KSanford33

I have. And although I have enormous respect for him, he wasn't really an elite player in the NFL the way Ted Williams was in baseball. But you're absolutely right, there are still people who have the bravery and ethics (for lack of a better term) to serve.

I personally like the Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap because their colors used to correspond to the Color-C-Lector I used to have (Google that one kids). But my local Wal-Mart has CC Spots on clearance normally for around a dollar, and I’ll happily throw a dollar bait into cover that I wouldn’t throw a $4 bait with two treble hooks on it.

My maternal grandmother was the most important person in my life. Her older brother was on the USS Arizona when it was hit on 12/7/41. Her older brother was her hero, so it changed her life quite a bit. Needless to say, she could be a little discriminatory towards the Japanese after that, but I understood why. I don't want to turn this into mudslinging about the current generation, but that generation's heros -guys like Ted Williams- signed up to fight in the war. Can you picture someone like LeBron doing that today? I can't. They were truly cut from a different cloth.

I’m trying to play with the buoyancy of some of my jerkbaits, so for anyone who’s had experience in this, which did you think worked better?

The fact that A-rigs catch fish in clear water completely shot down my belief in line size mattering.

I'm just going to leave this here:

Do you do it to save money or for more cathartic reasons? I'm considering getting into soft plastics, but if it's not cheaper in the long run I might not.

I bet those legitimately work too! They look similar to a perch pattern.

I'm never one to dissuade someone from learning something new, but it reminds me of former NY Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera. He basically threw one pitch: the cutter. The opposing batters knew what was coming, but still couldn't hit it. My point in bringing this up is, if you have confidence in what you throw and it works, why change it?

The 800lb gorilla in the room as far as kayak carts go is the C-Tug. A buddy of mine uses it and swears by it. Here's the one I used with my SeaStream Angler 120, which is fairly similar to the FF Lure 11.5: https://www.amazon.com/TMS-CART-CANOE-KAYAK-KY001-Carrier-Trolley/dp/B0082365AQ/ref=sr_1_8?crid=3EN50YPVDBTS3&keywords=kayak+cart&qid=1668620553&sprefix=kayak+cart%2Caps%2C94&sr=8-8 I've launched mine everywhere from actual boat launches to random holes in the middle of the woods and it performed wonderfully.

Would a rod sleeve work for something like that?

I'm in, this sounds like a blast!

Thankfully a buddy of mine showed me how to do it relatively easy. You take a couple strips of rope, add handles to them, tie them to the front of the boat (there's a big iron ring there), then stand in the bed of the truck and basically deadlift the front of the boat in and slide it in from there. I've done it a handful of times so far and it's easy enough. I have to take the trolling motor off of the stern because of the angle though; otherwise it'll hit on the ground. It's pretty far removed from these guys with their 50k+ bass boats, but I'm happy with it. I'll take pictures of it next spring when I'm done modifying everything.

Again, you never cease to amaze. I don't know if engines like this are a good idea, but I was surprised no one had brought one to market yet. Thanks Ken.

Thanks Ken. I know about the Torqueedo, but it maxes out at 80hp. I'm thinking 150-250hp to replace traditional bass boat engines. You're preaching to the choir about whether it's a good idea or not. I'm just surprised no one has done it. I'm sure you're already well-aware of this, but you're a very smart guy.

With electric cars becoming more and more prevalent, why aren't there any electric outboard motors? I don't know enough about the mechanics of it, but I'd imagine it'd just be a powerful brushless motor. For those of you who know more than I do, what's the hold-up on these?

I have a knockoff SAK as my keychain. It’s the 30 tool model, and like everyone else has said, I rarely use it, but it’s invaluable for those rare occasions. It’s also a quick lesson for anyone to never ask me to toss my keys to them.

Thanks Ken, I appreciate it.

I've had this reel for about 30 years now, and I know where the spool tensioner is on it, but I don't think it has a braking mechanism on it. Am I wrong?

I could definitely see the issue with additional pressure on a body of water, so that I understand. But I’m as incognito as they come, so I can’t imagine privacy becoming an issue. I just don’t think there would be an easy way to contact me.

I'll be contrarian here. Absolutely. There's so many fisheries around here that to give up one in order to hold the record -however brief- would be worth it. For those of you who have more experience in this than I do, so all of you, what sort of negative attention comes from catching a record? The NY record smallmouth came out of Cayuga Lake this year, where I fished my first kayak tournament.

Either air temperature or water temperature.

I know he caught a few that day, and it was still early March. I skunked that day, so I can't criticize him.

I'm no wine connoisseur by any means, but I know what I like. My good friend's wife is a sommelier and she said that wine was definitely an under-the-radar favorite.

I wish I was making this up, but I once saw a guy walking the Hudson River with a planer board on his line to keep it out there... To answer the OP's question, a fluke is my go-to for bank fishing almost any body of water, and an A-rig would probably be the worst thing you could throw.