heavy M

I have been fishing out of a kayak for about a year now. I have a the perception caster from dicks and it seems to be a pretty good kayak. It isn't the most dry kayak, but it isn't too bad either. I am 6'2" and 275# and it is pretty stable. I mostly bass fish in lakes and saltwater fish in the marsh with it. If you are looking to get into kayak fishing and not wanting to spend too much money then it is a pretty good yak. If money isn't a problem then I would do like others recommend and demo some of the other brands like WS, Ocean kayak, or a Freedom Hawk (especially if you want to stand)

Shimano Clarus rods are pretty good rods in your price range. I have a 7 ft medium 2 piece rod. It is a pretty nice rod. I am not sure if the make it in a MH. Shimano Compre rods are also pretty nice.

St. Croix has a 6'6" MH/F rod in their Premier line. I don't have any first hand experience with St. Croix rods, but I am sure if you do a search you find a lot of people like them. Depending on what type of lures you plan to use the Med/F Shimano Compre rod would be pretty good. I agree that with quality of today's rods you won't be able to notice the differnce between a 1 and 2 piece rod, but you do get a whole lot more options whith 1 piece rods.

Micro Posted on: Today at 6:26pm I bought both too They are both great reels and you will not be disappointed with either.

I am pretty happy if I catch one on the first cast cause it means I won't get completely skunked

Shimano Clarus rods are hard to beat for the price. I have a the 7 ft MF rod and it is great. I have a symetre 2500 on it and it is a little tip heavy but probably not any more so than any other 7 ft rod in that price range.

Most of my rods are 1 piece, but I do own a couple of 2 piece rods as well. The 2 piece rods are great when there isn't much room. Also the come in handy when I have to travel somewhere for work and the is fishing nearby

Shimano Stradic 3000FI Shimano Compre 6' 6" MH Fast 15# PowerPro with 100% Trilene FC leader

At on one lake I fish texas rigged red shad ribbon tail worms are the bait of choice. I tried red shad senkos at the same lake, but have never had any luck. BTW the water in that lake is pretty stained. I can't remember ever having much luck with red shad in clearer water.

Like other posters have said any Shimano reel from the Sahara up will be a nice reel. I have a Stradic 3000 and a Symetre 2500 both are very nice reals if you want to save some $ money go for a Sahara or Symetre, but if you got the cash I would defiantly get the Stradic.

I recommend the shimano clarus or compre. I have versions of both of these rods and both are pretty nice. The have the full cork grips, fuji guides and come in several different lengths and powers. Also both have the shimano lifetime warranty.

For anyone who is curious, I got a Symetre today and tried my extra Stradic spool on it. The Stradic spool fit but when I put the drag knob on it stuck up a little higher and left a small gap that wasn't there with the Symetre spool. I think since the Sahara, Symetre, and Saros drag knobs are the same so the spools should be interchangable. I think the Stradic spool would work if you are okay with the gap. I hope this helps anyone looking for extra spools.

X2 on the Citica E They are great reels for the money and the centrifugal brakes work great. You will defiantly want to spend some money and buy a good reel. I tried using some cheaper reels when I started out to save money, but looking back I would have money ahead to buy better ones then.

I got a split grip Falcon Lowrider and I really like it so my vote goes to split grips, but most of my full grip rods are basspro rods with the "powerhump" so I don't really have a good full grip rod to compare to. Like others have said mostly personal preference.

Never. Although now that I say that I am surely doomed ;D. Doors and stuff sliding around in the back of the truck have claimed a few though.