casts_by_fly

If money wasn't a factor then there's no such term as 'blowing the bank'. I'm not sure how much I would spend in the end, but you can bet I'd try everything given an unlimited pool of funds. Except those round reels. You couldn't pay me to fish a calcutta or an Ambasssadeur.

thanks. I picked up a pack of 4” senkos off the back of one of your previous trip reports and my own success of using the back of a banged up 5” one. It’s a bigger profile but with a 1/16 oz head I can throw it on all of my lighter casting rods if I want. Smaller than that and I need the bfs rod or spinning. Next order I’ll throw the tanuki in. I’ve been fishing mine either with a Texas rig like drag/hop or like a swim jig with a steady reel and shaking the tip of the rod. I do the latter when I’m throwing into heavier weed areas to keep it just off the junk.

yeah, I imagine that might catch one or two. Is it the same plastic as a senko (salt load, texture)?

I leave my lifepo plugged in for extended periods often. I plug it in when I get home from a trip and then unplug it next time I am nearby and think about it. Sometimes that is multiple weeks. If the charger has a maintainer mode or similar then it will be fine.

"negligible" would be my summary. As in the amount of time I've gotten to spend on the water. The past 3 years I've been able to get out 2-3 times a week in the evenings. New job and gym focus has dropped that to once a week max and half of the time I haven't been able to go. I got out last sunday only to have a tournament follow me to the lake (I was unloading the kayak when the first 3 boats rolled in). 12 boats on a 120 acre lake (plus 2 other guys who weren't in the tournament) meant I got an hour before they started and then another 30 minutes fishing back to the ramp. I wasn't putting up with that. It's been a month since the next most recent trip. I had a good run at the start of June, but that was all before the first day of summer so... I'm going this evening and make no commitments that I will come home at any given point.

Not on your list but the Falcon Cara Heavy cover jig was designed exactly for what you're describing. I love mine. 7'4", 1/2-1 oz rating, heavy/fast though its a falcon 6-power 'heavy' which is on the lighter side of heavy. It was designed for dragging jigs around brushpiles (by mike mcclelland) and its a great all around jig and bottom contact rod. I've also found it to become my favorite buzzbait rod.

I fish 6'6" to 7'6" rods in my kayak. Like frydog, I'm in a sit on top and I stand to fish, so no difference for me compared to bank or boat. If you're in a sit-in kayak, the rod length still isn't critical, but the rear butt grip length might be. Most 8' rods and especially ones designed for big swim baits have long rear grips. I don't like really long rear grips anyway and I could see where they would get in the way if you're down in a sit-in.

It will work fine. I’d still get the brake block and clip it in but for now I’d put two on and one off (with one more missing). I find that’s the best adjustability on a shimano.

What do you fish (lures, cover, etc)? If you have a medium heavy then a heavy is a good addition if you fish around cover. For a spinning rod, I’d get a medium power mf or f action for lighter stuff with the Sahara.

Nice. That’s a lot of fun. Throwing moving baits all day for eaters is a whole lot of fun. How far up were you?

Use it for whatever you want. Throwing moving baits you might need to slow down but then you might not. Burning a crankbait isn’t the worst thing. I tend to use my faster reels for bottom contact or topwaters.

In the current market, the only clear cut ‘whoa’ item is the jdm zillion for $205. At that price point it is a no brainer if you like daiwa or just want a super high end reel. I don’t need any more reels but if I did I would have a hard time picking against it. past that, everything is a sliding scale. I would say that a falcon Cara for $250 is going to be better than a lot of $300+ rods but then again the low rider for $125 is 85% of the rod for half the price. I’d go with Toxic and say that $150 buys a whole lot of rod and reel right now. The $100-120 bucket rods are pretty incredible for that price point.

yep. This is where I’ve netted out. Life is too short to deal with a hook in the hand. It might happen but I’m going to do my best to not let it. Smaller fish and single hooks I will boat flip, usually straight to my hand. Anything bigger, agitated, or with treble hooks and I’ll just net it. If there is any question I’ll just net it. Once it’s in the net it can hang out in the water and breathe just fine for as long as I need it to hang out there. They calm down quickly in a net. If it’s a tricky hook situation i bring the pliers to the net while the fish is in the water. No sense taking an unnecessary risk for something we do for fun.

