Fishingmickey

17' Alumacraft classic 165 w/70hp & troller. Should be fine unless it is storming. Hoping to get to post some pic's of some great biggun's, Brown and Green. FM

Sorry, Pass the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ cheese please. Cottage! She is always right, Randy. If she is like mine, she knows when you're underfished. FM

Ohhh Crickety, Your pictures have me sighing wistfully. I am so ready to get out of this nuclear meltdown of a heat wave we're having in Texas. I've got a week from Tuesday until I am on Cobboseecontee for three days of Maine fishing adventure! I hope the fishing is as good or better then China Lake has been for the last several years. Keep them pictures coming! Fishingmickey

Thoughts and Prayers headed your way JB! Fishingmickey

Judging by the taper in the tail... I gotta go with the Gee Crack Bellows Stick. FM

Good to see another Texan join, Lots of fishing in our fair state! Welcome aboard! Fishingmickey

Hello Dive, With a spinner bait. It is the action you impart to it that is most important IMHO. I have fished a spinner bait a lot! The best thing I can tell you is to make sure the spinner bait has quality components. KVD/Strike King, Booyah, War Eagle and others make really good spinner baits. I pretty much use just three colors, Chartruese, White or Chartruese and white. 3/8 or 1/2 oz in weight. I never use a trailer or trailer hook. I have a found that trying to run my spinner bait into everything out there is what gets strikes. Run it into wood, docks, bump it into stickups. Slow it down, speed it up, burn it just under the surface so it wakes the top. Make it burble (bubble gurgle) the top. Make it twerk like hula dancer on crack. I try to hit every ambush pocket I can, Holes in weeds, dark corners of docks, shadowy side of stumps. Bass love to ambush and a spinner bait with the blades whirling sending out those thumping vibrations, swimming by in front of it's hidey hole really does tick him or her off and they just have to kill it. Good luck in your spinner baiting adventures! Fishingmickey

Blue Sky and Jackson 360 are catamaran style (might be one and the same now) might work well for you. But it is also big and heavy. Your size at 6'5" and 330 narrows the field considerably. For your size you need a bigger platform. Slayer Titan 12, Hobie PA 14, Jackson Big Rig are some of what come to my mind for big guy kayaks. Those are all 12' long or longer and wider kayaks. They are heavy, 100lbs or more. They pretty much require a trailer or truck bed to travel with. One last thought is, seating is everything in a kayak and if you can't sit comfortably for hours. It gets pretty sucky fast. So you need a stable big kayak with a great seat IMHO. Dynamic makes a dolly that will allow you to easily wheel your boat/kayak down to the water. It also has a bolt on hitch attachment for hauling out or launching on seriously steep or long ramps. I'm not sure what is out there on the inflatable side. The pack raft may be good for river fishing or small waters. I know they are popular with fisherman in Alaska. But it would scare me on a larger body of water if the wind came up out of the wrong direction. When it gets right down to it. You should find a place that will let you "demo" the kayak your wanting to buy. FM

Yes, and for releasing a fish above the gunnel.

Are you a good swimmer Hawkeye? I have retrieved a rod of mine that fell out of the boat (I missed the rod holder) and it went for a swim. I bobbed to the bottom and felt around with my feet until I felt the rod and then hooked it with my toes and brought it up. It was November on Lake Fork and it was pretty chilly in my skivvies and tee shirt. But I wanted that Curado 300Ej and Crucial rod back. FM

With a good cleaning it will probably be fine. Get the mud, silt , sand out of it and relube. FM

Hello Mobasser, My take on the co-poly lines is it is a compromise between Fluorocarbon and Mono. I think that the Yozuri Hybrid, P-line CXX and McCoy Mean Green are pretty decent lines. I've tried them and they work. I don't use them now. My feeling are that if a line has a thicker diameter and it breaking point or test is much higher then it is rated. That doesn't make it a "good" line. It gets the reputation for being a strong line that doesn't break as easily. It is false advertising IMHO. Regarding their use on spinning tackle a stiff line doesn't work well on spinning tackle especially when you start getting into the high tests like 10# or above. The stiffer line likes to fly off the spool especially after re-spooling with fresh line and it doesn't have the spool memory. Then after it has been on the spool for awhile it coils badly and that's where the line conditioners come into play to keep the line supple. I have noticed when I tried using them I'd get line slap against the rod from the bigger loops coming off of the spool and hitting the rod between the reel and first guide. Fluorocarbon lines are stiffer and have a tendency to have more memory on the spool then monofilament does. In the cheaper fluorocarbon lines this is way more evident. So summarizing, be aware that if your wanting say 6# line on your spinning reel get 4# Yozuri or P-line CXX/CX. Berkley Big game and XT in the mono lines are the same in the diameter to test. Berkley XL does the same but it is a limper line and a touch thinner in diameter then the Berkley BG or XT. Hope that helps some. Fishingmickey

I know what FG stands for. I am staying with FG for braid to leader. FM

Thank you, Peace! order placed.

Just great high quality monofilament that performs very well. FM

Smirak, Are you having problems with the accuracy of your casts? Like missing to one side? If so, this is for me anyways that the rod is not loading up or being loaded up properly on the back portion of the cast. Not "loading" the rod properly equates to poor performance casting, accuracy, backlashing, etc. etc. Try tying on a 1/2 oz rattle trap or something that is in that 1/2 to 3/4 oz range. Do some experimental casting with your combo. Then go catch some of those Guntersville monsters! FM

Purty fish and pretty fishy water.... Soon Crickety, soon.

Back in the "day". When I first started serious bass fishing. We have a very clear water limestone reservoir we used to fish. "Smoke" colored grubs 3" on a 1/4 oz jig head were the ticket. Not quite clear but translucent. I've never see a true clear soft plastic bait. But if I did, I may try a pack. FM

65, kayak tournament fisherman. I fish usually 7-8 hours on a recreational trip and if it's a tournament it will be 9-10 hours on the water. I'm fishing out of a Hobie PA14 and use a troller to move from area to area. I'll peddle when I am fishing. FM

Black/Blue never, Green Pumpkin 10" Berkley power worm, bit down to a 8.5" always. Don't you even dare try talking me out of my "Blue fleck" worms though. That deep purple worm with blue flecks in it.... ahhhhh yaah! FM

I plead the 5th, 6th and 7th. Including saltwater over 60. The bait monkey has me on speed dial. FM

I do love admiring a fine specimen of the species and it doesn't even have to be a Bass. Seeing the coloration and unique markings, fins and health. It just is moving for me. I handle my fish carefully and release them gently. Some of the smaller fish have some of the best markings and patterns. I've kept aquariums on and off for years and the admiration and fascination with fish and fish watching has not grown less in the 60+ years I have been fishing. Fishingmickey

Hi Fisholder7, You should be fine especially with spinning gear. Load it up with 40# braid and it should cast a mile. I agree with Jackstraw, Doybns rods fish lighter then their rating. I don't have much experience with their spinning rods but both the Sierra and Kayden models that I fish are 1/2 to a full power lower then rated, IMHO. FM

Love the write up Daubs! Looks like a very fine trip with some serious gators caught! FM

Yes Huck, I carry thirteen vertical (milk crate with three triple rod holders and a Engle cooler with four rod holders. Two rods in the horizontal storage. FM