fishnkamp

My suggestion is going to require you drive a little but it will give you a chance to save a favorite rod if you take it. I would contact Tom's Custom Rods. Check here. http://www.tomscustomrods.com/rod-repairs/ Tom is a long time friend and an incredible magician with custom rod repairs. He is located near Bel Air MD. So it is a pretty good ride up 95 for you. He has repaired a bunch of rods for guys in NOVA as well as many of us here in MD. If you wanted to, you could make arrangements to drop it off then go fish on the Upper Bay for some smallies, largies and stripers. He is not too far from the Susquehanna Flats. Go to his website and view some of his rod repairs gallery pictures. I am posting one that he did for me here. Here is the story. I owned 4 rods from G Loomis. Two of these my wife fishes with the other two are mine. All of these rods were spinning rods, GL2, GL3, and IMX. One of my GL3 rods broke. I replaced it, paying the "no questions warranty" and paying the upgrade fee to replace it with an IMX. The new version of the GL3 had changed to an up locking reel seat. I fished the new rod for several outings before I got ticked because the plastic parts that lock a reel on the seat kept backing off. I knew if I kept tightening it up it would break. I love the rod blank, but not the reel seat. He stripped the entire cork handle and fore grip off and replaced the seat with one I chose. We chose a split set of Winn Grips. After fishing the rod that way I fell in love so much I had my other rod redone to match. The reel seat is a American Tackle Aero Comfort seat. With Tom you get to view plenty of examples of rods he has done in the past, both repairs and new custom rods. This can help you decide what parts to use that will feel awesome in your hand when it is done. Price wise you will not get the work done at a more affordable cost. He has saved many of my friends favorite rods. If that rod blank is one you would like to save, then I highly recommend getting in touch with him.

I own a Dobyns Sierra SA 705SF. My wife throws frogs on it. It acts just like it says it will. I would have no problem carolina rigging, frogging or throwing a big 3/4 ounce jig plus a typical trailer on it if I wanted to fish a deep ledge say on the Tennessee River impoundments. I own a couple of Dobyns casting rods and I believe the spinning rods run truer to the advertised lure rating. Are you planning on skipping a 7 inch Senco on a 1 ounce weighted setup? Wow! I have never seen that done before.

Actually the common denominator is the prop and the engines' drive shaft. Both need to be checked

That should be easy to have made locally.

https://s7d2.scene7.com/is/content/dkscdn/FrontEndDev/F&S/2016/Rebates/2017_PureFishing_PfluegerPresidentRebate.pdf

Let me ask what you consider " a cheap extra rod". Lets look at a few options based on price and all are going to be quality rods. Abu Garcia offers the Veritas 2 line. I would think a 7 foot medium heavy should work okay. They are on sale for $79.99. Next I would consider a a Dobyns Fury FR 734C for $110 The Dobyns is a very versatile rod for lots of things. It also fishes like other brand's $200 rods. Finally a rod I use for my larger spinnerbaits, buzzbaits and some larger cranks is a Falcon Bucoo micro series 7 foot medium heavy rod called the Trap Caster. It runs around $129.

I really like the 6930 for my 6' ml spinning rod. I just prefer the balance and extra line capacity the 35 holds when matching up with a 6'6 or 7' medium spinning rod. I do bass fish areas where stripers and big cats roam also. I have had more than half of my line taken out by several stripers and blue cats in the last 5 years. We also have big snakeheads here, but I have never caught one. That is the fun when fishing on the tidal rivers feeding the Chesapeake Bay. The 35 also does have 1 pound more drag, but that really not that big of a deal. The size is definitely personal reference. On my two 6'6 medium spinning rods with 35's on them they balance right at the front edge of the threads of the reel seat. Either way you will not be wrong. I was trying to keep his cost down, but the President XT and Supreme reels are really nice. My wife has a Supreme 35 on the her frog rod. That reel is super smooth and has the same line retrieve per turn of the handle as my 8-1 Tatula. baitcaster.

