king fisher

Thanks. Until recently I didn't think I would ever catch one. A month ago my personal best was 5 1/2 pounds caught in 1977. This past month I have fished 3 days, and landed 3 over ten pounds on this small lake, where I am the only bass fisherman around. The few people that do fish, are trying to catch Tilapia. They don't like the bass because they eat Tilapia. A local told me the bass don't bite well in the summer, that I should fish there in February. That is my busy time of year, but I can guarantee I will find the time to give the lake a try the time of year when the fishing is " good".

I landed a 10.2 pound bass kayak fishing last Saturday. Had a difficult time taking a picture with my camera by myself. I didn't want to keep the fish out of the water too long, so I didn't get a good picture, but at least I remembered my camera. Last big bass a few weeks ago, I left my camera in the car and didn't have a scale. This time I had a camera and a scale. I only got four bites all day, but when one is this size I don't mind having a slow day. I caught the fish on a home made spinner bait adding a little extra satisfaction to the catch.

I try to be practical and buy the best equipment I can for the money I have. I don't have top of the line, but feel I have quality gear. My best gear wont catch more fish than less expensive gear, but it does increase the amount of fun I have while fishing. I fish to enjoy myself, and if more expensive gear adds to my enjoyment, than it is worth the price. If a person thinks fishing equipment is too expensive, than don't buy it. I know plenty of people that enjoy fishing as much as me, who fish from shore with a rod and reel that cost them $20, 30 years ago. I know people that can out fish me with any gear. They are expert anglers, and are proof that the equipment doesn't catch the fish, the fishermen does. I also know people with the best gear money can buy, that would have a hard time catching a fish throwing dynamite into an aquarium, but they are very proud of their high priced equipment, and have fun fishing, so no rant from me.

I also highly recommend the Ardito. I have had two for over a year now. One medium, and one medium heavy. I take them everywhere I go and use them for multiple species of fish. I don't notice any significant difference in sensitivity or any other category of performance between the Ardito and my Tatula rods.

I make my own spinner baits, and have every combination imaginable. I could easily get by with a black 1/2 oz single Colorado. My go to on cloudy, sunny, calm, or windy weather. Slow role on bottom, or waked just under the surface, deep or shallow, day or night. I fish many other types, and have many different favorites for specific conditions, but most of the time if they wont hit my old standby, then most likely, I shouldn't be fishing a spinner bait.

I have been a Shimano fan all my life. I still prefer Shimano for off shore saltwater use but have switched over to Diawa for freshwater, and inshore. Tatula CT. Coastal 200, Coastal SV and Diawa BG spinning reels. I also have a couple plfueger spinning reels I like. I believe Shimano's top of the line is still the best, but Diawa is better for the $100 to $200 dollar range.

Hula popper, Heddon super sonic, Rebel deep Wee r, Rebel buzz'n frog and Rebel Jumpin minnow.

In the early seventies, bait caster became popular, because Abu Garcia came out with the Ambassador line of reels. Most level wind reels before Ambassadors the handle would turn backwards at the same time the line went out. Making backlash way more of a problem than reels that disengaged the reel handle. The spinning reels made at that time didn't have a bearing in the roller on the bail, most didn't even have a roller. The line simply slid on a shallow spot on the bail. When a fish would make a hard run, there was a lag time between line pulling straight down the rod being transferred, to pulling on the reel spool. A bait caster, had the advantage of the line pulling directly off the spool, not at a right angle. The drags on spinning reels at that time were also very poor. I can remember having to set the drag so loose on a spinning reel, the line would want to go out while I was reeling, but wouldn't go out fast enough when a fish made a run. Line would get twisted reeling with drag slipping, and a hard run by a fish would break the line if I tightened the drag to avoid this problem. The big advantage a level wind reel had was the ability to use heavy line. Spinning reels didn't cast line over 10 pound test very well. Bass anglers started fishing weedless baits in thick cover and discovered being able to use heavy line had a big advantage. Add to that dependable drags, reels that after a bit of practice could be cast without back lashing, and the bait caster became king . Spinning reels became the norm for novice anglers, and light line techniques. Using spinning reels for all species of fish have changed drastically since then. The drags now are as good as any bait caster, they put bearings in the roller so there is no delay in transmitting the ninety degree force directly to the spool, and super braid lines make it practical to cast heavy line on even the smallest spinning reels. Spinning reels are now commonly used for almost all saltwater species, and techniques. Any bass fishing method can be mastered with a spinning rod as easily as a bait caster. I like many bass fishermen, use spinning gear for light line techniques, and bait casters for most of my fishing. This is only because of personal preference, not because a bait caster is superior in any way.

