king fisher

correct.

You were correct on the River Runt, Hot n Tot Deep wee R, Heddon Sonic, and Strike King Bill Dance spinnerbait. Frog colored Fred Arbogast lure is called an Arbogaster.

I'm not able to fish for awhile due to an injured shoulder. I am getting cabin fever, so I decided to go through my old tackle. I have found my entire lure collection from the summer of 1977. Two of the lures, I recently acquired off Ebay. the others were ones I managed to save from that summer. Can anyone correctly identify all of them?

Right now I use straight Braid for Punching, some top water, buzz baits, spinnerbaits, A rigs, and chatter baits. Mono for crankbaits, some top water, and floating jerk baits. Floro for jigs, swimbaits, and T rigs. Braid to leader at times for everything. Ask the same question next week and I'm sure I will have changed my opinion. Line is one aspect of fishing I always have very strong opinions about, but have been known to reverse my opinion often. Both braid and florocarbon have made me a hypocrite more than once. If there were only one type of line, I would choose mono, or copolymer.

Most of the year I have 5 rods. I start the morning off with. BC. 7' medium -Spook, or popper depending on wind BC 7.5' medium heavy- Buzz Bait BC 7.5 medium heavy- weightless 7 inch Senko rigged weed less. BC 7.5' heavy- large wake bait or Whopper Plopper Spinning rod, floating Rapala A couple hours after daylight I switch to. B.C. medium- Always have a Snap for some type of crankbait. BC. medium heavy - Always have a Spinnerbait BC. medium heavy -paddle tail swimbait or jig BC heavy- Texas rigged creature bait, worm, for flipping, or A rig.(Thinking of buying separate A rig rod.) Spinning rod.- inline spinner, or weightless senko End of the day. All mixed up with almost anything. This time of year, rainy season. Heavy- frog or punching. MH- Buzz Bait.

I use one whenever I start catching fish on swimbaits. My theory being, if one swimbait works, why wont 5? I have only been using one for about 7 months now, and have had success with one in all of those months. It's always summer here in Mexico, so I guess they work in summer.

Where I fish, August is the rainy season. The lakes flood, and the fish move to the shallows. I will be throwing buzz baits, and frogs all day for the next three months.

I only met the man once and never even asked his name. I was 12, fishing for trout with a worm and bobber, from shore at my local lake. He walked up to the shore with a Helen Flat Fish tied on his rod, and caught a 2 pound bass. I thought it was the biggest fish in the lake, twice the size of the planted trout I was catching. I was instantly hooked on bass fishing, and since that day, the Bait Monkey has never left my side.

In July 1977 I was 14 and landed a largemouth of 5.5 pounds on a spinner bait in Eastern WA. That was my PB until June of 2020 when at 57 years old with another spinnerbait, I landed the bass in the first two photos. I didn't have a scale, but I'm quite sure this fish broke my old PB by a pound or two. I bought a scale, and in July of 2020 I landed one that weighed 10.3 pounds. I tied that one with another 10.3 in April of 2021 which is pictured in third photo. I think the fish in the first two pictures was my PB but without a scale I have to go with 10.3 as my best.

I was wondering why I hadn't seen the Bait Monkey camped outside my house lately. Your purchase should keep him over at your place for a good while.

I'm not sure when they came out. I bought my first one in 87. They were the hot lure that year, so I'm thinking they probably came out 85-86. Now that I think about it, that has been more than a couple moons ago.

You are making me feel old. Up until now, I considered the Shad Rap a modern bait. I remember when it came out, fished it then and fish it now. Great lure any where, any time, for any species.

I have 3 Ardito casting rods. One medium, and two medium heavy. I highly recommend them. I use them more than any other rods I own. the medium is a great all around rod I take with me anywhere, and fish for any species of fish. I have landed everything from trout, to DD .bass, to 35 lbs. Jack Carville with mine. I would rate the medium heavy more to the heavy side. All are excellent rods at any price.

