king fisher

I use a rod that I originally purchased for steelhead fishing. A Diawa nine foot medium heavy power, medium fast action. Combined with a Coastal STW 200 it casts further than any of my other rods. Very forgiving, when fighting the fish, and doesn't wear me out any more than other rods I have tried for deep cranking. Most people wouldn't like a rod that long, but I am used to long rods for salmon steelhead fishing, so it doesn't bother me.

Like Tom said. First popular spinning reels had left hand only retrieve. First popular level wind were right hand only. I grew up with these options, and became set in my ways. I prefer to cast with my right hand and reel with my left for spinning, and cast with my right and reel with my right for conventional. Very awkward for me to reel a left handed bait caster. I need to get over the awkwardness because left hand does make more sense. When I first started using a spinning reel, I actually turned the rod upside down and reeled backwards with my right hand. I had to force myself to reel forward with my left in order to keep my friends from laughing. I learned to fly fish at a time when most reels were capable of either left or right, so I will do either with no preference.

While not cheep, and not two piece, Diawa Ardito are quality 3 piece travel rods, that perform well above their price point of around $120 with case. I own both the medium and medium heavy. I have at least one of them with me every where I go. I have taken them as carry on Airlines, strapped to a motorcycle, tied to the struts of a Super Cub, carried on ATV, fit in back pack, and banged around the pack of a pick up as well as the trunk of a car. Worth the price.

A LOT of lures, is most likely not even remotely close to being enough lures. The more the better. The more expensive the rod and reel the better. New line is always good. New electronics. The list is endless. Guided trip would be awesome.

Inline spinners have been the most consistently producing lure in small fast streams, for me no matter what species of fish I have been pursuing. Can be worked, straight down stream, swung across stream, and worked through pockets, eddies, and pools. Will snag some,(switching to single hooks helps some) but can cover the water very effectively. I would start with size #3 French blade, 1/4 OZ. such as Mepps or Blue Fox Vibrax. As others have mentioned Panther Martins are also very good and can work when French blades don't. The spinners in your pictures look like they would work great to me.

Trace your wires back from the sounder, and make sure there is no inline fuse burned out before sending in for repair. Most have a fuse inline on the positive wire. People hook up batteries wrong all the time. That is one reason why all radios, Plotters, fish finders, bilge pumps, and other electronics are fuse protected.

On a Traditional Albright the raps only go one way. Knot has been popular for years, especially connecting leader to fly line instead of a nail knot. Because the raps start at the top and finished at the bottom, sometimes the wraps will slide off over the the original loop. Most people tie an over hand knot at the end to stop this from happening. Problem was solved with Alberto starting wraps at the bottom, going up than back down again in a cross hatch pattern. There are variations of the Albright, called improved etc. I have tried a couple of the improved versions, but personally prefer the Alberto. Earlier today, I landed a 35 pound Jack Cravalle on 50 lbs. braid tied to a 15 lbs. floro leader with an Alberto from my kayak. Does not mean the Alberto was the only knot that would have held. Just means the drag was set correctly. I would have landed the fish with many different knots, I just prefer the Alberto. I did have the confidence to apply more pressure than if I had used another knot.

The last time I tied an Albright was the day I learned the Alberto. They are similar, but Alberto is stronger, more dependable, and just as easy to tie.

After guiding fisherman for a living for over 35 years, and seeing all kinds of chaos come about wile fighting fish, I can honestly say I have seen very few fish get away because the drag was too loose. I have witnessed thousands of fish get away when the angler says I think I need to tighten the drag. That is the the most common phrase heard, right before he yells. What happened? You can always palm a spinning reel, or thumb a bait caster if you need to help drag a fish on the beach or keep one away from a snag. I know there are times, and techniques when you need to have the drag locked down, and those times are more common in bass fishing. Just saying, that more big fish are lost from horsing than letting them run.

Try the Alberto. After a bit of practice it is as fast and easy to tie as any, and I believe is second only to the FG in both strength, and size. There are a couple tricks to tying the Alberto that make all the difference in the world. One is how you tighten it, the other is trimming the leader end flush. Watch more than one how to video. There are a couple that show both the common mistakes, and the correct way. If you don't like the Alberto after giving it a try, like you said the blood works for you. I have a friend that swore the uni to uni was the strongest. I finally talked him into doing a head to head test. The uni to uni broke every time. At first he claimed it was because we pulled slow and steady. So we jerked hard, same results. Then we had to do the test underwater, same result. What knot does he use now? Uni to Uni. Does he out fish me on a regular basis? Yes he does. Do we both have a good time fishing together? Yes as long as neither of us talks about knots.

