king fisher

Most things in my life are extremely low tech. I like manual car windows, bows with no wheels, and it was only two years ago I finally caved and gave up my flip phone. I have to ask my wife to come help with the tv remote so often there are days when I decide not to even try and watch tv. When I do interrupt her to come help she, will ask how many years is it going to take for me to learn how to use a simple remote. I always reply how I just cant' relate to modern technology and talk about how simple life used to be, until she tires of hearing the same old excuses, and grabs the remote, magically making the tv do what I wanted it to do. One day I was in the middle of the I'm to old to learn speech modern tech speech, and she asked me how come it only took me one fishing trip to dial in my new fish finder. She aske how come if the technology had anything to do with fishing, I would watch hundreds of videos, spend hours on fishing forums, memorize the manual, call any friends to get advice, and within a few short days become an expert. She went on to say if the TV remote could help catch me my PB bass, that I would not only be able to use it, but most likely would be able to build, program, and repair my own remote. I again politely aske if she could please come make the tv work, because I wanted to watch a video on FFS. I have as much fishing technology as I can afford. I don't own a boat, but my kayak is modern and well outfitted. I rate my Kayak an 8 it would be a ten if the fish finder was upgraded. My car is old, barely runs, the speedometer, and other standard instruments don't work and isn't worth as much as my crankbaits. The car does haul my kayak to the lake, so it does deserve a rating, I give it a one, if it also got me back without going to the shop, I would rate it a 2. My tackle is a mix of old and modern. I would rate the tackle at a 9 and it will be a 10 if the Bait Monkey ever wins and I buy some glide baits. My rods and reels are new technology but mid priced. I give my rods and reels over all a 7 but my zillion gets a 10. While cherishing the old ways, I always strive to have the newest technology available for my bass fishing. I will always have the best and newest bass technology I can afford. I hope to have a bass boat with FFS someday, but if all I can afford is a bicycle and a used Zebco 33 outfit with one old jitterbug than that is what I'm going to take to the lake every chance I get.

I had a giant bass eat a 12 inch bass I was fighting today. I didn't really loose the big bass because she never got hooked ( angler error), and I did land the 12 inch bass so no fish was really lost, but I got a good look at the giant bass, and all I can say is it hurts.

