casts_by_fly

Sounds like you're talking about a big single colorado spinnerbait. tons of thump. If you get a spring rain and the water muddies up and rises, there's you're lure. Tons of thump for the fish to find it in the muddy water, fishes shallow really well which ties with rising spring water. You need to fish them a little slower than a big double willow because of the water resistance. You don't need a short arm, pick whatever arm you want. Fish it just like any other spinnerbait- target casting to likely areas. Also, a big thumper like this is great at night. There's a reason most 'night' spinnerbaits are black with a single colorado. Most visible profile in low light and largest acoustic signature (i.e. thump).

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/253962-moderator-announcement/

I'm pretty sure that @Zcoker fishes the everglades in a kayak and can inform on gators.

im in Chester so budd, musconetcong, and hopatcong are local. Spruce is 30 minutes. My dad is coming next week so I’m trying to prefish a little and see what’s heating up to get him on some fish. Good luck on your trip.

if it makes you feel any better, I have a dog sitting at the emergency vet right now so I feel your pain. Like yours, the situation is fixable (and already fixed). No one got hurt, no one died, you can make more money tomorrow.

not sure where you’re headed but I was planning to get out Saturday morning early. I can bring my zillion jdm and we can compare notes.

Falcon Bucoo SR 7'3" Deep Runner for $100 with EVA grips. Or, for $130 for the lowrider 'Swim Jig' at 7'2". Ignore the lure rating on the swim jig, its a great rod for what you are asking.

I'm not saying it won't work. It drafts shallow and tracks skinny. It should cut right through any water for you no problem. If the seat and seat back work for you then great. You're a more flexible man than I. No way I could sit in that seat for more than an hour.

visually you won't see anything. But if your breakers are labeled see if the circuits that are off in the house correspond to one side of the box or not. If they do then you might have a bad rail in your box.

You could do that. Or you could thank yourself later for getting something just a bit more comfortable. I fished out of one of those when we went to the bahamas. I had grabbed a fly rod to get across the flats we were staying near and to go up through the mangroves. It was decent to paddle and cut the water just fine. But the seat is a semi reclined position and pushes your hips up in the front which hurts my back after not terribly long. It was also tippy. After a bit I got my bearings on it and I was standing to use it like a paddleboard with my feet on the flatter bit next to the seat back. That helped on the flats, but you better know what you're doing and where you are.

if you want more torque and weed fighting, the MKP6 weedless wedge prop is the one to have. You drop about 0.4 mph on it, but the amount of immediate thrust when you hit the button pushes away most weeds before they even thing about wrapping. That plus the ninja blade and you're cutting through a ton of thick stuff.

same as the others, same relative performance that BankC noted above. Compared to the stock MKP2 you'll pick up about 0.4 mph give or take regardless of standing or moving water. I'd hesitate putting it on the rocky susky though for the reasons I noted above unless you have a backup plan. Breaking on rocks is a real thing for this prop.

welcome to the collective. You say you don't want pedals or motors but.... Next think you'll say is that you don't want a 9" fish finder. Or lights. Or a bespoke tackle storage system. In all seriousness, you can get as serious as you like into it, limited only by budget and space. I would suggest that whatever boat you end up in, you think about getting the best platform you can so that when you start modifying later you're not throwing good money after bad. I'm in an old town sportsman series and the paddle 120 is practically an identical boat. Good layout, comfy seat, super stable to stand up in (I don't fish sitting down). Its a wider boat and won't be as fast in the water to paddle as a skinnier tapered boat, but you get it back in stability. If I were going to paddle, I would take a hard look at one. the 106 length would be similar. I fish rods from 6'6" to 7'6" in the kayak. I stand to fish, so maybe that's part of it but I wouldn't worry about the rods at this stage. Since you're coming from the bank, you're not trying to pare down the 10 you take every trip to a kayak load either. You're probably carrying 1 or 2 on the bank so will start there on the kayak. Lots of good info here. I'd start by looking on facebook marketplace in your area. Usually some decent deals to be found.

yeah, that's the usual route. next time you order airplane props, just grab a couple. For me, I've decided they aren't worth it. Compared to the MKP2 standard prop, I pick up about 0.3-0.4 mph total. That's nice, but I can only use it until the start of May or so before there is enough grass on the lakes to kill it. The airplane props do NOT do well with grass. They tangle quickly and are unusable. The slower acceleration is also trickier with spotlock if it is gusty conditions.