For small streams, hard to beat a number 3 Mepps or Vibrax inline spinner. For lakes, and rivers, Hula Grub.

I think a lot has to do with the activity of the prey in any particular body of water. If the prey are active, concentrated, or otherwise vulnerable at a certain time of day, the bass will be there to take advantage of that food source, no matter what time of year. Land animals such as voles, may venture in to the water more at night, or crawfish, may come out from under rocks. Some bait fish may spawn or come out of hiding at night, the possibilities are endless. Like any other predator, a bass may or may not completely change his hunting tactics when it gets dark. Which in turn may or may not change the baits and tactics required for successful fishing. Depends largely on how the prey responds to darkness, as well as changes in dangers to the bass. Less predation for above at night might make it safer for a bass to roam shallow water in the open, while at the same time darkness could make it easier to get close to prey. Every ecosystem is different. So many factors to consider. Add in the fact that Murphys law and darkness goes hand in hand, makes successful night fishing an elite skill. Sounds like A-Jay through hard work and persistence has his night fishery dialed in. I have to thank him for sharing the results of his hard labor and expertise. I have had very little luck bass fishing at night, but not am inspired to give night fishing more effort.

FG knot works best and has a big advantage in size, when using leaders that are significantly larger diameter than the mainline braid.(Mainly salt water use) An example would be 100 Lbs. leader with 80 lbs. braid. The crossing action of the smaller braid can can get a good bite on a larger leader, where it is more difficult to get it to bite in to the leader the closer the lines are to the same diameter. An Alberto can be used with both light, and heavy line, but is not quite as strong, or as small as an FG. However it is a very good knot,and the one I prefer for bass fishing. Uni to Uni is a great knot that I used for years but now prefer the Alberto. Disadvantage of the uni is it is larger, because you have to tie a knot in the leader instead of just a fold like with the Alberto. With heavy line, Uni to Uni is not really an option. Try and tie a uni to uni with 100 lbs. floro and you will see what I mean. A doubled over uni to uni is a great knot for connecting braid to braid. The only knot better that I have found for braid to braid is loops made with bimmini twists, then connect loops together with a cats paw. Way to much trouble for bass fishing. I can't even think of a time bass fishing when I would want to connect braid to braid anyway. I know there are people that can tie an FG well with light line used for bass fishing, I'm just not one of them.

I have used blood knots for over 40 years, and still do for mono to mono or floro to mono connections. The reason it is not more popular is because it is not as strong as FG , Alberto, or Uni to Uni.(Alberto and FG are also both smaller per diameter). I make this statement, after testing many knots, both individually with scales, and head to head against each other ( yes I have too much spare time). Before blood knot fans get all bent out of shape and tell me how many big fish they have caught using a blood knot, let me say I did not say the blood knot is not strong, only not as strong as the other examples. The Tacticalbassn guys use it exclusively and catch way more big bass than I ever will. If you watch their knot instruction video, they do mention there is stronger knots, but they like the blood knot because they can tie it quickly, and it is easy to tell if tied correctly. I'm just saying a correctly tied Alberto, of FG is stronger not better, If you like the knot you use, than don't change. If you like to experiment with other knots, or are always looking for a slightly better mouse trap than I recommend giving the Albero and FG a try. A few years ago all the captains fishing the CA Mexico coast swore by the Tonya Pena knot (not sure on the spelling). I started to hear about all the Florida guys using the FG. I learned to tie it and like its strength and how slim it is. Didn't lilke how long it took to tie. (recently learned a new way to tie the FG very quick and easy). Other captains told me if it aint broke don't fix it. Now most deck hands don't even know how to tie the Tonya Pena, FG has completely taken over. Even though I had been told hundreds of times the Tonya Pena was a 100% knot and they NEVER fail. I guess maybe there was room for fixing after all. Now most are switching to hollow braid splice, even stronger than the FG not full proof but very close. I don't know how many times I have had friends tell me their favorite knot has never failed. Then they get snagged forcing them to break the line. I point out to them where the line broke and they say that is not a failure because the line broke slightly above or below the knot and didn't come untied. If the line breaks next to the knot it was because of the knot. If you are satisfied with a 75% knot that you never loose any fish with, is easy to tie, and you have great confidence in, than by all means use it. You will probably never need the extra 10% you might get with another knot. I just get tired of people saying they NEVER have had a knot fail because their knot is 100%, even when using floro and or braid. Mono has better knot strength, and that is why at one time the only knots you ever saw fishermen tie were clinch(improved, trilene, variations), Palomar, blood knot, and surgeons( double, triple etc.) Even mono does not have 100 percent knot strength. Now with super braids, and floro, new knots come out all the time. It doesn't hurt to give them a try.

