king fisher

I would start with something Chartreuse, if that doesn't work throw something in a shad pattern, if that doesn't work try a different bait. Crankbaits are one of my favorite baits to fish, and I use them every time I go bass fishing. That said, if they are going to bite a crankbait it doesn't take long to find out. If they don't bite right away I try some other type of lure. If I get a few bites but I am not satisfied with the numbers or size of the bass, and the conditions look good for crankbaits, I will try switching size, make, and color in that order to see if I can find a crankbait that works best. In the past I have stuck with crankbaits for far to long trying to find the magic one. I am a more diverse angle now, and have learned to let the bass tell me what they want instead of me trying to force them to want crankbaits when they are not in the mood.

I fish my tried and true baits, but I buy everything the Monkey tells me to.

Don't feel bad, I once got out fished by a kid using a soda bottle for a rod and reel, with a lure carved out of a toothbrush. Fishing a floating Rapala, or a #3 inline spinner on a light spinning rod, are my go to finesse skunk buster tactics. There is a reason every tackle store in the world sells floating Rapala's.

If anyone is willing do this, I have work to do on all of the above. Don't worry about bringing any tools, I will supply all the tools you will need.

Some one once told me, it's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog. Same goes for bass.

I will bring a helicopter lure, because I plan on borrowing what ever is working from you.

I sleep at night, work, fish, and eat during the day. I expect the bass I fish for, to have the decency to do the same.

There are many bass fishing lures and techniques that can work well with medium power rods, but I believe most jerkbaits fish best on medium power rods.

I can cast a bait caster one yard less than I want to, and 10 yards more than I need to.

I cast all rods with my right hand. I reel spinning rods with my left hand and bait casters with my right hand. The reason is, when I started fishing spinning reels were left hand retrieve, and bait casters were right hand retrieve. I should learn to reel a bait caster with my left hand, it only makes sense to do it that way, but I'm getting to be an old dog and new tricks are hard to learn. I did start reeling a spinning reel upside down and backwards with my right hand but forced myself to change after much ridicule from my friends. I was young then, learning new tricks was easy and peer pressure was a bigger factor. By the time I started fly fishing most reels were made to operate with either hand, and because they are mounted on the bottom of the rod it felt natural to reel with my left hand.

The Engagement Ring Monkey is a distant cousin to the Bait Monkey and can definitely drain your bank account. The good thing about him is he hits you hard once, then disappears to greener pastures while making both you and your significant other happy. The Bait Monkey will be there every day of your life. In a very short time He can undo all the good karma you gained by working with the Ring Monkey and not just drain your bank account, but leave you divorced and bankrupt. Good news is you will still have a nice reel.

JDM Zillion done. Has your fiancé met the Bait Monkey Yet? Might be a good time to make the introduction.

Lund's are worth the extra cost, but having a dealer you trust close to where you live is as important as the brand of boat. There are many excellent aluminum boat manufactures, but not so many excellent dealers.

You did the right thing. The other thing that you could have done is tie some sort of marker like an empty gallon jug to it. Something people would see and avoid.

You should have asked them why they don't just use Forward facing Sonar.

I set the drags on all of my big game rods before every trip with a scale. My bass rods I don't use a scale, I simply pull the line off with my hand and adjust the drag when it feels right. If a person does use a scale, the reason you want to set the drag around 1/3 of the line break strength is because a fish does not pull slow and steady. Have someone hold a rod in the same position you would fight a fish. Then attach a scale to the end of the line. slowly walk off and measure the weight of the drag on the scale. Lets say it pulls off at 5 pounds. Now slowly walk away with the scale and start jerking quickly on the line imitating the fight of a fish. That same drag setting may read as much as 10 pounds at peak times depending on the quality of the drag. Add to that a nick or week knot in the line and you can see why setting the drag at anything more than 50% of line strength is only asking for trouble. If you are using heavy braid than your drag may still be to tight even at 1/3 of the line breaking strength. Most rods made for bass fishing can break at 10 pounds of pull if the angle is extreme. If you don't believe me take your favorite rod and try to lift a 10 pound weight off of the ground with it. Even if your line and rod do not break, anything over 10 pounds of drag, will equate to over 15 pounds of drag with a sudden pull, and 15 pounds of drag is what I set drags for when trolling for Marlin. Fifteen pounds of actual measured drag is an incredible amount of drag. Cranking drags down all the way works for many anglers, and if it works for you don't change, but do consider that a reel with a drag at 15 pounds of drag, can bend hooks, break rods, and pull hooks from the mouths of bass if you don't play the bass correctly. Luckily for us bass anglers, bass don't usually make long runs, so simply by moving your rod and body back and forth a person can usually give enough play in the line to keep from breaking something, but this skill takes time to acquire, and a well set drag is nice to have incase a bass does go on a strong run that is to long to compensate for by moving your rod and body.