I have used those airplane props. I have also broken those props, hence the warning. The edges will be the first to start to go. They will round over first. You can file/sand them back to a smooth edge. After a couple times of that you start losing material on the edge. Any rock hits at full speed will break it. The minn kota prop just rolls the edge and pops up the motor for me. Like you said, its easy enough to carry a spare. At one point I carried 3 props in the kayak (one on the motor and two spare). Since my plane prop broke, I just keep the two minn kotas.

most anything you want. That's more or less my buzzbait rod in my current arsenal. That would be good swim jig setup too.

Carry your spare prop with you when you go. That airplane prop will chip and break on about any hard thing you hit. The minn kota props are resilient and will chip or dint, but they won’t break. The RC prop will brake off large pieces or more and what’s left will be a heck of a wobble to get you back to the ramp.

The fish move the direction of the water. Fishing water they will push shallower, falling water they pull back. Falling water seems to scatter them while rising water pushes them right up onto the bank. I love fishing shallow, I hate fishing deep. I think you can guess my water preference.

What you’re describing is a medium to medium heavy, moderate to moderate fast rod rated 3/16-3/4 or thereabouts. I would suggest looking into the falcon expert finesse jig. It’s rated 1/4-3/4 in the expert series and 3/16-5/8 in the other series. If you called the expert 3/16-5/8 I’d have no problem with that. Light tip and top end, medium power on the bottom. Great sensitivity. My expert version will cast an unweighted fluke a mile. I have fished it with 1/2 oz chatterbaits and a zako which ends up around 7/8 oz (it works, but is better a little lighter). It is my primary walking bait rod with a half ounce treble hooked lure. No issue with enough backbone there. It will fish an og4 or dt4 just fine and if I’m target casting them it’s a great choice. It’s a really good overall rod, really light weight, great feel.

I’m sure it’s not a head unit. I’d be thinking wiring got rubbed through. I’m betting it was the battery. A 9” screen draws a good bit of current.

on top of the brands you already mentioned, the bruichladdich port Charlotte heavily plated and octomore series and the port askaig 8 are going to be up your alley for peat. The laphroaig cairdeas series are more my preference of peat rounded with some other cask. The bowmore 18 for $23 is good also, especially if you get a decent sized pour (because you know the bartender). cool place. If I’m in Knoxville I’m there.

not sure which battery you went with, but if you burn through a 20 ah lithium in a day you definitely have a problem somewhere.

good thing it’s Friday! Does the place have an online menu? I’m curious what all is offered.

Laphroaig is a solid peat monster. Ardbeg and Lagavulin are in a similar vein. They are all significantly peaty with not a ton of barrel complexity. Caol Isla is similarly peaty in the basic, though they do some cask matured options too (as do the others). Bowmore has a familiar Islay profile, but it a lot more rich and spicy. Bowmore 18 is a very nice mass market sipper, though the price on it has doubled over the last 5 years or so. If you have a local place with a good menu, just run through all of the Islay options. Bruichladdich is another good one for big peat with a clean flavor under it. At one time they had the highest peat concentration bottle on the market.

I would say you want a lighter rod. I have a lamiglas 1/8-1/2 rated rod that I set up to do the same things. Overhead casting is alright with a 1/15 and TRD. Pitching is okay. Sidearm/roll is a little tougher. I wish I had a 1/16 rated rod for that. With a 3/16 bottom end (if that's the true bottom end) you're going to be right on the limits all of the time and wishing you had a little lighter.