I finally caught a good one on Saturday. I was going to do some work this weekend, but my wife told me I should go fishing. I always try and do what I am told so I put the kayak on the car. I didn't plan on going until late Friday afternoon, so I wasn't gong to have time to go to a lake I wanted to try. So I went to my old favorite, which has let me down so far this year, but was worth giving one more try. I got to the lake early Saturday morning, and started fishing at first light. The water temp was 74, wind calm, and water clarity was around 2 foot. The water was at a perfect level, and any other year I would have had greet confidence. There were two other anglers in a small boat, that went to the other end of the lake. I was glad they passed the best fishing spots for this water level. They must have been there before, when the water is up, and the far end of the lake is a flooded pasture. I new they wouldn't be at the far end of the lake for long, so I was in a hurry to try most of the visible cover before they came back to the deep end of the lake. After a couple hours I had caught a few one pound bass but hadn't had a decent bite. The other anglers came by and reported they were skunked. At 10:00 AM the afternoon winds came early. By 11:00 the other anglers had left, and I was really wondering why I was still there. The wind was blowing 20 MPH. and I hadn't landed a bass over 1.5 pounds. I was working hard to get even one good cast into one of the offshore trees, before loosing control of my kayak and having to reposition. The bass wouldn't hit my moving baits which was odd for this much wind, so I had to try and fish soft plastics. I ended up catching a 4 pound bass on a Skinny Dipper so the day wasn't going to be a complete disaster. By 6:00 PM I was tired and thinking about calling it a day. The wind was blowing to hard to set up my tent, and I was even contemplating cutting the trip short and going home. I decided to stay and fish hard until dark, after all that is what I came there to do. I peddled over to the tree I had caught the 4 pound bass from and made a cast with a T rigged June Bug Ole Monster I had just put on. First cast I hooked the 8.1 pound bass in the picture. I landed a couple other 2 pound bass on the Ole Monster, then fished a rock bank with a square bill until dark, landing a bass around 3 pounds. I am so glad I didn't give up. Sometimes all it takes is perseverance to catch bass. That and a lot of luck is what I count on most of the time. The wind died about 10:00 PM and I was able to set up my camp. The next morning I started off with the Ole Monster, and landed a 5 pound bass along with a few small 1 pounders and hooked a big bass I wasn't able to get a look at. The wind started early again on Sunday. This time of year has the strongest winds, but I have never seen it start blowing before noon. I had to leave for home around 12:00 so I was in a hurry to fish everything I had planned on casting to. I ended up at my favorite tree from past years, that so far this year hadn't produced, but it is hard not to fish history. After a few minuets of hard peddling I had the kayak positioned to make a perfect cast. A small bass bit the tale off the Ole Monster so I got blown way out of position while I put another one on. The next cast I hooked what I assumed was the same small bass. When I had the bass close to the boat I saw a flash out of the depths, that looked like a good size bass trying to grab the worm. I got the small bass a few feet closer to the kayak when a giant bass came up and completely engulfed my small bass. I instantly put the reel in free spool and watched the line go away from the tree. With as much experience I have fishing in saltwater I would have thought I would stay calm and not make any mistakes. I didn't, I got excited and made a rooky mistake. When the line stopped going out, I should have waited until it started running off again before doing anything, but I just had to feel if the bass was on the line. I lightly thumbed the spool, and felt the heavy weight of the giant. I clicked the reel in gear and was going to set the hook when suddenly the heavy weight was gone. The big bass had let go, and I had ruined my chance at a fish of a lifetime. I reeled the small bass back to the kayak, and when it was a few feet away the giant came and swiped at the bass. Of course I frees pooled the small bass again, but the big one was just showing off, and wasn't about to get fooled again. All the mistakes I made were ones I never would have done saltwater fishing, but seeing a bass that size made me panic causing me to completely choke, and loose the opportunity of a lifetime. I don't know how big the bass was, but the small bass was 12 1/4 inches and completely disappeared when the big bass hit it. I had to leave early so I decided to make cast at a tree near the launch. I hooked and landed a five pound bass, and of course I turned on more last cast into 20, but finally had to call it quits and go home. I am glad to see my favorite lake still has at least one giant that will keep me going back. Maybe with more perseverance and some more luck, I will catch one. The lake is not anything like it was, but that only means I will have to work harder. For now I will have to be happy with an 8 pounder, and a good one that got away story.

Doesn’t matter to me. I’m going to add weight the same either way.

I hate to admit it, but if I am going to be totally honest, the biggest reason I don't keep any bass is I am to lazy. It takes far less effort to simply let them go, than it does, to keep them in good condition, clean them, and cook them.

Only in Mexico is a 7 inch Senko finesse.

I will buy the bait, when do we go?

I fish almost every lure ever made, and don't have the success you described. I think you have already found the lure you are looking for. I am not saying don't try other lures, because buying and trying new tackle is a big part of bass fishing, but as far as catching fish goes, if it aint broke don't fix it.

Does this pond manager need a new best friend? Could you be more specific on the location of this pond? Some where in W. TN is almost as difficult to find as Lake Menderchuck. Will the bass hit spinnerbaits in this pond?

I like to fish in areas with very little wind, but I catch my bass where the wind is blowing. I have to decide if I want to fish to fish, or fish to catch fish. Sometimes I can have the best of both worlds fishing a point where the wind blows strongly across the point. I can tuck in the lee side of the point in the calm area, and cast to the end of the point where the waves are crashing. The bass will at times be in the same location ambushing bait that gets blown around the point. Many times I am forced to fish right out in the worst of the wind in order to get bit. It is impossible to position my kayak, I can't anchor, I back lash my reels, and do a lot of swearing, but when a giant bass hammers my spinnerbait, I forget all about the wind. Just remember the bass like the wind even if you don't.

