Firstoutfisher

It's that time of the year. My season is pretty much over until things start warming up in Spring. In order to fulfill some of that urge to fish, I am spending my time preparing for next season. I just purchased a fishing Kayak at the end of this season and I am looking forward to using it next spring. I can only carry 4 rods at once comfortably on the kayak. So as part of preparation for next season I have decided to take a minimalist route. In addition to needing less rods I am hoping this can help me better learn specific techniques. At the beginning of this project I had for some reason decided on 5 total techniques/lures I want to focus on. That number is mostly arbitrary but less is more right? So far I have decided on these techniques Jig(w/beaver trailer) Spinnerbaits Crankbaits(squarebill) Jerkbaits What would you suggest for additional techniques to add to this arsenal? I will probably switch up my setup once seasons start changing but these are going to be what I am mostly focusing on. I live at lake of the ozarks by the way, I mainly fish LOTO,table rock,bull shoals, stockton, and truman. So if you are familiar with the area and know techniques that work especially well here let me know!

IMA suspending vibe or sixth sense quake 80 suspend are what you're looking for. I have personal experience with the ima and recommend it. I have not tried the sixth sense but it is the same concept.

I purchased a daiwa rebellion 610MHRB to use as an all around rod/jig trig rod but ended up getting a AGS target sniper over black friday before even putting a reel on the rebellion. The target sniper is going to take over as my jig/worm rod. I am thinking of setting up the rebellion for spinnerbaits/chatterbaits/swimjigs as primary use and walking topwaters secondarily. What would be the best line or combination of lines to cover this spectrum of usage? I was thinking probably braid to FC leader.

The new st croix bass X swimbait rods for treble hook lures

Quality components on that rod sure, but it is $40 more uses a no name reel seat and not transparent about where the blank is sourced. Not to mention the winn grips which have great grip but IMO seem to negatively impact the sensitivity of the rod. Now I personally haven't fished that rod but I have felt it in the store. In my opinion going off of feel and the paper specs it isn't as good of a rod. Now a lot of that can be subjective but can't argue with the specs.

Okuma Psycho Stick Casting Rods - Tackle Warehouse 30% for $160 total at tacklewarehouse right now, FUJI sic guides and other quality components usually only found on $300+ rods. I'm telling you right now there is no way you are going to find something better at this price point.

Picked up a steez AGS 6'9 target sniper rod, haven't got a reel for it yet. Would have got an additional rod with thehookuptackle BOGO 1/2 off deal but they were out of the other steez models I was interested in.

ABU zenon on sale at thehookuptackle for $250

Looks decent,I will have to get some and see it in person. Looks more pink or too light for what I am wanting. I'll give that a shot. That purple chameleon/silver flake is exactly the color I am looking for. No idea why no one makes this color anymore, used to be super common in the 90s.

I'm looking for soft plastics that are purple with silver flake. I have yet to find anyone who has this color. If anyone can find a company that makes soft plastics in this color please let me know! I would appreciate it!

d**n rodholders next to the toilet,baller ?

Which version do you use? From my understanding there are two different version, the dredge and the grid iron and they both use different hooks. What is the profile like? looks like a very full profile especially with a 4/0 and 5/0 hook but hard to tell from pictures

Finally going to bite the bullet and order some Siebert's with the 10% sale. Plan on getting 1/2 oz dock rocker for skipping docks and pitching around structure. What version do you all recommend? Also what is the profile like on these,trying to get a good idea for what size trailer will work with them.

I don't believe it is related to my leader knot whatsoever because where the problem occured was nowhere near my leader knot and leader knot was intact. Just an update,didn't hear back from seaguar or tacklewarehouse either one. I am assuming maybe because theyre extremely busy or because it has been so long since I placed my order. Anyway before stripping the brand new line off my reel I decided to retie a lure, this time I tied direct to braid with a palomar knot. I could immediately see the change in color of the line near my knot and upon further inspection with out even casting it I could see the individual strands seperating 1-2" above my knot. After about 30 minutes of casting the exactly same thing happened. The line came unraveled and bunched up and caused a huge mess. Never have had any issues with any of the other braids I have used. I am sure this is quality line and I just got a bad batch but it left a sour taste in my mouth and I will be going back to daiwa braid or switching to something else.

Careful, my other line if choice is J braid grand, was just about to buy a spool of it to replace this. ?

