king fisher

The surprising thing is a T rigged worm is one of my least favorite baits to fish, but there are days when that is all I fish because of how well they can work in the right situation. When the bass at my lake are in the trees, I fish a worm mostly out of convenience, and when they are on rocky points, I fish crankbaits, when they are in the grass I fish topwater, and bladed jigs. The last two years I have found them mostly in the trees, so the Ole Monster gets the big ones.

9.9 pounds, T Rigged Junebug Zoom Ole Monster. Same lure as last years biggest bass.

It doesn't matter to me. They are all tools. Some are old, some are new, they will all catch fish when it's time for the right tool for the job.

I use four baitcasters, and 1 spinning rod for all of my bass fishing. Only one rod, my flipping stick is a one piece rod. The rest are all Diawa Ardito travel rods. For reels I have a Diawa Tatula CT, Diawa Coastal 150, Diawa, Zillion SV, Diawa Tatula 150 and a Pflueger President for the spinning rod. I don't feel I am at any disadvantage using travel rods, and would have a travel rod for my flipping stick if Diawa made an Ardito in a 7 foot 6 inch heavy fast. I will say, if I owned a boat, I would probably use one piece rods. The cost to get my flipping stick here, was equal to what I paid for the rod. I have to tie it to the top of my car with my kayak, and I leave it behind more than I would like due to the difficulty in transporting a full length rod.

I have a deal with the Bait Monkey. If a lure cost less than $10 I will try almost anything, if is more than $10 he better find another couch to sleep on.

No. I don't want to be laughed at some Americas funniest video bloopers show.

Heddon Torpedo, Choppo, Academy Sports H2o express double plop bait ( best plopper style bait I own). I have had a Devil's horse in my box for years and never bothered fishing it. Last time I was fishing I put it and on the first cast had a giant bass smash it. I will be experimenting with it more, after I change the 40 year old hooks.

One time I was sitting on a hill glassing for game with a client. We had just heard that morning that a float plane had crashed on a lake not to far from us. The reason for the crash, was the float plane had amphibious floats. The pilot had failed to raise the wheels before making a water landing. The plane instantly flipped over causing many injuries. The pilot had thousands of accident free flying hours in AK, and I mentioned that he obviously had so much time in that aircraft, that he routinely didn't use his before landing checklist. The client said he thought the pilot must have been a complete idiot. Why would he need a checklist to remember to lift his landing gear. I told him, that it is simply human nature to be absentminded, and that is why all good pilot use a checklist regardless of experience. I then told him I new a man, that backed his car out of his garage without opening it. This cliente looked away and got very quite. He then admitted that he had ruined two garage doors by backing out without opening the doors. He told me both times it was because he was in a hurry, and was distracted by something his wife said right before he left. I mentioned that maybe the pilot in the accident was married, and for him to please not take up flying.

All of my biggest bass have been caught wit long casts and all were hooked at the end to the middle of the cast. This may be because I always make long casts and position the cover or structure in the last 3/4 of my casting distance. I also lose many big bass by casting way past trees and hooking the bass on the far side of the cover. When I fish in a friends boat he always criticizes me for casting past the cover. He thinks I am wasting my time casting past the cover, he plops the bait right down where he thinks the bass will be. To prove his point we will flip cover, and he points out how many bass we catch while flipping. We do catch many bass flipping baits right into the sweet spot, and some of them are decent size, but I always catch the biggest bass doing it my way, and I am too old and stubborn to change my ways. All of my big one that got away stories are from long casts, as well as well as epic backlashes, but I am an expert backlash picker, and love to tell stories about the big one that got away. So if you ever see me fishing out of my kayak, you will see bomb casts, and hear lots of swearing.

I am at a loss for words. You will be missed. RIP.

The Bait Monkey tried to play the Christmas card on me after reading this thread. I told him to go talk to my financial manager. She is still laughing.

I see it all here in Mexico. I have been boarded by the authorities and have found a carton of cigarettes, can be very helpful in coming to an understanding. When you were in the Coast Guard, I doubt you ever had someone offer you a carton of cigarettes, in order to get away with fishing in a forbidden zone. It works wonders here. Even experienced captains sometimes forget the rules. I have a quick reference picture card with all the rules on it in the pilot house. I once won a bet with another captain who was captain of a large sailboat. She was telling me that sailboats always have the right of way over a power boat(right of way not even a legal term) if they are under sail. I bet her I could show her a rule where that wasn't true. I won when I pointed out the overtaking rule. She was mad, but had to admit I was right. I almost missed that exact question on my rules of the road test, but realized it was a trick question and got it right. I always assume nobody knows any rules, and try my hardest just to stay out of the way. Thanks for your service. The Coast Guard does far more than most people realize. I took them for granted until I moved to Mexico. There was a center console boat here last year that sunk, and the Navy didn't even have a helicopter to go look for them. It was three days before friends in a private plane they found them floating in life jackets. Two were dead. The US Coast guard would have had them home for dinner.

