king fisher

I started fishing a lake last year that the only technique I have ever seen used is punching. I use the same gear the local guide showed me. 1/2 to 1,5 oz tungsten weight pegged with two bobber stops, tight to the plastic. Sometimes I will add a punch skirt most of the time just a plain beaver style bait. I always land at least 30 fish a day, with very few getting away. Most of the time the weight has slid up the line a ways before the fish is landed. The ones that do get away are usually hopelessly wrapped around a stick or net. Very few shake the hook. Missing the hook set is a very common problem I'm getting better at. The bass seem to hang on longer to the lighter weights giving me an extra second to set the hook, but sometimes the heavy weight is needed to penetrate the mat.

I didn't have any jigs, but did try a punch skirt with rage bug and 1/2 oz tungsten weight. I Have lots of punching gear because I normally fish Lake Chapala, punching is the go to technique year round there. I am not able to fish there at this time because of travel restrictions. I did catch some small bass on the punch skirt set up. I will try to get some football jigs and give them a try.

I have fished a small reservoir near Tepic Mexico twice now. The lake is approximately 1.5 miles long, 3/4 miles wide. I know there are large bass in this lake because a friend of mine went there a couple months ago. My friend and his wife landed many over 3 lbs. fly fishing, and she landed one that was 5.6 kilos. on her only cast with a Senko. They were there pre spawn and said almost anywhere along the shore had nice fish. They are beginner fly fishermen it was windy and they still landed many nice fish on flies. Who knows what they could have done if fishing conventional gear all day. I have gone there twice now with my Kayak. I have no problem catching small bass under a pound fishing close to shore with Senkos but can't find any larger fish. The wind blows 15 MPH or more most of the day making it difficult to fish bottom contact baits slowly in deeper water. The water has about two feet of visibility and water temps. in mid 70's. Because I have not spotted any bass on beds, I assume the spawn is over. One side of the lake has a steep rocky bank with a couple long rip rap points. The other side of the lake is a slow sloping flat that gradually descends in to deeper water. There is no aquatic vegetation, but some stick ups, and flooded fence lines for cover. There lake has Tilapia so I am assuming that is the main forage but I haven't seen any bait fish so I'm not sure what they eat. I don't have a fish finder making it difficult to find structure in deeper water. I have trolled most of the lake with deep diving crank baits and only found one place where a DD22 did not touch bottom. There is little to no fishing pressure. I few locals net the Tilapia. Most of my fishing has been concentrated on the rocky points that extend into about 15 ft. of water and a few stickups in 6 Ft. I have been using mostly spinner baits and crank baits. Both lures I prefer to fish especially in windy conditions. I have landed one 4lbs. and a couple two pound bass on a spinner bait, along with a few around two pounds on medium diving crank baits. I have caught baby bass everywhere. Anywhere near the shore, along the deeper sides of the rocky points, even trolling in the deepest part of the lake near the dam. Every time I have caught a fish trolling in deeper water I stopped and worked the area casting from all angles with not luck. I have tried drifting soft plastics on one rod while casting towards the shore with cranks, and spinner baits with another. Works great but again small bass. The few larger bass I have caught have been lone catches with no luck repeating the success with similar retrieve and depth. Was wondering if I should try some larger lures along the shore hoping to eliminate the small fish, in hopes of a big one, or stick with the same lures and keep trying to find where the bigger fish live. I have also tried jerk baits, creature baits, and some top water. Best small bass catchers have been Senkos, and Hula grubs.

Depends on if you think she is going to want to go fishing a lot or will get bored and quit going. If she is going to get serious about fishing then get something nice but a good value. If she will probably only go a few times then get her the rod you have always wanted. Then you can always use her rod when she doesn't go. I have a friend that would always buy his wife better gear than he had. Plan worked well until she caught on one Christmas when he bought her a shot gun. She only hunted once, but he has never been allowed to use her gun. The next Christmas she go jewelry.

