casts_by_fly

Yes, bass will herd up the shad or herring like tuna do ocean bait. Get them to the surface and start busting.

i know this wasnt to me, but I do have one of the seat front pockets. It’s great.

We are doing dinner out an hour away tonight or else I would too. One martini and one of anything else and I’m done for being functional. Plus one martini usually leads to three.

I generally agree with you and expressed that concern to the creator initially. We had some back and forth emails and phone calls and he put me on the tester list. I just mounted it this week and will test it out. It’s a clever design and I’m less worried about scupper holes based on what I’ve seen.

I don't have either of these, but a shimano SLX BFS and a BPS microlite will be close (I think). The SLX is $150 from digitaka and the microlite casting is $59. I have the microlite in a spinning rod for trout and they punch above their weight. The ML casting is rated 1/16-3/8 and is nominally a F action. Heck, this has me thinking about this combo for myself for trout and panfish.

got it. I've been on some sit on tops that are similar. My autopilot is steady as a rock, so I don't have the problem, but I fished standing up in a smaller sit on top when we were on vacation and I was fly fishing. You had to keep your wits about you. if you really want to get into standing, a grab bar would help a lot. They aren't cheap, but they will help you keep your weight centered.

I fish mine on MH and H Falcons (Hudson special and Lizard dragger 1). Action MF. 14/17 lb mono or thereabouts. I'm using a 110 most of the time, but might drop to a 90. The hooks are sharp and fish generally attack them hard when they hit them so are often hooking themselves. I treat them like a big crankbait when it comes to the rod. I also don't prefer true moderate actions for crankbaits. rick

I dislike spinning gear for bass and generally. It doesn't fit well in my rod setup in my kayak either so that limits me more. I rarely fish anything under a 1/4 oz let alone an eighth, so no issues there. I agree a $25 spinning combo can throw a light worm far easier and more efficiently than a baitcaster- i just don't like spinning setups.

So I lived in the Uk for 12 years and Gin is kinda a thing there... I also make my own gin (I have a small still). I haven't counted all of the gins I've had but its well into the three figures, most of them as a gin and tonic for the first time trying it so I get the gin profile and then see where it mixes best later. First and foremost is getting good tonic water. For a long time here in the US it was Schweppes or Canada dry and that was it (maybe store brand). Then maybe 10 years ago you started to get more craft or higher quality. I'm a huge fan of Fevertree tonic. In the UK it was everywhere and it was relatively cheap (about $2 for a big bottle, not much more than schweppes). Here it is expensive- a 4-pack of 6.8 oz bottles is about $6 at Target- but its worth it. Standard gold bottle original is the best overall. The light is the best 'diet' tonic I've found and great for lighter gin flavors. Mediterranean is fun, we've just tried cucumber (my wife likes it), and the lemon tonic is great with sloe gin. If you don't want to get Fevertree, schweppes is my supermarket choice. Its enough quinine and cinchona without overpowering or turning you off. I'm not a fan of Q (too much cinchona/bitterness and too dry). I can deal with Canada dry but its a bit boring. My best friend prefers tonic syrup and soda water. I do not and struggle to get into it. Ratios are personal preference. For me, a good 2-2.5 oz pour of gin and a 6.8 oz fevertree is about right. I might bump to 3 oz if I want a little more gin or down to 2 if its a navy strength gin. The more important thing is a big glass and lots of ice. In Spain you get served in a Copa, which is like a red wine glass in size and shape. Normally a dozen large ice cubes or more. You can scale up or down on the total drink, but make sure you have twice as much ice as liquid. Garnishes need to match or complement the gin. Lime is good for a London dry gin and that's the bar standard for most all gins. Lemon is a good choice for london dry also especially if the gin has more of a coriander flavor. Lemon is also great with Malfi lemon gin. Grapefruit (either wedge or just an expressed peel) does well with slightly softer gins. Cucumber is the standard for Hendricks and pairs well with light profile gins also. Orange goes with sweeter or oriental /spiced style gins a lot of the time (Opihr is a good example) or any gins that use a lot of orange peel in their distillation. Herbs are a good choice too. Rosemary is an easy one since a stalk of rosemary stands up in a glass and is very fragrant on the nose without a ton of flavor added. Basil, thyme, and mint can all do the same thing. You can also get less traditional garnishes like olives (try that paired with rosemary and Gin Mare), mango, or watermelon cubes. The main thing is to not overpower the gin and tonic. I even had a cocktail shrimp as a garnish once (Lobstar gin which is distilled with lobster shells in the still). Which Gin? So many choices now. Lots of old standards and lots of upstarts. Probably the three market leaders (if I had to guess) for this purpose would be Bombay, Tanqueray, and Hendricks. All good in their category. Bombay is London dry style but has a lighter juniper character and a bit more coriander and lemon- definitely a crowd pleaser and one I buy by the handle. Great in G&T, makes a great martini, and still stands up enough in a negroni or other big cocktail. Tanqueray is London dry but much heavier on the juniper. People who don't like the 'pine' in gin won't like this. Tanqueray 10 is a more refined version. Hendricks saw an opening in the market for a floral gin and they added a ton of rosehip/rose petal/orris root to a fairly juniper gin. Lightened up with some cucumber its a very unique flavor profile and definitely a crowd pleaser. Beyond the big three there are tons of choices. Malfi lemon is an Italian gin that is more like a lemon vodka than gin but with light tonic and a lemon peel it is sooo refreshing in the hot- almost like an alcoholic sprite. Gin mare is a Spanish gin that has heavy vegetal/green notes. Its great in a G&T with a green garnish like noted above, but also makes a great dirty martini. The Botanist is from Islay and is a very light, almost marine flavor gin that pairs well with light flavor profiles. Light fevertree, rosemary, and a grapefruit peel are the answer here. Sipsmith is based in Chiswick, west London, and we lived around the corner at one time. They have made a presence here in the US now. Very juniper forward, similar to Tanqueray but cleaner, maybe more creamy even. Monkey 47 is a complex gin with 47 botanicals. It's pricy and comes in a 500 ml bottle (so extra pricy per ounce), but has a unique flavor profile (so pair with regular tonic and a simple garnish). Opihr I mentioned above has a spiced profile with coriander, cardamom, bit of ginger even (not a ton of juniper). Great G&T, also very good in a martinez cocktail. Plymouth Navy strength (56% i think) is like a London dry on steroids. Good for a G&T (try it with Mediterranean fevertree), also does well in a negroni. Whitley Neil has some cool flavored gins- my FIL loves the quince flavor which makes a nice G&T. Hendricks does some seasonal editions (a friend just gave me Neptunia which I'll try tomorrow, mid summer solstice was great, Lunar was awesome). Aviation gin is an American gin, not too dissimilar to Botanist in the light profile category. And my favorite you can't get here (edit- looks like total wine might carry it now! YAY!). Silent Pool gin is made about 15 minutes from our last UK house. Its lighter on the juniper and big on the orange peel, coriander, and lighter florals. We used to visit when they had two stills that were little bigger than a refrigerator set up in a converted barn. For a G&T, pair it with an orange wedge and fevertree gold. For my own stuff, I have a london dry style I like and a citrus forward that is good. But my favorite of all of my own is an oriental spiced gin heavy on the allspice. Great in a G&T but crazy good in a martinez. I also did one that was very anise forward (I made a mistake in the recipe) that tasted like a cross between gin and ouzo/sambuca/black licorice. If you like that flavor you loved the gin. Not many love that flavor...

