If you watch him now late 2020 he still have pretty much the same gear, kayak included, proof of the old proverb, when you can do a lot with less then you have the right stuff.
@@bigtuna1 I just grabbed a bass x but I haven’t got it on the water yet. Gonna use it tomorrow tho. Mh casting. Gonna toss a Megabass swim jig with a sparkshad. It feels like a dream in my hands tho. I love my st croix triumph spinning rod too.
I’ve taken up to twelve rods, and 2 to 3 soft tackle bags in my hobie outback kayak, water, extra clothes in case I fall in! In other words way too much gear! It’s funny, but I’m trying to bring less gear ? Lol ! I love NDYangler videos, I’ve learned a lot! Thanks a lot!
You are my favorite video to watch! I really enjoy your personality and your narration skills! Your skills as a fisherman is absolutely unmatched and I have learned a great deal watching your videos. In my younger years I was an avid fisherman up into my late 20s; then my career took front and center. I sustained some serious injuries in the oilfield on January 6th 2022 and I am still laid up. I still have a ways to go before I am repaired, but when I am healed up, I plan to devote much of my time on the water. I would like to plan a trip over your way to do some serious fishing! Thank you for all the wonderful videos! I am always eager to see every new video you put out!
Great video. You've got a nice simple setup. I need to continue to downsize after watching your vid. Several months ago I bought my daughter a tarpon 120 and now when she's not looking, I take it! Great all around kayak. Tight lines!
Thanks! I've been considering upgrading to an ATAK 120 next year but I think I'd still use the Tarpon most of the time. It's a great kayak for river fishing. I might just skip the new kayak and invest in a Torqeedo motor to increase my range.
Their warranty is pretty good too. I broke the tip off one of my Legend Tournaments and all I had to pay was the shipping to have a brand new one sent to me.
St. Croix went back to the old handle style for the LEGEND TOURNAMENT® BASS SPINNING RODS. I just got a 5'10" skipping rod that I ordered from Bass Pro Shop, and it shipped to me directly from the St. Croix factory. I bought it based on your recommendation.
I like those 5’10”s so much I picked up a third one last year with that new handle style. The new one is my favorite of the three. They’re all really nice, the 2015 one just didn’t have quite enough to hold onto for fishing lures like the spook. I’m glad they went back to a handle like the older one, my 2012 versions blank is starting to splinter toward the tip after six years of river abuse so I’ll have to send that one in for a replacement soon.
you've got it whittled down to your favorites perfectly! I have a bad habit of buying tackle I don't necessarily need this time of year. then, I always end up using the same lures that always work haha
I think you should do an updated video going over ur current gear, why u picked it etc seems like those videos kill it. Btw I’m up to date with all ur vids so now I’m watching ur older videos. Keep killin it dude !
Great break down on what you use. Clearly you are a st croix fan as am I. love the milk crate for carrying your stuff. i gotta do the same I end up fitting my stuff inside the yak on either side of my legs. Kind of messy. Also I use a stadium seat that inserts in over the crummy factory seat. Love it, I know I'd be aching in a lot shorter time otherwise. thanks again for another quality video. Also love your reference to Mille Lacs. I'm in Illinois but have been there a couple times. Awesome fishery and would love to hit in the kayak
Thanks John! All the rest of the gear I end up putting inside the hull, fish finder, etc I store in another crate, that way when I'm carrying all my gear to my truck I can set the two crates next to each other so the inside handles line up and grab them both with one hand. It's actually easier to carry two than just one! I've been wanting to get back to Mille Lacs but I hear there's been a ton of traffic out there since the AOY tournament. If I get a nice calm day on one of my days off during the week I might go give it a try. I'm thinking about picking up an ATAK 120 this winter, if I do I'll be adding a good side imaging fish finder to make finding the deep boulders a little easier on that lake. I have a few nice ones marked on my map now but good electronics are a huge advantage on a big lake like that.
I bought that net per your recommendation. The 13x18”. Love it Works well for a kayak and Jon boat fishing 90% of what I do. I have a couple high-end bait casters as well. But my go to is the president Pflueger xt spinning combo with the fenwick hmx medium fast 7’ rod. There’s just something about that combo. I feel like it was custom built for me.
I like your Abu spinning reel on the left. I also like short 5'6 rods on a kayak, casting to the shoreline. my other kayak rig is a zebco 22 spincast reel on a short 5'6, old style bass one-handed grip. Very accurate and handy.
Great video, very informative. I have a ST. Croix Legend Xtreme M/EF 5'9" that I wasn't happy with the Shimano Stradic ci4+ 2500, I see your running a 20 size Abu Garcia Revo 2 MGX 20. I would have never imagined using a 20 size reel for bass fishing but I purchased one like yours and it's a perfect match...THANKS!
