king fisher

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.

Trust me, you would rather fish a spinnerbait

In 1978 I fished an Arbogast bait called an Arbogaster often. It had a metal diving lip, and a hula skirt. For some strange reason, I was starting to think metal lips were far inferior to plastic ones. and when the new Arbogast Bugeye came out I thought it would be the best lure in my box. They had adds in every magazine, and all had offers of two Bugeye's for the price of one. I sent in the card from the add, and patiently waited for my new super bait. Three weeks later my friend and I got our new baits on the same day. We had been checking our post office boxes every day for awhile and were sure we both would now be able to catch bass every cast. He had his drivers license so we borrowed his parents car, and immediately drove to the local lake. The baits were the worst bait I have ever bought. They looked great but had zero action. I think this may have been the only dud Arbogast ever had, but it was a complete failure. I was an Arbogast fan, and my friend was partial to Bomber. He always brought up the complete failure the Bugeye was every time I ever mentioned Arbogast lures. I returned the favor when I bought my first rattle trap, and out fished him with his model A's buy 50 to one for most of the summer. That is not the only failed gimmick I have bought, but it is the one that stings the most. Another from that same year was a spinnerbait that had wooden blades, that were supposed to float and spin while the spinnerbait sank. I can't remember the name of the lure, but it was also a complete failure.

That is a nice bass you caught on a Magabass popper that costs over $20. Here is a couple pictures of bass caught on a $4 Pop R. I have lots of nostalgia for these bass caught in 2023. I didn't even have to change the hooks on the Rebel. Good bait for a hair less money. Every one has their favorite baits, if some one gifts me a Pop Max, I will fish it, but until then I will keep buying the slightly cheaper Rebel. I hope no one is offended. My post is meant to be taken as a joke, I sometimes have an odd sense of humor, I have real fighting words for the guy that thinks the Rapala DT series is a gimmick.

When I was a kid I had a cheap with a cheap spinning reel, 8 pound mono line, plastic bobbers, split shot, size 10 snelled hooks, and fished from the bank. I caught multiple species, ate everything I caught and had fun every minute I spent fishing. I even enjoyed digging the worms I used for bait. I now have enough fishing gear to stock a Bass Pro Shops store, and more on the way. I can't possibly catch more fish, or have more fun than I did when I was young, so truth be told it is all a gimmick

I often cast mine in to rocks on the shore, causing them to leak, making them sink and quit wiggling. I can make a floating square bill dive to over 30 feet this way. It also makes them extremely heavy, making it possible to cast even further on the shore, hitting more objects and altering the action even more. They never seem to catch bass after this method of alteration, but I will keep on experimenting.

Alaska does not allow felt soles on waders. This law has been in effect for a few years now. Hopefully the ban has had success preventing invasive species, because it sure has been successful making great slip and fall tumbles for you tube videos.

I get lucky once in awhile.

Good job. You broke all the rules. Extremely shallow in cold water, bluebird sky and wind from the east. So much for rules in bass fishing.

I was only able to fish Presa Pocho a couple times this year. I always like to fish this lake in late May, and early June before the rains come. The lake is very low, at this time, and the bass are suspended in trees in 35 to 40 foot deep water. The few sport fisherman that fish this lake don't fish it when the water is low, so except for the commercial netters, that stay away from the trees, I have the place to myself. The second day I fished the lake, I arrived later than planned and immediately went to a tree where a couple weeks before I had a giant bass eat a 12 inch bass I caught on a worm right next to my kayak. I had thought about nothing else but that bass for a couple weeks, hoping I would be able to get one more day on the lake before the rainy season. By getting there late, I missed the usual morning bite, and was waiting for the afternoon winds to start the bite back up. The bass bite in the strong afternoon winds, but the fishing sucks because of the difficulties of fishing in the strong afternoon winds. I didn't get any strikes at any of the trees, and out of habit peddled my kayak over to a fence line, I fish when the water is higher. I didn't expect to catch a bass of any size but at this point in the day I was just wanting to kick the skunk out of the boat. On my first cast I actually made a perfect cast with a Junebug Zoom Ole Monster next to the fence post I wanted to fish. One hop with the worm and this 10.2 pound bass hooked. I was just able to reverse my kayak and get her away from the barb wire, when she went airborne. After the second jump, I noticed she was barely hooked. I played her very light for a few minuets, and after one more jump next to the kayak I reached down and grabbed my only DD of the year by the lip. After a quick measure, and a second or two on the scale, I released my biggest bass of 2024. I had never caught a bass over a pound by that fence, and I was sure all of the decent bass were in deeper water, but I can never help but make a cast at a good looking piece of cover, and I'm glad I did. The next best fish of the year for me was a Rooster fish I hooked while fishing on a friends boat. He was going to take some friends of his fishing, that weren't experienced salt water fisherman. He invited me to go along and help. The bite was wide open, and it had been a long time since I had to work the deck on a wide open bite but I was managing well. We were catching smaller rooster fish one after another, along with many large Jack Crevalle. I had just put a new bait out, and was releasing a rooster fish on another line, when the big one hit. The reel was in free spool with the clicker on, by the time I got to the rod, half the line was off the reel. I grabbed the rod, slowly pushed the drag forward, setting the circle hook, and was pleasantly surprised to feel way more weight on the other end than I was expecting. I handed the rod to one of the anglers, and we managed to land one of the biggest rooster fish any one on the boat had ever seen. I wasn't able to go fishing much in 2024 but did manage to get a one exceptional bass, and a giant rooster fish. I hope to fish more in 2025.

