king fisher

I recommend you go to Lake Menderchuck. You always seem to do well there.

A little bit of purple in any lure never hurts.

Fish them. They are worthless if they just take up space in your house. When you run across a special one that for some unknown reason works better than the others, mark it and use it on days you feel you need a special trap. There is always one out any 100 identical crankbaits that work far better than any others. Those are special and need to be treated as such.

If Big Game were to cost more than Fluoro than many more would prefer Big Game and have many reasons why. Fluoro has three big advantages. Invisibility less perceived stretch and improved slack line sensitivity. None of which are remotely a factor when fishing a large glide bait If Big Game works for you already, switching to Fluoro will not help.

If you any of the expert anglers on this forum saw my casting mechanics they would be appalled, and my accuracy is at my best horrible. As far as distance goes, I can bomb a baitcaster as well as anyone. I must state, that my recommendations on distance casting works for me and might not be good advice for others. The first thing I recommend casting with both hands. One hand on the normal pistol grip part of the rod, and the other hand close to the butt end of the rod. When I first learned how to use a two handed fly rod, I learned the value of the bottom hand. Of course most of the time with a two handed fly rod is spent roll casting, they are capable of unbelievable long regular over hand casts. I was practicing one day making normal casts and another guide came up to and told me to use my bottom hand more. He said it's a two handed rod make good use of the bottom hand. He showed me how to make sure I was pulling back with my bottom hand as much as pushing forward with my top hand. A light came on, and I added distance to my cast. The principle can be applied to a baitcasting rod. I know this goes against all the rules, but for me to get the maximum distance I use my whole body. Wrist, forearm shoulder, upper body and even my legs. By doing this I am able to fully load the rod, at a slower pace, making it possible to get the maximum bend and tip velocity. A shorter snappy arc, will load the rod but puts all of the force of the cast in to a shorter period of the cast. The other important part of my technique s making sure I use my bottom hand to pull back on the butt of the rod at the same time as using my top hand to push forward. The same as I learned with a two handed fly rod. Casting with two hands helps in two ways. One is the other hand help keeps the rod steady and in control, but the other hand can also be used to add force to the cast by pulling on the rod. If you are palming your reel with your off hand, it will help with stability, but will not help add much force to the cast. Again I will state this works for me, and I may be doing everything wrong, but I can cast any kind of rod far with my technique. Yes I do get an occasional professional over run, from throwing so hard, and I will admit a flick of the rist will get me 90% of the the distance my forceful all body swing for the fences cast gets, with far less effort, and minimal backashes. But in order to get that extra unnecessary 10% distance, my two handed swing for the fences cast works for me.

With the exception of the frogs, I have owned every one of those lures. The Arbogast Buzz bait lure, I think it was called a sputterbug, is the only one I didn't catch any fish with. It was in my box for years, and I don't recall ever tying it on.

Not every angler. All I need is shorts, sandals and sunscreen.

About 20 years ago, I went in for a required FAA biannual flight physical. The doctor I usually used was famous for doing the paperwork correctly and not doing a thorough exam. He was of course very popular because a pilot new they were going to pass the physical, and the paperwork would be done correctly. Failing a physical, or one mistake on paperwork can be a nightmare. I wasn't able to see the my normal doctor that day, and was forced to look in the phone book for another doctor that could do the physical. This doctor was extremely thorough. He listened to my heart detected a murmur, and recommended i see a cardiologist. Of course I didn't go see the cardiologist, and only after the FAA rejected my physical and sent me a not in the male that my flying privileges were revoked did I even consider going to the heart doctor. The FAA required me to pass a treadmill test as well as many other more complicated heart tests. I was furious at the physician. I called him up and cussed him out. I had just gotten back from guiding a backpack bear hunt on kodiak Island, was in excellent shape and never felt better. All of my friends called me an idiot for getting a physical from someone I didn't know. I told the doctor to make an appointment for the stress test, and I would run the bearings off of the treadmill. When the cardiologist listened to my heart, he refused to let me get on the treadmill. He immediately did the other tests, and called a heart surgeon. Two days later I was having open heart surgery on a defective heart valve. My cardiologist told me I would have been dead in a few months if I hadn't had the surgery. It turns out I owed that doctor an apology and my life. I eventually recovered from the surgery and was allowed to fly as a private pilot. The Coast Guard also gave me the ok to renew my captain's license so I was able to go to work after only a few months. I feel so ashamed that I actually thought the doctors were trying to ruin my life, when in reality all they wanted to do was save it. I may get a second opinion, but I will never again discount a physicians advice. I take all recommended tests, and medicine as prescribed. I should have been smart enough at the time to know doctors only want to help their patients.