Thanks Glen. I have used Poes before. The LOT I am looking at on EBay has a dozen of the Tennessee Killers that look brand new. They look to me to be very similar to Poes. Half are in what looks like original boxes from Norman. I never heard of Norman making a cedar crank bait, and I have seen people put all kinds wrong lures in boxes on Ebay. I hoped someone on this site had experience with these lures. I really want a couple of the other lures in the LOT but the price is high if the killers are poor baits. Sorry, not interested in criminals just lures. Although my wife thinks the time I spend looking at tackle on Ebay is a crime. I guess I should have been more careful in the wording of the post. Sorry for any confusion. I am wondering if you saw the Bait Monkeys mug shot on Google?

Nobody has experience with these cedar crankbaits? I haven't seen them before, they look good in the pictures, and were apparently made by Norman. Must be a reason for lack of popularity.

I have been most successful with FG for heavy braid to leader, Alberto for light braid to leader, Uni to Uni, or blood knot for connections without braid. Uni to Uni for braid to braid. This is what I currently use, always subject to change. I am always trying and testing different knots, line, and applications.

Looking to buy a Lot of lures on Ebay that has quite of few Tennessee Killers along with some other lures that I am interested in. I have experience with the other lures in the Lot, but no experience with the Killers. Has anyone used these? What did you think? Are they similar to Poes? How deep do they dive? Thanks in advance.

Trying to determine if one color is better than another by casting a jig would be difficult ( so many variables) but if someone has fished jigs for many years I would have to believe through trail and error, they would would have a good idea, where and when what color works. I have found one of the best experiments to see if color makes a difference is by trolling. Troll multiple lures at the same time, the same distance back, with the only difference being the color. I have done this and seen times, when one color is the only one to get hit, and times when it doesn't matter. Most of the time all will work, but one will work better, very rarely is the difference night and day, but it does happen. Like others on this site have said, color doesn't matter until it matters. I have also seen times, when there only has to be a small amount of a particular color on the lure to make a big difference. Like two shad colored crankbaits, one has some chartreuse, on it, the other has some blue. One gets crushed the other doesn't. I don't know what the bass saw, All I can say is the only difference I could detect was the color. The other way I have found how important color can be, is watching my friend slay the bass on the only color, the bait monkey never told me about. I continue to be stubborn and refuse to borrow one of his. Partly because of me already saying he didn't need to bring anything, because I know the lake well and have anything we could possibly need. He just sets the hook and laughs while I tell him color doesn't matter any way. He replies, of course not, it's the angler. Yes I do believe bass see blue.

Why can the bass see my friends blue bait, but not my blue bait?

Bass are very efficient hunters. Like all good hunters they utilize all of their intelligence, senses, and skills to get their game. A plains Indian wouldn't even notice a goose flying over head while charging into a herd of buffalo, let alone try to shoot it with his bow. The Same Indian hunter slowly sneaking up on a flock of geese in a pond, might shoot a buffalo if one happen to walk by. If a bass has a food source available that is plentiful, but takes lots of concentration, and skill to catch, he might key in on a certain feature of that prey in order to be more successful. This can appear to an angler as being selective, when really it is just what the bass has to do in order to be an effective predator. Like the Indian having to concentrate on his swiftness and riding skills, during the buffalo hunt. Other times their might not be a large number of one kind of prey around, and the bass is just looking for something to eat. This happens a lot in rivers when a bass sets up an ambush spot out of the direct current and just waits for anything to float by. Dragon fly nymph, minnow, mouse, or any number of creatures drifting by will be attacked. Same bass might move right out in to the current in the evening when crayfish start moving on the bottom. Probably wont even notice a dragon fly nymph floating by while trying to catch the crayfish, who are quickly hiding under rocks. The first example almost anything drifted naturally in front of the bass will get hit. An angler may think the fish hit because his Senko had such great action, or color, when the truth is, the bass was going to hit anything that drifted naturally to him. These bass are not expecting any particular prey, and don't have time to get a good look anyway. The second scenario, it would be best to replicate the speed and action of the crayfish. Wouldn't hurt to match the size and color too. Most fish eat smaller fish, so most lures try and represent fish. Some lures, like an inline spinner don't look like anything a bass would eat sitting still, but retrieved through the water comes alive, looking and sounding like almost any prey. Others like a plastic worm can look like food just sitting on the bottom. Bass can eat almost anything, so lucky for the bait monkey their are lures that represent almost anything a bass has eaten, and some that a bass hasn't even dreamed of, but wants to give it a try. Those days big bass are aggressive, attacking anything they can get their mouths around, are what great fishing stories are made of.

