Hook2Jaw

The YUM Kill Shot. I still have a stockpile, they were my original dropshot confidence bait. The YUM Craw Chunk 3.75 has been removed from the line, that plastic in the Craw color on the back of a half ounce jig is responsible for my PB and so many giants. I don't know what I'll trailer my jigs with when I run out.

The rain was weird yesterday, it would absolutely pour for a few minutes and then slow to a light drizzle for a period. I don't have any conspiracy theories on the subject, I imagine it's just bands of rain moving quickly over an area.

I've got some trees down in the back but thankfully no damage to our home. No power and the toilet won't flush due to the amount of water we got, but myself, my wife, and our two children are okay. My brother is reporting that the entire Savannah, GA area is without power. I'm without power here in Dublin as well.

This is the case for me. Every time I've fished a craw that advertised "defensive" position or a worm that floats, there's been nothing special about it. My opinion is the fish prefer the more neutral position, as that, in my opinion, is the natural state of most aquatic life; horizontal.

I've tried the Rage Craw, and for the price, I was not blown away. My craws of choice are the YUM Craw Chunk 3.25 and a cut down Netbait Paca Slim for for finesse jigs. I use the full Netbait Paca Slim for Texas rigs. On full sized jigs, I prefer the YUM Craw Chunk 3.75. That trailer and jig has accounted for most of my big fish this year and I can't find that size anywhere online, I hope it's not discontinued.

Excellent point. I don't loosen my spool up any more than it already is, but tightening it and not letting it rip already sets you up for failure if you're preparing for it. Let 'er rip, tater chip. Ain't my expensive freshly painted dock anyway. I'm kidding, try not to damage people's things, folks, but you're there to catch fish. Catch fish.

Jigs, frogs, chatterbaits, flukes, shakyheads, wacky rigs, lightly weighted and weighted Texas rigs are all in the realm of things I can and do skip. Lake Sinclair in middle Georgia will force you to learn to do so; the predominant cover is docks. The secondary cover is pontoons within docks. I learned with a spinning rod, but my casting setups offer heavier line and allow me to get fish out of all the gnarly stuff that comes with the territory. A 7'3" rod is what my skipping motion favors and I believe if one wishes to skip well, one should figure out what rod works for them.

I do it straight out of the reel, and I'd advise against loading your rods up with 4-5# of pull. Seems like a good way to damage some of my my medium powered sticks. I just tie a bowline knot in the end of my line, hang it on the scale and pull until I get the desired drag setting. Yeah, it was insane. When everything went slack I was sure the fish had just broke 16# Sniper, but got my swimjig back with a chunk of meat on the 5/0.

I set my reels to about 45 percent of the line's breaking strength to the best of my ability through a fish scale. I can't trust myself to always tie the perfect knot, to always check the line for damage, to retie leader knots every single time I fish, etcetera. Sometimes that means I'm rocking a close to maximum drag on my setups that rock 16-20# line, at which point I'm not using anything less than a 4/0 heavy wire hook. It doesn't always work out, but the only time I can remember it not working out is having a fish rip free of a swimjig hook with pure power this past pre-spawn. That's just how I do it.

The setup is awesome, it was eye opening watching fish swim around on your graph. As for my day, I missed in the area of ten fish, lost two bowfin and two bass at the boat, and managed to land three bass, including a pretty decent 19". All my fish came off a half ounce Chatterbait Elite EVO trailered with a Spunk Shad or a Freeloader. Good fishing with you as always, @Koz

Soft Plastics GYBC 5" Senko Roboworm Straight Tail Worm Netbait 11" C-Mac Netbait T-Mac Netbait 4" Paca Slim YUM 3.75" Craw Chunk Missile Baits 4" D-Bomb Gambler Little EZ Z-Man Razor Shadz ZOOM Salty Super Fluke Hard Baits Berkley Drift Walker Z-Man ½ Chatterbait Elite EVO 6th Sense ½ Divine Swim Jig BOSS ½ Dock Knocker Jig Yo-Zuri 3DB Squarebill Jackall Rerange 110 Strike King KVD Deep 300 Strike King 3XD Strike King 5XD Strike King 6XD

1. ZOOM Trick Worm: Watermelon and Junebug. 2. Yamamoto Senko: Green Pumpkin and Junebug. 3. Missile D-Bomb: Super Craw and Lovebug 4. ZOOM Ol' Monster: Watermelon and Junebug. 5: YUM Craw Chunk: Crawdad and Black Blue Shadow. I could probably cut down to those 5 baits and feel comfortable anywhere.