Academy Sports makes excellent crankbaits. They come with oval split rings, and are very durable. They only come in a few colors, but the colors are the same ones I would buy even if they had one hundred more options. A few of their crankbaits I would purchase over name brand baits, even if the price was the same, and one model, I would pay old Wiggle Wart prices on ebay if I had to. I have tried most of their crankbaits, and have found a couple of duds, but most of the models are very good. The one thing I don't like is they changed the names on some of their baits a few years ago, and it is difficult to find one bait I really liked. At first I thought it was discontinued, but then found out they simply changed the name. All of their square bills I have tried are as good as any Strike King, 6th Sense or Lucky Craft. I have not had one be out of tune and they hunt well. They are not as good as Balsa square bills, but as far as plastic ones go, they get the job done. They have a medium diving crankbait that is now called H2OX Premium deep diving crankbait. It is 3/8 of an OZ and dives 8 feet. I would pay Megabass prices for this crankbait if I had to, but they are priced at $4.99 so I don't mind throwing them into all kinds of gnarly cover even wood, with old gill nets tangled in the branches. I haven't tried the Bass Pro or Cablelas house brand baits, so I can't say good or bad about them, but I wont hesitate to recommend the H2O line of baits from Academy.

When I was a kid I had a canoe. It was an aluminum white water canoe with no seats. My friends and I had to kneel to paddle, and it was impossible to make it track straight. Most of the time we would use it to get from one shore to the next where we would then get out and fish for bass from shore. Every time we tried bass fishing from canoe we spent our whole time paddling and no time fishing. It worked great for drifting in the middle of the lake for crappie, but for bass I always preferred to fish from shore. When I was older I got a 12 foot row boat. It made for a much better bass fishing platform. When fishing with a friend one person would row, and the other would fish. When fishing by myself I could position the boat with the oars, and make a few casts before I needed to reposition. I gave my canoe to a friend for his kids. It still gets used, and I'm sure they have sore knees, and tangled lines, but are accumulating great memories. I now have a peddle kayak, and I can cast and position at the same time. I know there are many that love to fish in a canoe, and are more successful at catching bass than I am. All I can say is if a canoe is what you like than have at it, but I will never own another canoe and no one will convince me they are a better bass fishing platform than a modern peddle kayak.

All of my rods are very specific. They are all used for fishing.

This is just like the same trick question my wife asks me. I have not found a good answer to this very difficult question. The truth is everything that happens on a day of fishing is very important. All information must be remembered and may be used for future days on the water. Other every day life things, are not so important. Making them very easy to forget. So far this simple true answer has not been received as well as I had hoped. I need to find a better response to this often asked question.

And I thought lake Menderchuck and Jackhammer's were only good for giant small mouth. I always thought you were trying to keep Menderchucks location a secret due to the over sized small mouth bass. Now I know you didn't want any one else fishing your secret Dock Demon fishing hole. What color of Jack Hammer is best for Dock Demon's? and what gear ratio Bantam do you prefer for catching them?

Not to say the Dock Demon spincast reel isn't a good choice, but you may want to give a Shimano Bantam a try.

If Zoom Ole Monster, and Zoom Trick worms, are considered old school, then yes. If they are not old school, than I guess neither am I.

If you only buy one, it will be the best lure you ever bought on the first cast, you will snag it on the second cast, and wish you had bought more.

My problem is I can't tell the difference between that voice in my head and the Bait Monkey whispering in my ear.

I have lost a number of hats, a pair or two of sun glasses, enough pliers , and multitools to start a hardware store, and enough tackle to cry over. So far I have never lost a camera or cell phone so I guess I am doing OK.

I'm curious as to what reel you like to use for bass fishing.

As usual, my lure collection grew, but the baits that caught bass shrunk. My biggest bass a 10.2 pounder caught in June was on a June Bug Zoom Ole Monster. I might as well have lived on the Tennessee River measured by the success of my favorite spinnerbait this year. The list is small, but the Bait Monkey hasn't abandoned me yet. Zoom Ole Monster 6th. Sense Crush 50 X square bill Zoom Magnum Trick Worm Magnum Rage Bug Rapala DT 10

Yes there is a winter lull where I fish. I am busy with work and can't find the time to fish for bass during the winter months. I'm sure the bass are eating and healthy, but I am not able to fish for them.

Currently I am using 30 pound J Braid, with three foot leader of 15 pound Maxima Ultragreen mono. I use a plug snap instead of a loop knot. I like the snap because I also use the same set up on my mid diving, and square bill crankbaits. I change back and forth quite often, I like the ability to change lures quickly, and haven't had any troubles with the snap impeding the action or breaking, with the poppers or crankbaits. I use a 7 foot medium fast action bait caster for the rod. I also use the same rod with most of my topwater baits as well as other baits. If I had more space for more rods, I would probably use 12 pound mono on a popper specific rod. 15 pound if throwing near thick cover for plus size bass.