I fish out of two different 12 ft Old Town Predator MX kayaks ( 2016, 2019) and I also use 7 ft and 6ft 10 inch length rods when fishing Smallmouth rivers!
A dearth of tubes!! I'm amazed at how many smallies you manage to catch without tubes!! (Or perhaps this is part of a clever disinformation program? ) 😄😄 I enjoy your videos immensely!
Pretty interesting that you find you're more accurate with spinning tackle. I used spinning tackle for most of my life (20+ years now) and since switching to baitcasters for a bunch of my setups last year I find I am much more accurate. One of my problems with spinning gear is stopping a lure that's going to far and about to hit a tree/bank. Do you keep your hand at the ready to trip the bail when that happens?
My accuracy is getting better with the baitcaster but I still end up with loops on my spool making quick short casts while river fishing. I "feather" my cast with my spinning reel to slow down or stop a lure in flight. It's similar to what you'd do with a baitcaster, just using a finger or two to make light contact with the line as it's coming off the spool.
I cast with my right hand, so when I make a cast with my spinning rod, I circle the outgoing line with my left thumb and forefinger. I can easily feather the line and stop it on target with my left hand, and when the lure hits the water my left hand is in the perfect position to manually close the bail. Mike Iaconelli shows the technique in a RU-vid video about pitching with a spinning rod. I find it difficult to skip and pitch with a casting rod while sitting in a kayak.
Interesting assortment there, gives me some good ideas for my own gear. I fish a lot of that stuff already, the underspin jig heads seem interesting with how stained the water here is right now, I've never fished one. I also have absolutely 0 confidence with a jig. Especially when it comes to detecting bites. The few times I've fished them I just get hung up because the boulders/rocks here are so massive. Even the football heads get hung up. I haven't set the hook into a rock yet though, so that's a plus. Might need to just fish a jig exclusively for a while. Would you recommend the black colors for that sort of water clarity? Ours is pretty similar and I've been fishing mostly green pumpkins or chartreuse if it's really stained.
Try out the Keitech Jig. I made the switch from the bitsy bug myself. Nearly the same price and you get a sharper hook with a tungston head. Its a fine hook but found it works great for smallies. Curious to what you think.
I've heard good things about them but I haven't found them cheaper than $3-4 per jig. I might have to order a couple and try them though. I usually lose 4-5 jigs to snags each trip if I'm mostly jig fishing so the $1.10 or so that I pay for the Bitsy Bugs doesn't hurt the wallet as much. I do take my dremel tool to their hooks though and pretty much re-profile them so they're like a needle point with a knife edge on the leading side of the barb.
I don't see you doing much live bait, if you do please consider Shimanos bait runners. 8 ball bearings, fluid transmission. Mine 200 bucks retail 160 ebay. They are fully salt water so even in fresh there bullet proof.
I got mine from Amazon: www.amazon.com/WilliamJoseph-WHCUTS-William-Joseph-Hemocuts/dp/B002KGVHG8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474090092&sr=8-1&keywords=william+joseph+hemocuts
That is the truth! I spend way too much time getting ready! I started out with a Tarpon 100, loved that little yak, then went to the VIBE SG130, that was awesome and just enough of everything- Now trying to sell my Hobie Outback -Camo!! Think it's time to rethink what I like to do most - FISH not setup!! Great video and thanks for sharing!!
I'm glad you found a spot to catch some! I agree on the small ones fighting hard, you really can't tell how big they are sometimes until you get a look at them.
Matt, do the 1/4 and 1/8 ounce bitsy bug jigs have the same gauge hook? I usually throw the 1/8 ounce on my medium light extra fast but I want to order some 1/4 ounce jigs to throw on that same spinning rod (if the hook gauge is the same). Thanks!
I just bought a revo x size 30 spinning reel. Put 10lb trilene on it as well. So far not that impressed. The line tangles in the spool a lot and not nearly as smooth on the retrieve as I thought it would be. Maybe my palette is too adjusted to lesser reels. Does the revo x really pale in comparison to the revo MGX for about 3 times more in price? If so i'll shell out the money. Didn't know if you have had the opportunity to use the revo x and can provide a feedback on comparison. Thanks for the video very helpful.
I had a dang Drum knock my William Joseph hemocuts out of my hand yesterday and they're now at the bottom of the lake. I started looking for some replacements and they don't make them any longer. They cut braid and great for getting hooks out so now I need to find something else.
New viewer here. Great informative video. What river/rivers are your favorite? and what state are you in ?... I'm from Michigan and we have great smallie fishing on the Muskegon.
