king fisher

A spinning rod, 8 pound mono, and a Rebel Deep Wee R crankbait is all I needed to catch bass when I was young. If it weren't for the Bait Monkey on my back, that is all I would need now.

Would a picture of a spinnerbait help?

The Bait Monkey, because he tricked me in to drinking the cool aid many years ago when I was young and didn't know any better.

I use Tim's loose your shirt insurance. 100% guarantee zero reimbursement if insured items are lost or stolen. No premiums, or money down. I loose all my tackle, one lure at a time, I wonder if I could get snag insurance.

Bass are not like bees, or ants working together as a group, all doing the same thing at once. Not all bass will be doing the same thing at the same time. Same thing can be said about people. We are all individuals, but certain reactions to our environment and our communal habits can have a large portion of people doing relatively the same thing at the same time. If I were going to try and sell beer on a Sunday in November, I would try and find as many people in one place as possible to sell my beer. Two places that are popular on Sunday are church in the morning, and Football stadiums in the afternoon. If I want to be successful I will have to find out which stadiums have games that day. I wouldn't sell many bottles of beer if I went to a stadium with no game that day. Just like trying to find bass chasing spawning shad on a lake with not shad. Football stadiums would be an easy place to sell beer. Kind of like an easy afternoon bite on a warm spring day. With a little more research a good salesperson will find out what brand of beer sells best in the region the game is being played, therefore refining the sales pattern more. Selling beer at church in the morning may be difficult. I would probably have to switch my product line, and try selling something else It would be a big benefit for my profits to learn to sell another product on Sundays because after football season is over my pattern for easy afternoon football game beer sales is gone. Yes there are thousands of people that don't go to church or football games, that might want to buy my products, but on Sundays in November, I at least know there will be large numbers of people at church and the stadium. Bass are similar. If one is chasing shad on a warm afternoon, than there is a good chance others are too. If a certain insect hatch occurs every evening for a few days in the same location, then you can bet a large number of bass will be there. You may still be able to catch larger bass on craws, in deep water at the same time, but for numbers the evening insect hatch would be a great place to fish. You may have to not only pattern the bass, but it helps to pattern the prey as well. Some days the bass will bite completely at random, and there does not appear to be a pattern, just like some days the salesman cannot find a large concentration of customers, and has to simply go door to door. A good bass fisherman will try to be observant and find a pattern, just like a smart salesman will research his market.

Being observant and figuring out a pattern, is what makes great anglers different than average anglers. If I catch a few bass in 10 feet of water, I may assume the pattern is fish 10 feet deep. I go to a dozen other spots that are 10 feet deep and don't catch any fish. The problem isn't there was no pattern, the problem was I wasn't observant enough to notice what the pattern was. In reality the place I originally caught the bass was a main lake rocky point, with a strong current passing by. I could have caught bass in 5 feet of water off that rocky point, but I quickly assumed depth was the pattern, and didn't take in the rest of the information I should have noticed from catching those first few bass. I could have spent the remainder of the day fishing rocky points with current and catching bass, instead of going to random places in the lake that were 10 feet deep. This example is an extreme over simplification, and doesn't take in to account the pattern may change as the sun angle, wind, current, or many other factors change, but the idea is the same. I may catch two bass and not notice any similarities between the two, but a great angler may notice a multitude of things the bass had in common. A great angler will also notice a pattern where he is not having success, and will not continue to fish similar places. There will usually be some kind of pattern, it may be as simple as fishing the end of the lake that has open water, while the other end is covered in ice, or as complex as fishing for bass on beds, on a south facing bank, protected from a west wind, with a gravel, bottom in 65 degree water on a full moon next to isolated wood, with a white soft plastic. The important thing is to observe the soundings and use any and all information available to determine similarities and develop a pattern.

