HeavyDluxe

I would if I could.... don't live exactly on the heart of the flyway. And snows don't really wind up here. I wish they did. I see videos of these tornados of snows and regret taking up waterfowl hunting AFTER I moved from Delmarva.

1. Get out fishing, kayaking, swimming, or walking with the family each week. 2. Head out for two fishing/kayaking days alone with each of my older kids. 3. Fish a lot. 4. Improve at clay shooting so I'm more able to murder ducks and geese next fall.

I'll play along... If a 3/8oz jig and trailer can count as one bait, I'll take that. If not, I'd probably take a soft plastic stickbait or semi-solid tube (like the Fat Ika). I think all of those lend themselves to a variety of techniques (bouncing, stroking, swimming, etc etc) and are capable of consistently producing fish.

Can't recommend @Siebert Outdoors enough... Here's my standard order.

I haven't fished the Ned Rig yet, though I'm guessing that oughtta be on my list for this coming year, too. In general, downsize and slow down for finicky fish. I'd switch to a smaller plastic and fish it slow. Dead-sticking senkos (as @roadwarrior suggests in his 'Guaranteed to Catch' thread) is almost a certain producer, but the patience it takes to WAIT is incredible.

Hunted out of a WS Ride 115 this past year - my first year hunting, hunting waterfowl, and hunting out a kayak. It's a great platform to get back into some great spots. Here's what I'd say: If you can, PADDLE, PADDLE, PADDLE. Try out boats as much as you can before picking what you might want to buy. You'll be surprised how different each of those boats 'feels' and how something you never would've thought of in one boat will appeal to you or irritate you. Nothing beats time on the water to decide between boats. For a hunting platform, look for stability first in the platform... I'm a big guy, and so stability mattered for my fishing, but it matters more for hunting. The movements I'm making tracking a bird, turning/leaning, to say nothing of the recoil of the firearm meant that I felt (and worried about) every little wiggle of the boat more than I did fishing. Plus, you're usually hauling more/heavier gear if you're hunting (esp for waterfowl) than you are when you're fishing. I'd strongly recommend a look at the WS Ride, Tarpon, or ATAK series boats... Other major brands (Jackson, Old Town, etc etc) have boats in the same price/feature class. While the lesser known brands are fine, you should consider the 'buy once, cry once' principle if you can. Happy to answer any direct questions that might be helpful to you... This past year was the first time hitting it really hard for both fishing and hunting. And I can't wait for more.

I only fish mono (though I may switch that up with one, heavy setup this year) and only with spinning gear. Yeah, I'm weird and old and get off my lawn, etc. If you can't pull it out of a pond with a good rod/reel spooled with Trilene XL, you probably don't want it in the boat with you. There are lots of good mono, but it's hard to beat the quality-to-price proposition of the biggies like Trilene and Stren.

We use the same rig we use for baitfishing for trout in streams for panfish in pond. Small aberdeen (preferably) hook, a small split-shot sinker 8 inches or so above the hook. Bait the hook with whatever you want... We've used worms and other truly-edible stuff, but also caught tons on small grubs or little chunks of senkos/soft plastic that would otherwise be junked. Panfish are generally hyper-competitive. So, if you can find concentrations of panfish and get them turned on, you'll be able to catch fish on bare hooks after they're frothed up.

Another 'up north' angler here... and jigs were my tactic to learn last year. And, after a year of using them, it's now close to my confidence bait. Definitely check out Siebert Outdoors, as mentioned above. Their products are excellent and VERY reasonably priced for the quality you're getting. They're the only jigs I'll buy, if possible. I tried a lot of different styles of jigs and found that 'brush jigs' were the most versatile... A 3/8oz brush jig could be thrown into timber, did passably on rocky bottoms, and could be run as a swim jig. There are certainly times a lighter or heavier jig would be better, but 3/8oz is a great balance. I always paired with a trailer - either GYCB Flappin' Hawgs or Zoom Ultravibe Craws. At your budget amount for this setup, I imagine you can afford more tackle than I'll buy in a year. But, I think these would be good starting points...

As others have said, it depends on what you're after and the conditions you mainly fish. For up here in New England, I could go two directions: L, M, H - Light for panfish and trout, medium for most bass soft plastics and light jigging, H for punching or jigs in heavy cover. ML, MH, H - Going slightly heavier on the bottom and middle if I'm excluding some of the smaller species and focusing mainly on bass, lakers, pike, or something.

I use a 7' UL spinning combo for trout and panfish up here... Even the normal stockies are beatable with that rig. Of course they get you in the rocks sometimes, but that's fishing. I use reels with good drag... I don't trust myself to be good enough with the backreel to maintain steady pressure.

