Darth-Baiter

I’m lucky where I can pitch better with my left hand. My reels at all based for a right hand person.

Tex rig weightless worm

My kayak mover, my very reliable Toyota Tacoma is showing some weakness. Im hearing a very squeaky u joint or carrier bearing. maybe no fishing this weekend. Truck may be in a shop. Dang.

The Gamy senko is killer around here. It just shimmies a certain way.

My brother bought that dedicated.410 shotgun purpose built turkey gun. Break open single shot. He has been hammering birds out to 40 yards. Good luck everyone!!!

I did. Just slow enough to get it right under the surface. Almost as a top water.

My brother was napping so I grabbed his UL setup to look for crappie. The President reel he has was wobbly. It literally felt like it was wobbling on the retrieve. He just bought a Vanford and he still doesn’t notice the wobble. My brother is blessed with, “indifference “ about gear. Lucky. ‘’I put his reel down and shivered. Nope. Just back away.

i get your point. my 1st kayak was a Hobie Compass. it wasnt bad to paddle around, and i did it a lot in the shallows. i actually stood up and used the paddle the long way, and treated it like a SUP. it really solidified my "Standing up skills" on a kayak and my core got exercised. i went in looking for a fishing kayak first. it had to be comfy and fishing friendly.

hahahhaha...

i jumped right in with a pedal yak. no regrets. the term "beginner kayak" is a bit of a word distraction anyways. what makes it beginner? cost? added stability? roominest? i think i could catch one fish off a floating door, but i digress. we live in a good time for kayak choices for sure. there is a flavor for everyone..whatever you consider "beginner"

i am going to use guide rods. i am bringing one rod with me. the Triza Dragoon. but i am mentally prepped to use the guides house-rods. historically, i suck casting guide reels. i think it is mental, but i just love the familiarty of a home-reel. i have 100% backlashed every guide reel i have ever casted. it is just what i do. so i am bringing my own reels to Brazil. (all will be loaded with fresh braid in the 65lb magnitude i think - maybe one with 50) 1. Shimano 200k 2. Daiwa SV TW or a Shimano 150MGL 3. i want to buy a new reel. i need to buy new reel soon, so i can fish it all late spring and into the summer before i go on my trip. i like the idea of the Tranx 150 mentioned in another thread. it checks another box of my winter brackish water striper fishing trips. or the Shimano Bantam? Surely, i can bring the Shimano 150MGL as my #3 and save a few bucks. but this is my first real bucket list fishing trip. big game hunting hopefully. plus it is fun buying a new reel. under the load of a big fish, i think i felt my beater Shimano SLX DC flex a tiny bit. could be my imagination, but i dont think so. but maybe. but i want a new solid reel. thoughts? tips.? save my money because i already puked out enough money for this Brazil adventure?

this last week. the unbelievable happened. my brother and i were both throwing topwater. we crossed our lines, as my brother was about to bring his bait in to seperate everything before it became a tangled mess., he got hit. big fish on. the fish went for a run, which moved my bait.. another fish took my bait as the 1st fish was dragging it. luckily my fish dove deeper and we didnt get tangled. i think this is the first time i have seen one fish catch another fish on a topwater.

100% the 110 has a relatively fragile bill. I have never broken one, but I hear my friends cussing about it sometimes. I think the thin bill is what gives the 110 it’s charms. It takes tiny jerk motions to send it scurrying thru the water like a scared bait fish. The bites always comes on the pause. Some pauses are 20 seconds….and you feel the yank. No denying a jerk bait bite on the pause.

thanks everyone. i may reach across the ocean and order a Bantam. but the Tranx 150 is a great idea as well.

my good friend hurt his back in Asia. he said he had to lay on the floor of the airplane home most of the time. only got into his seat when ordered by flight crew. he went and saw his doc after really suffering thru the holidays. i called him a few times and i know him as the most upbeat human ever. awesome dude. his voice was different. he was sad and in pain. the doc took a look and said, "we need to operate, here are the risks...." my friend asked, "okay, when?" doc said, "what do you have planned for today? now?" my bud said he didnt have time to be nervous. they prepped him and did the surgery. he said the moment he opened his eyes he knew they fixed it. he was in pain from surgery, but not the back pain anymore. i got my upbeat friend back right away. best of luck Catt. you are lucky to have a great doc.

i crushed them on this lure last year. i took it home, changed the split ring in the nose, and changed out hooks. put it away for this year. i did take it out and try to coax a few LMB with it, but no luck. this year, i put it into a lure keeper and checked it with my luggage. it killed again this year!! killed. its a tad on the lighter side in windy conditions, so it took a spinning reel to get it where they were smashing bait. one time a small bird went after it. i fished it for five days and had to change hooks everyday. big hard mouth striper can beat on hooks. the last two days, i put it away to force myself to try other baits. MVP. the Berkeley Surge Shad in Bone color. i ran out of hooks on the last active day and had to resort to red hooks that i had. this might be my most successful hard bait ever. all striper bass tho. i'll flip it out into clearlake later this month. for sure.

i'm okay with public speaking. first time on stage, i kid you not - my doctor prescribed me something. i have since gotten much better. but we call can and have room for improvement. Toastmasters. anyone?

truth be told. many times, when i am having a hard time catching fish i get bored. when i get bored i tend to do other things. eat, pee, maybe call my wife. i will pitch out a drop shot (or a neko-rig) just in case. i cannot tell you how many times when i am fiddle-effing around a bass will grab my offering. most times, it is just the wind gently pushing my kayak that is working the bait. my hands are pouring corn-nuts in my face hole, or i am chatting up my wife..."oh,..fish on!" then i slow it down. slow it way down.

i like a bluegill pattern. the DEPS bulldoze 100 swims awesome. i had a really good bass attack it but i was so shocked it worked that i stared like a big dummy for way to long and i lost it at the hookset. my rod was too light as well, and it didnt buy me any force at the hook penetration. i literally tossed it out there to only see how it looked in the water. i wasnt ready at any level.

Advantage. from what i can tell, it is not easy to switch away from Advantage. to switch in was easy. you cannot get any home health care with Advantage. my mom is finding this out the hard way. she swapped in because of the attractive drug co-pays, and now she regrets her decision. i plan to play the long game when it is my time. my retirement package will include lifetime health care, so i am blessed.

wow. i just got back from TEXOMA. not a single day i was there, did i not think to myself, "i wouldnt take my kayak into that!". it looked like the ocean on most days.

my jumping off point is the Vision 110. there are so many colors. go crazy.

Drop shot is effective, but it’s slow. Real slow sometimes. I feel a good search bait is a faster approach to get it done.

That bottle was the one I always brought to give to a rancher that let me deer hunt on his ranch. I didn’t like it. Probably because he opened the bottle immediately and shared a glass with me. It was 7 am. it burned more than I like. I rarely drink so when I do, I choose higher up the shelf.