I like a little stretch in the line to compensate for those short rods, it allows a little more give to prevent break offs. The Trilene Sensation I use doesn’t have as much stretch as most mono lines I’ve used either. Sensitivity isn’t really an issue, most of my casts are pretty short when I’m river fishing.
I've had good luck with the Mojo bass rods but am looking to upgrade. The tournament rods are definitely going to get looked at hard. I have some revo baitcasters that have worked well so I might have to check out their spinning reels. Wife might kill me if I spend 3 bills on one though. :)
The Legend Tournament rods are awesome! I'm pretty happy with my Revo MGX spinning reels too. They held up to river fishing abuse a lot better than my Patriarchs did. I was looking at the MGX baitcasters too but my Quantum Smoke's might have another year or two left in them.
some of my best smallie fishing here in northern california is caught on a silver n blue popper and a roostertail, but when there is cold water they will only bite when i drag a lure across the bottom super slow, a ned rigged craw works good, but also ive noticed we have these freshwater clams that dig into sandy n muddy parts of the bottom. so i believe they feed on those at points in time in the cold water which would make sense as to why they stop feeding on fast moving baits and start feeding on the bottom more. i was wondering your thoughts on this and maybe get a few tips on how to imitate clams crawling on the bottom or any type of lure that imitates a clam. other fish in these creeks include spotted bass, largemouth, pike, and the occasional trout.
I’d be really surprised if the bass were eating clams. We have them on this river too, anywhere from little penny sized clams to half fist sized ones covering the bottom in spots and I’ve never seen a bass cough one up in my net. I just don’t think a smallmouth is going to crack their shell unless they’re swallowing them whole. As far as I know they move extremely slow too, at least I’ve never seen one in action.
@@ndyakangler thanks for the reply, i havent seen any get spit up either but i feel like they would still eat them. ive seen clams move after i dug them up and they actually move at a decent speed when they move (like maybe a foot in 45 seconds), and i noticed that the clams move all along the shorlines, if you see little lines in sand and mud (under water), thats normally made by the clams moving. also i thought fish wouldnt have to break the shell, cant they digest it like they would a crawfish?
@@ndyakangler im just trying to find out new useful ways to catch smallies and i thought maybe they will eat em, im going to try and use sum this fall when my creeks are open to fish. since you have them in your waters to i would say to give it a try sometime and see if it works and maybe give a little feedback if it does. and even if they dont bite the unbroken ones, i was thinking about cracking one so the scent is released from it and trying that to. i know catfish can digest them and eat them so why wouldnt other fish.
I’m not sure if they could digest a clam shell, they’re definitely more resilient than a crawfish exoskeleton. I’ve never heard of bass eating clams but they’ll eat just about everything else so I guess it wouldn’t really surprise me. I’m sure if a bass saw one pushing itself along with its foot out it would probably try to grab it just because it somewhat resembles a worm. I’ve caught plenty of smallies on catfish rigs baited with shrimp or raw bacon fat too so if you crack one of those clams open to release some scent it should improve your odds.
@@ndyakangler i just watched this video ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-I0YTBj0WHkU.html and it made me think that they will work, cause even the young clams never get to the bass stomach and it does show small bass eating parts of them
I see that your bait casting rod is about a foot longer than your spinning rods. Is there a reason why you chose a longer casting rod? I've been using 5'6" baitcasters, but I plan to go to a 6 footer. The 6 footers can be cast two-handed, but not the 5'6" rods. I like St. Croix, too.
All three of my St Croix casting rods are 6'8", that's as short as they make the Legend Tournaments. My old casting rod was 6' but once I used the St Croix there was no going back. I really don't mind the longer length though, I mostly use that rod for lures like the Cicada when I'm just looking to cover area fast and don't need the accuracy I get with the spinning rods.
I'm gonna get a new spinning reel before the season opens up in a couple weeks. Have these revos held up? I was gonna go back to Daiwa but I've been checking Abu out.
sir which abu garcia rod model u used for river fishing i want to purches rod and reel combo of abu garcia for river fishing in india and here the flow of river water is much faster so please suggest me abu garcias budget combo model for that which is avalible on amazon thanx
i still have my first abu garcia reel and some old shimanos with trigger fire buttons lol before infinite anti reverse was invented lol. im goin out today to deep water lake. gonna try my ned rigs and swimbaits. the river here is flooded like mad and chocolate milk sadly again
Thanks! I tried flouro a few years ago but didn't care for it. Too expensive and too many downsides with it. I like mono, especially with those short rods. A little stretch in the line helps compensate for the short rods while fighting fish.
What size Reef Runner was that when you were holding up that yellow one and talking about them for 1-2 minutes? I'm ordering some online and I wanna get the size you had but its hard to tell when buying online
I used ABS plastic. 1/8" for the main panel and I screwed a strip of 1/4" along the top and bottom of the back side. 4-40 machine screws with washers go through the crate wall into the ends of the 1/4" strips to hold the divider in place.
