casts_by_fly

I don't fish rivers much/yet though I'm planning to put it on the Delaware this spring/summer. I have the short Helix transducer on the standard old town mount. No plan to remove it. I fish shallow lakes and launch on rocks now. I'm mindful of it when I'm shallow but have never worried too much since it sits 2-3" higher than the nose of the kayak and its a short transducer.

When I kept a truck rod, it was a 7' 2 piece spinning rod that was 30 years old with an equivalent 30 year old $50 shimano (that might be worth $10 now). I throw it in the side box on my truck bed and leave it there with a small pack of hooks/lures/etc. That said, I only did that for popping to a trout stream. If I'm going bass fishing I have a plan in place and grab one of my normal rods. The truck rod is an opportunistic rod that I don't care if it gets beaten around and can stop anywhere I might stop. If we had a lot of farm ponds with bass and I was driving around a bunch, then I'd throw in a 2-piece medium casting rod and appropriate reel.

A 24v 50ah is the same total wattage as a 12v 100ah. And you're not using them to push your tracker all over the lake all day (you have an outboard for that). A 50 AH is not enough if he's using the motor for primary propulsion on any sizable body of water bigger than a 150 acre lake. The Xi3 is 52 amps on full draw. That's less than a full hour of run time at max (60 minutes /hr * 90% effective capacity * 50 AH / 52 amps = 52 minutes effective run time on max). If you're fishing a 150 acre lake where you're not running more than a couple hundred yards then that's enough. I have a lake or two like that here and my autopilot (~45 amp max draw) barely pulls any battery power. I could get by with a 15 AH battery on those lakes if I wanted to. As soon as you jump to a 300 acre lake where you are running a mile to your first spot, that's a 15 minute run there and back (eventually, unless you fish the whole way back). You'd burn half of a 50 AH battery that fast. Then you're limited to not moving anywhere else on the lake. Forget it if you're on a bigger lake than that. If the OP can live with those limitations (and no trolling or fishing in current), then a 50 would scrape by. Otherwise, conventional wisdom across the motorized kayak community is start with a 100 ah and go from there. thanks, rick

Don't you threaten me with a good time...

Man I need to move south. On Ajay's ice out thread we're comparing snowfall amounts and talking about when most people will have flowing water again. You guys are hitting peak season that we won't see for 2+ months yet. What I'd give for stained 57 degree water right about now.

I hear what you're saying about the fall, the issue I have here (and I'm not the OP) is that as soon as it hits the bottom you're stuffed. The fine black filamentous algae is a stringy goo that clings to everything. You can let it drop to the bottom, but as soon as it hits you're reeling it in and cleaning off the hook eye at the boat. That extra time to clean the eye after every drop gets old fast. You spend more time cleaning than you do fishing. A swim jig just off the bottom is one option once you get the feel down of how deep you're going. On the flat bottom lakes here I find a crankbait is another good choice if you have the right one. A 1-3' crankbait (tiny bomber did it last year) in 4' of water is just enough to stay off the bottom and fish it pretty effectively. As I was typing this, I had another thought that might be worth a try. Even a swim jig will get gunked that doesn't clear because of the hook eye. A 1" piece of shrink tubing might be a solution. Thread it onto the line, tie on jig, and then slide it down over the hook eye. A careful lighter shrink and that's a clean skinny taper to slide through the gunk.

I don't have that boat, but I can tell you that your conclusion is correct. On my old town kayak with front mounted trolling motor you can be moving 'straight' and the back end will kick out significantly (even more if there is a tail wind or current) if you don't have the rudder down. I've seen DIY versions on other boats made from plywood that is 6x12". Mount that to a piece of angle iron or anything else that you can readily mount to the back of your pontoon.

