Fin Stalker

This^ plus big stick baits. In the last 3yrs with the exception of some fish I caught on toads last summer all of my best fish have come from fishing those four type of baits. Jigs/swim jigs, bladed jigs, swimbaits and big stick baits. My standing best fish was caught on an 8" BBZ Floater.

Frog Scent Bio-Edge.

I won't night fish without one. Someone posted the butane lasts about 10 -12 hrs and the pads about 4hrs. That's right on with my experience too. I've had mine for a couple of years now and love it.

Fish it. Use it as a testing ground for new techniques that you want to gain confidence in. If you happen to catch a PB there put an asterick next to it knowing you used peds to catch that fish. By all means fish it though.

$700-$1000 is the going rate for most new canoes so the price isn't out of line for a new canoe. Like Hanover_ Yakker said the only way to know whether you like one or not is to paddle one for yourself. That goes for any paddle craft.

Sweet!

Thanks Fellas!

When I got to launch at my honey hole Friday evening there were two trucks already there, one I recognized the other I had never seen before. I get launched and start working the slop and grass with a toad to see if I can drum up a topwater bite that way but that was a waste of time so I piddled around with a stick worm for a while until I caught up with my buddy and his friend. Still no bites. Mind you I wasn't on the water all that long, I really wanted to catch up with the guys to let them know I had them blocked in. Once that was taken care of I decided to get down to business and see if I could make anything happen, I tied on a chartreuse and white bladed jig and went to work. I had two good bites pretty close together then had one come unbuttoned boat side. 0 for 3 not the way to start the night. One of the guys needed to head out so we started to fish our way back to the launch and I stuck my first fish of the night. I tried to weigh her but she flopped off the scale. I saw it get to 5# but who knows if that was accurate at all. After letting the guys get out to head home I went back out for a couple more hrs and got on a pretty good bite I caught several fish around the 2# mark and they all looked like clones of each other. So much so that I deleted all but two of the pics of the small fish because I couldn't tell them apart. These two I could definitely tell were different fish. Where I'm fishing has a lot of vegetation so you have to rip the bait out of the salad quite a bit. I thought I was hung up in the grass then I felt the fish so I gave it a couple seconds and set the hook I could tell it was an OK fish but I was surprised how hard it pulled once I got it boat side. I still hadn't seen it then once I got her turned around and heading back up I saw her mouth first and I freaked! I thought I had just landed a new PB which needs to be 10+ to make that happen. She wasn't near as heavy as I thought she was going to be. Tipping the scale @ 7.91#. AHHHHH!!!!! just a couple more pounds come on! Don't get me wrong this is a good fish and had she not been spawned out she might have gone 10 who knows. After that I'm all kinds of pumped up wanting to stick another only bigger but it wasn't in the cards. I did manage to land the one below but it wasn't big enough to put on the scale good fish but not that good. On my way back in I landed my "kicker fish" lol. Overall it was a really good night. I slept well. Tight Lines H

Solid fish congrats.

I had a Fish Cat 4 and loved it. Only reason I got rid of it is because I moved to an area infested with alligators and sharks.

I use one of those flotation seat cushions that are about 4" thick. It is softer that the stock seat and it gets you bum off the deck which helps make things a bit more comfortable. I'm working on modifying a seat bottom now, when I get the idea complete I'll post up some pics.

30# Power Pro Super Slick, really anything heavier than that is not necessary.

I went out for a few hrs last night and picked up four or five and lost one because I didn't take the time to retie (lesson taught again . Learned? ) The upside to the night is I got a boat side hit that turned out to be the best fish of the night, as a matter of fact it's the nicest fish I've caught in a couple of months! YIPPEE!!!! Weighed in at 4.85#. Stuck her on a swim jig w/a paddle tail trailer.

Nice work man. I love to see guys save old stuff like that and make it serviceable again. Even if it did float to start out now it's your canoe.

Twist the straps and that should dampen the harmonics.

I have no experience with the FF brand but I have paddled a few Cuda 12's and can say that I really like them. They paddle well, have some decent storage options and are stable ENOUGH to stand in. They kind of remind me of my Trident stability wise, I can stand in my Trident easily enough but it is nothing like standing in my Big Game. The extra few inches of width of the BGII makes a huge difference in the stability of the boat (hull design also comes into play). With that being said. Do you want a kayak that is fairly sleek and fast for a 12 footer that is stable enough to stand in or do you want a kayak that is super stable but slower? The next trade off is the cockpit. Do you want the nice open cockpit of the Lure which is nice because it gives you more than enough room to move around and lay your stuff or do you want the large center hatch that will allow you to store your rods in the hull during transport? Based on my experience I like a kayak the is easier to paddle that I can cover more water in with a little less effort but that's just me....

Yes and yes. Any technique you can do from a boat you can adapt to a kayak. Standing in a kayak only takes a little getting used to. It's really not the big deal people make it out in their minds to be. Practice, practice, practice.

Have you thought about using a milk crate?

Thanks. Not far from Mobile, Al...

Went to bed last night and turned on my alarm clock (It's always set for 5:00 A.M.). As I was laying there waiting to fall to sleep I thought "this is stupid" I get up at 5:00 every morning and I've been working almost 60 hrs a week for the last two months. Fish or no fish I'm getting some sleep. So I turn my alarm off hoping to sleep in. I wake up at 5:15 and force myself back to sleep. Let me tell you that extra couple hours of sleep was magical. I took my time, drank a couple cups of coffee then slowly made my way to the lake. I got there somewhere around 8:30 or 9:00. I'm telling ya total mosey mode for this kid today. The water by the launch was nice and clear but once I made my way to the main body of the lake it turned to chocolate milk. I half-heartedly tried a swim jig then a few soft plastics with no luck then I decided to knuckle down and catch some fish. I tossed a Jitter Bug along a sunny bank in a couple coves that usually produce for me but no luck there. I got out of that area and switched up to a lipless crankbait and got a solid strike on that so I fished it alone a long flat that leads to a large "funnel" where I have picked up several nice fish over the last two years but no more luck on the lipless. I was starting to get disappointed/frustrated so one last effort before calling it and moving to a different body of water altogether. I tied on a bladed jig with a small wedge tail trailer and within a couple minutes BOOM! FISH ON! The best fish of the day and my first fish over 5# this year. According to my scale she was 5.36#. I was making my way back towards the launch and picked up these three. I didn't put them on the scale so I don't know how big they were but the first of the three I'm guessing was somewhere around 3-3.5#. This fish absolutely hammered the bait! Two cast after the 3#er! I beat around for about another hour and a half with no luck then picked up one last fish for the day. So that's it boys and girls a pretty good day in God's Country. Tight Lines H

Pretty cool catching the same fish twice. Nice work.

Sweet! What a great deal! Be careful out there and enjoy the ride.

Hey Rocket. The Trident is really growing on me. The more I'm on it the more I like it.It tracks well is relatively fast and I can stand and fish from it. Definitely digging it.

Just cold hmmm. I believe I would have a little more than just cold to say about -22*. @##$%^& Winter!