KSanford33

You bring up a good point. So what else would you consider never leaving unfished, other than pontoons? I actually do use a weedless Senko for pontoons for that very reason. Not so much the noise, but I'm not trying to damage someone else's property (as much as a jighead can damage a pontoon).

Ah, my fault RW, I didn't know.

For those of you who make your own lures, do you ever sell them? With the bait monkey securely on my back, I'd rather support independent makers rather than the big companies.

This happened to me last year. I caught a slime dart on a jerkbait and gripped him around his body. True to his name, I couldn't get a good grip on him and I ended up with a treble in my thumb. Ever since then, I have a three step process with any fish I hook with trebles: 1. Net them. 2. Use the fish grippers (the plastic Rapala ones, not the steel ones). 3. Use the pliers to unhook him. Since then -knock wood- I haven't gotten hooked by a treble since. Single hooks however...

Just out of curiosity, why no standing timber? The reason I ask is the place I’m fishing this weekend is one of the few local reservoirs around here which has a lot of standing timber. I’m sure @Jar11591 knows exactly which one I’m talking about.

Oh no!!! I couldn’t remember if they were considered structure or cover. Terms mean specific things. I’m usually the same way, but the lily pad season here in northeastern NY doesn’t last very long.

The reason I ask this is because I've become reasonably ok at catching smallmouth locally, for one reason: rocks. Whether they're rip-rap, large rocks, or cliffs, I seem to have decent success at catching a few smallies. However, I really don't have a go-to cover to target largemouth. What's yours?

I'm with RW on this one. I just drift each side of the Mohawk. The good thing about the Mohawk is it has locks, so it's a fairly safe bet that you'll catch fish just down current from the lock and it will gradually taper off from there.

This sounds like a reference to the movie Collateral. This sounds like a reference to the movie Collateral.

The occasional 15 incher, but nothing substantial. There was a bass tournament on it last month and there were several 18"+ caught, so I know they're in there.

I have a stretch of river on the Mohawk where I can consistently catch 10-14" smallies in 8-10' of water. Would I find larger fish deeper or in a different stretch of river?

It's funny you say that. I went out this morning and picked up 4 pickerel trolling a Keitech behind my kayak. I have a pedal kayak now, but it worked equally well if not better for me in a paddle kayak. With the paddle kayak, the slight tug you get on the lure each time you row seemed to help impart a little more action on the lure.

The original Abu Garcia Gold Max. In the summer of ‘92 I worked in my uncle’s mechanic shop for a week as a 12 year old in order to earn enough to buy it. It’s been lost to time for decades now, and unfortunately my uncle is no longer with us anymore either, but I have equally fond memories of that reel and that week in my uncle’s shop.

100%. It works exceptionally well for smallmouth and occasionally I get a largemouth too. Oddly enough, I get big rock bass trolling a lot as well.

In my case it’s more of a lateral pop. One of the things I really enjoy is pedaling through an area while popping a jerkbait about 20ft behind me.

The only thing that confuses me more than fish is women, and that's a well-defended title.

This sounds like the fishing equivalent of a Nassau bet in golf.

This interests me. So you don’t think line visibility plays a big role in getting bit? I hope it doesn’t, because I really like braid, but iv always been concerned that it’s too visible. I hope you’re right and line visibility doesn’t really matter. I’m getting bit, but I’m always thinking I might be missing some for one reason or another.

I have a feeling the visibility of the line would depend on if the fish was looking up at your lure or looking down at it (although this may be completely wrong). If that's the case, what kind of line would be the least visible on the bottom?

I can second this. I’ve bought ~40 jigs off of him in the past month and the quality is amazing.

Hey Koz, I'm following this topic now since I have the same kayak as you, but one thing you may not have considered: I don't know the laws in GA, but here in NY if you add a trolling motor to your kayak you have to register it as a motorized vehicle with the state. Not that that's a huge deal, just something to consider. In regards to the practical side of adding a trolling motor to this kayak, I'd probably go for one of these: https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/bass-pro-shops-pond-prowler-8-fishing-boat They're built to mount a trolling motor and it would be a nice alternative to the kayak. Oddly enough, it's only slightly heavier than our kayak! ?

Now that I'm starting to improve my ability to fish a jig, I'm wondering if there are any places where you wouldn't fish a jig? The only thing I can think of is a topwater bite, but usually when they're hitting topwater you can also catch them in other ways.

I have many bad habits already, but here's the one that's been driving me nuts recently. Not paying attention to where my line is on the bail of the spinning reel. Occasionally I'll be drift fishing and just dragging my lure along the bottom and when a fish hits it, I go to set the hook only to have my spinning reel make that stupid 'cluck cluck cluck' noise that lets me know my line wasn't at the head of the bail. Needless to say, I miss the majority of those fish. My other bad habit is I don't like power fishing. I just never get bit.

Is there a reason you prefer fluorocarbon for jigs?