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Berkley Wakebull. I stopped in to a random tackle shop up north a few years ago and bought one, not even knowing at the time what the hell a wake bait was. Turned out to be an amazing lure for the areas I usually fish, caught some d**n nice smallmouth on it. Stopped at the same shop the year after, they had a single one in stock so I bought it as a backup. Didn't think I had to worry about it being discontinued so I didn't give it too much thought.. when I wanted to grab a few more, out of stock everywhere! I've picked up a few different wake baits, but that Wakebull has always been a slump buster for me.

Only in very broad strokes. Baitcasters - 7'4" MHM glass rod for my topwater / crank baits. 6'6" MF for jerkbaits. 7'6" MHF if I'm throwing bigger stuff or trolling. I've got a few others but those are the main ones I use. Also have a 6'8" MF spin setup for plastics or smaller lures. I used to bring 5-6 rods, but it gets to be a bit much on the kayak and I found that there was always one or two rods I didn't end up using. I'm usually only bringing 2-3 rods now.

I'll keep the occasional Walleye if I happen to catch one, especially while camping. If I'm ice fishing a stocked trout lake, I'll keep my limit. I should keep some pike, but I don't really feel like dealing with the slimers. Not sure I'll ever keep a smallmouth, and a lot of the waters I fish have special regs anyways.

I've used it below freezing without issue, but not a ton. Yakima has been making cargo boxes for a long time including plenty marketed to the ski / snowboard crowd. They wouldn't use a plastic that couldn't handle the cold. I'd recommend trying to get in touch through their website. They generally have very good customer service.

I purchased mine early 2023, and although I used it all last season, I never bothered to put it on the truck this year. I also bought it for half price, and I feel that's an acceptable amount. No way would I drop $700(after shipping / tax) on it, although even then it's on the less expensive side of rod boxes. It does feel flimsy, but I never had any functional issues with it. I didn't have any combos that wouldn't fit, and I liked that the box is deep enough to throw my waders and wading boots or other gear underneath the rods. I didn't notice much added wind noise or buffeting. As for security, it latches at the front and back, I think it would take some work to pry into it. I'm more worried about someone with a cordless angle grinder cutting the clamp brackets and just taking the whole thing away. It really only stayed on last year because I was doing more shuttle trips with a buddy. Getting the rods out of the cab and throwing my yak on the bed rack just made that easier. But he moved away, and I've been doing more solo / camping trips. The MPG hit with both the rod box and kayak on the rack is just too much for the longer trips, and I'd rather have my tonneau cover on to keep the box covered when my truck is at a landing overnight. Overall, if it retailed in the $350-450 range it would make more sense.

Winter - usually whatever panfish jig I'm using that a bass happens to grab. Spring - Choppo Summer - Choppo Fall - Choppo

A lot of online sites do that, especially if you haven't ordered from them before. I got 10% off my micro power pole order the same way. If it's not something I need right away and I'm just 'window shopping', I'll punch in everything short of my CC info and see what happens. Unfortunately that also tends to get me signed up for their mailing list but it's usually easy enough to unsubscribe.

I'm a big lure guy, so I start with the 120 size Choppo and go down from there.

From the MN boating guide: https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/rlp/regulations/boatwater/boatingguide.pdf Probably a good idea to check your state regulations. I'm not saying that what the row team did here was right, but from the looks of it I'll bet more than a few folks here get upset at cyclists riding on the road as well.

Fished the upper Mississippi this past weekend. It was flowing pretty decent, and surprisingly muddied up where I was. Bit of a bummer, was hoping it had cleared up by now. Saturday was rough, I was off my game and had maybe a 50% hookup rate. Sunday was much better. Got on the water early, and the bass were up shallower and hanging out around current seams and breaks. Only fished for a few hours, but got some decent smallmouth and a surprise largemouth. First time I've got one in the Miss' here, and it was the biggest one I've got in a while. Smashed a walking topwater. Just over 4lbs and somewhere above 19". I need to find my bump board..

30-40lb flouro leader material has worked well for me. I think a lot of folks will just grab flouro line and expect it to behave the same as leader material, but it doesn't. Seaguar blue label is my go-to.

It's legal to target beds here, but I don't like doing it (unless it looks like a big'un). They're never all doing the same thing at the same time, so I'll usually just look for the hungry ones roaming the shallows.

Micro power pole is the best thing I've bought after my pedal kayak. I got the 8' HD spike as I do a lot of river fishing. One trick - add everything you want to the cart, run through all the steps to check out but don't complete the purchase. Make sure your e-mail is in there. A lot of times after 24 hours or so you'll get an e-mail from the retailer offering a %10 off code to complete the purchase.

Had a pretty good weekend, even managed a few on the fly despite the wind. Ended up with about 25 smallies on Saturday and another 15 or so Sunday. Saw a few beds but didn't look like they had spawned yet. A wake bait running 6-12" was the top producer for me. Fish seemed to be hanging out at drop offs, especially around points. If there was a shallow flat with a drop, it was almost a guaranteed strike once that wake bait made it to the drop. They weren't too picky though, also got them on a chatterbait, spinner, a few top water hits, wacky worm, crankbait.. Not sure what the water temp was, but they were for sure bulking up before the spawn.