I have way more than I need, but at the same time not enough. I went fishing yesterday, and lost three of the only lure I could get the bass to bite. Big problem was I only had three to loose. I came home and told my wife I needed to order more because I had lost my lures. She asked me If I had lost all my lures? I told her I only lost what was working. She asked why did I waste my money on lures that don't work? She then asked why I don't just buy what works? I told her that is exactly what I'm doing with my new order.

I don't think it makes much difference with spinner baits. I fish spinner baits every time I go fishing, but I don't have a rod set up for them. I use what ever rod and line combo that isn't being used at the time. I catch bass on spinner baits with straight braid, mono and braid to leader. I can't really say which one I prefer. I don't fish floro very often, so chances of me using floro for a spinner bait are slim, but does happen, without any problems. My default line is mono. If your default line is braid, than that is what I you should use for spinner baits. Best to use what you are comfortable with in most situations.

I trapped a few winters in Alaska. A friend would fly me and my supplies to his hunting cabin in late October, and come pick me up in early May. It was a good area, and I caught lots of fur. Would make enough to pay for my supplies and have a little left over. Great memories, but in end got I tired of talking to myself all winter. I always dream about spending another winter in the bush, every time the stress of modern life gets me down. Last winter I spent there was in 1992 no one has trapped that valley since then. Should be great trapping. Would be difficult to talk my wife in to living in Isolation for 6 months. I guess I was ahead of the times, with self isolation. I guarantee there will never be Corona Virus in that place.

You have to snug each crossing wrap, then hold by pinching between fingers. You don't need to pull hard just snug. When you have enough cross hitches, tie one over hand knot, and pull hard. Finnish knot any way you like, the finish is just to keep the knot from coming undone. You can get fancy to make it look good or just do some over hand knots. If it is slipping off, you may not be crossing the line correctly. It takes some practice. I learned from an Australian Video. I had to show a deck hand how to tie it many times before he got the hang of it. Once you do, it is way easier than the standard way of tying the FG. I tied it for years keeping tension with my teeth, once I saw the video, I knew I was done with that.

