king fisher

It is easy to remember the times the weather service is wrong. More difficult to remember when they are right. I was always full of bravado when I made it through a mountain pass when flight service said VFR flight not recommended. I always quickly forgot the times I ticked my pants and kissed the ground when I finally was able to land on the other side. Predicting weather is not easy, and way better than it was only a few years ago.

Where are you live and the time of the year is a big factor on how accurate weather reports are some places can be very accurate three days ahead of time other places not very accurate even a couple hours ahead of time. When I lived in Alaska I had to fly over hundreds of miles of wilderness I would check with flight service two or three times before I left and look at the weather maps myself it was up to me to make the decision whether to go. Many times I pushed the weather other times I didn’t sometimes when I filed the flight plan they read me the weather again thinking that I missed understood them and I’d make it to my destinations other times I would either have to turn around or many times stranded on a gravel bar camping in the bushes weather prediction is not an exact science for anybody. Here in Mexico we all out get our weather through different online sources. Some people think by checking more sites they have more information. And because it’s on the Internet it must be correct even out to two weeks. I have my favorite site that is fairly accurate for winds and wave heights but I don’t take that as gospel and always have a back up plan.

I tie on the latest most expensive lure some one on tv says is new and revolutionary I purchased just for those times when not even dynamite works.

Live night crawler with bobber. Bring a stringer and a fillet knife. Relax. Catch some fish have fun and eat a good meal you didn’t have to buy in a plastic package. If fishing becomes your passion you will meat the Bait monkey soon bough.

I mostly use 6th sense Cloud nine series they work great, but do pull hard. Rapala DT series dive to advertised depths and do not pull as hard. Spro Rock Crawler is small in size, doesn't wear you out and crushes the fish, but I haven't been able to get one to dive over 12 feet. I use these and many more. I haven't found a perfect one yet, but the Bait Monkey wont let me give up the search.

My wife watched me take this picture. She asked why I had so many chartreuse lures. I told her that color was what worked best. She replied, if that is the case why do you have so many other colors. I told her there are days when I try chartreuse and it doesn't work. Her reply was on those days why don't you simply come home early, it isn't like you have to catch bass, you don't even keep the bass for dinner. Hard to argue with logic like that.

When bass are feeding on slow moving prey on a snaggy bottom spoons are a bad choice. When they are feeding on shiny bait fish in open water they excel. Trout spend more time in open water, so spoons are used for them more often. Bass spend more time on the bottom in snags around cover so spoons are not as popular for them. If you can manage to wiggle a spoon in front of an actively feeding bass and not get snagged the bass will bite. In-line spinners work best fished Shallow. Will catch anything that swims in small streams. Excels in current but will catch lots of bass in calm water too

My recommendation may sound crazy but works well for me both salt and fresh water. 9 foot lamilglass rod M. Fast. 3/8 - 3/4 ounce lure rating. Diawa coastal 200 reel. 40 pound Diawa J 8 braid. Rebel Jumping Minow lure. I have landed many bass up to 9 pounds and over a dozen salt water species on this set up. The rod and reel are mid priced and the lure is dirt cheap but walks as good as any. This set up casts almost as far as one of my surf rods. Super Spook would be my second and far more popular choice for lure. Don’t be intimidated by such a long rod. They are 2 piece and cast a mile.

I’m tied up at the dock right now in Nuevo Vallarta as hurricane Nora is coming through should be hitting the peak here in a couple hours I have an arm in a sling making me feel worthless but my trusty deckhand is managing to take up my slack so far all the ropes are holding and nothing is blowing away. Power is out all over so my wife’s at home with no power i’ll run the generator on the boat so I’ll have power but I’ll be outside most of the night in the weather taking care of the boat I captain and doing what little I can to help others. Good thing Nora is a small hurricane compared to what the guys in Louisiana are going to have to go through everybody stay safe.

I have no doubt that for some anglers 1/16 oz of worm weight difference can and has been been the difference between getting skunked, and filling the boat. I'm sure that the difference has won or lost more than one tournament. My problem is I am not a skilled enough worm fisherman to know which one to use. so I rely on random luck when I choose between the two. Now if you ask me if there is a difference between 3/8 and 1/2 ounce spinnerbaits, My reply would be a complete night and day difference, and I would give 101 reasons when, where, and why to choose one over the other. Add blades to the equation and that discussion could easily go down an endless rabbit whole. I am currently working on my worm fishing skills, and hope to someday be able to use experience and skill rather than intuition and luck when deciding on a worm weight. My problem is the big Mexican bass. where I fish have never seen any lures, and love to crush crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and top waters. Making it hard for me to be patient enough to learn to fish worms. I guess I could have worse problems.

