AnonymousSoreMouther

Were I in your shoes, I’d take a look at the Dobyns DC 734C. It’s the utilitarian stick in my locker. Have thrown both spinnerbaits and chatterbaits on it and caught many fish. I have a dedicated bladed jig rod, but like you only have so much room in the kayak. If I don’t want to eat up one of my rod holders with my bladed jig stick but might throw one, having the 734 onboard gives me the option. Great with spinnerbaits as well.

I'm not a fan. I've now received 2 rods shipped this way, and neither came in their expected timeline. I have another on the way at the moment. It left Texas, made it less than an hour away from me in 4 days of transit. Now it's back in Texas, even further west than where it started. They've been moving the rod around the country for 2 weeks at this point. I know Ground Advantage is cheaper, but at what cost? I have a 7'+ graphite rod spending weeks in the care of USPS bouncing all around the country in a cardboard tube. I'm not saying it's 100% going to show up damaged, but the chances grow exponentially higher the longer it remains in their custody. How many damaged rods and frustrated customers before their is no cost savings in using USPS? I'm receiving product from Japan quicker than product from Texas. Halfway around the world is quicker than 4 states away. Makes zero sense. Just my .02, but I would be very cautious with USPS Ground Advantage. It has consistently sucked for me.

Not far off from my situation with a slightly older Old Town. Upgraded to LiFePO4 100ah and bow mounted a Terrova, got the “plug” for the console section from Old Town. It’s a new change, but I’m already a huge fan. I’m relatively certain the XTR would be better for taller/bigger folks like me. And when my Old Town cracks or has issues that’s likely the direction I’ll go in. But since it’s yet to take on a drop of water in the hull, that will hopefully be a good bit of time into the future. I just can’t justify the upgrade. A new yak will take me to same places my current one will. But when the day inevitably comes and she must be replaced, I have everything I need on hand to rig a new yak the way I like to fish. That might be a way to justify upgrading your trolling motor. It will give you more speed in the short term, and will transfer to a new vessel in the future. At least that’s how I looked at it.

I apologize. That wasn’t very clear. I was asking about line ratings, not lure weights. Your setup is similar in spool count to where I think I’m heading. 12/15/20 fluoro, 20/30/65 braid, 12/15 mono. That’s the working list right now anyway.

I’m considering cutting down on how many different line types/sizes I’m using. It gets to be a lot to manage and keep track of, so I’m thinking I may go a different route and consolidate down to 6-8 different part numbers and making those work. How many different line types/weights do you keep on hand?

I’m with this guy. 1A: Smackdown 1B: 832 When fishing, I really don’t have a preference between them. Both great at their job. The coating on Smackdown gives it a rigidity that I like when handling/tying. Splitting hairs at that point, which is why I usually buy whatever is on a good sale when I come across it. I’ve you’re a bulk spool guy, the largest spool of Smackdown you can buy is 300yd. 832 you can get up to 3500yd spools. I’m 1000% sure there are other braids available that just as good as Smackdown/832. But these 2 stand out amongst the ones I’ve tried.

I have 3 rods in the mail right now and this still almost got me. Never fished a Zillion rod, but 40% off is pretty great and I’m sure they’re solid sticks.

Works out to less than $12/bladed jig. That can’t be beat stateside.

You could mount separate transducers and batteries on each boat, and move the head units between the two. If the spacing worked on both boats, you could use a Yak Attack Cell Block with a Nocqua or similar battery, and move the entire setup between boats.

I’m sorry to hear that your wife isn’t feeling up to her normal activities. I wish her great health and longevity. The following is a response only worth reading if you’re looking to go in a little more in depth on this search. If you’re looking for simpler, but disregard. Knives, steels, forging technique are a separate hobby/rabbit hole in themselves. I would start with picking the right steel. For you. Steels have a direct trade off between edge retention, chipping, and sharpening ease. The harder the steel, the longer edge retention you get, but the more prone to chipping/breaking and the more effort/time involved in sharpening. You can get a crazy super steel, but it’ll be a pain to sharpen, and if you apply too much pressure against a solid enough force (bone), your blade will chip. If you go the opposite direction and get cheaper/softer steel, it’ll be far less likely to chip, and be MUCH easier to sharpen. But its edge will dull much quicker, and require stone time much sooner. I would research some common kitchen knife steels and decide based off your use case, what is most suitable. I think this is more important than any other choice you make when selecting a cutting tool. Any knife can be made sharp enough for any kitchen task. It comes down to how often you want to maintenance the edge, and how much effort you want that maintenance to take.

Well that's good to hear. If I'm end up $70 lighter, but with a decent turnaround time, I'll still view this as a win.

I had a newer Dobyns XP 734 break on me while popping a bladed jig out of some thick grass on a long cast. Since it was within the first 60 days, I emailed customer service to start the process of them determining if it was manufacturer defect or not. Initial email was sent on 4/19, requesting next steps. I got a prompt response on 4/20 with some copied and pasted instructions of what pictures to send. I replied the same day with 2 emails of picture attachments as requested. On 4/24, since I hadn't heard back, I sent a follow up email asking if they received the picture. Radio silence. That stock email response was sent 10 days ago now, and since then I have not received a response. Since I'm not optimistic to ever hear back on that email thread, I went ahead and took the rod the miter saw and cut out the sections of the break, and then the section they request for warranty rod replacement. I filled out their paperwork and sent it all in. At least this way, I can get a new rod headed to me, although I'm very likely going to pay the fee. The truth is, I've never personally seen a rod broken form a defect, and don't know what I'm looking for. I've seen nicked graphite rods break on a fish exactly where the nick was. I'm guessing there was a nick in the rod. Although I have been pretty careful with it, my money would be on the rod having one since it's the only scenario I've ever seen for a rod to snap during the course of normal operation. So I don't mind paying the fee for a warranty replacement, since the odds would say it was my fault. But since I don't really know what to look for in a break to determine if it was in fact a defect, I'm pretty bummed that I can't seem to get a response from the manufacturer to have THEM determine if the rod had a defect. I really love fishing my Dobyns rods. I have quite a few, and each one I have is absolutely great at what I ask it to do. But the warranty is definitely a large part of why I buy them. Anyone have recent Dobyns/GSM warranty experience? Is this normal? Shed some light on timeframe once they get my rod pieces in the mail?