Late July 1977. I was fishing a place close to my house called Rock Creek. There was a bridge over the creek where my mother would drop me off in the morning, and would pick me back up in the evening. Down stream of the bridge there were a couple hundred yards of riffles, then it opened up to what was basically a small lake. I could catch small mouth in the riffles, and large mouth in the calm water. When the bass fishing was slow I would sit in one spot fishing worms and catch trout, bluegill and bullheads. I fished most of the day with worms catching a few of everything. Around 4:00 in the afternoon, the wind started to blow, and some clouds moved in. This was the day I had been waiting for. After 3 weeks of hot weather, a front was finally moving in. I cut the bobber and worm rig off of my solid fiberglass rod with trusty Zebco 33 and tied on a black and yellow Cotten Cordel Spring killer spinnerbait to the 8 pound stren that came with the reel. I started walking and casting parallel to the north shore, where I had most of my luck for bass in the past. I worked my way to a place where there was the only log in the whole stretch of river. Crawling the spinnerbait over the log I landed to 3.5 pound bass. The bite was on. After wearing that place out I started working my way back to the bridge. There were a couple points I liked to cast from and would hold the rod as far out to the side and walk the bank trolling the spinnerbait until I got to the points where I would make a few casts than walk troll my way down the bank to the next point. While walking along I got a hit, and landed my PB that held the title until just three weeks ago. By the time I had worked my way to where the riffles flowed in to the open part of the creek, my mom had got to the bridge and was honking the horn. Time to leave. Just my luck, best day of fishing ever and she came early. I wasn't finished yet, I had a plan. I laid my rod, down and gathered up my other gear( tackle box, 22, water jug, lunch pack, stringer of fish, ) and took the gear to the car. I then told my mom I couldn't carry everything at once and had to go back and get my rod and couple other things. She said to hurry because she had something she had to do. Of course I had to make a few casts when I went to get my rod. My Mom saw this and was not happy. She started to honk the horn and yell, so I knew I only had a couple more casts if I wanted to ever go fishing again. Of course the monster of Rock Creek hit my spinner bait. I played it for what seemed like forever to both me and my mother. By then my moms threats were starting to scare me as much as loosing the fish of a lifetime was. I tried to horse the fish on to shore and broke the line. The bass was tired and swam off so slow, I jumped in and tried to grab it. The desperate play didn't work, all I got was wet. The PB I caught that day was 5.5 pounds, and the one that got away must have been two pounds bigger. That fish will haunt me for the rest of my life. My Mom was no longer mad after a few days, and I was able to go fishing many more times that summer. I had some good days, but nothing like that one stormy evening when all the fish I hooked were big, and the biggest of all slowly swam away. I still go back and fish that place at least once a year. Nothing much has changed. Different ranchers cows are now in the pasture, and the water is much cleaner. The new owner of the land doesn't let me drive through the pasture to the creek, so I'm back to hiking down from the bridge. I catch more brown trout and small mouth than large mouth now. I always make sure I make a few casts standing on the same rock where I lost the fish of a lifetime. Sure is nice that some things don't change.

I have spent way to much time testing knots, simply to prove to friends which ones work best. Most of my tests have been done with heavy line for saltwater use. In Fresh water when using braid to leader, I use the Alberto for my braid to leader knot, and either Palomar, San Diego Jam,or Orvis knot depending on size of line for the lure conection. I struggle tying the SDJ, with light line because I am used to tying it with tension by placing the hook or lure in the attachments for a harness on a big game reel. Would like to see how people tie it without using tension in this way. In Saltwater braid to Floro is considered a necessity for live bait fishing. I have spent many hours tying knots and testing them with a crane lifting containers of water, not only to see which knot is strongest, but where they typically break. The one thing I have learned is there is no 100% knot. The line will always break within 1/2 inch of the knot. In order from strongest to weakest here are results of my tests. There are over a dozen other knots I tested that aren't listed, because they didn't make the cut No. 1 Floro spliced in to Hollow braid. If both are similar pound tests, Connection will break in the braid at the top of the splice, where the needle was removed. There are companies that make hollow braid in 50 pound test now, so if you want to spend a lot of time on the strongest possible connection, have at it. I don't think it is practical for bass fishing No. 2 Cats Pawl Loop to Loop with Bimini on braid end, and crimp on floro end. Will break at the start of Bimini. I see no practical application for bass fishing. No. 3 FG Most common connection used in the past couple years. Tied correctly is almost identical to loop to loop in strength. In my opinion a waste of time for light line freshwater use but I do see where it is becoming popular for bass fishing. There is a way to tie it without having to use both hands and your mouth, look up no tension FG on U Tube No. 4 Alberto- My favorite for bass fishing. Faster to tie than Blood double Uni and FG Tied correctly considerably stronger than Blood or Double Uni. Usually breaks at braid end where entering loop. All wraps must be sinched down as far over loop as possible, and leader tag trimmed as close as possible. Otherwise as you fish the braid will catch in the V created by the tag, and eventually weakening the knot at that point. Hard to explain but there are videos that show what happens Braid end does not need to be trimmed close. Also best to go through the loop twice at the end of the knot and tighten mostly with tag end. No. 5 Uni to Uni.-- I used it for years, and is an easy knot to tie. I was surprised to find it was significantly weaker than Alberto, and FG. Usually breaks at braid end unless floro is significantly less in pound test than the braid. Which is not likely saltwater fishing but is the case most of the time bass fishing. No. 6 Blood Knot. First connection knot I learned. I still use it for mono to mono connections. Mostly with fly leaders. Usually breaks Floro end. I can now tie an Alberto faster so don't use it for braid to leader. Braid to mono is much stronger, and I would recommend using Surgeons, Blood, uni to uni, or Alberto, which ever you are more comfortable with. Even in the clear blue water I only use Floro with live bait. I always use mono for lures. I don't see why there would be a need for Braid to floro for bass fishing, but lots of people do so there must be a reason. Strongest knot for connecting braid straight to lure is Bimini with cats pawl Best practical knot for straight braid to lure is either double over clinch, or doubled over uni. with Polamar coming in a close second. Strongest Floro to lure knot is a crimp for 80 lbs. and up. Best Floro to lure knot. San Diego Jam, Uni, or Polomar. All work well, but all can fail for no reason. Of course this is just my opinion, but I will say I have spent many days and won more than a few bets with the testing I have done. I will be testing knots again this summer. I plan on learning some new knots and hope to video the tests this year. I will add, if you can tie your favorite knot correctly, when in a hurry with poor light, and you catch fish with it, don't change knots. I'm only testing to find the strongest knot. Not the one that works best for every one. If you are fishing 60 lbs. braid and your knot is only a 50% knot, it will still catch any bass that swims.

