casts_by_fly

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.

I don't turn mine off in the kayak. I am more worried about the trolling motor than the ping, specifically the turning motor and not the prop motor. The prop on a low setting makes very little noise. The turning motor is a higher pitch whine that, while above the water, I'm sure can be heard under it. That said, fish can certainly hear it and feel it. In another thread I told the story of when we were diving the last time. We were under the boat in 60' of water and when I hit the cone of the transducer it was like a drum in my ears/sinuses and basically every air cavity could feel it. If we stayed too long (like more than 10 seconds) I started to get a headache. I don't know what transducer or unit it was since it was a saltwater boat (used for both diving and fishing).

You sound a lot like my use case for a truck. Dead things in the winter, boats in the spring, summer, and fall. Who knows what else throughout the year. When I bought my truck 3 years ago (used 2018 Ram) I considered smaller trucks since we were coming back from the UK and used to smaller cars. The ranger wasn't available then, but I drove a colorado and was in a tacoma. I had driven or been in lots of the full sized trucks. Having gone to the big one, I'll never go back. The usable space is a lot greater and there isn't really a downside. Fuel economy is similar but if you're worried about economy you wouldn't be getting a truck. Driving/parking is the same except for my garage. I have a small door and can just barely fit it in. Then again, a ranger would still be really close. I'd consider very carefully if you want to downsize and why.

Its all about the ecology pyramid you'll have learned about in middle/high school. If you let nature find its balance, this is what you get: For a lake, the primary producers are your aquatic vegetation, algae, and anything else that can take water, nutrients, and sunlight to grow and make energy. You then need organisms like insects and crustaceans to convert that plant energy into animals. From there small fish like minnows eat the insects, bigger fish eat the minnows, and predators eat the bigger fish. Proportionally, this is how it has to work. In absolute terms if you want that 0.1% of third level consumers (i.e. bass assuming you have pike or musky around) to have a large population then you need to have a large enough base to support it. People always talk about baitfish but baitfish only survive if there are enough nutrients in the water in the first place converted by enough producers. Farm ponds are a good example. For their size, most farm ponds shouldn't have fish in the multiple pounds range and yet I've witnessed multiple 8+ lb fish coming from 1-3 acre PA farm ponds. Nutrients = a large fish population. All of the above is for a system in equilibrium. If someone stocks 10k lb of baitfish every year, you don't need the producers as much (until stocking stops). If someone stocks 10k 8" bass then you add a demand higher up the chain which will either feed the apex predators or cause a crash of the secondary consumers. When the state does fish surveys, they are trying to determine how steep the sides are on the pyramid to know what the balance is and why. A lake with a bigger top layer than the layer below can support will mean that top layer has smaller or less healthy individuals which is what you could be seeing. Or, you just don't know how to catch big bass. ?

Naked panther martins in a 2 or 3 are killer in ponds.

south branch?

I fish alone and do what everyone else does from the passenger floorboard to behind the drivers seat. I have rods up to 7’3” with no issues. It could do longer as well. i typically have a spinning rod or two in the ram boxes along the bed for the ‘just in case’ stops. I too have a hard tonneau cover which is nice. Doesn’t help if the boat is in the back. if you really want to have a solution, best bet is a full topper/cap on a 6.5’ bed. You can put the boat in and shut the glass. Behind the glass you use the clothes rod trick and hang two clothes rods to suspend the rods on. A bungee strap ensures they can’t fall out. Then you have full passenger space if you want.

My dads coming for a visit next week and I’m taking him fishing on my lakes but his boat. I heard one lake where I was planning to go was really low so I previewed it tonight. Sure enough it is 3’ low. Almost all of the woody cover around the shoreline is dry. The grass was brown/dying and the fish wanted nothing to do with it. The plan was to ride around the lake and see just how much timber was left in the water (my dad prefers timber) while power fishing here and there. The short answer is that I could count the amount of wood in the water with one hand and I caught fish on 3 of them. There were probably more fish on those trees if I wanted to slow down with a jig or worm, but I didn’t have a lot of time to cover 800 acres and I can only manage just shy of 4 mph. I think I’m changing plan of lake to take him since he wouldn’t enjoy this one. In the meantime, a couple 15-17”, 2.5-3lb fish on topwater isn’t a bad couple hours.

that’s the feeling I got there. Cool place, interesting bottom topography, and a bit different to the rest around. I think I prefer others around as well (I was at spruce tonight) but I also like to pick one or two lakes each year and really get to know them. Swartswood will make that list one year.

The answer in one. Possibly. I work in another industry but we often have to make variant (color, scent, flavor, size) rationalizations. It is always a pareto chart for incrementality. Your first variant will always be the biggest incremental gain from zero to X. Each one after that is a smaller gain. Eventually you reach a point where the extra cost/complexity/capacity usage isn't worth the incremental sales for your business. Some businesses don't mind holding lots of stock so they might run a less common color once a year and produce a full year's worth (or two!) in one go and hold the balance. Some prioritize minimal stock holding (fewer obsolete items later, less storage space required) and produce more frequently. It just comes down to process economics and company appetite/choice. With 150 colors in one size plus all of the other size color combinations, they are around 300 SKUs of just Senkos. Add in all of the other soft plastics they make (22 I think) and the other colors (about 10 per on average) and they are around 500 SKUs. I think we can deduce which choice they have made. That said, from a manufacturing standpoint, its pretty much just injection molding with a low temp plastic. Once you are running one color, changing out molds is pretty fast. And for some of the colors I have to imagine they have fairly dedicated lines like the bulk pack colors. You can also do things like running watermelon, then watermelon black flake, then watermelon black and green flake so that you never really have to clean out the lines. Just keep molding and let the colors flow into each other. I'm not sure of their process, but they might (probably?) do late stage mixing also where it is the same base color but right before injection a flake/additive is added. That makes it really easy to do swaps. Do more colors catch more fish? No. But if your process and business support it and your retailers will stock them then why not?