Remember approaching from your port does not necessarily mean you are the stand on vessel. A boat restricted in its ability to maneuver due to draft, a sailboat under sail, dredges, and other working boats can be the stand on vessels regardless of position. A boat overtaking another boat is always the give way vessel regardless of type of boat. If you are overtaking another boat, even a sailboat under sail must avoid the boat being overtaken. If in doubt communicating with a radio, can avoid many problems. Also if making a maneuver to avoid another boat, make sure you make a large course correction. If you make a small course direction change the other vessel may not be able to determine what you are doing. By making a significant change in direction, there will be less confusion. There is also the unwritten rule, the biggest boat has right of way. A container ship is not going to change course for a fishing boat regardless of the rules of the road. Maintaining your course, and waiting for them to change course will not end up well for a small boat. Cruise ships are almost impossible to spot their Nav. lights because they are lit up like a Christmas tree at night. I have found many boaters, do not know or follow the rules of the road. I avoid accidents by being vigilant, using a VHF radio, and making large course corrections well in advance of crossing paths. I wont pass another boat, unless I am sure they see me, and understand what I'm doing.

7 inch Senko is a popular jig trailer in Mexico.

I have forgotten to wait until I feel the weight of the bass before I set the hook with a topwater, for 50 years. I still hope to remember to do it right next time.

I buy what the Bait Monkey tells me to buy. Same goes with tackle. The most difficult part of the process is how to sneak the Bait Monkey in to the house and get him back out without the person in charge knowing he was there.

The most stealth I will use on a fishing day is getting out of bed, and out of the house without waking my wife up. After that it depends on conditions, and what techniques I'm using. If the water is muddy, and I'm punching and flipping, then not to much stealth involved. When I approach a lone piece of cover on a large flat, I approach with as much stealth as possible. Make an extremely long cast, and wait to get the lure off of the cover I snagged until I hang up the other three presentations I have rigged. Four long distance casts, four snagged lures, 10 minutes untangling the mess, 5 minutes of loud swearing, and 15 minutes of stealthy quiet while I retie all of my lures I just lost. Then I go to the next place, and come back an hour later, hoping the bass have forgotten I'm there or at least have quit laughing.

Zillion.

I thought I was going to get to look at another famous A-J tackle porn picture this morning. This looks like a nice battery, but I have to admit, I was a little disappointed.

I once had a hunting client that told me he hoped to get a record book moose, because the hunt had cost him a fortune in hunting jewelry. I asked him what hunting jewelry was, and he said it was the expensive jewelry he always had to buy his wife, when he went on hunting trips. I told him he was going about it all wrong. I said that it's the thought, not the cost that he should consider. I suggested he take the time to write some sweet thoughts, and poems, then have flowers delivered to his wife every day he was gone on the hunt. Along with each bouquet of flowers, he should include a card with one of the poems. This would show her how much he loved and thought of her while he was away, for a fraction of the cost of hunting jewelry. He looked at me, and said that I was crazy. He laughed while pointing out I was an eternal batcher, trying to give marital advice. He told me his wife had the jewelry appraised before she even gave him a ride to the airport. My girlfriend at the time thought I had a great idea, but that relationship didn't last very long, so maybe he was right.

I have a storage space on the floor, right in front of me on my kayak where I keep 5 bags of soft plastics in their original package. One pack of Zoom Ole Monsters, one pack of Mag Trick Worms, and One bag of 7 inch Senko's, and One bag of Skinny Dippers. Behind me I have a soft tackle bag with a dozen or so packs of soft plastics. Most of them are the same ones I have in the storage place on my kayak, only in different colors. Again all in original packaging. Back in my car I will have a duffle bag with everything I might need for a weekend trip, including enough soft plastics to stock a Bass Pro Shops. What I don't bring with me stays at home in a couple of dresser drawers. I'm hoping to someday buy a warehouse to store my excess tackle in. Used soft plastics go into a Ziplock bag. When I get time I repair them with Mendit. They all go in the same bag, and eventually turn into some shade of purple. I have way to many soft plastic baits considering I don't even prefer to fish soft plastics, but around here, the Bait Monkey wins.

Try making it three weeks.

So I assume it would be wise for me to cancel my ice fishing gear order, and stop looking for cheap flights from Mexico to Massachusetts.

