MediumMouthBass

Yep Crescent, love the kayak, it actually has alot of room to stand in, they cut out a bit on inside of the side to make the standing area wider. Im not sure what you are referring to by that. Only thing on the deck is the deck pad kit, and small cutout grooves inbetween it to help drainage?

@biggin do as much research as possible before buying any. I almost bought several different kayaks before i got my Shoalie, there were alot of different kayaks i thought i would like, but in person they didnt have enough room, or enough mounting areas, etc.... The one i really wanted went on sale so i went to check it out, the plastic was so flimsy that when just pressing down lightly you felt like you could push it in. So i had to do alot of research and youtube videos, reviews, forums etc.... It took a few months and alot of work to find the one that was right for me. And where its made means alot for fishing kayaks, atleast for me. Almost every American made kayak ive been in and checked out has been very good quality, well thought out and made, hard plastic that doesnt flex, comfortable seats with high/low positions, front and rear tankwell with storage, etc.... But the kayaks made overseas even for the same price point felt like they were only worth a quarter of the price they were selling for, uncomfortable seats, poor designs, low speed and bad kayak tracking, flimsy plastic, a set height seat or low position only, front and rear tankwell but with no storage area just tie downs, and usually bad reviews. Are you 100% set on buying new only? And can your budget go to around slightly over 1k? Im not saying those kayaks are bad, but there are better ones out there with more features, better quality, and higher reviews for a bit more. And if your budget cant go past that, there are alot of very good high quality, fishing kayaks already loaded with extras, (but are used or slightly used) selling for cheaper than those new. Most of us here started out with cheaper kayaks in the beginning to save money, but it only ends up with us spending more in the end. Im not saying go buy a $4,000 Autopilot or Hobie, but get a nice kayak used or new for anywhere from $500-1200 that will fit your wants and needs for several years, and make sure it fits you 100%. Heres my advice from fishing out of a kayak so far and the research ive done. Atleast 34" wide, any narrower and stability wont be very good, this width or wider offers great stability. 11'6" - 12' in length, the shorter kayaks may weigh less, but in my opinion the extra length gives better tracking and well more space for storage and for fishing out of. 375-400lbs weight capacity atleast, You might not think you need the extra capacity but after you take your weight, the kayaks weight, and your gear, the higher weight capacity will keep you and your kayak higher on the water and dryer too. A comfortable seat is extremely important, and the high/low option is definitely needed, high position is for fishing, but low position gets more speed when paddling. If your buying it to fish out of then, front tankwell with a storage compartment for putting water/clothes/tackle etc.... rear tankwell large enough for a fishing crate or cooler. Several mounting areas for tie downs, as well as gear tracks on the sides for rod holders, etc.... Foam deck pads are very nice, but not needed, your choice. If you want cup holders some have them and some dont, Yak Attack makes a scupper plug cup holder. Again to the front tankwell/hatch if you want a fish finder then a waterproof front hatch for the battery is needed, along with transducer mounting under the kayak. Good side or under seat storage for tackle trays and tools, etc.... The above is all important but whats very important is to do research on how the kayak you want 1. How does the kayak track? 2. How fast does it go, if a boats coming towards you can you get out of the way or is it too slow? 3. Stability? 4. How much does the wind blow it around, does it blow the kayak across the lake? or not? 5. Storage options? 6. How good, and how quickly does it turn? Sorry for how long this is, but this is mainly all important information to know so that you dont waste alot money on a kayak. Also to add to above, do research on the hull design. This is very important for stability, tracking, and speed/turning.

Fishing out of a kayak, well kayaking in general takes a little bit to get used too, putting scupper plugs in should make it even more stable (just a little, but in kayak stability a little goes a long way). Before you start modifying it even more and start adding gear to it, make sure your kayaks weight capacity can handle it. The more budget oriented kayaks arent as wide/long as the more expensive ones and usually have much less weight capacity. I would recommend taking the kayak out a few times without any gear or rods and find out how far you can push your kayak and learn where its limits are. Theres many good paddling tutorials and information on youtube, but learn as much as you can about kayaking safely. Depending on how tall you are or how much you want to get into kayak fishing, this kayak might be good for you for a decade, or you might want to upgrade after awhile. My first kayak was a Crescent Lite Tackle, it was a very nice kayak, good stability, speed, and handling. But a month or 2 after purchasing it i got very bored fishing out of it, it was a very basic kayak. I then bought the Crescent Shoalie, this is this companys first all fishing kayak, (its not as great as a Hobie, but also not $4000). It had everything i needed, and wanted. Its setup 100% for fishing and is what i shouldve bought the first time. If you ever do want to upgrade and want alot of stability but dont want to pay over $1000, try to get an Old Town Topwater/Sportsman 120, you can get them used around $600. We picked one up awhile ago and wow is this kayak built like a tank, the stability this kayak has is amazing.