1) I have a 11'5 kayak that we cart in a similar-sized truck... We heave it in the bed, lift the gate, and then I run straps through the handles (front and sides) into the anchors in the bed. Flagging on the back, and we're off. 2) The angle of hooksets is a little different, and I don't throw my weight back in quite the same way I would on the ground. But, it's essentially the same. And no, it's not hard to get behind jig hooksets, etc as long as you decisively reel down before yanking. 3) Both are possible... takes practice. And, I've found it's a little harder to land as softly sitting as I can standing. But, the motions and overall delivery are the same. 4) I don't use a rudder... I think it'd be important on bigger water for tracking or steering in the wind. 5) Depends on the river. You can use a drift sock in some cases, in others you can anchor. You have to be careful with an anchor in moving water so your boat doesn't get swamped. Yes, a SOT self-bails, but the side facing into the current can still dip and the force can tip/flip the boat.

I just bought a couple Big Bear spinning rods (3/4H and H) off here for the same thing... Glad to know there are other people 'nutty' enough to want to just use spinning gear for non-typical things.

The pond nearest my house was just turning on when they decided to start draining it to work on the retaining dam... The fish have been wonky, but still biting. I haven't had time to get out anywhere else... But, other friends have been having really solid starts to the fall season.

Bridge, Spades, Hearts, Gin....

@Hog Basser and @Catt, you can easily make it up to me. In exchange for the threadjack, why don't you make each make one, serious post re: the best advice you would give a newbie re: duck hunting. Doesn't have to be long, but drop some knowledge on me. Thanks! Without your threadjack, it was a dead thread anyway.

Yeah, honestly the 'gill color has been the secret weapon this past summer... Fished a couple REALLY clear lakes and the fish just blitzed it.

I have four colors of jigs... Black/Blue, Brown Craw, Sweet Craw, Bluegill. I think I could live with just two colors... But, here I have a couple 'higher contrast' colors for murky water, and a couple clearer water colors (including one that is great for a swim jig). See my last Siebert order here:

S'up, my VT neighbor? I'm the wrong person to ask about color... I've come to the conclusion that I can do everything I could ever want with 2 soft plastic colors - black & blue and green pumpkin. I will occasionally buy craw-type baits in some orange/brown color or grab some silver to mimic smelt. But, I'm predominantly fishing two colors. They seem to work well in all water clarities (though I think black is better in cloudy water). If you're talking hard baits, I get something that looks like a 'gill or perch, typically. For techniques, I also fish a lot of jigs. I'll also still pitch weightless/texas worms or other creatures - I just feel free to work them faster than I do in the summer. I personally haven't had a lot of success with moving baits, but I typically hear other anglers talking a lot about spinners and swimbaits.

I got into bass fishing (as an adult) just a few years ago... So take this with an appropriately sized grain of salt. I'd start with soft-plastic-based, finesse-able presentations first. In my experience, if fish are chasing cranks or spinners, they'll also bite soft plastics thrown in front of them. And, when they're not chasing/active, the slower presentation of most soft plastic techniques seems to be better suited to enticing a strike. I got my start with @roadwarrior's "Guaranteed to catch bass" thread (linked in his post above)... and, dead-sticking soft plastics like that teaches patience (that will benefit you all kinds of ways later), helps you feel/sense the bottom, and always seems to product fish. When you add shakey-head or drop-shotting presentations as variations on that theme, you've got some very effective tools to catch fish. Now, having said that: If you really find something INTERESTING or EXCITING, start with that... If you think spinnerbaits seem fun, do that first. Or frogging, or whatever. In the end, nothing is going to help you grow as an angler more than time on the water. And this is supposed to be fun, after all. EDIT: I should hasten to add that you should feel free to post when you have questions/issues... I don't think I've found a more supportive and helpful community online. Just try to search the site before you post a new thread... But, if no answer turns up in a search, fire off a post and let's all learn together.

I just got my first true 'heavy' setup, and I'll be trying braid out (again) with that since I intend to use it mainly for frogging and punching. If the experiment goes well, I'll maybe move to trying braid/fluoro on my soft plastics rod...

Hi, Avery... I've been fishing longer than you, but knots are definitely among the weakest part of my fishing kung-foo. You mentioned that you're just tying an overhand knot... For that reason, I'd suggest the Palomar knot that's been mentioned above. It's what I use because, like you, I know the overhand knot and the Palomar uses that same 'shape' as the foundation of the knot (just with a doubled line instead of a single strand). Pretty much the only knot I use... I fish with mono on all my current setups (4lb, 8lb, and 12lb test). Learning more knots is on the winter to-do list.

And each fish.

Used to be common to use trailers that were actually made of pork fatback with a little skin tagged off the end. Fished these all the time as a kid, though I see them a lot less nowadays. http://bassfishingarchives.com/short-strikes/pork-the-forgotten-bait-part-two (edit - Not my site... Hope this is an ok post.)

Had a similar situation with a store here in our town. I always felt like being honest was the best policy. "I want this gun, but it's hard to pass up $70 less if I drive over there." Most likely, they'll move/understand... But, if he holds firm maybe be willing to sink the $70 this time to keep a small, local shop in business.