If you want your braid to last forever buy hollow braid. Currently 65 pound is the smallest anyone makes (Jerry Brown may make smaller, I'm not sure.) but for frog fishing, or punching it works great. It only takes a couple minuets to splice hollow braid to hollow braid, if you have the right size needle with a loop. A hollow to hollow braid splice is 100% strong, and is so small it is almost impossible to find where the splice is. When the last few feet of line goes bad, simply cut it out and splice in however many feet you need to replace. You can also insert a floro leader in to hollow braid for a knotless Leeder connection if you really want to get fancy. All that said, for most of my bass fishing, I agree with the OP and just say no to leaders.

When I lived in Alaska I was constantly looking for new places to fish. I always carried flagging tape with me. I would check out an area where I thought I could land, go in light no gear minimum fuel. Once safely on the ground I would clear what ever I could to make the runway longer and mark the best approach with the flagging tape. I stranded myself more than once having to wait a day or two for the wind to change in order to take off again. I always made it back and have great memories of fishing places never fished before. A good friend or mine found a great place and we were worried other pilots would see our tracks and start fishing there. We got the bright idea to place driftwood in strategic places that made it very difficult to land but possible and safe if you new exactly how to do it. Worked great for years as long as we were flying Cubs. One day may friend tried it with a Cesna 180 and hit one of the logs he put there to deter others. We dessasembled the plane and managed to fly all the parts out with bigger pieces duck taped to the fussulage of out Cubs. It took many trips and we had to stash gas at gravel bars along the route but eventually managed to fly all the pieces out and not even the Wildlife refuge manager ever found out about the crash. I miss those days when there were still unexplored streams and I was young and fearless. Now I spend my spare time exploring unknown lakes in Mexico that have D.D. bass. I have located two that receive 0 sport fishing pressure, and a couple more that do get fished, but no lodges or guides. I just got a lead on another one where a local commercial fisherman caught a bass that was 6.3 kilos. I plan on fishing that lake as soon as I am able. The summer is my slow season for work, and I had planned on exploring a dozen unknown lakes, but I injured my shoulder and haven't been able to fish for over a month. Looks like I wont be able to bass fish for two more months, then I will be busy with work. I guess the best thing I can hope for is the bass will only be bigger by the time I get to give the lakes a try next year. I guess I could have used way less words and said exploring new fishing and hunting spots is my favorite thing to do.

Original floating Rapala, Hulla Poper, Tiny Torpedo, small Jitterbug, and best of all a live grasshopper.

If I forget my camera I will catch many fish. If I forget my scale, I will catch big fish. If I forget both I will catch my PB. I don't bring anything special for luck, I do try my best to leave all my problems on land.

If the bass are hitting the buzz bait, than you are reeling correctly. I have found most joint injuries occur from repetitive house hold chores, yard work, or other related activities conducted during times when for health reasons, time could be better spent fishing. I find fishing in general is very therapeutic, and a good buzz bait bite should be considered physical therapy.

Bait Monkey does not like creeks. One spinning rod and reel, a few #3 Mepps or Vibrax,and a couple original floating Rapala minnow's is all you need. Throw in a few buck tail jigs if there are some slow deep holes.

I was thinking the same thing, so I bought a new scale. My wife doesn't understand why I spent $60 on a new scale, when I could simply use the same creative imagination I use when I tell her I wont be buying any more rods and reels. I told her I have no problem stretching a five pound bass, but once a bass is over 10 lbs. even a politician must tell the truth. As far as the cost of the new scale goes, I can honestly say $60 is in in the ball park.

All I know, is when the blades aren't spinning, a spinnerbait turns in to the worst jig ever made.

My precision casting is excellent. I can hit the only rock in one hundred yards to test the durability of a new crankbait. I can catch a single limb 10 feet up a tree that even a bird would have a hard time landing on. I can hit the water next to a lily pad so hard fish half way across the lake can be attracted to the sound. I can work the land side of a shoreline, better than most anglers can work the water side. I have even wrapped a lure in a power line. Now that is precision casting.

Shoulder Surgery successful, out of the hospital now, on way less medication, no more crazy posts.

A good fisherman can catch fish with almost any bait. I have been out fished by a Mexican kid fishing with an old soda bottle for a rod and reel and a home made lure made from a toothbrush. I am sure there are many members here that can catch more bass than me with one worm or jig. I have way to many lures but will by many more. Don’t know why.

Buzzbait works great all year here.

If you think you have too many rods now whatever you do, don’t take up flyfishing

My dog is not allowed in the hospital

Could be the trout is simply focused on the bottom and doesn’t even noticing an easy meal swimming above. If there were many mice and few eggs concentration would be on the surface and fish would not notice a tiny egg on bottom