DocBar

Do kayaks offer some potential fishing benefit that I'm not aware of? Why would you choose to go from yaks to kayaks just over a fishing forum? I think you're trying to mislead me and keep me from catching fish!!!! ?D

We're definitely riding the yak, but line type might become an issue. I'm just trying to cover my bases. Do they sell yaks with polarized vision that can help me locate bass that normal people that fish on weekends with Walmart bait (or a bazillion dollars worth of bassproshop of bait) can't find? Do yaks buck much? Do you or can you wear spurs with them?

Do you use a floating, suspending or sinking saddle? Does that choice depend on age, hair mass or choice of line? Do the horns supply adequate steering or should I choose a particular thrust model yak? What's the sink rate between yak and braid? Can you braid yak? If you can braid yak, what's the preferred knot?

A doe is a 7 point to me. 2 ears, 4 teats and a tail. I've always been about the meat. I've killed lots of 10-12 point deer that are B&C qualified, but I've never been able to cook a horn down to where it's edible. I let a definite record breaker 16 pt atypical walk away just because I wanted him to keep on breeding good deer. Good stewardship of the land should be paramount If I'm ever blessed enough to catch a 26 lb LMB, I'll take some photos and measurements, turn that big old hawg loose and let what happens happen. She needs to keep putting that DNA back into the gene pool and I won;t be the one to pee in it. It probably helps that I don't particularly care for the taste of bass. I'd much rather have a speck or a red w/ scales down on the grill. I'm also probably one of the fer southerners that doesn't care for fried fish.

Really? Eye insurance? Wear some Z 87's and be done with it if you're terrified of a jig putting your eye out. Or maybe use some common sense and say "hey that could put my eye out" and not do that. Kinda like using a knife. Don't pull towards yourself. Much cheaper than a special set of "fishing glasses". Going cheaper also allows you to buy more lures. You might get lucky and buy that special lure that beats all the others. Again, wear some Z87 rated glasses if this is a worry. I can't even begin to count the people I've outfished wearing no glasses in regard to those wearing "polarized". Those same people are mad cuz I did it in my 17 foot basstracker with a 40 hp motor and Hummingbird monochrome fishfinder. They also went out and spent $700 on a new driver and putter to out drive and out putt me on the golf course. If you can fish, you'll catch fish. If you can golf, you'll make par or better Or at least shoot in the 80's. Sound fishing techniques seperate the catchers from the fishers more than extranious equipment like glasses, especially in amateurs. Leave the minutae to the pros and fixate more on the technique. There hasn't been the 1st bass that said "hell, he's wearing XXX brand of glasses, might as well quit resisting that bottle cap he's throwing at me". What ever happened to just having fun while fishing?

I started fishing because I grew up with uncles and cousins that fished. I fell in love with it at an early age. The same uncles and cousins hunted and I fell in love with hunting, too. I did both avidly as a child but stuck with fishing because I travel for a living and it's much easier and cheaper to get a fishing license and fish than a hunting license and hunt. Plus, I C&R 99% of the time, so take isn't an issue. It's damned hard to C&R something after you shoot it. Maybe I'm weird, but I fish for both the relaxation of the sport and the rush I get from catching a fish. When I fish, I'm able to block out everything else and concentrate on fishing. I don't get bent out of shape if I'm not catching because the mere act of casting a bait with the hope and expectation of a bite thrills me. I try my best to catch fish, but I don't obsess over every little detail like what line I'm using or putting different hooks on a bait for a different presentation or anything else, really. If fish aren't biting, there's no telling what I might throw, regardless of weather, water clarity, time of year or anything else. Fishing connects me to my family and nature. I can't count the spectacular moments I've spent on the water (or on shore) with family and friends, just enjoying the comraderie and nature. Very little in life beats seeing a hawg hit a topwater lure or feeling the lightest tug on a bait. The time spent with loved ones while looking for those bites definitely does. I fish to nurture my connections to nature and family. And I love to outfish anybody I've ever met.

I usually only take 2 rods with me when bank fishing: a medium heavy extra fast and a medium fast. I usually use 10 or 12 lb test mono and I'll fish every single lure I own with either set up. I grew up fishing BC's and definitely prefer them but I've been using a spinning rod the last 6 months or so and I'm getting the hang of it. Distance seems much easier with any weight on a spinner but my accuracy has suffered. Good casting with lighter lures makes up for that and I've caught some fish that I wouldn't have with a BC, IMO. My advise would be to buy the best BC set up you can afford and see how you like it. Before you ever try and cast it, watch some videos on how to set up your BC and keep rats nests out of it. Then be patient and really learn how to tune the reel to the bait you're fishing. The magnetic brake systems on different BC's take a little getting used to as well as the spool tensioner(that's what I call it, anyways). Since I've started using a spinning set up, I'll probably take 2 or 3 rods with me. One will definitely be a spinner. The versatility of having both is awesome. I've got a little grasshopper crankbait that just kills fish in certain situations and I get much better distance with a spinner than BC. That distance is the difference between getting the lure in the strike zone, ready to fish, and getting it in the strike zone and peeling off line to clear a rats nest.

