JayMac89

I'll chime in. But let my preface this by saying iv only been doing this for 3 years. Learned a ton, have a ton more to learn. But i do fish alot of grass. I have 2 thoughts.... First, where are the big ones? Well, short answer is I don't know. The long answer is, iv heard and experienced that bigger bass get the best hiding spots. For instance, my PB I caught earlier this year. Was fishing a laydown. He was deeeeep in there. So deep that it seemed like a 100% chance of getting snagged. So maybe (obviously don't know your lake) the big guys were deeper? Maybe the grass was the easy hiding spot and the big guys were else where. As far as fishing grass. Target the differences. So the edges. The holes. Especially if it's a big grass patch. Need to narrow it down somehow. My other tactic is to start high, then work my way down. First I'll throw a swim jig or chatterbait depending on conditions. I'll keep it high, above the grass. Then depending on success, I'll start letting the lure drop deeper before starting the retrieve and pull it throw the grass. Then I'll let it sink to the bottom and pull it through the bottom. Then I'll slow down and throw a jig or t-rig. Obviously trying to figure out a pattern. If your having success at a certain depth/speed, stick with it. Again, I'm still learning myself. But this is what I do. And have had good success. And even if I don't, at least I know I worked that area hard and did my best.

100%. In my defense, I do keep it pretty minimal. Maybe a little too minimal at times. Hence the blackpak. I'll be getting way more space then i really need. I'd like to add some space for just a tiny bit more tackle, but mostly space for other things. The slippery slope I find myself on is more about setting things up just right then adding a bunch of complex stuff. Granted the garmin may of been overkill. I'll admit to that. I remember why I impulsively bought the blackpak when what I was really looking for was an anchor wizard. The navare anchor wizard kit takes up the forward facing rod holder, which I use alot surprisingly. Which would mean I would have to figure out a solution for that. And if I did add an anchor trolley, I like it on my left. Which is where my paddle holder is..... which just put alot of things on my left. Wouldn't really work in my mind. So the thought was get a blackpak, could add some tracks with possibly a rod holder on it to substitute the forward facing one. Plus I'll be gaining a bit more storage for rain gear, head lamp, blah blah. So it was thought out and the idea is actually too keep things simple...ish. I just find it funny that you change one thing and suddenly your reworking everything. But that's part of the fun. Iv actually thought of a way to upgrade my DIY anchor wizard and it's dependent on using the blackpak. I do feel that with the nicer kayak (I know it's not the nicest, but it ain't cheap either) it warrants buying the more pricey top of the line type stuff. But I'll see how it works and decide if it warrants buying the real anchor wizard. Blackpak should be here tomorrow. Can't wait to set it up and put it to use later this week. I knew they were cool, but now that my mind taking with ideas in realizing how much cooler they are than I originally thought.

Yeah I went out and ordered the 13x16 before I even heard any responses. Was going to go 16x16 but it would either just barely fit or not for at all (at least the way I wanted to set it up) in my 106. Not to go off topic. But it's funny (yet very fun) how things snowball with kayaks. I had a cheapo, very bare bones. DIY crate, DIY anchor wizard, anchor trolley. Quickly went to the 106 PDL. Kept it pretty much stock and loved it. Same DIY crate. Didn't use an anchor trolley because honestly, I never felt the need. Because of the ease of moving around I started fishing bigger lakes. One in particular is quite deep. Just got the garmin 93sv. Perfect. Except now I'm seeing structure/cover in deeper water. And it was a windy weekend. So I started thinking it was time for the anchor wizard. Saw the navare anchor wizard kit. But that'll take away my forward facing rod holder.... so somehow I got on the blackpak....I honestly don't know how or what the reasoning was. But there was a reason... less then 24 hours later I had one ordered. Now when I get the blackpak my plan is to figure out some placement of certain things, use my old DIY anchor and figure out if an anchor wizard is the right call for me. Short version being, I thought I was just getting a garmin unit. But turns out now I'm fully riding this thing out. Was very happy keeping it simple... that changed in a matter of hours hahaha. What can I say, I'm impulsive.

