JayMac89

Thanks guys. I think i will go the yak power route. Clean install from how it looks. I'm not really seeing any multi colored lights. White, green, red. But honestly I think that's on. I currently use a head lamp and the white light messes with my vision. Red or green works fine. So the interior lights being red or green only would be fine. Since I'll have extra "slots" on the yak power, I may just put multiple pairs of button lights in. Thanks again to all. Iv seen the yak power but never actually did any research on it. Quickly realized that's exactly what I'm looking for.

So iv been fishing out of a old town 106 pdl for 1 full season. And it's pretty much perfect. I put a garmin 93sv on there, upgraded to a black pak, will soon be adding a short stack, and a few other little things. But it doesn't quite feel complete. Like it's missing somthing. No real issues or things that need to be addressed. After much thought, I know what my final touches needs to be. Lights and usb charging ability. I keep things fairly simple. But those two things would really make it so I can almost live on the kayak. Iv done some looking around, but would really like some suggestions. And also have some questions. First of all, what I'm looking for in lights. I don't fish waters where gas boats are allowed. I don't need nav lights. But in the summer I will go out before sunrise and I need help seeing. Some nice strip style lights for inside the kayak would be great, as well as maybe a small light at the front to illuminate what's in front of me, being able to see my line, that sort of thing. But also a way of turning them off/on only when needed. I saw a sort of 3 channel switch (I belive by yak attack) to control these accessories. Somthing clean to install. Ability to switch between red and white light would be really nice. Secondly, I'd love to be able to charge my phone. I do HVAC, and although I'm not the owner, I run the company. It's very common for me to be on the phone alot taking service calls, then calling the on call mechanic, checking history, or invoices on the spot. You wouldn't think it is, but it's a thing. And my phone can drain fast. Especially in summer. Somthing like a thru hull wiring kit, except it's a USB port would be great. A nice clean but functional addition. Then my final question would be battery power. I use a nocqua 10ah for the 93sv. Works great. Better to get a separate power source or could I run it all off the nocqua (even if I have to possibly upgrade to the 20ah)? Any suggestions on brands or products, experiences had with certain products, any input at all, would be greatly appreciated. I found lights and USB chargers. But nothing really jumped out at me and gave me that "that's what I'm looking for" feeling. I'm very comfortable with electric (like I said HVAC guy) but battery power isn't my wheel house. It's there anything I should know before jumping in to this?

Decent morning. Caught 4 small guys in 3 hours. All on a t-rigged creature bait. Went back to my favorite lake. It's just so bassy looking. Ton of lay downs and brush and lily pads and grass. Really enjoy just making my way around hitting all the juicy looking spots. Wind was making things a tad difficult but I managed. Lost about a many as i caught. Which leads me to a quick question.... I'm relatively new to bass fishing. Belive this is my 3rd full season. I think. Any way, iv improved alot thanks to this place. Today I think somthing clicked. Could be way off though. Let me hear your thoughts. This was only my 3rd outing this year. Last Saturday I fished the same lake as today. Both days the bass we're not super aggressive. Skinny. And I had alot of what I think were swipes. Felt the tick tick but no one was home on the hook set. Yesterday at the other spot (deeper bigger lake) fish were aggressive, fat bellies. Today I noticed alot of what I belive to be beds along the shoreline. But didn't see any bass on said beds. In fact alot of my hits came in deeper water in the grass just off the beds. Because of the behavior, what I'm seeing (empty beds), and the physical condition of the fish themselves I was thinking the fish are post spawn. My thought was, shallower lake, warmed up quicker, bass spawned and now we're in the post spawn phase. Where as the deeper lake maybe is still in pre spawn? It's not super important. I fish regardless. But I do want to learn and am curious if I'm connecting the right dots here. Improving and putting the puzzle pieces together is just as rewarding as catching fish for me. Any way, hope all is well and everyone's getting on some bass!

