king fisher

I have moved away from techniques that catch bass. This year I didn't waste valuable casting practice time landing and releasing bass. I hope to go back to techniques that catch bass next year, but only time will tell.

I have had days when fishing was so slow, I am positive I couldn't get hit, even by lightning.

I own one, and buying it was a big mistake. Now the Bait Monkey wont give me a moments peace. He reminds me how good my Zillion is every time I use one of my other reels. I have never in the past cared about any financial markets, after buying my Zillion from Japan, I find myself looking up the exchange rate every day, sometimes even twice a day. I find myself hoping one of my other reels breaks, so I have an excuse to buy another Zillion. The Bait Monkey even talked me in to using one of my other reels in salt water, with the idea that it could always be replaced by a Zillion. I refuse to be bullied, and for now I only own one.

Store the rods in your house, and move yourself and your family to the out buildings.

Anyone fishing for large fish neear ocean reefs with 50 pound test line, has no clue what they are doing. I fish for Cubera Snapper that range from 30 to 60 pounds on rocky underwater islands in Mexico. I use 130 pound braid mainline, with 250 pound mono leader. The rods are 130 pound big game rods, with 50 Wide reels. The drags are set at 30 lbs full drag. If the snapper will bite 10 feet above the reef, the angler is strong, and doesn't let the fish get turned, the fight will be short and successful. If they are biting within a few feet of the reef the only way to land them is to leave the rod in the holder, push the drag to full, and use the boat motor to pull away from the reef. If the snapper gets into the rocks it will break the leader like it was thread. A 100 pound Giant Trevally is not going to be landed if it is close to a reef on anything but the heaviest of tackle.

When I was a kid, I fished for anything that would bite a worm under a bobber. Then I discovered bass fishing and met the Bait Monkey at the same time. As I grew older I started fly fishing for trout, and continued to fish for many species of fish, but still considered myself a bass fisherman. I moved to Alaska when I was 25 and started guiding for trout and salmon. I loved the AK wilderness, and became skilled at catching All of the species of fish, where I resided. Even though there are no bass in AK I hadn't fished for them in over 30 years, and it makes zero sense, I still considered myself first and foremost a bass fisherman. I continued to read articles on bass fishing and every new lure that came out while I tried to think of a way it would work in my old childhood bass fishing holes. When I moved to Mexico I became a saltwater angler, for a living. I do enjoy catching many species of saltwater fish, and like my fishing in Alaska, I am far more skilled at fishing for fish in the Mexican saltwater than I am at bass fishing. I spent many years in Mexico,befoer had an opportunity to catch a bass, but I always considered bass my favorite sport fish. A few years ago I got the opportunity to go bass fishing again. The passion returned with the first cast, along with my friendship with the Bait Monkey. Now, other than for work, I rarely fish for anything else. I wish my skill has improved as much as my tackle collection, but slowly I am becoming a better bass angler, and so far haven't allowed the Monkey to put me in bankruptcy. I have never fished a bass tournament for two reasons, one I have never had an opportunity, and two for the same reason I don't gamble. I know I will loose money, so why give money to some one else, when I know the odds are not in my favor. I do hope to someday go as a co angler simply to have the experience. I have kept close track of tournament angling for over 40 years and have great respect for all the professional fisherman that have worked so hard and taken the gamble to make their living fishing for bass. The answer to the question of why I bass fish, is really I don't know. I am better at catching other species, I have to drive many hours to get to a bass lake, when the ocean and great saltwater fishing is only a mile from my house, Most of my life I lived where there isn't even any bass to fish for. It makes zero sense and I have no logical reason for why I am a bass angler. I may not know exactly why I bass fish, but when I hook a big bass I know there is nothing else I want to be. I am a bass fisherman and I am happy.

Because I can. If I was a mountain climber, I would climb mountains, if I could play a guitar I would be a musician, if I could hit home runs, I would be a baseball player. I can't do any of those things, so I am a bass fisherman, therefore I fish for bass and I wouldn't want it any other way.

I am from the Northwest and have many family members living on the coast. My family is not part of, and I have not noticed or believe there is any rapid societal decay, and would appreciate you keeping your opinions on the matter to yourself. By the way the owner of this site lives on the WA Coast, and as far as I no has no plans of fleeing the societal decay. You could have said you moved to Montana to expand your hunting and fishing opportunities, and socialize with people of like interests without insinuating some how Montana has better people or as you put it no societal decay. I appreciate the fact that this site does not tolerate any political content. I realize I am being hypocritical by replying to the this post in this way, that I have in fact broken the policy, and I apologize for my infraction.

I understand the theory of subtler lures working better for bass conditioned to loud flashy lures. I basically subscribe to this theory. I do have to wonder why most of my biggest bass have been caught on loud moving baits such as crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and buzz baits. The bigger bass are older and should have been conditioned to prefer the soft plastics, that are so popular with the smaller bass. The opposite seems to be true in many of the waters I fish. The bigger bass may be bigger because they are more aggressive, and more competitive. They may feed more often, and might be prone to getting to there food before other less competitive bass can. Making them more likely to chase down a fast moving bait. How many members PBs have been caught on noisy baits, the large bass should have learned to avoid by the time they are trophy size? I doubt a 10 pound bass has never seen a rattle trap, but plenty of them get caught on traps every year. Buzz baits don't always work for me, but when they do, on average they catch far larger bass than plastic worms. The worms will work on more days, but when the buzz bait bite is on, the worm rod gets put away for the day.

