Darth-Baiter

my friend made me a rod. it is stunning and flings a 3/4oz anything like a catapult. that is the sweet spot for sure. I got home and thought.."great, now I need a reel". big top waters, soft swimbaits, maybe even big bottom contact. I struggled between buying my 3rd Zillion SV, or trying the HD. hope I chose correctly. my BIL flies out to Tokyo in a bit..just sent him a screenshot of the Z-HD.

Haha. No offense meant. First knot I learned and it’s burned into my muscle memory. Young people always ask me what knot it is.

Omg! I am so bummed for you all.

My bro in law is headed to Tokyo. Zillion or Zillion HD is my mental dilemma. Ha

any fishing. bass fishing, trout, etc. that tug and fish-fight is so exhilarating, the epitome of FUN for me. fish cleaning/butchering is NOT fun for me. my wife sent me out to refresh the freezer supply. okay. oh boy did I have fun catching fish!! I really focused on my fish finder this time, as an example from some YouTube guy I watch from Australia. I'm on a kayak, so it was a truncated version of what he does, but it worked. I would find a hump on the ocean floor, littered with "blips" around it. there is no telling where that hump is, since I move at different speeds and my FF does the fish-finder thing at it's own pace. so I do a tight u-turn and drop the bait and move back along my old track line from my GPS. BOOM! when I swim bait hits the swam, something grabs on. exhausting fishing (fishing the current/swells/wind), exhausting cleaning all my gear of blood and salt.. EXHAUSTING cleaning my catch. I do it squatted down, with the fish on a cutting board resting on my ice chest..in my driveway. 1000 squats, deep knee bends..hahha.. oh yea. the beach launch is down a steep 40 deg ramp about 100 yards long. I kept forgetting things like my keys in my PFD after I ran up the hill to get my beach wheels!! my heart rate was on fire going up and down that thing like I was training for elk hunting. next time on any party boat, I am pulling out my wallet and letting the guys fillet my fish. I can clean whole fish presentations with the best of them. but I suck at filleting and pulling off collars, cheek meat, etc. suck at it. and I CHIPPED the edge of my Japanese knife working so tired. :(. I am glad I dont enjoy eating fresh water fishes...except walleye..maybe Stripers.

None whatsoever. Except my friend hooking my combo and casting it into a lake like a trebuchet. Sinks fast enough.

Double SDJ. If I’m feeling 1900’s, I do an improved clinch knot.

My BIL is headed to Tokyo. I’m handing him zillion and Vanford money. Cash.

I assume the JDM 2000 size = our domestic 1000?

For whipping out light tiny swim jigs?

I brought zero lmb and smb tackle. A med rig or 4” wacky? Nope. My buds only throw UL grubs. I don’t even have a light rod combo. Dudes are hauling out 3lb smb right by our camp. Haha. Figures. Driving to a tiny town now for a senko. And a burger. Oklahoma. Kinda dope.

Marine Goop is what is recommended by burley pro for their keel guard.

my friend just got an 8 punching.

I know. I think Shasta would have been a good choice.

yea. my brother said this as well. thx.

Hybrids. Is it true the fight to the death? Catch release difficult?

White bass is what started it all for me. So much fun.

I might agree with you. but a hybrid seems shaped like a tuna torpedo. my brother thinks a big hybrid pulls harder than a amazon river peacock..to which I say..."BS!". I have fought Mexican bass and they are quite the tiny hammers... I hope to do some research for "Science"

I'm heading to OKLAHOMA to try to determine if a Hybrid bass is indeed the hardest fighting, pound for pound champion according to my brother and friends. then it is off to TEXOMA to harass the Stripers. I bring a great travel casting rod with me and I need to poach a Curado DC from the rod it rides on all year. then I poached a couple of spinning reels. I will be seeking the nastiest in-my-face wind I can find for both fish. I left a few rods at my brothers home, since traveling with rod tube isn't my favorite thing to do. it is crazy how nasty a reel seat gets after a year of not thinking about it. yikes. hahaha.. spare reels are in short supply around here for me. rods I have. reels, get taken off, respooled if needed and put into travel mode. I do wish I had a second DC reel. the wind is no joke.

as I age. I think access to health care, and my circle of friends override my love of fishing. I love fishing. but my proudest and most cherished are my friendships. I would stay here.

I think I will rig up a clamp to attach to trees next time. an anchor line is so cumbersome to me. I am not that tidy and fastidious. a bit of a hot mess on my kayak. the teeth on spots amazes me. they bite and cling onto my fishing gloves like velcro. hahah..I love them.

My stomach was growling. I ate this. A Japanese Mochi. It’s a soft, gooey, sticky rice dessert,stuffed w taro paste. It was like an energy blast. So good. I bought these for my wife on a recent work trip.

I hit a lake 3 hours away. I jumped into my fully loaded truck and drove off at 2:50 am. topped off gas and hit the road. I pulled into an empty parking lot at 6am. it was windy. more wind than I like, so I opted to leave my motor and battery in the truck. I just feel my kayak is more stable, lighter. goal was to find a Bigass spotted bass. I hit the lake and it was grassy all around, and gently sloped into the water. I cruised around looking for rocks. I kept eye balling a distance treeline. google earth showed me there was a rocky shore adjacent to the trees. so off I went. it was 4 miles away. I fished my way there, picking up random bass. I caught the TRIFECTA!! largemouth bass, smallmouth. bass, and the spot. I got to that shore I targeted guzzled water, and for about 30 minutes it was back to back catches. one spot went so high air-borne - advertising to nearby boats I was into them. 2 bass boats came and surrounded me. I struggled with keeping my kayak positioned in the breeze. those dudes just hit spot-lock. eventually, when I was unhooking a fish, the wind blew me too far, and the boat parked on my spot. whatever. I crushed that spot. I did a total of 10 miles. on the way back, I saw boulders on a shore. I would bounce a jig off the face, let it drop and I picked up a few more. I fished to 1:00 pm, and the wind was just too annoying. I parked my kayak amidst an armada of boaters backing up/down a ramp with various degrees of boat-ramp skills. I parked over some flotsam (jetsam?) and did my thing way to the side out of their way. 3 hours to get home. I drove right past Clearlake on the way home. it looked pretty good. maybe a 30 fish day. but nothing bigger than 2lbs. :D. Rockfish season opens up April 1, but I think I will stick to bass for a bit longer. so much fun.

similar answer. I think Senko, weightless, rigged TX works better for me. it darts thru the weeds all sexy like. and this time of year, best to have a drop shot with something like a lizard ready.

21 footer. Looked like one from my kayak. With my own eyes SIX FISHERMEN. Two were kids. That was a tight group. I learned to backhand cast accurately fishing three dudes. Hated it. 😀