Boomstick

I usually do keep them in some kind of an order. I can carry 8 rods, given what I am carrying, I will keep the rod I most likely want the quickest access to in the most accessible spot based on what I think I need that day. The order may change if I find another rod/lure has been more effective throughout the day.

I went lithium (LifePo4 specifically) for my kayak. They are much lighter and last much longer both per charge and more cycles. Not all lithiums are created equal either. A cheap lithium may get half the life that it originally did. If you want it to hold up, I would get a LifePo4.

I’ll try it on my fatter braid. You definitely use high pound braid more than I do being in Florida.

I use KVD line conditioner. I change my fluorocarbon every three years or so, when it gets low and mono once or twice a year it keeps my line behaving well and is quite effective. I’ve never tried it on braid.

This is sad, always wear your PFD regardless but especially in cold waters. From the PFD still on the kayak, it looks like a boat may have hit this guy or something happened quick and he didn’t have time to get it on.

NRS Chinook is probably the best bet. They retail for $130, but usually sell on Amazon for $120 or less but I’ve seen them around $85 before. They’re well laid out, pockets, pliers holders, high back etc There’s a few I like better like the Old Town Lure Angler II and the one my oldest kid has (forget the brand) but they’ll run at least $150 on a good sale and not that much difference.

When I was younger, I could care less about an uncomfortable seat as long as it doesn't have front leaning headrests (like some cars). Now that I'm older though, I can't tolerate bad seating.

I would have considered going with a cheaper kayak to start with but it’s hard to find one that holds my weight. But if it works for you, you still get largely the same fun experience but may have to deal with a few additional hiccups along the way. It wouldn’t work for me now as my back’s been killing me for the past couple years. It might be an easier launch, but once I’m on the water my kayak is quite comfortable.

I haven’t used an anchor since I got pedals but I used to use a 5lb mushroom anchor and had minimal issues. If there’s dirt to collect on the anchor, it’s not going anywhere but even on rock it holds pretty good. if that isn’t enough you can try a 8lb mushroom anchor. If that doesn’t hold the spot probably isn’t safe to anchor in.

Yeah, this is definitely something to pay attention to. Inflatables rarely have anything to cut into the water like a rudder or a skeg so they spin. My old Bonafide SS127 would blow in circles without a rudder in the same way. So in your case, you’ll probably only be able to fight the spin by dealing with two anchors which is more of a pain than it’s worth. You might be able to use an anchor and if in shallow water a stakeout pole in addition to hold a spot. You may finding yourself floating along and fishing more than anchoring which might be the way to go. Also see if you can setup a rod holder for trolling as that shouldn’t be a problem.

Everyone’s path is different. I ended up getting kayaks for myself and the kids, had I gone for pedals at that time, it would have ultimately been cheaper as they were significantly cheaper at that time too. However, I wouldn’t have been able to swing it in cash either, and I would have ended up with an Old Town Sportsman 120 and not the Bigwater, which is a fine kayak but I definitely have no regrets with the Bigwater. Our first setups were not bad, other than no pedals. We definitely set them up pretty ideally. I ended up going from a Bonafide SS127 to an Old Town Bigwater 132 PDL. My final decision was based around performance, the Bigwater is relatively fast and also great in wind. I started out with a YakAttack Blackpak. The lip was quite annoying and didn’t work well with 3700s, I could only fit 3 and they were hard to get out. I ended up getting a 13x16 Blackpak pro with no lip, the largest the Bigwater fits and configuring it to open front to back which makes it much easier to access. The lights on my YakAttack flags went after a season and the track mount pulled out of one of them completely, rendering it useless. I ended up salvaging one of them and getting two Railblaza flags which are superior in every way, no flex in the wind and the lights on high will light the deck of my boat should I need it. I also upgraded my fish finder to a GPSmap 943xsv and a GT56UHD transducer which is real clear and has a lot better range. My youngest kid got my old Echomap 93sv and sold his old one with my SS127. I got a 30ah battery to give me days of fishing with the larger power draw. I also upgraded the front rails to Pacific Yak Angler rails that give me tool storage and places to hang lures to dry - a really useful feature. And I’ve made use of several Navarre Kayak Fishing upgrades, 1.5” rear seat risers, the rudder bolt and handle so I don’t have to deal with that annoying tension knob, the mount on the PDl that lets me mount a phone holder but I just use it as a place to set down rods which is something you lose when you add pedals and one way scupper plugs. I also got the solid mounting plates from Navarre Kayaking fishing and YakAttack mighty mounts which let me mount my fish finder behind the pedals and with a 9” screen, I can see it fine.