Rapala original floating minnow. Can be twitched on the surface, steady retrieve, trolled, or fished deep by adding weight a foot or two ahead of the lure. Will catch any species of fish, in rivers, creeks, and lakes. Works all times of year, any water level, in any water temp, anywhere in the world. I know the same can be said about a jig, spoon, or soft plastic. I'm not saying a Rapala is better than any of these, just what I would prefer if limited to only one.

My last trip 3 weeks ago to the small lake I'm fishing, I landed 2 bass in the 10 pound range ( no scale, one 25 1/4 inch, one 25 3/4 inch) and lost another one around the same size. That day easily tops the past saltwater trip. I'm hoping I have figured the lake out, and it just wasn't a lucky day. I will find out next chance I get.

A friend talked me in to going off shore with him instead of bass fishing this past weekend. We left Puerto Vallarta at 3:00 AM Sat. Landed 24 tuna, all small between 30 and 90 pounds, ( two approximately 50 pounds from my kayak) two striped marlin, one blue marlin, ( around 300 pounds) and 5 wahoo. back to PV 10:00 PM Sunday. No big tuna, but a good trip over all. Lots of great fish to eat, as always released the bill fish. Back to chasing monster bass this weekend.

Latest update. My brother just called me and said Mexico announced they are closing travel from the US to Mexico as of today. My past post was from information and experiences I have had before today. I wouldn't worry, I can't imagine the border actually being closed, if it is it wont be for long. I did see a few US tourists that arrived today. I will talk to some this weekend and find out what they know. Like I said before, I have heard the border was closed for the past few months, and at the same time witnessed many people I know travel back and forth with no problems. That might not be the case today, I will have to look into the situation. Some states in Mexico still have restrictions on businesses considered non essential, and other states are open. In the State of Nayarit where I live hotels are open, but can only have 35% capacity. One port captain in Nayarit allows boats including charters to leave port, and another only allows subsistence fisherman to leave. A few miles south in the state of Jalisco the ports are open to charters and commercial fishing. I went out one day last week and was told by the marina manger if I was stopped, to promise I would give any fish I kept away. I wasn't stopped so I had no issues. Most bass fishing lodges are usually closed this time of year, I'm sure they will be open again, when their normal season starts.

I am sure. A good friend of mine from San Diego flew here last week. He went fishing for a few days, then flew home no problem. I also know of a few Mexicans with US tourist visas, that have gone to the states, and came back within the last few weeks. I could give dozens of examples. Regardless of what you have heard or read, the boarder is not and has not been closed. Maybe there is no definition of essential activities. I don't know. I have not heard of anyone having to even give a reason for travelling in either direction. Canada and Alaska requires any one coming from Mexico to self quarantine for two weeks. I know some people that have left here for both Canada, and Alaska. They were required to self quarantine but know one followed up to see if they did. My friend from Alaska has his own small plane and flew it to his cabin in the bush as soon as he got to Anchorage. He self quarantines all summer every summer, so nothing has changed for him. Some other states may also require you to quarantine I don't have any first hand knowledge about that. I do know for sure WA FL. and CA do not require a person to quarantine. I personally know people who have traveled to one of those three states, from PV in the last few weeks.