Funny this was posted today. Iv always been happy with my ghetto milk crate. Felt the blackpak was sort of a waste of money, although looked nice. But have been thinkning about upgrading to the blackpak all day. No idea why either. Quite random. I got my old town in February. Been fishing in it all year obviously. Just put a echomap 93sv in. And now sort of have the final build in mind, that works for me. Think the blackpak will be my next purchase. How do you like it? Curious about this odor koz mentions haha

Here is a suggestion. Look up Chad hoover. Big kayak guy and a bigger guy himself. Look into what he uses. Also I remember when I was doing research watching videos of bigger guys reviewing certain kayaks. Try looking those up, it'll give you a better idea of what your looking at as far as stability goes

I don't have a ton of experience with kayaks. I bought my first cheapo last fall and by February I bought an old town pedal drive 106. That's 10'6". I'll just give you my experience. First I'm a life long surfer, very good balance. My kayak weighs around 80 pounds I belive without the drive. Drive is about 20. With a cart it's a breeze to move around. And the quality is phenomenal. The difference between a cheap kayak and a old town (or any other big brand I'd assume) is night and day. As far as balance goes, I stand and fish with no issues. BUT like I said, life long surfer. I'm also only 5'7 and 160. Not going to lie, there's been times where I'm not really paying attention and got a little wobble. Never got close to getting wet, never felt uncomfortable, but just a little "whoa" if you know what I mean. My point is simply, you'll probably want a pretty big kayak if your planning on standing. They are stable, but if I'm getting a little wobble every once in a blue moon, with good balance and way smaller.... I'm sure you get what I'm saying. With that said, I can sit and fish comfortably with no issues. And if your comfortable with that, I don't think you'd need to go overboard. A 12 footer should serve you well id imagine. 100% get a pedal or motorized. I like my pedal. I had a paddle. It got me off the bank so I was happy. But it's two totally different worlds. Coming from a boat, your going to hate a paddle. Pedal also keeps weight down due to no battery and motor. Like I mentioned, your going to want a quality kayak at your size. The cheapest aren't going to do it for you. So be prepared for that. Still plenty of nice kayaks in that 2-3k range. I was looking into the native slayer but ultimately chose old town. I have a pickup, so loading and unloading is a breeze. It would be doable to car top my kayak. But honestly, I wouldn't want to. Especially if it's an suv rather than a car. I love the kayak. It's such a cool experience. They are fun. But if I put myself in your shoes I got to say I'd be getting another pound prowler not water logged, and put wheels on the back. If that's out of the question, I'd be looking at a quality brand 12 footer pedal drive. A test drive would be ideal. But it wasn't possible for me. If you find yourself in that situation, I'd say you'd need to be comfortable with sitting and fishing. Hard to say without being in your shoes. But balance issues and kayaks while standing and fishing don't go together in my eyes. No matter how stable they may be. But again, take what I said with a grain of salt. These other guys have far more experience

Little bit of an update. I got to use it this weekend, not a ton though. My main hobby/sport is surfing and we had some swell from tropical storm Debbie. But I did get out both Saturday and Sunday for about 4 hours each. A few things to mention... 1) the 9in screen is perfect. I was originally going to get a 7in. But for whatever reason (it wasn't a good one) I spent a little more for the 9. So happy I did. It's big enough that I can run side scan or a map on the top, 2D and down imaging split on the bottom, and see everything well. Small enough to not get in the way. Any bigger and it would. And any smaller and I think I would struggle to see comfortably. 9in is perfect 2) I got a few accessories from navare. The beef up plate and scupper transducer mount. I love navares stuff, but got to say I was very disappointed in the scupper mount. It works. But on the GT54 I had to spin it backwards then swap sides in the settings for side view. Not a big deal but bothers me. I also don't love the way it sits. Within a few minutes of installing I ordered the yak hobby mount. Saw reviews and it looks much much much better. The beef up plate however is up to par. 3) down and 2D work great. The side scan I need to mess with. Wasn't getting a great image. Not terrible, but not great. I feel I'll have to mess with the settings to dial it in. 4) the unit as a whole is a game changer. Iv been fishing this deeper lake, has holes that go to 60+ feet deep. Even the shallows are 10-13 feet. Way different than im used to. Knowing my depth, seeing the grass line, yada yada. Very very cool and very happy with the purchase. Didn't catch any fish, I went an terrible times anyway and this is a tough lake. But very happy and see the potential. 5) lastly, the battery. Noqua (or whatever) 10AH. Someone here mentioned possibly needing a bigger battery and was a bit worried. Well I didn't have a full charge (about 75%) when I randomly decided to go Saturday, 4hrs later with the unit on the whole time and I was still at 75%. Got home from surfing Sunday morning and quickly threw it on the charger (an hour or less), randomly decided to fish. Got another 4hrs in and it only got down to 50%. Seems like it'll have plenty of juice for me. Very happy with the compact size as well. Still messing around. If there's no waves this weekend I'll get out fishing again. Try and dial the settings in, maybe map out the lake, and test the battery life with a fully charged battery and longer outing.

