Zcoker

'I feel good about trailer hooks!' Could even be the tune for a song lol They are a must when I'm tossing a spinnerbait....or even a chatterbait. I've lost too many nice fish on the spinnerbait/chatterbaits and ever since I went with trailers, I'm sticking them pretty darn good. Rarely do I have a deep gut hook and, if I do, the hook is not too difficult to get out via the gill area. Many times the only saving grace when I pull in a big bass is that trialer hook. Big bass have massive mouths, bucket mouths, and the bigger they are, the bigger their mouths are. Lotta open space in there.....the more hooks to grab at something, the merrier!

This time by a fishing boat, 24 year old girl, no life jacket, shame. Prayers to the family. https://www.wsmv.com/2023/05/01/womans-body-recovered-following-deadly-kayak-incident-percy-priest-lake/

Lol next time try a boon box! I recall sitting on a spillway years ago with a boon box and when I maxed out the volume, the place I was at became swarmed with gators. Don't' recall the beat or tempo but those gators sure were attracted to the loud music!

Nothing wrong with experimenting. Be surprised how many saltwater lures bass will hit. I've hooked them with big 6.5" 3oz pencil poppers, same ones I use for sharks. The Shimano Orca stickbaits they also like! Bass will hit ANYTHING....eventually.

I always check the pressure with an app. Maybe a habit, I don't know. Or maybe I just like to feel like I'm on top of things before go out lol. Here in south Florida the frontal line becomes so well defined as it hits the hotter air. That's when the weatherman snaps to life: the clouds increase, the wind flares up, rapid temperature fluctuations. After the front, things nose dive, the clouds vanish, temps stabilize, the wind dies. Yet I still have decent days (or nights) during this time. Even without the fronts or the barometric pressure changes, fishing is good as long as there is a bit of something going on. A cloudy or windy day is much more preferred than a stagnate clear day regardless of the pressure situation; a little wind at night always lights the bite!

I like Boca Bearings. They are down the road from me in Boynton Beach. I've been to their warehouse and it's first rate. Reason I like them is because they carry just about every size bearing imaginable for most all reals...millions of them in stock and at a fair to good price. I can go up to the counter and ask for just about any bearing for the reel that I'm working on and they have it in stock ready to go. The fit for most reels is direct and precise. I've used their ceramic hybrid bearings with good results, mostly for line roller replacements in Stella reels. Talk about smooth!

Gambler Big EZ goes through grass well. I use them here in south Florida when the hydrilla starts topping out. The frog bite on an early calm morning also gets a big nod. boom!

Sometimes gators are a bycatch when bass fishing. Most of the big ones just break off but with the smaller ones can usually get the lure back lol

I run a chatterbait just like I do a spinnerbait, both with 2/0 trailer hooks. Never a miss, few and far between. Runs about the same as the single hook. I fish them with trailers in the everglades, loaded with grass and just about every weed known to exist with no issues whatsoever. When those big girls hit, I like to have as many points in my favor as possible. I've caught many 7-8 pounders on the trailer alone. I speculated with no trailer, I might've lost just as many.

I fish the everglades at night, deep in the everglades in a 11 foot kayak. Rarely do I have problems with the alligators. As far as I'm concerned, they are much easier to see at night because their eyes glow red. Simply shine a light to see where they are all hanging out. Most of the time, they're just floating around, chilling out. They're a good indicator on where the fish are at.....find the gators to find the fish! Is my motto. Only once have I been slammed by one. Probably because I went directly over it and because of the shallow water it didn't have much room to get clear. This all happens in complete blackness; feels like I hit a reef lol. Most of the time, however, they just shy away or remain curious with no ill intent. Always be mindful of handling fish in the water, day or night. I've seen many a fisherman mess around with fish over the side of a kayak, reviving or whatever. Gators are always there, day or night, watching and waiting....the are very patient!

Fit as you described can also depend on the model. I have the Costa Blackfin's and they fit as tight as a glove up on the cap. Love them. Anyway, you don't have many holding options if you don't use a lanyard. Only thing that I can recommend is to take them in to a optical shop to have them professionally fit to your liking. They use heat to shape and form the plastic frames. There's no harm to the frames, either. I've had plastic frames fitted like this before with fantastic results!

I used an appropriately sized waterproof plastic case for my Garmin, similar to the Pelican 1050 or the Plano products. I cut out a piece of foam to accommodate the shape of the battery and put it inside the case. I keep the case under the front hatch on my Old Town. I ran the wire cable through a rubber grommet on the side of the case. The battery also powers the running lights. The case is watertight, so never any issues with moisture.

Yeah, man, people in close proximity flinging stuff around is something that I would definitely toss in my "anticipation" category lol

Some of these human skin hook-ups are totally insane....many of them totally avoidable, imho. I've seen many a fisherman reach down into the water and grab a bass by the lower jaw with trebles flapping all over the place....same thing when reaching into a net to grab a fish, trebles flapping all over the place just begging for a home! Gotta anticipate this! The anticipation does help to avoid it altogether.

