HeavyTwenty

Been trying to learn Lake Lanier. There's been a lot of top water action but whopper plopper, swim baits, flukes weren't working. I located a large school of bait suspended 15-25 ft in 30-35 ft of water being chased by a few bass (counted maybe 5 on sonar). Couldn't get them to bite the drop shot but a 1/2 oz spoon worked (first time using spoons). Caught 4 total; the big spot weighed 5lb8oz. Also went to the Chattahoochee River. The current is deceptive. Going 2.5 miles up river and then 2.5 back felt like 15 miles on a lake. Only caught dink trout. Apparently they stopped stocking 2 months ago but the brown trout naturally reproduce there. Almost flipped the kayak on a hidden rock. No photos of trout because taking a quick photo with current is tough and I heard you need to be very quick if you want the trout to survive.

Weightless or slow falling (1/16 oz bullet weight or maybe a split shot) presentation seems more important than the color or type of worm. Weedless dropshot also seemed to work well.

Just moved to Georgia from Florida. Caught 21 bass (including a few hybrids) yesterday on my kayak. Feels kind of strange looking at a fish finder and jigging a drop shot in 33 ft of water. Caught about 15 after that on top water... missed a lot too. Most within a 2 hour feeding frenzy during the afternoon. I might try a trout trip next.

I only retie fluoro knots if they get snagged on something and I have to jerk them out with a lot of force. Braid knots seem invincible.

https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/h2o-xpress™-ultimate-jerk-shad-12-oz-floating-jerk-bait?storeId=10151&catalogId=10051#repChildCatSku=024385049 Another good alternative. Sometimes they're on sale for $4. If I remember correctly, they seem to very slowly float in 60F water with 12# fluoro. I think it started very slowly sinking when I used it on 17# fluoro setup. Hooks were medium quality. I had one last like 2 years, then another bend out on the first day.

Pitching from a seated position is never as good compared to standing. Its more of a hybrid pitch-cast, so its less controlled, less accurate, and makes a bigger splash. My old Tarpon 120's seat was literally level with water, made it a pain.

Flu almost always seem to go high, low, then back to high.

Traditional drop shot hooks are thin wired, similar to treble hooks. That allows them to penetrate the bass with low force but bends them if you apply too much force.

H2O CRS Crankbait chartreuse 8.15 Zoom horny toad black 7.13 Megastrike Cavitron Buzzbait 1/2 oz Black/red 7.0 Booyah poppin pad crasher black 6.15 Zoom trick worm junebug dropshot 6.13

I had a bunch of vanish knot failures, so I switched from palomar knot to san diego jam and it seems fine now. I'll probably try something else next time though.

Visited a friend in Baltimore and we went fishing at Loch Raven on a rental boat. It was kind of rough without a depth finder. Had a bite or two shallow, but everything else was 20-30 ft water. No luck with black/blue jig or watermelon/red worms. They seem to only hit shad color baits (drop shot fluke + vertically jigged swim jig). I didn't think they could even see color that deep. I guess deep water bass fishing could be fun with the right gear and technology, but Florida seems simpler. Bass were about 1.5-2.5 lbs.

That's what I encountered as well. For over a year I just used fluoro leader fine (I use about 10-15 ft leader to add a little bit of stretch) because I rarely let the spook pause longer than 2 seconds. But a few days ago the fish would only hit my spook when I let it pause for about 5-10 seconds. When I resumed walking it, the spook would dive under the water.

Seems like "mono" is the way to go. Big Game is only sold in 650yard spool locally (kind of awkward to stick that in my kayak bag)... so I'll probably try Trilene XT. I use leaders for most treblehook lures just for a bit of extra stretch. I don't have many rod/reel combos because I fish off a kayak, so spooling all braid is just simple and easy. Adding a long leader seems to add a little more flexibility to my setups. I use leaders specifically for spooks and jerkbaits because those two lures often get their hooks wrapped around my 15-20lb braid. I sometimes use straight braid to lipless or lipped crankbaits. I'm not really aware of the chemistry behind XT/Big Game... I call them mono because they're sold under the mono section at most stores. I did find it strange that I couldn't find the words mono written anywhere on the packaging. Anyways, I mentioned abrasion resistance because I'll probably be picking up some 20 lb mono for inshore leader as well.

I've run into issues with fluorocarbon sinking whenever I let a spook pause too long, so I want to find a floating leader. Out of Trilene XT, XL, Big Game, I'm leaning towards Trilene XT, since it has the highest abrasion resistance and its memory shouldn't be an issue as a leader. But I was wondering if there was a copolymer line that works better?