We have a ton of the black filamentous algae on the lake bottoms here. A tokyo rig is one way to do it. If you go that route, when you bend the wire to hold the weight in place just put a 30 degree bend to it and not a full hook or loop. It helps weeds slide off easier. A pointy nose swim jig helps, especially if it has a recessed eye. A punch rig like ajay pictured works well too, especially if you use the needle nose worm weights and NOT a really wide gap hook. Not sure which one specifically AJay pictured, but TW carries a whole stock of similar things. Just add a skirt and you're there. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-TUNGSTNWTS.html?from=basres

Are you going to end with an ultrex/spot lock, live imaging, etc? You can always upgrade accessories. Buy the hull, motor, and condition. You can’t change a layout.

yes, they are a little different but the mechanics are the same. With lighter baits the friction of the line coming off the spool and going through the guides is a little more noticeable (especially with stiffer lines). With heavier weights it’s less noticeable (I.e. not noticeable). With heavier weight you will need a little more thumb (or add just a little spool tension), but you’ll feel the rod tip flex more which gives you a bit more lure speed. Start with whatever you’d normally use. For me, that’s about a half ounce total bait weight which is a pretty easy starting weight.

that’s the picture of the magnum bag. Are those 3700 sized boxes inside? The description on the website just says ‘standard’ but then it also says it fits 3600 on the outside so I assume 3700 inside?

If you believe in that tenet, it’s 10,000 hours of dedicated practice doing a thing correctly. If you fish an 8 hour trip, that’s 1250 trips. It would take fishing an 8 hour day every day for 3.5 years to do it. In 10 years, that’s an 8 hour fishing day every third day. If you’re a dedicated weekend angler fishing 40, 8-hour days a year (which is a solid year considering the thread here on “how much do you fish”), you’d have to do that for 30 years to still not quite hit 10,000 hours. All of that is a long way of saying, “dedicated, intelligent time on the water”

fair point. You can practice with shorter rods though. I pitch in my basement with 7’ rods in an 8’ ceiling. You just can’t do a tip lift at the end. You learn how to get lure speed with a low approach quickly!

The good thing about pitching is that you can practice in the house or yard pretty easily. Rig up a jig or beaver and get to pitching. I usually have a rod next to my desk and more often than not I’ll be on work calls pitching to the leg of the couch in the next room.

For home storage of plastics, leave them in the original bag and hang them on pegboard or equivalent. Plastic tubs are also a good option as you can stand the bags up vertically like a file cabinet. A worm binder would work too. For on the water in a canoe, the KVD/Plano speed bag would be a great match for what you're needing. Store them at home in a tub and throw the ones you need for the day in the speed bag. For hard baits and general 'every trip' use, I use the plano guide series. It holds 5 3700, 1x 3600, plus two pockets. To do it again, I'd probably go with a cheaper actual bag that holds a bit more. I normally want to carry 6 or 7 3700 and there are options for holding that which aren't much bigger. If you go that route, you can use a 3700 with no internal dividers for your plastics each trip and swap what's in that box like you would a speed bag.

You don't. Shimano braking systems and daiwa braking systems are just different from each other and take a minute to get used to. I've now got a good bit of time on both my met and my zillion. The met needs a little more spool tension or a little more thumb work in general. You can cast it with minimal spool tension, but I don't advise starting there. Add a little more than you're used to, same with the brakes, and then slowly back them off until you start to get the little overuns. You've found the limit so start fishing there and adjust until you've got it sorted for you. I leave 2 brake blocks engaged on the met and there is enough adjustment in the dial to sort from there.

