king fisher

Make sure you buy her the rod and reel you have been wanting to buy, because there is a chance you will be the one using it. If you buy her a beginner set up it may just spend time in the closet.

I like to fish fast. Yesterday I started the morning with a buzz bait, no luck, slowed to a walking bait, with limited success and finally fished a popper which worked well. I fished the popper faster than most, but was still slow for me. In the afternoon, I started burning crankbaits but had to switch to fishing a swim bait with a medium retrieve. I know I need to learn to fish slow, but so much water, so many lures, and so little time.

Spinnerbait for bass. Inline spinner for bass as well as other species.

I start almost every day with a buzz bait. I can cover lots of water, it comes through cover well, and is easy to fish in low light. The sound of a big bass crushing one is always a big plus. Most days I switch to something else within an hour , but I live for the days I don't have to change all day.

The biologist gives lots of statistical data that he hopes will eventually help anglers catch big bass at Toledo Bend, when all he really needs to do to help anglers catch a big bass there, is give anglers the radio frequency of that 8 pounder lol. I once witnessed two biologists tracking a moving radio transmitter they had put in a king salmon through thick brush in Alaska. I asked them if they were aware that king salmon don't swim on bear trails. They replied the tags were very expensive and as long as one was transmitting they were required to recover it. Lucky for them the signal quit before they caught up with it. They were great guys, that were very dedicated to their research.

Whopper Stopper Dirty Bird

Water temp. dropped to 74 degrees. Bass moved to the shore line. Landed a 8.1 pound 24 1/2 inch on a buzz bait first thing in the morning. Lost a giant in the afternoon on a DT 10. Lots of small ones in-between. I still haven't found a good way to take a picture while fishing in my kayak.

Sounds to me like you did well. I spent all day fishing from my kayak in a lake with no other fisherman. Water temp was 78 degrees sunny with light wind. All I caught in 12 hours of fishing was two bass, with the biggest about 3.5 pounds. You caught more fish than me, and I was fishing a Mexican bass lake in ideal conditions. Good job.

I am happy with the Coastal 200 for deep cranks

A fish does not pull at a slow steady pace. Put a rod in a holder get a scale, set the drag at 5 pounds. Slowly pull drag off the reel with the scale. After pulling a few feet off making sure the scale is set right, give the scale some jerks and hard pulls. Notice the max amount of pull on the scale. You can easily double that to ten pounds just by pulling with jerks and uneven pressure, similar to a panicked fish and angler when the fish is close to the boat. That is why many people will recommend setting the drag at 1/3 the rated pound test. When I am fishing in heavy cover, I will have my drag set very tight, so I can instantly get the fish away from the cover. Once the fish is in open water, I loosen the drag, and let the fish fight until tired. Making the boat side part of the fight less hectic. If I'm not fishing in heavy cover, I set my drag at approximately 1/3 rated line strength. One of the most common phrases, I have heard while fishing is, this big fish is taking drag, I think I need to tighten it. Followed by the very common sound of line snapping, or sometimes even the rod. I watched an angler try and slow a big king salmon once by thumbing the spool. He burned his thumb so bad he let go of the rod. Set your drag correctly and trust it.

I fished a river where you could only use one single hook. The most common lure was a magnum Wiggle Wart. You could buy Wiggle Warts with no back hook and the front one connected to the front hook hanger, with a short bead chain swivel. More than once I had to tell someone that the bait would dive down to the fish better if they tied their line to the split ring on the front of the lure rather than attach it to the split ring on the back.

I bass fish less in the winter, because that is when I have to salt water fish for work. This year I will be doing less work because of Covid. Tough way to live but some one has to do it. Awsome picture Awsome picture

I have lived in two states. Both have rod restrictions. In Alaska for fresh water you are allowed one rod period. You can only have one lure or fly attached to that rod. In WA for years you were only allowed one rod. Now you can pay an extra charge for your license which allows for one more rod. My current home is in Mexico. Anything goes.

Action, speed, size, and color all can matter. Most of the time color is the least dominant factor, but not always. Some times the bass are keying in on only one factor, such as speed. Any thing you throw gets hit as long as it is fished, fast. Other times its action, only a wide wobble will get hit. Size can be critical, other times not. Sometimes they are keying in on more than one factor. Fast tight vibrating is what they want. Then their are times when you need to match all factors even color. Other times as long as they can fit it in their mouth they will hit. Those are the times that great stories are made of. Also their are rare times when color is the only thing they are interested in. Anything orange will get crushed, but something black wont get a look. If red on a crawfish makes it easier for the bass to find a crawfish, then he may get tunnel vision and only look for that color to find his prey. Anything red will get hit even if it doesn't look or act like a craw. Most of the time a certain movement is what helps a bass capture their prey but that is not always the case. If I'm looking for deer with binoculars in open country, I will be concentrating on size and movement. In thick cover I may be concentrating on finding the small white patch on their neck or the shine of an antler. A bass is a predator just like any other. They use all of their senses to the maximum advantage to locate a kill their prey. Color vision may not be used as often as other senses, but it will be used. If not they wouldn't have the ability to see color. If you hold a Jitterbug straight above you head all you will see is the bottom white. If you hold it above your head at an angle, you will see the bottom and the sides, at a slight angle you can almost see the whole thing. Try it. Not that I think it makes a difference, because I don't, but I always hear a bass can only see the bottom of a top water and that is not true. I don't think an exact color match is important. A rainbow trout colored lure is green on the back grey on the sides, and white on the bottom. That is the same color as many bait fish. Just because it has a red stripe probably wont make any difference to a bass. Try to throw an all pink lure when they are looking for a natural colored one, and you might have a problem.

