king fisher

In 1977 my favorite crankbait was a Heddon Sonic. All my friends loved Sonics too. That summer I ordered a Rattle Trap out of my first Bass Pro Shops catalogue. A friend and I went fishing the day after my rattle Trap arrived. I was fishing the first trap the bass in that lake ever heard. I caught fish every cast on my trap, and he got nothing on his Sonic. I landed bass when I burned it, fished it slow bumping the bottom and in between. Since that day, I have never fished a silent lipless crank. I might have to break out one of my old Sonics and give it a try. Maybe the bass I fish for now, haven't heard a silent bait yet.

I saw a kid that fished a lake from shore evey day, catch far more bass than me, and all he had for gear was a soda bottle, with some old mono. for a rod and reel, a lure he made out of an old tooth brush. He new where the bass were, when to fish slow, when to fish fast and when to take a break. He could walk the dog with that tooth brush lure as if it were a Megabass, and could work it like a jig on the bottom as well as anyone. It truly is the fisherman not the equipment. Of course the Bait Monkey has his hooks in me way to far for me to change my ways.

Bait Monkey still bruised, from the fight he lost with my wife. I'm sure he will be healed before Thanksgiving. Can't pass up a good deal.

Diawa J braid light grey.

When I was a kid I fished a short arm spinnerbait called a Scorpion by Bass Buster. It worked well for slow rolling, and it was also easier to wake on the surface without breaking the surface than my other spinnerbaits. I don't know if the reason was because of the short arm or not, but it was a great bait to wake.

Don't feel bad, about not getting fish in this screen shot to bite. I don't think the screen shot shows as many fish as it looks at first glance. There are lots of inverted V's but most of them are not large fish. The length of the V only shows the speed that the target travels through the sonar cone, not the size of the fish. If you travel over the fish quickly than the V will be small, if you travel over slowly it will be big, regardless of size of the fish. If stationary it will simply be a line. Large fish will be big vertically and show a strong signal with the strongest color, which is yellow on the color pallet you are using. All the inverted V's that are blue are probably baitfish, or even air bubbles in the water. The big yellow blotch is a tightly concentrated bait ball. A good sign there is bass nearby, but not bass. Two V's near the bottom, one red, and one with some yellow, could be bass, but may be catfish, carp, or other larger fish. With the amount of bait on the screen shot, I'm sure there were bass near by, but not necessarily in the shot itself. It would be interesting to see the same screen shot with the clear view screen. It sometimes help to compare the two.

Crash them through the rocks, finesse them through the trees, and keep the Bait Monkey close.

I use a 7' medium fast Diawa Ardito travel rod, with a Tatula CT and 12 pound Berkly Big game for square bills, and medium diving cranks. A medium heavy fast, Ardito for square bills over 3/4 oz. My flipping stick gets used for giant square bills over 1.5 oz. I only use 4 rods, so every rod does double duty.

I tie one on, throw it out, and reel it in. If it catches a bass it is the right time of day.

Looks like you have everything. Just add a stick of dynamite and you are set.

That is the standard size Rage Bug on the right. What made me fish this craw, is I always tie on found lures as soon as I find them. Kind of a strange superstition. I have caught a couple 8 lbs. bass with the one on the left since finding it on a snag. It wont last for many more fish. Would be nice to if I could find a buy some more.

I found the craw on the left on a snag. It works great. Would like to find more like it. Any one have any idea who makes it? The other craw I use on the right is a rage bug.

This happens every year at a lake I fish. The rainy season comes and the lake level comes up 20 feet over night. Water turns to mud, and the fish head for the shallow ( 2 feet or less) flooded hay field. The first couple days of the flood the fishing is slow. My theory is they gorge themselves on drowning mice and such and it takes a couple days for the bass to get hungry again. The water stays muddy because the rains continue for 3 months. I catch most of my bass on buzz baits bumped against bushes in the flooded hay flat. If that doesn't work I toss 7 inch Senkos into the exact spots I have caught them on the buzz baits in the past. It is hard for me to slow down and fish the Senko, but it has caught me some large bass. The other two people that fish the lake, only throw frogs, because that is all they have. They catch big bass. Once the water starts to drop, it clears some and the bass instantly move to the grass edges, and actively chase bait. Buzz baits still work, but so do spinnerbaits, jigs, square bills, lipless cranks, and A rigs. The lake I fish has zero aquatic vegetation, so the bass only get to be around grass when it floods. When that happens it is like a kid in a candy store. After a few weeks the hay dies, and the bass leave even though the water is still high. Other than I think they will follow the rising water on any lake. The bass on your lake may act completely different. As others have said current is always good.

