king fisher

Before you buy anything, I recommend you give a peddle kayak a try. When I was a kid i had an aluminum canoe. It was such a pain to fish for bass out of I usually only used it to get from one shore to another, where I would get out and fish from shore. The wind would blow, and I would be trying to fish rip rap banks. I would end up mostly paddling making very few casts. When a friend would fish with me, we would take turns one person paddling the other person fishing. Most of the time we would get frustrated and drift the lake for crappie, or fish from shore for bass. When I was older I fished out of many different power boats. I floated rivers in rafts, that I controlled by oars, and would refuse to take customers in rafts without rowing frames that were made to paddle. I swore I would never use a paddle on any type of boat ever. I would use oars to position john boats in rivers for fly fisherman, but my single paddle days were in my past along with my old canoe. When I moved to Mexico, I wanted to buy a small boat to bass fish in, but couldn't find one I could afford. Many people recommended I buy a kayak, and being's as I had swore off any boat that required a paddle I didn't even entertain the idea of a fishing kayak. Then a person that had a sailboat docked near the boat I captained offered to let me try his Hobie peddle kayak. A week later I owned a Hobie Outback, and I have neve looked back. I don't even want a boat, or even an electric motor. I cover all the water I want to by peddling, and have zero problems efficiently fishing a shoreline, or offshore waypoint positioning the boat forward or back, all the while having my hands free to cast, hook and land fish. I can troll all day in the ocean at 2.5 to 3 miles an hour without getting fatigued, and beach the boat in fairly large surf without damage to my gear. Strong winds will make fishing more difficult, but nothing like the way wind blows a canoe around. I fish in 20 knot winds often on small lakes, and while not easy, it can be done. My kayak is light enough to easily load on top of my car by myself, but I wouldn't want to have to portage it very far. Peddle fishing kayaks are not for everyone, but comparing a quality peddle kayak to a canoe or even a paddle kayak is like comparing a tricycle to a mountain bike. A peddle kayak may not end up being what you are looking for, but at least give one a try.

Bait Monkey's recommendation.

Me, if I gave away all the baits I can't catch bass on.

Any man that can cast the same lure 10,000 times and not loose it should be worshiped, not feared.

I agree, I own a Zillion, but my friend always likes to get something a little different than every one else, as long as he can think it is better than what everyone else has. I don't know anything about Bates reels but they seem to be something he might like if all the hype is true.

Anybody here have experience with Bates Reels? They are way out of my price range, but I have a friend coming to visit, and I would like to sic the Bait Monkey on him. I know he needs a new reel, and he always likes to buy the best of everything. What do you think? Are they as good as top of the line Shimano, Diawa, or Lews?

I see you are from WA State. I know it can be tough to find bass specific equipment in the Northwest. While rods designed for steelhead and salmon do not work well for most bass fishing techniques, deep cranking is the one exception. Lamilglass makes many high quality rods that are marketed for steelhead, that are perfect rods for deep cranking. You probably will be able to find a great deep crank rod that you can hold before you purchase if you don't mind a two piece rod marketed for steelhead and salmon anglers. The best deep crank rod I ever owned was a 8.5 foot salmon rod.

I stopped at my local tackle shop today and showed unbelievable, super hero, power of restraint. Take that Monkey.

No because as soon as I change to what is working, the bite on that bait will shut down. I would not want to ruin my friends fishing, even though I no he will brag about the day his favorite lure out fished my whole tackle box for many years to come. I will just smile knowing I did the right thing. If the situation is reversed, I will cut my lure off and give it to him to use. I know if it can work for me, it is a special day with a very special lure and will work even better for a fellow angler.

Heddon- Torpedo, Crazy Crawler, Zarra spook, dying flutter Rebel - Minnow, Spoon bill minnow, Pop R, Jumpin Minnow, Deep WeeR Fred Arbogast - Hulla Popper, Jiterbug, Mud bug Bomber - Long A, Model A 7A, 6A, 5A, Fat Free Shad Norman - Deep Little N, DD 22, Fat boy Cotton Cordel - Spot, Red fin, Big O Bill Lewis- Rattle Trap H&H spinnerbait Mans- 1 minus, Jelly worm, Little George, Deep 20 30 Mister twister- Phenom worm Creme - Scoundrel Here are a few I have or have had. I'm sure there are many more great old baits that still work today.