My fishing style differs from most in a few ways. Most people Walk the dog with a spook. I usually spook a dog making it run, when my inaccurate casts lands on it's back. Most people will tell you that 10 pounds of drag is by far more than an angler will ever need, may be true for bass, but is way to light for dogs. Many people fish swimbaits, I prefer to go swimming for my baits. Instead of slow rolling a spinnerbait along the bottom, I slow roll my kayak, sending multiple spinnerbaits along with the box to the bottom. Some people fish at night to escape the heat and catch big bass, I fish at night to escape ridicule, and catch big bushes. Many people barely tick the top of submerged vegetation with a lipless crankbait, I prefer to make casting lanes in the vegetation by dragging all of the vegetation back to the boat. The standard way to fish a crankbait is to deflect off of cover. I have to deflect and cover when my wife askes me why I need to buy dozens of new crankbaits. I have read over and over how important it is cast so your lure enters the water quietly with very little splash. The theory being a stealthy presentation will not scare the bass. I prefer to make lots of noise on entry, and don't want to catch a bunch of scaredy cat bass anyway. I am after brave bass. Most anglers skip their lures under overhanging trees, and under boat docks showing respect to the dock owner by never hitting a dock. I throw my lures in the middle of overhanging trees, and loose all respect by casting high and hooking the dock owner. A good angler changes line when the line shows signs of getting old and weak. I change my line much more often. I change it every time I get a backlash that I have to remove with the help of a sharp knife. Most anglers skillfully work their lures through many types of cover such as a submerged brush pile. I prefer to loose my lures on the brush pile. After awhile the bass will get used to their home being decorated with my lures. When I come back and retrieve a lure by the brush pile, a bass may think someone is steeling one of his decorations and attack my lure. Most anglers retrieve buzz baits on the surface for the entire retrieve. I let mine sink while picking out a backlash, then retrieve it back to the boat only splashing on the surface next to the boat. Many old time anglers wait until the rings disappear before working a top water bait. I go one step further. By the time I pick the backlash out of my reel the split rings have rusted off the bait. It takes skill to slowly drag a football jig through rocks, and hop it off the bottom when it starts to get snagged many time triggering a strike. I prefer to snag the jig and drag my kayak until I am on top of the jig, and then hop in the water to try and retrieve it triggering much laughter by both fellow anglers and bass. To most people a drop shot is a finesse presentation, to me it is what happens at the end of the day when I don't even have enough finesse to keep from dropping a shot in the water, while at the same time spilling the whole bottle. Some anglers reel a chatterbot straight back, and some stop and go like a jig. I simply snag them on a log like all the rest of my baits. Most people fish and catch their bass in the water. I like to attempt to catch the elusive walking bass on shore first, before getting my lure in the water. Most anglers avoid loosing lures, I like to leave most of my lures at the lake that way other less fortunate anglers can find them and catch bass with them. I feel it is my way of giving back to the community. The other day my wife put a stop to this practice by pointing out that we are the les fortunate, and the other anglers will buy their own lures long before I will be allowed to replace mine, while staying home and doing some work around the house would be a great way to give back to my community. To some a Texas rig is a snaggles presentation that can be fished almost anywhere. To me a Texas rig is simply a challenge to prove not only the soft plastic but the whole rig can be lost anywhere anytime. Most anglers skillfully, gently, work their lures around cover and snags, while setting the hook strongly into bass. I like to make strong hooks sets on snags, and skillfully, work my lures right out of a bass's mouth. Most good bass anglers, make short accurate casts that catch bass, I make long inaccurate casts that catch a variety of objects that don't even remotely resemble bass. Most angler use a variety of rods, reels, and lures because of the numerous techniques the have perfected to catch bass. I use a variety of rods, reels, and lures based on what is left over from my last fishing trip. Many times what I call a variety is more than one but less than three. Most anglers bring the bass they hook all the way to the boat, land them, accurately weight them, and take pictures of them. I prefer to release the bass I hook when they are about half way back to the boat, (which is much better for their survival of the bass )estimate the weight then double the estimate, and at the end of the day borrow a fish from a friend for a picture. Game wardens ask most people for their fishing license, and if they caught any bass They only laugh, and ask me if I am OK. Some people Junk Fish, My fishing gear and fishing skill is Junk so maybe I am not so different. When most anglers arrive back home after a day's fishing, their family asks them how many fish they hooked and caught. My family asks me how many times I got hooked, and if I was caught. Many Kayak anglers stand while they fish, I go one better. I stand, and do an awesome belly flop while I fish. Some anglers are experts with electronics. I am not bad myself. I would bet their isn't anyone out there that can drop their phone in the water and get it in a bag of rice as fast as me. Some anglers fish from shore, I fish on shore. Some anglers use a plug knocker to get crankbaits that are hung on the bottom back. I use a plug knocker so I can not only loose the crankbait, but loose the knocker, break a rod tip, and flip my kayak, kind of a multi purpose tool. Some people exaggerate the success of their day on the water, this is usually not considered outright lying it is simply and anglers prerogative. I always tell the 100% truth about my day on the water, because there are times the truth is greater than fiction, and some things are impossible to make up. Most fisherman quit fishing at the end of the day, I quit fishing when I run out of tackle, which on a good day is closer to the end of the day than it is the start of the day. Yes I do things different than a majority of anglers, but like most anglers, I always have a good time while fishing for bass.

