Boomstick

I know I will get a week, maybe two in the cabin I rented last year on Lake Dunmore. That was an amazing experience and I'll probably do it every year for the rest of my life. Then I'll take some other trips here and there, probably to Vermont state parks but haven't decided yet. Then I'll hit all the regular places.

Welcome

Sorry for your losses.

I have most things I need. I already picked up some senkos on Black Friday since I have been in short supply most of last season, and will check chunks and finesse worms which should be the only thing I may need. On top of that, I need new hooks for my shore fishing box as they have started to rust out after several years and some ned rig jig heads since I lost a bunch late last year for the same box. Finally, as I got a Blackpak pro with no lip that can carry several 3700 boxes for next year, I want to build a box specifically for things I would throw on my favorite rod for topwater and jerkbaits as frequently I will throw jerkbaits during the day and when dusk hits I will cut it off and throw on a popper and fish shallows for actively feeding fish.

I have been using a paddle kayak the past few years. Wind and current can be a bit of a challenge. What I did was I run an anchor trolley on the side of my kayak and run an anchor wizard through that. My anchor of choice is a 5 lb mushroom anchor. By positioning the anchor trolley right, I can generally keep myself pointing at a general direction plus or minus about 30 degrees to each side, so if the middle of the spot I am turning is pointing at my target, I can generally cast at it. There are of course exceptions - heavy wind or if I am sitting on a spot where dual currents meet. Next year I will be in a pedal kayak. Pedals and motors will allow for hands free operation and you can jog yourself in place or use spot lock so for the most part drifting won't be an issue. Steak out poles or power poles work great in shallow water. I didn't bother because I find myself in water over 6 ft frequently.

That's really the most ideal solution as long as your wallet can support it. They will complement each other nicely.

Happy New Years!

The medium will be a bit heavy for ned rigs. The med-light on the other hand runs pretty light, perfect for ned rigs but a bit on the lighter side for weightless soft plastics. I'd probably steer you towards a St Croix ML to do everything you want to do on one rod, they sit somewhere inbetween.

I use a 6’8” rod for poppers and jerkbaits - and I’m 6’3” myself. It’s a perfect length.

You're welcome! I saw that you were interested in Sunline Shooter 14lb so I decided to add my personal touch - the Daiwa J-Fluoro Samurai is my personal favorite fluoro, it handles really well. And if those hooks are great, if you haven't tried them, the wide gap helps hookup ratio.

Perfect! I got the Blackpak Pro 13x16 with the same 6 rod setup. I’m good with the 6 rods because the Old Town has two rod holders in the back but this is nice to know in case I need more

My primary goal for next year is to have no health problems so I can go fishing more. I’d like to also do a few kayak tournaments, which is feasible since I learned there is a local trail I had no idea about until last year.

Not that many. I had a lot of stuff going on early in the year, then I ran into health issues. I did make it out a lot late in the year - and it remained warm too

Thank you Glenn and a Merry Christmas to you as well. Also is that boat rain deer powered?

This is usually what I use for small jigs too

I got my kid a Champion XP 702SF, it’s the perfect ned rig rod, casts the 1/16oz ned rigs very well. i got the Tatula Elite 7’ Cody Meyer MLF rod as a result. Haven’t fished it yet but it seems like it should do pretty well, definitely not as heavy as my current ML Avid X

I prefer an anti-reverse switch but if the reel doesn’t have one I can just pull out drag

Looks like a promo video for the current rods to me

I received my package from @swhit140 on Wednesday, just got sick and for the first time I feel okay to take a picture. Thank you, these will definitely go to use.

I think Yum Dingers hold up a little better than Senkos, but Big Bite Baits hold up better than pretty much everything.

Up to a certain point I could say the reel, but once you step up to a basically functional reel, the reel becomes more of a nice to have where the rod upgrades are beneficial.

Neither, just Tatula. TW sells the Tatula glass rods under their own line: https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Daiwa_Tatula_Glass_Casting_Rods/descpage-DTGR.html

7' Glass M/R

If you search for kayak stores near you that are by bodies of water, they should let you demo them. You can call and ask if they do demos before making the drive out and make sure they have the models you're looking at in stock. I find that pedals and a motor effectively go about the same speeds in the same kayak and serve the same purpose (hands free fishing). You can reposition yourself while standing with a motor, but you can pedal all day and don't have to worry about your battery dying while getting cardio with pedals.

I am in the same boat as you are. I refuse to put a motor on my kayak, because my fat ass next the exercise. I also camp a lot, where I can't charge the battery. But even so, the cost of a motor and a battery with good life is about as much as I'll spend to upgrade to a pedal kayak and sell mine. So I demo'd several models, thought about going all the way with a Hobie Pro Angler 14 but ended up deciding to go with the Old Town Sportsman Bigwater 132PDL. I will lose the open hull layout and added rigability and horizontal rod storage of the PA14, but save myself a few thousand dollars, back strain loading it and gain a lot of reliability, speed and manuverability - the Biigwater was the fastest kayak I demo'd for sure, even faster than the Outback. I will second the advice of others when I say buy go out and buy what you really want, since you know you'll be using it. Buy once, and cry once as they say. The other piece of advice I will say is when you look at different models. Look for places that demo them - I had to take a few weeks and drive a few hours this summer/fall to demo all the models I was interested in but it was worth it - I never would have decided on the Bigwater if I didn't. Then figure out how you are going to rig it before you buy it. Learn your options. Go online, maybe Youtube and look at others setups. Sometimes searching something like "Old Town Sportsman Tournament setup" will pull up videos on youtube and you might get ideas from others. If you find a really good setup on one kayak, then maybe it's worth it. If you find a really good setup for the kayak you already have and just haven't put in the time or effort, then maybe it's time to go that route. The Old Town Sportsman 120 is a very good budget friendly kayak. There are also pedal drive and motorized versions out there. You might be okay in the shorter 106 as well. There's a lot of cheaper models out there that aren't worth the savings. The Native SlayerMax 12.5 also isn't bad, but I found the added features weren't really done in a usable way and for the extra $500, I could add back tracks to the 120 and save $400 and I can actually use the slots in the 120 they give you to lay down rods where if you use the rails on SlayerMax, the rod holders are worthless (the edges of the plastic are also very sharp and will cut your line).