FishTax

I generally fish 1 public lake that's about 1100 acres. High fishing pressure, but it has big fish in it. I occasionally fish some smaller public lakes (the ones Pat fishes) but they're a little further from home and pretty similar to my home lake, so I generally opt for convenience. I also occasionally go meet a friend to fish other lakes like Norman, Wylie, high Rock, or hyco. But only if they bring a boat 😎

Looks like I'm similar to many here, I don't bomb cast much. Average is probably about 20 yards, many are much shorter than that, very few are longer. Only exception is if I'm on a large flat the bass are moving around on, I'll throw a far as I can to try to cover it in fewer casts..

Do you have sonar? I think an underspin is a great search bait. Mackintosh has lots of points and wood, I can usually pull a couple from somewhere on a point with a shaky head, but finding out what depth they're in is key. Try tossing a jig or worm at lay downs in the sun near deep water.

Are there specific things you throw at, like deep water hard bottom, brush piles, etc? How long of a leader do you prefer? I'm going to get some Carolina keepers to try the @WRB method as well. I like the idea of having flexibility. I know everyone does it different but I enjoy hearing everyone's opinions on this.

Who throws one in the winter? What conditions do you throw it in? What's your setup? I'm looking to learn, don't have much experience with this so maybe an area to grow this winter as I'm dragging around looking for hungry ladies.. 😞

I'm going to end up with a ZL card.. not in the budget right now, but it'll be interesting to see how long I can hold out. Primary lake is 1100 acres but I'm not going to map but probably 20% of it. But then if I go anywhere else it sounds like I'm out of memory so I guess I won't turn that on anywhere but home until I get the card. Anyone have tips for a cheaper card? Can you find them used or refurbished?

Thanks Tim! I'm not going to buy anything else until I've got a few dozen hours with my current setup. I pretty much fish the same lake over and over so from my previous research I may not need a ZL card, definitely shouldn't at first. We'll see what happens, right now I just need to get some time to get on the water.

I got the helix 7 MSI G4. Haven't got it installed yet. If my lake is on the built in map, is there any need for a zero lines card? Do the contours on a map card update as I cruise around the lake if there's a change from what the built in says vs the transducer reading?

I think I saw a video on YouTube of someone melting old chewed up senkos and then repouring it as new bait. Anyone tried that?

@Catt wow, definitely have never heard of that. Learn something new every day, but the bait monkey remains alive and well!

I use a cushion I originally bought for my desk chair. The actual cushion is silicone, not foam, so I'm not worried about it getting wet. It was a Amazon purchase, very affordable, very comfortable to me. I'm on an old town kayak and this has made a huge difference for me.

Read everything @Pat Brownposts, he's the central NC King of bass fishing. My advice is throw a jig or shaky head and move slow, but everyone fishes different and has different confidence baits and experience levels. Do you use electronics?

I've never seen that bait before. Is it still made?

I've been staring at the weather forecast since waking up and trying to think of a way to get my 6 yo to beg Mom for us to go fishing 😎

I'll have one in the next 3 months to post. 😎 Trying to speak it into existence, hopefully not a jinx! @Pat Brown inspires me and is a constant reminder that the big girls are all around me I just need to put in the work to find them!

I like the Berkley version, it is a little bit more weedless as it has a little floro guard on it. I almost ordered some on that pure fishing sale but talked myself out of it. I've had success working it just like a jig, both in laydowns and on flats at various times in the year.

Humminbird has a $200/$100 rebate on Helix 7, depending on which model you get. Sure am glad I waited for today to order it

Agree on spinner bait! I should listen to you and throw the buzz and catch hogs instead of throwing spinner and catching skunks 😎

This is actually a decent sale. Definitely not as good as last year, but free shipping and several decent things on good discount. The cheaper Abu combos are pretty much all on sale if anyone likes those or needs a starter rod for someone.

I slipped off early and fished the home lake a few hours yesterday. Very frustrating day, it was about as windy as I've ever been out on my kayak. The weather forecast was off or I wouldn't have gone out. I threw spinner bait and crank bait with no bites. Broke off my shaky head on second cast. Then got blown into some weeds just below surface I couldn't see and got prop wrapped up, and had to paddle into the wind out of it. Finally caught one good one on a jig on my way back in a random spot, but he got off beside the boat so no photo. On a positive note, I'm buying a new hummingbird this weekend so that was my last trip without electronics. Looking forward to sharing some great fish the rest of the year as December is probably my favorite month to fish in NC!

@Darth-Baiter that is cool for something simple. I'm not good at buying something simple when I can make it more complicated What I'm thinking of is truck bed height, which as a secondary benefit gives me a nice amount of storage for fishing stuff under the kayak and I may even mount a battery charger on it, etc. I have a quickly growing pile of kayak and fishing accessories I need to put somewhere. Extra trolling motors, extra parts, and of course tackle!

Mine sits in the garage floor, and it's not working out well I need to get it off the floor so the kids will quit playing in it, I'm afraid I'll leave a hook or knife out that they get hurt on. Plus it takes up a ton of space. I'm thinking of doing one of those cart on wheels things to make it easier to load in truck and keep it off the floor. We'll see if I can fit it into my project list this winter.

This is now $239 for Black Friday. Are you still happy with it? Seems like any awesome deal, I just happened to click your link and realized it was one I looked at earlier today when researching.

I don’t have a lure retriever, I guess I should get one.

What do you straight braid guys do when you need to break off and you've got 50 lb line on? I am constantly in trees and rocks and this is one reason I've moved away from it, I hate cutting it with scissors and leaving line in water, and can't figure out how to break it otherwise. I guess my knots are pretty good 😂