king fisher

Does the sound braid makes when dragged across wood have a negative effect on bass? Has anyone switched to floro, or mono because of the noise? I'm fishing some standing tees, with lots of horizontal branches. I like to use heavy braid to cut down on the number of lost lures, and fish. The sound of the line dragging across the branches bothers me, but does it bother the fish?

You will loose fewer fish by simply replacing the treble hook with a singe hook. Rod will depend on what size of spinner, and how far you need to cast. Almost any rod will work, some better than others depending on the individual.

I am never satisfied. If I am catching lots of small fish, I want bigger fish. If I catch a big fish, I want lots of big fish. If I am catching multiple big fish, those fish become average fish, and now I want bigger fish. At the end of the day I am happy with what ever I caught because I can always plan on catching more and bigger fish next time.

Thanks. They sell them for less then it costs me to make my own Lumaflex skirts.

There may be a few very large fish and you just haven't been lucky enough to catch one. Most likely there are not many larger fish due to over population of other species, but that doesn't mean one or two haven't grown to a size where even adult pan fish become prey. You may not catch many, but might catch the monster of the pond. I fish a small lake that at first frustrated me. I could catch baby bass around half a pound anywhere, on anything. I had been told their were big bass there, so I kept fishing trying to find a pattern for adult bass. I found there were a few huge bass suspended in some large trees. I fish the lake often now, and only get a couple bites a day, but have landed 3 over ten pounds, and a few over 7 pounds. I have only caught a couple fish between 1 and 4 pounds. While launching my kayak I met the lake manager. He told me to keep all bass, because they preyed on the Tilapia. He told me they try and net the bass in the spring when they are shallow and encourage any anglers to kill all the bass they can. Almost the entire shoreline is gravel, with a few stick ups. I'm no biologist but it looks like perfect spawning habitat. After talking to the manager I believe the reason I don't catch mid size bass is there are none. They catch most of them with the gill nets, and the baby bass are small enough to swim through the mesh. The few large bass that survive have an abundant supply of food due to very little competition from other predators and are to big to get caught in the gill nets. Obviously not a well manged lake for bass number, but I don't want them to change a thing. However I do release all the bass I catch.

I buy my equipment to use, I don't care about resale value. I will most likely be the last owner of almost all my gear. All my gear is nothing but tools to me. I make sure every tool I own is taken care of maintained and works as it was designed. Cosmetics is not even a consideration. I guided a client on a Caribou hunt in AK a few years ago. We were stalking a record book caribou. We had to crawl across a exposed bolder field. My client wouldn't put his gun on the rocks while we crawled. He kept trying to hold it in the air and crawl on all fours at the same time. He was slow and the Caribou was going to get away. I told him to crawl like me and not to worry about the scratches in the stock of the rifle. He had an off the shelf rifle, so it wasn't like he paid a fortune for the stock. He told me my rifle looked like hell, and he wouldn't treat his in the same way. I told him if he hurried up, and got the Caribou, I would buy him a new rifle with out any scratches, or he could continue the way he was and go home with out a trophy of a lifetime. We got the Caribou and he ended showing off the scratches and talking about the long difficult hunt for years. At the end of the hunt I set up a target and proved to him, my piece of junk rifle looked like hell, but was very accurate. I don't believe in abusing my fishing gear, but I do believe my gear was made to catch fish, I don't care what it looks like. That is me, if you like to keep your gear looking like new, and don't mind making the effort to do so, than that is what you should do. I'm sure there are people that catch more fish than me, and their gear looks perfect. I know I wouldn't have any fun fishing if I had to worry about how my gear looks all the time, and fishing is supposed to be about having fun.

What does a bite feel like? Exactly like dragging a lure through an old gill net. I didn't get many bites last weekend, but was 100 percent on hooking nets.

I am a big fan of Penn and have a over a dozen of their big game conventional reels and consider them top of the line. I also have a brand new Penn Battle spinning reel. The Diawa BG is by far a better reel than the Penn Battle. No other salt water spinning reel comes close to the BG in the price range. I own Shimano spinning reels I like better than my BG, but they cost $300 more than the BG. I have no affiliation with Diawa, I simply appreciate the quality and price of the BG.

I get some of my spinner bait parts at lure parts too. They have a chart in their catalog that gives recommended sizes for blades, beads, swivels, and clevises. The one thing they have that some other places don't is Lumaflex skirt material. I got the idea from a video Glen made on fishing spinner baits and now use it almost exclusively for skirt material. A few strands of crystal flash added can add some shine to the skirt. I don't know if the fish care, but it looks good. One way to make sure you don't loose blades because of the wire bend is use crimps made for making wire leaders to close you loop. I can't say it is better than just bending the wire, but I prefer the crimp.

If you are going to use the reel in salt water, as well as fresh water, I would get a Diawa BG. By far the best salt water spinning reel for the money. If you want to spend more, than both Shimano and Penn make good reels in a higher price range.

