Hanover_Yakker

I wonder what WayneP would do or if he is planning on heading out anytime during this warming trend?

I am currently using the PowerTeam Lures lineup for all of my freshwater soft plastics (finesse worms, craws, tubes, curly tailed grubs and lizards). For saltwater plastics, I use Bass Assasin Shads, Marsh Works (hard to find now) Bayou Thumpers and Zoom Super Flukes. For frogs, I use Stanley Ribbits and Capt. Ken Daubert's Clones.

That's a hard choice to make with all the variety and years of expertise out there, but since I am an avid kayak angler and fish out of a Hobie, the obvious choice would be Hank Parker, Sr. His episode on Hank Parker Outdoors back in 2008 using Hobie kayaks to get closer to the hidden and hard to reach spots is the reason I own a kayak today. A close second would be Rick Clunn just for the knowledge and third would be Roland Martin just because he also fishes saltwater as do I. If the freshwater bite was off, I know I could talk him into making a run down to the Chesapeak Bay for some saltwater action.

That's why you need a brush clamp man!!! You can either buy one from BPS in their saltwater tackle aisle or use a DIY kind like I made. I just bought an oversized plastic clamp for woodworking and tied on a 25' length of general purpose nylon 1/4" cord. I'll be upgrading the clamp to a true welders or brush metal clamp soon though. I'm hoping to get out as well just not sure if I can do a weekend trip right now. My trip would have to be on Friday even though they are calling for a chance of showers right now.

You also can use Firefox, which is what I use for an internet browser, and it allows the upload. The IE issue is related to the default security settings employed by MSOFT. You can modify those to allow the upload, but it is easier to use another browser.

I'm flying solo on this one, unless of course you are really small and ride in the tankwell of my Hobie I'm iffy on this one and any events over the summer anyway due the addition of a newborn sometime in June.

In my opinion, while some prefer only to use trailer hooks, you also have to take into consideration lure size. If a traditional 1/2 oz spinnerbait is too large of a profile for a given day, then scaling down to the mini-versions in the 1/8-3/16oz range would make casting a bit more difficult for some loyal baitcasting folks. A trick the savvy smallmouth anglers use is to put a 3-4" curly tailed grub on to add a little more weight but still keep the bait profile relatively small. This sublte change aids in making longer casts and avoids spooking wary fish, especially in clear water. Another factor to consider is the style of the spinnerbait. If you are using a Colorado style blade, then the trailer lure is not as necessary, since you're likely focusing on noise profile, and the action of the blade might cancel out any benefits of a trailer. If you are using a small profile willow blade, then the addition of a trailer might be the subtle action necessary to trigger a bite, since a willow blade has a lower noise profile than a Colorado or Indiana style blade. Just my .02 worth.

Actually, you may not need to do anything at all. Just plug your device (or insert your card into a card reader) into your computer and upload it directly to YouTube. They have an upload utility and editor built in that will do the basics for you. Its not perfect in anyway and the editing capabilities are limited. It also takes a while and any lag in internet speed or loss of connection will time out your upload but it works in a pinch. I have an iMac, so I upload into iMovie first, edit the project and finalize it before direct upload to YouTube. No issues here.

Welcome aboard....plenty of us Richmond folk on here.

I use to use the Zoom chunk trailers, then switched to the NetBait Baby Paca Craws. I now use the PowerTeam Lures 3.5" Craw D'ouevre. With the Pacas, I found the claws were ripped off too easy. The Craw D'ouevres hold up better to aggressive strikes or snags in heavy cover.

This is the exact setup I use everytime I head out. My #1 MH is rigged with 30-65lb braid depending upon the area I am fishing and no leader for hte plastics, but I'll tie on a 3' 10-15lb. flouro leader if I tie on the spinnerbait. My #2 is a 6'8" AVID MXF and rigged to a 30lb braid baitcaster. If I am throwing a crank of some form, then I tie on a 4-5' 15lb. flouro leader. My #3 is a MXF paired to a 2500 or 3000 series spinning reel with 20lb. braid and a 5-6' length of 10-15lb. flouro. This setup doubles as a slower small profile soft plastic rod and a LC Pointer or MirrOlure suspending jerkbait setup.

You most certainly can. That is the technique to use when you are "searching" for the best spot. Kind of like fan casting a jerkbait in winter where you pause long periods of time between subtle twitches only here you are pausing to twitch then lifting and moving a few inches, long pause then subtle twitches of the rod on a slightly slack line. If you are keeping your line tight then rod movement is much less.

If you are fishing docks with this rig, you aren't trying to skip cast it. You are typically using a vertical technique or even a pendulum/flipping technqiue to accurately drop the rig right next to or slightly under the dock. If you are fishing an area where there is no wind affecting your ability to hold position, you could possibly get away with a lighter bottom weight, but it would still not be advisable to try and snap off a tournament style cast. As a kayak angler, I can usually get away with a lighter presentation. From a boat, someone like jfrancho might be better resource.