Have you tried Lake Mattawa? I went out on my kayak but I would imagine the shoreline would be hopping at dusk and dawn in the summer if you throw a topwater. I got most of my fish in the stump bed not too far from the road where people bank fish. I believe Quabbin still rents boats for fairly cheap. It’s first come first serve so you have to get there early.

I was at the St Lawrence in Clayton in the summer a few years back but at the time it was tough to fish in the current on my kayak. I didn’t have pedals yet just a paddle. There was a small bay that I could fish but didn’t get much. There’s a much larger bay but it’s right by the start of and island and the current is about 4mph and I couldn’t get there through the current. With my new kayak (Bigwater 132PDL) I would with no issues. We ultimately ended up going down the road to Goose Bay and targeting largemouths in the weedy bay. Spinnerbaits and Trigs were my most productive lures but I got a few on a jig too. Make sure you do the tours of Singer Castle and Boldt Castle while you’re up there too. You can get a boat to Singer castle and when you leave there you can go to Boldt. It’s an experience.

Shad are limited, but a lot of northeastern lakes have herring, which are similar to shad (and make bass get fat too). But even in lakes without herring I have had luck with various spinnerbait colors. I’ve gotten a few on white and silver but one of my most productive colors has been sexy shad (blue and white with some yellow)

I haven’t bothered carrying an anchor since I got pedals. With pedals, I point myself at or away from any current and jog myself in place. Before I had a pedal kayak, I ran an anchor wizard through an anchor trolley and used it all the time.

Normally it would be. I just threw it on there and didn’t even center it over the hatch on the day I took that pic.

I had a 6.5’ bed in my old truck and my SS127 was too long for iy. My kids 12’ Topwater was as long as I’d put in the bed. The trailer is the way to go. I got a Rack and Roll trailer and it doubles as a hand cart.

You will need a bed extender for a 12 foot kayak in a 5' bed I'm not sure what's left with spot lock. Might have to go with a nk300, but motorizing without spotlock is like driving without a steering wheel

Speed is relative. If you get a powerful enough motor and a large enough battery, you’ll still get good speed. If you put the same motor on a faster kayak, you’ll get better speed. But you should be able to get something that will do 4mph for hours and at 4mph you can cover a fair amount more water then you can paddling around 2mph. I fish a lot of lakes around 700-1600 acres. In my Bigwater, I can get from one end of the lake to the other in 40 minutes or less which was maybe almost 80 minutes on a couple of the same lakes paddling as fast as I could maintain. So that really lets me get spot to spot better. Of course I still have to be smart about it

All I am going to say is I once said the same thing and then decided to get pedals. Had I went with pedals off the bat, I'd have saved a ton of money when I decided to upgrade later. Pedals is the way to go personally. I don't need an anchor, so one less thing to setup at launch time and I can get cardio with pedals. The Old Town Sportsman 120 is a very good kayak. It's quite stable, one of the least rickety kayaks when standing on choppy water, and moves pretty decently. I could paddle my kids old Topwater 120 roughly 1mph faster than my old Bonafide SS127 and it didn't need the rudder to paddle straight. I watched a 5' female car top a similar sized kayak, so you should be able to do it once you figure out how to do it. I'm 43 now and a year and a half ago back problems set in, and it's hard enough getting my kayak on or off the trailer. I would recommend adding a crate (YakAttack Blackpak pro 13x16 is good and you can add at least two extra rod holders if needed) and if you go with a paddle version, I would add an anchor trolley, get a 5lb mushroom anchor (those work the most reliably in all conditions) and an anchor wizard. It adds a little to the initial cost, but it saves you from the headache of dealing with anchor line, worth every penny.

