JackstrawIII

Spinnerbait trailer.

Any 10’ kayak is going to be way too small to fish in comfortably, in my opinion. I have a large 13’ kayak and I wish I had something bigger. I’ve never used the pond prowler, but it looks interesting. I’d probably just get a jonboat… which it sounds like you really want. The trailer is a hassle, but I wish I had just gotten that FWIW

Paddletail. You can flip it, pitch it, swim it, run it topwater, bounce it on the bottom, dropshot it, and more.

Yes, I was going to say you should upsize to a 5/0. That will help tremendously. I use a 3/0 for paddletails up to 3.8” and 5/0 for bigger.

Spinnerbaits and underspins. Some topwater action on the toad.

I appreciate this thread. I too have been eyeballing these rods for a while but was skeptical due to the ongoing BOGO deals everywhere. Looking forward to hearing more feedback.

This one is like 5 miles from my folks house, I’ll definitely check it out! Thanks.

Is this the one?

I must just be a super slow learner then haha. I’ve been using baitcasters a ton for the last few months and still get backlashes all the time… tho admittedly many fewer than I used to ?

I don't have much input on gear (don't have those rods or reels). I do have a handful of St. Croix Premiers that I absolutely love, and I'd imagine your new setup will be even nicer. As far as shallow fall fishing, yes, the squarebill can work great. Biggest thing is to match the depth your squarebill runs with the depth of the water (and weeds) you're fishing. Up in NY (which I'm sure is similar to NJ) shallow water means weeds. Squarebills don't play nice with weeds, so you need to run it over or around the weeds. Do that, and you'll catch fish.

I have a sit on kayak (Jackson Big Rig). It's definitely heavy (around 100 pounds) but it moves pretty good through the water and I can actually stand on it and fish. I am super tall and don't have great balance, but the thing is so stable I feel totally comfortable fishing standing up and haven't fallen (yet). I would highly recommend a sit-on kayak vs a sit-in or a canoe. It's night and day.

Jar, thank you. I grew up in the Albany area and will be there this weekend for a funeral. Was thinking about throwing a couple poles in the truck for the trip... Any tips on a good spot to throw a few lines in the water from the bank?

I've never fished Cayuga for bass (usually go for perch and bluegills in the fall). How did you do? Did you find any of them?

Beautiful, healthy, and happy. Congrats.

I recommended a spinning setup for the following reasons: 1. Ease of use. For a beginner, a spinning rod is much easier to operate, allowing him to focus on learning to fish these techniques, instead of spending all his time picking out backlashes. 2. Flexibility. If this is his only bass fishing setup, a MH spinning rod can cover almost every single base, including the two techniques listed, but also many others. These two factors might not matter to you, but that was my thought process.

Excellently said. Spinning setup is definitely the way to start and that rig is very nice. For the power, I prefer softer rods than most. I prefer the way they feel and the way that you fight fish with them. I’d absolutely go with a MH instead of the H. I’d also go with YoZuri hybrid line instead of mono. I like it more than mono in literally every way (my opinion). 14-15 lb test is great. I also second the recommendation to start with some sort of small swim baits. I love paddletails (like the Keitech swing series) on an underspin (like the owner flashy swimmer). It’s SUCH an easy bait to fish, is relatively weedless, and can be fished anywhere in the water column. When I’m introducing someone to bass fishing, that’s what I put in their hands. And I still use it myself. Caught a nice 4lb largemouth on one last night, as a matter of fact. Just cast and reel. Simple.

I like 15 pound braid on spinning rods. Never broken it, ever. Casts a mile. Great all around… tho I’m usually running a short copoly leader for most applications. You can jump to 30 lb if you feel you must, but 15 has never failed me.

I have a handful of dietary restrictions, many of which preclude me from eating the normal breakfast foods (cereal, pancakes, eggs, etc.). As such, I eat a lot of oatmeal. Raisins, bananas, a bit of chocolate powder, honey, etc all get thrown in there. But the best combo by far is bacon and brown sugar. Chop the bacon into small pieces and mix it right into the oatmeal, the sprinkle with brown sugar. It’s amazing.

Been on a personal quest to catch a pike this year… and so far I’ve not been successful. But, the upside is that I’ve been catching some nice bass on big spinnerbaits, which has been fun. I live between Rochester and Syracuse and fish in Sodus and Little Sodus Bays whenever I can talk my boat-owning buddy into taking me out. I’ve caught bass on small spinners in ponds, but these are real lake fish on real big spinnerbaits, which is new for me. Speaking of new to me, I’ve never fished this late into the fall before. It’s definitely harder to find fish, but if you can find them the bite seems to be pretty good. Anyone else still fishing Lake Ontario this time of year for anything other than salmon?

Not my biggest, but I think this is the handsomest bass I caught this year. Nice color pattern, very healthy and well proportioned.

The first to apologize is the bravest. The first to forgive is the strongest. The first to forget is the happiest.

I have the Lake Ontario version of this map in the bathroom at my house. My guests always go in there to look at it haha.

Very cool. I used to have one of these way back in the day and have often wished I still had one. Now that I know what they're called, I'll have to grab some. Thanks!

I used to be a knifemaker and built a fairly well known brand of custom knives, so I have a decent idea what I’m talking about. Couple thoughts: 1. Most people over-sharpen their knives, doing way too much grinding with aggressive stones, wheels, etc. I never recommend using a powered sharpening system, especially on a high end knife. 2. You guys that use flat stones, my hats off to you. Very hard to do that well. I never have. 3. Now that I’m out of the business, I use a Wicked Sharp for my personal knives. It’s a pricy investment, but works amazingly well.

Hey, I fish a lot of paddletails throughout the season and it's getting time to restock for next year. I've been fishing the Keitech Swing Impact FAT exclusively and have no complaints... but I thought I'd look around at what's out there, and I ran across the Naked Swimmer from Bitters, which is about half the price. I'm willing to pay extra for the best bait. I don't have tons of free time, and want to give myself the best chance to catch fish when I get out... but if the Bitters are just as good, saving money is always nice. In your experience, is the Bitter's Naked Swimmer equal to the Keitech Swing FAT? Ps. I also wonder how the "Salty Sling" compares to the Yama Senko and how the BuzzN Gator compares to a Horny Toad, if anyone has thought on that too. Thanks.