Go to a pet store. The tubing is used in aquariums.

Like my wife is always telling me I should listen before I talk. I see now that the question was about fishing at Big Bear, not hunting bears. I have never fished Big Bear, so the only sure fire lure I know of is Dynamite.

I know big rats work, and people catch monster bass with them, but they haven't worked for me. I bought a Spro Rat last year thinking it would be killer in the morning on the big bass I sometimes catch with top water. I have fished it every time I went out, and haven't caught a bass bigger than the rat. I have caught some nice fish waking a Manns 1 minus that cost $5. If I were you, I would try some less expensive wake baits on your water to see if that presentation is what the bass want, before buying an expensive rat, but if the Monkey is on your back, you don't have a choice, just go buy one, don't let him make you buy two.

Go to a local butcher and get cows heads to start, because the smell will bring them in. Once you have a few coming to the bait, go to local bakeries and get the old bread and pasties they throw away. Once bears are attracted to your bait pile, they will eat an enormous amount of bait. Old bread is free, and plentiful. Apples, peaches, and berries are great if you have access to fruit trees. Dog food works great if you don't want to take the time to find, and don't mind paying for bait. Burning honey can also work to bring them in from a distance. If legal a 50 gallon oil drum makes a perfect place to place bait. If you are bow hunting out of a tree stand put some tin around the base of the tree. That will make sure you don't have a bear spook and climb up the tree you are in. Make sure you read all regulations in your state regarding baiting bears. Some states have very strict regulations on dates, and what you can use for bait.

Because we had to fly to the states to get the shot, my wife an I opted to get the single dose J. and J. as soon as we could in May. I'm glad we did. Since getting the shot I have known 3 people that have died from Covid that were younger and in better health than me and many more who were older. Almost all of the Mexican workers and their families at the local marina where I work got Covid, one died, and many were very sick. One was a very fit man in his early forties that I hire as a deck hand once in awhile. He was on oxygen for 6 weeks and almost died. Three months later I hired him for a three day trip. I had to take him in to port after a day because he still couldn't handle the physicality of the job. My wife and I had zero side effects and have been Covid free. It is depressing to see families here wanting to get a shot, but not having them available even this late in the Pandemic.

Work takes up a large portion of your life. If you don't enjoy your work, than you don't enjoy most of your life. Find something you enjoy doing for work and do it. Money can't make you happy but being happy with your job can. Nothing like waking up in the morning and you can't wait to get to work. What ever you do for work, make sure you have plenty of time to fish, because as you age the time spent fishing doesn't count against you.

Hate to make you northern fisherman jealous, but late fall for me means buzz baits.

One of the best crankbaits ever made. As others have said the only negative is the hooks tangle. Get new hooks and throw them in rocks. You will catch bass, trout, crappie and anything else in the lake or river.

If the baits came from the factory with single hooks then I would fish them that way. Switching to single hooks on lures designed for trebles can ruin the action, or make them impossible to tune. I have fished places where single hooks are required and I have to leave many of my favorite cranks at home because they will not work with single hooks. Many times I prefer single hooks, but only if the lure will run correctly.

A bait new to me this year that I had great success with, was the 6th. Sense Cloud Nine mini mag Square bill. Bigger than most square bills, but not giant like the magnums. Was just the right size for my lake. I had never tried a crankbait this size and am glad I did. Best colors were Chart. Black and shad scales. This square bill quickly became my favorite crankbait, and I have almost every crankbait ever made that costs under $10.

They don't have to have a high IQ to know when something gives them pain, is hard to catch, or doesn't taste good. Fishing for bass with live crawdads taught me that they like the ones I pulled the claws off of. Does that mean they are smart? I doubt it only means they are not complete idiots and have instincts that allow them to determine what they can eat, how to catch it, and where it lives in order to survive.

The Bait Monkey and I were best friends for years. When I got married I assumed he would live with us just as he had lived with me most of my life. I have never been so wrong in my life. My wife kicked is butt out of the house within a weak. I couldn't believe it. I had tried to get him out for years and had completely given up. It only took my wife a couple days and he was packed and gone. Even my wife can't keep him away completely. He is not allowed in the house, but he does get to hang out in the garage once in awhile, and she lets him join us for Christmas Eve, and my birthday. He is bringing me a new reel for Christmas.