When I was young I lifted weights, ran, put 3 all you can eat buffets out of business, and never got over 185 pounds. At 6'1" I was naturaly tall and thin, but could bench press 335 lbs, and run like the wind. When I was 25 I moved to Alaska, and wasn't able to lift weights because nothing was ever flown out to a camp in an airplane that wasn't an absolute necessity. My boss used to say anyone that wanted exercise could work harder. Working in a hunting and fishing camp in Alaska there was never a lack of heavy work to do. Packing heavy loads up mountains, chopping wood, or rowing boats, staying in shape was a part of life. One time I had a hunter who looked like a professional football player. He lifted weights every day, and was strong as a horse. He was in good shape so I let him shoot a brown bear further away from a place to land a cub than a normally would have. It was a big bear, and I was going to have to pack a wet 100 pound bear hide across a swamp and up a steep mountain. My hunter looked at me and said there is no way a tall skinny guy like you can hike that hide up that mountain where we had a spike camp, and a landing strip. I asked if he was volunteering to do the job, and he said he would. He made it a quarter of the way up, and said it was impossible. I told him to give me the pack with the hide. He would have to carry all our gear, and try and keep up, I wanted to get back to camp in time to fly the hide to main camp. He made it to the spike camp an hour after me, exhausted and in disbelief. He just couldn't believe I could haul that hide across a swamp and up a mountain. The outdoor life was the best physical trainer I could have ever had. For many years, I abused my body, thinking I was indestructible. Later in life I would travel in the off season. One winter I was in Santa Barbara hangliding. A few of us pilots were getting ready to drive up to the launch in the mountains. One of the pilots told me he was the one that had pioneered the launch. He was a small skinny man that was 80 years old. I looked at him and said you are my hero. I want to be just like you when I'm 80 what's your secret. He said don't ever let up. That was exactly what I thought, so I was convinced anyone who gets broken down when they are old didn't keep active enough. The more pain the more gain, push it to the limit and then a little further. I was dead wrong. That old man may have had the secret of life for him, but it wasn't for everyone. A few years after that I had a heart valve fail, and was barely able to finish a backpack hunt on Kodiak Island. After open heart surgery, my wings were clipped but I was certain with some training I would soar again. I did work hard and recovered enough to do my job, but I was never the same. I finally quite guiding hunters and spent most of my time captaining a boat in Mexico. I was still active, and stayed in good shape. I surfed, went for long paddles on my paddleboard, and packed a glider up a mountain to fly as often as I could. I was active at work washing polishing, and what I called boat yoga, which was twisting in to tight places while doing mechanical maintenance. After a few more years I needed surgery on my right shoulder. I Damaged it partly from bench pressing too much weight for my bodies'' frame when I was young, shooting very heavy weight bows, and finished it off trying to load a large propane tank into an airplane without help. Now I'm 62 in fair physical condition and overweight. I am young in my mind and heart, and feel I should still be able to scamper up mountains with heavy loads on my back. My problem is I have destroyed my skeletal structure. My back is a wreck, and will have to have it operated on someday. Light exercise and Ibuprofen get me through the day, but I am never pain free. Both knees are shot, one has been operated on, and the other one will need a surgery someday. My right shoulder hurts, but the surgery made it usable. My left shoulder is in bad shape, but again I'm trying to avoid surgery. My right elbow hurts, to the point I can't turn wrenches or hammer nails, for more than a short time. I have arthritis in my hands and hips. When you exercise you strengthen your muscles, but how long your joints last are a combination of genetics, accidents, and abuse. I no longer glide or surf. I fish which I will do no matter how much pain I'm in. This past year I have taken up metal detecting so I do get good walks in on the beach every day while satisfying my hunting instinct. My hips get sore walking on the beach, and my elbow is in pain from swinging the detector, but finding some treasure keeps me going despite the pain, just like my fishing, priorities. While walking on the beach, I watch surfers that are way older than me, and wonder how they do it. I'm lucky I can hire most of the heavy work done at my job, and the young guys are always willing to pull on a big tuna. I still stay somewhat limber doing mechanical work, or like I call it boat yoga. I have read all the posts about what people do to try and stay young, and I do believe what works for one person does not work for another. I encourage others to remember that when giving advice on health issues. You may be fit and strong because of your lifestyle, but that does not mean it will work for others. That old man I met hang gliding may still be up in the air, but I wouldn't even be able to lift a glider to launch it. My advice is stay as active as you can, and keep fishing. Sitting on the bank watching a bobber was fun when I was a kid, and I expect it to be fun when I get to the point I can't peddle my kayak anymore.

A strong offensive line, and a number 1 defense won Tom Brady a seventh Super Bowl ring. He got his fifth Super Bowl ring because Pete Carole wasn't smart enough to hand the ball of to the Beast. Bill Belichick got him the rest of his Super Bowl rings, so as far as I'm concerned he can go stretch himself into the Hall of fame, but I'm just glad he doesn't bass fish.