That's an awesome fish, @Koz. There are many there of that size and bigger. It's probably the toughest place to fish in middle Georgia, but a big limit is very much possible. As for the open mouth, it can be difficult, but I completely understand the 1" deduction. Leeway has no place when judging fish, and I'll bet that GAKFL always cuts an inch if a mouth is more than a quarter open. I'm going to bet the pectoral fin on the opposite side of the fish was bent the wrong way. They'll often not close their mouth when that's the case. At any rate, we need to get together out there!

Spinning reels have a smoother drag system, dollar for dollar, than a casting reel, so this question makes me account for where I've got a big fish on the end of my line. Near cover, I'd prefer heavy braid or heavy fluorocarbon on a casting reel with the drag basically locked. I had a big fish pull off a 5/0 hook in that scenario this year. I also caught a 23" largemouth with that sort of setup two weekends ago, so it's always a gamble. In open water, I'm more than comfortable on 6# line and a tiny dropshot hook with spinning tackle. The smooth startup and consistent pressure of a spinning reels drag system gives me faith when there isn't something nearby for my line to saw against. I landed my personal best private property bass on 12# fluorocarbon on a MH rod with a half ounce jig with an Abu Garcia Pro Max. I'm certain plenty of luck went into landing that one. That fish was over ten pounds. My personal best public water fish was a 25" beast that came in at 9 pounds and change. That fish was landed with a Strike King 3XD and 10# fluorocarbon. I was scared to death. At the end of the day I'd be happy with either setup as long as it's appropriate to the scenario. I just plead with the powers that be when I hook a good one on small trebles.

Yeah, I've used my net to stop fishing from coming off the side before. It works very well. I haven't tried it on the PWR129 yet, but I'm sure there's a way. Normally I do just fine keeping fish on the board and it's been several years since I had a flop-off. The whole event was a major crash and burn for me.

It was awesome to meet you both, @Koz and @Wprich. I had a terrible event. Put up about 75" in practice cranking and dropshotting some select marker poles and points I'd found out there on Friday, and hoped to run that pattern again. It worked, sort of. I caught about 10 spots with a largemouth or two mixed in but only one was big enough to go on the board and it flipped off. Beyond that, I broke off a good fish really deep, about 30', on a Petey rigged fluke, and that's basically how my day started with another break shortly after that on the dropshot which was also a good fish. Then I mixed the ten fish in dropshotting and cranking. Towards the end of the day, totally spun out and angry but still trying to rally, I broke off another good fish near the Dry Fork boat ramp in a big standing cypress tree in 25 FOW. That's the first event I've ever zeroed in. Oh well, three rivers in a little bit and I'm practicing and launching forty minutes from the house. Hopefully I can still manage to get a top ten and make the state championship.

I've only used Sniper, but the differences between it and Assassin have been spoken about in length on this forum and others. Sniper is more of a bottom contact oriented line, stretching less and offering better sensitivity. With that comes more memory, more stiffness, and less abrasion resistance. Assassin is the more moving bait oriented line, sporting stretch, abrasion resistance, and handling. Of course it could be said the abrasion resistance of Assassin could be more useful depending on cover when it comes to bottom contact; but that's just another scenario. I'll let you come to your own conclusion on which line to use, I personally respool moving bait lines so often that I'm either using Seaguar Basix Fluorocarbon or Yozuri Topknot Mainline for those offerings. I run Sunline Sniper for bottom contact, mostly... ...because I retie my lighter leader lines so often that I opt for the cheaper Yozuri Topknot in that realm.

Oof! Yeah, I may even take two bottles of water to this event. About my trophy and check, you can hold it for a photo opportunity but I'm going to have to have that back.

I'll get you some pictures on the 15th, that will probably be the next time I'm out. My little boy is out of school for the summer so fishing has been out of range.

