Darth-Baiter

I think its the home prices. I am in Ca and I have 3 no-gas motor boat ramps 7 minutes from me in three directions. wait wut!?? I just noticed this part. our gas prices were that BEFORE all of this stuff happened. I am gonna Zillow your hood now.

NO!! I cut my teeth dropshotting with a 7'3" Phenix Maxim. not the best looking rig out there, but its the action I now seem to gravitate towards. almost ESP level sensitivity for me. the lighted tick on a drop shot is noticeably there. I think it fits your budget. I felt I needed to upgrade, and bought a Phenix Recon and Dobyns Kaden, but not sure how much I gained if any at all. dropshotting for me, the placement of the bait keeper tab on a the rod is one of the biggest things I look for. on the Maxim,it is perfect in my opinion.

My friend trolls almost exclusively. You should see him try to cast accurately. He is like lightning, never hits the same place twice. he is KILLING them with the vision 110. Slow trolling with the occasional THWACK added for emphasis or to clear weeds. Some days he out fishes me 3:1. It’s annoying as…..:)

I do this. Almost. I’m using 20lb braid because my spinning reels are also used on big Stripers occasionally. Plus my local store only ever seems to have it in stock. 8 or 10 lb flouro leader. I go long, double my rod length on the leader. I like to see my leader knot near my casting finger so I can suss it out for integrity on occasion. 10LB leader for big fish waters, 8 for my calmer clear local lakes. my hook is the Owner Downshot in 1/0 usually. I use that dropshot hook because I’m a rare bird that sucks at getting a Palomar to hold the hook correctly. I always tex rig my worms cuz I like casting to cover. I do have 2/0 hooks for Clearlake. The hooks are like needles.

I worry about my OEM Hobie paddle. I think I cracked it somewhere that last trip out. wind, current and I pushed hard against the riprap to get away from the shore. I heard and felt a crack..somewhere. I can't find it visually, but I know the sound. that same trip, I threw the luckiest Senko into a tree. haha..I stood up and couldn't get it because the water was moving to fast and it was just out of reach. I was thinking to myself. "Why doesn't some paddle company put a hook on a paddle?" well, I remembered some fishing paddles have lure retrieval hooks. I cut my line and put on the second luckiest senko and went back to work on the bass I think its time for a new paddle. a stiffer one, and a lighter one, and one that has that darn hook. I think I will go with the Bending Branches version. I am blown away how much they kinda cost!!! yowza..the bait monkey might have to get way way back in the line. I'll go a smidge longer in paddle to assist with standing up paddling and my fat/wide kayak.

smart. really smart. thinking back, I didn't enjoy the trip because of the extra anxiety it caused. I am buying a second MUCH improved paddle. I will keep the first one strapped underneath my truck shell as a backup.

Sounds like you have a path moving forward!

is your hook oriented properly. hook point facing up, hook laying out horizontal to the main line?

I kinda go with a rule. it's based on Need vs Want. I have to have a few things lined up prior to a bigger purchase. like a big reserve if things go bad. that $4k loan gets bigger if you factor in interests. you have one great thing...a good truck that is paid off. dont mess that up. a lesser truck that blows up a transmission when you dont have the money in reserved...bad juju.

my options vary. local lakes I have a park pass further locations, I burn 3/4 tanks of fuel. launch fees are all $10 per day. baits and sinkers...some days are good, some I may as well toss a bunch of stuff overboard and go home. it all averages out I hope.

I feel better seeing some of your fears. at least mine is/are real. hahahha.. waiting for someone to say, "big foot"

i think i am understanding you more. but i feel the opposite. kayak fishing has limitations sure. but they are kayak limitations and i fish within the confines. i am not junk fishing at all. i am kayak fishing. using techiques that may or may not be unique to a kayak. case in point. Clearlake is getting shallow. i crept my kayak in agmongst the boats. fishing was tough. i saw carp tearing up water near shore. i went to them and hit shallow water and noted it was getting deeper where the carp orgy was. i found bass with the carp!! i imagine they were eating food stuff stirred up by the carp? the bass boats couldnt get to where i was. we all fish the way we can, but that doenst make it junk fishing.not to me.

i'm with Franco. i pattern fish to my own limitations, which in my case is a kayak. if i cant get to a bunch of docks cus they are too far away, i either launch closer to docks or i find out where they are if they are not at the docks. if i'm on foot, drop shooting 40 foot structure was never an option for me to begin with. ro docks, unless i own a dock.

i think this is the true answer. they are allowing us options. cut it or dont cut it however you want. if a bass bites, it's because of your perfect well thougth out trimming. if the bait sucks, mmmm..maybe i cut them too short? or not enough. i trim them so i dont slam the legs in the lid. my frog game is not strong.

i googled it. junk fishing is just going thru the tacklebox throwing Hail-Mary's. makes no sense to me, since we all are looking for a fishable pattern with a bait. like dating, you have to go thru a few people before you find the one. it was never called junk-dating. kayaker are inherently junk fishing? i cant draw a line to corrolate the two.

and then tomorrow? hahahha.

i take it back!! i remembered one! i am deathly afraid of tablesaws. i cant even hear the sound as the saw ramps up. i cut my thumb and gave the tool away, the next day.

nothing gives me a crippling fear. nothing like bugs or snakes. i do freak out a tiny bit abnormally with sociopaths. i cant interpret who is nuts, but i cant convince my mind that. i've met some kids that make me wonder if there are dead pets buried in the yard, unexplained fires and the mattress is stained with urine. i should cancel all my television.

i'd go with a FAST action, and the 8-12lb line rod, without knowing anything else.

to close this thread. the lens worked great. no eye fatique and they are super clear with no distortion. happy with my purchase.

one of my fishing buddies once said, "fishing weights are the only reason he knows fractions". then he got something wrong. we laughed at him the whole day.

however, the treble hook frog was crazy-talk. haha:)

Mike. i've seen frogs swimmng along the bottom before. i know a bass has to have hit a swimming frog swimming underwater. hahah.

oh no!!! my family is hoping for the best for your family!!

i dont think you're doing anything wrong. i do use braid to flouro leader tho on my dropshot rig. i dont like to fish it vertically, and i like you cast it out.