Quitlimpin

The rest of the internet is going toe to toe arguing over anything and everything. Meanwhile the fine folks at bassresource.com are having calm, civil discourse over the pros and cons of using braid to flouro leaders. Ya gotta love it ?

I sold off a few rods recently and found myself short an all purpose MH and went with an ALX Ikos 7’ MH. I’d consider it somewhere between a typical MH & H. I haven’t had a ton of time on the water with it but I absolutely love it. I’ve mainly been fishing pegged creature baits in stupid heavy cover and it’s definitely up to the task. It’s super crisp but still loads very well & is great for pitching. I get the feeling that if/when this brand is more established, the ikos series will be a $200+ stick.

Pretty much. Rigging up a leader while I’m sitting at my work table is one thing. Trying to re-tie when I’m on the water and the wind is blowing my kayak all over god’s creation and I have sweat pouring down my face is something entirely different. I’m super over it. I will 10000% of the time have a c-rig ready to go. It’s my go to lazy bait when I’m moving spots or just flat can’t get bit. Just toss it over the side and drift away.

Wacky rig 3” senko in some variation of watermelon then I’ll figure it out from there. If they’ll eat anything, they’ll eat that. If they won’t eat that, they won’t eat anything.

I love my RTIC 12 can soft cooler. I can fit a couple big powerades, a few bottles of water, and a couple monsters/cokes in it just fine & it tucks in perfectly behind my crate. I’ll freeze a couple bottles of water and they’re thawed just enough to drink after a day on the water in 248 degree Texas heat.

Longer is def the new norm & it isn’t going back. I’ve owned a few 7’6” flipping sticks and I just couldn’t get used to em. 6’8”-7’ is probably my sweet spot but they’ll pry my 6’3” cumaras out of my cold dead hands. I REALLY wish I could go back in time and just go ham on the gen 1 cumaras when they were on close out.

After the first paragraph, my thinking was exactly ‘chatter bait to swim jig’ so I’d be right in line with your approach. If that didn’t get bit I’d move to a trap then a wacky rig. I’m not familiar at all with northern waters but it doesn’t seem all that different to the flats I fish in Texas. If those don’t cut it I’m moving to deeper points/ditches/humps or heading back to the ramp. Overall, late summer is a super tough bite so I don’t get too discouraged when it just doesn’t happen.

This podcast is a really good listen: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kayak-bass-nation/id1451018207?i=1000460088367 He’s not big leaguing or anything like that; he’s just a dude talking about fishing. Either he truly LOVES the sport and the competition or he’s one hell of an actor. It goes without saying he has serious skin in the game but I get the feel he’d do it for free.

Oh for sure. I always view their presence as a very very good thing. It shows they’re keeping tabs on the fishery & definitely helps keep the riff raff in check.

Constantly and consistently. I rarely have a major blowout but I’m constantly stripping overruns. I finesse fish quite a bit & can’t control spinning gear to save my life. It’s an elite recipe for backlash. As an added bonus, light line loves to bury itself in every little nook it can find while I’m picking. Good times

I lived in the OKC area for several years and fished the ODWC lakes a ton. Bank access looked excellent on some and non-existent on others. They are very well managed, smaller lakes. Some get pretty heavy traffic and others you could have the whole lake to yourself on any given day. Odds of running across a game warden are also pretty good, which is never a bad thing imo. Idk about the Tulsa area but I’d def give em a look. https://www.wildlifedepartment.com/fishing/wheretofish/odwc-lakes

Absolutely. Any boat, be it a kayak, canoe, or the sweetest bass boat, is gonna be a pain in the ass but the kayak is probably the least troublesome of all and I can get to water bigger boats can’t even consider. A lot of our 20-30 acre lakes around here get choked with grass in the summertime so I get the whole lake to myself.

I might have 3-4 brands of every size worm hook in my box and I couldn’t tell you which is which. I don’t mess with house brands but I don’t break the bank either. I stick to gamakatsu, laser sharp, owner etc & generally buy whatever’s on sale in bulk packs. Can’t say I’ve ever really noticed a difference between brands.

That’s a heartbreaker. Had this happen several years ago. Pond was absolutely stuffed with aggressive 5+ pounders and I never once saw anyone else fishing it. Rolled up one day with my float tube and there were 1,000s of dead fish and bright blue algae everywhere. That’s a sight….and a smell I’ll never forget.

Small ponds are super tough this time of year in my experience. I downsize everything for small ponds regardless of season. 3” senkos, small flukes, baby ikas, and tiny traps are just about all I throw year round, but this time of year I’m fishing sloooooow. Grass is always key in small water, especially if isolated. Points and overhang shade can also be money. I’m basically just looking for anything ‘different’ and picking it apart with multiple casts from every possible angle.

???I’m legit drooling over this setup. Immaculate!

Looks like you’re on point. A smaller arsenal demands versatility. I don’t hate MF for bottom contact but it’s not my 1st choice. I’d personally wait until my price range wasn’t as restrictive for adding a new rod. The ‘more you spend, the better the gear’, isn’t a hard and fast rule but in my experience it is pretty applicable to rods with regard to overall sensitivity, build quality, and balance. I’ve spent a good chunk of cash & years on gear that I ultimately upgraded where if I had just saved up and been more patient I could’ve avoided all of that.

RW and others here turned me onto this line many years ago. I’ve tried every fluoro, copoly, etc, but I always come back to yo zuri. Outside of a couple rigs with braid, it’s on all of my reels.

If I’m starting the day fishing top water, my first ~20 casts are with an old school clear torpedo. They’re also awesome under shady overhangs when the sun gets high.

I fish/have fished both and love both. On the performance end, I’ve always preferred Shimano’s braking and Daiwa’s drag but it’s mostly splitting hairs. I ultimately settled on mostly Daiwa bc they are infinitely customizable. Do I catch more or better fish bc of the aesthetics of my gear? Absolutely not, but it’s fun as hell and I get a kick out of it. “If you look good, you feel good, If you feel good, you play good, If you play good, they pay good.” — Deion Sanders

Thanks! It definitely took a bunch of searching and patience to find the reels and parts. Idk if I’m gonna be able to let em go…

First time posting in several years...wanted to show off my setups before I start downsizing. I got rid of my boat a while back and now mainly fish out of a kayak or float tube and it's just excessive to have this many setups. After a ton of buy/sell/trades across every brand you could imagine, these are the rigs I settled on about 5 or so years ago. I'd estimate 1/2 of these rods & reels were acquired here in the flea market. Front to Back 1. Abu Garcia Fantasista Yabai FCY65L-Silver Mica Pixzilla 2. Megabass Orochi X4 Rattle Viper-Alphas Custom Finesse 105--Easily my favorite setup ever 3. NRX803-Alphas Type F 4. NRX803-Alphas Type R 5. NRX804-Alphas Type R 6. Cumara CUC63H-T3 1016 7. Lamiglas 62ML Don Iovino Signature Series-Sol 8. Lamiglas XC724-Alphas ITO--Still the best 5" & 6" senko rod I've ever fished 9. Cumara CUC63M-Curado 100D--This reel is an absolute tank

Guess I should've said both instead of 2. I promise I know what I'm doing....kinda(lol).

2 lean banks=upper intake leak almost every time. Either that or you have a gnarly vacuum leak(s) outside of the intake. That can make the truck run like absolute crap. I'd deal with getting those codes dealt with first--if the misfires are still present after repair, dig back in.