casts_by_fly

I agree fully on the old town recommendation. The sportsman series all have basically the same hull- it’s a tunnel hull style with a long tunnel from the drive area to the rudder. Super stable. They are wide and carry their width for a lot of the length. My 120 is at least 36” for the middle 5’ of the boat. At its widest it is 38”. Even at the rudder it’s still nearly 20”. Primary stability is good. If you’re sitting you will barely rock. Standing, it shifts a little while you shift your weight but it’s predictable. Secondary stability is incredible. I can stand with one foot on the floor and one foot on the gunwale and it will tip about 15-20 degrees and lock up. It doesn’t tip any further unless you’re really hammering on it. I haven’t tried it, but I bet I could stand two feet on the gunwale and the boat wouldn’t tip. I might lose my balance and fall but the boat won’t.

That’s pretty close to what a lot of kayak guys do, though in the reverse order. Usually you buy a full motor for cheap and then cut the top off. Build a mount out the back and then hook it up to a controller. They are just using it for thrust forward instead of paddling or pedaling too much. what you’re talking should work. I don’t know what all comes with that lower unit so you might want to give Lakeside a ring before you buy it. You’ll need a variable power speed controller but there are plenty of those available. You’ll want a fuse somewhere.

For me, if a bass is going to hit a swim jig it isn’t going to be a little peck. They are hitting it to kill it. a 3.8 keitech is my standard trailer for swim jigs. I’ll go to a 4.3 at times too. I wouldn’t worry too much about a 4” largo shad, but next time it happens just take the shad off and nip a half inch off the nose. Easy way to tell.

We’ve used pet sitters for ages. Every time we move we have to find a new one because we don’t kennel the dogs. Once you find a good one, treat them like gold. We’ve never had a problem. also, if the key thing is a worry, there are temporary and remote options to let someone in. A garage door opener is one. Sure you could program something to match it but if they are going that far…. You can also put a remote garage door opener that you can personally open on your phone.

You mean to run both at the same time? You won’t get much more speed if any. if you want to do it that way with both, I’d sit in the back with the tiller motor and use the remote on the ulterra. Keep one straight and use the other to steer.

That’s a really good PSA. I wear polarized glasses 100% of the time when there is any light above the horizon. And 0% of the time when it’s dark. I never thought about clear lenses for night fishing and I night fish a lot. That’s a great idea. @PhishLI- which clear glasses do you use at night? Anything more than just safety specs?

both are about 3/8 plus the hook. If that’s as light as you are going then a fast actioned medium power is a good choice for a rod.

@fin, that’s basically the case with my Sahara. I used it for steelhead for ages. Then bass for a bit. It went to the uk and caught some carp. It came back to the US for some bass and finally went to the beach. The second beach trip it got dunked in the shallow surf zone and was sand filled. I used it for the week and it killed it. I stripped it to pieces, cleaned everything, relubed, etc. it’s functional, but gritty and rough. I keep it if I want to go carp fishing but that’s about its limit. It was a $60 reel back in the day and has been well loved. If it was a $10 gear I might swap it. But I think it might be more and it’s not worth putting any more time or money into it.

The rod and line will be more of a limiting factor than the reel at that weight. 3/16 total weight is plenty fine as long as you don’t have stuff heavy line on the reel and the rod has a light enough tip. An Abu SX gen 4 will do it just fine with the stock setup and a medium light rod. alternatively, you could just pick up a bfs reel and use it for other techniques. The line and rod will be the main differentiators of what you can and can’t throw.

Had an hour or so while my wife was out and the sun was behind a cloud so went to a local pond. Tiny place- 1/2 acre, 3’ deep. I’ve never seen or caught a fish bigger than 12” there before but it’s 3 minutes away and has a bunch of 6-10” fish. Grabbed the bfs rod. And because someone on an other thread got me fired up about them, a Zara pooch, the tiniest spook ever made which hasn’t been made for 20 years now. Three casts in a get a little birds nest and as I pick it a little bass comes up for the spook but doesn’t eat it. Fourth cast I put it right on the little log he came from and am immediately snagged in an inaccessible place. I considered wading for it then realized I had another choice. I still bad my gear in the truck so grabbed a flipping stick with 50lb braid and pitched it right past the spook. One twitch later and I had it- my spook firmly caught in the braid. A quick pop and it was free. Best catch of the day. First cast with the jig. I managed three little bass and a bluegill on trout magnets before I called it.

