king fisher

My advise for guiding can be summed up in one sentence. Your job as a guide is to make sure the client has a good time. Your ability to catch fish, is not necessarily going to make sure the client has a good time. You may have to change you plans on where you fish, or what technique you are going to use in order to adjust for the varied skill level your paying customers will have. Just because you can catch fish with ease, doesn't mean they will be able to. Some clients do not take instruction well, and many more respond negatively to constructive criticism. You must be able to adapt to these common personality traits. At the end of the day none of them will say they would have caught some bass, but there skill level wasn't up to the task, but will say they didn't catch bass because their guide did not know what they were doing. You may have to adjust your plans in order to make up for the stubborn ways of a guest. It is always good to keep learning new places and ways to catch fish in order to adjust for the skill level and attitude of a client. Never assume you will be able to teach them how to catch fish your way. If a person has zero casting accuracy, but can bomb the bait out there, than you may want to know where a big flat is where the guy can launch his baits as far as he wants. Save the accurate casts under the overhanging trees for the next guest. In order to stack the odds in your favor, you must make sure the factors you have complete control over are always done well. A good lunch, water and drinks, well maintained equipment, proper clothing, spare sun glasses, proper safety protocols, and a pleasant attitude are all under your control, therefore should not ever be an issue. One big thing under your control as far as equipment goes. If you are supplying rods, and reels, make sure you have both left hand and right hand set ups. Nothing can be more frustrating for some anglers than to have to reel with the opposite hand they are used to reeling with. For me I don't care, but for some it will, make them instantly go from an expert to a novice. The weather and getting the fish to bite are not under your control. You can't do anything about the weather, but can make sure they are prepared for the conditions before you go fishing. As far as the fishing goes, you must tailor your day to the expectations, and skill level of the client. Do not assume they will be able to cast far enough or accurately enough to catch fish the way you have planned on catching them. You always need to work on refining techniques and look for places where people with questionable skills will be able to catch some fish. The old, I took them to the fish, It isn't my fault they couldn't catch them attitude is complete BS. You may not be able to find a way for your guests to catch bass, but you can never stop trying. Finding ways for poor anglers to catch bass is not as easy as it may be to find ways for experts to catch them, but you must always be trying to find ways to make your techniques easier for less skilled anglers to have success with. It is absolutely useless for you to be able to catch fish, but the client can't. They didn't pay for you to catch them, and they sure aren't going to go home and brag about how great of an angler their guide is. Some people are quick learners who take instruction well, and others are not. It is not their job to change their ways, it is your job to adjust to their limitations. I'm not just talking about beginner anglers. Sometimes beginners are more willing to listen and will pick up a technique far quicker than an experienced angler who is set in their ways. It really makes no difference what the problem is, you have to be able to adjust to any difficulties. There will be days when no matter what you do your guests will not be able to catch fish that you could easily catch. On those days you can still make sure they have a good time. Show them an Eagles nest, tell some jokes, and many times being a good listener, while they tell you about themselves, and their families can make for a good day. While you still keep trying to get them some fish. You never know, that one lucky cast may catch the big one. Never give up on the fish, and for sure never give up on the guest. Make sure you compliment them on the fish they do catch. Never act as if there accomplishments are some how sub par. You may not think catching a 12 inch bass is a great accomplishment, but it doesn't hurt to make them feel like they did something exceptional, and in reality they probably did. When I first started guiding I was always frustrated because another guide would catch half the number and size of fish I was getting, but his guests were always the happiest and bragging the most around the dinner table. I soon learned that even though a caught more fish, my guests did not have as good of day fishing as his had. He made sure they appreciated every fish they caught, he was always positive, and they never felt like they were being ordered to do something when he was trying to instruct them. He would tell me I had to be less like a football coach and more like a friend. That was the best guiding advice I ever received. That was over 35 years ago, and I still have to work on my attitude towards clients, but I am lucky enough to have had many great teachers, and clients help me along the way. Many of the best fisherman make the worst guides, but if you truly love what you do, it is possible to be great at both. Good luck.

Pop Tarts, candy bars, potato chips, ham sandwiches, and Diet Coke. I can go for three days on this diet, and then I have to get a decent meal.