I have - it is very deadly for enticing a bite. With a traditional drop shot, your bait will rise and fall as the weight does. With the Recoil rig, the bait stays in the same spot and moves around. I have a couple sets and use them this time of year. Great on deeper fish to when the summer bite it tough.

Bigelow Organic Green Tea for me - at least 2-3 cups per day. At home, decaf iced tea.

Great job - this is actually a technique I share with new kayakers in trying to help them limit what they take out on the water. One suggestion though, try to avoid the CD Wallet style that uses the thick plastic sleeves. That type "sticks" to the skirts and can tear off the material if you are not careful. A 10-24 count wallet usually is sufficient for a trip out on the water. I use a small 10-count one myself.

I owned the Saltwater grade spinning Signature series rod for a little over a year, and several of my kayak friends who are smallmouth and largemouth guides have them in their arsenal. The Signature Series ($109) tends to be a little tip heavy, but has nice backbone to it. The Tidewater Chapter of Heroes On the Water has almost all of their HOW rods as these rods and have them paired with Shimano Sedonas. The vets seem to like them. I personally had the 6'6" model in the Medium Fast model and used it for speckled trout, redfish and striped bass. It had no problem at all handling 24"+ striped bass. Mine was paired with a Daiwa Regal 3000 and 30lb. PP braid. From what I have heard, the Tactical Series ($149) is less tip heavy. Hope that helps.

A popular spot to meet for the early risers (ie: exhibitors that have to be there an hour early) is the Dennys next to Kings Dominion (its in the hotel next to KD). I saw several expo folks there the last two years prior to the show each day.

Almost every accredited college near the water will have some form of fisheries science curriculum, even though it may not be a major. Some locations offer the cirriculum as a minor. Either way, they both provide the basic classes necessary to get yourself at least past the initial HR screening. Another option is volunteering with your local DEQ (Dept. of Environmental Quality), DNR (Dept. of Natural Resources) or GIF (Game & Inland Fisheries) programs. Most of them allow volunteers during their fish or water studies performed on an annual basis. Another option is volunteering with your local waterway conservation group. The catch to this approach is that some groups focus more on negative education/marketing/lobbying and propaganda versus actually improving the waterway, so be careful with this one. The fastest way to "prove" your loyalty to a given firm is to work for free. I know that is somewhat contrarian to the normal method of job hunting but think about it. You approach a prospective firm interested in employment, but you throw them a curve ball by offering your services at no cost. Now there is a method to the madness here, so pay close attention. First, you should head into this type of role with the understanding that you will most likely be working two jobs to supplement your income during this period. If you decide to go down this road, you need to ensure that there is an end goal of paid employment when the internship is done. That means you need to negotiate your start date of employment ahead of time when the employer agrees to hire you. As a finance major when I was in college, the best scenario I have seen in practice was a 90-day internship with the agreement that the individual would be hired at the end of the internship at an agreed upon rate before ever accepting the internship. Get it in writing. Another great option to hone your writing skills is to become a blogger. One of the biggest challenges as a blogger is creating content that is not only useful and informative, but also delivering that content in a manner that is not offensive or one-sided. As an avid kayak angler, I have had the pleasure of sharing my experiences over the course of the last 3-4 years through my blog. These experiences have included fishing reports, kayak modifications, rigging techniques and product reviews. When you share your personal perspective through the web, you have to be both objective and fair regardless of your personal feelings about a given topic or product. Once you have established a "portfolio", you have a greater chance of gaining full time employment in the field. Good luck!!

I use them all the time on a 1/8 - 1/4 oz. roundhead jig (unpainted) as a search bait around structure in both fresh and salt water and have had tremendous success. Once you locate them, you can switch to a drop shot or even a float-n-fly technique once the bite slows. If they are still hitting it when you work it with the jig head, keep working it. The one drawback to them is that after a couple good hits, they can get shredded fairly easily. I too keep them in a Gulp Alive container. One trick I use with them though is to buy two of the containers and consolidate one into the other. I then use the other container for my other soft plastics like ZOOM flukes and fluke jrs or Kalins Grubs (excluding Z-Man due to their own proprietary makeup that dissentigrates when in ocntact with differing brands). The cool thing about the Gulp solution is that you can store like colors together with little to no cross-color bleaching or staining. So don't hesitate to store their leeches, gobies, pogies and minnows together.

A forgotten rod that some folks on here know about that should also be considered is the St. Croix EyeCon (marketed as a Walleye rod) in the 6'3" legth and paired with a Sienna 2500 can be had for about $165 total outlay brand new. I have had 3 Siennas in my arsenal now for over 7 years and have never had an issue, and I fish in both fresh and salt water. Bass Pro sells the Siennas in pre-packs for $22.99. A local tackle shop had the EyeCon on clearance for $99 a few weeks back near me.