Boxing was also awful for years because of the "cold war" between some of the promotion companies. 2017 has been a ridiculously good year for exciting boxing matches, but I think the damage is done. A lot of the top fights are barely pulling any numbers now because only the hardcore fans care now.

I've done this on my old Civic. Back to the original question: I'd probably pick the ATAK 120. The ATAK is suppose to paddle similar to my Radar, which paddles really well for such a stable kayak. I've heard the Big Rig is kind of slow, but I don't have personal experience with it.

I'll be in Baltimore late July-early August. Do the Loch Raven rental boats ever sell out?

The thread is a bit old. I actually went through and purchased the Radar 135 after demoing the Native Slayer. The drive on the slayer had superior speed and feel (completely stable), but I preferred the hull and comfort of the Radar 135. I'm surprised when you said it could keep up in a race. With both the demo and my purchased Helix PD, I usually can't get above 4.5 mph. I had about 5.25-5.5mph on the Slayer (I only demoed it 15-20 minutes, I tracked my speed with and against the wind). But the only times I go max speed are at the very start and end of inshore fishing trips, so the extra stability trumped the speed. I actually didn't know about those knobs until recently. I tightened them up and the drive seems to wobble or flex a lot less. Only downside is I need to help pull it up when its not in use. I think the demo unit didn't have those or they weren't tightened; the drive shot up very quickly. Black Creek Outfitters in Jacksonville. The kayak hasn't been perfect. The storage compartments aren't sealed properly so it takes on water, the rudder assembly on the rear has come loose twice, a rudder tube has been pulled through the hull causing it to slightly malfunction, the drive wasn't greased in certain areas like the pedals or crankarms so eventually they started squeaking... I guess that's the price of early adopting a new product. I still think its worth it in my situation. Florida winds are no joke and unpredictable. I went out to a big lake when the weatherman forecasted 8 mph winds. Eventually it was 20+ and probably 30+ gusts, 3+ft swells. On my Tarpon 120, it was torture just paddling back to the boat ramp. I've recently gone out to similar conditions in my Radar 135 and barely broke a sweat. Only got wet during a significant swell of 4ft. It does take some adjusting to get used to not having rods sitting right in front of you, but I found the benefits outweigh the cons.

I use braid + leader because the jerkbait hooks seem to get wrapped around the braid more frequently than fluoro.

That's pretty much my experience. I tried creature bait, craw, paddletail swimbait, and fluke trailer and they still rise too much. Its a shame because I really like the design (swappable hook, texas rig). I won't let it go to waste though, it works fine as a bottom contact jig in low-vis water. I'll probably try the Siebert Fogy next since it seems highly recommended and well priced, but I really want a chatterbait with a weedguard/t-pose-able hook to pull through some sparse cover. Fortunately I've found the underspin seems to fill that role pretty well. I don't have much confidence in a spinnerbait unless there's a lot of wind. Also I seem to miss a lot of fish unless I'm using a trailer hook, which kind of negates its ability to pull through sparse cover.

Anyone use these regularly? I was hoping it would swim like the Z-man original or custom, but I find it rises too quickly even when slowly reeled in. At the same speed I could fish an original at 3-5 ft (rod tip up or down), the freedom swims about 0-2 ft. I've had similar issues with the *** CrazyJig and couldn't correct it even after bending the blade. I just end up yo-yoing them, which catches fish, but I want a chatterbait that swims.

I agree with lmbfisherman. For the sake of versatility while yaking, I don't really see the need to go outside of fast action, but I guess that could be a personal preference.

Tip wrapping (can happen to any of the guides farther down too): Its usually caused by wind, line twist, or just by working the rod tip a lot with like a jerkbait or walking dog motion. This is a more extreme example... edit: braid knots are generally super easy because you only need the palomar knot. I don't think I've ever had a palomar knot fail with braid.

... the pattern is real. Jerkbait and square bill crankbait again. 5lb4oz and 4lb1oz. The 5lber had the best fight out of any bass I've caught. Every 4th time I tie on a new horny toad, a gar immediately rips its legs off.

Largest was 4lbs15oz, caught using a floating jerkbait I found. Last year I caught a 4lber almost every trip just beating the banks at this pond. This year I've only caught one shallow. I've been finding better quality bass in the mid depth sections (6-8ft) with weeds coming up about half way.