flyfisher

No straw man here so don't be all sensitive about your lack of ability to read the data and understand what I wrote. I was agreeing with you and your example of what might happen and lack of a safety course is also makes a higher probability of a mistake.

of course not and the data provided before also indicates lack of boater safety course is also a large factor in accidents. I'd be willing to bet as well that the possibility of surviving a boat accident like you mentioned is much greater if wearing a PFD as you are being ejected from the boat.

Interesting take given that 85% of deaths people were not wearing their PFD. I'd say wearing one gives you more than just a fighting chance.

Depends on who you ask or what study you read. I know many things I have read indicate the length of daylight is the biggest trigger while others swear by water temperature. I do know that the fall bite so to speak varies for me anywhere from late September through December some years.

Last I checked smallies don't know what fall is so they do their thing. Transition times are always strange as they are already a fish that can move a lot and fall is no different. I prefer fly fishing but in fall I go conventional and use search baits like cranks, chatterbaits, soft bodied swim baits etc.....gotta find them then look for similar areas as I cover as much water as possible. If I had a better grasp on wintering areas I could probably be more focused but I don't so I am forced to cover water and find them as best I can.

Sucks for the families for sure. It still amazes me how many people do not respect the power of water even if they have fished on it for a long time. No reason to not wear one anymore, especially given the comfort of inflatables. I have driven home with mine on before because I forgot to take it off.

Reading this thread highlights one large piece that people mostly don't consider. They are looking at it from the angle of an angler and not an ecosystem. Anytime a non-native is introduced it has an impact, how large is only speculation until they actually do it. Case in point here in Virginia was that Blue Catfish and Flatheads were introduced to the James river in the 70's to create another sportfish to target. It has become a world class fishery but the smallmouth fishing has decreased in that area. We also see it a ton with the snakehead that people complain about yet in all the studies I have seen, they have done a great service to help the bass population. Then I see a ton of people who say if you catch a bowfin or gar they are trash fish and should be killed and thrown on the shore because they are hurting the bass fishing yet they are native and been here since the time of the dinosaurs basically. Bottom line to me is I am not moving any fish to any body of water unless it was my own private one and nobody else should either. I'll leave that up to the experts and just go fishing for what is near me.

I think in theory it is possible but not likely. The state/ world record blue catfish they attempted to keep alive but it died. It's a lot of stress for a fish and they usually don't make it. If I caught a state record fish I would have zero issues keeping it and getting it officially weighed and it dying in the process. That fish has already had its genes all over the body of water it lives and is most likely on it's way out anyways.

the narrow bunks is all about the bottom of your kayak, I meant more the bow and stern overhang. I have no idea how much of my kayak comes off the side because it is sitting on 3" PVC runners. Not being able to open the tailgate would be annoying I would think but I learned from others to get the extender right off the jump. Just like rigging up your kayak, you'll figure out what you want. I have had a basket on mine, rod. carriers etc....now I am back to the basic carrier but I am gonna lower the supports as i got a 12' boat and the angle now is a lot steeper when loading and unloading.

Definitely a place I want to go fish one day...

exception to the rule lol I do know that whenever I was hiking to a climbing area in winter I did all I could to not sweat and there were more than one time I'd have a hat and gloves on and no shirt in like 10-20 degree weather.

I don't know but to me a river fish is completely different and deserves it's own category compared to a lake fish. I have yet to catch a smallie on a lake because I prefer rivers and I'd love to get a 5lber on a river.....been within a few ounces on multiple occasions. At least now I have a few places I should put on my bucket list to visit

layering cotton is ok as long as you don't get it wet lol I guess my years of climbing in the winter showed me just how sucky wet cotton is in cold weather but fishing rarely works up a sweat. I will say that the bulk alone irritates me when it comes to cotton.

It may just be the angle of the picture but that is a lot of kayak hanging off the back of the supports. I have seen boats stored with more than a third hanging develop stress cracks and bend where the end of the support is. I use PVC for my runners and only about 2' are not supported on either end. You may also want to invest in the tongue extender if they offer one as it will drastically improve the backing up and allow you to slide the kayak further up on any supports you may have. Those malone trailers are definitely nice and I thought hard about getting one when I got mine but there was only like one option and it wasn't what I wanted at the time.

Only two remaining unbeaten teams......and we saw what happened when they met in the playoffs last year.

It has been a while since I had a backlash but when i used to, braid would have a tendency to dig in and the larger diameter mono was easier to pick out.

If i was blessed to be able to fish whenever I wanted I would pay more attention. For me it is about speed not direction as I fish from a kayak and wind management/boat control is one of if not the top priorities of mine. If it is sustained 15+ I will usually switch over to conventional gear rather than the fly rod and choose places that I may be able to shelter from the wind some or use it to my advantage. Before I motorized my kayak I would consider direction and on the larger lakes make the decision to either go with the wind to start or coming back to the ramp but with a motor, doesn't matter much anymore.

Not sure about you but usually when I cook I use heat and that heat will kill anything on the pan. There is no way on anything more than 1 night I am bringing enough water for the entire trip.

When backpacking people used to always ask me why don't you bring stuff to clean your cookware and my response was the best thing to clean cookware is pine needles and other foliage which you then just rinse off and you are good to go.

I rebuilt a lawnmower carb once and said screw that. Not worth the effort to me and I doubt I will ever own another car with one so I am good for now. My 69 greand wagoneer had one though and i did clean it but never rebuilt it. I wish I knew what I know about cars now back then because that thing was a gem......

Three things come to mind reading he post. First the braid is too small of a diameter to cast efficiently and easily. Second Kastking reels are junk in my experience and take a while to get set up correctly to the point that I wouldn't even bother anymore and the couple I have are in a bin. Third, you are new to baitcasters and it will happen from time to time. I would use heavier line, probably mono, to learn on as it is more forgiving when you have backlashes then go from there.

of course I am fishing. All I hear is excuses on this post. You don't get better by only going out when conditions are optimal. You also answered your own question about what to do in those conditions and where they will be.

I lost five howitzer flies to chain pickerel on Monday. They were super aggressive and had bad aim. I even switched up to 20lb mono to keep them from biting me off but didn't help.

I have no idea but there is a pond prowler thread on here somewhere that I am sure will address every question you posed.

I lost 5 flies I tie to toothy over zealous pickerel that had bad aim and each one takes about 30-45 minutes to complete. Three of them even bit through 20lb mono after I switched that to prevent bite offs...they had bad aim I guess. It is part of the game.