king fisher

I find most of the time, when I move, I should have stayed, and when I stay I should have moved.

A few miles south of Lake Menderchuck.

When it come to crankbaits, I have every color imaginable, but I don't really need any exact colors. I could easily get by with a color with Chartreuse, one with Red- Orange, one with purple, one with brown, and something with green, or common pattern names of craw pattern, a shad pattern,( resembles multiple baitfish besides shad) a bluegill pattern, and chartreuse with black back.

The You Tube videos I watch of bass in Mexico, only show giant bass being caught every cast on whatever lure the video makers are promoting. They don't show all the work the guides do to keep up with the bass day to day. They don't show how slow the fishing can be, and how at lunch time the guides all get together and exchange information in order to put the clients on to fish. Seasonal patterns in Mexico are hard to figure out mainly because the typical temperature related life cycle is off. Water levels, commercial fishing pressure and spawn cycles of Tilapia have more to do with where the bass will be than temperature or time of year. All the videos made here only show the fantastic numbers and size of bass, but don't go in to any detail, on where the bass are or why they are there. It is frustrating to get skunked in bass fishing paradise, but it does happen. Bass will always be around their prey, and some place safe from predator's, but that can be almost anywhere. Time on the water, and being observant is the two biggest factors to success. I try an be as observant as possible, but time on the water is very limited. Making a video while fishing with a guide does not in any way paint an accurate picture of what bass fishing here is really like. Yes the bass are big and plentiful, but they are also unpredictable and as frustrating as any bass in the States. I love watching bass fishing videos almost as much as the Bait Monkey does, and I am always trying to apply what I see on the videos to my fishing, but at the end of the day. I have to use the information that is right in front of my face on the water. Also there should be a law against showing giant bass being caught on lures that cost more than $10, on videos made available to the public. Videos showing bass being caught on Glide Baits should have to include a disclaimer informing the person watching the video, that glide baits are addictive, expensive and can be harmful to your financial stability, and or marriage.