This happens to me every year. The water level in the lakes I fish drop continuously from Nov. until June. By the time the rain comes in mid June the water level can be down from 50 feet to 100 feet depending on the lake. When the rain comes the lakes get to full pool in just a couple of weeks. I have always wanted to fish the lakes when the water is first coming up, but due to work schedule have never got the chance. I'm sure the bass fishing would be excellent where the dirty incoming water meats the clear lake water far up the canyons. I do get a chance to fish the lakes after they have flooded. I basically I tie a black buzz bait on and fish the flooded shoreline from July until October. I concentrate on places where water flows in, and areas with flooded grass. I have heard that surface baits don't work well in muddy water, but a buzz bait fished over a flooded cow pasture with 6 inches of visibility works well in Mexico. I will flip willow bushes with a 7 inch senko, or punch rig, but only after I run the buzz bait in and around the bush first. When the rain stops, and the water finally starts to clear I can have some of the best fishing of the year. The buzz bait still gets a lot of playing time, but a rattle trap gets put into the starting line up, along with a spinnerbait, T rig, and giant square bill. I recommend giving a Buzz bait a try. It wont take long to find out if they want it, and if they do you could have one of those days you wont forget.

What color of Trick worm, what hook, how fast of retrieve, and how did it fight.

This weekend I fished at a lake where last year on the same weekend I caught a 42 pound bag of 5. This trip I didn't catch a bass over 3 pounds. Last year by this time I had 3 DD. This year I haven't landed a bass over 5 pounds. The lake was the same water level as last year (down 20 feet from when I was last there in March), and the weather was the same, the big difference was the water clarity was 12-15 feet where as last year it was 6-8 feet. Not only didn't I have any tackle I would call finesse, I wouldn't know how to use it if I had any. I was able to catch many small bass on 5 inch senkos, and trick worms T rigged along with an assortment of crankbaits, but I didn't drive 5 hours to catch one pound bass. I could see bigger bass cruising the shoreline sometimes as shallow as 2 feet. Bait size Tilapia were in 6 inches of water everywhere along the shore, large schools of 6 -10 inch bass were in two feet of water, just outside the Tilapia and 2 - 3 inch bass fry were everywhere. Around every tree there were thousands of small bait a mix of bass bluegill, and tilapia. Last year the top water bite was on fire, but not one strike on top this year. I tried finding bass in deeper water offshore but had zero luck. The bigger bass seem to cruise the color line along shore popping up into shallow water when they want to grab something to eat then slowly going back down into the darker depths. I did see a 7 pound or better bass cruise along the shore in 2 feet of water for many yards, not even noticing that I was following along with my Kayak. I thought the bite would turn on when the afternoon winds picked up, but even with a strong wind the bigger bass wouldn't bite anything I had. I wanted to fish a floating Rapala and twitch it on the surface, my only idea of a quite approach. The problem was I couldn't make long casts with the light lure, and I assumed the fish were too spooky in the windless mornings for short casts, and I couldn't' throw the light lure on my tackle at all in the windy afternoons. I did make a drop shot rig with 15 pound floro, and a medium bait casting rod, but still only caught small bass. Then I thought about how many people fish jerk baits in clear water. I did have an old Rogue and a H20 jerkbait that I keep in my box for some unknown reason. The jerkbaits worked even though I have never fished them. I just fished them the way I see people on U Tube do it, but faster with short pauses. The size of the bass went up from 1 pound to 2-3 pounds, and I did hook a 8 pound plus bass that jumped once and got away. I guess that is why most people change out the hooks on their jerkbaits. After 2.5 days of hard fishing, I had to go home. I didn't land any big bass, but I did learn a new technique, and had a fun weekend fishing. The slow fishing this year has made me realize just how lucky I have been in the past few years. Even though I fish where the big ones live, if I count on luck to catch them, I will have some days when the luck is on the side of the bass. Of course the Monkey has been looking at new spinning gear along with all sorts of finesse tackle. I tried to tell him the rainy season is only a few weeks away, and the water visibility will be under a foot before I get a chance to go bass fishing again. He wants to buy the light tackle for next year, so I hope I can put him off at least until Christmas. Besides I really need to improve my bass fishing skills, not simply do what I always do and buy more tackle, when I have slow days. I'm sure a pro fisherman could have caught many big bass with the gear I had. It is very frustrating to actually see trophy bass that wont bite. I would appreciate any advice on fishing clear water. The lake is a highland reservoir with steep banks, lots of trees, and water temps, from 74-79 degrees.