When I started fly fishing for trout, a good friend who was very experienced fly angler had every fly imaginable. I only had a few flies. I asked him if my flies were good enough. He told me in order to match the hatch all I had to have was a fly close to the same size, shape, and color of the hatch. Exact match was not necessary. He also advised the most important factor was making sure the presentation was correct. The reason he had hundreds of flies was because he could. Not because he needed them. I believe the same is true for bass fishing. If the bass are feeding on slow moving crayfish on the bottom The most important factor will be fishing something slow on the bottom. If the crayfish are brown with bright orange on them, then I would make sure my offering had some bright orange. Doesn't have to be an exact match, just close to the size and color. If they are eating bait fish on the surface, than of course the most important factor would be something moving erratically on the surface. If the bait fish are small than my bait should be small. If the bait is gold in color, than I would want some gold in my lure. Doesn't have to look exact, close is good enough. There are times for what ever reason, a bass will key in on one factor way above all else. Most of the time that would be movement- presentation. There are times however size, shape or color is by far the most important aspect. When this happens I don't believe the bait has to be an exact match, just make sure what ever the factor is the lure is close. Switching to a smaller crank bait, if size is the issue. If the bait has some bright chartreuse, or blue color, then the lure should have bright chartreuse, or blue somewhere on it. If the bait is long and thin, than something short and fat might not be the best lure to throw. In Short, I don't think you need something exact to match the hatch, most of the time you can change presentation to get a fish to bite, but an exact match doesn't hurt. Of course there are times when matching the hatch is not working. Especially when the main forage is plentiful. Those times something completely different that sticks out works.

I put on a pair of gloves you can buy ones made especially for fishing, or just get a thick pair of work gloves. Then take a couple raps and pull quickly the line will break, or the lure will pop free. Braid doesn't stretch much so most of the time the lure wont come flying like a bullet back, but it can so get ready to duck, wear glasses and hat.

Chub Bug is my favorite pop R type popper that can be worked fast and cover lots of water. For slowly fishing small pockets, I still prefer the low pitch bloop of the Hula Popper. I fish it exactly like the instructions that came on the outside of the box of the first one I bought back in the 70's. Cast out,let sit until the ripples disappear, then gently pop in place. If I don't get a bite after a few pops, then I reel in and cast to the next target.

I have a Diawa Coastal ( similar to a 200 but made for salt water) I bought for light salt water use, and for deep cranking in fresh water. At first I always made sure I had the coastal on my heavy rod, and the Tatula Ct reels I have on my lighter outfits. The Coastal has Mag force break and the CT Mag force Z. To be honest, I notice very little difference in the two reels. Many times I find myself putting the Coastal on a lighter rod and casting lighter lures just as well as the CT. I wouldn't let the type of magnetic drag be the main factor in deciding which reel to buy, they both seem to work well. Size would be my main consideration.

Original floating Rapala #3 inline spinner 1/2 ounce black single Colorado blade spinner bait Rapala DD10 crank bait 5" Senko ( June bug) Hula Grub on 1/4 ounce jig ( green pumkin) This list if for my favorite lake- river. Only the spinner bait would I ever use on my second favorite lake. Bait Monkey and I are way to close to ever use just six lures.

Surprisingly, it has become one of the most popular baits for punching on lake Chapala Mexico. A guide turned me on to the bait Texas rigged with a straight shank 4/0 hook and a 3/4 ounce tungsten bullet weight, pegged with two bobber stoppers. I was reluctant to try it at first and kept fishing with my favorite beaver bait. When I finally switched over to the Skinny Dipper it was like a light turned on. Rigged that way it is also good for the occasional cast on the outside edge, of the weed mats with a slow steady retrieve along the bottom. Now it is my go to bait on that lake.