Rods with a slight bend, guides on a rod that don't quite line up, more line on one side of my baitcasting reel, buzzbaits that run to the left, know matter how I bend the wire, a spinnerbait that turns ever so slightly on its's side at higher speeds, a rattle trap that sounds different than all the rest, a crankbait that I can not tune to run exactly straight, crankbaits that are missing one eye, lures with the wrong shade of chartreuse, Ragebuggs, that have lost one of their appendages, bent inline spinners that I can't get exactly straight, a tackle box latch that is crooked when closed, a kayak paddle that is slightly off center, one cylinder on an outboard that occasionally misfires when throttle is applied, a single drop of oil under my car in the morning, and a stupid song that I heard on the radio driving to the lake that keeps playing in my head over and over. These are all things that will drive me crazy if I let them, or I can just go fishing.

A 9 foot rod made for steelhead will work fine. It will also launch a deep crankbait a mile.

I wouldn't care. Many days it might be the only bend my rod gets.

I remembered a few more I often do. Fish with multi piece rods for bass. Adjust my drag while fighting a bass. Fish topwater in muddy water. Fish jigs, spinnerbaits, and bladed jigs without trailers. Play bass lightly until they are tired before landing them. Experiment with different lures while the bite is hot. Fish the same lure color as the primary prey, regardless of water color, or weather conditions. Use my whole body to cast. I know all you need to use even for long casts is your wrist, but I was born with two arms, shoulders, elbows, waste, and lower body, and I use every thing I have to backlash my reels. Drive all night in Mexico to get to the lake. Drop the Bait Monkey off at my friends house when his wife is away.

I'm not supposed to set the hook as soon as I see a topwater bite but after 50 years of topwater fishing I still do. I still miss most of my bites, but I guess I am just a slow learner.

I'm not supposed to eat bananas in the boat, but I do.

I'm not supposed to use black spinnerbaits in the day time, but I do it anyway.

The Bait Monkey told me prices are down, how can I not believe my oldest friend?

Academy Sports H20. They are as good as any made of plastic. I prefer them over many more expensive brands. Balsa square bills will get more bites, and because of their buoyancy can be worked through cover better, but can really hurt when you lose one. If you are scared to throw a bait in to thick cover, the bait is too expensive for you.

No on the rod and reel, but I will say, even if I fished them in thick cover with four pound test line every day for the rest of my life, my family will have to put on two yard sales a week for more than a year to get rid of all my square bills once I am gone.

Fishing has been slow for me this year. Mainly because I haven't been able to go very often. Last time I went bass fishing was in May. I was able to go a few times in May which is the best month at my lake. I landed 4 bass over 9 pounds, with the biggest 9.9 pounds. No matter how many times I reset the scale it always read 9.9 pounds. I don't think I will have another chance to catch a DD this year. This will be the first year I haven't landed a bass over 10 pounds, since I started fishing for them in Mexico. I hope to have more time in 2026 and maybe that 9.9 pounder will be over 10 and bite my lure again. I may not have fished much in 2025 but the Monkey and I have been busy. Just because I don't have the time to fish, doesn't mean I don't have the time to buy fishing gear.

In 2025 I have a roof over my head plenty to eat, and am in good health. All is good.

I will stop changing baits,when they quit making new baits, or the Bait Monkey dies. I have as much fun experimenting as I do catching bass. If all I wanted to do was catch bass, I would only fish live bait.

I remove them from their home in the store, stick them with a hook, cast them in to a very dangerous environment, and complain if they do not get bit by a bass. I feel no need to cause them any more stress and pain by roughing them up.

If you have money left in the bank it is mono, if you are broke it is fluorocarbon.

The big bass in my lake can be long and thin, long and medium. Or long and fat.

My bass get big by exercising my fisherman’s prerogative. In other words. I don’t let the truth get in the way of a good fish story.