FishTax

I've been staring at the weather forecast since waking up and trying to think of a way to get my 6 yo to beg Mom for us to go fishing 😎

I'll have one in the next 3 months to post. 😎 Trying to speak it into existence, hopefully not a jinx! @Pat Brown inspires me and is a constant reminder that the big girls are all around me I just need to put in the work to find them!

I like the Berkley version, it is a little bit more weedless as it has a little floro guard on it. I almost ordered some on that pure fishing sale but talked myself out of it. I've had success working it just like a jig, both in laydowns and on flats at various times in the year.

Humminbird has a $200/$100 rebate on Helix 7, depending on which model you get. Sure am glad I waited for today to order it

Agree on spinner bait! I should listen to you and throw the buzz and catch hogs instead of throwing spinner and catching skunks 😎

This is actually a decent sale. Definitely not as good as last year, but free shipping and several decent things on good discount. The cheaper Abu combos are pretty much all on sale if anyone likes those or needs a starter rod for someone.

I slipped off early and fished the home lake a few hours yesterday. Very frustrating day, it was about as windy as I've ever been out on my kayak. The weather forecast was off or I wouldn't have gone out. I threw spinner bait and crank bait with no bites. Broke off my shaky head on second cast. Then got blown into some weeds just below surface I couldn't see and got prop wrapped up, and had to paddle into the wind out of it. Finally caught one good one on a jig on my way back in a random spot, but he got off beside the boat so no photo. On a positive note, I'm buying a new hummingbird this weekend so that was my last trip without electronics. Looking forward to sharing some great fish the rest of the year as December is probably my favorite month to fish in NC!

@Darth-Baiter that is cool for something simple. I'm not good at buying something simple when I can make it more complicated What I'm thinking of is truck bed height, which as a secondary benefit gives me a nice amount of storage for fishing stuff under the kayak and I may even mount a battery charger on it, etc. I have a quickly growing pile of kayak and fishing accessories I need to put somewhere. Extra trolling motors, extra parts, and of course tackle!

Mine sits in the garage floor, and it's not working out well I need to get it off the floor so the kids will quit playing in it, I'm afraid I'll leave a hook or knife out that they get hurt on. Plus it takes up a ton of space. I'm thinking of doing one of those cart on wheels things to make it easier to load in truck and keep it off the floor. We'll see if I can fit it into my project list this winter.

This is now $239 for Black Friday. Are you still happy with it? Seems like any awesome deal, I just happened to click your link and realized it was one I looked at earlier today when researching.

I don’t have a lure retriever, I guess I should get one.

What do you straight braid guys do when you need to break off and you've got 50 lb line on? I am constantly in trees and rocks and this is one reason I've moved away from it, I hate cutting it with scissors and leaving line in water, and can't figure out how to break it otherwise. I guess my knots are pretty good 😂

This is great info, thank you!

I'm far from an expert, but from what I've gathered in recent research, hummingbird seems to have the best side imaging (mega side imaging), Garmin seems to have the best forward facing live imaging. If not looking at the highest end of those, it seems all brands are pretty competitive. Another thing to note is whether you want one that networks to an additional unit or not. For my kayak, I don't, but if I had a boat I'd personally be thinking long term about a technology platform I could continue adding to.

I'm looking to buy a helix 7 MSI. Currently $100 off at academy is the best deal I can find. This is my first time buying electronics, should I wait and expect a big discount for Black Friday somewhere? Felt like they were on sale a lot last year but I didn't know what I was looking at until recently after some research.

I have braid on 1 spinning and 1 casting rod, the rest I've moved back to mono. I hate floro and hate leaders. Agree with kiss strategy. I also hate wasting money so I'll use up the supplies I have before going to something else.

On kayak- Choco in warm weather (water temp warm bc I get wet at launch), waterproof hiking boots in cold temp. I've been known to wear Crocs as well, but my last pair warped so bad I couldn't wear them again when they were drying in the sun so that turned me off to them.

Congrats! I love a good jig bite, one of my favorite lures!

I've fished high Rock. Haven't been to the river but was just discussing with a friend. You may could get a Jon boat with a jet in there but nothing more than that.. Kayak would be better. Not sure about this time of year but I think it could be productive area

Following up to see if you figured this out? I'm considering buying the same unit for my Kayak, just not the network version as I only need 1 screen. Are you liking this unit now that you've had it a few months?

Rifle season starts Saturday here. Just fyi. I was just telling someone yesterday I'm scared to be on the water on opening day because it sounds like I'm in the middle of a gun range on a Saturday on my lake. Maybe I need to find some other lakes with less hunters in the area during this time of year.

I'm hoping to upgrade my sonar this year so that I can actually see what's happening in that muddy water a little better. Otherwise I'll just be tossing jigs, worms various ways, and spinner bait, trying to find a pattern as usual. I wonder if one of those underwater camera deals would allow you to find out if the dirty water is only surface level?

I dress for air temp, bring spare clothes, and hug the bank. If I go over it's likely I can stand in the water I'm in, or an a 1 min swim from it. I carry fire supplies as well but don't at a scenario of needing that where I fish. But better to be over prepared. I may add some hot hands to my dry bag this year, I think that'd be a great addition. Oh, I also don't stand to fish when it's cold. Not worth the risk. It'd be really hard to go in if I'm not standing. I think I'd have to get hit by a boat, and there'd be worse things than cold water in that scenario.

Awesome! What was the pattern when you were out? I feel like it changes daily this time of year.

I have the same one and totally agree with your notes here. I'm 35 and think it's heavy. I put it in my truck bed but would love a trailer. It's not unmanageable but it's certainly not light. My only complaint you didn't say was I hate the rod holder under the seat, blocks access for storing other things. I love the pedal drive. I rigged a trolling motor to run where the rudder sits and ended up just going back to the pedal drive and rudder system because it works so well and I can do it all day without getting tired. I don't know how anyone can kayak without instant reverse. I use it non-stop. Very stable, overall awesome kayak!