I mostly use the hat cam. I find it easier for river fishing because I can just look at what I want to film instead of trying to point the kayak at it while dealing with current. I use a Hero5 black with a polarized lens and a Zoom H1/ATR3350 lapel mic for audio with that setup.
@@ndyakangler - Thanks for always taking the time to answer my questions! I was filming with a knockoff GoPro, it actually sit in my closet unused for almost 2 years before I finally decided to take it kayaking with me. It wasn't too bad for what it was at like $60, looked and performed like a Hero 3, but I couldn't find replacement batteries anywhere, so I was limited to one per trip. I recently picked up a Hero 2018 on BF for $130 and ran the firmware patch to make it into a Hero 5, and I got plenty of batteries and backup power banks. For the 2 months that I did film with the old camera, I used the headband, and it does get good shots, but I find myself looking around to much. I just made a mounted PVC pole mount with a light on the top to try out this season, but I'm betting I will prolly end up going back to the head cam. I did add the GoPro hat clip so I at least don't have to put on the full headband. But, it will be nice to have a couple different angles and if nothing else I still got a light pole out of it to use at night. I do need to find a good polarized lens for it and I'm currently looking into PFD, most likely the NRS Chinook.
Hi, I'm planning on getting a revo mgx spinning reel and will use on occasion larger lures, up to 1.7oz but mostly 0.5oz. I know you own several of this reels and would like to know if you think it can handle the larger lures. Thank you!
I don't see why not other than the fact that it's on the high side as far as gearing goes so it's built more for speed than power. Still I think the rod specs would be the bigger factor with heavier lures.
I recently bought a baitcaster and I have never used a baitcaster. Always a spinning reel. I bought an abu Garcia MLF rod and reel combo. Any advice or suggestions for a beginner like me? I don’t know how to spool one either so any help with that would be great too. Thanks!!
Just know how to set the spool tension knob and start with the breaks half to 2/3 of the way on and back off them a little every cast until the line starts wanting to jump off the spool a bit, then tighten them back up a click. As far as spooling it’s easier than a spinning reel, I usually just stick my line on a dowel or something and wedge it in a couch cushion or under something heavy on my tool bench. You want the line to come off one spool to the other kind of like a cassette or vhs tape wind from one to the other.
@@ndyakangler thank you!! I will do the best I can but I will take all the advice you gave me. Thank you so much for all you do and putting up your awesome videos!!
Our rivers here in Missouri are mostly gravel and rock with run, riffle and pool. The smallies will wait below the riffles for what ever gets washed down to them. I like your kayak, I fish the Tarpon 130X.
Hey man... I'm from bismarck, is most of you're fishing done in fargo? where do you buy you're tackle? I went to fleet farm in Fargo and they have a little not much though. if you can try new Johns lake in the rip rap chanels. I've pulled lots of smallies outta there
There's not much for bass fishing around Fargo so once the season is open in Minnesota I spend a lot of time fishing there. For tackle here in town there's Fleet Farm, Gander Mtn, and Scheel's. I order a lot of stuff online too. I don't get out that far west very often but I've heard New Johns is a good bass lake.
Do you have luck in muddy water..Getting heavy rain this year in Pa. Had no strikes today in the very muddy water.Not sure if anything would of worked?
Muddy water can make fishing tough. I'll usually try topwater first and if that doesn't work I'll go to the Reef Runner Cicada. That one puts out a lot of flash and vibration and I've done pretty well running it along flooded grassy banks when the water was high and murky in the past.
ok-thanks.The water is beyond murky.I was catching lots of fish in water that was murky and now it is "more muddy"..I was told to try black or purple/blue jigs/bucktails?
I notice you seem to put your grubs on upside down from the way I've always been taught. I always have mine dangling downward. Am I seeing yours right?
I’ve seen people do it both ways. I prefer to have mine with the tail curled upward the same way the hook bends, that side faces up when the jig sits on the bottom and the way I see it the current will be more likely to move it around if I’m working it slow or letting it sit still.
Thanks DeOnna! I'll be working on some fishing videos this week too. I have a bunch of footage from the last few weeks, it's just been too nice outside to stay home editing video.
I did a lot of standing and fishing in my Tarpon this past summer. It’s not really made for it but it’s stable enough if you have good balance. I found it was a lot easier to paddle in a straight line while standing if I kept any heavy gear out of the front hatch and more toward the middle or rear of the kayak.
Lol For some reason they look much bigger on camera. I got mine all rigged up and going out 1st time in my Tarpon 120 kayak today. New Revo Mgx so I'm all pumped. lol You have been a big help, thanks for all the suggestions and tips.