None of the above? My standard jig rod is 17 mono. If I’m throwing a swim jig it’s either 16 mono or straight braid depending which rod it’s on.

In that case, take your current one and throw on a single colorado blade. You should feel it thump until you get the feel of slow rolling.

What's the alternative cost? Half might be right for a nice reel that is in otherwise good shape and I can expect that half to keep the reel going for a good few years yet. If you're talking about a Shimano Sahara 4000 that cost me $60 15 years ago, I wouldn't spend anything on it to fix the gears I got sand in. Even if it was $30, I'd rather just spend $75 and get a new reel.

I have a Chronarch 100A, 200E, and the current 150 HG all on rods right now. They are all smooth as anything and perfectly fishable. What I much prefer in the newer reels is the change in profile. Over the past 10 years or so, reels have gotten lower to rods and the left side plate closer to the center of the rod. All of which makes palming just a bit more comfortable in each iteration. That is something I truly notice swapping around rods and reels.

Looks like it was a return to me. Was it on clearance as a used item?

this is just one picture of the possibilities. I’d say the profile of the jig/trailer and the rate of fall are a lot more important.

I would bet that the bluegill have conditioned themselves to being attacked more in the rainy weather and are being more cautious.

When we lived in the UK, the house we rented was on a farm. We got along great with the farmer and his sons who were about our age. One of the benefits (aside from 250 huntable acres!) was that they grew beans, peas, sprouts, and a few other things which I was free to pick enough for my wife and I to enjoy. Sprouts are really common in the UK, but usually only at Christmas and/or sunday roasts. And they are usually cooked bad- straight up boiled, drained, and buttered. Its the most boring thing you can do. A couple things that help sprouts: - trim them well. If they are fresh sprouts, get as much of the thick base nipped off before washing and prepping. Take off the outer couple leaves as well to get to the more firm core. - parboiling is the trick for a good tender core, especially if you have big sprouts the size of a golf ball or bigger. just don't overcook them. parboiling also helps take come of the bitterness out - a good fat and high temp is your friend. Bacon fat, lard, pancetta, and similar are great. A sauce/dressing with a little sweetness helps with bitterness too. You can either roast or pan fry to get that high temperature on it. Get the heat on them first until they are browning on the outside and looking like they are about cooked. Then add your sauce/dressing to finish. The heat really helps break down some of the bitterness. - bacon with a drizzle of honey is a good choice. General Tso's is an incredible flavor for them. balsamic glaze works well.

I think I hit 84-85 as my highest last year. I'm with you on getting them in fast and let them rest. I do that anyway in the net during unhooking. I grew up trout fishing and its the same in the warmer months (and if the water tops 75 or so you don't even go).

Hi All, I hit a new high water temp yesterday afternoon that I'd never seen before- 91 and change. That's halfway between my pool temp and my hot tub temp. I wasn't expecting it to be quite that hot and it was miserable. Fish weren't active, there was no wind, blazing sun, nothing was moving. Even the birds were trying to stay cool. The better choice would have been waiting until dark to start, but you fish when you get time (I love night fishing, I just couldn't make it work logistically yesterday). surely you guys down south see water this hot some times. How hot is too hot? At what point do you notice the fish really start to shut down? thanks rick

If the water is that bright blue/blue-green color, that is copper sulfate which is used as a weed killer. That's another chemical I've found to put the fish off (see the other thread on here about green water/algae water). Dark colors are going to give the best profile in it. I'd have black and/or black/blue/purple or whatever your combo preference is. If its sunny then some chrome based stuff. chartreuse/white also shows up decently.