The more expensive swimbaits are made with much higher quality parts, and usually have better/detailed paint to them, but you can catch bass on a $15 swimbait or a $500 swimbait. Almost every lake, pond, and river around me has pickerel, musky, and pike so i only buy the cheap ones. That being said the River2Sea (whopper plopper company) makes the S Waver for around $15 its a good, but not great glidebait. Spro makes a BBZ-1 swimbait ($22-25) and its really, really good for me. 13 Fishing has the Glidesdale, this ones good too at around $15. Savage Gear has been making some good, budget soft swimbaits for pike fishing in the UK for awhile and they work great here in America for pike and bass, depending on what generation of the trout swimbaits you want and where you buy them from, the go between 3 for $15 all the way to $25 for 1. 6 Sense has swimbaits that are really, really good for $35 but theres a store now selling them buy 3 get 3. For rods, many recommend IROD or Dobyns swimbaits rods, they are a bit more than i wanted to spend so i bought a few cheaper ones, first bought the Ugly Stik Tiger rod (its a saltwater rod but the specs are 1-6oz) this rod is a broom stick, almost no flex or bend to it at all even throwing almost the max oz lure. So i ordered a Daiwa Beefstick Salmon/Striper rod, this rods lure rating is 1/4oz-4oz and is a more flexible and bending rod, so ill use the Tiger for jig hooks and the Beefstick for treble hooks. I only ordered the Tiger because it was half off, but the Beefstick is a much better rod, just cant cast as heavy oz lures as the other. The Daiwa Beefstick comes in at $60 but its on sale sometimes for $40. This is in my opinion the best treble hook swimbait rod for people on a budget. For the heavier swimbaits i have 2 Abu Garcia Ambassadeurs, ones a older 6500, and the other a new 5500 C3, these work good but arent for everyone, i also have the Lews Superduty and Daiwa Tatula 150 for the swimbaits 4oz and under, but if you want to get a swimbait reel from Lews upgrade to the SuperDuty 300, and for Daiwa the Tatula 200.

Ive been thinking about this for awhile, also thought about trying to put hooks with weed guards on them to throw them over lily pads. Keep this forum updated please with results on how that works.

Dock owners worry your $2 lure weighing in at half an ounce might hit their dock that they have slammed their couple hundred or couple thousand pound boat into hundreds of times a year. I dont like casting near a dock that has people or boats on it either, i try to cast to empty docks or ones that have been abandoned, but the lakes ive been fishing this year are very shallow and dont seem to be holding much fish.

@DEPS_250 check the reviews for all the rods and reels with the jordan lee name on it. The older ones had very bad reputations, not sure on the new ones, but i doubt they would be any better.

Medium Spinning combo, 10lb braid to 8lb fluoro leader. Medium Heavy casting combo, 12lb Yo Zuri Hybrid. If its a rocky area without alot of grass, a pack of ned rigs, senkos for wacky rigs, paddle tails for the spinning, for the baitcaster berkley warpig, squarebill, heddon super spook jr, spinnerbait/buzzbait. If theres grass, and alot of it then wacky rig, weightless t rig or a fluke, paddle tail for the spinning. For baitcaster a spinnerbait/buzzbait, popper/super spook jr, frog, Strike King Hybrid Hunter crankbait.

Usually most companies already put together combos arent very good, you can build your own combo for the same price (more or less) and have a nicer combo that does exactly what you want it to do. You have to make a choice though, do you want to have a better rod, or a better reel. You can get a cheaper rod like the Daiwa Aird X $50, this is a budget rod but a great rod (many on this forum will agree) and spend the rest of the money on a much better reel, Daiwa Tatula CT $150, Shimano SLX XT $130, or the Shimano SLX MGL $150 (if you want to throw jerkbaits, small swimbaits, and other light lures, but also be able to do some flipping/pitching, and fish jigs this reel will be the best, it can cast lighter lures great and same with heavier. Or you can get a great rod for around $120 that would have superior sensitivity for fishing stuff like jigs, but then only have around $80 to try to get a Shimano SLX, or a Lews LFS. If rod sensitivity is your main reason for this combo and you want to fish texas rigs or jigs off the bottom, then go with the more expensive and nicer rod. But if you want a combo can that fish any lure whether its a jig off the bottom, flipping/pitching, texas rigs, crankbaits, a lighter jerkbait, paddle tail, weightless soft plastics, etc... Go for the budget rod, Daiwa Aird X or another good budget rod from a different company, and get the Shimano SLX MGL for the reel.

Spinning or Casting combo?

Anyone ever try swapping the treble hooks out for single hooks with a weed guard and throw em in the lily pads? That would be fun. And hey maybe the bass in the lily pads would bite it since they wouldnt know what it is.

I use a SK Rage Bug on my chatterbaits, but any creature bait like that should work, i rig mine on its side to imitate bluegills, and i rig it flat when fishing it around wood.

Jet ski and jon boat trailers used for around $500, is much better than buying an actual kayaking one for 3x the price.... You can customize it however you want and save alot of money in the process, for those of you who have more than 1 kayak the double jet ski trailers are amazing, and if the trailers in good condition you really dont need to change anything to get the kayaks to fit on them. Ive been using a double jet ski trailer and took the one jet ski off, slid the kayak on and strapped it on and no modifications or changes were needed. Alot of people are selling junk jet skis that come with trailers from around $250-$750, if you find a good deal buy it and take the jet ski to a junk yard.

