Darren.

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Nice catches, Shep! Hate it when a big one gets away. I know the "sick to my stomach" feeling all too well.

Welcome aboard! What @MickD said

She's a healthy bass, congrats on the PB!

Agree with @Scott F, do what works for you. I have found, after many years of messing with my kayak rigging that 3 rods - for me - are probably the max I now take. I can get by really well with 2, and have even fared quite nicely with only 1. If you are fishing tournaments, you may need more, but probably not when it's just for enjoyment. At least that's how I look at it. No tourneys for me, just out for the love of the sport. So I tend to fish what works and not experiment too much these days. Oh, and except for my casting setups, I have 1 reel per rod. For casting, which I do not do as much anymore, I pared down to 1 reel and 2 rods....

Welcome aboard, Al!

That'd be my one complaint with Shimano reels. Something I mentioned years back in my review of the Lexa 2000SH. I love the bail wire feel on Daiwa reels. But I do love my Stradics 1000s....

Good luck, Mike! Stay safe. I used to tape my windows here (before I replaced them) when we had hurricanes or storms. That could help your cracked window if you haven't done so already.

Welcome aboard!

Year around in Virginia. Year around in Texas. The Southern states do have that in their favor. Although, I fish catch/release, which would be the same in any state, I believe.

Yes. Yes they are. Nets are important. I know all too well. Even so, sometimes a net can't reach far enough to secure the bass. Alas!

Good one!

Nice work!

I second the smaller reel size, but that's a personal preference I have. I use 1000s for all manner of bass fishing. A Daiwa 1500 or 2000 would suit you perfectly fine if that's the direction you want to go. And a 2500 is also perfectly fine! Depends on what size you feel most comfy with. I also use braid for mainline, PowerPro in 10# and PPSS8 in 15#, which are equivalent of 2# and 4# mono, respectively. So a small reel can fit a lot of braid, then I simply use a leader anywhere from 4-15#.

Being St. Croix rods, their power will be a tad stiffer than others. I personally love their ML power. I have one and it's my favorite rod for all soft plastics save the heavier TX rigs and jigs. I just picked up a Light rod (BPS Micro Lite) for a trip i'm taking in which I'll be fishing for smallies. The action is more like my ML rod though, because of the sections as opposed to the same action 1 piece which is much less stiff. You'll probably find more use for the ML, but there are guys like @Fish Chris who use "micro lite" power rods for lunkers. It's all about you and how you want to fish.

Welcome aboard, Joshua!

Welcome aboard!

It is crazy how quickly this changed from yesterday. Thanks to the big front pushing through faster than expected. But very unlucky for y'all in Florida. If it stays true to current forecasts, there's a good bit of trouble coming your way. Like watching an out of control semi coming down the highway, no idea where it'll hit, but hit something it will. Best wishes to everyone in FL, Georgia, and SC. Get you and your family to safety, @Mike L! Not sure where Drudge got this pic from, or if it is legit, but the headline is "Scary: The Skull of Matthew"

Soft plastics nut here, too. I have narrowed my use down to a few brands, but I will sometimes branch out to try one I haven't used before. Stick worms: Yamamoto and BPS Stik-O are my two favorites. Have tried others, but these tend to work best in my experience. Want to try Big Bite, and a few others eventually. Trick/Finesse: Zoom. However, I used to throw a lot of YUM when they produced watermelon gold flake in the smaller variety. There was something to that bait, the small gold flakes and coloration that was superior. Then they stopped making it.

LOL...not sure I'd be cool with wearing a PFD diaper when trying to kayak fish!!

#1 a PFD. Wear it at all times when in the yak. Period. #2 The rest is going to be trial and error in terms of getting the yak up and running according to how YOU like to fish. For me it took a long time to get to the place where I had my seat height right, my anchoring right, my rod layout right, my tackle availability right and so on. And none of that is permanent. I always look for ways to mod and better my kayak experience. You may wish to have an anchor trolley on each side. You may wish to use an anchor stick instead of an anchor, or a drift sock, etc. A lot depends on the conditions you will fish in, and the waters be they big, small, rivers, and so on.

Beauties!!