True for the big trails, but there are lots of local/regional outlets that allow two and plenty of those guys have no interest in the big trails.

same. If I were starting fresh then I would have a look at the bonafide. Its $2800 without any propulsion. $1400 for an Xi3 kayak. That's $4200 which is just under the AP120 MSRP. I think Bonafide has priced is about right for someone looking for a motorized kayak. At 40" wide, that's a little wider than the AP and the bonafide has more in built features. The front storage is nice, but the fact that your fish finder rails are on it would be a pain. I couldn't imagine having a dual 9" screep setup (which its set up nicely for) and then have to lift that lid to get at lures. With all of the rails they've built in, I'm surprised they didn't put one on the front hatch lid. If you don't use a crate or blackpack this boat is going to get nose heavy quickly. An xi3 plus a battery up front. Fish finder and 3700 boxes in the hatch area. Nothing in the back to counterweight it. I'm sure they considered that, but that's a lot. I think for me, the most innovative thing on it is the central 'one deck' all the way to the back and the sliding seat rails. That's pretty clever and something you can only get away with if the boat is wide enough and also has the front battery hatch (or a far rear one). The ability to properly add a second seat is nice and something I would totally do. All that said, this is going to be a trailer only operation. If I'm storing 3700's in the hatch then I'm not taking them in and out every trip. Same for the batteries and seat. If you put a motor on the back that's more yet. Buying one of these means a trailer for sure at which point you have to consider a job boat or small aluminum for far less money. I think this kayak will be great for tournament kayak anglers, especially those that can run a motor in the front and one in the back. I think there will be another contengent of hard core anglers who just want it as a high end kayak (I would fall into that category). Past that, I think it might be a little more limited of a market.

keep in mind that a handle is more than twice the volume. So if the price is less than 2x its overall cheaper. The WT example at $25 for a fifth would be $58 for a handle. So that's $11 cheaper for the same amount. I did it for makers two weeks ago. I also grabbed two Bombay in the spring. Both are things we'll go through in volume here when we have friends over (case in point, the makers is about gone).

most of us aren’t catching bass you can fit four fingers in their mouth….

Something else to consider. I don’t know about your local but mine often has 1.75 bottles for not much more than a 750. Case in point- I have a handle of makers that I bought a couple weeks ago. When I got it, a bottle was $35 I think but a handle was $45. It was $10 more but 2.3x the size. If you’re making cocktails from it, it’s hard to beat that price to value ratio.

agreed. And kayak tournaments don’t allow gas motors I don’t think. Spot lock is a game changer in a kayak you can stand in. If I could swap 1:1 this bona fide for my autopilot I’d consider it. It’s probably a better version of what you and I have. But I bet with an xi3 kayak it would cost more than an ap. Probably more than worth switching.

Cutie pie. we love scruffy faces here too.

but it has the capacity for an outboard. Which is exactly what I would do. A 2.5hp on it or even a 4 should do 10 mph. then again, an outboard, trailer, etc you might as well get a Jon boat. I don’t expect this to be a cheap kayak.

length/width/weight its basically the same as the AP120. Its 7" longer, but also about 20 lb heavier. the gunwales are higher and the capacity is higher by a bit. The full length rails are pretty neat and I think that's a really smart feature. Like you said, that's pretty cool for a second angler, especially with the increased capacity. Good that the built a trailer hook on the front because you're going to need it.

I could understand it. I'm sure 13 fishing lures were outsourced anyway. And Rapala has a significant lure presence in the market. But they don't have a presense in rods and reels which they now do. I'm sure they only bought them for the rods and reels.

Yep. There should be 4 so far as I'm aware. Are the 3 that are there in a 90 degree orientation?

Its not hanging in her mouth, but you can see it on the deck of the boat by her tail. She was a 4+ (4-08 I think?) last spring when my dad came out. Beautiful fin perfect specimen of a fish. Other critters like them too.