king fisher

My excellent crew does most of the work. I didn't gaff a fish, or tie a knot the whole trip. I did get up at 3:00 Am to catch squid while every one else got some sleep.

Bite them. If you loose a tooth it is tungsten, if you develop lead poisoning they are lead.

I once went trout fishing at a lake I had had good luck at the year before. I fished hard all day without a single bite. After I got home I found out the lake had been treated with a Rotenone, a chemical that takes the oxygen out of the water in order to kill off trash fish that have been introduced by bucket biologists. A few days later they planted thousands of trout in the lake. I fished all day on a lake that had all the fish removed a few days before. Not one of the fishing days I like to brag about.

If I could only have one lure it would be an inline spinner. I would prefer to have many different sizes, blade types, and colors, but if I could only have one, it would be a Blue Fox Vibrax #3 silver blade, blue body, single hook. I am confident I could catch fish anywhere in the world with this bait. Last year it killed a skunk for me with a 5.5 pound bass.

I once forgot to cancel a flight plan with the FAA. After that every time I filed a flight plan I turned my watch upside down. This worked so well I started turning my watch upside down for many things I didn't want to forget. As I age, my watch is upside down so often I can't even tell the time if it is right side up. I now have to make a list of the things I have the watch turned for, so I don't forget what I'm trying to remember. Maybe a note that say's turn brain on will work. Sometimes I wonder if my whole life isn't a country music song, and all I can do is enjoy the music.

spinner bait -- Single Colorado black and chartreuse. Jerk Bait.-- Original Rapala floating minnow. Lipless.-- 1/2 oz Bill Lewis Rattle Trap Bladed jig-- none. Jig-- 1/2 oz Arkie head, black blue skirt, spicy beaver trailer, hematoma. Square Bill-- Older Bagleys Balsa B. I don't know the name of the color, but is brown and yellow. I can't imagine a world with just one square bill so I added, 6th Sense Cloud Nine Mini Mag. chart. black back. Soft body swimbait.-- Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper Hard body swimbait.-- I am to cheap to go down that road. Crankbait. I tried to think of just one, but wore my brain out trying to narrow it down under 100 so I am going to have to invoke my right to silence.

We went fishing for 3.5 days out of Puerto Vallarta. First day was slow with one 50 pound tuna. I decided to drift 25 miles off shore for the night rather than go to an anchorage. The plan was to catch squid at night an try them for bait the next day. The plan worked to perfection. The seas were calm and the squid came to the lights. We were able to put 30 squid in the live well, and were back on the fishing grounds at daylight. First drift we landed the 3 tuna in the picture. By the end of the day we had landed 9 tuna between 80 and 130 pounds. The next night I couldn't find any squid, and we had to fish frozen ones the next day. We only landed one 100 pound tuna, one dorado, and a big snapper. The third night I found squid again, and the tuna liked the fresh squid. We were able to land 4 120 pound tuna before leaving for home. Great trip with lots of fish, but very little sleep. All the tuna were caught on squid suspended on the surface below helium balloons.

I am sure there are old guy's out there with live bait, and FFS who are crushing them. You don't hear about them, because they keep their mouths shut, and shun social media.

1/4 OZ. If that doesn't work, I will fish with something else.

Like I said, I am a pro, and I am at the top of my game.

Finally a topic that I excel at. When it comes to catching bass, I am just an average angler. When it comes to backlashing reels, I am a real pro. I have backlashed so bad, I lost a rod and reel over board.

I don't buy Megabass for the same reason I don't take recreational drugs. I don't want to be living on the street begging for money.

I am so accurate at estimating the weight of my bass, that I don't even use a scale anymore. When I did use a scale it was amazing to me how often a scale will be off. The strange thing is I have owned a dozen scales over the years, and they all weighed my fish lighter than the true weight. I have never owned a scale that weighs heavy, but if I ever find one, I may start using a scale again. All the You Tube videos I have seen the scales are way off on the high side. I wonder where they buy their scales.

If it aint broke don't fix it. It has taken me years, and cost me thousands of dollars to learn this simple lesson.

Is it possible you can make your argument for or against FFS without attacking someone personally. Maybe like saying Hank Parker has been out of the game for awhile, and I feel his opinion may be out dated. This would have made your point without insulting anyone. I am getting older, and don't mind someone telling me they feel my opinion is outdated, but I would take offense to being called a has been. There appears to be a trend in our society for people to personally insult, or give a derogatory nick name to any one they don't agree with. I don't know when this trend started, but I do wish it would stop.

I doubt the bass care, but I prefer my lures have some purple in them.