I've been fishing from a Bonafide PWR129 since December of last year. I'll try to go over it as thorougly as possible. Let's explore the boat from bow to stern. Bow Starting at the front of the PWR, the carry handle here has held up to abuse over the past couple of months and done so very comfortably. I, like all the other kayak fishermen on the planet, and boat fishermen before us, take too many things. I add about 120# worth of gear onto the boat and regularly drag it over grass via this handle or wheel it around on a C-Tug cart. I don't think it's going anywhere ever. Behind that there's a paddle park that Bonafide refers to as the Boss Strap, and it does a lot for me. I keep my Ketch board on the boat at all times and during travel it's held securely using this strap in conjunction with the Bullwinkle rod stager/Ketch board holder. They're both very useful accessories and I'm glad there on the boat. The Bullwinkle is affixed to the rear of the front hatch, which is spacious, secure, and as waterproof as any hatch of this size on a kayak can be. Additionally, that hatch opens from the front or the rear and it makes it very easy to stow my rods inside the boat for travel should I need or desire to do so. Also, there are two horizontal rod tubes at the bow of the boat. I'm not a fan of storing my rods horizontally, so I never use these. Finishing up the bow, there's a removable plate just behind the hatch that Bonafide calls a Powerlink Port, if I remember correctly. I haven't utilized this yet but plan to when I add a livescope down the road and it will certainly prove useful as these plates are relatively cheap. If I ever want to sell the kayak, I can simply replace the plate and the new owner won't have to deal with the holes I've created. Additionally, it lessens the amount of actual hull drilling one will need to do to fully rig a kayak. That about wraps up the bow. Cockpit Continuing on, the cockpit of the PWR129 is overall spacious and comfortable. The two Yakattack Tracks serve their purpose for many people, but I'm not one to clog up my working area with accessories after trying many on previous kayaks. I enjoy using my paddle for small adjustments and things along these get in the way of my paddle stroke. The Drypod is my favorite part of the boat, allowing me to keep my Garmin Echomap UHD 93SV off my gunnel and directly in front of both of my eyes. It's a complete system for running a single electronics unit; the transducer is mounted to the bottom of the pod, the cordage and battery live inside of it, and the head unit sits on top. The deck padding is soft underfoot and the deck itself does not flex. The scuppers do an excellent job of draining the boat and I submarined the front the last time I was on Lake Lanier catching magnum spotted bass. The sliding foot braces enable steering via the stock rudder or connection to an aftermarket motor, like the Newport NK series. They're a little sticky, but I keep a can of silicone spray in the truck to hit them with before I fish and that's made them as smooth as butter, though they still work fine without lubricant. There are two carry handles along the gunnels that also function as paddle parks, and they hold the paddle securely when bungeed down and just fine without being secured for quick paddle access. The Hirise Seat is comfortable and high, as I can come to a standing position without the use of my hands to assist if I desire to make a quick pitch or grab a tree limb to get a found lure out of it. It also has a low position that I've never had to utilize due to the stability of the boat, even when getting absolutely swamped by crosswaves in big water. Under the seat is the junk drawer, which is easy to slide out from under the seat but also easy to tighten down for transit. I keep about 30# worth of plastics in the drawer in three large KVD Speedbags. To the right of the drawer is an area that offers 3700 Box Storage, to the left is another Powerlink Port to save the hull from holes in case you want to mount a switch panel or have more wiring exit. This is where I plan for my LVS34 cable to exit in the future. There are also two more tracks just behind and to the left and right of the seat. Once again, I'm not big on tons of track mounted accessories. Let's move on to the tankwell. Tankwell The tankwell begins with a recess just behind the seat that offers 100ah lifepo4 battery storage and a track to enable a strap to be added to secure it. The storage area itself is capable of holding several 16x16 kayak crates. The tankwell tracks are of the side loading variety which allows a t-bolt mounted rail accessory to be quickly slapped on. These are the tracks that I use to mount my navigation light and I'm sure over 30 trips they've saved me a minute when it comes to setting up the light. Bonafide has also utilized a bungee system to secure your crate and four omni hooks that work quite well to secure a Yakattack Blackpak Pro. Mine never leaves my boat. Finishing up the tankwell, there's another Powerlink Port to route wiring or mount whatever you like at the read of the area. Stern The Bonafide PWR129s stern is where your rudder lines connect, and I can say I've never utilized the rudder. My rudder lines connect directly to my Newport NK180s. There is mounting area here that will accept most anything you could want to add -- a PowerPole, or two, and electric outboards come to mind. There are an additional two tracks back here to add even more rail mounted accessories, if your heart desires. Hull The hull was built with stability in mind, and in that area it excels. It paddles decently and tracks very well. The underside is best suited to a bunk style cart, but I get by just fine with the flat platforms of a C-Tug that I've had for years. Now that the build has been covered, I'll tell you how I've built my boat in as few words as possible and my reasoning why when there are other options. The Build First, I powered this boat with a Newport NK180s. It moves the boat at five miles per hour at full throttle and does what a spot locking motors do, speed wise, at 60% throttle. A Motorguide xi3 55# will move kayaks between four and five miles per hour at 100%, and drain a 100amp lifepo4 dead in plus or minus two hours. The outboard also allows me to fish incredibly shallow without adjusting motor height. I've ripped my xi3 off the front of my Crescent Crew before, the Newport will lift up if reverse isn't locked and has done so on my boat many times with only minor cosmetic damage. It can also come close to spot lock functionality by feathering the throttle or running it at low speeds forward when fishing into the wind or current or in reverse to fish with the wind or the current. It also blows through vegetation much cleaner than my xi3 did. Second, I added additional positional control to the PWR129 via an Anchor Wizard with a chute mounted at the rear. With a bit of line out it will anchor you in place in wind or current in up to fifteen feet of water almost statically. I've also accomplished decent holds in forty feet of water with a straight drop of a 6# anchor. Coupled with the motor, one can make adjustments to the positioning of the bow to continue facing the direction you wish. Finally, my Yakattack Blackpak Pro 16x16 houses the 24v 50ah lifepo4 battery that powers the motor and holds a small KVD Speedbag loaded with line, scent, and packaged swimbaits. It also holds seven Plano 3600 boxes loaded with cranks, jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, jigs, chatterbaits, etcetera and two Plano 3601 slim boxes that house regular terminal tackle and what I classify as finesse terminal tackle. The Newport NK180s plugs directly into the rear of the crate where I've added a plug. To set up my boat, I grab my rods, paddle, life jacket, motor, and pod from the truck. This is accomplished in two or three trips from my trailered kayak to my cab. First I carry six rods, put them in the rod tubes of the Blackpak, and then go grab the pod and motor. Then I'll hook up both and at some point I've put my life jacket on. The boat is more or less ready to fish in ten to fifteen minutes. My previous experiences with my xi3 powered Kayak take a few minutes longer. The xi3 is also thirty pounds heavier than the 180s. With the tour and the build done, I'll talk about performance and my kayaking experience along with it to justify my assessement. Performance The boat is stable, fast enough, very well outfitted for the price you pay, and I am very satisfied. Stability wise, it isn't quite as impressive as the Hobie PA14 I used to run years ago. Speed wise, I made an Old Town Predator PDL touch eight miles per hour with the pedals and could sprint at seven briefly. It doesn't paddle as well as either of my Crescent Kayaks, but it's more stable than both. The Hobie severely lacked in the area of outfitting in comparison. The Old Town did so slightly. I've been kayak fishing for fourteen years, starting in a 10' sit-inside and moving to a Hobie Outback, Hobie PA14, Old Town Predator PDL, a pair of Crescents; a CK1 I still paddle and a Crew that needs to be rewired to utilize my xi3, and finally this Bonafide PWR129. I've been six miles offshore the coast of North Carolina and snatched a 30# king mackerel into a Hobie Outback. I've done eighteen miles in a day on Lake Murray on an Old Town Predator. I've caught smallies in the Augusta rapids on my CK1. I've got a lot of kayak bass fishing experience, way more than some like yourself, and way less than others. All the kayaks mentioned in this thread are great boats. You can turn a thousand dollar kayak into a fishing machine. You can drop a million dollars on a Hobie PA360 and look like every other kayak pro out there. With all that said, I'll say the Bonafide PWR129, dollar for dollar in comparison with every other kayak on the market, stands in the upper echelon. It's a great boat and you won't be sad you went with it instead of any other kayak if you choose to do so.