I think 4mph is a target speed for most pedal kayak manufacturers. My Jackson pedal drive will do 4mph with a token effort. 3mph without trying so I have to actually pedal pretty slow to hit my desired trolling speed of 2-2.5 mph. If I want to sweat I can get to 5mph. But yeah, being able to make adjustments and such without putting the rod down is so nice, I don't think I'll ever give up a pedal yak. I've thought getting something with a motor but the added complexity and weight just hasn't made sense to me yet.

I run all my setups braid to flouro, both casting and spinning. Mainly Suffix 832 to Seaquar blue label flouro leader anywhere from 20-40lb on casting setups that I'm throwing bigger / more expensive lures and 10-15lbs on spinners throwing jigs and such. I'll use an FG knot if I'm at home, but if I need to retie on the water it's an alberto. I normally throw bigger topwaters and crankbaits and haven't had an issue using braid. River smallies aren't leader shy, and running heavier flouro means you won't get bit off by pike/musky quite so often. You in the Metro area? Always looking for other folks to kayak fish with.

Unfortunately I didn't even think about that. I did give them the 'you guys know it's not bass season, right?' and one guy gave me a sheepish 'yeah..'. But I was also the only other truck at the launch and didn't want to risk any retaliation. I don't think an extra few weeks of fishing is worth living in Nodak 😁 I agree, and it's also why I went over to Wisconsin on Sunday.

I brought the kayak to a metro lake just to check things out and do some panfishing. Head out of the launch, and see two guys heading back to the launch on their bass boat, one with a big ole' spinnerbait and the other with a big swimbait dangling from their rods. I know.. watch your own bobber and all that, but if you're gonna target out of season fish wouldn't you at least be a bit sneaky and remove those big ass lures before you get back to the launch?

I actually started out with a 12T. It was ok for a starter yak, but I never really found it that stable. I upgraded to a Jackson Bite FD. Actually a bit shorter at 11'6", and a bit heavier at 90lbs for the bare kayak and 110 pounds if I leave the upper drive and seat on it. I do have a truck, but it often gets put on a bed rack for longer trips. I know the pedal drive is out of your budget, but they do make a paddle version with the same hull and seat, and that is the same weight as the 12T. Pros: Seat is worlds better. Seriously, it's so much better than what came with the Ascend. Overall fit and finish is better. Much more stable than the 12T. The deck drains much better than the 12T. Cons: Gear track setup isn't great, although if you're not afraid of drilling holes you can always add more track No in-hull storage. I think it paddles at least the same if not easier than the 12T, despite being 4" wider. I can't speak as much to tracking, as the pedal version has a rudder. Wind resistance.. well, they're kayaks. You'll get blown around no matter what.

Saw that you pulled the trigger already, but figured I'll throw in my $.02 anyways.. I've been fishing out of a Jackson Bite FD the last 3(4?) seasons, and it's been a great setup. I went with the Jackson due to the flex drive - I do a lot of river fishing and being able to tuck the drive up into the hull quickly without moving things around on the deck or opening up a hole in the kayak was a huge plus for me. Also the fact that if I'm not paying attention and run into a rock / shallow water it will just push the prop drive up (as long as I hit it going forward). I know there's been some issues with the older flex drives, but I beat the crap out of the original and it never skipped a beat. Would make some noise but that was a reminder to go around and tighten bolts and lube things. I upgraded to the Mark IV drive last season and that's also been solid so far. I thought for sure I would have at least busted a prop by now but haven't even damaged a shear pin. As for transport, for day trips it goes in the truck bed. With a 6'2" bed and the tailgate down, I don't worry with a bed extender. If I'm going for an extended trip and need the bed space, it goes up on the bed rack. Bit of a pain but when I first got the kayak I had an Xterra, so I had no choice but to throw it on the roof. I've also got a cheapy walmart kayak cart that works great after breaking the cheapy tie-down strap with plastic buckles and switching to one of those non-ratcheting straps. Better to have a cart and not need it.. Anyways, OT makes some great stuff as well. I think the 106 is a great size. Buddy of mine went with the biggest pedal drive they offer (132?) and has a bit of regret going that big.

Got this guy and a few others a couple seasons ago, super aggressive in 33* water. I'll be heading over to Wisconsin this weekend, and take advantage of their year-round catch and release for bass. Not planning on catching anything, mainly just want to get out there and try out my new 9wt fly rod setup.

Same, although I think I made it out a whole 4 or 5 times. Really glad I didn't pull the trigger on any new ice fishing gear this season. Weather is looking ok this weekend, and my cheesehead license is still good until the 31st so I'll be sneaking over there to knock the rust off the bass gear.

Where's the setting on my livescope that apparently makes fish jump out of the hole? I haven't found it yet...

I've gotta be in St. Cloud for work tomorrow, so I'll be checking out a few spots I usually launch from. Depending on the river flow and amount of ice on the shore I just may be getting the kayak out this weekend.

Ya know, I never thought I'd be trying to decide whether to go ice fishing or get the kayak out in December..