I have all of my hard baits and terminal tackle are in 3700 boxes that fit in a small milk crate. My soft plastics are in a soft tackle bag. It all fists well in my kayak, and when I go in a boat I bring the same milk crate and bag. I bring way to much tackle regardless if I am fishing from a kayak or a boat.

It depends on how limited you are on the selection of your three baits. If you only fish one frog, one jig, and one T rig plastic than you may need to expand your arsenal. If you fish many different types, sizes, and colors of Jigs and Trigs, plus throw in a frog for top water action, than you have more than enough diversity to catch bass anywhere any time. Just T rigs alone can be fished top to bottom slow to fast, finesse, or power, in every type of structure or cover. While not quite as versatile as T rigs, jigs come in a close second to the number of options and the ways they can be fished. I fished bass for many years and didn't fish any of the baits you use, and I did well in my specific location but would be limited in most waters bass swim in. Where I fish now, I could easily get by on only T rigs, but I'm not going to give up my crankbaits, spinnerbaits, or my good friend the Bait Monkey, so that is not going to happen.

I would start with something Chartreuse, if that doesn't work throw something in a shad pattern, if that doesn't work try a different bait. Crankbaits are one of my favorite baits to fish, and I use them every time I go bass fishing. That said, if they are going to bite a crankbait it doesn't take long to find out. If they don't bite right away I try some other type of lure. If I get a few bites but I am not satisfied with the numbers or size of the bass, and the conditions look good for crankbaits, I will try switching size, make, and color in that order to see if I can find a crankbait that works best. In the past I have stuck with crankbaits for far to long trying to find the magic one. I am a more diverse angle now, and have learned to let the bass tell me what they want instead of me trying to force them to want crankbaits when they are not in the mood.

I fish my tried and true baits, but I buy everything the Monkey tells me to.

Don't feel bad, I once got out fished by a kid using a soda bottle for a rod and reel, with a lure carved out of a toothbrush. Fishing a floating Rapala, or a #3 inline spinner on a light spinning rod, are my go to finesse skunk buster tactics. There is a reason every tackle store in the world sells floating Rapala's.

If anyone is willing do this, I have work to do on all of the above. Don't worry about bringing any tools, I will supply all the tools you will need.

Some one once told me, it's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog. Same goes for bass.

I will bring a helicopter lure, because I plan on borrowing what ever is working from you.

I sleep at night, work, fish, and eat during the day. I expect the bass I fish for, to have the decency to do the same.

There are many bass fishing lures and techniques that can work well with medium power rods, but I believe most jerkbaits fish best on medium power rods.

I can cast a bait caster one yard less than I want to, and 10 yards more than I need to.

I cast all rods with my right hand. I reel spinning rods with my left hand and bait casters with my right hand. The reason is, when I started fishing spinning reels were left hand retrieve, and bait casters were right hand retrieve. I should learn to reel a bait caster with my left hand, it only makes sense to do it that way, but I'm getting to be an old dog and new tricks are hard to learn. I did start reeling a spinning reel upside down and backwards with my right hand but forced myself to change after much ridicule from my friends. I was young then, learning new tricks was easy and peer pressure was a bigger factor. By the time I started fly fishing most reels were made to operate with either hand, and because they are mounted on the bottom of the rod it felt natural to reel with my left hand.

The Engagement Ring Monkey is a distant cousin to the Bait Monkey and can definitely drain your bank account. The good thing about him is he hits you hard once, then disappears to greener pastures while making both you and your significant other happy. The Bait Monkey will be there every day of your life. In a very short time He can undo all the good karma you gained by working with the Ring Monkey and not just drain your bank account, but leave you divorced and bankrupt. Good news is you will still have a nice reel.

JDM Zillion done. Has your fiancé met the Bait Monkey Yet? Might be a good time to make the introduction.

Lund's are worth the extra cost, but having a dealer you trust close to where you live is as important as the brand of boat. There are many excellent aluminum boat manufactures, but not so many excellent dealers.