Recent content by Jay K

I completely agree. I was unique in the sense that I was brought up with boating and fishing in my blood, but my father wasn't at all a hunter. Incredibly, I was 30-31 when I got into hunting. My personality is such that when I take to something, I go all in on it. My son seems to be the same...

Eric, Thank you for the kind words and I am glad you enjoyed the story. The future does appear bright. My soon to be 4yo son is absolutely obsessed with duck hunting (and fishing). Talks weekly about going to the decoy show, "helps" me clean birds, and throws an absolute fit if I don't show...

I don't own one, but have talked to a few people who have. The general consensus is issues with the motorboard. As @Michael Gardner said, check the transom. Often the motorboard will pull away from the transom and allow water to get in. I talked to two people with them who had to address that...

If everything is locked up, and it's safe to do so, the bayfront can be very productive with a layout blind.

William, There are some folks picking away at mallards and some pintails. There still should be some black ducks around though. If you can find open water after the weekend, it will probably be decent for black ducks.

Roy, They have saved many seasons and hunts for me. In terms of a challenge, they are high up the list too. Such a smart and easily spooked bird. I like exploring new areas but often come right back to the old spots filled with black ducks.

Thank you, Steve. Black ducks always provide a ton of enjoyment for me. I tend to get wrapped up in chasing color birds, often forgetting how challenging it is to work black ducks. The weather coming this weekend looks downright dangerous!

That was my immediate guess as well.

It's been a tough 2025-2026 season for me here in NJ. Being blessed with two young kids, it's very challenging to be making 2+ hour drives to go chase after puddle ducks. Especially, when they are scarce or are in an odd pattern. We had a really quick, early, freeze in December when things got...

I have a DI13 as you know and decided against a light bar. I use something similar to what @Eric Patterson suggested. I don't like the lightbars in that they are just stuck pointed one direction. I like being able to direct where I need to see. For example, how close I am to the bank while...

I'm not really an electric guy. With these surface drive mud motors though, I think it makes sense. Smaller so you don't have this massive chunk of engine on the back of your rig. Quiet too. I am sorry but I find these mud motors and surfaces drives just obnoxiously loud.

Great motors. That wasn't a deal-breaker for me. Rarely do I ever have the motor locked all the way up anyway.

The only downside really, is with the 15" transom, on the Yamaha 25, the tilt lever is buried under there with the motor up. It's hard to describe but when the motor is locked all the way up, it's very difficult to access. My only gripe really. I am not sure where Mercury puts theirs.

So from what I've heard, the 20" transom only makes sense if you already have a long shaft motor already. Otherwise, the motor sits a bit higher, sticks out more, and just is not needed. I saw pictures of one with a long shaft/20" transom and the top of the motor cowling was almost to the top of...