You will find a medium power moderate action rod will help land those fish with treble hook baits. Here is where your budget comes in. A Berkley Lightning shock rod can be purchased for $49 or less. Check Wal Mart. They often have this 6'6 medium moderate rod on an unmarked clearance for as low as $15. Just find one at your local Wally world and have them do a price check on it at the register. My wife uses the spinning rod version and I use two of the baitcasting versions. This is her primary crankbait rod. Mine only get used when fall striper season comes around and I need 4 different rattle trap baits on deck at once. If you choose the spinning version Dicks has the Pflueger President reels on sale for $49.99 and they manufacturer is offering a $10 rebate right now. That rod matches really nicely with a model 6935. If your budget can afford to go higher take a look at a Dobyns Fury FR 705CB for $110, or an Irod Genesis II IRG 703CC. That runs $159. Another great option would be a Falcon Bucoo Trap Caster. Those last two are my primary cranking rods for shallow to mid depth cranks, squarebills, and traps. Mine are matched up with Daiwa Tatulas and Tatula CTs. By the way these rods fish spinnerbaits nicely also. Anyway the "moderate action" means the rod is a little slower tipped and bends further down the rod blank. This really helps absorb the shock of a fish running and helps keep the trebles from dislodging. Changing out the hooks help some but the proper action rod does help a lot.

Okay then starting from scratch I want to see you avoid "beginner gear" Start with a Pflueger President spinning reel. My wife and I have been using them for decades and they are reel workhorses. We have several that are less than 2 years old and some that are over a decade old. I would suggest a model 6935. For the rod either consider the Abu Garcia Veritas 7 foot medium action rod for $80. For a little more money and quality look at a Powell Inferno 6103 medium extra fast action for $99. Right now Dicks has the President reels on sale for $49.99. The factory is offering a $10 rebate off that reel so you could get a $60 reel for $40. Then just ad the right rod to go with it.

Depending on your budget the Dobyns rod series that Angry John mentioned are really nice, but it costs $360. I believe the rod he meant to reference was actually a DX795 Flip. Anyway, I am not sure that you want to spend that much money to test out a new technique, and you do not have to. Gary Dobyns tries to duplicate some of the same rods in each of his rod series. As you step up in his lines the rods get built using higher quality components and blanks. All of his rods feel great to fish with, balance well and I am sure you will like them. Dobyns offers a similar rod to the DX795Flip called the Fury FR765 Flip which I have cast and it offers nice balance and feel, as well as flips and pitches well. My friend Kris has been fishing for yeas and since he became familiar with Dobyns rods he has upgraded to 4 of these Fury rods. One is a 765 Flip. The Fury series fishes much more like other brands costing much more. A Fury rod runs $110. If you match that up with a quality reel like a Daiwa Tatula CT in 7.3 or 8-1 hen you will have a fantastic combo for roughly $240. My frog rod is a Dobyns Champion rod and both my frog rod and flipping/ pitching rod have Tatula reels on them. I really like the way the Tatula, Tatula Type R and Tatula CT reels fish. One other note, the Fury FR 765 Flip is not a one trick pony rod. What I mean is if you do not fall in love with pitching and flipping Gary suggests that the rod was designed not only for flipping and pitching but is also good for throwing Carolina Rigs, Swimbaits, Umbrella Rigs, and Wakebaits. I would personally have no trouble using that rod to a big heavy jig on a deep ledge like they do on Tennessee River ledges.

Lets start from the begging with a few questions. Do you own a medium action spinning rod and reel combo? That is always the best setup to begin with. That combo can cost $50 for a very reliable reel like a Pflueger President and as little as $50 or less for a 6'6" Berkley Lightning Shock rod. It could be a little more expensive if you choose an Abu Garcia Veritas for around $80. I would look at the 7 foot medium Veritas spinning rod. If you have a good medium spinning rod then I would look at a reel like the Abu Garcia Black Max and either a Veritas 7 foot MH baitcasting rod or perhaps go to Dicks Sporting Goods. They sell a rod made by Quantum called an Escalade. It regularly sells for $100 but is on sale for $50.

First welcome to Bass Resource and that is a nice boat. I would do a quick you tube search and watch some videos.

Check out craigslist Minnesota. I spent 10 minutes and saw plenty of used canoes, kayaks and jon boats available. You need to decide what type of water you want to fish and what type boat best fits your needs best.

