hoosierbass07

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/139689-average-length-of-casts-for-bass-the-reason-for-my-sore-shoulder/

Wasn't there an iCast in January in Las Vegas? I thought the fishing companies only held one expo/show a year. What is this ICast in Orlando about?

What is the typical length of your casts when you make a cast with your spinning reels and baitcast reels? And, how many feet or yards out is your lure when your lure is first bit/grabbed by a bass?

I have a question for everyone. What is the typical length of your casts when you make a cast with your spinning reels and baitcast reels? And, how many feet or yards out is your lure when your lure is first bit/grabbed by a bass? I've been having a problem this spring and I think I zeroed in on it. I bought a 78 pound kayak for kayak fishing. I've been fishing out of it this spring and summer. But I noticed my right shoulder is usually sore after I'm fishing. Sometimes really sore and I have to take a couple of aspirins. I have been blaming the 78 pound kayak when I lift it out of the truck bed and carry it five or ten feet to waters edge and back after I'm done. I'm right handed so my strong arm is my right arm. I usually lift the kayak with my right hand/arm doing the main lifting and my left had/arm doing the support. A couple of days ago I decided I would use my left hand/arm to do the main lifting and my right hand/arm doing the supporting, when I unload/load my kayak. Really, I've been trying to use both hands/arms evenly so the weight is distributed. After doing this twice I noticed my right arm/shoulder was still getting sore and my left shoulder was not getting sore at all. Also, I recently realized that my back has not been getting sore at all either. I've been taking video of my kayak fishing trips and noticed something last night when I was viewing a couple of my videos - I have been making extra long casts! Also, I've been trying to use heavier soft plastics and casting them further and further away. Looking back, I think nearly all the bass I have caught, either bank fishing or kayak fishing, have come close by. I don't think I have every caught a bass after I have thrown a lure way out there and reeled it in. Another thing I noticed is I'm in the habit of not letting my rod cast the lure out there. Instead I use the power in my right arm to make a lure go far and not the rod. I don't want to abuse my rods. The ones I use most are medium spinning rods. When I put on a heavy long worm I don't whip the rod back and forward, I pull the rod back slowly and then toss it forward. I think this is putting bad stress on my right arm/shoulder. I sort of feel bad about this. The last month or so I have been blaming my kayak and myself (being weak or something) for my sore arms. But all along I think it has been they way I cast. I spend around two hours each trip in my kayak and my back has not got sore once. My left shoulder barely gets sore either even after some good paddling. But my right shoulder - sore! I'm thinking I need to stop making useless casts and let my rod cast it out for me instead of me doing all the work.

I've seen the banjo lure for sale at gander mountain. I'll have to give it a second look next time I'm down there. Those TV miricle lures may be more gimmicky than anything, but they are fun to watch on TV.

Like others have said - I have a canoe and a kayak. I got the kayak over the winter and I've used it now 500% more than I have used my canoe. It is very fun being in control of your own kayak, paddling around exploring. My canoe is pretty, wood seats and wood trim, but kayaks are 1000% more fun, if you get a decent kayak with a decent seat or make your own decent seat.

I have a Ride 115. But it's darn heavy! I like it on the water but again, it's a pain in the *** to carry it even ten feet. lol. I'm still going to use it and not thinking of getting rid of it. Really though, if I need a cart or should buy a cart to tow behind a truck or car then I might as well get a john boat! And really, I am thinking about getting a john boat too in the future. Yeah, I've read about those Pungo's and was planning on getting one. I still might. But the $350 price for a Vapor 10 sounds good plus the weight of only 42 or so pounds sounds good too. And I think I would be more willing to modify a $350 kayak than a $900 kayak. We shall see though. I'm not buying anything until July and I hope to make a trip to NE Indy and visit a dealer who sales Jackson Kayaks.

Hate to say it but I'm on the trail of an old town vapor 10 angler. If I can get one for around $300 or so, that would be sweet. I think for the small ponds and larger ponds I fish on that would be perfect. Plus at 40 to 49 pounds it should be easy to throw in the back of a truck. The seat doesn't look that great but I can always upgrade it. And I would be more willing to drill holes in a $300 kayak than a $1,000. Plus I always wanted to own an old town canoe. So this would cover that too. Plus I could use the vapor for some early spring fishing.

Right now on my my list for a second kayak is a Pungo 120, Commander 120 and maybe an Ocean Kayak Trident 11 and maybe a Tarpon 100.

I have a Ride 115 and I'm still searching for a second kayak. I keep looking at the Wilderness Systems Pungo 120. I keep reading from searches I do that it paddles great and is stable and fast considering its size. I've never used a sit inside before. I've only used my Ride 115 and except for the weight I love fishing on it. But I want a second kayak and I want something that is lighter. That Pungo 120 looks like it would be a lot of fun for small ponds plus they say sit insides are good when you are fishing in the cold weather, early spring/late fall. I was wondering if any of you have fished from a sit inside kayak. Can you cast as well as you can on a sit on top? Can you work soft plastics, spinner baits, crankbaits, and jigs effective in a sit in side? The Pungo 120 in Dusk color looks pretty darn cool to me. The only thing that doesn't look good is that I'm not sure I could take three or four rods with me on a Pungo 120. Thanks!