I have always preferred baitcast, and use them whenever practical. Modern spinning reels have improved to the point, I can't really come up with a reason why I prefer the bait casters. Years ago spinning reel drags were so poor, I would opt for reeling backwards rather than use the drag. Now drags have improved as well as bearings in the roller making the transfer of force to the spool instantaneous. No longer do I have to reel backwards or loosen the drag to the point of the line almost coming off when retrieving a hard pulling crank bait, because a hard strike could snap the line before the spool would start to let line out. Super braid lines are the other major game changer with spinning reels. As far as accuracy goes, I don't notice any difference between the two. I have always feathered the line with my finger when casting with a spinning reel. Slowly stopping the cast the same as I would with my thumb on a bait caster. I am starting to use spinning gear more in salt water, but still only use it for light presentations in fresh water.

you can patch the holes with either Marine tex or Z Spar. Will still leak but can be usable. Depending on the type of aluminum in may be welded. Most likely it can't. I have tried many times to have riveted aluminum jon boats welded with not much luck. That is why they were riveted in the first place. Same goes for airplane floats, impossible to weld but can be patched with Z Spar. I know a guy that salvaged a jon boat that had been shot full of wholes, and had numerous ax marks too. The owner gave the boat to a native in Alaska for free. He fixed it with Marine Tex patches. I saw that boat on the river every summer for the next ten years.

Times sure have changed. When I was young, I liked anything made by Rapala, but couldn't afford to buy them all the time. I purchased Rebel instead. Now Rapala is considered affordable compared to many other brands. Even Lucky Craft prices are considered bargains compared to others. Where will it stop? If I had to pick one company it would be Rapala as long as Storm and Luhr Jensen are considered part of rapala. So far the Bait Monkey has always convinced me to buy quantity over quality, but lately he has been trying hard to convince me to add some higher priced baits for bass. He won that battle long ago with saltwater gear.

Depends on the knot. Blood knot, Uni to Uni, and nail knot to nail knot will work as long as the leader (mono, or Floro) doesn't make the knot to big to go through the guides. FG knot requires the leader to be larger in size than the braid, otherwise the braid wont dig into the leader properly. Alberto works best with the leader being larger, but will work with lines the same size. FG knot is the strongest and slimmest, and is becoming the most common braid to leader knot for many salt water applications. I would be surprised to see it have that kind of popularity for most fresh water fishing. I don't use the FG with the lighter lines I use bass fishing, though I'm sure there are many on this forum that do with great success.

Some days I only take one rod and a couple lures determined to catch fish by fishing those lures in different places, experimenting with retrieves and location instead of baits. Most days I throw everything the bait monkey made me buy. I am opposite of my friends. When the fishing is good I'm always trying more baits, and ways to fish them. When the fishing is slow I will stick to my old favorites. Drives one friend crazy when we just start to catch fish and I start switching baits as fast as I can tie them on. I have to remind him I don't fish to catch fish, I fish to have fun. I look at fishing as a scientific experiment. My friends tried and true lure is the control group and the Bait Monkey and I are the experimental group. A few days a year I like to relax and just use a bobber, with a night crawler, and see whats for dinner. Most of the time I am a tackle junkie.

Alberto will work well in any temperature. I use it and the FG. exclusively for braid to leader. Used the Uni to Uni for many years without problems, bu found through testing that the Alberto is a better knot. I prefer to pass the line back through the loop the same direction as it came through at the start, then pass it through again. Hard to explain, I recommend watching a few videos on how to tie correctly. Not saying that you are not tying it correctly but wouldn't hurt to see how others tie it. I tied the Palomar wrong for over twenty years before watching a video that showed I was crossing the line as I tied it. Yes I did catch many fish tying it wrong, but am glad I tie it correctly now.

I have never counted, but I assume others have more than me, and that is not fair. My wife claims I hold the record, bait monkey assures me she is wrong.

The FG knot is easy to tie just takes practice. There are many ways to tie it, and I have tried almost all of them. Look on Yu tube, and find the the way that works best for you. I use the FG mostly for salt water fishing. Large leader makes a slim knot more important than when using most bass size leaders. Alberto is my go to with smaller leader. Very slim and strong. There are some tricks to the Alberto. One is to trim the leader end as short as possible. This keeps the tag end from catching on the main line eventually weakening it. The other is making sure all the raps slide down the knot as far as possible. There are some good videos on the internet showing the correct way to tie the Alberto, while also showing the common mistakes. I learned the hard way, and wish I would have watched the videos. Double Uni is a good knot, that I used to brag about all the time, not as big a uni fan as I once was.

