king fisher

It's a tie between an asteroid colliding with the earth, or nuclear Armageddon.

If I catch a big bass it is because of my superior bass fishing skill. If some one else catches a big bass, they just got lucky.

My super power is the ability to make a bad day good, by using my imagination, combined with a willingness to substitute BS for facts at any given moment. Any mortal can make up a good fishing story, it takes a gifted, story teller with super human powers of persuasion to actually believe their own BS. I would like to see Super Man, Spider man and Women together try to stretch a 2 pound bass into a bass just a hair short of a DD. I doubt they could do it, even if they hand the invisible man holding the scale. I can not only make the two pound bass grow in to a true giant, but I wont even blink an eye while telling the tale.

My line up is small, but I get by. 7' medium heavy Diawa Ardito casting rod, with a Zillion SV reel.- T rigs and jigs 7.6 ' medium heavy Diawa Ardito casting rod with a Tatula 150 reel.- crank baits, chatterbaits, and spinnerbaits. 7' medium Diawas Ardito casting rod with a Tatula CT. reel.- Top water, jerk baits, smaller crankbaits, underspins, and many lures I should use a spinning rod for. 7.6' Heavy Tatula casting rod with a Coastal 150 reel.- Punching, pitching, C Rig, A Rig, Deep diving crankbaits.

I have had good luck selling used fishing gear at half what it cost to buy the item new. Items priced this way sell quickly, and both buyer and seller are usually happy with the deal they get. You have quality well maintained gear, so you may want to price your equipment above my standard half of the cost of new. Maybe 2/3 to 3/4 cost of new would be better on some of your higher value rods.

I think your idea of downsizing tackle is similar to a politicians idea of a downsized budget. I hope you don't have to call for a special purchasing session in the middle of the season. Lots of good stuff, but not a single Rapala product, what's up with that?

Although I live where the ice does not keep me from chasing bass, my work and family obligations have side lined me for a few months now. I am starting to get cabin fever. As usual, I start going through my tackle, when I start noticing symptoms. I can only gaze at my meager collection for so long. So I got the idea to ask members to post their tackle pictures. Pictures of that much tackle, should keep the fever away for days. I want to see pictures of all of it, everything, hard baits, soft baits, hooks, line, rods, reels, boats and motors. Everything bass fishing. Why not see what we have? The more the better. If the internet breaks, I'm sure it can be fixed. I will get it started with a few of my favorites.

I have started taking little blue, oh I'm sorry, wrong forum. All jokes aside, my mind has is not as sharp as it once was. In order to compensate for my ever increasing senior moments, I have started not only writing down the number and size of the bass I catch, but I also make a written note of the lie I plan on telling when asked about the number and size of bass I catch. This way I don't let the truth get in the way of a good story, and I don't make the unforgivable mistake of not letting the bass properly grow and mature as the story is told. One notebook for facts, another one for alternate facts, and a third book to remind me which facts are required in which situations.

Let me introduce you to a friend of mine.

Junebug Zoom Magnum Trick Worm. 4/0 EWG hook, 1/4 oz lead bullet weight, un pegged. Fished on a 7 ft. medium heavy fast rod, with Sunline Sniper 16 pound line.

At least she doesn't wake you up and ask why you just called her a beautiful big hog.

I lay on the beach, watch the sun set, have a cold drink and day dream about ice fishing.

My coach is the Bait Monkey. Win or loose he is always by my side

This has happened to me many times over the years, for all species of fish. After going over my log books, talking to fellow anglers, and reading all of the fisheries biologist reports, I am convinced I have found an answer. Aliens don't want to take over humanity, they only want our big fish. Next time all you catch is dinks, don't look down in into the water for you answer, look up to the stars.

Yes and the big ones are caught on spinnerbaits

For me it depends on the lake. One lake I fish regularly, I have yet to catch a bass over 6 pounds at. Another lake I fish I fish more than half of the bass I catch are over 7 pounds. The first lake I catch many in the two pound range, and the second I only catch bass that are less than a pound or more than 7 pounds. The trophy lake has almost zero bass from 1 to 7 pounds. I attribute this to the extremely aggressive gill netting for Tilapia. The mesh size that catches the Tilapia is the same size a small bass will get stuck in too. Baby bass swim right through the gill net and large bass can not get their head inside the mesh. Apparently there are enough large bass to produce a large population of baby bass every year, and the few medium size bass that survive grow to trophy size very quickly. The baby bass hug the shoreline, and I could catch dozens of those a day, but I prefer to fish for the trophy bass off shore. Even during the rainy season when the large bass are in the shallows with the baby bass, the small bass are in different areas. I guess the small bass don't want to be the next trophy bass meal. There is a down size to this accidental trophy management. In the 5 years I have fished this lake I have caught more bass over 7 pounds than I have 2 pound bass, but I have also been skunked about half of the days I have fished the lake. Some days a I call skunks are not officially skunk days because I do catch an odd 1/2 pound bass now and then while targeting the big girls, but I consider one or two baby bass a skunk day.

