kenmitch

I kayak fish also and have experienced the same thing as you on more than one occasion. I peddle very slowly with rods out of water when I pass others fishing. Last time out when I was leaving I tied of at the ramp to go get my truck. When I returned their was some ****** bag in a aluminum Ranger boat tied off to the same cleat with his boat and it was bouncing around against my kayak. Total ***** move as there were 3 more cleats available.

It's probably a catfish....Bass don't live that long.

Nice going! Nice to see he's not afraid of touching the.

I think you need to supply more data about the pond for responses. Average size of bass. How many? Other species of fish in pond along with average sizes. Probably wouldn't hurt to list what the food sources are while your at it.

I'm in the process of planning my September vacation and will be doing some lake hopping in Northern California and will mainly be targeting Spotted Bass, but will settle for LMB or SMB. I'm currently leaning towards the week of the new moon(Sep9th) as I like darkness when I'm trying to sleep, but I also kind of like the idea of doing some night fishing with the full moon(Sep24th). I'm still looking at lakes and trying to decide if they are kayak friendly as far as access and distance to good places to target Bass. I have a peddle kayak so it's not like I'd have to row, but don't want to have to launch and then peddle mile after mile to get to the better ground. So far I've decided to go to New Melones as I've had good luck there fishing from the shoreline before I bought my kayak. Lake is Kayak friendly as I can launch from the campground without much effort. I'm looking at lakes around that area and further up north. The most enticing lake currently is New Bullards Bar as it seems to be the current trophy Spotted Bass lake. Is this lake kayak friendly? Any other lake suggestions up that way that have potential? Thanks, Ken

If it was me I'd probably go for the 55lb and bow mount it. It's easy to flip the handle around on them so I'd also have to do that mod. I guess in the end it really depends on how fast you want to move around and if the $ difference is worth it too you. Guess you could purchase the 40lb one at a place that will accept a return if it's not enough for you.

I was also wondering how well he cleaned it. I was also wondering what he meant by the grinding statement. Grinding on the cast? Spool bearings bad or dry/dirty. Grinding when reeling? Gears dirty/dry or bearings bad or dirty/dry. I just stripped my Revo MGX SHS down to the frame this AM and cleaned and greased it up. Was a little intimidated to tear it down as it's my 1st time doing such a thing and the reel wasn't exactly cheap. Maybe spool tension is adjusted too tight? I'm a thumber so I tend to loosen mine.

Most likely it's Carp....Based on your description and countless hours witnessing similar events.

And Catt said....Let their be light!

Is the creek still running? If so I'd concentrate around the area it enters the lake. I'd imagine the creek water would be cooler and supplying food sources. I'd beat the area to death with a lipless crankbait. If that dont work I'd change colors. Hard to really come up with a plan without knowing what lake it is....This aint MLF.

I'm more picky on reels than rods so I'd lean towards a reel. Maybe a combo deal? I'm patient and already have enough stuff so I tend to wait for the really good deals now. I can only carry so much on my kayak. Example would be someting like the BPS Carbonite 2 BC combo they had on sale in Feb. Not like i really needed it but can put it to good use for $120. I'd like to upgrade a spinning combo if a smoken deal comes along. Time is on my side.

I just want to say thanks to those who do have the option of picking up the trash they see in the lakes and along the shoreline. As summer rolls on I'd imagine you guys will be busy! I don't really understand why some people think it's ok to just leave their trash and go on their merry old way. I kayak fish out of a Slayer 10 so I don't really have the option of picking up what I see as I don't have the storage space for it. The inner me wants to pick it up, but the outer me doesn't have the option. I guess I do my part by leaving a zero/tiny impact on the lake. If I have a smoke it stays in the yak, if I tear a plastic beyond use it stays in the yak, if I cut or strip out some line it stays in the yak. If I snag a lure which I do a lot I go and retrieve it if at all possible. Once in a while I'll loose a lure, once in a while I'll find another's lost lure so maybe it balances out? I once did a catch and release on a bird. I was lipless crankbait fishing and had made a long cast and my lure spooked a group of birds. Really bad timing on his/her part as it swam the wrong way. My lure snagged it on the webbing of it's foot which I guess was the best place to snag a bird in the end. It panicked and started weaving thru bushes and trees to get away. I use 30lb braid so it had zero chance and was hooked good. I didn't have the heart to leave it tangled in my line to die a slow death or drown in it's struggle. After thinking it over and trying to get it back thru the brush I decided the only way was to let some line out and let it swim away. Once it was clear of brush I slowly got close enough to use my net to snag the lure. It looked at me and made one cry for help as I unhooked it with my pliers. It made me feel good inside knowing that I undid what I had done although not intentionally.

