Darth-Baiter

I would have leap-frogged his butt and kept fishing. I’m on a slow kayak, and it happens all the time. I love it when I catch a bass right next to them and it explodes out of the water right next to them. ‘’in the end, it’s just fishing for me. Fun. I move aside for tournament people usually. It’s not fun debating against folks in the water. I had a tourney guy bad mouthing me to his co-angler after I left them and found my own open water. Thankfully I was catching and catching. I kept silent. ‘’you don’t know how many times I’m pedaling to a spot only to have a bass boat rip in last minute. It happens.

In Oklahoma I learned a big thrashing striped bass is the best way to get a hook buried into my hand. The do not stay still ever. A friend loaned me an extra fish clamp and it was a game changer with respect to safety. largemouth bass are not much problem, but stripers are and I hook into them on occasion. You like the clamp type or the ones that are more like locking pliers?

Thanks big Rick! Think I could put heavy braid in it and punch w it?

Depends. On drop shots it’s a gentle hook set. My hooks are needle like. ‘’punching it like I’m angry at the fish. Everything else is somewhere in between.

I still tend to mess up my line when I pitch or punch for bass. It eventually will backlash. I’m getting better and my last outing was pretty successful in presenting my bait without much drama ( I still skunked tho). I cast lefty so I can just reach for the reel-handle with my right. I can’t skip a bait-cast YET. any thoughts on this low (line) capacity reel? It’s toted as a pitch/skip reel. What about loading it up with heavy braid and punching with it?

The waves were epic. It was like facing the ocean standing on the bank. I inadvertently snapped the tip off of his rod. It was a Shimano SLX rod. It was fine. Casted great, and hauled in angry striped bass perfectly. I almost fell in while snagged to a rock and the tip just popped off. I’ve done it before and clipped it down to the next guide and kept fishing. It’s profound (not in an good way) what that missing 4” does to a rod. I didn’t do it to this one but simply used a borrowed spinning rod (super carefully). I hate how a shortened rod feels. I see rod tip repair kits. They must affect how a rod feels right? I sent him a new replacement. A Fury 733C. Hope he likes it.

I drag it, and pause. The hits always seem to come at the pause.

the best knot you can tie. on land the FG. on the water the Alberto.

All honesty, my stepdad cooked a high end carp dish that was a show stopper. I don’t have those skills.

My friend just caught a giant 35 lb carp on a crappie jig this morning from shore. Texoma! they accidentally snagged three last night. Big fish. I was dedicated to stripers so I stayed the course.

Texoma is a blast. We caught a bunch of striped bass. This is my first one. crazy how well the Berkeley Surge Shad worked. Working a top water in such huge waves was so counter intuitive as a largemouth angler.

I don’t understand rod balance. A rod manufacturer couldn’t possibly know what reel you’re going to use. The reel is the greatest influence IMHO..

I don’t love the synthetic pull over all that much. They do work as promise tho. I wear a loose fitting Simms Big Sky button up and it’s the best shirt for me. Air flow is awesome and I don’t get that funky BO like from the pull overs.

I’m not a boater. Could he have held on strong enough not to get tossed?

Mine doesn’t wear out. It runs outs. I have braid on my surf cast reel that’s really old. The lack of snags means I never lose any. It’s pretty faded tho.

I’ve seen him out on the water. I never bother him.

3 feet? I would at least try to pick it up with my toes. The water is barely washing up against my junk at that depth.

I can’t wait. Packing a few reels to pair up with loaner rods. Bringing a box of lures. Big giant topwaters mostly. Gonna beat the banks for Striped Bass. Camping with my brother and friends. any suggestions or pep-talks? I’ve never been to the region.

It was OMG windy. I’d guess a steady 8-10 mph with 15 gust. At one point while fighting wind and tidal currents, pushing my pedals furiously only got me 2mph. I felt like I was in a hamster wheel. Casting; eddy currents spun us around and around. If you pause to pick at a backlash, by the time you looked up you were 100 feet away. I got pushed into an owners dock hard. The owner gave that, “get off my lawn look” but kept quiet and went back in his palatial home. Hehe. Fishing was tough. I got three fish. I lost three hard bites because my line was always so slack from it washing around in the currents. It was SO MUCH FUN! The California Delta is Scary and challenging. Always beautiful and mysterious on the delta for me. And I got a lot better punching mats. My left hand punch-pitching is getting better. Not sure my buddies will go back, but I am. There is a lot to explore. I talked to another kayaker and he got 5 bass and 6 striper, so I know I have lots to learn.

Report back by COB. Fingers crossed and all bananas stowed at home.

Thanks I have some. Nothing heavy enough to punch thru a mat tho. I’m fishless on the stupid tube.

First two bobber stops. I pushed the tungsten weight into the body. Then I used a huge sewing needle and ran the line thru the tip of the body while penetrating the hole in the sinker. Now I have the line running down they the body of the tube. I tied in a 2/0 EWG hook. Heaviest wire hook I had and tied it on. I still used a snell knot. Then I kinda eyeballed how the hook should lay and ran the point up into the body and came out where I thought it should and then pulled the line while turning the hook. Then all that was left was to hide the hook tip under the skirt. I need to go find a heavier hook for the future if this works.

5” wacky SENKO. I was caught by surprise for sure.

This technique is not my strongest skill. I kinda suck. from a kayak it isn’t easy especially in the wind. I hate keeping the bait together so I decided to change up my bait. I’m trying a tube. I shoehorned a tungsten weight and threaded a hook underneath. I can’t get the proper hook in the limited space so I put a stubby heavier hook in there “best I can” any other punching a tube with a hidden weight?

Stealing this for future use.