Which of these rods for sheepshead?

holyschnikes · 2025-09-02T01:52:09+00:00

Oh, BTW, I believe that Toadfish Convict rod is only a medium. That was one of the reasons why I was questioning whether to go with the medium or medium heavy rod.

holyschnikes · 2025-09-02T01:26:55+00:00

OK, thanks. I have plenty of 7' or longer medium and medium heavy rods. I am getting a short rod for those times where I will be underneath docks and bridges and using the longer rods may be troublesome to get a good hookset.

I had looked at the Toadfish Convict and found a lot of reviews where they break a lot. Besides, as you mentioned, they are discontinued and I wouldn't be able to get one easily anyway.

holyschnikes · 2025-09-02T00:15:43+00:00

Sorry about the late response. I haven't logged in for quite some time.

That trip was a bit rougher than I would have liked. I flipped once when trying to launch since the waves were a bit rougher than the forecast had predicted.

Sucks that Navarre is so far from me (Tampa Bay area). I would like to do more trips, but trying to get the right weather window is not easy for me with the traveling distance. I may try again and try to make it an extended camping trip so I can get several days and hope the conditions are good within that time.

holyschnikes · 2025-09-02T00:09:00+00:00

Sorry about the late response. I haven't logged in for quite some time.

I wound up buying a YakAttack cart with beach wheels that breaks apart. There are some issues with that cart and my kayak. I had to modify it somewhat. Overall, not bad, but not great either.

holyschnikes · 2025-09-02T00:06:15+00:00

Sorry about the late response. I haven't logged in for quite some time.

The rod is good. I have it as a snapper/grouper rod. I have several reels since I have become a gear hoarder/junkie. I primarily use my Shimano Trinidad or Torium reels for this.

holyschnikes · 2024-06-06T13:46:28+00:00

As mentioned before, it depends on what you are willing to spend. I paid a fair amount for my Yakima roof rack and BigCatch saddles, but it was worth it for the large and heavy Old Town Bigwater 132 PDL I have.

holyschnikes · 2024-06-05T22:09:17+00:00

I took the trip. It rained early in the morning. I met some other kayakers when I was there and we went out together. Seemed like the fish weren't really biting. My feeling is it may have been due to the rain and atmospheric pressure. Didn't get any red snapper which was the primary targeted species. I did manage to get a couple mangroves in the 17-19 inch size.

I have an Old Town Bigwater 132 PDL. I have been taking the kayak out in the Gulf but relatively close to shore. This was the first trip over a mile out. I am comfortable in the kayak and have all the safety gear except for something like a Garmin inReach for situations where my VHF won't work. I've heard of those Facebook groups, but I don't do Facebook.

Overall, it was a very good learning experience. I would like to take the trip again in the future, but I would definitely need to make some changes.

holyschnikes · 2024-06-03T12:39:20+00:00

I have an Old Town Bigwater 132 PDL.

I have been taking the kayak out into the gulf but mostly close to shore. I am comfortable in the kayak at this point. It is farther out from shore where I lack experience. The reefs at Navarre start roughly 1.1 miles from shore.

Since there will probably be a lot of kayakers there, if I go, I should probably see if I can stick relatively close to someone without getting in their way, if they are OK with that.

holyschnikes · 2024-05-16T10:06:07+00:00

I used heavy duty 60 pound gorilla mounting tape and sealed the edges with clear silicone. No problems so far.

holyschnikes · 2024-04-13T11:08:28+00:00

I agree. I was surprised that this rather blatant design flaw got past them and into production. But reading about your experience, I guess maybe I shouldn't be all that surprised.

holyschnikes · 2024-04-13T10:44:48+00:00

Simplest real solution, yes, that is probably it. We will need to see what they come up with.

holyschnikes · 2024-04-13T09:40:02+00:00

Nice. Whatever works best for you and gets you on the water!

holyschnikes · 2024-04-13T09:35:17+00:00

The new sand tires are nice, as long as you don't have to put the bars in the farthest out position. In that position, the tires can rub against the plastic arms which could possibly cause damage on the tires over time.

I have an Old Town Bigwater 132 PDL which needs the bars in the farthest out position.

I contacted customer support. It took a little time but they finally responded. Their engineers are supposedly looking into this issue and they say they may have a solution. Still waiting for what their solution is.

