I think I have decided on the Tiger rod paired with an older penn reel. What weight and size rod is recommended? 

Oh it was my fault seeing how far I could lean over. Lol. It was really stable until it wasn’t. Hehe. The second time was pretty much on purpose.

Where do you put in at on Shasta? Crazy to pay $15 fee to launch. Oh well. Hoping to get up there this weekend.

I finally got a chance to take out the new to me kayaks I bought back in January. Was a fun day. Caught a few fish. Unintentionally I practiced my self rescue technique..... lol. I now see why all the warnings about if it doesn’t float then make sure it is tied down. Lost my rod in about 7ft of water, luckily I was able to find it due to a floating lure that was just barely visible several few below the surface. That’s when my second self rescue took place. The first rescue I was assisted by my son in his kayak. Though I’m not sure how much help he was since he was laughing so hard.  The second was unassisted. Wasn’t difficult at all. Can’t wait until the next time.

Just seems like it would be more secure to strap directly to the cross bar not the J mount.

The instructions on my J bar mounts say to strap kayak only to J bars not the lumber rack.  What say the experts?

Great. I may buy one of each length to see which I prefer for down the road when I buy a better one. Thanks.

Well I have another nooob question. Sure there will be plenty more to come.  Looking at ordering a couple paddles. Any suggestions on paddle length?