LMAO!!! You're really trying to sell me on this. I'll consider rigging ONE reel with it and see how it does. I'll be sending you a bill when I lose my 1st lure and/or fish due to the knot coming undone.

I just think it's awesome that you own a yak that swims and lets you fish off its back. I didn't even know they could swim all that well. They certainly don't "look" the part. Are there any grooming tips you can share in case I decide that yak fishing is the way to go for me?

If your day of fishing comes down to what glasses you wearing and you're not a professional, you might have other problems. I caught a thousand bass before I even knew what polarized glasses were. I've noticed better clarity with polarized, but not anymore depth. The only amateurs I've ever met that blame a bad day of fishing on their choice of glasses were also the guys that blamed their bad golf game on their drivers and putters. They promptly spent hundreds of $$$ on new drivers and putters just to get the same results. Golf and fishing have some things in common. Pro's and amateurs don't need to use the same equipment and trying to do so can ruin an amateur's ability to enjoy the sport. Just my newbie 2 cents worth.....

FWIW, I only use a clinch knot or palomar and haven't had a problem with either. That includes saltwater fishing and catching fish over 50 lbs. Never had a knot fail. One of the pleasures of mono? LOL

Is this with the benefit of fishing the area from a boat or due to your experience in telling what's what's by experience and/or feel? I ask because I just can't tell much what depth something is and what it's made of unless I get some of it on my hook. I do not pretend to be good at fishing though, either.

I'm not afraid of anything with braid, just not sure I want the hassle of figuring out what rod has what line for what bait. I'm not even a cousin to a tournament fishermen, so that level of sophistication hasn't even registered with me. I may have missed a million fish on mono, but only a couple have ever broken my line. I just don't know that it;s worth it to get all that involved in line selection when it distracts from my enjoyment. I fish for a lot more than just bass. If I'm going inshore saltwater fishing, I'd rather fight a fish on mono. It's what I know and I'm comfortable with, I usually up size to 17-20lb. test for saltwater. Backlashes don;t bother me in the least. I graduated from a Zebco 303/404 to an Ambassaduer 6500 over night and really learned how to get a rat's nest undone/cast a baitcaster. Since then, I've gone to mostly low profile BC set ups. I tend to run a BC on the ragged edge of a backlash. By my reckoning, I've probably caught 30% of all of my fish because I was forced to spool off a backlash before reeling in. It sometimes forces me to be patient. I also like the extra casting distance.

Wouldn't a better title be "Behavioral Differences in Species Between Regions"? I grew up fishing in SE Texas, where there weren't a lot of SM, but any bass would nail a crawfish anything. I'm now in El Centro, Ca. and these bass don;t know what a crawfish is. 6 months fishing, not a single bite on a craw anything. Lot's of fish on a Rapala CD 7 or 9 in brown trout (they stock brown trout in this pond every spring) that a fish from SE Texas would look at funny. There just aren't any brown trout there. It looks funny/odd to them. Paying attention to local forage is much more productive than behavior of a certain species of bass. They will all eat basically the same thing. I've never seen one spit out a shad to go eat a crawfish or vice versa. I have seen them ignore something that doesn't appear to be their natural prey for the location.

I think I'm going to buy a Sea Eagle inflatable. I can add a small gas/trolling motor and a fish finder. The best part is I can haul it in my 5th wheel ( my home) and not drag it behind me. If I work in a part of the country with good fishing lakes, I'll use a resource like.....bassresource.com to find fellow fishermen to fish with. I love catching fish, but I'd fish a ditch if it menat getting a hook wet. Besides, I caught a 34 lb. alligator snapper in a ditch, so it can be productive. Especially around Sheldon Resivioir outside of Houston, Tx. Might even get a small gator.

I've never fished with braided line in my life. I've always used mono. I got turned off by all the knot issues I've heard about and I've caught a butt ton of fish on mono. That said, I'm not a finesse guy. As I stated earlier, sheeps head can kick my butt. I fish for fun and have a hard enough time remembering what power and action rod to use for what bait/technique/line/wind/depth/water clarity/moon phase/astrological sign/menstrual cycle of the bass. I'm sorry for sounding like a smart mouth. The amount of stuff to consider gets overwhelming at times. I try to use the K.I.S.S. method. I'd lose an eye in a boat trying to figure out what rod is on what reel with what line for what presentation of what particular bait. I watched those. That's why I chose the bait I chose. I did actually get to see some threadfin shad bait balls yesterday while fishing and they wereLess than an inch long. I'll be using that bit of info in the future. Other than bluegill/red ear and insects, I haven't seen a single other source of forage. I've stayed out at different points during the night to see what might change, but I'm in the middle of a desert with a lot of irrigation. I don't expect to see too much forage.