First off, glad to be back for another season! Got out for the first time last weekend, caught a few. Nothing special. But man was today and doozy. And I'm not sure if it's good or bad. Comedy of errors but some good fish. Was really excited to fish today. Set everything up last night. Was waiting all week for the weekend. Finally, Saturday is here. Got to the lake early as usual. Setting the yak up. And realize....I don't have my nocqua battery for my 93sv. Any other lake I wouldn't really care. But this lake is really challenging. Only started fishing it late last year but struggled. It's very different then any other lake near me. So the electronics help. Oh well. No biggie. Well until I got home and found out the battery is just gone. Must of left it at the lake last weekend. South wind. Planned on fishing the wind blown bank/grass/grassline. Well, knowing what the forecasted wind would be, I already knew where I'd be fishing. I envisioned it the past few days. Problem was, somehow in my head i reversed it. And I'm my morning haze I didn't pick up on it. Dumbie. I'm fishing the protected side of the lake thinking to myself "huh, I thought it'd be more windy!". Still caught one average sized bass. Once I realized my error, I scooted over to the wind blown side. Saw a ton of activity. Caught one, but came unhooked at the side of the yak. Shoot, that one doesn't count. Then i hooked a nice one. Not a big as a 5LBer, but was close. Had some weight to her for sure. Few casts later, I feel somthing pick up my t-rig and booooogied! I'm not sure what it was. But it took off so fast, rod bent in half almost immediately, then tink, line snapped. Ugh. Few casts later, hooked into another one. Set the hook..... spinning reel snapped of the rod. You have got to be kidding me. I'm frantically trying to "reel" by hand. But the fish was gone. Called it quits right there. Caught a few average bass, the big one was the biggest iv caught at this lake by a long shot. Lots of activity, but also alot of mishaps. Not sure if it's a sign of an exciting season or a frustrating one. But happy to be fishing again for sure.

I put a garmin 93sv on my old town pdl last year. At the time I was asking myself if the 93 was too big/over kill. Not at all. Not even close. It's prefect. Extremely happy I didn't go smaller. Doesn't get in the way and can see the screen no problem. Somthing to think about.... go smaller, harder to see, needs to be closer, gets in the way more. Bigger, easier to see, doesn't need to be as close, gets in the way less or not at all. I can say with 100% certainty, if I had gone smaller I wouldn't have been happy with my purchase one bit.

I had a jon boat with no title at one point. Never got it registered, got rid of it and got a kayak instead. But I was looking into the process. Anywhere, long story short, if I couldn't produce a title I would of had to provide a bill of sale in order to get a title. I was able to look this all up on my states dmv website. But they went into extreme detail on boat size, type of motor, and so different scenarios.

Been a rough end of summer for me. Decided to go back to my favorite and best producing lake just for a bit of a confidence boost. Still struggling in that big lake iv been trying to conquer. Think that's just going to be how that lake fishes, but that's besides the point. Been at least a month, maybe 2 since iv been to the lake I went to this morning. Vegetation looks like it's starting to die off. Lots of matted vegetation. Wasn't having luck in my go to spots, had a long hard weekend without much sleep, decided to call it quits. On my way back to the ramp I was tossing a weightless t-rigged creature bait on the outer mat line and in little holes. Ended up finding a few, one being a really good one. A little skinny, didn't get a weight but probably close to 3 but not quite. Had she been a little more full of would of been a 3.5-4 pounder for sure. Put up a real good fight too. Confidence boost.... mission success

Oh boy. Alot. -3k on a kayak -Close to another grand for fish finder, battery, transducer mount -3 rods, all about 150 each. -A few hundred on tackle id guess -I don't even no but quite a few kayak accessories (black pak, beef up plate, rudder bolt, spare prop, spare shear pins, floating prop nut, kayak cart) That's not including gas, licenses, or monthly tackle subscription box. I'm at 5k easy if not more. Unless we're talking year from this day back.... in that case there's a second kayak in there. If we're just talking this calender year then it dosent. Granted, most of it was kayak and kayak accessories. Wouldn't normally spend that sort of money