I'm with RW here, I'd probably be changing out that line. I'd check out your reel and start stripping line off of it. Feel for nicks or weird feels on the line. Check your tip top ceramic ring for a sharp edge that could have weakened the line. I'd also double check that the 'sticks' you were casting around aren't also laden with barbed wire, maybe an old metal fence post, or something like that. "Sticks" to me is anything under an inch in diameter and loosely scattered around. If that's the case, then 15 lb big game shouldn't break just by touching it.

Start here and read this: https://wallethacks.com/credit-cards/ This is my friend's website, not just a random one. There is far more info available to you there than you will find by asking a random group of people on the internet. The short answer is that CC rewards can be useful if you have a card that gives rewards you are interested in. My wife and I travel a lot. We both have rewards cards that give bonuses for travel related spend and then also when you spend the rewards on travel items (so a double bonus really). With the card we get various travel insurances, trusted traveler programs, pre-check, etc. All things we find immensely useful and would pay for ourselves if we needed to. My parents use the sam's club credit card because they shop at sams and spend all of the rewards on purchases there (again, there are multiplier bonuses in that case). Also know that CC rewards are just a redistribution of costs. Some card companies and processors charge more depending on the card used. When they are charging more to the retailer, the retailer is rolling that cost across all products. So the price goes up for everyone, but the rewards cards users get a little of it back.

I've typed this advice in other threads so I'll give it a summary here. There is a lot of good info above so I might repeat some of it. - When you're first starting to fish from a kayak, I recommend keeping the investment low to start with. Good quality used is a great option. You might find that fishing from a kayak isn't for you. Or that the first one you buy doesn't actually fit your needs. Low initial investment means you can recoup it later when you sell it and buy a new one. Good quality used is great for that since you can probably sell it for what you bought it for so long as you don't overpay to start. I don't know you're area's market but there's usually a couple decent options on marketplace. - A wider boat will help with stability but also look at where it is wide. A pointy boat at both ends with just a small wide middle will be different than a boat that is wide for 5' in the middle and only tapers a little at the ends. The hull design also makes a difference in stability, often at the expense of maneuverability and paddling ease. - Bigger is better so long as you're able to handle and manage it. Bigger is more stable and has more storage space. More capacity. etc. You can get by with smaller. Some people love their 10' kayaks because they are smaller and more easily handled. That's the only think about mine that I'd change if I could (its 12' and 150lb "unloaded" which is a lot to lift into the truck). But at the same time I'd love to have the extra 18" of the 136 model. If I were to do it again I would get the 136. - A comfy seat is important if you sit to fish. A stadium style seat is going to be a better choice than a molded in seat. Lots of good seats in kayaks right now so don't settle for a bad one. - Since you've already got the boat, point 1 above is less relevant to you now. In that case Just fish it. Find out what you like and don't like about it. Learn if kayak fishing is for you. Then if you decide to continue into it and want to upgrade you know what you like and need. Upgrades and add-ons can happen over time. Just do things that are modular and movable. Lots of track mounted options and most tracks are universal. When you know how you like things you can drill and permanently mount things, but in the meantime there are small track (mighty mounts) that allow you do put basically anything anywhere. - i use scupper plugs (I have 10 total in my boat). I prefer to keep it dry on the deck. I have one-way plugs in the rear well in case it starts pouring rain before I think about it. The 1-way valves sometimes let in a seep of water if you're standing on one side of the boat and they go fully below the water line. In the back that's fine but in the front I don't like it so I just keep regular plugs in. If I'm in a place where I might take a wave over the bow then I'll pull one of them. I've taken a full 2' wave over the nose of the boat that filled my entire front well. With one plug out and the motor hole not being totally sealed, it drained in about 8 seconds and I kept going. - If you strap it in, you probably don't need a bed extender. a 5' bed with an 18" tailgate down is 6 1/2'. That's 65% of a 10' boat in the bed and definitely not a problem. A 12' boat would still be more than half. Figure out which end of the boat is heavier and put that end in first. if the handing end doesn't want to tip out you're fine. Strap it in and go.

keep us posted as you go. My ambition is to do a similar project myself to build the perfect boat for my needs. A 16' lund would be high on my list for starting platform.