Sometimes braid will get stuck in the reel as it'll sqeeze between layers of line on the initial strike or another hard jolt would be one reason you'd have to do it.

Those look pretty cool. I wonder how effective they'd be on a lake that doesn't really have any snakes? My area I can't even call my neck of the woods....More like the concrete jungle if anything.

If you have a Walmart around you could pick up some of the Cotton Cordell Super Spot lures. Lipless crankbaits work at times to entice the bass. They're only $2.50 at Walmart so it's not a big loss if you break one off. What kind of line do you use? When I was shore fishing I switched to 30lb braid once I broke off a couple of lures. It's plenty strong enough to pull out most snags as long as one ties proper knots and is careful on the pulling part. Braid tends to cut the fingers and hands if one is not careful. A lot of snags that will break lighter line will pull out pretty easy.

Bass aren't always actively feeding so they won't always be willing to chase your crankbait down. Have you tried early in the AM or later in the evening? What crankbaits have you tried so far?

Nice going! Does he have a fear of touching the fish? I kind of get that vibe from the photos. What about something like a challenge. Offer to buy him a new game if he catches x number of fish? Might be enough to at least entice him into trying out fishing.

Don't you just hate it when the big ones are only in it for a short game of keep away. Not sure how much she weighed in the end but it sounds like she's got the game down to a science. Most of the time they'll get scared and spit it out farther away from their opponent. Seeing how she cruised right on up to you and stared you in the eyes before spitting it out reinforces her dominance and also let's you know you hooked a master of the game. If your lucky you'll get another chance at her in the future. The big ones are always she's for the most part as the males don't tend to grow that large.

I guess it could also be competition for the food sources. What other fish live in the pond? Maybe try and target other species of fish if it's a unknown. Too large to eat bluegill would be a bad thing and the same would go for crappie.

As others have stated there shouldn't be any issue as long as your aware it's there. Fighting a fish would be the only time I'd think it could be an issue at all if you have it up higher in shallower water, but you should be able to eliminate the possibility with rod positioning.

It's easy to forget little details like that at times. I didn't really give it much thought when I first started back into fishing last year. I kayak fish and just mounted my stuff to it. Kayak is short so it's not like it was off much anyways. When I upgraded my sonar to the Elite Ti 5 and started getting into making my own custom map of my local lake is when I learned about the optimal positioning of the transducer and the sonar unit. With my mounts the sonar is directly above the transducer so the gps is in syn with the transducer which is more accurate as far as the mapping goes. I guess being on a kayak it was more of a in the details move on my part as it's not like I would have been that far off anyways.

Like fishnkamp said it's not really that hard to do it. It would be best to pick up a trolling motor transducer for your Lowrance while your at it. Otherwise you'll be a boat length off on your sonar as what you think is below you will really be behind you.

Your list has some nice one's on it. I guess you'll have to determine what bells and whistles you need. In the end it's really of how much stuff you plan on taking out and how you want to rig it. The protected horizontal rod storage would be a big plus too me. Vertical rod storage is OK but depending on where you want to yak it can be a pain as if your going under tree limbs, bridges, etc as rods tend to get snagged or scraped. Gear tracks are somewhat over rated as a yak only needs so many as long as they're strategically placed. In hull storage you'll only need enough room to take what you need. Guess larger area could come in handy if you wanted to do a kayak/camping adventure. Do you plan on sitting most of the time or standing? A stand up assist bar might be a wise investment if you plan on doing a lot of standing or don't have really good balance. If you plan to stand up a lot then you might want to take a closer look at the standing deck area of the yaks. Not sure about the other yaks but the Titan does have the option of sliding the seat to the rear. All the rigs you listed are nice ones. Not sure how much weight the motor options add and if they're easily removable or not for the journey up to your rooftop. All kayaks will have a tipping point if a person leans too far to the side. There are some videos on youtube that will show what it takes to flip. Just search for kayak X stability reviews. Not really sure why some suggested Hobie as you clearly stated you didn't like the mirage drive setup. Good luck on your quest and if possible see if you can get some on the water experience in your final choice(s) before purchasing.

Which kayaks are you contemplating currently? Kayak fishing is fun and all but it's not for everybody in the end. I guess the 1st thing you'll have to decide before purchasing one is if it's really for you or not. Hopefully you've already thought it thru at this point. What kind of water are you going to be fishing? The mirage drive I guess has some advantages in certain water conditions but in the end doesn't have the instant reverse like the pedal drive systems. I was a kayak virgin until I purchase mine last year. After some initial research and a visit to the Hobie dealer to look at the Pro Anglers I wound up ordering a Slayer 10 online. The price point, weight, size, and instant reverse was what sold me on it in the end. After fishing it for a couple hundred hours would I buy it again? l'd most likely go for the Titan 10.5 which wasn't even available at the time of purchase.