casts_by_fly

"negligible" would be my summary. As in the amount of time I've gotten to spend on the water. The past 3 years I've been able to get out 2-3 times a week in the evenings. New job and gym focus has dropped that to once a week max and half of the time I haven't been able to go. I got out last sunday only to have a tournament follow me to the lake (I was unloading the kayak when the first 3 boats rolled in). 12 boats on a 120 acre lake (plus 2 other guys who weren't in the tournament) meant I got an hour before they started and then another 30 minutes fishing back to the ramp. I wasn't putting up with that. It's been a month since the next most recent trip. I had a good run at the start of June, but that was all before the first day of summer so... I'm going this evening and make no commitments that I will come home at any given point.

Not on your list but the Falcon Cara Heavy cover jig was designed exactly for what you're describing. I love mine. 7'4", 1/2-1 oz rating, heavy/fast though its a falcon 6-power 'heavy' which is on the lighter side of heavy. It was designed for dragging jigs around brushpiles (by mike mcclelland) and its a great all around jig and bottom contact rod. I've also found it to become my favorite buzzbait rod.

I fish 6'6" to 7'6" rods in my kayak. Like frydog, I'm in a sit on top and I stand to fish, so no difference for me compared to bank or boat. If you're in a sit-in kayak, the rod length still isn't critical, but the rear butt grip length might be. Most 8' rods and especially ones designed for big swim baits have long rear grips. I don't like really long rear grips anyway and I could see where they would get in the way if you're down in a sit-in.

It will work fine. I’d still get the brake block and clip it in but for now I’d put two on and one off (with one more missing). I find that’s the best adjustability on a shimano.

What do you fish (lures, cover, etc)? If you have a medium heavy then a heavy is a good addition if you fish around cover. For a spinning rod, I’d get a medium power mf or f action for lighter stuff with the Sahara.

Nice. That’s a lot of fun. Throwing moving baits all day for eaters is a whole lot of fun. How far up were you?

Use it for whatever you want. Throwing moving baits you might need to slow down but then you might not. Burning a crankbait isn’t the worst thing. I tend to use my faster reels for bottom contact or topwaters.

In the current market, the only clear cut ‘whoa’ item is the jdm zillion for $205. At that price point it is a no brainer if you like daiwa or just want a super high end reel. I don’t need any more reels but if I did I would have a hard time picking against it. past that, everything is a sliding scale. I would say that a falcon Cara for $250 is going to be better than a lot of $300+ rods but then again the low rider for $125 is 85% of the rod for half the price. I’d go with Toxic and say that $150 buys a whole lot of rod and reel right now. The $100-120 bucket rods are pretty incredible for that price point.

yep. This is where I’ve netted out. Life is too short to deal with a hook in the hand. It might happen but I’m going to do my best to not let it. Smaller fish and single hooks I will boat flip, usually straight to my hand. Anything bigger, agitated, or with treble hooks and I’ll just net it. If there is any question I’ll just net it. Once it’s in the net it can hang out in the water and breathe just fine for as long as I need it to hang out there. They calm down quickly in a net. If it’s a tricky hook situation i bring the pliers to the net while the fish is in the water. No sense taking an unnecessary risk for something we do for fun.

True for the big trails, but there are lots of local/regional outlets that allow two and plenty of those guys have no interest in the big trails.

same. If I were starting fresh then I would have a look at the bonafide. Its $2800 without any propulsion. $1400 for an Xi3 kayak. That's $4200 which is just under the AP120 MSRP. I think Bonafide has priced is about right for someone looking for a motorized kayak. At 40" wide, that's a little wider than the AP and the bonafide has more in built features. The front storage is nice, but the fact that your fish finder rails are on it would be a pain. I couldn't imagine having a dual 9" screep setup (which its set up nicely for) and then have to lift that lid to get at lures. With all of the rails they've built in, I'm surprised they didn't put one on the front hatch lid. If you don't use a crate or blackpack this boat is going to get nose heavy quickly. An xi3 plus a battery up front. Fish finder and 3700 boxes in the hatch area. Nothing in the back to counterweight it. I'm sure they considered that, but that's a lot. I think for me, the most innovative thing on it is the central 'one deck' all the way to the back and the sliding seat rails. That's pretty clever and something you can only get away with if the boat is wide enough and also has the front battery hatch (or a far rear one). The ability to properly add a second seat is nice and something I would totally do. All that said, this is going to be a trailer only operation. If I'm storing 3700's in the hatch then I'm not taking them in and out every trip. Same for the batteries and seat. If you put a motor on the back that's more yet. Buying one of these means a trailer for sure at which point you have to consider a job boat or small aluminum for far less money. I think this kayak will be great for tournament kayak anglers, especially those that can run a motor in the front and one in the back. I think there will be another contengent of hard core anglers who just want it as a high end kayak (I would fall into that category). Past that, I think it might be a little more limited of a market.

keep in mind that a handle is more than twice the volume. So if the price is less than 2x its overall cheaper. The WT example at $25 for a fifth would be $58 for a handle. So that's $11 cheaper for the same amount. I did it for makers two weeks ago. I also grabbed two Bombay in the spring. Both are things we'll go through in volume here when we have friends over (case in point, the makers is about gone).

most of us aren’t catching bass you can fit four fingers in their mouth….