PSA: I think this is just on soft plastics

Update. Just got my reel in from the sale. 5 days total in transit. Did not require a signature.

I think the action the bait possessed in water would be the determining factor for me on a worm I wasn’t fully confident in. You can always add scent if you need to. I’ve certainly caught fish on plastics years after acquiring them.

I checked out Whatnot based on your post. Had it for 2 days and deleted it. Got a few deals, and overpaid for a few things because they weren’t available elsewhere. Overall it’s not for me. There were basically 4 types of sellers I encountered: *JDM guy. He bought everything JDM he could get his hands on; and is now selling them for a profit. Not an awesome practice in my opinion. But if you’re looking for a specific finish on a JDM lure that you can never find in stock online, this dude has one and will auction it for $50. The sheer volume of JDM lures that move on that site everyday is wild. Every other seller has a wall of fresh Megabass they just got in from wherever they get them from. *Wannabe JDM guy. He’s new. Wants to build a following on the site and is auctioning off expensive baits with very few eyeballs in the room because he’s trying to gain followers. He hasn’t run the numbers yet to realize what he has is an expensive hobby, and not a business. *Alibaba/Homemade guy. They’re buying generic lures on Alibaba and making their own baits and soft plastics. Volume sellers. *Bought a pallet of used goods and some of em turned out to be fishing related guy. They have no idea what they’re selling, but they have a lot of it. I watched certain screen names spend hundreds of dollars in a matter of minutes. Thousands of dollars over the course of an hour. On bass fishing lures. Blew my mind.

DSG has em on sale for $60. 20% over budget for OP, but a good deal. I have one on my DS rig and like it. Really wish it had an AR switch. But it seems like everyone is doing away with those.

I’ve digitally signed ahead of time for packages with FedEx. They just drop them off. You may look into that. Probably have to have a FedEx account setup to access it, and it may depend on how it was sent. But I’ve definitely done it.

. My last Digitaka order did not require a signature. I just double checked my FedEx account to confirm. I have another reel incoming from the sale but haven’t received shipment confirmation yet. If it’s different, I’ll report back. Customs was backed up and took almost 2 weeks to release my package once it got stateside last time. I expect a similar timeframe this round.

Your description made me think of this jig I just picked up. Ball park of what you're talking about?

We had to put down my wife’s cat a few years ago. Luckily, she was out of town. I don’t think she could’ve stomached it. It may help to know the process if your vet hasn’t explained it yet. For my experience, they brought me to “goodbye room”. Not a clinical space, more cozy. Brought in the cat in a blanket. I was able to hold her and be alone with her for awhile. When you’re ready, you press a button which lets them know you’re ready. The vet comes in and gives the first drug which essentially puts them into a deep sleep. Once they’re fully sedated, they administer the second drug that ends their life. I was told this is completely painless and they simply drift off in their sleep. On one hand, we should all be so lucky to pass away peacefully with members of our pack. On the other hand, I’d rather remove my own kidney with a spoon than be in the room again. We have a 12 year old dog that’s my best buddy. Pure Velcro dog. She wants to share every moment of my life I’m willing to have her around for. She’s very fit for her age, and impresses the vet every time. But she’s starting to slow down. Her back legs aren’t what they used to be. She still wants to play and be active, but she gets to panting fairly quickly, and lets me know when she’s done. Our walks wear her out now, where she used to have more energy once we got home. She needs help getting in the truck. It’s all starting to add up. And I’m honestly not prepared for the next stage at all. I’m generally the calm one in tough moments. I can put my head down, make clear and pragmatic decisions, and process the emotions of it later. But I don’t see how I’m going to function through what’s inevitably coming. OP, nothing that breathes, does so forever. Loss sucks. Loss of unconditional love, sucks unconditionally. I’m sorry for what you're going through. Sounds like Coco was well loved, and shared many adventures with you. Take comfort in the joy Coco gave you, and in the joy you brought her. We all get to make this trip exactly once, and it sounds like you made Coco’s a fun and happy one. Cheers

Do you guys discuss good excuses to give the spouse when the CC bill shows up? If turning dollars into squarebills was a sport, I'd be having an MVP worthy month.

This thread is the best/worst thing I’ve found on the internet.

I honestly don't think much about which knot I'm tying. I just tie whatever makes sense for the lure I just grabbed. Palomar get used the most, and is as close to a default as I have. Pitzen get used mostly after that. I was originally taught the "Fisherman's Knot" (improved clinch) when I was a kid, but it feels like it's been a minute since I've tied that one. I tied Uni's for awhile. I've tried a lot of other knots. I'm not too picky. Any knot that is efficient to tie, and strong works for me. I've never had any of these knots fail.

So.... Your Ollies displays their tackle??? Mine has 5-10 cardboard boxes with absolutely no decreeable organization whatsoever. It honestly feels like they dumped everything fishing or fishing adjacent into a cement mixer, and then blindly shoveled the mixture into overflowing cardboard boxes, which were then thrown in the general direction of some shelving units. I had never been in an Ollie's until I read on this forum that folks find decent tackle deals there. It's been my experience that I have a better chance at pulling tetanus out of one of those boxes, than a bait I would want at a bargain price. And yet.... I still look through them when I have time to stop.