Darth-Baiter

As a kayaker, I relish calm days. I cast out further from my boat. Same usual suspect baits.

I almost lost a good friend to an idiot running a red light. im good with the robust fine. I work as a civil engineer. The stuff I’ve seen with people running lights, I think $500 is light.

I was pitching a creature bait. Underhanded. That perfect, “tzz,tzz,tzz” sound of a bait skipping beautifully across the water in tight cute hops. Blew my mind I then tried it again, on purpose and boogered my baitcast good. Haha. the big takeaway for me is it’s not about speed It’s the perfect approach angle I think. think I’ll eventually get it.

I have a couple of Lews reels and bags of plastic I have zero confidence in the colors. His if he needs them.

In the spirit of gluttony for punishment, I went back today to make sure it’s me. Yup. Me. another day of practice casting. Haha. Whatever. still fun. Laughing at myself.

today was awful. just awful. the fishing at least was awful. weather was stellar. anyways; what is worse than being skunked? being the ONLY person skunked. I could find the fish on my fish-finder. I just couldn't get them to bite my offerings. my friend would paddle up, and BOOM!! fish on!! I went for 7 hours watching my buddy do fairly well. we got his PB even!! haha. he even gave me some of his exact same baits. nada, nothing, zilch.. while I am super happy for him, it was a sour, bitter, jagged poopoo color pill I had to swallow. getting skunked and watching the fishing partner have a good day is worse than a normal skunk day. by far. January is my nemesis. the lake is a mere 10 minutes from my front door. the drive home was long...

I’m dang close. I do want a better (lighter) punch rod and a BFS combo. Both both are just gravy. I’m fine where I’m at.

I also have a pedal drive. But I paddle quite often. I stand up and paddle around scanning for cover. I use the factory Hobie paddle. It’s fine and propels me great. ‘’I want one with a lure retriever hook. Makes total sense for the snagged lures that are, “juuust right there”

Googled them. !! Nice stuff. Apparently they hired the same Costas finance guy because pricing is the same. One day…one day! I Like Bajio stuff.

My lakes are multi bass species. I’m not targeting smallies exclusively. Having said that. I’m 50/50 easy between the two. Easy. I love easy tossing a spinning setup. And the fish fight is so exciting. I don’t have any preconceived notions about either gear setup.

Like to let the lure hit the ground when I let it drop. I’m setting the spool up so that when the lure hits, the spool stops spinning. that’s my jumping off point. It’s a super conservative setting. my best backlashes are at lure “ takeoff” not landing. Well my ugliest birds nest are.

Being able to buy a boat and affording a boat are two vastly different things. there are things that need to be lined up before you can honestly afford something. The rest of stuff paid in full, 8 months of spending saved up in case something happens… etc. stringing along a bunch of monthly payments for stuff isn’t affording things.

This is a bit extreme. Everything? I fish lawfully. I might not understand or agree but I’ll comply. I hate invasive species stuff. My own yard was covered in bamboo. I would outlaw that plant here. my dream bass fishing trip is to fish a golden shiner in weeds. I’ll head to Florida.

I bet more bass are caught from shore simply because there are more shore fisherman. having said that, even the most basic fish finder on any floating water craft is a giant advantage.

I don’t want to be an old retired person dealing with hurricane season. I’ll visit Florida. but what a fishing paradise!! I’m gonna visit soon and hire a kayak fishing guide.

I’m only Texas rigging my D-shots. 3/16th lead weight. I just bought some tungsten. I just got them a few days ago and they are almost “cute” in comparison. I use the Owner Downshot exclusively. I keep three sizes. 2/0, 1/0 and 1 My baits are all over the place.

Glad disaster was averted. Head on a swivel, but more importantly ears wide open. I told a buddy wearing earbuds listen to music wasn’t a good idea. I convinced him. every time I hear a boat moving, I look and take inventory of my situation.

I’m triple shot. Still very vigilant by keeping my distances and copious hand cleansing. im supposed to go hunting next week but it appears Covid is ripping thru my brothers home. I might seek a ticket voucher instead. I simply don’t want it. My luck isn’t great. I’d probably get really really sick. Lost airplane ticket money is acceptable. hope you feel better Brian. And soon.

What a welcome sight! My more local big lake (Sonoma lake) is still super low. I’d have to drag my kayak 1/4 mile form the boat ramp to launch where I want. Where the smallmouth congregate. I’ll do it, but it’s hell dragging it back up. Absolutely hell. I’ve been using the main ramp, but it’s mostly largemouth on that end. It’s a long kayak run too. but Clearlake! It’s still low, but vastly improved. The bass boats will have (full estimated) ramp access again when water gets to 0-Rumsey. It’s at -0.2 rumsey now. My tiny local lakes are flooded. Haha. Spring time is going to be interesting. Been cold recently. I bet bass are finally 0n their winter thing. Deep diver cranks time. my new hobby is checking lake level charts

On paper I STILL can’t afford a bass boat. Just buying a boat is the beginning. The other stuff is pretty staggering to me. I don’t know how some people “of my vintage” do it. My friends has a 10- year loan and that’s never a good idea. Only bright side he fishes often. But d**n. I bet he paid 20% interest. if I could write my 22 year old self a note it would say, “ kid. Pay yourself first! And ask Diana out now!” keep this in mind. Rich people buy investments. Poor people buy annuities. Things you make payments on. Pay yourself first. Not the boat-bank.

Haha. Yea I get it. No argument detected on my end bud. three years ago a friend invited me fishing in November. I bought a listened and used it once. But the amount of rockfish in my freezer (and crab) made it worth it.

The $54 is the best money I spend all year. I fish quite often. Zero complaints. I was fishing 3x a week last spring. it’s the same for a half tank of fuel. And that feels dirty by comparison. And my career pays better in this state by far. It’s not even a wash.

I was shocked it didn’t happen yet.

I buy it this time every year! The anticipation is the same every season. What is in store for me? Will it be epic? Will I learn new water, new tricks, maybe meet a new fishing partner? I just bought next years fishing license (price didn’t go up this year, I don’t think) For sure our lakes will be more full, with all this rain. Last year it was not rainy at all. No giant storm that I remember. We had 2 or 3 already -this year. my most hopeful spot was a 1/4 mile + kayak drag to get to the water. Hope it gets closer. It’s chocked full of smallies. (No giants, but numbers are good). Have a great fishing new year people. Let’s do this!

It’s a moving target. Really hard to nail down when reels come in so many different weights. if it feels right, you’ll know.