flyfisher

Use whatever fits your style of fishing. I do find it interesting that many of the complaints are lack of accuracy and to me that just isn't true. It is a skill that has to be learned like everything else. For lightweight lures spinning will be better. You can absolutely get a BFS but you have to spend more money to get the same result as a lower priced spinning set up. Of course I fly fish primarily and lots of people talk about accuracy with those too and those people would be wrong as well.

I am looking at the hog island boatworks when I am ready to get a jet. Basically a plastic boat that can take abuse on rivers well. Inboard jet is the way to go for sure if you can swing the price. I think an OB jet will be fine when I make that plunge into the jet boat world instead of my kayak.

Can i hijack the thread and ask what you are getting? I fish the susky a few times a year and love that place and I wantg a jet boat myself one day for the james here and for the susky as well.

Glad you are alright and the boat should be an easy fix. Maybe a plastic foot next time?

Doesn't count as what exactly? I mean it is as much a coffee as any other style except it takes 24 hours or so to brew.

Cold brew isn't iced and it is stronger than any hot brew coffee.

I get my coffee from Stone Street in Brooklyn and their cold brew blend is what you describe and what I drink every morning

I'll take something that I never saw but I heard from a friend that it happend for $500.....

I said the same thing when I got the results.

nah the storage piece wasn't what i meant, i was talking the deployment. A stake out pole is probably the most important thing if you fish shallow water, especially with an anchor trolley. I love mine in lakes. I have my kayak set up for rivers primarily and I don't baby it by any means but I will say be careful on those boat ramps, they chew up a kayak fast. I do use a cart but once I am on the water it is all fair game to me.

catch 22...then people with those boats and no jobs will still be on the water until it gets repossessed lol

Horrible advice and is a quick way to have a leak, not to mention it is in the way of all the other advice you mentioned. Only one kayak recommends using scupper holes for any type of support and it is Hobie and only one set not all of them. Scuppers are a spot that is known to leak if given added stress.

nah it merely exposed the false economy that has been going on for 15+ years and its lack of inflation, low interest rates... etc.

Actually they aren't. Adaptability is not evolution as evolution is basically becoming a new species entirely. What you are describing is adaptability much like people who live in colder climates are more tolerant to colder temperatures and vice versa for warmer ones. Animals survive or don't based on the mating and nature has a way of putting all kinds of checks and balances in place to make sure a species lives as long as possible. Having multiple pieces to the spawning puzzle helps that.

Sad to see. Low head dams are one of the most dangerous things on any river as those currents are ridiculous. I grew up with my dad telling me that life jackets are great but they don't replace common sense and respect for the river and certain places the just make it easier to recover the bodies.

I did a DNA thing and since I was adopted I didn't really know anything and I honestly don't even care but I did find out I have neanderthal DNA greater than 36% of the people.

I am not sure exactly but when i was checking the bixpy was around 30lb thrust and from the reviews it was very weak in use. The NK180 is 1.8hp equivalent so that makes it i guess 80+lb thrust but not totally sure. I do know that with my fully loaded up ATAK140 upstream in heavier current and with my ATAK 120 it does the same thing. When I would hit rivers with my dad and his AP136 he would not be able to motor up where I was and on lakes I would be about half throttle when he is at full throttle to keep the same speed. They have a more powerful version that was just released that competes with the larger of the torqeedo motors and bumps up to 36V.

neither....NK180s. Bixpy seemed to be way underpowered and torqeedo is way overpriced and lacked flexibility for my needs. I wanted to be able to put whatever battery I wanted on mine. I have double the size of the standard torqeedo battery and at least a grand less in the total cost and that is for the smaller battery. I have mine set up with a res concepts wing and a stick steer so after motoring upstream I can stand and fly fish floating downstream and use the motor as a rudder to keep direction where it needs to be. I was one of the first run of the motors and now two years in on primarily rocky river use I couldn't be happier.

