kenmitch

June of 2017 I was fishing a lake up in NorCal for bluegill as the bass weren't biting around the campground. Strictly catch and release as I"m not much of a fish eater. One of them didn't make it in the end. It swam away funny and wound up being a floater a few minutes later. At first I was a little bummed out that I hurt the little guy, then I heard the cry of a Osprey as it swooped down and swept it away. Was actually an amazing site to see mother nature in action. Weird how nature has a way of taking care of things without our intervention.

We all have places we like to try and catch a bass or two, but there is no such thing as " my spot " in the end. We might tend to call these places our spots, but in reality they really aren't ours. If I go to the lake and there is already somebody trying his/her luck in a place I intended to fish I'll just try somewhere else. What does the tournament angler consider the buffer zone around his alleged spot? What are the dimensions of a spot? Does a spot include the whole weed line, stretch of timber, creek bed, drop off, flat? I've had bass boats blast thru spots I've been fishing before with their trolling motors. I just shake my head and shrug it off. I guess they think a guy sitting in a kayak can't cast too far or they just feel like whomever has the more expensive vessel has the right of way. Sometimes karma will reward me with a nice bass shortly after they pass thru. The look on their faces is rewarding, a few expletives is a bonus!

Maybe I missed it, but how do you plan on getting whatever you purchase to the water?

Great video. He seems like a good old down to earth guy.

Planned on taking the yak out yesterday, but the weather didn't look favorable when I go up. That and I had to make a 85 mile round trip to pick up a washer. Something about doing both in the same day didn't sound to rewarding. The weather report said winds up to 10-11 mph at the lake. It was more like constant 10 mph with gusts up to 30 mph or so at times. The wind messed up my game plan as I had intended to go to the other side of the lake where I caught the 7 lb'r 2 weeks ago. I spent a whole lot of time pedaling my yak slowly into the wind to at least try and make the best of it. I'm glad I just stuck it out in the end. I didn't cover much water, but in the end got plenty of exercise, caught a couple fish, and most importantly had fun. I wound up catching 2 Bass. Both of them gave a good fight in the end. I guess the wind and the chop gave them somewhat of an advantage. I almost caught one more as it tried to sideswipe my warpig about 8 ft from the yak, but it missed. It looked like a dink anyways.

Looks like fishing tournaments takes the fun out of fishing and replaces it with stress and anxiety.

Was that the silly guy in the swimming pool? If so I thought he was gonna flip and crack his head open on the edge of the pool.

Spawned out was my 1st impression. I got a 7lb 23 1/2" 2 weeks ago was my reasoning. 2nd photo confirmed my suspicion. Nice one none the less.

Pescador pilot was on top of my hit list when I decided to go kayak instead of getting a boat. I went down to a Hobie dealer who also had the pilot in stock. After looking at all the Hobie pro anglers I went into the back room and looked at the Pescador. At that point I decided the Pescador wasn't for me.....Went home empty handed as I liked the Hobie hull style, but didn't like the price tag and the lack of instant reverse. There's videos on youtube for most likely every yak in which the goal is stability testing. Pick a yak and search youtube for it with stability in the search. Have you looked at the Old Town Topwater PDL yet? It looks like an interesting yak at it's price point. I wound up going with the Slayer 10 propel in the end. Looked to be the best option for me at the time. Good luck on your quest for the perfect yak for you!

Someday I'll have the pleasure of catching a SMB. The Spots I've caught up in NorCal have fought pretty hard for their size. I'm hoping to make at least one trip up to NorCal this year and plan on targeting a lake that has all 3 species available. Dang wildfires were raging up there last year during all my vacation windows!

Sunline products on sale at AmercanLegacy for up to 25% off according to the email.

As I read that I envisioned Al Bundy for some reason....No offense intended. I can relate with the points you made.