Inline spinner. Works every where I go, for every species of fish.

Beetle spin

I used Ambassador's for 40 years. I started with bass size reels in the 70's, then for 30 years I would wear out one or two 6500 C 3 models every summer fishing for Salmon in Alaska. When I moved from Alaska I used a 5500 for most of my fishing. 4 years ago I decided to try a smaller modern reel. Members here recommended I try a Tatula CT which was priced $100 at the time. I hadn't owned a Diawa reel since 1976. I had a cheap Diawa spinning reel back then. The line wore a groove in the bail of the reel, and I constantly lost fish due to frayed line caused by this groove. I was just a kid and didn't have the money to buy more line all of the time and parts for the reel were not available to me. After loosing a big bass I still have nightmares about, I saved up money for my first baitcaster. Since many members here recommended the Diawa CT I thought maybe 40 some years was enough time gone by to give a Diawa another try. The CT was so much better than any baitcaster I had fished before, I couldn't imagine a reel could get any better. Then last year I bought a new Zillion from Japan. I am now a broken man. The Bait Monkey has won. I will never by a budget reel again. So the simple answer to your question is, no I don't prefer older reels. I am sure that the top of the line Shimano, and Lews are as good as the Diawa, I just haven't had the opportunity to try them. Even the less expensive modern reels I have tried are far superior to any older reels I have used. Maybe there hasn't been much advancement in quality in the past 15 years, but there sure has been a big improvement in the past 45 years.

7 foot six inch medium heavy fast Diawa Ardito travel rod, Diawa Zillion 7.3-1 reel, 150, 16 pound Sunline Sniper line. 7 foot medium fast Diawa Ardito travel rod Diawa Diawa Tatula CT 7.3 -1 reel, 12 pound Sunline Sniper line. 7 foot six inch fast Diawa Tatula heavy, Diawa Tatula 150 7.3-1 reel 30 pound J 8 braid line. Rods choices are firm, line choices not so much. I change my mind on line type and size often. I would not have a problem with changing to braid to leader on the Zillion and changing to 12 pound mono on the Tatula CT and the heavy could get 40 or 50 pound braid. As far as reels go in a perfect world I would change the Tatula CT to a Zillion but currently get by fine with the CT.

Blurp Blurp Blurp greatest sound in bass fishing.

I have tried most of their crankbaits, and haven't found one I didn't like. I prefer their 1.5 size square bills over all other brands in the 1.5 size. They make a small 1/4 oz medium diver called a Model M that is an absolute killer crankbait on light tackle. I have landed many bass, plus brown and rainbow trout on them. I even have them in my box in Mexico. Every once in awhile the bass down here want a smaller crankbait, and I have used them to not only kick the skunk out, but have landed some nice size bass as well. I have a friend that lives on Lake Chapala, and the Model M is his favorite crankbait. Because they are impossible to find in Mexico, he was willing to trade me Model M's for Jack hammers. I like to think I didn't feel right trading baits I payed 2:99 for $15.00 baits, so I didn't make the deal, but truth be told I catch more fish on the cheap H2O crankbait than I do on Jack Hammers and I didn't want to give up my Model M's.