what kayak are you in? I stand full time, so have never tried sitting to pitch. I've got a decent side arm pitch so I can see it maybe working, but limiting. You could get a set of standing rails like the Hobie type that attach to tracks. I'm also field testing a product now that is scupper hole mounted and a balance aid. Just installed it but not been on the water yet. I don't think I will need it myself, but what you're describing of your own fishing it might be a winner. https://www.steady-stick.com/

ditto. My ideal setup for the lakes around here would be a ~16' decked aluminum with a 9.9 (tweaked up to an 18 or 20) since we have tons of restricted lakes. Decked for the permanent storage. I've considered building exactly what I want, but still need the go ahead from the commissioner.

My dad still has his 162 (165?) which is basically the classic now. He bought it new but old stock about 15 years ago now when the glass bass boat got to be more than he needed. He fishes a lot of standing timber and rock lakes and its still going strong. He takes care of his stuff, so I'm not surprised. He went with a 4-stroke Merc 20 HP for the PA restricted lakes, though every lakes he fishes now is either unlimited or trolling motor only.

Just checked. It will do a 1/15 and 2.75" Ned TRD, but not the same head and a Ned Bug. The Ned bug can overhead cast a lob just fine, but a side arm or roll cast I was blowing it up more often than not and accuracy would be an issue for me. This is with a revo MGX and 12 lb Sunline supernatural. A 1/10 oz on the TRD Bug would have been fine. A Ticklerz with 1/15 would have probably worked too. If you want to go that light on the lures then you're going to have to get down to a M or ML. rick

How light of a lure do you want to fish? An unweighted 5" senko has plenty of weight for a heavier rod if you want. For me, I have a ML Lamiglas that I built some time ago. 1/8-1/2 oz, 6'6". I fished it a lot last year before I picked up my falcons and it was fine for light hooks. I got an 18" largemouth on a TRD craw and 1/10oz head but that was pushing the lower end of weight for that rod and reel combination. I used it for drop shotting with a 1/8 of weight and light plastic on gamakatsu thin wire dropshot hooks. All of this on 10 lb fluoro since I want a spinning tactics baitcaster. Ultimately, I realized that I don't prefer to fish those techniques and the rod was only suited for light crankbaits otherwise so I benched it. If I want to throw unweighted plastics I use a MH Falcon expert finesse jig. Its more M than MH but has a quick tip. With 12 lb sunline I have no problem throwing medium to light unweighted plastics plenty long. I haven't tried a 1/10 and TRD craw, but I think it will do it (need to check that!). It definitely will fish a 1/15 head and a TRD Ned. rick

thanks. That's what I was picturing in my head but good to see it. Still a good bit of money to spend on something I will only use occasionally but I might be able to justify it.