I just got the garmin 93sv. Used it for the first time this weekend. So not much input. But I will say this, I think 9in is the perfect size. I have mine mounted on my left side, maybe half way down the track. It's big enough for me to see comfortably but not too big that it gets in the way. Did your garmin not come with the little swively arm thing? Mine came with a mount with 2 "joints" and then another knob that can tilt the actual unit. I'd imagine if you had it mounted there you could get some play in the unit. Raise it up, bring it closer to your face, yada yada. No disrespect intended, but iv seen you mention "old eyes" more than once. At least I'm pretty sure it was you. I personally think you'd get more benefit from being able move the unit up to a "viewing position" then back down to a "fishing position" as opposed to an extra inch.

Live feedback? Or just live?

I absolutely did not contradict myself, good sir. You just took my statement too literally. I totally get that FFS still requires skill and doesn't fully do the job for you. And I specifically said I wasn't ignorant enough to think/say that. But your getting real time feed back. Live. How many casts does it take for a non FFS using fisherman to determine what's going on under water compared to one that does use it? Forget seeing the bass. Are they following this lure? No.. swap color, lure, retrieve. It's immediate visual feedback. Otherwise we'd have to come to our own conclusions based on multiple different factors, what's going on under water. With FFS you can look at a screen. That's what I meant by it does the job for you.

I don't watch pro fishing I don't use FFS I don't really ingest any fishing content outside of this website So take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt. I never had any sort of opinion on FFS. The only reason I knew there was any type of controversy was from reading this forum. But reading through this topic got me thinking. Iv seen numerous responses stating somthing along the lines of "it's like any tech advancement in any sport". That's complete and utter malarkey. I can't think of a single sport that has had a tech advancement that essentially does the job for you. Not even close. Yeah, I get it. You still have to find the fish. You still have to land them. I'm not ignorant enough to think FFS can make anyone a pro. BUT the reason I'm drawn to bass fishing is the challenge of finding fish. Figuring out a pattern. What lures are the wanting on a particular day. That's the sport, in my opinion. Being able to see a live image, seeing if fish are following a particular bait, yada yada.... forget fairness. It's not even a sport at that point. It may be the price to play, but what are we playing? Seems to me it's taken the beauty of the sport out of the equation. Like I said, I don't watch pro fishing. I don't really know anything about FFS. So maybe I'm wrong. 100%. I'll admit that. But I can't think of a single sport that has had an advancement that makes that sort of impact. Further, I have a seen few people respond with somthing along the lines of "well most guys don't have boats, and if they do there not running FFS". In response to the affects on fish population or tackle industry. Now, I'm not making any statement on the affects on fish population or tackle industry. I'm too dumb for that. But I was fishing a lake during a small local kayak clubs tournament. And i mean small. ALOT of guys were running FFS. ALOT. So the statement that not alot of guys are running FFS outside of pros, again, malarkey in my opinion.

Interesting. Thanks for the input. I'm sure my approach will change as I get used to using electronics and as I become more familiar with certain lakes. But currently my plan was to use side imaging as I move about to get a broader view of what's around. Maybe go back over with down imaging if I see somthing interesting. Honestly will probably use the split screen and run both. Sort of an added benefit of going with the 93, bigger screen. Can't say it was on purpose but if it works it works. Then once I get some waypoints dropped I can start coming up with a planned route before hand. Then I can just check and move on if no fish are there. I love to geek out over these things

