Susky River Rat

@Catt that is very true. If you have a wide beam but narrow bottom with this will be less stable as well. The flatter you get the rougher the ride but the shallower you draft. The more of a V the better the ride but the more you draft. Is a general rule of thumb. There is always exceptions. Youll never have a boat that can do everything it’s all give and take.

Most transducers are built in so are you allowed on in addition? It just says trolling motor so if thsi is true people will just mount them on other poles. And use them that way.

@Koz yup sounds like you should have bought a boat lol. To me that’s the only advantage of a kayak.

Just some food for thought. With the right boat you can get just about anywhere a kayak can. Unless you hoof it into a remote spot creek or pond. The other issue could be obstruction in the water you have to get out of your yak to get around or over. So if you are worried about that do some homework on boat styles and what may fit best for you. Not everyone needs a ranger/nitro/skeeter.

@thediscochef something dumb just seems to happen to me. Nothing inherently dangerous. Just dumb stuff. Fishing super shallow in a jet boat I end up in places most never will find themselves in. It’s kind of like the how did they get there memes.

Everytime I go fishing it’s a nightmare for some reason

This happens as the water gets lower usually. You’ll drift and pick them up here and there. When the water is higher they school up more in areas. There is also areas I won’t even touch on the river. maybe the fish were in the dead zone on your FFS. I don’t have it but, have heard people talk that bottom 18 inches is a dead zone and it’s very hard to pick anything up. The fish could have just been hugging bottom tight?

@MN Fisher my boat is around 2k on the trailer. They are built to take a beating. I was guilty when I got my boat to just run and gun. Because well I could. I spent most my day looking for greener pastures instead of keeping a bait wet. I finally did break that. Now I think at times I do not break away from the spot soon enough. So in theory you could be in the same situation just not realizing it because you get there faster.

@tcbass some are and some aren’t

I am right handed and use left hand retrieve reels. It always seemed so counterintuitive to switch hands or not use my dominate hand to cast. Reeling is the easy casting accurately is the hard part. my only exception to this is when I musky fish. I have a tranx 500 and they only come in right hand retrieve. At least they did up until I pretty much stopped fishing for them.

@MN Fisher it’s not just the rocking j would be worried about. Shallow boats are made for shallow water. Any kind of chop is a very rough ride. Lots of slamming down you take a beating. The boat I have now is a lot bigger but, way rougher of a ride than my tracker 160 was in chop. It’s all in the hull design.

All great info. Anchor was mentioned I have one and never use it. Still doesn’t mean I will take it out. Jump pack was another great one. TP is invaluable when needed. First a kit learning your equipment and taking your time at the ramp were two biggies that were mentioned. Rushing always leads to mistakes. Mistakes always take more time than slowing down. You will develop a feel for your boat. It takes time on it. Everyone boat will be different. Every time you launch you will launch in different conditions. Be confident not cocky. If the conditions scare you load it back up. Nothing is more important than going home safely. This is many times where the wind picks up and I can’t “read” the water anymore. I will trailer it instead of force myself to fish in conditions I know could end very badly.

It looks like it would not be a good boat for any kind of rough water.

I went from a scanoe with a trolling motor to a boat in 2019. I would NEVER go back to anything other than a boat. to me it seems like kayak guys want their kayak to be a boat anyway. All kinds of batteries TM FFS etc. just buy a boat.

I am catching fish. Nothing big and it’s been a struggle to find them. We just got a months worth of rain in 3 days cold and windy. This week it’s going to change. I hope we don’t revert back. I do think for the next month and half here it is big girl season. It’s when most people more than likely will bump into one.

@tcbass I do not want to spend the extra money to buy the cortland masterbraid. It costs slightly more than suffix 832.

@tcbass cortland masterbraid. It’s very easy to tie knots with. Casts great. Soft. The strength is awesome. Again all my opinion. I run it on my musky stuff. To cheap to run it on my bass stuff.

@Reel what species? I’ve heard that the ping of the electronics affects fish. I really do not know if it’s that which I think would have little effect on them. I think the bigger reason is this fish went from never being caught. “Big and stupid” to now be harassed non stop. I read an article early into the FFS days and they guy described jt as harrasabass fishing. Fish that have lures in front of them all the time are going to bite less.

@tcbass I could care less if it fades. I’ve run just about every color but the gaudy colors too. Green, brown, white, blue, camo. get what kind you think is best for what you do. What feels good to you. Eventually I am going to switch everthing over to cortland. Right now I run 832 with no complaints I just like cortland better.

@Reel they certainly do not have bills to pay.

My dog is well special. He is on prescription food for food allergies and the treats he gets are prescription as well to follow that diet. I hate that we are very limited in what we can give him. He was diagnosed with HGE which is a stomach infection that makes the inside of their stomach bleed. It was terrible he was hospitalized. I really thought that was it and we were going to lose him. We practically had to nurse him back into eating using baby food to start. They said although there is no real cure or true way to prevent it and very strict diet will help. he is on hills Z/D kibble and the treats that go along with that. We also use the prescription purinia gentle snackers. He does get a table spoon of boiled strained 99% lean beef to give his kibble more flavor as it is a very very bland diet.

Welcome! There is also no stupid questions. Unless I ask them lol

I just accepted I suck a long time ago and do it for the sun rises and sun sets.

Honestly, from what I have been reading lately and my outings you are not alone for struggling this year. Sorry, I can’t offer you anymore help on your waters.