Crazy determination to fish got the best of him. At least common sense kicked in before something happened. I've been caught out in 30+ mph gusts before in my kayak and it wasn't a fun experience. Luckily for me I was at the end of the lake the wind and chop was coming from. It was a pain in the arse to get back to shore as the direction I need to go was cutting straight across the wind and chops direction. I wound up just cutting into the wind and chop going further away from my destination until I could get a decent angle back to where I needed to land at shore. I don't take the kayak out if it's going to be really windy. Usually the wind picks up at my local late in the afternoon. I'll check the weather report the night before and before I leave in the morning just in case something changed overnight. I usually go early and leave around 1pm or so. In my area the wind usually doesn't pick up till that time or later even. I learned my fear of boating and weather way back around 1990. I used to have a Tracker TX17 and was out solo one day. It started to get a little windy and choppy so I decided to head down towards the other end of the lake and fish in a little cove as I thought it would be somewhat protected. Needless to say you don't wanna be in the shallow water on the end of the lake the wind and chop is blowing towards. It was a bad decision on my part. The cove was full of rocks, timber and was shallow. When the wind started picking up more I decided to just drop anchor and ride it out. I should have just bailed out, but usually the wind comes and goes. It got a whole lot worse pretty quickly. There must have been 5-6 ft swells in that cove! It's crazy how much the chop gets intensified when it hits the shallow waters. The bow of my boat would rise up to around 60-70 degrees at times and then slam back down under water as the next swell hit. After 2 or 3 of these a person has to think very quickly. I'm lucky I didn't go into panic mode and swamp my boat. I figured my safest way out of the ordeal was to release anchor line, retrieve anchor line, rinse and repeat, missing the swells until it was safe enough to trim down the big motor and power out of the cove. I must have done this for 20-30 minutes before I was far enough away from the timber and rocks to trim down the motor, fire it up, and power away. One of those things I'll never forget as long as I live. If I remember correctly the lake was hit with 60-70mph winds that day.

He's a master at marketing and looks to be rolling in the dough....Can you blame him for man's weaknesses.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Gorilla-Carts-5-cu-ft-Poly-Outdoor-Fish-and-Marine-Cart-GCO-5FSH/302292460 No compromise solution as long as the terrain is forgiving enough.

I did see a UK seller on ebay that has some available at a reasonable price if not. Didn't look to have any color that would work for me at least.

Guess you'll be the 1st one on the lake when the ice melts.

Wow! That's very generous of you. I wasn't expecting something as nice as that one. Let alone a bonus bait to top it off! The color looks like it'll be a winner in my local lake. The depth range of it looks to be perfect for a lot of the areas I like to fish in. There's lot's of submerged cover a couple of feet below the surface in my local lake. Making long casts between targets I often don't know what's there until it's too late. I'll get my baits back, but I feel I spoil the spots when I retrieve them. I can't wait to give that bait a good workout! Thanks Again! Ken May the bass gods reward you with a new PB this season!

I'd take a look at the Plano 3650N as it's the overall size you use and the right side is not divided at all. I purchased a few of them at Walmart a while back. Seems like it would work out for what you want to do.

I know you meant baitless, but there's less fortunate people in this world that won't. Imagine somebody trying this with a bait on the other end, the pincher isn't quite ready or has a weak pinch....Ouch.

Thanks again A-Jay!

He's got a lot more interesting videos. I like the documentary style of his videos. Oops! Forgot to link one for you poor other soles whom are still waiting.

I have this addiction, obsession, whatever you want to call it for lipless crankbaits. Posting these kind of threads just feeds it more. I planned on trying out new offerings this season as I've already purchased rod and reel combos and lot's of other offerings to go with them. Currently I'm the guy on the lake flinging a lipless fishing for bass, who pretends to be fishing for the fish of a thousand casts! Thanks guys! Currently on google looking for suspending lipless crankbaits!

Cookeville....Who come up with these names?

I can carry 8 rods, but I only have 7. I can carry more tackle then I'd ever need. I can go thru the timber instead of all the way around. I go thru the really shallow water instead of around it. I've caught many a bass behind the bassboaters as they troll thru my spots. To be fair tho I did think of one other advantage. It's easier to tick in a bottle on a bassboat.