Yeah I got the 10AH based off review videos I was watching. I guess we will see. I do have a interesting question. Obviously iv never used electronics. So currently I usually come up with a plan/route based off weather, time of year, recent success, blah blah blah. Well during my research I was watching a video that sparked a thought I never took into consideration. How do you guys use your electronics? Specifically for kayak guys but I'm interested in what boat guys have to say as well. I know that sounds like a vague question, so let me elaborate. Again, never used them but I do understand how to read them more or less. Have done my homework. But I saw a video and the guy was basically moving around, finding spots, marking way points, then coming back later. It makes sense, but it's also so foreign to me. Like I said, I get on the water and fish. So I'm curious, how do you guys use your electronics. Fish old school and just have them running for if you see somthing you want to hone in on? Don't even touch a pole and just find spots on electronics first? Little bit of both? It's somthing I didn't think of, and now that my garmin unit is here, I'm excited to use it. Thinking of how I'm going to implement it next weekend. Obviously will be a learning curve. Trial and error. But super interested in how you guys actually use them. Seems there's more strategy involved then I initially thought.

Well, I pulled the trigger on the garmin echomap 93sv. I got into some of those other deeper lakes I mentioned. Talk about a challenge, but in a good way. Totally not what I'm used to. Long story short I tried finding some structure, got on some fish. But w quickly started thinking about adding a unit. Instead of thinking it over, I just impulse bought. I went on and off thinking about adding a unit 4 or 5 times now. Figured it's time to stop pushing off the inevitable. I think it'll prove useful in these much deeper lakes. Don't know why I went 9in screen. Seems big but, whatever. I travel pretty light on the kayak. I got the room for the bigger screen. Plus the price wasn't bad. At least I think. Got the unit, the noqua(or however you spell it) 10ah battery, and the yak attack mount for a little under a grand. It's going to be a learning curve. Never used any form of electronics. But I'll figure it out. Pretty excited. Thanks for the input from everyone.

Thanks guys. I'm not saying my hookset or bite detection doesn't need work, but I find it odd that it wasn't a problem for months then boom its a problem. Fin mentioned adding a weight which is exactly what I just did for tomorrow's prep. Alot of times I know I have a fish because before I even hit the bottom my lines running. Feel nothing. Other times it's a quick "tick tick" and the lines running as in reeling in the slack. And like I said, wasn't a issue then became a big problem. I'm going to work on the bite detection but in the mean time I'm adding a weight and upping the size. Whoever mentioned wind, that's a really good point and somthing I didn't think about. I'm honestly not sure what the wind was like but that's somthing to keep in mind. And I will say this, only 1 fish was bleeding bad. Most weren't bleeding at all. Even though I never gut hooked a fish until recently, I read about how to deal with it here. So I think iv handled them pretty well. But all the advice about the barbs is genius and somthing I didn't think about either. Seriously, thank you all for the advice. I still don't get why it was such a sudden change. But that dosent matter, somthing has to change. I need to do somthing different. At least now I have multiple options to try.

Alright guys and gals. I'm having a serious problem. And it's getting really upsetting. So weird too. Here's the backstory.... I never fished t-rigs. Blasphemy...I know. Just never had luck until this year. Then it quickly became my favorite technique. Weightless. Used it around memorial day weekend and never looked back. Been catching the most fish iv ever caught. No issues. 7-8 fish in a quick 3 hour morning trip. Then boom. I'm out in early July and I gut hooked somthing like 3 out of 4 fish. Got pretty down. Must be having an of day? Delayed reaction time? I don't know. Got a bit busy with work and didn't fish for a few weeks. Got out this weekend...gut hooked 3 more fish. Whats going on? Out of no where. And it's not like a 1 time deal. It's happened enough that in such a short time somthing is up. I'm not doing anything different which is why I'm troubled. I had assumed I was delaying my hookset. It's pretty common for me to feel a few tick ticks before setting the hook. Never had an issue that way. Tried setting the hook early and now I'm just not catching fish. It really gets me down. I'm not trying to hurt these fish. And I'm almost nervous to throw a weightless trig now. I find it so extremely odd though that it just started happening with such consistency out of no where. Not really sure how to proceed. I gave it quite a bit of thought. And I got two possibilities in my head. Trying to make sense of it. 1) I'm waiting to long to set the hook. Which honestly dosent make sense to me since I'm not doing anything different. But maybe. 2) I tend to use smaller worms or creature baits. Did the fish just start engulfing these lures that by the time I feel them they are already swallowing it? I really don't know but I need help. I feel really guilty and don't want to throw a trig again til I figure this out.