I personally don't worry about "pressure". It's sort of a non factor for me. Now I'm not saying it dosent have an effect. Not what I'm saying at all, I just don't worry about it. I'm also only 3 years in, but in my limited experience, it's not a thing in my world. There are two lakes in particular. The first was before I got into a yak and the second was after. Both lakes get a ton of pressure. Both those lakes I can go to and an basically guaranteed fish. In certain spots at least with certain techniques. Now maybe that's me figuring them out and doing somthing different so I have success? Not sure. Then there's other lakes where it's not a guarantee. It's a crap shoot. The other thing is a lesson I learned this year. Iv watched other guys fish on multiple lakes. Alot of guys are lazy. They do the same thing over and over. They won't throw a jig into a gnarly laydown. Maybe around the perimeter, but not deep in there. They shy away from grass. Well, are the fish hiding in those spots feeling the pressure of no one is throwing there? Again, I don't know. So I'm not saying pressure doesn't play a role. I'm just saying I've seen lakes with pressure where it's like stealing candy from a baby. Iv seen other lakes with pressure where I struggle. Too many other factors for me to worry about pressure. Especially with my limited experience. I get cold and hot streaks and hadn't really got it 100% figured out. Probably never will, that's fishing after all. I just found another lake that is virtually impossible to fish from shore and is a challenge to get a kayak or boat in. Shouldn't be too much pressure. I'm going to try it out soon. Maybe my opinion on pressure will change.

I fish from a yak. I just got a garmin echomap 93sv. First electronics ever. Only had it for a 2 months now, maybe a tad less. I can't speak on most of what your asking. But I can say the garmin is easy to use/learn. Granted, I watched a few videos before hand to get a feel for what I was potentially buying. But I had the thing figured out enough to use almost instantly. Had it figured out enough to really start using it to its full capacity in a trip or two.

Good stuff! Happy for you. I was doing some self reflection the other day. Similar to you, although have not been fishing nearly as long, always power fished. Cranks and jigs. Slow bottom contact was not my thing. This year I really got hooked on just a weightless t-rig. As well as improving on other areas. Well, I made a big leap this year. Huge. I take pictures of most of my fish. Went back and looked. I more than tripled my fish this year from the past two years combined. I to credit the people who contribute to this forum for that success. And would like to thank everyone. You guys really make me think on a deeper level of that makes sense. And I feel it's made a huge difference. Thank you all

It's all good, disagreeing is fine. It's healthy and creates good conversation. I was just clarifying what I meant. For instance, I didn't say 2.5 pounds was average. I did say I consider a 2.5 pound bass an average size. Meaning not big, but not small either. Not that it's the average size bass caught. There's a distinction there. Plenty of dinks around here. And the reason for me bringing that up was that it makes a 4-5 pound bass a monster... to me. To others a 10 pounder is a monster.

Just to be clear, I think/know bass move. I think specifically bigger bass tend to lock down on a spot and hold. On a day to day sort of scale. Obviously seasonally they move as climate changes and as bait moves. The point being if he's trying to catch a big one, and finds it. But for whatever reason can't land it, go back a few hours later or even the next day. As long as there weren't any major changes in weather there's a good chance it'll be in the same spot. Iv seen it quite a few times in my short experience. I already have the one earlier about coming back and catching the same fish. But I got an even weirder one... Local lake. Saw this one bass, roaming in a certain area. Maybe like a 20sqft area. Bigger bass. Tried catching it, no luck. Next day, same bass. Roaming in the EXACT same spot... not area, exact spot. Went back a week later..... guess who's in the same spot. Couldn't catch him. But very clear water and got a good look at him. No other visible bass. See this guy 3-5 times over the course of a week or two. I'm too unexperienced to make a judgement on exact reasoning. But seen it a few times. On specific bass, not the majority.

Has anyone ever told you that your a genius? If not, then let me be the first. I just started using electronics in a kayak in the past month or so. One of the main learning curves for me has been approaching a waypoint and knowing when I'm close enough or to far based off the screen I'm looking at... if that makes sense. Marking position is a slick move. Granted I'm still finding some points of interest depending on the lake. So I'll still mark the structure/cover. But I'm stealing this tactic. Absolutely genius.