Rebel Jumpin Minnow in bone. Like the PopR it was discontinued at one time but brought back. Sometimes I color the back black with a magic marker. Easy to walk, good sound, casts a mile, and doesn't break the bank. I landed a double digit bass on one this summer, along with roosterfish, jacks, pargo, and yellowfin tuna. Hooks are poor. I don't ever hear any one else on this sight recommend this lure. Does any one else use one? Why no love?

I don't recall using the technique with a fish, but occasionally will when snagged and my kayak is shoved by the wind or current over the snag. Has saved me from breaking a rod tip more than once.

Spinnerbait, MH baitcaster. Can be buzzed on top, or crawled on the bottom and everything in-between. Fast or slow.

Bait Monkey says buy new Saltwater rated reels. I recommend Diawa BG for spinning, and Diawa Coastal for BC. but Shimano has saltwater rated reels that are as dependable, but may be a bit more expensive. I may be wrong, but I think the Curado reels are salt water rated. Depending on the size of fish you will catch, you may want to switch to reels with more line capacity. You will be amazed at how fast a fish in open saltwater will spool a reel. If you are not friends with the Bait Monkey than use what you got, take care of them, and replace when they wear out. If you like the rods you have than use them. Rinse well after each use, and they will be fine. When the guides do rust out replace them with stainless steel, or other saltwater approved guides.

No flats fishing nearby. I do inshore fish for snook, roosterfish and jacks. Salt water fishing here is expensive. I can't afford to go very often for fun. The last time I went out with a friend on his boat for an overnight offshore trip, the cost of my share of fuel, ice, and bait was over $700. Usually we would offset the cost by selling most of the tuna we caught, but we decided to donate the fish to the local people that are getting hit hard in these challenging economic times. I can do an overnight camp trip at my favorite bass lake for under $50. I work as the captain of a 75 foot private sport fishing yacht. Maintaining a boat that size is a full time job. Most years the owner of the boat would have me taking his friends fishing off shore giving me no time to fish myself. Because of Covid I have some more time to fish. I prefer to bass fish because that is what I grew up doing, and there is some very excellent bass fishing here.

Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against having a couple beers while fishing. I just don't like to have a couple casts while drinking. When I go salt water fishing with friends, they drink and land fish. I drive their boat rig the baits, watch the electronics, look for birds and make sure we get back safe, have some fish in the box help clean the fish, wash the boat, and appreciate the opportunity. When I bass I fish.

This week has been tough for me. I haven't caught a single fish. The fact that I haven't been able to go fishing is probably the main reason for the dry spell. Good thing is, I didn't loose any tackle. Last week was slow, but at least I was able to get on the water a couple days. Rainy season has stopped, water should start to clear up and cool down. Hope to get some time off in November. That is when I'm going to catch some big ones.

Does any one else have a hard time finding friends to go fishing with that are willing to spend a full day concentrating on Bass fishing? All my friends here salt water fish. For most of them a day on the water is a party that hopefully includes catching a big fish to eat. They like to make it back to the bar in time for happy hour, and rarely will stay out all day. Where I bass fish the chance of catching a double digit bass is as good as anywhere, but you have to fish hard from dawn to dusk plus drive 3 hours each way. I tell my friends if they go bass fishing with me they can't drink 12 beers apiece before lunch and expect to catch a big bass. Their casts have to be accurate, and some days the fish don't bite. There are no margaritas, girls in bikinis, and a big fish wont feed every person at the bar. They just thank me for the invitation and tell me to give them a call when the bite is on and it's not so difficult to catch the big ones. Everywhere else I have lived I have always had a couple friends that were serious fishermen who always put the time and effort in to catching fish, and there wasn't even a chance at a double digit bass. Here making it back to happy hour is more important than a chance at a 10 pounder. I don't get it. My friends say I'm to serious and need to relax. Nothing against partying, or relaxing, just not when I'm bass fishing. To me fishing is more than a party with fishing rods involved. I am very busy at work, and get far to few days to target bass to spend those days baby sitting drunk fishermen. I have to do that far to often while working. I guess for now I will just keep going by myself with my kayak and enjoy the solitude, and the occasional giant bass.

You can't go wrong with a Shimano, I don't have any experience with Lews, but have heard they are good for the price. Buy one that feels good to you. I buy reels without trying them, but prefer to buy rods I have had my hands on.

If you want to catch bass in the winter, come fish Mexico. Big bass hitting top water all winter long, including some less famous lakes that never get fished for bass. Local commercial fishermen consider bass illegal trash fish. I don't know who does the illegal plants, but I'm sure glad they do. A friend just told me of another lake I didn't know had bass in it. He is an offshore charter captain, and wasn't too impressed with the 12 pound bass he caught. Thought it looked like a good sized bait fish. When he showed me the picture I almost had a heart attack, especially when he told me where he caught it. The only day bass fishing in his whole life, and he catches a 12 pounder. I plan on giving that lake a try as soon as I have time. Nothing against ice fishing. I spent many winters in Alaska catching dinner through the ice, but shorts, sandals, cold beer and big bass isn't a bad way to spend a winter.

I'm on the fence with this issue. I like the twisted, because the line can't slide down the arm, and they seem to hold up better. For some reason R bend baits seem to run straight at higher speeds better. I make my own and am constantly switching preference. I lost a trophy bass a couple weeks ago on a brand new spinner bait because the braid slid down the wire on an R bend and broke at the bend. Currently back to liking the twisted wire. Next week I may be burning the bait just under the surface and be back to liking the R bend.