The resemblance to a Dancing Eel is obvious, but Storm made a short fat crankbait with a soft curly tail for many years. I think it was called a little Tubby, but not quite sure on the name. I never had one, but I almost pulled the trigger on this lure many times, while drooling through the Bass Pro Shops catalogues while growing up. I am curious if any one here ever fished the Storm bait.

I don't have any experience with BKK treble hooks, but I have started using their saltwater hooks. I was skeptical at first , but I have to say I am surprised at the quality of the hooks. I wouldn't hesitate to try any of their other models.

I tell myself yesterday is gone, I can't get it back. Then throw a temper tantrum a toddler would be ashamed of. The only way the nightmares of loosing a big bass goes away is loosing another one to have new nightmares over. Maybe I should get some professional help, but as of right now the Bait Monkey is my therapist. If I loose a giant bass, a new rod and reel wont get rid of the pain, but it can lower it a notch or two. If nothing else I need to replace the lure the bass stole with 5 exactly like it, and another 10 in different colors. If the bass didn't steal a lure she simply came unhooked, bare minimum I buy a new rod, and a different line, as well as a couple of the lures she bit.

Cartel violence in the state of Sinaloa has increased significantly in the past few months. Would I go fishing there? Absolutely. Cartels, like most gang bangers, anywhere do not bass fish. They like fancy sports cars, wild night life, casinos, strip clubs, and of course drugs. They don't hang out at bass fishing lakes picking fights with anglers. They will kill you if you interfere with their business, or insult one of them at a strip club. but even as impressive as A_ Jay's tackle horde is, they are not interested in the largest most organized collection of Megabass baits in North America. Is it a possibility the buss taking a group of anglers from the airport to the lodge gets stopped and people are asked to hand over cell phones while some crooked cop or other cartel member looks through the call list to see if you are calling an enemy gang. Yes that is a remote possibility, and while it would be scary, all would be well, you would get your phone back and sent on your way to double digit paradise. Most likely the cop would recognize the lodge van and wouldn't even bother stopping the driver to ask questions. If you fly in to the private airstrip near Lake Baccarac your only worry is if you forgot to put new line on your reels. As far as a relative of a friend of a friend's house getting taken over, I wouldn't be surprised. People with multi million dollar homes can be a target for the Cartel, but the the gang members don't have a clue that A-Jay's tackle box is worth more than a dozen of those homes. All of the wealthy Americans that I know of that have had trouble with drug gangs in Mexico, have some how been involved in the game. They might not be involved first hand, but they are having parties at their homes, or hanging out at places game member frequent. They may have friends that they associate, with or do legitimate business with cartel members that they may not even know are involved in the trade. Bass anglers as well as the fishing lodges are completely off the cartels radar. A few years ago, I guy got shot at Starbucks in the middle of a fancy resort area where I work in PV. I even new the guy. He was a member of the yacht club where I occasionally went for dinner and drinks. Everyone was in shock that such a nice guy from Canada could get assassinated while having coffee at Starbucks on a peaceful morning in Paradise. It ended up he actually was the head of a drug gang in Vancouver BC and the hit was carried out by a rival gang from Canada. Of course all any one read about in the paper was Canadian tourist murdered in Mexican tourist town. No one else was hurt, and I think his wife still lives in the condo they had here. My point is Mexico can be a very dangerous place, and you can find trouble very quickly if you go looking for it, but bass fishing is as safe here as it is any other place in the world. The bass fishing lodges have been fully booked and operating the whole time during this latest increase in gang violence, and not one fisherman has been harmed. A rich executive buys a multi million dollar home, throws big parties, and flaunts his wealth he may loose his house, but if he gets killed their may be more to his fortune than is commonly known. All the years working in the coast guard saving lives and keeping US citizens safe was, dangerous work and I thank you for your service. The only danger at Baccarac is watching your PB swim off with your favorite Pop Max. why you wonder why you didn't retie your knot after landing 50 bass. For those that don't think I know what I'm talking about. Please tell all of you friends not to bass fish Mexico. that will leave more bass for A-Jay and I. All that said, I would recommend you keep in contact with the lodge, and any guests you know that fish there, to see if conditions change. The violence is not out of control now, but there is a possibility of it getting so bad that airports and even lodges are not safe. I have a friend that's extended family is wealthy and they have a house and boat at Picachos. He was going to invite me to fish there with him, but had to cancel because his family doesn't think it is safe to stay at the house and use the boat. This sounds bad, but again, I don't have any idea how his cousins and Uncles make their living or who they know. He promised we would go some other time when his family say's it is ok to go. The lodges at Picachos are up and running with no harm to any guests. As with many things in life, that can be dangerous. If you are careful, and don't do stupid things, bass fishing in Mexico can be safe, but whatever you do, do not bring the Bait Monkey with you. Bass fishing here may be safe, but catching multiple DD bass can be hazardous to your sense of financial responsibility.