When I fished in WA for northern bass I could always count on catching small to medium size bass, with the exception of winter and early spring. Even in the hottest days of August the small bass would bite every evening. The larger bass would be hard to catch, and only bite on certain days, but smaller bass could be found every evening, hitting the same old top waters in the same old location. The first time I fished for Florida bass was on a private pond in Florida. The owner of the pond had bragged up the fishing and I couldn't wait to catch a DD. We fished for hours without even a strike. I told him we should just go catch a bunch of smaller bass and give the big ones a try on another day. He told me that was what we were trying to do. I learned that day Florida strain largemouth are way different than northern strain. I got skunked more times than I landed bass on that lake. When I did land a bass it always seemed to be totally random, and I couldn't develop a repeatable pattern. That winter I had access to many private ponds, all with good bass populations, and very light fishing pressure. I did have good fishing from time to time, but I left firmly believing the bass fishing I had grown up with in WA was better than it was in Florida. My skill of an angler had much to do with my lack of success in Florida that winter, and I can't in any way blame my poor performance on the bass. I am simply saying that my average bass fishing skills were more than enough to get a limit of nice northern bass, but were not nearly enough to catch even a small number of Florida strain bass. When I started fishing for bass in Mexico, I witnessed the same behavior. I catch many big Florida strain bass here, but I can't always count on aggressive smaller bass to bite any time I am bored. I don't know if Florida Strain bass are smarter or just plain lazy, but I am convinced they are much more difficult to catch. Especially small to mid size bass, that I always assumed would be easy to catch. While bass fishing in WA, I could catch all sizes of bass on a variety of hard baits. I tried soft plastics, but never found them to be productive for me. I new others that fished them successfully but they rarely out fished me, so I never bothered to learn how to fish them. In Mexico fishing for Florida strain bass, It didn't take me long to learn, I could catch giant bass on on a variety of hard baits, but if I want to consistently catch bass, I better be throwing soft plastics. I now fish soft plastics over 50% of the time, and probably should fish them more. A bass is a bass is a bass, may be true, but Florida strain bass love junebug worms. I still catch more of my bigger bass on hard baits, but numbers are far better on soft plastics, and there are days when no matter how hard I try, the only thing I can catch a bass on is a plastic worm. I will also say, that the Florida strain bass in the Mexican lakes I have fished, fight way harder than the ones I have caught in other places. I would compare their fighting ability to be equal to any small mouth bass I have caught. If the bass in the lakes I fish is over 5 pounds it is going to go airborne, more than once. One thing I know for certain is the Bait Monkey loves bass and bass fisherman equally, no matter where they live. North South or in-between that next bait a bass fisherman buys will be the magic one the bass can't resist.

I will have plenty of time to dead stick, after I am dead. While I am still alive, my bait is moving.

My worst day fishing is better than my best day doing anything else. If fishing is a waste of time, so is breathing.

My whole life has been one last cast.

It's weight called a bouncing Betty made by Luhr Jensen. It was made for steel head and salmon drift fishing. The idea was instead of using pencil weight or other lead sinkers, an angler could use this heavy rubber ball and hang up less. It never caught on because it didn't slow the bait down enough, and eliminated the feel most drift anglers were used to feeling. I think they may still make them.

I store most of my rigged soft plastics in trees on the bottom of the lake.

You are fishing with same friend I fish with.

I have no doubt I could land a 15 pound bass fishing out of my kayak. I also realize I could easily loose a 15 pound bass. One thing for sure is, if I loose a 15 pound bass it will be pushing 18 pounds by the time I get home. If you hook a 15 pound bass in Maine you better land it becasue no one will believe that big one that got away story.

Trolling , can be as boring or as exciting and challenging as you want to make it. It is a highly effective technique for all species, and can require as much knowledge, skill and attention to detail, as any other method of fishing. It can also be nothing more than dragging a lure behind your boat hoping for luck. I only troll for bass when moving from one spot to the next with my kayak, and I have landed some big bass in places I never expected.

I am lucky enough to fish places wear I rarely see anyone fishing. I did fish a lake where a couple anglers I met were upset I had found the lake. They asked me how I discovered their secret giant bass lake. I told them I had found the lake by watching their videos. The truth is I had heard about the lake from a friend, but I did discover one of their best fishing holes, by watching their videos. It was easy to see where they were catching the big bass off of an offshore hump, by looking at the back ground when they held their fish up to show off for the camera. They also show themselves driving through the local town, and launching their boat, so any one familiar with the area could find the lake. It only makes sense if they don't want anyone to fish their secret bass lake, maybe they shouldn't post videos of them fishing there all of the time.

Now you got the Bait Monkey going through all of my tackle, trying to invent new rigs. First thing he did was add another frog. If two work, why not three? After stopping at the maximum of a 5 frog combo, he started to draw up plans for two crankbaits, to spinnerbaits, two spooks, two jerk baits, double musky Jitterbugs for night, even two A rigs. If that weren't enough he really went crazy with combinations that only a mad man would think of. Spinnerbait bladed jig, Frog plastic worm, hard jerk bait soft jerk bait, crankbait lipless crankbait, and his favorite idea, a Huddleston soft swimbait with a Roman Mother glide bait. I reminded him what happened when my wife found out he was trying to buy more rods and reels. If he is going to try and invent new lure combinations, they have to weigh in under an oz so I can throw them on the gear I already have, and the lures have to be ones I already own. Even with these restrictions he is going to be a busy Monkey for a few days.

I have witnessed the phenomenon of bite windows my whole life. When I am driving to the lake, the bass are biting. When I get to the lake the bass stop biting. When I leave the bite starts back up. The old saying you should have been here yesterday, sums up my fishing in one sentence.

