Darth-Baiter

maybe when you grabbed the line you took the shock absorbtion in your drag and rod out of the equation. right or wrong, if i am bank fishing and i have a tired fish at the shore, i walk backwards and do my best to beach the beast. rod horizontal and taking advantage of the bounce.

your first statement is on target. "i like it, i think" haha. i was hoping someone on this forum had one and was an expert. it comes apart into three pieces IIRC.

i just wear a headlamp. a Petzl. i dont aways wear a billed cap. a headlamp works. i sometimes wear it drooped around my neck to provde a glow, that i can work in.

agree. i have been with a friend that lost a paddle, and i gave him half of mine to get by. we ended up finding his later in the day.

hahaha..you're killing me. today was fairly benign.

i dont actually know the definition of "junk fishing". just throwing random baits? my long haul kayak fishing days are roughly just shy of 15 miles of travel. my legs are sore now from saturday. but i tend to fish 1-2 baits once i figure out the pattern.

i was watching a Blanchard Video, and they had this tiny dolly on the tube. if i had to pick one thing i hate about kayak fishing it would be getting off the water. getting on the water is easy. i load my kayak at my truck, roll it to the water's edge, pickup the rear of my kayak and let the scupper cart drop off, attach cart to kayak, jump in and go harass the bass. off the water, i almost get boat ramp anxiety - i hate tying up a ramp when the bass boats are lined up behind me.. i beach it at the ramp and then i need to unload everything, and tip the kayak on the side to get the cart in. i am NOT interested in some of those bungee methods. i am trying to stay as dry as i can for the drive home. (maybe i should try it - thinking about it now). this cart makes it look easy! just dock my kayak run to the truck and grab dolly, put kayak on it and drag the entire rig to the truck to unload. thoughts? expensive really.

My poor buddy came with me. He likes to troll for bass. He’s very good at it and impresses me all the time with his sheer numbers. my third cast while waiting for a third friend gave me HOPE. I thought it was gonna be “one of those (magical) days”. Nope. Just a regular day. Haha. I’m learning the Delta. The learning curve is slower than I hope, but I’ll get there. I’ll put in the work and I’ll put in the miles. Maybe solo more often cuz friends that troll (and can’t) complain like little kids. “ it’s hot, this is boring, how long are we staying…”. Haha. I had a blast giving him crap and he actually did have a good time At the end when he found a weed channel he can cruise down. one day folks..one day. I’m gonna have a magical CA delta day. I love that place. It’s huge and intimidating. Especially on a kayak. Too many marinas to launch from. You get opposite fishing reports from areas so far apart.

I tried the Blanchard way today and it works. I do it lefty so my distance is regular. But accurate.

update. I have taken my shoes on water about 8x now. my only regret is not getting them earlier or even knowing about them. they are fantastic. I hike and drag my kayak more than I care to admit. these are superior. slip/sliding down a greasy boat ramp is much easier. I tend to suck gravel into them sometimes, but I pull them off and rinse them and good to go. the ankle hole is tiny, so stuffing your feet into them requires you take your time to fully loosen the laces - a lot. I am so much cooler on the water in the summer now. no more hot feet. no stink yet. I sun dry them quickly and bring them in.

my first finesse set up was just under $250 I think. Phenix Maxim rod. medium 7'3" and the Daiwa 2500 Procyan AL. I got so many fish on that set up. I actually lost the rod overboard and immediately bought the exact same rig and got back to stacking up the fish. not sure why I bought another, but just being dumb with money..I bought another rig. I could have gone on forever with that first set up. I still use it with joy. IMPORTANT: it makes a big difference in happiness where the bait holder tab is on the rod. pay attention to this and save yourself a headache. say drop-shot rigs. it is a huge benefit to have the bait holder tab down low between the split grips, so when you clip the sinker there, your hook isn't up there in the guides (or worse) buried deep into your rod sleeve.

yea. admittedly it is what I started with and what I grew accustomed to.

that Hoodoo looks like a Hobie. I use my reverse on my Hobie. mostly for me getting too excited and coming into a fishing spot hot. I need to slow it down before I plow into the spot I am casting to. if I was a calmer more patient human, I wouldn't need it quite so often. if I hit a spot, I tend to do tight u-turns and come back around for a second or third cast. weeds. there is no better. I can glide over most weeds with a shallow "flutter kick". I am so confident in weeds I sometimes let my drive bury itself into the weeds as an impromptu anchor or spot lock. then when I want out, I lift my drive out and stuff it back in to untangle and flutter kick out. last weekend I left my buddy in his Native 10.5 in the dust. I just kicked to a distant island. I look back for Ray and I see him paddling with paddles (the horrors). I went back and asked if his drive broke or something. he said it was weed-bound. I didn't even notice the weed bed I lead him thru. opps.

that's the plan. I am loading up tonight for an EAAARRRLY drive. triple checking the paddle for sure.

I'm out!! hahha...

the dude sold his house....:D

100% correct. I did however ask my eye doctor about cheap sunglasses. she said, sunglasses dont have to be expensive to be good. but junk sunglasses are no good. they actually fool your eye into thinking its darker, and your eyes dilate wider, and will actually let in more harmful UV stuff. she said to look for UV filtering lenses bare minimum. something she said. I like Medium sunglasses.

I cook extra food and deliver to the elderly neighbors that live alone on my block. tough to shop and cook for one, I suppose. I think this and your veggie neighbors are entirely different. and GirlScouts. different.

some girlscout at my door might fleece me easily for my pocket money. I get it. I can get behind a box of thin-mints. but big stuff? lately it's been Solar Energy companies banging at my door. offering a free consultation. if/when I decide to go solar, I will do my due diligence, check references, get multiple quotes, etc. I am NOT buying from the pompous kid giving me stink eye at my door. same old stuff, "I am in the neighborhood working with some of your neighbors..". I always ask, "which neighbor?" it got me thinking. I have NEVER bought anything from a door to door salesperson. I understand the job must be challenging beyond anything I can imagine. this kid got ticked at me. I kept saying "no thanks" over and over again. smiling trying to be polite, and understanding. I finally said, "listen, you hear that? that is a meeting I am attending". "when can I come back?" "you dont like to hear NO, huh?" his facial expression went dark. it has to be the worst way for a company to sell something. annoy and bother the person right from the get-go. poor kid. solar companies and pest control companies. gah...

yea. I forgot to attach my paddle to the side of my kayak.

hahah..you bring up a few good points. my PB is 7lbs. I caught it from my buddies bass boat. in my mind, I need one from my kayak to make it official. dumb and ridiculous I know, but only in my mind. which is a weird place to begin with. finally, your main point hits home. in Mandarin there is a saying that states, "a simple life is a good life". it sounds way awesome in Mandarin. I think a kayak is perhaps a simpler life. thanks Fishtank.

40 mph winds is a lot!! wow. kudos.

https://www.revantoptics.com/

truth. there is no free lunch. my kayak is actually easier to paddle while I am standing. hah. or is suck at paddling which is entirely possible.

my old Arnette sunglasses are great. had them for maybe 15 years. way discontinued. they saved me from a face full of wet cement once, but they didn't come out unscathed. years of bowhunting, fishing, etc tore up the lenses and put the sunglasses into my junk-drawer. I was just about to toss them when I decided to search aftermarket companies. I found Revant. shipping was kinda slow and communication was subpar as well, but in about 2 weeks I got new green mirrored lens for less than $40. they fit!! one lens was tight to click in, but the other was smooth and easy. I now have another pair to rotate on my fishing trips. nice to have plastic lenses for some fishing applications. just a heads up if you have a pair of beloved sunglasses past their prime. there is hope.