The cheap line is okay for most people. I fish in places where big blue cats and stripers can roam and eat the lure intended for bass, so I take no chances. I use quality mono as backing all the time. I rig all 3 of my spinning reels and all 6 of Linda's the same way, so I never worry what is on a particular rod/reel combo. The only difference is on her frog rod and jig rod we have 30 pound Power Pro. That is expected since those are heavy vegetation weapons. Funny story, April 2016 we arrived at Dale Hollow on vacation. Because of the warm- then cold- then warm spring the smallmouth and largemouth bass were on the beds at the same time. We arrived two days after the big females left the beds and were in a terrible "leave me alone mood" They were not willing to much of anything. We resorted to pulling out our 6 foot medium light G Loomis rods. The only bait they ate all week was a small worm called a Z Man TRD on a 1/10 ounce jig. We slayed them on those baits and most were 5 to 7 pounds. On the last day my wife thought she hooked the next world record as this fish ran her from the front deck to the rear deck and back again several times. It turned out to be almost 8 pounds of catfish! LOL. That fished pulled all of the braid out and she had some mono out the rod as well. Normally you do not go chase big catfish with a 6 foot medium light spinning rod designed to fish lures that weigh between 1/16 and 5/16. I was on my butt behind the steering wheel laughing my tail off. I told her not even Iaconnely could do it any better! She was upset it was a catfish, but I told her how proud of her I was! Most of my male friends would have broken the 8 pound leader or broke the rod during the fight. She fought it at every run and kept it under control till I netted that big girl So that is the reason I use only quality line and am real careful when I tie my uni to uni knots. Keep in mind she fishes with 6 spinning rods and I fish with at least 3 of 4 spinning rods usually. Then there are 12 baitcasters rigged in the boat as well. Here is why saving some money on each reel fill up is important. Another great thing about braid is I fish it for 3 or 4 years before it must be replaced. As for the 30 pound test Trilene I would not wish to use it. That line is very thick and I doubt it would lay as smooth and level as say 12 or 14 pound test.

That combo will fish nicely. Now I will complicate your choices a little more and talk about lines. Boy if your last rig was from hat long ago there are enough new line manufacturers and types of line to confuse anyone. Of course you probably used either a line by Berkley, like Trilene or Stren back then. Well you have a hundred times as many choices. My wife and I have tried many modern monofilaments, copolymer lines, braids and Fluorocarbon lines. Each of these have some good qualities as well as some issues. The issues for a line fished on a spinning reel is most often related to line memory, causing unwanted coils coming off the spool. There can be problems of abrasion resistance vs easier casting. After many years of experimentation we have decided upon one answer for us. I start with an empty spool on my reel. I purchase a 330 yard spool of Stren Original Clear Blue mono and fill my reel up half way with it. This costs $8 which means it cost less than 3 cents a yard to fill any reel. This fills many reels used this way. The benefit here is two fold. I get to reduce the amount of more expensive braid or fluorocarbon line used to fill my reel thus saving money. Mono also tie tighter to a reels arbor than a braid, so slipping on the arbor is less likely. That line also makes a nice smooth bed for the braid to layout smooth on. I usually use either 12 or 14 pound test mono. Next I purchase a spool of Berkley FireLine in 14 pound test. This braid is not cheap, in fact none of the good braids are. Since we only need about 75 yards or more to fill my spool then the cost of filling one reel is very manageable. Fourteen pound test FireLine is almost exactly the same diameter as 6 pound mono but fishes so nice. It casts like a dream, is pretty darn abrasion resistant. If you fish really deep gin clear wate,r like I do when vacationing on Dale Hollow Lake in Tennessee/ Kentucky then just add a 5 foot leader made of 8 pound mono or copolymer line. I really like the FireLine when used on spinning gear (ignore that the line feels coarse when you first touch it in the box, it softens or smooths out as soon as it gets wet once. I prefer Power Pro and Suffix 832 braid on my baitcasters personally. Good luck and enjoy.

Well in their day the Mitchell line of reels were top of the line. That was a longtime ago. You have a very nice budget to work with. If you want to get a good all around spinning rod and reel combo look at the following options. First look for a smooth reliable reel like a Pflueger Supreme 30 or 35 sized reel. This will run $100. For a little less expensive option look at the Pflueger President XT and President reels, again in the 30 and 35 sizes. My wife does not like baitcasters either, so we worked hard to find her just the right setups. She fishes 6 different rods, all designed to do their jobs to perfection. After years of fishing a few lesser reliable reels, most of her gear has been replaced with 4 Presidents and 1 Supreme. Her other reel is a Shimano but I would choose a Supreme over the Shimano. Now for a high quality rod. Take a look at a Dobyns Fury FR 703SF or a Dobyns Sierra SA 703SF. The 704 models are really nice if you intend to fish a little heavier baits. These rods sell for $110 for the Fury rod and $170 for the Sierra rod. Another option would be a Powell Max 713MEF or an Inferno model 6103 MEF rod.