I do the same thing and not only with fishing. I used to duck and goose hunt with a friend, that always mentioned the fact he didn't think we needed to put out every decoy I owned. He was sure we could shoot just as many birds, with far less work deploying and retrieving more and more decoys every year. My answer to him was always the same. I play with all of my toys, or I don't play at all. I'm going to try all the lures in my box even if a friend is crushing them on one lure. I'm going to find another lure that works as well or better, or go home and buy more. If I only fished to catch fish, I would not be so stubborn, but I fish to have fun, and if having fun means I am never satisfied with what I am throwing, than that is the way I'm going to fish. While guiding I have to resist the urge to try something just for the sake of trying it. but for my personal fishing, I never regret experimenting.

On this particular day I tried the popper first. I got some medium size bass on it, so out of curiosity I tried some other topwater's, especially the spook because the bass wanted my popper walked like one. I didn't get any strikes so I switched back to a popper and caught a over 30 pound 5 fish bag. I do not fish any bait without any rhyme or reason sometimes to my detriment. I fish for fun, and solving the puzzle is more fun for me than catching bass. If I was a tournament fisherman, I would have to dial back the experimenting. I should have never tried the other topwater's that day. The popper was working, but curiosity and my inner need to experiment like usual, got the best of me. Rick Clunn won lots of money fishing a Pop R when others didn't even consider a topwater in play. If you don't like fishing poppers don't fish them, there are thousands of other baits to fish. I'm sure on most days you will out fish me, but if you want to catch a trophy bass on top in Mexico, bring a popper.

Strike King Rage Lobster, and Magnum Rage Bug, but I live south of the boarder and have been told my idea of small and subtle may be different than other anglers.

The best time is when big bass want a popper. I don't know why, but some days the popper is it. I didn't get a bite on a Whopper Plopper, or a spook then I tied on a Pop R. and my luck started to change.

All I can say, is if fish before the rain, I don't get wet, and after the rain, again I stay dry, but if I fish in the rain, I get wet. I prefer to be dry.

I fish my poppers three ways, and many times all three on the same cast. When I cast it towards a target such as a tree branch, I try and keep it in the strike zone as long as possible. The pops are subtle, and I quickly give slack after the pop in order to keep the bait from moving forward and away from the target. When fishing this way I go by the old advice given on the old Arbogast package, let the rings all disappear before moving the bait both after the cast and after a pop. My other favorite retrieve is to walk the popper just like I would a spook. I will walk the popper until I get next to a target, then briefly pause and continue to walk the bait all the way back to the boat. My third retrieve is a faster than the walking retrieve. I try and make the popper splash more than pop, and I don't give any slack after I jerk the rod. This makes the popper almost skitter across the surface. Quick short jerks all the way back to the boat. Many times I cast to a target and work the bait slowly in place, once I am a few feet past the target, I start waking the bait until I get about half way back to the boat, then I pick up the speed with a skittering retrieve. Of course if one retrieve starts to out perform the others, I will switch to fishing the productive one exclusively. I use mostly Pop R's in different sizes and models. I also use a Storm Cover Pop and a Chug bug. I have had both the Pop Max, and Yellow Magic poppers in my Cart on Tackle Warehouse more than once, but when check out time comes, I never pull the trigger. I catch plenty of bass on the cheaper poppers and am afraid if I catch a giant on an expensive one, I may end up with pricy lures of all types. An expensive popper will probably last a long time, but starting down the $15 a bait road, could mean disaster for a lure addict like me.

After you are done hunting ,drive south across the boarder with your kayak and fishing gear. Leave the finesse tackle at home and bring lots of extra line. Temps will not be below freezing and the bass will be hungry.

My color selection with soft plastics is minimal. For worms I use Green Pumpkin and Junebug. For creatures and craws I use the same two, plus Okeechobee craw, and Falcon Lake craw. I also use black and blue 7 inch Senkos, because I can't find 7 inch Junebug Senkos.

I can get skunked everywhere.

I own way to many crankbaits and keep buying more. Currently my most used ones are. Square bills. Academy Sports H20 6th Sense Crush 50, 100 Cloud Nine Mine Mag, and Cloud Nine Magnum Old Bagleys BB 2. ( my favorite, but I'm down to my last one) Mid depth. Bomber Model A 7 A Spro Rock crawler Rapala DT 10 6th Sense Cloud 9 C 10 Deep 6th Sense Cloud 9 C 15 Rapala DT 16 Strike King 6 XD I have almost every color ever made, but most of the time I use something with Chartreuse, or some type of shad color. For no logical reason, I have always preferred colors that have some purple in them. These are the baits I fish most of the time, but I still bring many more with me every time I go fishing. Some days when it is slow I simply stare in my many boxes until I find one that for no reason looks right. Many times it will be an old one that I haven't fished in years, and it usually will work. I don't care what brand model or color, some crankbaits are magic and some aren't. That is why I keep buying more.

If we didn't catch small bass, how would we know when we caught a big bass?