I told myself a long time ago that I wasn't going to be one of those old men talking all the stuff I wanted to try. I bought a kayak a couple of years ago and tricked it out, that's my focus right now. This was definitely a great way to start #66. I may just have to go back with the kayak and catch some more of these beautiful fish.

It was catch and release. I didn't have anywhere to keep filets, and because of nearby agriculture it's not advised to eat fish because of the pesticides. I'd love to see what they taste like though. The shark swim was amazing.

I've wanted to fish for peacock bass ever since I read about them many years ago. I have a friend who recently passed that went to South America several times and caught some monsters. Last week, on my 65th birthday I went on a guided trip out of FT. Lauderdale to Lake Ida. I crushed them. 20 peacock, four largemouth, a catfish and a needle fish in 3.5 hours. Peacock bass are incredibly hard fighters and on light tackle were an absolute blast. Biggest was maybe 4lbs. but every ounce tried to stay away from the boat. The day before, went swimming with sharks out of Jupiter. Two amazing days on the water.

I've caught bass in just about every kind of body of water across the US on Texas rigged worms. Lakes, streams, ponds...even caught a catfish once in a local park lake. Lately I've been fishing senkos almost exclusively for worms. A creature bait also works well swimming it through grass or around rocks.

I get ya. I grew up in a rural area on the outskirts of Kansas City. Our house was broken into three times and I lost stuff with a lot of sentimental value. I detest thieves. My attachment to this gear are all the fond memories my business travel fishing has given me over the years. I'll replace it all with the insurance money and create more memories.

Ha ha ha! I've done both. Replacing the fishing gear is much less expensive.

I never really thought about it either. The enjoyment I get from it is priceless. But having to replace an entire bag just made me a little more aware.

It's interesting that we don't think about buying a few packs of plastics I r a few jigs. Until you add them up and 5-8 bucks a pop adds up quickly.

Hey Myles,
We are pretty much neighbors. I do fish Puddingstone, it's where I did all my shakedown cruises in the Kayak I bought back in May. I haven't been out in a couple of months because it's been so hot. I haven't had much luck at Puddingstone but it's close to home and it's a pretty little lake. As soon as it cools off a bit I'm going to start exploring some of the San Diego lakes in my yak. I've fished a few in my boat, time to get the kayak out on them.

I think sometimes we forget the investment we make in this hobby we love so much. Last week I was in the Bay Area on business and decided to drive up in my truck rather than fly and rent a car. When I fly I take one or two of my Okuma Citrix travel rods and a small selection of lures. Since I was driving, I just threw my main grab and go tackle bag in the truck with a couple of reels. My truck was broken into and the bag stolen....After taking an inventory from memory and checking prices online, the total contents came up to over $1500. The reels are about $450, multi tool, braid cutter, leader material(I've been using Izorline xxx), plastuc boxes, jigs, hooks, tungsten weights, crankbaits, and bags of plastic add up quickly. Fortunately it's covered under my renter's policy minus the deductible. This was a reminder though of how much of an investment fishing is when you choose to use quality gear. Bummer is, most places are having the same inventory issues as my industry (musical instruments) and others. It's probably going to take a while to replace everything.

That's good to know. I have an Ascend 12T sit on top. I've had it out a few times to Puddingstone to get the tweaks ironed out and want to start exploring some different lakes. I'm thinking about heading down to the San Diego area and hit a few of those. Hemet would be good after it cools down. Floating around in 100+ heat isn't my idea of a good time.

I see posts on the Fishbrain app about Hemet but have yet to fish it myself. I need to see if I can put my kayak in there.

I have a few pair of these I got for kayaking. They're really comfortable and dry quickly.

It's interesting when you're in water with little visibility to see what the contour of the bottom looks like, and the varying depth. This rig really works great. I've finished some other tweaks to the boat, too. I raised the seat, put on an anchor trolley, hoping to build my rod holders this week to convert the two in the boat to hold 4 using PVC. I'm hoping to get out next weekend if it's not too hot and I'll post photos.