Welcome to the club

Currently I troll almost every time I move from one location to the next in my kayak. I have been surprised at the places I catch bass while trolling a Rattle Trap. I also troll diving crankbaits, but expect to catch bass while bouncing them off of the bottom, but often get bit on a Rattle Trap in 60 feet of water crossing a lake. I have even trolled for bass from the shore. When My old PB 5.5 pounds lasted for over 40 years and was caught on a spinnerbait while trolling from shore. When I was a kid, I fished a small lake in the middle of a cow pasture with a rocky shoreline, that dropped quickly from the shore. It was 10 feet deep or deeper 4-10 feet from the bank. There was a cow trail along the side of the lake with the steepest bank. I would cast as parallel as possible from the shore and slow role my spinnerbait along the bottom. The bank wasn't straight, so I usually casted from one of the small points making it easier to bring the bait back at that critical 3-5 feet away from the bank. One day I decided it was a waste of time to not be fishing my spinnerbait while walking from casting place to casting place. So when I wanted to move to the next spot, I started throwing my bait out as far as I could let out more line until the bait hit bottom, hold my rod out as far as possible, and start trolling down the bank. When I would get to the next good place to cast from I would reel in the bait and cast from the point. Then troll to the next point and cast again. I found I could feel the bait better and control the speed just as well walking as reeling. I would have to walk around rocks, and slow down in more difficult places making my baits action more erratic. Some times I would naturally walk to fast, but I learned to force myself to walk slowly, and feel every bump on the bottom with my rod. If I wasn't bumping bottom I had to slow my walk. It didn't take long for me to start catching more and bigger bass walking the bank with my rod held out wide as I did casting. My bait was always in the water, and was at the prime distance from shore for a longer time, then when I did a 45 degree cast and retrieve. After awhile I started trolling from point to point and wouldn't bother casting when I got to a point. I would simply reel my line in, cast back out and start trolling again. My friends thought I was crazy and insisted on casting the bank, but I didn't care how silly it looked because I was catching big bass. The water was muddy, and the bass were used to the cows walking the bank, so I didn't seem to be spooking the bass as I walk trolled down the bank. At the time I thought this method was not anything out of the ordinary, simply a logical way to present my spinnerbait to the bass. When I told the owner of the local hardware store I was catching big bass trolling he was surprised because he new I didn't have a boat. When I told him how I was trolling he laughed and said he had never heard of that before, but if it works don't stop. I have never tried the technique anywhere else, but if the situation and opportunity ever come up again, it is forever in my bag of tricks.

I guided at a fishing lodge in Alaska for 25 years. We had 4 16 foot Lund riveted V bottom boats, as well as over 30 other aluminum boats. When I got there the Lunds were around 10 years old. All the boats took a beating that no boat should have to endure. Most boats were replaced after 5 years, with patches, and welds barely keeping them afloat. Not one of the Lunds had a single leak. I don't know if the boats they make now are of the same quality, but I personally would not hesitate to buy a riveted Lund. Riveted boats are also way lighter than welded boats. Before I get shot down by all the welded boat fans, I have to say, I realize welded boats have many advantages over riveted ones, and can also last a lifetime. My point is a quality riveted Lund is an excellent boat with it's own advantages and I would not hesitate to purchase one if the price were right.

I'm going to change it up this year and use lures that I can catch bass with.

No backlashes. I'm trying to break my record on shortest New Years resolution.