I've been boatless the last few years, but there's not a lot of difference between bank fishing and boat fishing except, casting angles, access to structure that's beyond casting distance from shore and electronics. I really miss knowing what the bottom looks like. I'm not an accomplished enough fisherman to really tell the depth or bottom composition that a lot of guys on here talk about. I grew up fishing both around 50-50, so I'm comfortable with either one. I'll use a Texas or Carolina rig, spinnerbait or crankbait ( I prefer a rattletrap chrome and blue...go figure) to search for fish, then when I find something they like, I'll try other baits/techniques to see what the big girls like. The hardest part about bank fishing is not knowing what the underwater structures look like and where they are. Other than that, I use the same visual cues that guys in boats use. I started rambling...sorry. I guess my main point is you should worry more about technique and choosing the right bait than whether or not you're in a boat or onshore. 2 of my top 5 personal bests have been caught bank fishing in ponds. One on private land that weighed in at 8.23 and one on a golf course (it's called Redstone now and they play the Shell Houston Open there) that weighed 7.66. Oddly enough, both were caught with a Zebco 303 and black/yellow worms and both were Texas rigged, weightless and caught before 1980. I continued rambleng. Still sorry.

Well, I tried the drop shot for the 1st time today. Used 2" Berkley pinched worms cuz that's the best I saw at Wal E World ( I ordered some better ones online). I missed one fish and didn't get another bite on it that I could tell. For the 1st time in my life, I might consider braided line. It reminds me a lot of fishing for sheeps head. Those suckers will suspend and eat your bait right off the hook. The technique I used was to let it fall to the bottom, sit for 20-30 seconds, wiggle the rod tip, pause 4-5 seconds, lift the rod tip or reel in a bit to drag the weight across the bottom. Does that sound like a good tempo? The wind really picked up out of the west, which is the end of the pond I was trying to fish, so I went down both sides of the east end of the lake and caught a couple of little scrubs on a 1/8 oz white SB with a single colorado blade. I'm thinking the fishing will pick up as the weather continues to cool off. It's only been out of the 100's for a couple of weeks here and still in the high 80's to low 90's with lots and lots of sunshine. There's also a small lake across the interstate that is stocked. Come January, I'll get a fishing license and start hitting it regularly. $123 is a little too steep for a couple of months of fishing. I'm seriously considering a Sea Eagle inflatable and adding a fish finder to it. All in all, I think this will be a good winter. If the fish ain't biting, there's a 9 hole golf course here at the park, too. Unfortunately my golf game resembles my bass game and I've spent way too much money to be able to blame the equipment.

I use soft plastic jerk baits quite often. I'm not that great with them bass fishing, but that's my go to bait for reds and specks when I can't find live shrimp. I've been trying the soft plastic swim baits also, but I'm still figuring out different methods with them.

All the normal places. I've had a lot of good luck on the upper end of the lack, around bridges with rip rap and docks and marina's for LM. If you go down close to the d**n, there's a place called Pine Island that has some underwater humps that will hold stripers and white bass.The catfishing is usually very good. I had three uncles that lived on the lake and loved to fish. That's why I fished it so much.

Those are the colors I've been using, along with motor oil. I used the shaky head today with no luck. I love those, too. I throw those or a rattle trap to locate. Once I find them, I'll swap to soft plastic or a jerk bait. I'm gonna try drop shot tomorrow. I've actually never used that technique, so I'm going to buy what I need and learn to use it. I've been doing some reading on it. Any advice on hooks or baits?

I can't blame you for that. I fished Rayburn a lot in my pre-teen and teenage years. Almost as much as Livingston. Great bass lake. I'll be coming there for Thanksgiving and I'm going to try and talk my uncle into a trip to either Rayburn or Livingston. He's old and doesn;t get out much, but maybe it'll happen.

Welcome to the forum! I'm new here, too. My mom and dad live in Lufkin. Have you ever fished the small lake at Ratcliffe? It has some very nice bass in it.

I will rip a cacoho minnow or fluke pretty high, with good success. It's a technique that is deadly with redfish. I usually pop it once, let it settle, then hit it twice quickly. I'll let it settle for 30 seconds or so then do it again. Fishing from the shore, I've caught quite a few bass, reds and specks right at the shoreline, as they were following it in.

I've done a quite a bit of fishing T-rigged and with a Rapala CD-9. Seems to be maybe 10' deep, but that's just a guess. I've caught two fish close to the bridge, one being a 3.5 lb'er the other a bit over 1lb. Water is pumped in through a fountain at one end of the pond, it's shallow there with some rip rap (not a single bite there) and drains out through two small weirs at the other end. No bites there, either. I'll try the C-rig this afternoon/evening and see what happens. I haven't had a bit of luck with soft plastics so far but maybe I've been fishing them too fast. I haven't tried any finesse methods yet. One thing that really strikes me as different here is the complete lack of anything but bluegills and insects for forage. I haven't seen a frog, turtle, snake, crawfish or anything else. It also doesn't help that I'm in the sunniest place in the whole country. Cloud cover is rare and the water is fairly clear. Pretty challenging conditions but since I'm only 2 minutes from the pond, at least I can get a hook wet and work on some techniques. Thanks for the input.