I got the same kayak. This is my first season with it. I love the thing, so first off... good choice! I came from a really cheap paddle kayak. I had a anchor trolly. And a crate. And that was it. When I got my OT I planned on using it before I decided to start adding things. Well, I never added anything. At least not major. I just really dig the kayak and don't need much. Let me break down my set up. -Cheap paddle. -Milk create with some rod holders screwed on. Cheap. -In the front little side pockets I keep pliers, a scale, and fish grips. All tethered with short and cheap "pig tail" style tethers. -i did get a spare prop, shear pin, and misc parts stored under the front hatch -i added the rudder bolt deal from navare. Good cheap investment. -kydex keel guard - wilderness systems style cart. Cheap knock off from Amazon And that's really it. Never added the anchor trolly.... never felt the need with the pedal drive. Stock paddle holder works fine. The front facing rod holder is great for when you change lures or whatever. Never felt the need to add a rod holder although I have two sitting in my garage. I carry 3-4 rods. All in the crate rod holders, whatever one im using is in my hands or the stock rod holders over my left shoulder. I keep a collapsible net in one of the crate rod holders over my right shoulder. Pretty simple set up. Thinking about adding electronics, only because I discovered a new lake that's way deeper then I'm used to fishing. Think electronics would be useful there. Otherwise I wouldn't add a thing. A few little things i forgot to mention. I keep a little rope tied onto the front handle. Super helpful when it comes to getting in and out of the water. I wear a Chinook nrs and love it. I like having pockets so I'd pick it over an inflatable. My advice is to just fish. It's a nice kayak and it's not cheap. Don't go jumping the gun. I had such big plans. And turns out I ended up not doing any of it. I don't have a single complaint about the kayak or the set up. Go the cheap route first. Milk crate with pvc rod holders type of thing. When you have issues address them as they come up. If it's not a deal breaker issue, wait till end of the season and address all the issues at once so it can be planned better. It's a slippery slope. Just food for thought. The anchor trolly was a MUST have for me on the old paddle kayak. I anticipated adding one on the OT. I liked it on my left hand side. We'll that's where the OT stock paddle holder is. Which would of meant moving a after market paddle holder to the other side. But I am righty and land fish on the right. So now what? Point being, adding one thing would of had a snowball effect of things to figure out. Luckily I did wait, used the kayak first. And realized I didn't need the trolly. Had I made all those changes, I am quite certain I would of hated it and wasted the time and money and just not enjoyed the kayak like I do now. Everyones got different wants/needs though so you got to figure it out for yourself. Best of luck to you and the new kayak

I throw a bitsy bug almost exclusively as far as casting jigs go. Granted, I'm still figuring the whole casting jig thing out. But over the past 3 seasons I don't think iv ever caught a fish on anything bigger than the bitsy bug. Caught quite a few including my PB 5LBer on the bitsy bug. Can't tell you why. Just is what it is. I say I gained confidence in casting jigs. But the reality is iv gained confidence in the bitsy bug.

Another fun morning. Caught 6 bass, 3 dinkers and 3 normal (2-2.5) bass. Still on the weightless creature bait. Not only am I having success with it, but it's quickly became my favorite way of catching them. The 'tick tick', the weight on the other end, setting the line take off in one direction or another. That suspense gets me excited every time. So much fun. Been fishing one lake the past 3 weeks just because of the success iv been having. Think I'll switch it up tomorrow. See if I can replicate the success else where.

I had a lifetime tenton before quickly upgrading to a old town pdl 106 myself. Before getting the old town, I didn't think the lifetime was that bad. After getting the old town, I realize how bad that thing actually was. Didn't track well, which isn't a big deal if it's meant to keep in the woods for kids. With a little milk crate in the back it functioned well enough The big thing for me was comfort. It wasn't very comfortable. Didn't feel stable enough to stand. I'm a life long surfer, very good balance. I wouldn't even think of trying to stand in that thing. Although it was a sit on top, it's very didn't from the old town. The seat isn't raised so your basically sitting with your legs straight. Like sitting on the floor. My rear would get sore. Threw a towel under the seat for some cushion. A kneeling pad would work better. 2 hours was no problem however. It was the around the 3-4 hour mark that I would call it quits due to comfort. Al in all, I think it fits your bill. I had fun in it.