I believe,bass get conditioned to certain food through experience. They soon find out what they can eat that fills them up and doesn't hurt(large crayfish claws) or make them sick(cigarette butts). Then they become more efficient at catching the prey they have determined is safe, and tasty. The more times they are successful with a certain, type of prey, the more they will key in on that prey. After awhile they recognize a certain movement, color, or other factor that gives them an edge at finding, and catching what they are hunting. They recognize what time of year, time of day, light condition, and weather that makes for successful hunting of one type of prey over another.(what time of day insects hatch, or when crayfish move around) Anglers try to imitate, one or more of the traits of their natural food. This does not mean a bass wont try something new. Just like a kid who is a picky eater, once in awhile will try something different and like it. A bass may have never eaten a mouse swimming on the surface before, but it looks alive, and easy to catch so why not give it a try? Most likely wouldn't bother with the mouse, if he was gorging on a school of shad, that are cornered, and has dialed in a method to catch them efficiently. Later when the school of shad are gone, it might not be the right time for the mouse to go for a swim. Not that the bass prefers shad over mice, just a matter of timing. Bass are capable of eating almost anything. When very hungry, there is a better chance of getting them to try something new, and less likely to be keyed in on a single food source. Aggression is another factor that can get them to strike. They are more likely to be aggressive to something they have experienced as a threat to them or their offspring, or is in competition with them for a food source.(If a blue Gill tries to eat a worm a bass wants, might be just as easy to eat the blue gill and get rid of the competition.) Again they learn certain actions, that can trigger aggression, and the angler tries to replicate that action. Just because a lure looks like a certain prey species to an angler, doesn't mean it looks anything like what the bass is used to eating to the bass. A bass may be used to seeing his prey try to escape in a certain way with a particular action, that a certain realistic looking lure doesn't imitate regardless of paint and shape. A lure with lots of action may be intimidating to a bass that has been picking slow moving food off of the bottom. Where one making a huge racket on the surface may perfectly match a fleeing school of bait, even though the color and shape are wrong. Matching the hatch is not about an exact match to human eyes. It is about having a lure that exhibits some quality that gives the bass confidence, that what he just saw, heard, or felt has been eaten before, can be easily caught and is worth eating, or (attacking in the case of aggression.) I have way to much time on my hands and am way over thinking things. In way less words, it doesn't hurt to try to imitate what a bass is accustom to eating, but if that fails, something different can work too or sometimes, they can both work at the same time.

Just when I thought things couldn't get worse, world health crisis, no baseball, and now someone is fishing a Diawa Shimano combo right out in the open. Even writing a review about it. I know it is a free country,do what you want, and I do have to admire your courage, but, you might consider keeping that combo in the rod locker. LoL

Though not about bass fishing in particular. Here are to classics about life as a fisherman, that are two of my all time favorites. As usual, book is way better than movie. A River Why -- David Duncan A River Runs through it.--- Norman Maclean.

I used to use my teeth hands and feet to tie the FG too. Last year I watched a video on U Tube showing how to tie the knot with only your two hands. Crossing the line and holding the crosses between your thumb and finger.( hard to explain) You don't have to have tension, to tie it this way. All the people I have showed this method have changed the way they tie the FG. It still takes more time than an Alberto, but can be done in any conditions. I prefer Alberto with light line. Also a few good videos showing the common mistakes made with the Alberto most common mistake is not trimming the tag on the leader end close enough. Causing the main line to catch on the tag, eventually weakening the line above the knot.