Hook2Jaw

@J Francho, been thinking about adding some taco clips to the kayak to hold my net and paddle. What boat are you in? Also, I have that same pair of split ring pliers/cutter. I'm pretty happy with it so far.

I've been using a 1/2oz Booyah Blade Double Willow for general use, varying my retrieve speed from cast to cast, but having most of my success with it slow and near the bottom. It's winter, and makes sense. I've been using a 4 1/2" YUM Pulse as a trailer. What I understand about spinnerbaits is to increase my weight, like any lure, and decrease my speed to access the middle of the column and bottom. I keep colors simple, white in clearer water, chartreuse in dirtier water. I keep my trailer colors close to my spinnerbait, but try not to match to attempt to draw the bite towards the hook. That's about it. What I don't understand about spinnerbaits is when to use one blade rather than two, when to downsize or upside my blade/s. There's some great information so far, but if the spinnerbait masters here could keep coming off information that would be great!

I've never used copolymer before. I'm thinking about trying it to save money on my bottom contact baits, is it as sensitive as fluorocarbon?

Definitely. The dude is amazingly talented.

I've been doing this with a double willow Booyah in 1/2oz with the same length YUM pulse, I'm pretty sure it's a 4.5", though. Was the water not so clear at that particular classic, and why a 1oz around shallow cover? Educate me. I haven't gained as much knowledge as I would like about spinnerbaits yet. As far as the YUM Pulse goes, I have so much faith in that swimbait.

A 1/2oz Booyah Bankroll Jig in Money with a YUM Craw Chunk in Crawfish as a trailer. 10 pounds, 5 ounces. Biggest bass I've ever caught in my life. I'm hoping to beat it this year.

Dink for last bass of the year catchers unite! ?

I got a Daiwa DXSB 8' Heavy today for 109 bucks, and I'm impressed with it. It's throwing a 1.5oz Sebile Magic Swimmer exceptionally well, and I fully believe it will handle 3oz glide baits.

Bills, a wedding to save for, and a son on the way. I look for quality at a good price. All of my baitcasting reels are currently Daiwa. I do feel at 60 dollars, they are the best option available on the market. I plan to continue to spend my money on Daiwa products. They're both on unmentionable rods. I had several Bantam Curados stolen. My Abu Garcia Pro Max was stolen. I froze a BPS PQ2 up when I rolled my kayak in the salt. I gave my Black Max to my uncle. Never had a problem with the Abu entry reels or the older Shimano offerings. I believe a lot of the equipment available is worth it's price. I've just fallen in love with a spectacular model and I'm throwing my loyalty to that company due to it. Several of my spinners are still Penn reels on Penn or Wright and McGill rods, but those are strictly inshore setups.

I'm a very precise human being. Stand by while I weigh key rings and cut them until they match hooks. Good idea!

AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR

Squarebill fan here always looking to improve my casts with them, as I find their placement when worming them through cover sooo important. What would you put on them?

If you've used a Tatula CT, you've used a Fuego CT. I'm of the opinion that the T-Wing doesn't add much distance, and they're on the exact same platform.

@CrankFate, if I made five times as much money as I do now, I would buy 500 dollar rods.

Dragging a 1/2oz Chatterbait and a trailer is already enough of a chore with a 7' MHF rated to 1oz, the moment I step into the same model of rod a power lower, I'm only rated to 5/8oz. Been there, done that. I actually broke a 7' MHF Daiwa Aird-X rated to 1oz throwing a 1 1/2oz swimbait this year on the backcast. I've also missed fish due to an overloaded rod on the retrieve. I think the "experts" are wrong. Plain and simple. It's easier to increase the power of your set than limit the amount of lures you can throw from your kayak. It's much easier on the equipment and the operator to use a reel and rod designed for the technique presented. As for keeping a rod loaded throughout the fight becoming a more difficult task from a kayak as well, I could understand an inexperienced kayak angler having difficulties. I can also understand someone who prescribed to the thought process that a kayak angler should use lighter gear and bank bound techniques on a lighter scale becoming used to it. Ain't gonna be limiting myself to medium action spinning gear and a weightless senko rigged wacky because some "expert" thinks kayak angling is a limited method of fishing. I've punched through surf, taking breakers to the chest, and trolled for fish in 80', 6 miles off the beach. Right there on top of the reef with all the 30' boats. I've also drug 1/2oz jigs in the middle of my closest lake. The only thing truly limiting my fishing in comparison to a bass boat is the fact I top out 7 mph instead of 80.

