Bazoo

Interesting. I too love a good recovery. I have spent an hour trying to get a lure before... Take the stringer and bend the wires so they are more hooky, and you might do okay. You could bend a couple coathangers into a grapple. Also might consider, once you get snagged on it, throwing in a crankbait and snagging it 2 ways.

Sorry to hear about your issues. Sounds like a frustrating day. I don't consider losing 2 as getting skunked - half skunked maybe. Certainly a whole lot better than no bites at all.

Thank you for all the suggestions. I definitely have some research to do. I didn't mention a budget because I haven't a clue. I won't be rushing out and buying a kayak, and most likely I'll buy used if possible. I had seen outriggers before and have kept the idea in the back of my mind, and that may be an option. The boat I have has water logged foam, making it I'd guess 125 pounds heavier than normal. I have made a cart for it, but it is right at the limit of what I push up hill for any distance. I figure that even if I get the water out, with the addition of a trolling motor and battery, the weight will be the same. So basically, it's a boat that I need to have drive up access. I don't have a trailer, and I car top the boat by myself. But moving it from the parking lot to the waters edge is the main issue. Some of the places I want to fish, the distance would be over 100 yards, and It's just too far. If I had a kayak that weighed 100 pounds or less, I could do it. Which is why I am learning. @Bankc thank you, that was very helpful. I still have a lot to digest and will of course be coming back to this thread and looking into all the suggestions everyone has made. Thank you all.

Pretty decent ones round here too. Usually my go to lures are worms, topwater such as popper or spit'n image. I normally use a finesse worm and power worms, not in any particular order. Though I've been warming up to flukes lately too. It seems beetle spins do well too, even when larger spinnerbaits will not.

I am clueless about kayaks. I am in the researching and learning phase. So let me tell a bit about myself and what I think I want, then have at me with suggestions of what I need. I have a 2 man bass buster plastic boat. I want a kayak so that I can fish places that I can't move my boat to the water because it's either too heavy or cumbersome. I am 6'5" and 330 pounds. The top requirement for me is stability. I have a balance issue because of a neurological condition. I feel off balance sometimes and will fall when standing on occasion if I don't have something to grab onto. So... where do I start?

I agree completely. I used to not have any confidence in clown... until I had a Shallow Shad Rap in clown and slayed them. Firetiger, I haven't used much, but I have confidence in it sure. I had a firetiger chug bug when I was a youngster... I don't think I ever caught anything on it. Course the fact that I was a kid with no clue could have played some bearing. Blue is a color I have a lot of confidence in for crankbaits and spinnerbaits. Not solid blue, but some blue mixed in to whatever the color is. Solid color crankbaits are a no go, I don't care what color they are I want them to have some contrast, preferably in the back, unless they are white/bone.

I set the hook on a dink the other day... and jerked the little guy up out of the water and then ripped the hook out of his mouth. I don't know why I did that, as I normally am not that aggressive, but it can be hard to think when the fish are biting.

I have a spot that is a small 2 acre lake that is right next door to where I go to church. I often only have an hour or so after bible study to fish it. This spot, which I've mentioned before, is very limited pressure. I normally fish something that I'm working on building technique and confidence in. It's normally easy to catch fish there, even in the dog days I catch several in a hour. Lets not limit it to dusk, it could be an hour before bible study, or an hour before church, or an hour after church. This evening I stopped by after bible study, and fished a worm a while... no takers. Then I fished a beetle spin with a minnow instead of the beetle, again no takers. I then tried a popper as bluegill were popping all over, no takers. Then I fished the Spit'n image, and got a taker right at the end. Does anyone else regularly fish short trips like this, and how do you fish it if you have only an hour? What changes if you only have an hour, but it's a place you've never been before?

Howdy and welcome to the site. ---------------------------------------------------- I know a lady that is in her mid 80s that loves fishing, particularly saltwater. She has a barracuda mounted on her living room wall that she caught a few years back.

I pretty much use dark green mono for all of my needs. I rarely fish anything that could be considered clear, if I fished primarily clear I'd be using clear mono. I do use braid, but I primarily use mono.

Interesting stuff being shared here, thanks all. And thank you again @bulldog1935

Howdy, how do ya feel about casting? Welcome from Kentucky!

Sorry to see it. If you were round here I would have offered you my spare car. I've loaned vehicles to several friends, and had the same done to me. Course... one of the friends blew my speakers and then said they shoulda been able to handle his tunes lol. That car is long gone now. Car is just a way to and from the gun store and the lake, so no worries.

I feel for those that have winter and can't fish year round. I was only down a few days a couple of times due to ice last winter. I didn't notice any issues keeping a supply of soft plastics in the car like always. I even fished when it was 15º when there was still some open water, best I remember I threw a Zoom Speed Craw without issue. Ice freezes up on your guides like that, and braid doesn't do well as it gets beads of ice on it, then it makes the worst birds nest you ever saw when it all comes off at once.

"I find myself occasionally lifting the rod to take a loose finish-cast loop off the spool" I do this too. Very minor loop, I do it instinctively. Thank you for articulating it so well.

Yes, Scott, please come back and talk a spell!

I always fish shallow. For me shallow is 5' or less. Sometimes I fish deeper than that, but not normally where and how I fish. I've fished in water so shallow the fins of the fish would occasionally poke out of the water. I don't know why those fish were there, guess they liked it.

Awesome, thanks for sharing.

What is a bass club?

Bridges are iffy here. Most of the bridges are on private land, and technically I'd be trespassing. Most bridges don't have anywhere to park either, so I'd have to park on the shoulder, and that is frowned upon except for the back roads. I had a friend tell me about a bridge/creek; he gave me the location, I asked if it was private property; he said "I don't know, probably, but no one has ever said anything to me."

Thanks for all the information yall. Thank you very much.

Anyone have an idea on age? My boy is still learning by the way. He's getting pretty good at picking backlashes out.

I’ve caught a lot of fish on braid too, but I also have got tangled up and made a heck of a racket plenty of times with both braid and mono.

An interesting discussion, thanks all for sharing.

I haven’t heard about the record or the boat and I surely would like to. I have however gained respect for @Team9nine through his detailed and informative posts. I very much appreciate your addition to a subject.