I went from a SS127 to an Old Town Bigwater 132PDL, for largely the same reasons. In my case, I did not want to go with a motor, I can actually get cardio from pedaling and it gives me hands free fishing. I did not really consider the Bonafide P127 not because I had any issues or complaints about the SS127, but they donked up the execution of the P127. It's basically a Slayer Max 12.5" and didn't get the same thought out execution of the SS127 and PWR 129. At the time I bought my kayaks, the P127 was $500 more than the Sportsman 120 PDL and the Sportsman 120 will still probably win in a race. But the only feature of any potential value for me was the addition of rear tracks (which I have only used for my flag since I got my Bigwater). They tried to solve some issues by adding rod holders on the rails, however if you use the track mounts, the rod holders are no longer accessible. Additionally, those plastic edges are very sharp and I have no doubt will cut your line. I ultimately went with the Bigwater 132 PDL because it was much faster than any other sit on top pedal fishing kayak that will hold me. I will note it is a bit easier to flip, but if you know not to learn you won't have any problems and it gives warning before it goes. My first day out, I got that warning maybe a few dozen times. Once I learned not to learn or how to lean against sharp turns, I never got to that warning point. I've been out on Lake Champlain with 30+ mph wind gusts and did not feel that warning point once. I would recommend is first find out, do you want to go with a motor or pedals? If you go motorized, the SS127 is a great motorized candidate for that already and is still one of the best laid out kayaks on the market a few years later so you have a great candidate for that direction. If I go motorized, I would get a motor with spot lock, personally. I will also note that the Sportsman 106 with the pedal drive in it still weighs more than the SSS127, although without the pedal drive, the 106 or even 120 is a little bit lighter. One other thing I will note here. I haven't carried an anchor since getting pedals, but it's a bit of a learning curve to be able to jog yourself in place. Basically you want to point directly at or away from any current and pedal slowly enough to counter it and not move and you can hold a spot for 20+ minutes. I posted this in another thread, but you can see my setup here. I have since added a mount with rod holders from Navarre Kayak on top of my pedal drive, which gives me a place to put up to two rods down which is very useful but I can't find any pictures since I got that, which was at the end of the year. The front rails are from Pacific Yak Angler. Such a nice upgrade. Navarre Kayak fishing also makes some for the 106, 120 and 132, but Pacific Yak Angler makes the best rails for the 132. In order to mount the fish finder on the Bigwater mounting plates, I had to buy solid mounting plates from Navarre Kayak fishing. The stock plates wobbled a lot and I didn't trust them. I recommend getting a spare prop and sheer pins and keeping that in the kayak (I learned the hard way last summer when I dropped my prop in the water cleaning fishing line out of it). Also if you go Old Town, the first thing I recommend is getting the rudder bolt from Navarre kayak. I also got the Navarre steering handle (I went short, it's more than tall enough). Basically with the rudder bolt, your rudder will stay in position without needing the annoying screw to tighten to hold position and loosen to change it, so you can simply not need the tension screw. The rudder bolt itself is $5 or $10 with all the washers you need. I po

I used to use a YakAttack net in a Zooka II rod holder flipped around (which is made to hold the net). That works pretty well. To save launch time, I ended up getting a Frabil Bear Claw per @J Francho's recommendation. It works great but on an Old Town, it sits around the hatch so it's not going anywhere unless I flip. (I had it pushed a little bit too far further over the hatch in this pic, but you get the idea).

I'm honestly not 100% sure on format. It will be a physical book but I imagine a lot of images can be a page in size, so some images I got on my phone may be totally serviceable. I might just want to get a cover photo, or a full-size picture for each chapter (which is generally a lake), but that could even be half page pictures with a chapter title above it. So I might be able to rent a DSLR camera. It's not a picture book by any means, but I'd like to include some decent photos. But it's in my control how I do.

Fish, lake scenery and trailheads and vistas on trails.

I have an iPhone 12. The camera isn’t too bad but nowhere near the lighting of a dslr