Mine is directly behind me as well, and will eventually carry up to 9 rods. I'm eventually covering my crate with hard plastic to keep the sun and water out, building a lid, and retiring my current plano boxes for 3771 models. They're much thinner than a typical 3700 but can still hold large crankbaits. Once the plastic sides are on I've tinkered with the idea of adding brackets to the crate. For instance, this guy: By adding one vertically and another horizontally, I think I could dremel out the attachment hardware to connect to the Yak-Attack triple rod tube. With such a setup I could face the three rods to my right and left on the box backwards, as well as moving the holders from the rear of the box to the top.

I'll raise you a 1/2oz spin-to-win and a trailer over that there mountain back in 82.

For an undetermined, unspecified amount of time, usually after what I deem to be an unwarranted break. The other half the time I change out line is when I cut off line to the point I don't have enough on the spool. This is usually after a backlash. Or when I change lines for a specific technique. I only have one rod for jerkbaits and topwater, and I hate mono for jerkbaits and I hate fluoro for topwater.

Those of you considering learning the FG reading this thread, learn the FG. There is no better braid to fluoro/mono connection. I started with the double uni, moved to the Alberto, and finally settled on the FG. It is the bee's knees. @fishwizzard, you mentioned difficulties from the wind. You'll be happy to know you apply slight tension throughout the FG.

After a bit more research, you are most definitely correct, @Brad Reid. I actually started googling long rods and leverage after I posted it and have decided it's a myth. I wonder what length of handle, rod, and the optimum spread between hands on the handle provides the most efficient amount of leverage. I've actually tried fishing a relatively tight waterway here with a Zebco Dock Demon, of all things. A 3' rod definitely doesn't move enough line to set a light wire 2/0 EWG. So, while a longer rod doesn't provide leverage, it does move line quicker than a shorter rod. This is fact. I don't believe it takes much force to embed a sharp hook into fish flesh, which is personal opinion, but it will undoubtedly take more force than a shorter rod based on leverage. All of that leads me to believe is that @TOXIC's brother in law and @bayvalle aren't getting a very powerful set due to the nature of kayaking, it's often unstable. Also, they move much more readily than a larger craft or a man planted on the bank. That give between the fish the the anchor point the set is arriving from will also weaken the set. I think I understand why you guys have much more success with shorter rods offering a more powerful hookset. My kayak is 13'8" long, and a whopping 38" wide. Falling into the water or flipping the platform never crosses my mind, so I haven't had much problem driving heavy gauge hooks into 30" redfish with 7'6" MHF inshore spinning rods. I don't believe I'm going to have much trouble setting into a bass' mouth with 3"-12" longer than 7' from a kayak, but I can understand where other people would. As far as stealth and the ability to get closer than a boat is concerned, @Brad Reid, I agree completely. I'm just not willing to compromise the distance ability of longer rods to focus solely on close range fishing. I believe I can get the best out of both worlds with rods ranging from 6'7" to 8" long.

I think my problem is the actual bearings some of these companies use are already of good quality, so seeing a difference between stock and aftermarket is harder and harder. I regularly place my baits in the same area at the end of my cast with a stock Fuego, and can do the same with the Fuego with aftermarket bearings. The MGX may be a victim of weaker bearing tolerances if it's older. I would try cleaning them first, however. As for the Ambassadeur, they may have skimped on bearing quality with that reel; I honestly don't know. I still say the single best upgrade I do to my reels is regularly soaking my bearings in acetone and reinstalling with a single drop of oil. If any bearings need an upgrade, I believe it will be these. Still, try cleaning and reinstalling.

Before falling in love with Magforce-Z braking, I owned an Abu Garcia Blackmax and a Promax. I didn't have a problem with either reel and they both did well. My Fuegos are the most expensive, advanced caster I've owned, but I'm sure if I had an Abu Garcia Revo SX in my hand I would probably be pretty happy with it! I'm just quickly becoming a Daiwa fanboy.

I upgraded one of my Daiwa Fuegos with a set of Hawgtech bearings and saw a tiny increase. It was in the area of feet. I was seriously disappointed and believe a solid session with the stock bearings in acetone would have given an even better increase in distance. I don't think it's a worthwhile upgrade.

@TOXIC, @bayvalle, I can't comprehend that. A longer lever is going to move the hook at the end of the line more quickly and more powerfully.

YUM Houdini Shad in Arkansas Shiner, Pearl White, and Watermelon Red Flake. They're a very sweet little fluke that can be modified. Uncut, they have a slow fall and the tail waves side to side. It's pretty slick and damned productive. If you remove the center section, it falls faster. Finally, you can cut the point at the end for the usual split tail of the ZOOM fluke. I just wish they offered them in a magnum size as well as a smaller offering.