A longer kayak will sit higher up in the water, because it has more surface area below it. So it'll produce less drag. Also, because it's larger, it'll be more stable. And because it's longer, it'll track straighter. However, the shape of the hull has a lot to do with this stuff as well, so length alone doesn't mean much. The longer kayak will also be heavier, take up more space and won't maneuver as easily. The maneuverability isn't usually an issue for fishing kayaks, unless you fish very narrow creeks or deep inside submerged forests. But the added weight and the amount of storage space you have available to allocate to the kayak (as well as transportation concerns) are things to consider. 12 feet seems to be about the sweet spot for fishing kayaks. Most fishing kayaks tend to be between 10-14 feet long, with a whole bunch being made right around the 12 foot mark. But. like I said, length alone doesn't mean much.

Anytime you drill a hole in your kayak to install something new, put a dab of Marine Goop in there. Most of the time, it's not necessary, as most of the methods of installing things are self-sealing. But it never hurts to add a little extra insurance, and the Goop is easy enough to remove, should you ever change your mind. As for trolley anchors, buy whichever one you like. I bought the cheapest one I could find, and it's never been anything but a joy to use. They're simple designs. I can't help you with nets. I don't use them. Space is very limited in a kayak and a net would just slow me down. So there's no real upside for me. I either flip the fish into the boat, or pull them up along side to either lip them or grab them by the belly, depending on the hook situation. Sometimes I'll even grab them by the back, just be sure to slide you hand slightly down their back as you do it (push that dorsal fin down), and don't lift their head up so you don't get stuck by a dorsal spine. Landing a fish with your hands isn't hard after you've done it a dozen times or so.

Exactly what I was thinking. Except for the baby brush hog. So probably a Zoom Trick Worm. If you go to Walmart's website, you can sort by "best selling". And depending on what key words you use, you'll find a lot of Zoom Trick Worms, U-tails, and Yum Dingers.

The best thing to do is to make out a list of your priorities. With kayaks, there is no "best". Each one does something the other's can't (or don't do as well). So choosing the right one is all about figuring out what you want out of it. Everything is a tradeoff in the world of kayaks. So you just have to find the one that balances all of those tradeoffs in a way that suits you best. It also helps if there's a local shop that will let you demo some ones that look most interesting to you.

Two years ago, I was talking to a OHP officer at the boat ramp who relayed this story to me about a similar incident he got called out to the weekend prior on Texoma. https://www.kxii.com/2021/07/11/two-killed-one-injured-lake-texoma-boat-accident/ This article seems to suggest that they weren't wearing their PFD's, but according to the officer I spoke with, they were.

Don't worry about what other people say. First off, we all know anglers love to lie (or at least embellish). Not all, mind you. But it's common enough that I take everything I hear from an angler's mouth with a grain of salt. Secondly, the good spots on a lake can change from year to year. So maybe you're relying too heavily on what you remembered were the best spots, instead of relying on the techniques and theories that led you to those spots in the first place. Thirdly, focus on having fun and growing, not on the results. If you teach your child one thing about fishing, it should be this: patience. That's the single most important life lesson to be taken from fishing. The goal shouldn't be to catch fish. The goal should be to always get better at catching fish. Play the long game. It's far less important that you were good today than it is that you will be better tomorrow, and every tomorrow that follows. The results will come if you put in the work. Have the patience to still be there when they do. I quit fishing for around 20 years. Three years after I picked it back up, I'm better than I ever was, even before my hiatus. It took the full three years though. Eventually everything I had learned came back to me, and I was able to understand in the light of all of the new things I had recently learned. I think it took me that first entire year to learn how to forget what I thought I knew and instead to listen to what the fish were trying to tell me. In other words, I was focused on all of the correct answers to all of the wrong questions.

It's mainly just the northwestern through central parts of the state. In the east and south, where our best lakes are, it tends to be a lot calmer.

Define "heavy horrendous wind". Because I don't think you and I have the same definition for that. For example, here's a picture from a day I tried to fish (from the bank because I'm only half stupid) with winds at 40mph with gusts reaching 80. It doesn't look so bad. But it's only a 60 acre lake, which is less than 0.1 square miles. To me, 15mph with 25mph gusts isn't even windy. That's just the normal breeze, and is good kayaking weather.

Depends on the stick. If the rod is kind of stiff, I'll go with 10# mono to add some stretch for those treble hooks. If the rod has good flex, I prefer 30# braid. I'm not too picky for poppers. Now walking baits, I heavily prefer mono. I don't know why, but they seem to get the hooks tangled up in the line a lot easier than poppers, and the stiffness of mono seems to help with fouling.

That's pretty much the standard here in central OK for the spring. This is actually the first time in three years that I've gotten to fish the prespawn/spawn, because it's always too windy to be out there on the water in my kayak (and I can only fish on the weekends due to my schedule). But so far this year, we've had two days with sustained winds below 18mph and gusts below 25 (which is my cutoff for being out in my kayak), and it looks like we might get another this weekend! It's no fun hearing everyone else on the planet talking about prespawn and bed techniques, when you know from late February to late May is the one time of year you can almost never get out to fish.