Amarley

Two years of enjoyment for $200 is a pretty good deal to me. I've blown more than that in 15 minutes, haha. Even if you fall out of fishing, you could sell that kayak online in about a day and get at least $100 for it. If it's your money, than what's the big deal? Are they worried about your safety, or are they dreading that you're 15 and they'll have to drive you to the water? It's good exercise and better than watching TV or playing video games. If my kids ask me for a kayak over an Xbox, I'd be thrilled. Keep making logical cases for the kayak, they'll come around. If they don't keep saving your money and you can do/buy whatever you want in just a few years.

Thanks for the advice. How big is that smallmouth in your profile pic?!

Was on the lake last night, my battery started fine at the ramp. After I fished my first spot the motor wouldn't turn over. At first, I thought it was the starter, but I changed the battery connection to my trolling battery and the motor cranked right up. A couple questions: 1. What is the best cranking battery, or is there really much difference? 2. Do you charge your cranking battery with your on-board charger, or trolling/accessory batteries only?

I owned a hunting/fishing online retailer, but we're winding down operations right now.

junebug skinny dipper

Check out Gander Mountain. They have a 5" fluke and right now, their soft plastics are buy 2 get 1 free. These flukes are a good quality, too.

I love throwing a shaky head in the summer. I have had success with several different types of plastics, senkos, trick worms, ribbon tails, craws, etc. One thing I have not had a lot of success with is the really big worms, I'm talking 12"-16". Do you throw these after you've had bites on the smaller worms to get the bigger fish in the school, or are there certain situations where you think a big worm is the go-to lure? How do you like to fish these worms? Shaky head, texas rig, carolina, etc?

If you want to be safe, ship them to the place you're staying or put them in your checked bag. TSA "rules" are inconsistent at best.

I know gear doesn't pay for entry fees and gas, but if I were the sponsor I would not be too happy, especially if this person is advertising that he is sponsored by that company.

Whatever you do, do not fish a rage craw on a shaky head, fish WILL NOT bite it, I promise!

Plum color Zoom Ol Monster

Speed Spool for $99. All you need to know. Everything else is just noise!

I'd find a 14 ft jon boat or think about a fishing kayak.

Check out the fishing flea market on this forum. Sometimes you can get good used rods for cheap. I also would recommend looking at the Abu Garcia Vendettas. Sometimes you can find them for around $60. A 7' MH Fast action can handle about anything you want starting out.

The kayak came with an anchor trolley system. Was studying it last night to figure out how it worked. The claw anchor it came with looked like it could be hazardous to me if it were to catch a laydown or some rocks the wrong way in current. Those are great suggestions. Thanks.

I went for my first kayak trip down a local creek last weekend and was immediately hooked. We had a good group of friends and stayed plenty "hydrated"! Yesterday I bought a 10' Old Town Vapor Fishing Kayak off of Craigslist and am going to start fishing from it this week. We're blessed to have some nice streams in this area of Kentucky. There are several rivers and creeks, I'm particularly excited about the Green River that flows through Mammoth Cave. Any tips for newbies? I've got a few questions to you experienced Kayak bassers 1. What are your rod/reel setups and how many rods do you bring? Purely on logic, I would think shorter rods would be easier to handle in tight quarters. 2. What accessories should I get? The yak came with an anchor, paddle keeper and two rod holders. 3. Do you mostly powerfish with small spinnerbaits and cranks for small rivers and creeks, or do you also fish with finesse presentations? The water in my area will have some bass (LMB and SMB) and lots of bluegill. 4. What's the most efficient way to pack and access your gear on the water? Looking forward to getting started. Now I just have to figure out how to split time between the kayak and the bass boat!

Stratos makes great boats. I'm just a little surprised that boat is only rated for up to a 115hp outboard. I have a 17'6 boat that had a 115 and is rated for up to a 125 hp. Make sure you test drive before buying. If I was going to spend that kind of cash, I might want one that's rated for a bigger outboard, like 150hp, so I could have the option to upgrade in the future. But I like that size boat because they're easy to tow, easy to trailer on and off and not too bad on fuel and oil.

I do it as a part of annual maintenance. But I'm a weekend warrior. If you fish several days throughout the week, maybe every 100 hours or so.

I'm finding stacks of fish suspended between 10-18 ft at my home lake right now, and am having trouble catching them. Only catching 1 or 2 per trip. I've been throwing the kitchen sink at them, swimbaits, spinnerbaits, and crank baits. What else should I be trying or what has worked for you guys?

I hosted an expo in Southern Kentucky and worked on a few others. I had my own hunting and fishing gear website at one point as well. Take these tips for what they're worth: 1. Sell something different- you don't want to be the guy selling turkey calls at the NWTF convention. It's a race to the bottom. It's all about who's cheapest when you're competing with 50 other guys selling turkey calls. 2. Have a show special- come ready to move some volume. There's a reason infomercials are so successful. 3. Have a demonstration or video of your product- people like to see things in action 4. Think about trends in the market- think about what's hot, and then sell something complimentary to it. Some ideas 1) unique go pro mounts and go pro accessories, 2) iPad holders or other items that are trending in GPS technology for boaters and save big $$$ over $2000 units, 3) search the internet for some unique lure companies like Siebert Jigs and ask to represent their products. Put packages or "show specials" together. This way the people in attendance aren't pricing you against the guy next door or Bass Pro in their minds. Shows are about impulse buys and trends. Bargain bins full of trick worms may get you some sales, but will be hard to make that booth rent back. The most successful booth I've ever seen was the Can Cooker that is now at Cabelas. It appealed to men and women and was totally different from anything at those shows. They killed it for a while!

Look for some hand poured plastic worms with no salt. They float the best. Check out a company called Sneed Products. They are based in Kentucky and make worms for exactly what you are talking about.

Mossyback is definitely a step up from the GL2 from my experience. Don't know how it compares with the IMX.

x2. You probably have it on Low Resolution to extend your battery life. Depending on the model, you can bump it up to 1080. I recommend buying extra batteries on Amazon (the off-brand ones work as well or better than the GoPro brand) and also, don't leave your blue tooth on unless you are using a remote to constantly start and stop footage. Bluetooth DRAINS the battery. I'd have two extra batteries and keep the footage rolling why you fish, that should get you about 8 hours of total time after switching batteries. I keep mine on the 960 resolution.

I've got rods from several companies, mostly iRods, Powells and G. Loomis. I like the variety and I feel like certain brands cater to certain styles of fishing. I like my G. Loomis rods for sensitivity and finesse, my iRods for power fishing and in heavy cover and my Powells for reaction techniques. I was just curious if anyone had taken the "full set" approach. With many of the technique specific series like the Skeet Reece rods, Shimano Crucials, and many G. Loomis series, it seems like the manufacturers hint at "sets" of rods, but I've never seen a "full set" offered. Just something I was curious about.

I haven't had any problems. I use line conditioner on it.