My first set up was a steel telescoping rod, with a fly reel. The rod was not a fly rod, and the reel had mono line on it, so while all the other kids were bombing casts with their Zebco's I was looking for a place I could drop my worm in the water and didn't need to cast. I fished off of bridges, docks and cliffs for my first years fishing. The steel rod was heavy and sensitivity wasn't even worth thinking about. The reel would have been great for fly fishing but for casting a worm and bobber it was next to impossible. When I was twelve my dad bought me a spinning reel the day before I went on a big camping trip with the boy scouts. My life as a fisherman changed on that camping trip. I was finally able to cast. I still used the steel rod for a few more years, and it wasn't the best, but as long as I had a spinning reel I could fish. Although I love and appreciate the improvements in rods I have owned, I have to say any reel I own now is the most important improvement over what I started fishing with. I will say that first reel I owned, I would gladly use with a modern fly rod, but wouldn't want to have to cast one of the fly rods made at the time with even the best modern reel.

I got up this morning, looking forward to a relaxing day off of work. My wife fixed me a cup of tea, and I logged on to Bass Resource. First thing I see is this tackle porn picture from A-Jay. There goes my peaceful morning. The Bait Monkey started nocking on my door, the dogs started barking, and now I have my wife chasing the monkey around the house screaming he is not buying any more fishing rods, and if he wants colored rod covers, they better be free including shipping. The monkey just jumped out a window, so peace and quite should be restored. I like the full cork handles, are they new rods?

There are many, but I narrowed the choices down to three. The first is my favorite place to fish when I was a kid Rock Lake WA. in 1975. I would like to go back in time and fish the lake, but if I could go back and fish there with my two best friends, that would be special, a dream come true. The second is the Togiak River Alaska. From 1995 to 2018 it was my favorite place to fish. Best king salmon fishing on the planet for many years. If I could go back I would want to fish for Kings on July 10 1998. The third is Presa Pocho Nayarite Mexico in June 2020. and I would remember to bring a scale.

I have lost and witnessed thousands of fish of all species lost from broken lines, pulled hooks, bent hooks, broken rods, and tearing the hook out of a lightly skinned hook fish. All of these fish might have been landed if the drag was not to tight. I have also lost and witnessedonly a handful of fish lost due to the drag set to light. The odds of loosing a fish by horsing them is way higher than the odds of loosing a fish by being to gentle. That said, there are times when bass fishing that you have to clamp down on a bass in order to pull it away from or out of cover. This can be done on a bait caster by applying pressure on the spool with your thumb. Once you have the bass away from cover you can let the drag do it's work. I have landed very large fish on tiny hooks, with ridiculously light line by having patience and the drag set light. I'm sure this can be accomplished with bass as well, it's only the culture of horsing them to the top and skipping back the boat that keeps people from landing many bass. How many times does an angler have a snag that wont come loose so they pull hard to break the line and the hook pulls out. The hook is not bent it simply pulled out of the snag. The same thing happens with a bass. Pull to hard and something is going to give. I have lost giant bass because I let them get in to cover. That is on me, but I haven't lost giant bass because I horsed them. Every fight is different. Sometimes you have to move forward and punch hard, sometimes you have to play defense and wear them out. Experience is the best teacher.

I have been on and off of the floro wagon, more times than a rock star is in and out of rehab. I am currently using Sniper, but like InviseX as well. My problem is professional over runs. It isn't the lines fault. I am constantly trying to get that last foot out of every cast. Throwing hard, and standing on the edge of the cliff with one foot over is a bad habit of mine. If any floro gets a kink in it while picking out a backlash bad luck is sure to follow.

Does she catch bass on spinnerbaits?

The fishing gods can throw all the lightning bolts they want. I Think a Zillion on an Expride would be worth dodging some lightning.

No picture no scale, I would average the two weights, then add a pound, or two. Bigger is always better so why not give it a little fisherman's stretch.