My normal setup for regular casting is minimal spool tension and use the brakes to minimize overruns. Then thumb tension for the rest. For pitching, the spool speed is slow enough that the breaks don't come into play. And, the spool tension is already minimized. So I don't touch anything to pitch. That's handy because I will pitch any given lure at any time the angle needs it. I'll go so far as to pitch a spook way back into bushes if that's the lure the fish want and that's where they are living. gotta watch the trebles, but more than doable.

if the motorguide is your primary means of getting from A to B, then get the 100 AH, especially if you fish lakes bigger than 200 acres or so. I have the Old town autopilot which is similarly powered and power hungry. I run the 80 ah battery from amped. A lot of my trips and lakes are under 300 acres and 5 hours. There are no problems there whatsoever. I have a couple 500-2500 acre lakes that I'll do a full day on. At the end of the day I'll be <20% battery and will have scaled back the speed a little to ensure I get home. With the extra 20 AH I wouldn't even slow it down. With a 60 AH I wouldn't have been able to fish that long. In my boat with my motor, you get about 2 hours of full speed running plus enough 'fishing speed' motoring. Spot lock doesn't take much power unless you're in current. Even in wind you'll be on <40% throttle to hold position which is next to nothing. Full speed motoring is what draws the power. Even 90% will extend your run time incredibly.

It depends on how much you have and how you want to keep them. I have two ways of working- hard boxes and soft bags. For my paddle tails, I have them in a 3600 sized plano. I have 3-4 sizes of keitechs plus some others I use as trailers in that box, as well as a range of jigheads and hooks. I have the 3700 worm organizer which is a 1.5 thickness box split into 2 sides and 2 sections per side. I don't love it, but since I have it I use it for neds and finesse plastics. I don't carry them all of the time, so that box comes and goes to make room for another 3700 in my tackle bag. For my other trailers (swimjig and vibrating jig) they are in their original packaging in a side pocket of my tackle bag. I can fit about 15 bags in there and I never leave them home. My other plastics (assorted worms and texas rig plastics) are in the KVD tackle organizer bag that may or may not come on each trip. I think I have 25 bags squeezed into it. It says 20 capacity and that's probably better. If I was carrying a lot of plastics, that's what I'd use and organize them by type. They are $10 each so super cheap, but they are waterproof bags (maybe not the zippers). What are all of those big billed deep divers for? Florida is only 8' deep...

I'm probably the opposite of everyone else. If you don't take it, you definitely can't use it. I would definitely ear to the ground on the conditions. 5 years should be enough for the fishing to be rebounding. The weeds should be back and its just a matter of how much the fish dropped off and came back up. Plus you're going for 2 weeks which is a lot of time to be sitting there without the boat after learning the fishing is good again. it would also come down to the type of trip you're having. I am in a similar position. We go to the outer banks every year with friends. It was for 2 weeks the past years, and 1 week this year. I've long considered bringing my kayak down because there is a ton of fishing in the sound that is perfect for a kayak (specs and reds on bass type tackle). However, the purpose of the trip is to hang out with friends, not find new fishing spots. Leaving for a day on the water means not seeing them all day. Leaving in the early morning and coming back mid-day means I'm too tired to enjoy the day with friends. Instead, I take a couple surf rods and a small bag of gear. We sit on the beach and drink beer while maybe catching a fish here or there. I get a little fishing in, I also get a lot of friends time in. Priorities.

Fair enough. My comment was probably more flippant than anything. When I was growing up we fished club tournaments. No prize money, strictly fun, with a ranking throughout the year. My dad fished the occasional regional depending on the location. If you want to compare yourself to a bunch of other anglers (see how good you are!) on a given day then a tournament is the way to do it. If you just want to go fishing, then skip the tournament and just go fishing. There's no wrong answer

said to the guy that is trying to fish tournaments…

Yeah, i figured you were going to say that. Next order...

I love my experts, the couple Cara I have, and falcon in general. I’ve only found one rod of the dozen or so I have that I didn’t like from falcon. that said, I don’t know the jerk bait rod because I don’t fish jerkbaits much. The closest I have is the finesse jig. The expert finesse jig is feather weight despite how much power it has. The jerkbait rod is 2” shorter and a power level lighter. I can’t imagine how light it is.

Really cool idea but if I could only get 20 baits in a 3700 box I’d have to tow a boat behind the boat for the tackle boxes.