Frog fishing is usually done around vegetation, and those fish get into some heavy stuff after they bite the frog, it puts alot of stress on the reel, you absolutely need an aluminum framed reel for this type of fishing, theres sales already going for 4th of july, wait for a good deal and try to get a Lews LFS, Shimano SLX, or a Daiwa Fuego. You might spend a bit more than you would want to, but buying quality, especially when putting high stress on the reel will be a good investment.

Better to spend a little more and buy new, unless you are getting a great deal on a used one. That being said the Garmin Strike Vivid 7SV is very nice, i was going to buy one a week or 2 ago but i decided to save some money and just get the Striker Vivid 5CV, i did alot of research on most of the fish finder brands and models, and this one fit what i wanted and price range the most. Aside from price, another reason i chose the 5CV instead of the 7CV or 7SV is the size, on a kayak that has a motor/trolling motor, go as big as you can. On a kayak you paddle and fish out of, a bigger fish finder can get in the way.

Try a larger live minnow, or the bigger version of the gulp minnow on a jighead, if that doesnt work a Rapala Jigging Rap in the larger sizes, a spoon vertically jigged, wacky worm, or a football jig. The larger fish there are going to have alot of baitfish to be able to feed on, so try something that is similar to whats down there, but different enough to make the bass think it may be dieing or fleeing from the bait ball.

@gimruis Your stores may sell it, it might just be called Chinook Salmon instead of King, idk how Alaska is with it but in New York at the Salmon River the state takes the harvest and the fishing of them so seriously they actually have undercover DEC agents fishing along the river.

I dont like mono or fluoro for most bass fishing applications, i will use mono for panfish/trout setups (4lb-6lb) and also Big Game for swimbaits (20lb-30lb). Mono is just too stretchy and not sensitive enough, fluoro is less stretchy and more sensitive, so if its the opposite of mono it should be great right? Not for me, i had a reel or 2 with all fluoro on them awhile ago and really didnt like it, that being said i really like fluoro only used as a leader with braid as the mainline. But using just fluoro, no. In the past year i bought Yo Zuri Hybrid line to try because of how many recommendations it has, and it is amazing, it has everything i like about both lines and combines them. I bought a huge stockpile of it varying from 4lb-15lb and inbetween, im using it on most of my baitcasting combos and so far its great. Except for on spinning reels in the lighter lb lines, it seems to have the same stiffness/coily mess of fluoro. So im going to just use braid to fluoro for that. For baitcasting reels tho, this line is great for fishing crankbaits, topwater, texas rigs, flipping/pitching. And its been holding up great to bigger fish and the rough bottoms of the lakes i fish.

I havent eaten bass, but i gut hooked a largemouth and a smallmouth awhile ago and my parents ate them and said they were good. Is there a difference in the taste between the two? (since one prefers cold rock bottom and the other swamp mud)

I have some higher end stuff (not jdm higher end) but i bought a cheap budget Abu Garcia Max X, because my first baitcaster was the Black Max that many of us have, it was supposed to be the newer and better version of the budget combo, but no. This combo is terrible, i know these are budget combos but, the max x is just cheap, really cheap. Aside from that i bought a Lews Carbon Fire baitcasting combo used awhile ago, really cool rod and reel, just dont want to use it because of how many bad reviews the rods and reels have of failing, so money wasted there.

I kept hearing people talk about polarized glasses, does anyone here have prescription ones? And is it better to buy cheaper ones or go for the more expensive ones?

I made a post a few days ago about how i use vinegar as a natural tick repellent, well 2 days ago i went kayaking so i figured i didnt need to put any on my clothes or shoes like i usually do when going fishing, because well im going to be in a kayak. well last night when laying down i found a very small tick embedded in my arm, now this was just from going around 20 feet from the truck to the boat launch... Be carefull out there people, use something to repell these land leeches even when not going through the jungle.

The Whopper Ploppers are really great lures, even on days that are slow they are still just fun to cast and reel in, just waiting for a fish to come up and get it, alot of people have been saying in the past few years that the Whopper Ploppers done and its a waste to buy them or use them because a long time ago in a pond far, far away every person, duck, and goose threw them over and over again and now the fish wont bite them. But if thats the way most people think about them and most people stopped using them, well shouldnt that mean that the bass are no longer used to that lure and will start biting it again? BTW if you like throwing Whopper Ploppers and are in pike/musky waters the 130 and 190 are really, really fun.

You can try to trim the jigs skirt and maybe they craws will have action? Or if you want to try different trailers that have alot of action, heres my recommendations, (1). Paddle tail swimbaits either ribbed or smooth. (2) The SK Rage Bug with the things spilt apart has amazing action, i even sometimes swim it through the water almost like a paddle tail. (3). Zoom makes a couple trailer chunks that i bought but havent tried them yet, but they should have alot of action. (1). Fat Albert Twin Tail Grub. (2). Swimmin Chunk. (3). Ultravibe Chunk.

@Levi hummel by the way the quest 10s on sale now.