What size line are you all using when you use large worms and 5/0 hooks?

I was using a 5/0 hook and eight pound mono line. I used a 5/0 with that swimbait because I thought it provided a decent gap for the bass to bite down on the lure. I almost exclusively use eight pound and six pound mono. I do have a spinning reel with ten pound mono and a baitcaster with twelve pound mono but why go up to ten and twelve when eight will do and six seems to work good too? I'm in Indiana, not Florida or California or Texas. And I don't fish around swampy areas where one might need to horse a bass out of thick cover. I think I would only move up to larger mono if it made the lure work better. If moving up to twelve or fifteen pound mono will make the lure to look better to the bass I would be willing to use that size mono. But so far eight pound mono seems pretty satisfactory for me. If I were going to fish at some lakes that do have larger bass I would definitely take my ten pound reel.

I like Bill Dance. I just started watching Jimmy Houston and enjoy his program because he acts like he just got out of a nut house and is loony. He's funny to watch. I guess the word I'm looking for is "entertaining." I used to like Shaw Grigsby. I love his enthusiasm but he's not very subtle when it comes to pushing products on his program. I hate to say it but after watching a few videos that Mike Iaconelli did for Bass Resource a few months ago, I've become a fan of his. I really enjoyed his videos where he's talking about fishing topics.

OK, I went out fishing this evening in my kayak. I had two rods - one with a Yum 10.5 inch worm with no weight on a 5/0 hook, and the other rod had on some zoom soft swimbait I bought over the winter. I used a 5/0 hook for the swimbait and small bullet sinker. I've never used swimbaits for bass before. I tried the 10.5 inch worm a little and I may have gotten one bite but not for sure. When I grabbed my swimbait rod I caught a small bass! I ended up catching three small bass and lots of bites on that swimbait. I was really shocked small bass went after it. Pretty darn cool. Now I'm a soft swimbait fan!

Here's a video I made a few days ago with two bass I caught. I would like to stop catching bass that size and catch larger ones. I will admit this - I only used a seven inch worm but I had another rod with me with an 11/0 hook and 10.5 inch Yum Mightee Worm but I did not use it since I started with the seven inch Berkley Powerbait worm and was getting lots of bites on that. I think Bill Murphy said in his book when he starts out with a worm and catches a bass, he then moves up to a larger worm. I guess my mistake was not moving to the ten inch worm I had ready to go.

Yep, I have that book. It's one of my favorites. I've been taking two rods with me on my kayak. Maybe I'll have one swimbait tied on and maybe a jig with trailer on another.

I'm in Indiana and I have been out on the water more in my kayak, fishing for bass in small to medium ponds. I catch lots of small bass but the large bass are few and far between. What I want to do is stop catching those small ones and only go after the large bass. But I'm not sure how to go about that. I usually use a Texas rig or split shot 5-7 inch worm. Are there any lures that small bass don't go after but large ones do? Would jigs fall into this category? I don't carry jigs and have not used any this year. Large spinnerbaits, crankbaits? Any recommendations on lures that lower the odds of small bass but increases the odds of larger bass being caught?

Since I stated kayak fishing this spring/summer I've been out in the sun more and even with a hat on I need sunblock. So I've been putting it on an putting on a lot at home before I go. I do wash my hands though after I put it on. So far I don't think it's had effect on my bass fishing. I know this though - If I go out in my kayak when the sun it out, I want sunblock on for sure.

OK, I just looked up Surf to Summit and looked at their site. Interesting! So someone could buy a cheap plastic kayak that comes with a cheap seat and then pitch the seat and buy a nice one.

A quick look on google and I do see some upgrade seats for sale. Interesting.

Are there any online stores that sale nice seats for OK kayaks?

lol. Thanks for the info but I did not want to know about kayaks for the ocean. I was wanting opinions on the kayak company called Ocean Kayak. http://www.oceankayak.com

I'm looking at an Ocean Kayak Trident 11. I've never heard of Ocean Kayak before until I read about them on another site. From the videos I see on youtube, they look like a decent company that makes good kayaks. Do any of you have an opinion on Ocean Kayaks? Are their kayaks in the same category as Wilderness Systems and Jackson as far as quality goes? Anybody know anything about Trident 11? It's not cheap - $1,000 at Austin Kayak. It looks nice and weighs only 54 pounds. But for $1,000 there are others out there like the Jackson Cruise series. Anyway, from the videos I've seen on YouTube the Tridents look nice.

Last year was my first year fishing and the worst things to happen to me - catching big fish but grabbing the line right near the hook. When the bass jumps the line breaks. I did that three times and I know one of those would have been my personal best last year. I've learned tho, I never grab the line near the hook anymore. I do grab it but an arms length up the line. Also, I blame P-Line Floroclear for being nothing but junk. Now I use regular mono and no knot breaks yet.

I've been reading reviews on my Ride 115 and I've read a good number of reviews saying this kayak is heavy at 78 pounds and one site said it feels more like 85 or 90 pounds. So no doubt this kayak is one of the heavier ones out there. So if would get , say a Jackson 12, that is listed as 63 pounds without seat, that kayak will be way more manageable for one person (me)? Would a cruise 12 be good for large lakes?