Nice TW.
What about your gloves? That's my issue...my thumbs stop working after an hour in mid 40's or below. Hafta clamp a 2-pounder because I don't have the thumb strength to lip him.

Nice rig and nice hawg, Womack (as usual). I really like the Bonafides--woulda been between that 127 and the Crescent Shoalie if we weren't gonna pedal.
We had a great day out on Rayburn Friday. Killin' em on the worm.

Congrats!
There's a lot of good options out there for fish finders. Several 4" from Hummingbird, Lowrance, Garmin. Not sure about their GPS capabilities. I have a Lowrance Hook 5 Doubleshot (downscan and sonar, no sidescan) that has GPS, but I did not buy the version with maps. You can get them, though. It seems to do pretty well, probably similar to other units in its price point. You can buy other transducers, but most units in this price point come with transducer.

One option if you're not wanting to do side scan is to mount the transducer inside your hull. That's how I did in my Tarpon. Use duct seal to stick it (this is great because it really stays put but it can be removed). As long as no air is trapped between transducer and hull your signal doesn't suffer at all. Your temperature will be off a little, especially until you've been in the water a while, but that was not an issue for me. With in-hull mounting you can have your battery and wiring all in the hull and the only hole required is that to get cables to your unit, and there's several good cable seals out there that are easy to install. This approach keeps your fishing space less cluttered and means one less bracket.

Many newer models have a spot to put a transducer on the underside. My Hobie has this and a good design for protecting it, but I fish a lot of waters with debris/weeds and have learned I need to make a mod/adjustment to help keep stuff from sticking in there and fouling my readings.

If you want sidescan, that will put you into a higher budget and will almost surely require you to hang the transducer over the side.

Yes, you'll need a mounting bracket for the unit with either a base to screw to your hull or that will attach to your T-rail if you have them up front. Most have a quick-disconnect option--twas a must for me.

Some folks make brackets you can buy to hold your battery. If you're putting it in the hull, velcro is a cheaper alternative. I use a small sealed gel battery that will run my finder 2-3 days on a charge. Covered the bottom in velcro and stuck it to the bottom right behind my middle hatch hole, easy to get to and center of mass. It stays put even when I roll it over on its side to mount my trolley, dump water, etc. Use Anderson powerpole type quick connects for ease of removal.

Oooo...installing the GoPaddling app. That can be handy.

Yes, the hitch extenders are nice, particularly for the longer yaks. I found that with our priors--Tarpon 120 and Cobra Navigator, both 12'--we didn't need an extender with the tailgate down on my 5.5' bed F150. I have a non-skid mat. We'd slide 'em in along with paddles, etc, and go. If we were getting out on the road I'd tie them off in back just for safety but they stayed in fine.
With our Hobies being heavier, particularly the Outback (which is also 6" longer), I also tie it down in front. With my truck rack design, it's actually not that hard to put them up on it and leaves my bed to pile all the gear in. But if I'm going by myself I'll definitely just slide the one yak into the bed and tie 'er down. My storage dolly for them has the Outback sitting about bed height, so it's pretty easy to scoot that beast into the bed.

Yes, you do have to register if you put any type of motor on them. Another reason we haven't chosen to do that. Plus more stuff to haul and set up. We carry ours on a truck rack when we're pulling our camper and have other gear to put in the bed, so it's just not worth the hassle for us.

Hi OF77. My wife and I make more outings in our yaks than we do my BassCat P2. We recently made the move from paddle to pedal power, buying a Hobie Outback and Compass. Peddling not only frees your hands up more to fish, but extends your range since you're propelling yourself with bigger muscles. Those yaks also allow you to stand, which is a game changer for an old back. We've actually caught our PB's in yaks. We liked several other foot-powered models and didn't originally plan to buy Hobies, but the pedals adjust for leg length vs sliding the seat, and since we have short legs the Hobie design allows us more standup room. Many folk are now putting trolling motors on their yaks, too, but we're not there. Just look at the type of fishing you want to do and your physical abilties/limitations and see what you think will work best for you. There are groups on fb, etc, where you can look for used yaks. You should be able to find a good used one to meet your needs, and starting used will save you money.
We live in SETX and fish rivers, bayous and lakes such as Steinhagen and Rayburn around here. Haven't hit the salt, yet. We love going up to Caddo Lake up north. Also have fished Inks Lake, staying at the state park. Caught my PB bass and catfish there. You can go on the TPWD site and look for small lakes as well as state parks (https://tpwd.texas.gov/fishboat/fish/recreational/wheretofish/). I know there's a lot of rivers in CTX as well. Ask around. Look at GoogleMaps for prospective put-ins and fishing spots.

You go, girl!!

12' Cobra Navigator kayak, good yak but nothing fancy, paddle-powered. Bought some foot-powered Hobies this weekend. Her Cobra and my 12' WS Tarpon are now for sale.

Yes, sir...catch and release. Unless I'm with my parents--they're meat fishermen.

Niiice. You know it'd be more in the spring.
My 5 lber was before prespawn feed really started. Water was still cold in Inks and it was the ONLY fish I caught in 5 days fishing and seeing countless. I didn't get a length on mine, but her bass must've been 3-4" longer at 25.5".
Definitely skinnied up-- I had my whole hand in its mouth while unhooking.

Boot tail Keitech, weighted hook. Don't recall exact color--perchy.

No prob, brother. Puts it in perspective. I may never match it.
And I told her looking at the mouth on that baby, prespawn it woulda topped 8 lbs! I woulda fainted, fallen out and been depending on the pfd...

.

She said if she'd managed to land that gal on that beetle spin rig that poor bass's buds would never let her live it down.