My motor acts as a rudder for those same situations as I use it when I am floating downstream. I have mine on a stick steer as well so i can adjust as I am standing. Spot lock trolling motors are way too slow for my tastes and lack the power for moving upriver which is my primary fishing. For a lake boat where you don't have to worry about speed they can be good, my dad likes his except when we are on the river together and he can't get to the spots I do wither because of grass or heavier current.

You answered your own question. If you are fishing where there aren't fish then you aren't being very smart. I will say the only time of year where smallies are super concentrated is winter though. Once prespawn happens smallies move and then for a while they are in all stages of prespawn, spawn and post spawn so they can be all over the place really. I don't mind floating spot to spot though as I have found that some of those non fishy spots if they have isolated cover can hold one or two larger fish. Since I motorized my kayak though I usually motor up, hit top spots and then float back and hit them again.

I was told this by a guy who is a very good fisherman one time. He said we have to remember that fish have brains the size of a peanut. Their goal in life is to stay alive, eat and mate. When they see something they think might be food they don't have hands to check it out so they eat it. Of course they may spit it out faster than you can react but that is the equivalent of us picking something up to look at it in a way. I have had great days fishing frog fly patterns for smallies and of course for largemouth too but I am not sure if they think it is a frog or if they think it is something to eat but to me, who cares as long as they eat it.

No fly is a perfect imitation and this is no different. It may imitate it enough to fool something with a brain the sized of a peanut though. I do get your point though as realism doesn't matter except when it does....

I caution heavily against getting the most expensive kayak you can afford sentiment shared here. There are a ton of kayaks out there that are far from the most expensive and will more than do the job. There are great kayaks under $1500 after getting a paddle that are great and also offer flexibility of adding pedals or motors later on. For pond hopping, which it sounds like you will primarily be doing, a good paddling kayak will make a huge difference. A lot of the super stable boats are designed with a motor or pedals in mind so the suck to paddle. If someone says the first thing you need is a rudder I'd question two things, why is the boat designed to need a rudder and if it is a paddler issue. A well designed fishing kayak should provide stability and tracking without use of a rudder. As far as gear goes, you can use whatever you use now with no modifications. You may have to pare down what you take if you take a lot but even then it is plenty manageable. When I am fly fishing I take up to 4 fly rods and conventional I will take up to 6. It is more about what you want it to be, Best thing to do is see if any shops have a demo days or rental. Many shops have rentals and then if you buy the rental cost is put in to the boat. This is truly the only way to know if a boat works for you and leads me to the next piece. Once you get a kayak don't rig it based on what you have seen on youtube. Fish your kayak with your style then rig it accordingly. Many people solve problems they don't have and overcomplicate things to death. Track mounts make things much easier to mount and move things. I have been kayak fishing 20 years and I just got a new warranty boat last year, a 2' shorter version of a boat i had for years, and I still went out 5 times before mounting anything. I currently run an ATAK120 (had the 140) and it is a fantastic paddling boat and I added a motor (NK180s) to my equipment stash 2 years ago and it is great tool for self supported river shuttles and on larger lakes.

I see this as a parallel to baseball and the strike zone. Many are against the computer controlled strike zone which will make every strike or ball the same and consistent across all games and levels. Others, argue that there is a human element to the game that should not be removed. I think the AI fly tying is cool as **** and I would be all for it. Will a hand made fly be better quality? I have been on a lot of fly tying pages and I can tell you just because it is human doesn't make it better, myself included. I also know that a fly similar to that first one would cost a fortune if hand tied but I will say that if you could get me an AI in a reasonable price I'd buy one and fish it to see if it is any better. I am all for innovation and remember working in a fly shop when the gummy minnow came out and all the purists were up in arms about it not being a fly etc...I used the material and caught some good fish and tunes changed. I can't imagine what those people think about articulated flies that are so prevalent. Guess I am not a purist but I know if I have a choice I am throwing a fly over a "lure" and sometimes even a lure that I use as a fly.....

They are only super high wages becasue they were kept down for so long and people finally realized, huh I do have some control as to how much I get paid and I won't settle for less. No big company is going to go under if they have to increase wages. It is an adjustment to what the market dictates.