I would love to be able to keep rods, tackle, and rain jacket in the boat all the time with a regular boat. That's my one gripe about this kayak. I've got my load and ready routine down to about 5-7 minutes each way (and I can hustle if its a busy ramp) but it would be nice to back a trailer down, pull the boat on, and drive away. rick

I truck bed my autopilot and a lot of the lakes I fish I can get the truck right down to the water, so that's fortunate. The batteries stay in the boat (25 lb + 6 lb), the seat is always in (and has a set of pockets for pliers/scissors/scale), and a couple small things are always in. The net stays in. That puts the base boat around 140-150 lb to get in and out of the truck. The motor is another 25 lb but rides in the back seat. The helix 7 detaches and rides in the back seat. I carry 4-6 rods pretty much every trip. I have a 4 rod horizontal rod holder so 4 is easy. 5 is fine too. 6 means putting one in a holder in the back (yak attack omega, angled level). My tackle bag is 5x 3700, 1x 3600, plus the plastics in the side pockets, probably 20 bags for trailers, worms, beavers, etc. Its about 40-50 lb. I have a seat back soft cooler that I have taken 50% of the time. I haven't done a long full day trip this summer but when I do I'll have it with ice pack and drinks. When I've taken it this spring its had a 3600 or two, a bottle of water, some assorted packs of lures, and maybe my rain jacket if there is a chance of rain Now that its 80 degrees I only take a rain jacket if its going to properly rain. A sprinkle I'll just get wet. rick

The 4.3 is my swim jig trailer for bigger SJs (I also use the 3.8). If I'm fishing it naked its either on a 5/0 weight swimbait hook (gamakatsu superline EWG) rigged texposed or on an jig head. I use underspins, weedless jig heads, and ball jigheads depending on location. I fish baitcasters almost exclusively so it goes on a M or lighter MH. Currently favorite is the 7' MH trapcaster from falcon (Bucoo SR) with 30 lb 832 braid. That's my main crankbait rod for lipless and other stuff but it does great for 1/8 oz jig heads and a 3.8 or bigger SIF. If I'm throwing swimbaits on it, I put on a length of 10-15 lb fluoro leader. I don't have any 4.8s but need to get some. I have the 5.8 and 6.8, but need to pick up a pack of 4.8's for a few usage occasions. The 5.8 is around 7/8 oz just for the plastic so you need a bit of a heavier rod to fish it on a weighted hook. The 4.8 on an eighth or quarter would be just about right I think.

reel assembly is very manual. There are some molded and cast parts, but there is a ton of manual working and assembly. Blanks can be rolled and baked in batches. Reels are one at a time. So labor rate is the determining factor. rick

Braid also floats. i don’t know the mojo you’re talking about but slightly slower action rods can be used to absorb shock instead of the line. You have to find the balance for your setup. For me, I’m throwing 14 lb suffix elite mono (which is a little larger diameter for test rating) on a moderate fast that has good power down low but takes a little to get to it. No issue with treble hooks biting and sticking, but it isn’t enough to set a toad hook. I use the same rod for bigger crankbaits. I might try it with 30 lb braid and for ploppers it might be better but since I use that rod for other stuff I don’t think it will be better for everything.

How does it work? The plate holds the pole in place and you have a rope to pull it up out of the water? Release the rope and the weight of the pole holds it in the bottom I guess. I’ve thought about a micro power pole for shallow situations. I have an autopilot with spotlock so don’t need it a lot of the time. But there are definitely times in shallow water and grass that I want to lock into a spot and pick apart the cover. The cost is too much though to justify. I’ve thought about a stakeout pole and replace my paddle but I’m not there yet. rick

if you have rails or a place for mighty mounts: https://www.mariner-sails.com/ms-horizontal-rod-holders.html

jet ski trailers are common. You can also modify a 5x8 utility trailer or similar. If you're putting a boat on it, its a boat trailer...

what he said. Get a trailer. If the lakes you fish mostly have ramps or at least have parking for a SUV/trailer combo then just get the trailer and be done. A PA is a beast of a boat in weight and also 'bulk'. My AP 120 is similar. I couldn't imagine car topping my AP. Its a pain to get into the bed of the truck let alone 3' higher. I am considering getting a trailer since almost every place I fish has a ramp. Anywhere that doesn't I'd just pop it in the bed. The side benefit of a trailer is that you can leave it partly/largely rigged. Depending on your setup you could have a crate strapped into the back of the boat and other ancillaries in place like the seat or other gear. Then you just need your fishfinder and rods when you hit the water. Can't do that if you car top.

This is the answer. Some have different additive packages but most don't. And the additive packages are for things to keep your engine running smoothly, not for fuel economy. Any differences you note from fuel stations are going to be differences in driving path and speed.