king fisher

My first spinner bait was a single Colorado, short arm black and yellow I think the name was Bass Buster Scorpion. It caught fish, buzzed on top, slow rolled on bottom, on days with wind or without, sunny, or cloudy spring through fall. I only had one so I had to make do. Now I own spinner baits in every size color and blade configuration. I still catch most of my spinner bait bass on a black single Colorado. Most people these days only use a single black Colorado for night fishing. Willow and white is most popular. I have been forcing myself to use white willow leaf more, because so many people can't be wrong, but once I have confidence in something it can be hard to change. I would recommend starting out with the standard Willow, white, but buy one single Colorado in a dark color just to try something different.

I own many brands of reels, in all price ranges, for fish as small as blue gill large as blue marlin and everything in between. Have been a Shimano fan my whole life. Recently have tried Diawa and am very impressed. For bait casters Below $80 all brands are similar. Same for spinning reels under $50. For bait caster and spinning reels in the $80-$140 range I prefer Diawa. Over $140 Shimano. Have not tried more expensive Lews, or Ambassador, but have used Ambassador 5500, and 6500 for years and have no complaints. For the money Plueger president is my favorite fresh water spinning reel, Diawa BG for fresh and salt water. Bait caster favorite is Tatula CT for fresh water, Diawa Coastal 200 for fresh and light saltwater. I have no complaints with any of my Shimano reels. My new love affair with Diawa might just be due to the evil influence of the bait monkey. Due to past financial experience, bait monkey is not even allowed to look at new fly fishing equipment.

I do believe there are certain techniques where floro or braid have a huge advantage over mono. For those techniques I'm glad I live in a time with those options. I also feel that many times floro will have a small advantage, that at one time I would argue for it's use. Now my opinion has changed to, if the advantage is minor, why bother. Mono is cheap and works. That said, I ordered some floro yesterday. Bait Monkey loves fishing line as much as lures.

I have a friend who hunts with one rifle, and fishes with mono only. I try and tell him mono is not sensitive, he just smiles and shows me pictures of his fish. I tell him floro is invisible, again more pictures. I bring up the fact floro sinks making your crank baits dive deeper, he tells me his crank baits dive deep enough, more pictures. Braid is stronger, again more pictures. When I ask him about his rifle, he says it goes bang when he pulls the trigger, and again more pictures. I use every type of line made, and sometimes combinations of two, but don't have the pictures.

I went on guided trip last week. All we did was punch heavy cover. Best bass fishing day of my life. 58 bass between 3 and 7 pounds. Of course I don't have any gear for punching. Now I have to explain to my wife how all the thousands of dollars of fishing gear I own wont work at my new fishing spot. The bait monkey and my wife are going to have their biggest battle yet. She can usually hold her own against the monkey, but this time I hope the monkey wins. After I get all the new punching gear, I promise to only replace what I loose.

You may have won the battle, but you haven't won the war. The Bait Monkey still lives.

I thought I got some good advice on this thread. I told my wife my tackle problem wasn't nearly as bad as a drug or gambling problem. She informed me that kind of logic was going to cause a big marital problem. It never occurred to me that she might have friends with husbands that have no addictions. Probably not true, but I decided it was best to make good use my right of silence before I have to use my right to an attorney. Hiding bait monkey in the shop for a few days.

crank baits that catch fish for $3.99 at times on sale for $2.99, enough said.

Because the next lure I buy will be the one that catches the big one. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I have been a Shimano fan for over 30 years. All my salt water and most of my fresh water reels have been Shimano. Last year I bought a Diawa BG spinning reel because a friend recommended it. I think it is the best spinning reel made in the $100 range, would go as far as to say it is better than any other $200 spinning reel. After having such good luck with the BG spinning reel, I decided to try a Tatula CT. Again very pleased. Now I own 3 Diawa bait casters. I believe Shimano makes the best spinning and bait casters, in the upper price range, but feel Diawa owns the $100-$150 class.

I use chum in Salt water all of the time, but never even considered it for bass. Nothing against the practice if legal, just never tried. I did see a U Tube video where some kids chummed the water with two big nets full of crayfish. Probably 30 gallons of live crayfish. Then they started throwing red rattle traps. The bass went crazy, they caught fish every cast. I have no idea how long it took them to catch that many crayfish, or if the video was even reel. It was on U Tube so it couldn't have been a fake lol.

I bought the standard Tat. CT. for $99, will take the extra $30 and add it to the cost of a new rod. Bait Monkey wont let me keep the savings.

Diawa Ardito travel rod. It is three piece but works as well as any two piece and most one piece rods. I take mine everywhere, fishing for multiple species of fish. Comes with a quality case that fits in the over head baggage on airlines. One of the few multi purpose casting rods available at Tackle Warehouse.

Do you notice any difference in casting distance, smoothness, or any other performance feature worth the extra $20?

I am buying a new reel. I have a Tatula CT that I like and was planning on buying another one. While looking for one on Ebay I came across a Tatula CT type R for $20 more, making the type R the same price as the regular CT is at Tackle Warehouse. What is the difference? Has anybody used both? If so which would you recommend. Thanks in advance.