Something else to consider. I don’t know about your local but mine often has 1.75 bottles for not much more than a 750. Case in point- I have a handle of makers that I bought a couple weeks ago. When I got it, a bottle was $35 I think but a handle was $45. It was $10 more but 2.3x the size. If you’re making cocktails from it, it’s hard to beat that price to value ratio.

agreed. And kayak tournaments don’t allow gas motors I don’t think. Spot lock is a game changer in a kayak you can stand in. If I could swap 1:1 this bona fide for my autopilot I’d consider it. It’s probably a better version of what you and I have. But I bet with an xi3 kayak it would cost more than an ap. Probably more than worth switching.

Cutie pie. we love scruffy faces here too.

but it has the capacity for an outboard. Which is exactly what I would do. A 2.5hp on it or even a 4 should do 10 mph. then again, an outboard, trailer, etc you might as well get a Jon boat. I don’t expect this to be a cheap kayak.

length/width/weight its basically the same as the AP120. Its 7" longer, but also about 20 lb heavier. the gunwales are higher and the capacity is higher by a bit. The full length rails are pretty neat and I think that's a really smart feature. Like you said, that's pretty cool for a second angler, especially with the increased capacity. Good that the built a trailer hook on the front because you're going to need it.

I could understand it. I'm sure 13 fishing lures were outsourced anyway. And Rapala has a significant lure presence in the market. But they don't have a presense in rods and reels which they now do. I'm sure they only bought them for the rods and reels.

Yep. There should be 4 so far as I'm aware. Are the 3 that are there in a 90 degree orientation?

Its not hanging in her mouth, but you can see it on the deck of the boat by her tail. She was a 4+ (4-08 I think?) last spring when my dad came out. Beautiful fin perfect specimen of a fish. Other critters like them too.

As you've found, spinnerbaits are a pike or pickerel magnet. That said, of all the baits to catch incidental toothy critters on a spinnerbait is probably the best because of all of the metal that stays close to their teeth. Spinnerbaits are also a good big bass lure, especially in the spring and in stained water. With the cover you have, I'd keep a spinnerbait rigged all of the time. You've been using an underspin for forever now and can see that while both work, sometimes the fish have a preference. Throw a swim jig and chatterbait into that same mix. the swim jig and underspin are a little more subtle, the chatterbait and spinnerbait a little more loud underwater. They can largely cover the same water and I couldn't tell you how many times I'll have all four of them tied on at the same time. Keep swapping between them and figure out the days that the fish want which one for you.

I assume you’re talking about the fiberglass 7’4” mhmf performance series for $250? I don’t know their rods but at that price point there are so many great proven rods that I’d have a hard time picking an unproven one. that said' in their bargain bin is a $100 alternative that can’t be too bad for crankbaits. https://twobrothersinnovations.com/product/2b-c74mh-m/

I've not put a keelguard on mine. I don't see the point. It is going to get scratched and gouged with use. You're not going to dent the keel like an aluminum or chip it like fiberglass. For inside storage, I built a cart. 3' x 5' with 8' bunks on top and caster wheels on the bottom The height aligns with the bed of my truck so I slide the boat on and off. Lifting it up and down would be a killer every trip.

I just did this exercise over the winter. Last year I carried two overstuffed speedbags worth of plastics plus another 15-20 in the sides of my tackle bag. However, I never dipped into most of it on any given trip so I consolidated a bunch of choices into a single 3700 that goes in the kayak all of the time and then during 'plastics season' I throw in the rest. I'll say that I have a separate ned rig box (3700 extra deep, 2 section) that has ned plastics and heads/terminals. That's a separate thing and I only take it if I have a spinning rod on the boat. Similarly, I have a 3600 box with jigheads and jighead minnows that stays in the box all of the time so long as I have FFS with me. My 3700 was consolidated down to: - rage bugs (a couple sizes) - rage menaces - Zakos - keitech SIF of various sizes - rage craws and chunks - senkos/dingers - spunk shad - one 'misc' section which has randoms that I want to try. right now it has a couple rodents, a flipping tube, and something else I can't remember but want to give a go. These are the things that I will use as trailers, on their own, on a jig head, or on a texas rig. Throughout the year they will all catch fish so they stay in the bag all of the time. I took a couple of each color and threw them all in together with like colors. I overindex on green pumpkin variants (gin clear water here) but also have some black/blue, some brown/red, and a couple others depending on the plastic (white/silver for the baitfish imitators). This time of year I throw the 2 speedbags in that have big worms, straight worms, dropshot worms, and a couple other things.