I have some old Bagley's that I only use on slow days, they have saved the day many times. Problem is I have a complete breakdown when I loose one. A River Runt waked slow on the surface catches as many as my Spro Rat does. I still think an orange and black original Bomber imitates a panicked crawdad as well as any modern crankbait. Rebel Deep WeeR gets lots of playing time and would get more if the hooks didn't always tangle. I don't think I will ever stop fishing a Jitterbug, the sound is like an old song I never get tired of. I do fish modern baits most of the time. Love the hooks on 6th. Sense.

Don't worry about a bent drive. I have bent one on my Hobie Outback, numerous times. It only takes a couple minuets to remove the rod, hammer it straight and reinstall. While not perfectly straight it works like new.

If a fish is bleeding from the gills, I eat it. If it isn't legal to keep, than I put it back in the water and hope for the best. I will save my soda's for cleaning blood stains off the boat.

I would tell the Bait Monkey to go bother some one else. For that stream all you need is some inline spinners, a floating Rapala and a medium light spinning rod. Many other lures will work, but if the entire river is like what is in the picture, than a pocket full of spinners is all you need. Of course if you want to do some fly fishing, than the Bait Monkey can spend a considerable amount of cash on a pretty stream like this.

User error, what's that? If Yogi Berra could blame his bat for a hitting slump. I can blame my fishing gear for a fishing slump. Great excuse to by new gear, or a new bat.

For me it depends on the fishery. One lake wind direction is everything, another it's water clarity. I couldn't care less about barometric pressure. Of course a person could argue that a change in barometric pressure is what causes the wind, and the weather responsible for rain, which in turn changes the water clarity. With that line of reasoning, then obviously barometric pressure would be number one. If you are simply talking about the pressure itself, not the change in weather resulting from a change in pressure, then like I said I don't care. Low light depends on the lake and time of year. One lake has consistent strong afternoon winds, and that is when the bass feed. Another lake the consistent bite is first and last light, regardless of wind, which is usually unpredictable and light. The biggest factor for me right now is a bum shoulder, which has kept me off the water. I blame that on the moon, placing the moon on top of the list for now.

I have spent most of my life guiding anglers, for many different species of fish. Watching people loose fish is always heart breaking. In my experience far more fish are lost do to the angler trying to land a fish to quickly, therefore being to aggressive, compared to fish lost from to being to gentle. Even an experienced guide can get excited and bump a fish off with the net, trying to get a monster in the boat before the fish is ready. That said, big bass can be the exception to the rule. Bass can be hooked around thick cover, which makes it imperative to put as much pressure on the fish as possible to get away from the cover. Bass also don't usually make long runs where patience is a priority. They rarely will take many yards of drag, a person can many times give way enough just by bowing the rod to the fish, when it makes a run. Most of the time, they bull dog into cover, and once pulled away from heavy cover, can be subdued quickly with max pressure. Obviously in open water with light line, or crankbaits with small trebles, I fight a bass lightly, the same as I would with other species of fish. Regardless of species of fish, or type of cover, personal experience, both landing a large fish yourself, and watching others is the best way to learn, when to step on the gas, and when to let up. When in doubt, take it easy and enjoy the fight.

I hate to encourage the Bait Monkey, but I would not go fishing on a creek or small stream without some inline spinners. Size 3 Vibrax and Mepps are my favorite, but Rooster Tails, and Panther Martin work great too. If the water is deep and the current slow, than inline spinners will work, but not as well as other lures. If it is small and shallow, than you might not need anything else.

My random thought.-- I could catch more and bigger bass if only I had more tackle. My random reality.-- I could catch more and bigger bass if I spent more time fishing, and less time buying tackle.

For those people that haven't seen a football game It's the length of a football field minus the end zone LOL. Much easier to score a touch down than cast 100 yards, but can be done with the right equipment.

It sounds like you found a nice little spot. If no one else is fishing it, I recommend giving it a rest. Find another couple good holes on the stream, and rotate through them giving each a few days rest. Hitting a good spot in a small stream to often, only makes it a bad spot. If other anglers are fishing it, your only option is alternating different presentations with different lures, or fishing off hours or at night.

I would like to go back and fish the small creek where I caught my first fish. It will be a nice sunny day in the spring, just my dog for companionship, a cheap spinning rod, bobber, hook and a live night crawler for gear. Catch some dinner, not caring about what species, or size. Bait Monkey not allowed on this trip.