You just ruined my morning. The Bait Monkey got up early, read this post, drank three cups of coffee, and is currently making my life miserable. In order to calm the hyped up monkey, I Googled DS customs. As I anticipated, the website had many pictures of big fish caught on awesome looking lures, that I can't afford. The price tag did not discourage the Monkey and he is about to loose another epic battle with my wife. I would like to thank you for adding excitement to what would have been a boring Wednesday.

I fished 45 years without any electronics. I would troll, use an anchor, even go swimming to determine depth. I had to triangulate with objects on the shoreline in order to try and find places I previously caught bass. I was successful, and always had a good time fishing, but I always wanted to be able to be able to have modern electronics, but I was never able to purchase even a basic unit. I used electronics for my job saltwater fishing, but I wasn't the one paying for the technology. When I bought my kayak, I fished for a year before finally purchasing my first electronics. Now I have a simple Garmin unit with 2D, clearview, and the ability to make my own maps of the waters I fish. I can still troll deep diving lures in order to determine depth, use markers to line up my casts, and put depth marks on my anchor rope. Do I want to return to those methods? Absolutely not. I would rather be restricted to fish with one rod and small box of lures, rather than forced to give up my fish finder. I only have a kayak for a boat, and fish the shoreline much of the time, but I would spend money upgrading my electronics before I would upgrade to a better kayak, or a boat.

It may look like East TN, but the bass in this lake crush spinnerbaits.

The Bait Monkey. Even if I caught the world record bass on a lure I have dozens of, he would tell me I need to buy that lure in a different color if I want to catch a bass. No matter how many baits I own, or how many bass I catch, the Monkey is never satisfied.

I know the OP asked for advise on Florida and South Carolina, I hope no one cares if I throw out an off the wall suggestion. Tapalpa Jalisco Mexico is a Small town in the mountains south of Guadalajara. Excellent weather every month of the year. Average temperature in the summer is around 70 degrees F. and in the winter is closer to 60. There are big bass in the lake next to town, along with planted rainbow trout(one of the few places in the whole country with trout). Numerous other lakes with giant bass are within a 2 hour drive. Chapala an hour away, is the largest and most well known lake with excellent bass fishing, but there are other smaller less talked about lakes that due to selfish reasons I will not mention the names of. Traditionally a vacation town for wealthy citizens of Guadalajara to escape the summer heat. There is currently a growing retirement community of US and Canadian citizens. Guadalajara international airport is less than a two hour drive away, as well as stores like Cosco, and Walmart, that people from the US are accustomed too. Property while not cheap is far less expensive than Florida, and insurance on a house will cost less for a whole year than you would pay for insurance in any State in the US for a month. Quality inexpensive health care is available, and many health care facilities will accept US health care insurance policies. The town is also one of the most popular hang gliding and paragliding destinations in the world. Every winter people from all over the world, come there to enjoy the perfect gliding conditions. Tandom flights are available with highly qualified pilots for those bass anglers, or family members that want to have some added excitement. As far as crime related to drug cartels, unless as a person plans on buying, using, or selling drugs, they are as safe as anywhere in Florida or South Carolina. Just like anywhere, if you go looking for trouble you can find it. Your US drivers license is accepted in all of Mexico for driving, and car insurance will cost around $200 to $400 a year depending on your policy. Many days you will be the only bass angler on a lake, more than 4 other boats would be considered crowded. Jet skis and pleasure craft are popular on both Mexican coasts, but are rare on inland lakes. Moving to Mexico sounds sounds crazy to most people, but more and more people from the US and Canada move to Mexican towns every year, and most of them don't even fish for bass, they just come for the weather, and a quite stress free lifestyle. If they do fish, they travel to the ocean, and leave all those big bass for the dedicated bass anglers.