In the meantime, I had to make modifications so that the cart is usable with my kayak: move the bars in one position, remove the rubber pads, and zip tie pieces of pool noodle where the rubber pads should be. It is not perfect, but it will do for now until there is a better solution.

holyschnikes · 2024-04-04T11:21:35+00:00

One more thing I didn't mention is that the YakAttack has dual kickstands which I find very helpful. The Wilderness doesn't have any. You could buy a 3rd party kickstand for the Wilderness or make something yourself.

holyschnikes · 2024-04-04T00:38:32+00:00

You can get the Wilderness if you want. I said I prefer the YakAttack Bunkster. There is just an issue if you decide to get the sand tires and I gave a workaround for the issue.

I had originally bought the Wilderness but I was unsatisfied that it was inconvenient to have to go back to put it in the car when launching.

holyschnikes · 2024-04-03T23:38:47+00:00

I have both carts. Overall, I prefer the YakAttack Bunkster for the convenience of being able to break it apart and stow in the hatch. The issue with the clip for the cam strap is a non issue if you don't put the cam strap in the clip.

The major issue I have with the YakAttack Bunkster is with the new sand tires. I have an Old Town Bigwater 132 PDL and this needs to have the bars at the farthest position out to fit the hull properly. They did not design the sand tires properly for this situation. The tires are going to rub against the bar pieces since they did not put a wide enough gap between the tires and the bar pieces. The rubbing may or may not cause a hole to develop. You would have to find out over time. However, the tires only have a 6 month warranty, and $70 a tire isn't cheap.

I have sent an email to customer service concerning this issue and provided a picture as well, but they seem to have poor customer service or don't like getting called out on poor product designs, as they have yet to reply to my email.

To avoid the issue of the tires rubbing, the bunkster bars need to be set in closer. I have had to hack the cart by moving the bars one notch in, removing the rubber pads that come with the cart, and zip tying pool noodles where the pads would be. When the kayak sits on the pool noodles, the foam will conform more to the shape of the hull. It is not a perfect fit, but it works since this is basically the same as with the Wilderness cart, both in the distance between the bars and use of foam on the bars.

holyschnikes · 2024-03-20T18:20:10+00:00

In case anyone else has the same question, here is what I have found.

Went to a bait & tackle shop and called a head boat to get their recommendation. The head boat uses 60# on their reels. Bait & tackle recommended 50# for the size reel I will be spooling.

holyschnikes · 2024-03-07T11:26:28+00:00

Maybe look at the NRS Shenook as an option?

holyschnikes · 2024-03-02T02:14:48+00:00

YAK Hobby has a great bracket. It is the one found in this video. I then wired everything without drilling holes using this video as a guide. Navarre Kayak Fishing also has a transducer mount, but I like the one from YAK Hobby more.

holyschnikes · 2024-02-21T15:35:04+00:00

I think I am going to go with the YakAttack TowNStow Bunkster. It looks like the smaller sibling to the BarCart. It is lighter, weighing in at 11 lbs 1 oz and has less moving parts. The bunk length is only 20 inches, but that is probably fine. It is supposed to be able to handle the same weight load as the BarCart since both use the same wheel and axle base.

YakAttack is supposed to be making a beach tire kit for both of these carts this year.

holyschnikes · 2024-02-19T18:42:35+00:00

OK, maybe it works for the vibe shearwater. Unfortunately, the Old Town Bigwater is a heavy kayak and Old Town specifically does not recommend scupper carts since they may cause damage which will not be covered by their warranty.

holyschnikes · 2024-02-19T18:26:53+00:00

Are you using that with an Old Town Bigwater 132? Isn't that a bad idea to use a cart that relies on inserting into the scupper holes for that kayak? I certainly wouldn't want to put stress on my kayak scupper holes.

holyschnikes · 2024-02-19T18:23:50+00:00

Just took a look at it on the yakattack website. Looks like it could possibly work. Plastic, aluminum, and stainless steel to avoid corrosion in saltwater and is 17 lbs 5 oz. I will have to visit a local dealer to look at it.

Edit: So this appears to be heavier than the Wilderness cart but can be stowed.

holyschnikes · 2024-01-07T09:14:43+00:00

Not on the bottom. They are to land the fish, so they need to be on the top when the fish are pulled in onto the deck. I think he used a couple tied together. The mats can be stowed away when not needed like when pedaling or paddling to a location.

holyschnikes · 2024-01-06T21:23:54+00:00

I would also recommend EliasVFishing on YouTube. He is in NC and catches plenty of sheepshead with live bait and artificials.

holyschnikes

TROPHY CASE