I got a tip about a small lake with giant bass from the owner of a local tackle shop. His wife had caught a bass that looked to be well over 10 pounds. They mostly fish for saltwater fish, and I don't think he realize what a special fish a 10 pound bass is. His directions on how to get to the lake were difficult to follow, but after half a day of driving I managed to find the lake. The first three times I fished the lake I only caught a few 2 pound bass, along with many 1/2 pounders. On my third trip to the lake the water level had gone down exposing the tops of a couple trees that were in deeper water. I ran a spinnerbait through one of the trees and hooked a big bass, but unfortunately it broke me off on a branch. My next trip to the lake was in early June three weeks later, and by then the water had dropped exposing many more trees. At the time I didn't have a fish finder in my kayak, so I had to guess the depth. I decided I wasn't going to fish the shoreline at all because I had only caught small bass there, and was determined not to get tempted in to chasing the dinks on the bank. At first light I went to the tree where I lost the big bass the previous trip, and made my first cast with a Rebel Jumpin Minnow. I started walking the bait back, and what I thought was a small bass swiped at the bait. I paused the bait to see if it would bite again, and the bait just disappeared. I new I was hooked to a large bass, but was not to concerned. Once I got the bass alongside my kayak, and couldn't believe how big it looked. I had to wait until she was fought out before I attempted to lip land her because of the way the lure was positioned in her mouth. I brought her in the kayak, and realized I had left my camera in my car. I didn't have a scale or a tape measure, so I cut a piece of my anchor line, to measure the the length. Took the lure out of the giants mouth, held it up for one more look, put her in the water and watched her swim away. I had never held a bass over 5.5 pounds, and even though I thought this one had to be a double digit, I assumed It had to be around 8 pounds. I couldn't believe catching a 10 pound bass could be so easy. The hooks on the lure were rusted junk, and the fight was short with zero difficulties. I fished that tree for another 30 minuets before giving up and peddling over to another tree. The first cast at the new tree with a spinnerbait was an exact repeat of the first cast of the morning. A giant bass hit midway through the retrieve and although it gave me a better fight was soon motionless alongside my kayak. I decided I had to have a picture, so I made a stringer, and slowly peddled back to the launch to get my camera. I was careful to go slow and made sure the bass was healthy by the time I got to the launch. I anchored the kayak in two feet of water, with the bass on the stinger. While I was getting the camera another car pulled in to the launch. I was a little nervous because there were no fishing signs all over the lake, and I hadn't seen any one sport fishing there in my previous trips. I was lucky the man in the car spoke broken English, was very nice and took a few pictures of me with my bass. The bass is the one in my avatar, and may be my PB but I do feel the first bass I caught was bigger, of course I will never know the weight of either bass. When I put the bass back in the water and was preparing to release her, I looked at the man and thought he was going to have a heart attack. Not wanting to upset him I asked if he wanted the bass. He gladly excepted the gift, and said it would feed his whole family. Later I learned he was the manager of the lake, and controls who can fish there. He hates bass, because they eat Tilapia, and if had released the bass I might have been asked to leave and not allowed come back. It was painful to keep such a magnificent fish, but when in Rome. After taking pictures and giving the fish away, I went back out to a third tree. On the first cast with a squarebill, I hooked another bass the same size as the two previous catches. This one acted like most big bass, and fought like a angry grisly. It jumped twice, wrapped my line around a tree limb, and swam off with my crankbait. Fishing was slow the remainder of the day. I landed a few small bass, but when the prevailing afternoon wind picked up I decided to go home. When I got home first thing I did was measure the piece of anchor line I had used to measure the first bass. The line measured 25 3/4 inches. I looked online to find a chart for length and weight of bass. When I saw that a bass that size could be anywhere from 9 to 12 pounds I realized my 8 pound estimate was way off. I decided I would call it 10 pounds , and even though I did hold the bass out toward the camera, everyone that looks at the pictures agrees it would be at least 10 pounds. My PB at the time was 5.5 pounds, and I had tried for over 40 years to get a 6 pound bass. I never dreamed I would catch two 10 pound bass, and loose another one in the same day. Here is a picture of the second bass, and man I gave it too. The picture in my avatar is of me and the same bass. I have had many great days fishing, but don't think I will ever top this day, and now I always have a scale, measuring tape, and camera with me whenever I go bass fishing. Since then I have had many good days at this lake, and caught bass I weighed that may have been bigger, but I have never had a morning like that one and probably wont ever again, but every time I go fishing I think of that day, and hope to have even better success.

After reading the responses here, I was surprised at how much faster I fish my poppers than most members here. I don't have any Pop Max, poppers so I can't comment on retrieves for them specifically. If I spent that much money on a popper, I would expect the bait to work with any type of retrieve. Most of the time I either walk my poppers like a spook, or fish them fast and aggressive, almost skipping them on back to the boat. I do cast them to specific targets, where I let them sit until the water settles then give a small twitch, then pause keeping the bait next to my target as long as possible. If I don't get a strike I work it fast back to the boat. When I was a kid I fished a Hula Popper often, and would work it painfully slow, but after switching to a Pop R I started fishing a popper much faster.

I bought one, and tried it once. It casts well, walks easily, can be fished in place with a loud pop, or skittered back quickly. I didn't catch any fish on it, but I didn't catch any fish on top that day with any of my other baits. I am hoping to give it a big work out next week.

Start with 12 Big Game. It will work well with many techniques. After awhile you may want to experiment with other lines, for specific applications.

They do help, but don't expect superman x ray vision from them.

My excellent crew does most of the work. I didn't gaff a fish, or tie a knot the whole trip. I did get up at 3:00 Am to catch squid while every one else got some sleep.

Bite them. If you loose a tooth it is tungsten, if you develop lead poisoning they are lead.

I once went trout fishing at a lake I had had good luck at the year before. I fished hard all day without a single bite. After I got home I found out the lake had been treated with a Rotenone, a chemical that takes the oxygen out of the water in order to kill off trash fish that have been introduced by bucket biologists. A few days later they planted thousands of trout in the lake. I fished all day on a lake that had all the fish removed a few days before. Not one of the fishing days I like to brag about.

