camovan

I have so much gear that I added flotation foam to my kayak and outriggers. I started trailering the kayak so it wouldn't take an hour loading it every trip. Last year I decided to take a fly rod and 3 flies to a stretch of the river that I always thought looked fishy but I never hooked anything on my battleship filled with baitcasting gear. In 3 hours I hooked 30 smallies. I did that over and over again all last year and pulled thousands of fish out with a single rod, a 4" fly box and some wading boots. I sharpened my hooks instead of replacing them. I carried my lunch on my back and made 10x more trips out because all I really needed was already tucked under the backseat of my truck. I "think" I have been cured, time will tell. I think reading threads like this instead of "has anyone tried the new xxx..." ones will help though.

I bought a bassyak for my ultimate. Complete waste of money, horrid instructions, missing parts, wrong parts, poorly designed parts, the list goes on and on. I ended up throwing most of the supplied items away and doing my own thing. I ended up pretty much only using the metal motor bracket and the wire along with my trolling motor. Live and learn I guess but buyer beware.

I fish from a yak and carry 5 bait casters and 2 spinning. I use the appropriate rig for the presentation, the vessel makes no difference. That said, casting while sitting that close to the water takes a little practice, it is not hard but the angles are different and it takes a little bit to get used to it, once you get it though it becomes second nature like anything else but again the type of reel makes no difference.

I use these in my kayak http://www.cabelas.com/product/Footwear/Mens-Footwear/Mens-Waders/Mens-Waist-High-Waders%7C/pc/104797980/c/104747580/sc/104674680/i/104107680/Cabelas-Premium-Dry-Plustrade-Breathable-Stockingfoot-Waders-Waist-High/749394.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fmens-waist-high-waders%2F_%2FN-1101199%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104107680%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253BMMcat104793480%253Bcat104674680&WTz_l=SBC%3BMMcat104793480%3Bcat104674680%3Bcat104107680 I have thicker neoprene ones with lug soles I use for actual wading though.

I have a Komodo that I really like, it is so far worth far more than I paid for it. I like it better than my Shimanos and Revos right now but I only used it for half a season.

I'm glad I read this thread all the way through. Giving him a job and letting him buy his own gear (if thats what he choses to do with the money) makes a better man than simply receiving gifts. If you throw in fishing related bonuses from time to time that is more of a "perk" than a gift.

Gold can be updated to + though. I just did this last week, same deal as I got a bundled gold card that was essentially free at the time.

Dude, seriously? A gallon in a year! You need to invest in a pump sprayer if you're using that much LOL.

Another for Abu CArdinal. I have one that sees light use every year and is about 8 years old. I have seen Mitchell 300's on clearance everywhere for close to $30 and that would certainly last a few years.

I love chrome history search here ya go guys http://www.gandermountain.com/assets/rebatepdfs/HB_RebateForm_Gander_798_2014.pdf

I remember seeing the rebate on Gander when I bought mine because I opened it and looked at the details but it is gone now. You can click the rebate center button at the bottom of the home page and search for humminbird and it does give the details and says must be purchased by 3-19 but doesn't have to actually be postmarked until 4-16. I emailed their customer service and asked them to email me the form or put the link back on the site and I will share it with anyone who needs it when I get an update.

Candy wrapper was all I had one afternoon. Reeses minnow in gold and brown flash did pretty good that day, caught a half dozen bluegill in a creek and used those to catch a dozen bass in a farm pond.

I have one Cavitron that is so loud and nasty I am pretty sure I can hear it now out in the garage. That one.

Tubes Hollow body frogs (although I still throw it a lot, just miss hook ups) Shakey head Trick worm I have enough confidence in similar or alternate presentations that I am never inspired to try and up my game on any of these. Except the frogs in the slop, there is no real substitute for that one so I just keep trying to get better.

I use them for split shot, I have other baits I prefer for drop shotting.

SML isn't shaped like a big circle, you're never more than 5 miles from one of the 5 ramps so it is doable in a jon, just not all in one day. I admit, I too am confused though by how the OP went from $1500 boat you could pull with a 4 wheeler to a $30k fiberglass..... I think I would be looking for 14' deep vee tiller to fish all the waters you seem interested in on your original budget unless the boat monkey got you and your really looking a big rig outside of that original description.

The death of Royalex is going to cripple an already weak canoe industry and most likely the trend of kayak popularity will continue to grow. For camping I prefer a canoe but fishing a kayak all the way.

hard case or soft?

I will add to that, you can certainly catch bass on a 5wt and it is not going to snap your rod but your going to miss a lot of fish which will be frustrating when your learning.

Not really. You typically use bigger flies with bigger hooks and you need heavier line so that translates to a heavier rod. 8wt is what I would be using as a bass setup in FL. That said, I would stick to a 5wt to learn on and not spend a fortune on it. Then if it is something you enjoy, you will probably want at least one more rod sooner than you think and you can pick up the 8wt then. The rod weight is no different than a regular bass rod, you want a heavier stick to drive the hook home on big flies just the same as you would with a big jig or other large single hook bait. Also you need to take the same consideration for cover that you will be fishing, in heavy cover you want a heavy stick to turn the fish and keep it from wrapping itself up.

Exactly, I traded vague promises and loose timelines for something that works today.

I saw the rumors when it happened, I was less than thrilled. I did switch brands but for the Navionics Sonar charts support rather than Lakemaster which does me no good in VA

Just upgraded to a 798ci hd si and will be hopefully installing it this week to take out on my first trip of the year Sunday. My almost new elite 5 is in the flea market..... I really like the 5" screen size so I stuck to that this time too. Whatever you get, I think GPS is just as important as anything else. I also upgraded so I could use the navionics sonar charts to record some of my favorite unmapped locations. That was originally why I bought the Lowrance but planned on using dr depth, well a few weeks after I bought the graph dr, depth decided to sell to another company and the software was discontinued.

True, I am jealous. Also of note, there is no Chilean Sea Bass sub-forum either even though they are called bass but not really bass like the striper.

Because there are a plenty of other striper forums already?