I usually have four rods in my kayak. Most of the time they will have different techniques on all of them. Once in awhile I will have two top waters tied on, a popper and a walking bait. Other times I may have two different crankbaits. Those are rare occasions, and It depends if a square bill and a deep diving crankbait qualify as the same technique. I dream of the day when I can have 20 rods all rigged and laid out on the deck of a fully equipped bass boat, but I also long for the days when I only had one rod and reel to fish with.

I was sure you have three different spinnerbaits tied on at all times.

There is a dam, but it has no flood gates, or hydro electric generators. When the reservoir gets full the water flows over the top. The area gets zero rain from around the first of Nov. to the first of July. Then it rains almost every day, with thunder storms in the evenings, that can dump over an inch of rain in less than an hour. The lakes in this region, fluctuate 50 to 80 feet from low water in June to full pool in October. Water level, and clarity determine the location of the bass far more than water temperature. The surface temp. never gets below 60 degrees, or above 80 degrees, and is between 65 and 75 most of the year. The bass do like the many flooded fence lines. My guess is they use the fence line to travel from deep to shallow water, or maybe they simply enjoy cutting anglers line off on the wire. Whatever the reason, I am forced to spend a lot of my fishing time casting to these lure eating fences. The Bait Monkey wants me to try casting glide baits for the bass in this lake. The Monkey and I are good friends, but I don't ever see myself casting an expensive bait anywhere near this area. Just to make sure I never do, I wont even purchase a glide bait.

He used my rod's and reels while he was here. He was impressed with my Zillion, but left the Bait Monkey with me.

If I don't consider the arthritis in my joints, my poor eyesight, loss of hearing, and other obligations taking up most of my time, I might be at my peak, not sure, I can't remember. I do know I enjoy bass fishing as much as I ever have.

If I bought a rod that cost over $150, my bank account would hit bottom, and my head may get contacted by my wife. That is what sensitivity means to me.

I fished Presa Corinches for two days. I landed 10 total bass, with 4.5 pounds being the biggest. I always struggle at this lake. My best spot is a concrete block next to a barb wire fence. This picture was taken in May when the water is low. This cover is now 15 feet under water. I hooked a couple nice bass, here but hooking them in this cover and landing them can be difficult. Best bite is on crankbaits, but I try to catch them on a T Rig before attempting to work my crankbaits around the fence without getting snagged. I did manage to land 5 bass, and only lose a few baits.

Bass fishing as a kid was an indescribable passion. A journey full of mystery with that one great giant bass of my dreams always one cast away. Every bass hooked was a miracle, every bass landed a life long memory, every day fishing an adventure, every new stretch of shoreline, creek bend, or piece of cover a fantastic discovery, and every lure a treasured magical creation. That is how I remember bass fishing as a kid, and how I still think of bass fishing to this day.

I wish Santa would come to my house, grab the Bait Monkey and drop him down some other anglers chimney.

Relax. My post was not intended to offend anyone. It wasn't even intended to state an opinion, about either manufacturer, or mine or any one else's personal opinion. My post was a failed attempt at humor. I was insinuating that I am a Diawa fan, but if someone would be kind enough to send me a free Shimano reel, I would instantly turn in to a Shimano fan. I obviously didn't think someone would send me a free reel, and because I am an amateur angler, I would not ever expect to get a sponsorship from Shimano. It was meant to be a joke. I thought it was funny, but as all jokes, I should have anticipated the fact that others may not appreciate my sense of humor. I believe both manufactures make excellent reels and encourage discussions about the pluses and minuses of both.

I currently own Diawa Baitcasters, but if someone wants to send me some top of the line Shimano reels to compare with my Diawa, I would be glad to give them a try. I can tell in advance, that if I were given a Shimano reel to review for free, the Shimano reel would be the smoothest, farthest casting reel I ever owned.

I had a friend I grew up with come visit. We hadn't fished for bass together in 40 years. I found a guide that would take us fishing on my favorite lake. We fished hard for two full days and caught a total of 8 bass. The biggest one was 1.5 pounds. The last report I had for the lake was a couple weeks ago, and the fishing had been epic. It just goes to show even in Mexico, bass fishing is bass fishing. Neither of us got skunked either day, so it could have been worse. The good thing was fishing is not all about catching fish. We told and retold so many old stories that both of us had sore throats and scratchy voices, from non stop talking, and sore sides from laughing. My friends PB is 5 pounds, caught in the spring of 1977. I still remember him walking up to the bank and casting a #3 Mepps spinner across the creek hooking the bass and me reaching down an grabbing it. We both thought it was the biggest bass in the world. I sure wish he could have caught a new PB while he was here, but maybe he will get a chance to come fish again.

I always fish my way, that is easy. My problem is catching bass.

Talk like this is exactly why the Bait Monkey left my house with a big frown and a black eye.

7 inch Senko in June bug. June bug is one of the most popular colors for soft plastics, but I can't find them in the 7 inch size. Maybe some place other than TW has them I don't know. I ran out last year and now I use black and blue. They work well but I always wonder if the June bug would work better.

Which ever State you choose, the Bait Monkey wanted me to remind you to buy new rods, reels, line and lures for such an epic trip. You will also want to buy new gear on your trip to bring back home.