Iv only been fishing slightly longer than you. I am still learning myself. But I have been lucky enough to catch a few big ones. For my area at least. For reference, in my opinion a 2.5 pounder is a normal sized bass. Anything under is small. Anything over up to 3.5 or so is a really good one. And 4-5+ is a giant. Iv caught 3 in that 3.5-4 pound range and my PB is 5 pounds even. Most of what I've learned cane from the guys here. But with my limited experience iv been able to confirm a few things. First, as already mentioned, is time and consistency. I fish alot. Hell my 5 pounder I caught this year in early spring. Still cold up here. It was a day that I wasn't really expecting much action but just wanted to get into the routine with warmer weather on is way. Second is that big bass don't move. The first big guy I caught was a crazy story. The short version is I hooked up with it but it threw my crankbait in the morning. Went back in the evening that very same day and caught the same bass exactly in the same spot. And third is big bass get the best hiding spots. Every big bass iv caught was deeeeep in some sort of cover. If I come up on a lay down or over hanging trees, my first cast is going to be the risky (but high reward) cast. Deep in there. Might get hung up but might get a big guy. If no takers then I'll start to cast around the cover. You mention throwing at the edge of grass. And that's all good. But for me at least, that's not getting the big ones. If I see cover and my first thought is hesitation due to getting hung up, my follow up thought will be big bass. Again. These are all thoughts and advice iv read. But as iv caught a handful of bigger bass, they started making more sense to me and I understood what they meant better. The pieces have start coming together surely but slowly

Thanks a ton everyone. I love this stuff. And I'm really enjoying trying to figure this place out. So the other lake in my area, they are easy in comparison. Run along the bank and throw to a laydown or pads yada yada. It feels like stealing candy from a baby compared to this lake. But that's what makes it fun to me. Iv never really had to put this sort of mental work in before. I'm glad I posted this. It's sparked a few questions.... Casts by fly mentioned a thermocline. So in the early early morning before sunrise iv noticed a sort of "fuzziness" on the electronics at around the 10ft zone I belive. But later in the day if I pass over a big hole or deeper water I notice that same fuzziness but deeper. Maybe around 18ft or so. I thought it was the thermocline. But seeing it shallow then deeper confused me. Does a thermocline move that quickly with a sunrise? And iv noticed this on other lakes as well. But little bubbles in the grass. Like there's a fountain bubbler, but there's not. I figured there was some science plant reason for this. Releasing oxygen or whatever. My question is, does anyone pay any mind to these little spots? Iv definitely been a bit scatter brained fishing this lake. Plus figuring out electronics. Plus being out of my element. But you guys really have helped a ton and I feel like I have a good strategy moving forward. I almost didn't post this question, knowing alot of the lure/tactic type responses I'd get. But I'm glad I did. Lots of good information and things I didn't think of. You guys are the best. Thank you all for chiming in.

I always find it amazing how on point you are. Your spot on. That victory ramp side is where I was talking about where iv had the most success and see alot of bait. Iv also has success on the far end where that deep hole is. Grass line in about 7 ft of water and quickly drops to 20 plus. Iv been getting there a few hours before sun up and fishing until late morning. I tend to get them early then nothing. Iv been tempted to go back to my other normal stomping grounds, just to catch more fish. But I really enjoy the challenge of trying to figure this place out. Despite the slow fishing.

Thank you very much. So here's somthing interesting. There's one corner specifically that I always see bait just outside the grass. This is where I have had the most success. Running a moving bait just outside the grass hasn't produced much for me. But iv always thought of fishing the grass edge as fishing outside the grass... not just inside the grass edge. This is why I came to you guys. Sparking ideas. I think that's where I'll start next time. Just inside the grass edge. Seems so obvious now that you mentioned inside and outside. But man, I don't think I would of thought of that on my own. Thank you as well. I was starting to think 1/2 might be too much. Probably over thinking it. It's the heaviest I got. I think I'll go get some 3/4 and 1oz... or more. so I have a variety to try

First off, thanks for the responses So here's the deal...I wanted to avoid getting lengthy, but I'm going to. Iv tried cranks and vibrating jigs over the top. Not a spinnerbait though. Not much luck. I think i got 2 that way about a month ago. So here's the long version... I fish from a kayak. Only about 3 years of taking bass fishing seriously. Seriously in a fun way, ya know. Learned a ton, a ton more still to learn. All the lakes I fish are shallow like I mentioned. I decided to fish this new lake and got hooked. Just somthing different. It's only 250-300 acres. But waaay deeper. 20ft with a few deep holes, one being about 65ft. Very different from what I'm used to. I was planning on getting electronics eventually, but fishing this lake was the thing that made me take that jump and got a garmin echomap 93sv. Mapped out a ton, marked alot of structure just off the grass line. Fished it all, no bass (good amount of other species though). Spent alot of time out of the grass. Iv also fished the grass, and iv caught them. With bottom contact lures. There's just so much grass. So I tried eliminating water. Fished the grass line. Ran cranks and vibrating jigs over top. Nothing. Looked for holes in the grass, there's really none. At least not that I can find easily. Side imaging only shows a wall of grass. So unless I cover literally every inch of grass with down imaging, it's tough. I looked for changes from soft to hard bottom. No luck. This weekend I said im going back to my roots and what I know. Weightless t-rig and a jig in water less then 10ft. Which means grass. And I caught 3 over the whole 3 day weekend. Better than nothing, but not great. That's when it hit me. Every time iv caught them, it's been in the grass. And seemingly in the thick of it (no edges or holes, just grass). Usually with some sort of drop off or structure near by. I think they are deep in this grass, in about 10-12ft of water. But again, there's just so much grass. Fishing the lighter stuff takes awhile to get to the bottom, if I'm even getting there. Now logic would tell me, they are still relating to somthing in the grass. A stump or a rock. But I can't see it on electronics with how thick the grass is. So I need a way to get to the bottom quickly so I can cover water fast, then start making note of where I'm getting bites (if I get bites. Man I hope I get bites) so I can have "targets" and hopfully start eliminating some grass. I hadn't given up on moving baits over the top. But that could put my lure 10ft above them. Which in thick grass might as well be a mile (at least I'd imagine. Totally could be wrong). Plus some of this grass gets really close to the surface so not getting the lure fouled up is a challenge as well. This is why I think they are deep in there. Now I could be totally wrong. It's a theory. But that's what got me going down this road. Also, pat brown.... you actually were the guy that I stole an idea from. I was doing some searching here and found a few posts you made about using heavier weights on a t-rig. Somthing about wanting to come crashing in and get a reaction bite. So thank you sir. I think after i read a post or two from you is when I jumped in the truck and ran out to get a new rod haha. So yeah, I do appreciate all responses. And going over the top of the grass is somthing I'm not giving up on. I'm not writing those responses off. And I'm well aware that I have to get out there, trial and error with weights till I find the right one. But this problem has me locked in, can't stop thinking about it. So I figured I'd get some thoughts from you guys to hold me over till I can get out again over the weekend.

Let me pick your brains... So this is a long story. I'm going to give you the short version for the sake of getting to the point, if anyone wants the full version I'll provide more info. Been fishing a new lake the past month and a half or so and have struggled. Caught some, but struggled. Yesterday I had a "ah-ha!" moment. They are in the thick tall grass. I let the thought dance around in my head for about an hour. Then ran out and got a whole new rod and reel set up to attack this grass. I'm impulsive. I'm obsessing. I can't stop thinking about it. I had that "ah-ha" in the parking lot so I didn't get to put it to the test. This grass goes around the entire lake, 5ft deep out to about 12-15ft deep. The grass stops a foot or two below the surface. Not sure what type of grass, but it's skinny, and had pine tree type needles. I am calling it thick but I think a better word would be dense. Iv gotten through it with light (1/4 and 3/8) jigs....I think. But the garmin also thinks I'm in 1-2ft of water at times when I'm deep. Not sure if that's a glitch or the grass being so thick and trucking the unit. Point being, I thought I was getting through it but now I'm not sure. I'm wondering how you guys would attack this? Iv thrown a jig and t-rig. But light weight. I set up my new rod with 65lb braid, t-rigged a z man billy goat, with a pegged 1/2 oz weight. I wouldn't consider this punching, but maybe a tamed down version. Pitching/flipping set up? I don't care what it's called. There's alot of grass and not alot of holes or sections to target so it'll be a numbers game. Flip it in, hop hop, reel it in and repeat. Power fishing until I find them. But now I'm starting to wonder if 1/2 oz is to much? It's the depth that is throwing me. No other lake I fish goes deeper than 10ft, and I'm usually fishing in 5-6. Fishing grass 13ft tall in 15ft of water is totally foreign to me. So how would you attack thick, tall grass like this? Both lures and approach. I already know I'll hear fish the edge, holes, breaks from soft to hard bottom, yada yada.... that's all part of the long version that I left out.

I have not wrapped anything. I actually have nothing good to add unfortunately. But I absolutely hate the old town colors. That orange and the blue you see everywhere. I have a forest green or somthing like that. Never seen another old town in the same color as mine. Even when I did research on what yak i wanted, watching YouTube videos. Only saw the blue and orange. I absolutely refused to get the blue or orange. I'm honestly surprised the green isn't more popular. So I guess all I have to add is a nod of approval. Wrap that thing.

I just got a garmin echomap 93sv for the yak about a month ago. Never used any electronics ever. So nothing to compare to. But I love it. Was pretty intuitive, was able to figure it out with no knowledge of these things pretty quickly. Iv been thoroughly impressed.

Been a rough month and a half. I tried a new lake very close to home. Biggest lake on long Island. It's incredibly different from every other lake I fish. No lake I fish is over 10ft deep. This ones 20ft with holes even deeper, one as deep as 65ft. No real shoreline cover. A ton of thick tall grass from 5ft deep out to about 12-15ft. No breaks or holes. Just grass. I'm hitting the grass line and structure (holes, humps, drop offs, and stump "reefs") in 10-20ft of water. Went out and got a garmin 93sv and mapped out a ton of the lake. Caught a few, but not nearly the success I'd have elsewhere. A ton of other species of fish. But I specifically target bass. Nothing else gives me that fizz but bass. Been tough but I enjoy the challenge. This weekend I decided to go back to my roots. Meaning water less then 10ft. Which puts me in the grass. Weightless t-rig and a 1/4oz jig. Some sort of moving bait over the top of the grass. I caught three over the whole weekend. Better than iv been doing but still not great. Today I had that light bulb moment. Every fish iv ever caught was in the grass. Iv been trying to spot the not, if you will. The weed line. Holes (there's not many). Differences in the bottom throughout the weeds. Like I said, caught a few. But not alot. Well today I hit every piece of structure I have marked on the garmin. No bass. That's when it hit me. They are deep in the grass. They aren't on the deeper structure. They are in the thick of it. Went and got a rod and reel dedicated to flipping the thick stuff. Spooled with braid, somthing iv never used. Hopfully I'm right. When I do get them, they are nice bass. As frustrating as it's been, this Is why I love bass fishing. Just got to figure out the puzzle. I hadn't seen or heard of anyone having much luck with bass in the past month. I also hadn't seen anyone really getting into the thick stuff. I pretty much refuse to stop hitting this lake until I can figure it out and have continued success. By that time it'll be fall and I'll have to figure it out all over again. HA! Git to love it. Anyway, here's a few from when I have caught them.....

I just got a blackpak. So I can now carry more. In my DIY crate I had one bag for plastics, and 2 small boxes. One for lures, one for tackle/finesse. It worked but the set up with the blackpak is much better. 3 boxes. One for jigs (that's including bladed jigs). One for treble hook lures. One for tackle/finesse. Then 4 bags. One with worms/creatures. One with swimming style plastics. Then the other 2 hold my extras of go-to lures still in the packaging for when i break them off, I'm not stuck without a favorite. One bag for jigs, one for trebles. 4 rods. This was my first week with the blackpak so I hadn't done it yet. But I plan on mounting a little pouch to the outside or inside the lid for fish grips, pliers, leatherman. Currently they sit tethered in the pockets next to my seat.

Easy. Strike king bitsy bug jig with a craw trailer. I don't care which. Green pumpkin and black and blue. Why? Versatility. I can swim it. I can fish it slow. Shallow or deeper. Grass rock yada yada.