Today I'm in the mindset to get a nicer unit. There are two or 3 lakes nearby that are quite deep. 45 feet or so. But iv never fished them. Been meaning to. Just hadn't. Mostly because of the kayak I had prior to this new one and the fact that deep water is foreign to me. Generally I'm fishing much shallower lakes. About 5-6 different lakes. But ever since getting the new kayak, I don't fish most of those for various reasons. Now there's only 2 I fish. Which would be a perfect time to get into these deeper lakes. I can get a 4in screen (striker/phirana) for 150-200. I can get the saltwater version of the garmin echomap 7 in screen for 350. Yes, it's the saltwater version. But the lakes I fish I'd have to map myself anyway so it really doesn't matter. For an extra 150 I can get a much nicer unit. Seems like a no brainer to me. And it's the way I'm leaning today. Going to mull it over a few days and see if I change my mind. I'm "graduating" if you will, when it comes to fishing. Branching out. I'd rather spend the extra 150 and grow into a unit then get a cheaper one that I quickly upgrade from. And if I do find that I don't have a need for the nicer unit, well it's 150 bucks. Not that big of a deal.

That's what I figured, thank you for the input. I keep going back and forth. No fish finder, a cheap one, a nicer unit. I'm not looking to find actual fish, just structure and cover. In fact, if I'm being honest I don't really see the need for one. The only time I can see it being useful is late winter/early spring and late fall/early winter. Which dosent really justify the cost in my opinion. But what can I say, I like new shiny toys. I see alot of guys using them though so I'm assuming I'm missing somthing. However it doesn't sound like I am from the responses I got.

I hear that. I'm a typical New Yorker quick to fly off the handle. Got in a good amount of trouble as a kid, really worked on calming down as an adult....discovered sarcasm helps. After catching the 4 th fish part of me really wanted to pedal by and say "how many fish do you need to catch to win this thing? I got 4 so far. Is that good? How many have you caught?". You know, just to push buttons. But I held back and figured it was better to just enjoy my morning.

So iv never used any type of electronics. Got a nicer kayak recently, and adding a fish finder has been a thought. Did some research on and off. Not so much looking for suggestions on exact units, more so looking for suggestions on practical use. I fish alot of shallow lakes. 10ft or less, usually in probably 5 ft of water the majority of time. Alot of soft bottom. Alot of grass and vegetation. Anyway I was thinking of bigger nicer unit with both side and down imaging . But was curious if it would be a waste. Is it even useful in that shallow of water? Saw a guy on the water today with a nicer lowrance. He basically confirmed my suspicion that yes, it's useless unless your in deeper water. Which got me thinking maybe just a cheap unit for water depth and water temp. I don't travel to fish. But it's somthing I'm wanting to do. There are deeper water lakes nearby, I just don't generally fish them but have been meaning to. So it's reasonable to think I will find myself in deeper water at some point. I'm also the type of guy that doesn't mind spending extra money as long as it's practical. I'd rather buy once, cry once. Rather than buy and regret and buy again. With my lack of experience, I'm unsure what to do. I really am only interested in seeing my depth, water temp, and some bottom detail. I'm also not in a rush to buy anything. I don't NEED it. So figured I'd get some opinions. So does the side/down imaging really prove useful in shallow water? And even if it does, with a ton of vegetation around would I even be able to see anything but grass? What route would you go in my scenario?

Belive it or not, today beat out yesterday. Still throwing the weightless t-rigged creature bait. Think I found a honey hole. Pulled up to the ramp this morning and it was PACKED. Kayak tournament going on. Holy cow some of these guys are serious. Kinda cool to see, but also a bit annoying. Anyway I got out. Some jerk tried telling me I couldn't fish till 6AM (he thought I was in the tournament) then after explaining I wasn't he continued to tell me "don't beat up the area, we're fishing for money". I think it was meant as a joke, but it didn't sound like one the way it came out. Rubbed me the wrong way if in being honest. So I followed by catching 3 decent bass in about 10 minutes. 4 or 5 within the hour. It was cool to because there were 2 guys in that cove with me. Both in the tournament (one being the suspected jerk, the other being quite nice). Neither were having the same success. Which only solidifies that I definitely figured somthing out this past week. Continued fishing for 3 hours total, got 7 when all was said and done. Most fish I ever caught in one day by a long shot.