I am a huge Dobyns fan, so I would spend my money on either a Champion XP or Extreme. I fish several Sierras and Champion XPs and love them. My frog rod is a Champ XP DC 705C, For jigs my choice would be a DC704C. I am sure the Extremes are even nicer, I just have not fished with one yet.

They have always made a nice boat. I am not sure when Skeeter eliminated all wood in their transoms so I would simply ask them. Wood was used in lots of boats and can cause issues. I would expect they did like most brands and stopped using it somewhere in the 80's. Beyond that the boat looks well cared for. That looks like a Johnson on it. That is unusual, as most have a Yamaha on them Those old Johnson engines just ran and ran if they were given just a touch of TLC. A friend of mine wrote an incredible article about buying a used bass boat. Now, when you read it ignore the fact that he has Ranger blood pumping through his veins! LOL. His info on how to evaluate a boat is just as important no matter what brand you are looking at. http://www.baybass.com/node/200

Just for fun I did a little detective work. You have a pretty good tackle shop not too far away from you. It is called Natures Tackle Box and is located at 4215 Jimmy Lee Smith Pkwy in Hiram GA. He stocks some Dobyns rods. If you have some time and are interested I spoke with someone there and they had some Dobyns Fury rods in stock, including a pair of FR 703SF spinning rods, just to see how the new stuff is evolved.

Well I know KastKing is a sponsor here. I do not want to say anything really negative about a sponsor, but I believe you would be better served with a reel from another manufacturer. Daiwa, Shimano, Lews and Okuma make some great reels. These have been on the market for a long time, and have reputations of long term quality service. My preference is a Daiwa Tatula CT, however not necessarily for her situation. Seven of my 12 baitcasters are Daiwa Tatulas and Tatula CTs. I love them, however I also like your choice of a Helios and a TCS if you are thinking about the 6'9" model. Another nice option could be an Irod Genesis II model IRG693C, a "Harold's Lone Star Special".

Here are the rods I would consider and I love mine. Look at the Irod Genesis II series. I fish a IRG703CC when throwing square bills, shallow and mid depth cranks, traps etc. They also have several others to consider. Fred Roumbanis helped developed two cranking rods. One is known as the IRG7113CC, "Fred's Crank Launcher, which was specifically designed to fish deep cranks. He also designed the IRG763CC-MH, Fred's Crank Launcher JR., which was designed for mid sized cranks and other reaction baits. I would check into all three. Dobyns makes some really nice rods as well. I fish several including my frog rod, a Champion XP series rod called the DC705C. If I wanted a great crank rod from Dobyns I would consider one of the Champion XP series rod called a DC 735CB Glass, a DC 736CB Glass, or a DC 765CB (graphite blank). Both of the first two are also available as a brand new rod that was mismarked (double marked) at a good discount. I also fish a Falcon Bucoo Trap Caster. It is a 7 foot MH that suggests lures as cranks, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, and I also like it for traps as well.

Nice work! Looks like a well thought out floor plan.

Welcome aboard the forums. There are lots of members that like to help other anglers on here. Where are you located. There may be some yak fishing clubs in your area. Here in Md we have a few guys that run a kayak fishing tournament club and I know a few other guys that enjoy meeting up and floating sections of rivers together. It is a good place to learn from some fellow anglers. I would check in the "fishing locations" forums section for your area. Make a post and ask if there are some other kayak anglers in your area. One thing I find interesting is every yak angler I have met really personalize their craft to fit their fishing styles.

Do not be scared off Powell. My 683CEF is my main jig/texas rig rod. I love it. It gets a ton of use per year. The Diesel rod was a good rod series but it was sold with "no warranty" only because the retail price was what the "no questions warranty price" would have been. I have heard of a few of their other rods breaking, but the factory does have a warranty on the Max 3D and Inferno lines. If it worries you I would look at a Dobyns Fury series rod instead. I have no worries and trust all 3 brands. I have had personal conversations with the owners at all 3 companies and they have gone out of their way to help me when I was interested in their products.

Sorry to hear that. Powell is one of my favorite brands of rods. My favorite rod is a Powell Max 683CEF. I would be ordering a new one immediately if that one broke. It is so versatile. If you are looking at a replacement your budget will of course influence your decision. I would consider the same model rod in either the Max 3D or Inferno series, as well as a similar rod in a Dobyns. Gary Dobyns helped develop many of the Powell rods as they worked together on many of them before Dobyns brought out his lineup. Maybe that is why i like both companies rods so much. Another good option would be an Irod Genesis II.