First time I tried night fishing was the result of an evil salesman with a sick sense of humor at a local fly shop. He told me the browns were killing streamers on the Spokane river at night. I had only been catching rainbows during the day so instantly I decided I had to give it a try. He also told me not to shine a flash light on the water because it would spook the trout. The river was high, with slick mossy rocks, making wading difficult in the day time. Add to that wind, and fly fishing, plus no light. Needless to say I didn't take up night time fly fishing for brown trout. My experience bass fishing at night hasn't been that frustrating, but bad enough that I haven't become a big fan. I will try again soon. I'm sure it will only take one big fish to change my opinion. I definitely am going bring a light.

Every time I try night fishing, I always have the same problem, It's dark. Reading this post has me thinking of trying again.

Zero pleasure boaters ever on the fresh water lakes I fish in Mexico. All the pleasure boaters head for the ocean. I live on the ocean, and drive 2 to 3 hours to get to fresh water lakes with bass. Even without boat pressure, I was only able to catch one small bass yesterday. Maybe I should become a pleasure boater. I might have more success, looks easy, and I wouldn't have to get up at 3:00 AM.

Great answer, exactly what I was looking for. Thanks.

Thanks for the reply's. The basis of my question, was not what to throw in different water clarity, that has been discussed often. My question is what do people consider the actual definition of different descriptions of water clarity in feet and inches. I realize there will be a difference in what one person thinks is dirty and what another angler considers dirty. I am interested in finding out the differences as well as the similar opinions on the most common clarity terms. Thanks again for all reply's. Dirty heavy stain stain ? normal? clear? any other common term used to describe water clarity?

I am curious as to what readers definition of water clarity is. I read all the time what color people prefer to use in dirty, stained, clear, etc. Problem is one persons stained is another persons mud. Some would say 6 feet is clear, others fish water that you can see 20 to 30 feet. I fish a lake that has 1.5 to 2 feet visibility, I consider that highly stained. Do others feel the same? Does anyone have a chart they go by? Does anyone routinely measure the visibility.

Get the BG if there is even a remote chance you will use it in saltwater. Otherwise you may prefer a lighter reel.

Hollow Braid splice, for 100# plus leaders, 30#to 100# leaders, FG. Alberto for leaders under 30#. Alberto if leader, and braid are close to the same diameter. With practice, Alberto is as easy or even easier, than blood, or Uni to Uni. FG can be tied with just your hands and no tension making it easy. There are a couple videos showing this method. I am not trash talking Blood or Uni knots. I used them for years, I simply prefer the Alberto. Not a fan of Albright, or improved Albright. I tied my last Albright the first time I tried the Alberto.

I prefer magazines, newspapers, and paper catalogs. All of which will be gone soon. I am not saying it is a bad thing, just that I will miss flipping through pages.

I flew direct on Alaska Airlines, from Puerto Vallarta to San Diego and back last week. No problems with travel. Only trouble I had was Bait Monkey met me at the airport. I will be bass fishing San Pedro this weekend. Light rainy season this year so far. Water lower than normal.

I don't run trailers very often. When I do I use the ribbon part of a ribbon tail worm. I like to make skirts with lots of material, theoretically eliminating the need for a trailer. I figure I can always trim the skirt, but can never add.

I made some 3/4 ounce hidden weight spinner baits today. I like the small profile, for 3/4 ounce. First try with this style. I will see if the fish like them this weekend. I have had good luck with bullet weight 3/4 ounce in these colors and blade combos at my local lake, I am hoping to have even more luck with the smaller profile.

I have a Fujinon that is water proof down to 65 feet, and shock proof to 6 ft. It cost around $250 a couple years ago. It takes great pictures above and underwater. Problem is, it is very difficult to take selfies with. If any one has seen some of my pictures taken while in my kayak you can see the big disadvantage of a camera compared to a phone. A phone is easy to take selfies with and you can send the pictures to friends without having to down load on to a computer. Only reason I don't use a phone for fish pictures is, I don't own one that is water proof. My camera has been dunked in the water more than once, and works fine. Camera durability is great, but one more poor picture of a trophy bass, and I may start using a phone.

Mostly Lumiflex, some silcone material, and crystal flash mixed in. Top light colors working on one lake I fish. Chart. and black has been by far the best on the other lake.

As others have said, when you Finnish your knot, make sure the line goes back through the leader loop the same direction as when you started the knot, then bring it through one more time. Pull hard to tighten, no need to tighten extremely hard like with the FG. Biggest mistake people make is not getting the wraps cinched tight against the very end of leader loop, there should be no gap. Also trim the tag end on the leader very close. This keeps the main line from catching on the tag eventually making the main line week just above the knot. Tied correctly it is a great knot. I can tie the Alberto faster with less difficulty than either the blood, or double Uni and I used both those knots on a daily basis for over 30 years. Great improvement over the Albright, or improved Albright.