I also advocate barbless when at all possible. I was heavily involved with the FWC here in the state of Florida with the current land based shark fishing regulations. On the subject of hooks, I pushed hard for barbless circle hooks but it only worked out to be a recommendation in the revised state regulations, which mandate non-offset non-stainless circle hooks. Barbless hooks are a must, as far as I'm concerned, when it comes to a speedy release of a ticked off shark on the beach. With bass, maybe the same thing. As long as constant pressure is applied, shouldn't have a problem.

If you like fishing, Florida is certainly the place to get a line wet, both fresh and saltwater.

Everglades going strong with nice fish. Water levels dropping everywhere, hydrilla topping out all over the place but the bite is still on fire day or night….mostly at night lol.

Can always check into the saltwater side of things, things like surf belts with surf bags. The bags are customized according to need. I show my setup posted. The pouches are segmented and the lure bag tubed. All bags have stainless drains and are durable enough to handle ANY condition. They have some nice stuff out there that is about good as it gets for storing gear. I've used some of my bags on my belt for freshwater bank fishing, storing just about everything I need. They are absolutely a must for surf fishing!

First and foremost, big bass need to be hunted down. Gotta find out where they are staging, which can require long hours and long days and much longer nights lol To narrow it down, try to fish in places that are known for big bass. Big baits aren't the end-all for big bass, either. Finding them, hunting them down, fishing in places where they lurk is about as good as it will get to actually catching one.

Yes I do and those gators can get aggressive! A stable sturdy craft is must! Just the other night I was slammed by one, lifted my yak a good bit and tossed it to the side. I run an Old Town minn kota powered yak and fully loaded its not the lightest. Goes to show just how strong those gators are. If I was in a cheap light unstable boat, I'd be swimming! I mainly fish at night out there, which most don't do. My advice is to always be prepared, day or night, eyes in the back of the head....gators can be just as aggressive during the daylight as they are at night!

Don't overlook the Old Town Sportsman 106 Powered by Minn Kota. I have one of those and can take it anywhere, anyplace with no issues whatsoever...and I'm a number of years older than you! I can launch it in some of the most makeshift launch sites imaginable down here in the Florida everglades. I can take the thing in some of the thickest cover imaginable. I was torn between the two, 106 and the Auto Pilot. The 106 eventually won out over the Auto Pilot because the motor in the Auto sticks out below the hull almost twice the distance as the 106, has to for the autopilot feature. Plus it was much heavier and longer. That just wouldn't fly for me out in the everglades, which is where I mostly go. The 106 motor is tucked in nicely, allowing me to go very, very shallow, a great feature to have when the water levels get very low or when the hydrilla tops out.....a Florida standard! I also prefer the hand throttle feature much better than the around the neck push button remote thingy. I've had the boat for a number of years now, been in blizzard like conditions and never have needed any sort of anchor system. Hand feathering throttle control is very nice! Great boat. Happy Hunting!

Much of this yak/boat subject can depend on where one lives, imho. Here in south Florida, for example, there's a lot of places that don't allow boats. There's also a lot of places that's impossible to take a boat. And all these places offer up epic fishing, better fishing than I could ever dream of getting on a boat in some public lake around my area. Having the freedom to go wherever I want to get quality fish is quite fulfilling!

I was in the mix, to buy or not to buy, and opted for one these newer powered kayaks and absolutely love it! Although I can afford a boat, it just wasn't in the cards for me. I've owned boats before, more a bay pleasure craft that I also fished from, purchased new. Back in the day boats were nowhere near the price they are today! It was all the hassles that came along with it: lugging it around, finding a place to store it. Luckily, I rented out someone's garage down the road from where I lived. Because of all the hassle of even getting the boat along with hitching it up, taking it out to places that I didn't really want to fish, lining up at the jammed packed ramps, bringing it back and hoping the person was at home where I stored it to unlock the garage, the cleanup, maintenance, cost, etc.....I used it less and less until not at all and eventually just sold it. The kayak has always impressed upon me a unique thrill of continuum, never gets old and always represents a great adventure to come, all at next to no cost (or hassle) compared to my boat ownership!

Thanks, I'll definitely look into that! Having more torque will make a big difference. I'd give up a bit of speed any day for some extra torque.

I've heard about these airplane prop upgrades for the Minn Kota motors but never could use it where I fish, which is the Florida everglades and marshlands. I can spend a lot of time chewing up the hydrilla getting to where I need to go, so speed is not a defining factor. Besides, I don't think an airplane prop would even be up to it, probably just stall out? I like the torque, the get-up and go of the stock prop. If anything, I would want more torque. My Old Town boat already does almost 5 mph with the wind, which is plenty fast enough....with the wind lol I think the most gains that I've ever had, if any, has been through weight reduction, going light, keeping things simple, carbon fiber oar, stuff like that can make a BIG difference with propulsion as well as power usage....in my opinion.