I am fine fishing my inexpensive crankbaits. I own way to many, and if I can't catch a bass on one of them, I fish something else. If I can't catch bass on something else, I blame it on the moon phase and go home. My problem starts when I get home and look at all the tackle porn posted on this site,( you frequent tackle porn posters should keep the Bait Monkey on a leash) and You Tube videos showing all the latest baits getting crushed by big bass. Then I start to wonder if maybe a $25 Megabass jerkbait may be the answer to my problems. If only I had a box full them like AJ maybe I could defeat the bad moon phase syndrome for ever. About this time, the Monkey crashes through my door, and saving for retirement gets put on hold for another year.

That makes sense, thanks.

You copied and posted it, is there a difference?

Milliken finished 50th. Now please don't get me wrong, I am not bashing Ben. I have great respect for his skill as an angler, his work ethic, and all that he has accomplished. He is a top level pro and deserves everything he has achieved, but I will also say, a little humble pie now and then doesn't hurt anyone.

I wouldn't go so far as to diminish the skill level of any pro anglers. Some may be more dependent on FFS, but that is because they are better at it. It doesn't mean they lack other basic fishing skills. The best will always perfect all techniques needed to win. If dynamite became legal, there would be new anglers that would be the best dynamite throwers ever, and some old timers, that would blow their hands off on the first toss. Most pros would adapt and would have explosives adds all over their boats and bodies. So far FFS hasn't been proven to be detrimental to fish populations, it does seem to still adhere to most common held beliefs of sportsmanship, improves our knowledge about bass behavior and has brought new young anglers into the professional ranks. In a few years the older anglers will become as adept at the new technology and complaints will start to go away. As far as what the future will bring, I'm certain the technology will get way out of hand. There will come a point where the electronics will tell you exactly how big, how, how far away a bass is and when to cast, without even looking at the screen. When that time comes restrictions will have to be made in order to maintain a true sportsmanship attitude in professional fishing. Some say that time is now, and they may be right, I don't agree, but I do understand their point of view, and may change my opinion in the future. Right now I would say don't get in a hurry. Wait a couple more years and see what the effects are. The one thing I am certain of is the young anglers on the tour are highly skilled and deserve to be where they are. I also am certain that the older pros are not to old to learn the required skills to stay on top. Most have only installed the new units in the past year. A year from now they will be up to speed and competing at the top level again. In baseball they haven't changed the bats, but they have changed the gloves, shoes, helmets, and other aspects of the game. The challenge in bass fishing will be when to consider new electronics technology a new improved glove, or a different bat. Time will tell, lets give it some time

Hobie Outback. Plus. 1- I own it, I paid cash zero payments. 2- Very little maintenance and no oil, gas, or trouble starting. 3- Easy to peddle all day. 4- very stable handles well in lakes, rivers, and the ocean. I can easily stand and cast. 5- light enough to launch in surf 6- Lots of storage, with well thought out places for pliers, tackle boxes etc. 7- much better than fishing from shore. Minus. 1- Heavy to load on top of my car. 2- I can't maneuver while standing. I must sit down to move and position. 3- Expensive for a plastic boat 4- Does not portage well, can't drag over rough terrain, without damage. 5- Only seats one angler. This is the biggest disadvantage. Many times I want to invite friends to fish with me, but I can't, only room for me.

On a warm summer evening when the sun starts to set, everything gets quite except for the blurp blurp blurp of a jitterbug. When out of nowhere a bass interrupts the peaceful solitude with a viscous strike. If you have been there, you don't have to ask the question.

Because they are bass.

The first time I caught a bass on a C rig was two years ago. Now I fish one every time I go bass fishing. I really don't understand why people don't like it. I can cast it a mile, I don't have to wait all day for my bait to get to the bottom, I can easily feel every rock, or log on the bottom, I can fish it in strong wind while maintaining good bottom contact, quickly fish over places that don't feel right, but slow down when I feel the weight hit something interesting, I can easily detect bites, and almost never miss a hookset. I have never been a big fan of fishing soft plastics, but the way I fish a C rig it is more like fishing a crankbait than a typical soft plastic technique. I rig it old school, 3/4 to 1 oz barrel sinker a couple beads, 2 to 4 foot leader, Zoom Ole monster worm. Any point shelf, or hump I catch a bass on a crankbait, I well follow up with the C rig. I almost always catch a few more bass off of the spot, once the crankbait bite stops. I hate to admit it, but if I'm going to be completely honest, I Have on occasion, fished a point with the C rig first, and never even tried a crankbait. I probably shouldn't have admitted to those brief moments of temporary insanity on the internet, but sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction.