BrianSnat

A good reel, but I would spend a little more and get the Lew's Speed Spool Tournament. It's much better than the basic Speed Spool

I think a 6 1/2 to 7 ft medium weight, fast action rod is the most versatile for bass fishing. It's the one rod to buy when you're b Some good rods include Shimano Crucial Shimano Clarus St Croix Mojo Bass Fenwick HMX Combine one of those with a Pfleuger President or Shmano Sedona and you have a pretty good outfit that comes within your budget. If you are looking for a bait casting reel, the Lews Tournament Speed Spool is a very good real for the price. Or consider getting two outfits. The Berkley Lightning and Lightning Rod Shock are very good rods and cost about $40. Get a 7' M rod and a 7' MH rod and two Plfeuger Presidents and you are still under budget.

A few in your area http://knoxville.craigslist.org/boa/5481564526.html http://knoxville.craigslist.org/boa/5505257141.html http://knoxville.craigslist.org/boa/5529030592.html http://knoxville.craigslist.org/boa/5529030592.html

The 12 footer is a huge safety issue. I wouldn't go shorter than 14' or 15' if you value your life. If price is the issue check Craigslist for a used boat. It is usually full of jonboats and you may find one already decked out for lT what you would pay for a new boat.

What some people don't realize when they are considering an inexpensive new kayak is that in addition to the kayak, they will likely have to shell out around $100 for a halfway decent paddle and another $40-$60 for a PFD that is actually comfortable enough to wear. Then they may pay another $25 to $50 or so to outfit it with rod holders. So you can usually tack on $200 or so to the list price of that budget kayak. These are usually included in the price of a used kayak. I understand the excitement of putting that brand new kayak in your driveway, but the moment you take it on the water, you have yourself a used kayak. You can get so much more boat for your money if you shop wisely for a used kayak in the first place

For a 17 footer you won't be winning any races. It will probably push you around at 5- 8 MPH depending on how heavy the boat is. A 9.9 would be a bit small for a 17 footer. Now that sounds as if there was something seriously wrong with the motor or that boat was incredibly heavy. I had a 14 ft Sea Nymph (very lightweight) that I got up to 25 mph with a 9.9 and my current boat, a heavyish 14 footer gets up to 18 and sometimes 19 mph when I'm alone and still does 15 mph with a partner on the boat, Even loaded down with camping gear or with my brother and and his two teenage sons I get 11 mph out of it. This is me on my 14 footer loaded with camping equipment doing about 15 mph with a 9.9 (Full size video here)

I'm 250 lbs. I don't know the weight of my boat, but it is pretty heavy for a 14 ft aluminum. Probably in part because of the 3/4'" marine plywood floor. The 9.9 gets the boat up on a plane and to 18/19 mph with just me in it. With my wife (130 lbs) in the front it still gets up on a plane and hits about 15 mph. Replace my wife with large male, it isn't much slower. The only time it struggled was when I had my brother (about 220 lbs) and his two teenage boys with me. It topped off at 11 mph and couldn't get up on a plane. But it is all a matter of weight (obviously). I had a much lighter 14 footer before this one and the 9.9 got it up to 24mph when I was solo and 20 with the wife in it. I could even get it up on a plane with the wife and packed with with camping gear. My friend on the other hand has a 9.9 on his 21 ft Lund and the most he can get out of it is 5-6 mph. Don't get me wrong, I'd love a bigger motor, but some of the better fishing lakes here in northern NJ have a 10 hp limit. So the 9.9 it is and it moves me and my fishing partners around pretty good. Be sure to check to see if there are any HP limitations on the smaller lakes that you intend to fish, otherwise you may find yourself needing to use the electric to get around. I see that all of the time here, guys with beautiful bass boats who have to rely on their electric because they can't legally use the gas motor. Even if the 10 HP limit is not an issue where you are, surely a 15 or 25 HP motor will move you and your family around quite briskly.

I agree with that. Considering the size of the lakes he is referring to something with a 9.9 HP tiller motor will work just fine. It will also get him on those smaller lakes that limit HP to under 10 HP without having to shell out another grand or so for a used 9.9. I have a 9.9 on my 14 ft boat and it gets me up to 18 mph which is plenty for ponds and lakes of 76 acres or so that he says he will usually be fisihng. He can pick up an nicely decked out boat with a 9.9, electric motor, fish finder etc. for under $2k.

Honda, Yamaha, Merc, Tohatsu, Suziki, all good.

Sun Dolphin is basically junk. You get what you pay for. Your hull will be terribly warped within a year. Look online for a used boat (Craigslist, Ebay, etc). You will get a much better fishing kayak for a bit more than you will pay for a new Sun Dolphin and often it will already be rigged for fishing with depth finders, after market rod holders, and include paddle, PFD, etc.in the price. It may cost a bit more but you will get a lot more.

I have a Curado and like it a lot, but I have several Lew's reels and think they are a better bang for the buck. I think the Lews Tournament (I paid $115 for mine) is a really super reel and every bit as good as the Curado, which I spent $40 more for.

I agree. For bass if I had only 3 rods they would be a MH, M and ML

Shimano Crucial is a really good rod for about $150. St Croix Premier is very good too and is in the same price ballpark.

Knock on wood, the only thing I've done to my boat in the 4 years I've had it was put on new trailer tires. Granted it's a pretty basic aluminum V hull boat with a tiller outboard. Not much to break

I use Star Tron and Marine Stabil.

I like the Zoom Speed Worm and Rage Tail Thumper

I'm kind of superstitious. When I played baseball and softball I would not wash my uniform after I had a good game. Thankfully I was not good enough to have more than 2 or 3 good games in a row. When I was a serious bowler I had a routine I had to go through before each time in threw the ball. But fishing? No. Superstition has never come into play.

It depends on the canoe and SOT. Some SOTs are so stable that you can stand in them. So are some canoes. I guess SOTs have an advantage because you can just crawl back on if you do go over. Getting back into a canoe takes practice. It's something I did a lot as a kid. I'd dump the canoe on purpose and get back in. It's not hard if you try it a few times in warm water. That said, I've never accidentally dumped a canoe while fishing in over 40 years of using them. I think that the right tandem canoe is a more versatile fishing machine under most conditions. You have plenty of room to move around, you don't have to unhook your catch in your lap and you have room for a cooler, your dog or a friend and you can pack it to the gills for a fishing/camping trip. Check out something like the Old Town Next or the Mad River Serenade for the best of both worlds if you are going solo..

Hey, that's cheating! A lot of time, money and effort went into that for something that would be used probably once to make the video. I've gotten pretty good (sometimes) out of necessity since I moved into my new house. I live on a street that isn't wide enough for two cars to pass and a driveway that is just wide enough to fit my little Subaru Forester. It's a total right angle turn into the driveway due to a large tree on one side and bushes and a lamp post on the other. The day I moved in I backed in the boat in one shot. I impressed myself. But I was humbled the next time where I spent about 15 minutes trying to get the correct angle to get it in. The next few times it took a bit of maneuvering, but I got it in. Another time I was so frustrated that I unhooked the trailer and pushed it in (it's up a bit of an incline and not easy to do alone). The last few times I was able to get it in with 2-3 tries. The funny thing is that maybe 10 cars a day pass my house and one of them invariably passes by when I have the street blocked with the trailer and I have to get out of their way and start over. I've probably knocked 50k miles off of the life on my clutch trying to back the boat in.

Brilliant! How do you people think of these things?

Definitely go with a sit on top if you are a beginner. For $500 you aren't going to get much of a kayak buying new, but if you look for a used one you can get a lot of kayak for that money if you shop wisely. For about what you pay for a bare bones low end new kayak, you can pick up a used, fully loaded top end kayak. You are better off getting a higher end right from the start, because you aren't saving anything if you outgrow the boat in a year or two and find yourself looking to upgrade. It's hard to recommend specific kayak because there are so many. Just consider all of the features you might want, Depth finder? Anchor? Rod holder configuration? Dry storage? Live well? There are so many features and you can probably find something used with nearly everything you want.

Definitely check restrictions on local lakes to see if any of the places you might want to fish have HP restrictions. If so then 9.9 is the way to go. It will push a 14 ft boat fast enough. I can reach 21MPH in my 14'er with the 9.9 as long as I'm alone. Max is usually about 17 mph if I have one passenger. If no restrictions where you plan to fish then 15 - 25 hp should be fine. As far as getting title you need to call your state's motor vehicle dept (or whomever handles boat registration in your state) and ask for instructions. When I went to buy my current boat it didn't have a title, but it did have a registration # and VIN I told the guy no title, no sale. In NJ he simply had to fill out a form with the VIN and registration number and take it to Motor Vehicles and received title on the spot. No VIN it would have been harder. He would have needed to register it as a home made boat to get a title and bring it to a certain State Police station for inspection before the title would be issued. Of course your state may be completely different which is why you need to call, or check out their website.

I'll echo everyone who said the Berkely Lighting and Lightning Shock. I have a few and like them a lot. They are every bit as good as some rods that cost me triple what I paid for the Lightnings. I also like BPS Microlite and their Graphite Series , they also deliver a lot of rod for the money.

1. Built in cigar ashtray 2. I installed bottle openers for me and the front passenger

I really like the idea of the Mirage drive on the Hobie. No need put down your rod to use the paddle in order to maneuver the boat. Sorry to break it to you, but you will get wet in any sit on top kayak.