In 1988 I was living in Eastern WA and decided to move to Alaska. I took almost all of my bass fishing gear to a local tackle shop in Spokane and sold it. I needed every dollar I could get for the move, and thought I would be fly fishing for trout and salmon sure I wouldn't ever miss it. Now I am back to bass fishing and have more gear than before. I still find myself wishing I had all of my old tackle, if for nothing else than to remind me of good times gone by. Luckily I have managed to find and buy almost every lure I had on ebay. Problem is, in order to get the lures I wanted, I also had to buy the lot or box that included the lure I wanted. I guess that isn't really a problem. I might catch my PB on a lure that came in a lot I didn't even want. Also a bad move financially. I had to pay 25 dollars to replace a River Runt in a rare color, that was exactly like one I originally found on the bank when I was 13. I'm sure glad I don't invest in stocks.

Boarder of Mexico is not closed. I live in Puerto Vallarta, and see flights come in from the states every day. I have friends with US pass ports that have flown from here, to the states, and returned with no problems all through this pandemic. My wife might have to go to Florida next week and is able to get flights there, and back with her Mexican pass port, and US tourist visa. The situation doesn't look like it will change in the near future. I wouldn't worry about legally getting in and out. As far as your health goes there is some concern. The virus is way under reported in Mexico. Most deaths from Covid are reported as Pneumonia, and little to no testing is being done. Most people are wearing masks and taking the virus seriously. Many people here realize they have to make sacrifices in order to get the tourists back as soon as possible. Local economies are hurting way worse than in the states, but so far no more crime than usual ( which in most of the country is less than most large cities in the US). That may change if the tourists don't start coming back in the fall. People here don't get a stimulus check, and many have no savings, or retirement plan. When times get tough they traditionally move in with more fortunate family members, which in this case makes the virus situation worse. I haven't had the opportunity to fish Baccarac, but fish a small lake near Tepic, and lake Chapala. Both are fishing very well right now. Was going to fish the small lake this weekend, but was talked in to helping a friend chase cow tuna instead. Hope to get after the giant bass the following weekend. I haven't heard of anyone fishing Baccarac in weeks, and don't expect many will until the summer is over. Should be incredible this fall. Good luck.

I lightly spray salt water reels off with a hose on the way back in after a trip. Fresh water reels, I rinse with no pressure quickly under a faucet. Spraying with a pressure, can force dirt or salt to get inside the reel. I also tighten the drag, and spool tension before rinsing. Not sure if this helps, but was told to do it by an old captain, and I haven't had any reason to doubt his advice.

I just bought my first wake baits. A Spro Bbz-1 40 and a Manns 1- minus in the largest size. I'm going to try them both out this Saturday. I sure hope the Manns works better than the Spro Rat. The Spro is the most expensive bass lure I have ever bought. I'm a little scared to start down that road.

I caught some big bass on spinner baits last week, so I decided I needed to make some more.

I prefer to fish fast moving baits myself. I'm sure a beginner would rather fish a moving bait than slowly crawl a bottom contact lure. Especially if he has no past experience catching fish with slow presentations. With the two rods he has he can fish almost anything. I would encourage him to try many different faster moving baits ( spinner baits, crank baits, poppers, wake baits, inline spinners, etc..). While he is fishing those, you be fishing soft plastics, jigs etc. He may luck on to a moving bait that is working great, or you may start catching them on your slower presentations. When you start getting lots of bites, is the time I would encourage him to switch over. When I was young I would always try plastic worms when nothing else was working. After a few casts I would give up and go back to my favorite plug. Years later I went fishing with a friend who was hooking fish practically every cast, on Texas rigged creature baits. I switched to what he was throwing and in a short time was catching as many as he was. It is a lot easier to learn to feel the bite and get confidence fishing a bottom contact lure, when you know you are going to get bit. Very easy to get bored with a slow presentation, when the bite is slow.