If I could only have one lure it would be an inline spinner. I would prefer to have many different sizes, blade types, and colors, but if I could only have one, it would be a Blue Fox Vibrax #3 silver blade, blue body, single hook. I am confident I could catch fish anywhere in the world with this bait. Last year it killed a skunk for me with a 5.5 pound bass.

I once forgot to cancel a flight plan with the FAA. After that every time I filed a flight plan I turned my watch upside down. This worked so well I started turning my watch upside down for many things I didn't want to forget. As I age, my watch is upside down so often I can't even tell the time if it is right side up. I now have to make a list of the things I have the watch turned for, so I don't forget what I'm trying to remember. Maybe a note that say's turn brain on will work. Sometimes I wonder if my whole life isn't a country music song, and all I can do is enjoy the music.

spinner bait -- Single Colorado black and chartreuse. Jerk Bait.-- Original Rapala floating minnow. Lipless.-- 1/2 oz Bill Lewis Rattle Trap Bladed jig-- none. Jig-- 1/2 oz Arkie head, black blue skirt, spicy beaver trailer, hematoma. Square Bill-- Older Bagleys Balsa B. I don't know the name of the color, but is brown and yellow. I can't imagine a world with just one square bill so I added, 6th Sense Cloud Nine Mini Mag. chart. black back. Soft body swimbait.-- Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper Hard body swimbait.-- I am to cheap to go down that road. Crankbait. I tried to think of just one, but wore my brain out trying to narrow it down under 100 so I am going to have to invoke my right to silence.

We went fishing for 3.5 days out of Puerto Vallarta. First day was slow with one 50 pound tuna. I decided to drift 25 miles off shore for the night rather than go to an anchorage. The plan was to catch squid at night an try them for bait the next day. The plan worked to perfection. The seas were calm and the squid came to the lights. We were able to put 30 squid in the live well, and were back on the fishing grounds at daylight. First drift we landed the 3 tuna in the picture. By the end of the day we had landed 9 tuna between 80 and 130 pounds. The next night I couldn't find any squid, and we had to fish frozen ones the next day. We only landed one 100 pound tuna, one dorado, and a big snapper. The third night I found squid again, and the tuna liked the fresh squid. We were able to land 4 120 pound tuna before leaving for home. Great trip with lots of fish, but very little sleep. All the tuna were caught on squid suspended on the surface below helium balloons.

I am sure there are old guy's out there with live bait, and FFS who are crushing them. You don't hear about them, because they keep their mouths shut, and shun social media.

1/4 OZ. If that doesn't work, I will fish with something else.

Like I said, I am a pro, and I am at the top of my game.

Finally a topic that I excel at. When it comes to catching bass, I am just an average angler. When it comes to backlashing reels, I am a real pro. I have backlashed so bad, I lost a rod and reel over board.

I don't buy Megabass for the same reason I don't take recreational drugs. I don't want to be living on the street begging for money.

I am so accurate at estimating the weight of my bass, that I don't even use a scale anymore. When I did use a scale it was amazing to me how often a scale will be off. The strange thing is I have owned a dozen scales over the years, and they all weighed my fish lighter than the true weight. I have never owned a scale that weighs heavy, but if I ever find one, I may start using a scale again. All the You Tube videos I have seen the scales are way off on the high side. I wonder where they buy their scales.

If it aint broke don't fix it. It has taken me years, and cost me thousands of dollars to learn this simple lesson.

Is it possible you can make your argument for or against FFS without attacking someone personally. Maybe like saying Hank Parker has been out of the game for awhile, and I feel his opinion may be out dated. This would have made your point without insulting anyone. I am getting older, and don't mind someone telling me they feel my opinion is outdated, but I would take offense to being called a has been. There appears to be a trend in our society for people to personally insult, or give a derogatory nick name to any one they don't agree with. I don't know when this trend started, but I do wish it would stop.

I doubt the bass care, but I prefer my lures have some purple in them.