As others have said depends, on the Size and species of salmon you plan on catching. Also the technique's you plan on using. There are as many different techniques for salmon as there are for bass and a rod that is best for each technique. One of my Salmon rods is a Diawa 9' MHF 8-20lbs test line, 1/2-1 1/2 oz casting rod that I also use for bass fishing with crank baits. Casts a mile and has lots of flex to keep from pulling hooks. Also works well as a beach rod for Jacks. Would be a good all around salmon rod. A bit light for Kings, if you are fishing from shore, or trolling in a river. OK for open water.

Don't do it. Mixing the two will cause you will to loose all of your Shimano friends, as well as your Diawa friends. Your Lew's friends will still talk to you but will whisper snide remarks when you walk into a room. People will point and laugh when you walk into a tackle shop. You might even get a knock on the door at 3:00 AM by the secret tackle police. I'm sure the bass will still bite, but you have to have a life off the water too.

I still use a flip phone, hunt with a 50 year old re curve bow,or 50 year old muzzle loader. Have always driven cars at least 30 years old. Fly a plane made in 1947. My wife say's I'm Vintage. But almost all of my fishing gear is new top of the line. Love new fishing gear. All about priorities

I would start with 15 to 20 pound J braid 8 or Power Pro super slick 8, braid on the med. 6 pound Trilene XL or Maxima Ultra green on the med light. Use rod with braid when sensitivity, and low stretch, are a priority. The one with mono for light crank baits, inline spinners and other lures where stretch and sensitivity are not an issue. I have only used florocarbon for leader, having zero experience using it as the main line. After reading posts on this site, I'm going to give Sunline Sniper a try on a couple of my spinning outfits.

I prefer undressed, single hook, Blue Fox Vibrax over Mepps Aglia, and Panther Martin in faster current.

I highly recommend the Diawa Ardito three piece travel rod. I use the on I have as much as any rod I have. I carry it with me everywhere. They come with a nice case, and are available through Tackle Warehouse in your price range.

I caught lots of fish on jigs, spinner baits , crank baits,(which were called plugs when I started bass fishing) top water poppers, spooks, and walking baits when the only braid was Dacron, and mono was simply called fishing line. Then super lines came out followed by fluorocarbon. I started using braid and swore I would never use mono again. Floro was almost invisible, the only leader I would use for everything that swims in fresh or salt water.( fish must have had bad eyesight before floro was invented). Now I'm back to using mono, (Berkly Big Game, or Maxima Ultra green) for most of my bass fishing. I was tired of tying leaders, not being able to cut the line with my teeth, and many other difficulties involved with braid. Almost all of my bass fishing is done with 12# Berkly Big Game. (Maxima for trout and Salmon, Ande Pink for Salt Water) There are times when I do miss the sensitivity of braid, and the sink rate of floro, but still manage to catch bass and have fun with a lot less hassle. Shorter answer would be yes mono works great for jigs and spinner baits.

I used nothing but Ultra green for years. Very popular line where I lived in the Northwest. Then jumped on the braid and floro bandwagon, thinking why be cheap. Braid is strong, doesn't stretch, and floro is invisible. I will detect more strikes and get more bites. Was sure I would never use mono again. One day I was visiting family and decided I wanted to go fish the local river. I found an old spinning rod in my Moms garage, so far so good just needed to get some line. I went to the local hardware store and all they had was mono. I was bummed, I felt like I was having to go back to fishing in the stone age. I spooled on the line and left for the river. The water was clear and cool, the fish were biting light, but I caught lots of fish. I didn't have to tie an FG knot, didn't think I was missing any strikes, and best of all caught lots of fish. I would like to say a light came on, but when it comes to fishing I can be stubborn. It took a few more times fishing with friends that didn't even know they invented braid, or floro. They caught fish and had a great time fishing mono, just like we did when we were kids. They only knew one knot, and wondered why I would ever take two minuets tying on a leader. ( longer because it is hard to tie any knot when your friends are yelling hook up and fish are splashing all around). Of course I had to tell them they were hicks, with the wrong gear and didn't know anything about fishing line. They just laughed and caught fish. It took a few years, but now I am over it. I use braid when I need more line capacity, and floro for live bait fishing, both situations do not apply to my bass fishing. I know the pros use braid and floro, good for them, I'm fishing for fun and mono is good enough for me.

150 yard run is nothing for many saltwater fish. Even a Bonefish can take that much line in an initial run. Yes you can land a fish that takes well over 150 yards of line. Happens all the time in both salt and fresh water. In open water a person can land very big fish on light tackle, as long as you don't run out of line and time.

I tie braid direct to most top water lures. Always use a leader for live bait, and occasionally for sub surface lures. I find myself using mono more than I used to. At one time I used braid for almost every type of fishing. Like lots of people I thought it was a great improvement over mono because of strength to line diameter and low stretch. I have come to realize stretch can be your friend, more than an enemy in many situations. Diameter is a big concern when line capacity is an issue ( mostly saltwater applications). Most of the time I'm not that concerned with diameter. Distance casting with spinning gear being an exception. Sensitivity is a big plus for braid, I use it when I feel I need more sensitivity than than I get with mono, or floro. For fresh water fishing I use mono 80 percent of the time. Straight braid, 10% and braid with floro leader 10%. I only use braid when the advantages are significant. When guiding, or fishing with kids, where I'm the one having to deal with all tangles, mono all the way.