@Koz, great to hear Old Town is taking care of you. They did the same for me when my Predator PDL's drive began having issues. I only have the Friday before to prefish, but I'll be staying in a hotel that night with a friend of mine who has been fishing kayak tourneys with me for several years. Wanna try to get together for supper, or are you packing that all to camp?

@Koz, are you fishing the GA BASS Kayak Series on Russell? I'll be out there. I'm terribly sorry to hear about your AP. That's an awesome boat and one I wanted for a while.

He's pretty well correct. I've tried the River2Sea D-Walker, a tad expensive, and got a great secondary action that consisted of a light roll which made the skirt roll beautifully. After he recommended the Gambler EZ Swimmer, I began using those instead and they add the roll as well. The swimjig has been very productive for me this year. I cut the EZ Swimmer down to about 4” and it makes for a beautiful package coupled with a 6th Sense Divine Swim Jig.

I've been known to leader my Medium powered egg beater with 12# fluorocarbon and sweep my rod and reel simultaneously to set a big dog 2/0 near trees growing on the bank. Can't have them ripping drag and flopping up there to wrap me up.

I don't Neko rig often, but when I first tried the technique I used a YUM Money Craw and it was highly successful. I've also caught them on a Neko rig using a Yamamoto Senko or YUM Dinger. One thing I will say that hasn't been mentioned is how well the VMC Weedless Neko Hook in size 1 has performed for me utilizing it with wacky rigs and Neko rigs. Feathered through cover, the fluorocarbon weed guard does an excellent job of preventing snags without preventing the hook from setting. When that hook does set, it's in the top of the mouth a high percentage of the time.