A week ago I spooled up some 10lb flash green seaguar smackdown on my new spinning combo. I spent a couple days testing different leader connection knots. I noticed right away that when tying knots the braid seemed to seperate, where you could see very fine individual strands. Usually close to where the knot was being tied. I thought to myself it must be an isolated thing and cut away that section of braid and moved on. After I finally got a setup I was happy with I went out and fished the combo over two days for about an hour at a time. The line was very slick and limp and cast like an absolute dream. I went out tonight just to a little cove of open water to test some new topwater baits I got. I made a handful of casts, my lure got hit but I didn't hook up. I quickly reeled back in to cast to the same spot and as I casted my lure went flying through the air. Upon inspecting my rod, reel and line for damage I noticed the braid appeared to be coming undone. The individual strands were seperated and it was coiling on itself, like the outside of a shoelace when it bunches up and separated from its cores. I would say a good 10 meters of line had come undone like this and bunched up on my third guide. I cut away the seemingly ruined section of line and went for a very cold swim to retrieve my lure. After I got home I inspected the line more closely and the section that came unraveled was a very pale green, almost a greenish off white compared to the fluro green on the rest of my spool. Prior to this the line was bright green like the rest of it. A quick google search and I found another user that had a similar issue on bass resource except with stealth gray. Looks like that user also purchased their line from tacklewarehouse. Mine obviously wasn't from the same batch but it has me wondering. Did I just get a spool of line from a bad batch? Did I do something incorrectly that could have caused this? Or was it just a freak accident? I'm not sure but I do know one thing, as nice as this line casts,feels and looks I have zero confidence in the line that is spooled on my reel right now. I am going to contact seaguar customer service and tacklewarehouse and see what they say. I doubt I will be able to get a replacement spool since I purchased it during black friday last year, lol. Anyway just wanted to throw this here to see if anyone else has had a similar experience. Or maybe troubleshoot what I could have possibly done wrong. I tried my best to photograph a section of line next to the spool to illustrate what I am talking about but its almost impossible to see in the picture. Also attached a picture of the label so you can see it is indeed legitimate seaguar line.

Removed some line from the reel and went back out today. I started pulling the slack out of my line when I flip the bail and that seems to have helped as well. Still having some of these slack knots but none have gone under the reel yet. I think with more practice I will probably be able to make the spinning gear work. It is just so much more comfortable to me than trying to work a topwater with a baitcaster. Although I will still use a baitcaster for heavier topwater anyway!

There is probably 1/16" between the edge of the spool and my line but I had this same thought. I think slack line takeup is the main culprit but having too much line may contributing. I already took some line off and will report back here with my findings. It was awesome with my 1/4 oz popper! Was getting the thing to pop twitch it back and upwards and every which way. Actually caught a 1lb crappie on my popper with it tonight. Never seen a crappie strike a topwater like that.

Took out my megabass ronin tonight and some small topwaters, a small walking bait and a small popper to be exact. Just wanted to see how spinning gear handled topwaters. I will so the action on the ronin was absolutely perfect for topwaters. I was effortless walking my sb777 and popping my popper. It was awesome to work the baits with my right hand. I was also able to work it in every direction and at more angles than with a baitcaster. However I kept having issues with the line coming off my spool and wrapping around the outer part beneath the spool. I assume this is from taking up lots of slack line while walking the baits? Has anyone else here experimented with topwaters on spinning gear? Wondering if this might actually be viable. Side note the sb777 is awesome,was casting it as far on a 6'8 spinning rod as I cast a full size walking bait on my 7'2 baitcaster.

Wow I did not expect so many replies. Lots of good information here. I appreciate everyone's input. I'm going to practice some different knots and do some testing whenever I get time.

Finally got around to learning the FG knot and I can't get it to work for the life of me. I'm using 10lb seaguar smackdown braid with 8lb seaguar red label fluoro. After completing my 16-20 wraps for the FG knot and tying the 2 half hitches to lock it in place. Whenever I go to cinch the knot down by pulling on the leader+main line the fluoro just slips through the knots/wraps. Am I doing something wrong or is it because of the line I am using?

freaking sweet deal,would grab one if I didnt just pick up a rebellion rod and a zillion

Daiwa tatula(not the XT)from ebay or elsewhere can be had for around $100. They make a 7' medium fast. Best spinning rod you will get at that price point.

Plan on just putting in and fishing

Got a new fishing kayak and I am super anxious to take it out. I live on lake of the ozarks so I am definitely going to fish here but my buddy and I want to take a weekend fishing trip somewhere while the weather is still decent. What are the best kayak fishing spots near springfield, MO? Been looking at taneycomo,table rock,stockton and bull shoals.