KSanford33

Hey Everyone, I’ll be in Spring Hill the second week of February. I won’t have access to a boat, so strictly bank fishing. Can anyone recommend any places and/or tactics? Thanks everyone.

Thanks Gary. I just know how frustrating it can be to show up for a tournament and get run over. Again, to put it in a fishing perspective, I’d like to get my feet wet in a tournament where if I caught 2-3 fish I did ok. Not one where I need to catch a limit just to have a chance of being competitive.

Thank you for the advice Mickey, I'll definitely look into that. To put part of this in perspective (and going on what you said), I play golf competitively and if you play in a local amateur tournament you'll have good competition, but nothing crazy. If you play in an open tournament (open to anyone, pros, am's, you name it) it'll be pretty cutthroat. I'd definitely like to get my feet wet at the lower level before going up against people who are essentially minor league fishermen.

Thank you everyone for your responses. It looks like I have a lot to choose from.

I've had the same experience a few times last year. My favorite place to fish locally is a 42sq mi lake, so of course there's lots of boat traffic. And it usually has a bit of a chop to it, so I completely understand not seeing me. Like others have already said, no matter whose fault it is, if you're in a kayak you're going to be on the losing end. You have to fish with your head on a swivel. I've come to the conclusion that if I see someone coming at me, I immediately head to the nearest safe area I can find. It interrupts fishing a little, but at the end of the day I'm still above ground. Funny story actually. I run planer boards occasionally when I'm trolling, so on a kayak it's a little weird to be taking up 50-60ft of water. This guy on a powerboat is coming right at me (he's easily 1/4 mile away, so I'm not worried), so I start a gradual turn starboard towards shore. As it turns out, the guy is going to his dock, so both of us are doing a left-right-left to try to avoid each other. Finally the guy eases off the throttle about 200ft from me. I was getting ready to bail, figuring if I can dive 5-6ft down fast enough I'll be ok. He pulls up and smiles and apologizes for the confusion. He asks me if I'm ok, I said I was fine, I was just disappointed I didn't pack a change of shorts!

Thanks MN, I'll definitely check those out.

Hey Everyone, I apologize if this is in the wrong area (mods, please move it if it is), but what tournaments would you guys recommend? I've signed up for KBF and will sign up for Slay Nation's kayak series shortly, but what else is out there for either the northeast or nationwide CPR tournaments. Keep in mind I only have a kayak, no high-end bass boat yet. I still have to soften the blow of that with the wife. ? Thanks everyone.

Hey Everyone, I've been fishing off and on for about 35 years. The bug re-bit me recently and caused me to get into tournament fishing. I started looking into kayak fishing tournaments, and as I'm sure most of you know, bass fishing kayak tournaments are by far the most popular. It's probably sacrilege on this site to say this, but my favorite species to catch are esox (pike, pickerel, and muskie). I'm here to learn more about catching bass. My primary tactics right now are more active fishing, things like jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, etc., but that's why I want to learn more; add more tools to the toolbox. Outside of fishing, I love to play hockey and golf.

Hey Kirt, I'm originally from Elmira, NY, so I'm very familiar with the area. Where do you like to fish, other than the Susquehanna of course?

WRB, I know exactly what you mean. I grew up reading stories about Bob Crupi and Castaic Lake. I'm more curious about what you would look for in terms of characteristics for a body of water that could produce a state record.

Before I ask my question, I have to say, there is SO much info on this site! I've spent hours just this week combing through the different threads and learning a ton. Onto my question: If you wanted to find a body of water in your state that might be able to produce a state record fish, what characteristics would you look for? My first thoughts were places where bass are the apex predators (I live in upstate NY, so nowhere there's pike). Also, there would need to be an abundant supply of food. But outside of that, I'm curious as to what everyone else thinks. Thanks everyone.

I'm not new to bass fishing. I've been doing it on and off for 30 years. However, I'm very aware that a lot of people in this forum are better at it than I am. So here's my question: If you go to a new lake and want to get a limit, what tactics are you using? I know weather and time of the year will play a part, and I'm not overly concerned with catching trophy-sized bass, just a limit of 12"ers or so. What would you do? Thanks guys.