I use all three types of line. Mono is my standard default go to line. If I am using a technique that a feel It would be better to use braid or floro I will use it. I use straight braid for punching and flipping, because I need the strength of heavy braid and anytime line capacity is an issue. I use straight floro for some crank bait fishing because it sinks and has smaller diameter per lbs. test. I use braid to floro on finesse spinning outfits because I want the sensitivity, and for most live bait fishing because fish have the opportunity to look live bait over for a long time before deciding to strike so visibility could be a factor. All other applications I prefer mono, and if I could only use one line it would be mono. Braid to leader knots are a weak, link this is a fact. I'm not saying that you can't land thousands of fish, and never have one fail. I'm sure many have. I have done many knot tests, and there is no braid to leader knot that is any where close to 100 percent. I used double uni knot for years and swore by it, but when testing knots I found double uni is only a 60 percent knot at best. I know there are people that will swear that the double uni is 100 percent knot, never fails and have landed thousands of fish using it. I'm sure they have and will continue to another site. I was in the same club for years, but now use Alberto for light braid to leader, and FG for leader 30lbs and up. I rarely have the line break,( almost always on a snag), when using braid to leader, but when I do it will be within one inch of the braid to leader knot. Some times I just like my fishing to be less complicated, by Filling a reel with cost effective mono, and tying one strong knot.

Rebel Deep wee R , but make them so the hooks can't catch each other. Original Bomber, orange, with black herringbone.

I make my own. I tie artificial hair with crystal flash mixed in underneath, then lumaflex material on the outside. Inside hair has bulk and flash, and the lumaflex material has lots of action. I doubt if the fish care, but sure looks cool to me.

Bait Monkey taught me years ago to open as soon as legally possible, (even the bait monkey wont encourage me to open before I pay for it) try as soon as possible, loose as soon as possible, and replace as soon as possible. Waiting would be like a kid waiting to open Christmas packages until noon on Christmas day. Have to admit I have held buzz baits out the window of the car on the way home, and placed crank baits in the bath tub. My wife thinks I have a problem, she may be right.

silver is way more popular than nickle for salmon. Problem with silver is it tarnishes easily. Has more flash when bran new, but you need to polish it after awhile to keep the silver shining. Nickle keeps its shine longer. I believe I catch as many fish of all species with nickle as I do with silver. I do prefer gold plate over polished brass and don't mind paying the extra dollars for gold.

When I was a teenager in the late seventies, I red an article by Doug Hannon. In the Article he had done some studies that he believed proved bass are repelled by the color yellow, and attracted to green. I believed everything I red back then so I stopped using my very productive yellow sonic, and yellow spinner bait. A few days after reading the article a friend of mine and I went fishing at our favorite fishing hole. He put a single blade yellow spinner bait on exactly like the one I owned. Of course I had robbed a green skirt off of a Hula Popper and replace the yellow one on my spinner bait. I then informed my friend that it was a scientific fact that yellow was the worst color to fish. He landed four bass, to my zero. You would think I would have given up on the theory at that point, but I was a little stubborn. My friend was just lucky. The fish he caught hit out of a defense reaction, because they were so scared of the color, and had to strike out of fear. I was sure it was just a once in a lifetime event. After all, the bass professor had science on his side. Science will win out over luck in the long run. I continued to avoid all yellow lures. The funny thing is I no longer believe yellow repels bass, but still avoid yellow lures. Some superstitions are hard to ignore. I'm sure that friend still fishes yellow spinner baits and continues to have great luck. I still have the yellow sonic, I'm going to force myself to fish it some time.

When I was single, the bait monkey was my best friend he only had the hunting gear monkey for competition. I drove a junk car, wore rags for clothes, thought going to KFC was splurging for a Friday night dinner, spent most of my money, and all my spare time fishing or hunting. Then I got married, and learned that money can be spent at stores that don't even have a tackle section, a heater, good wipers, and brakes that you don't have to pump are all essential items on a car, restaurants that serves wine are a requirement for a Friday night dinner out, and their is no such thing as spare time. The bait Monkey is so scared of my wife he only dares show up at Christmas, and my birthday. The good thing is years of being friends with the bait monkey have left me with more than a lifetime supply of fishing gear.