I loose fish, snag, backlash, tangle line, cast high up in trees, cast two feet past my target, two feet short of my target, try to catch fish on dry land, miss strikes, set the hook in to almost anything that is not a fish, and swear far more than I see anglers do on You Tube videos.

I have changed my prediction. My biggest bass will be a 25 pound largemouth. I will catch it on a Diawa rod, Diawa reel, Sunline line, 6th. Sense lure, with VMC hooks, fishing from a Hobie Kayak. I am willing to accept any free gear or cash right now from any sponsors who want to get to the party early.

Over 11 pounds, early June, 15-20 feet of water, on a steep rocky point, with a crankbait.

I am not saying that either technique should or should not be allowed in tournaments. That in my opinion is solely up to the organization running the tournament. I was only pointing out that either technique can be as simple or complicated a a person wants it to be. Done skillfully both techniques are far from boring. I don't live bait fish for bass simply because I lack the skills required to catch the bait, and have no clue as to how to effectively fish the bait if I could catch it. The couple times I have managed to trap some tilapia, and crayfish I have gotten skunked when I attempted to use them as bait for bass. It has taken me many years to be successful casting a handful of lures, and I would assume it would take the same amount of time to become proficient with live bait, and even though I have success trolling, I would not claim to be even moderately skilled at trolling for bass.

Just like fishing with live bait. It can be as skilled of technique as you want to make it, or as easy as watching a rod.

I have had good luck with their premium blades, but I bought some of the cheaper painted blades, and the paint chipped off with very little use. The gold and silver premium are good blades for the money. I usually spend the extra money and buy Hildebrandt, or Stanely in silver and gold, along with Picasso painted blades, but have caught many big bass on the Lure Parts Online blades.

Why is trolling not permitted in BASS tournaments? If it were legal, would the pros ever do it, and could they win trolling? I troll when moving from spot to spot while fishing in my Kayak. Often I am surprised at the fish I catch, and the number of great fishing holes I have discovered while simply moving from one location to the next. While fishing in a kayak I am always moving at trolling speed, so why not have a lure out, but having to slow down to troll may be a big waste of time for a boat angler. Curious to see what members think.

If someone paid me to fish with a helicopter lure, I would find a way to catch fish with it and promote the company at the best of my ability. Being paid to fish is a job, and like all jobs there is a down side.

My biggest bass was caught on a T rigged Junebug Zoom Magnum Trick worm. My rod was a 7' medium heavy Diawa Ardito, and the reel was a Diawa Zillion SV with 15 pound Seaguar InvisX line. Best bag of five were caught on a home made spinnerbait, 7.5' medium heavy Diawa Ardito rod, Diawa Tatula 150 reel spooled with 30# JBraid, and a 15# Maxima Ultra green leader. Most bass over 7 pounds were caught on a Storm Arashi Cover Pop, 7' medium Diawa Ardito rod, Tatula Ct reel, and 30 pound braid to 15 pound leader. In past years soft plastics have not been a big player, and I have shunned braid to leader. I guess this was the year of hypocrisy for me.

I use #3 Blue Fox Vibrax. silver or gold, single hook, no skirt. Best all around lure for any species of fish in small shallow rivers. They even work well on big bass in Mexican lakes.

I went to Bara De Navidad for a week. The marlin fishing was slower than previous years on this trip, but we caught plenty of fish. The fishing was slow on the trip from PV to Bara but we managed to land one striped marlin, and a couple dorado. First day of fishing at Bara was great. landed 7 tuna biggest 100 pounds, 2 dorado, 2 sailfish, and one striped marlin. Day two was slow, but we still landed 2 sailfish, 2 striped marlin, and 3 dorado. Day 3 was great, with 17 dorado, one sailfish, and two tuna landed. On the way back home we fished my favorite shore line, and landed 25 rooster fish.

I know of a practically unfished lake near me, that is semi clear, and the big bass like to hunt along steep banks, feeding on large tilapia, next to the bank. They hide out below the color line, and ambush any big baits that roam to far from the shore. They seem to be constantly on the move. I have climbed high up the bank on calm days and personally observed this behavior on many days all times of the year. I am positive an angler that was highly skilled with forward facing sonar, could catch so many double digit bass, it would make OH Ivey look like a lake full of dinks. Unfortunately due to the lack of time and money that person wont be me. I don't have the money for the equipment, or the massive amount of time it would take for me to become proficient with it. Because that fortunate angler will not be me, I will continue to fish the lake without the latest electronics, and will continue to climb the bank, and watch DD bass swim by while getting lucky with a blind cast now and then.

I make my own spinnerbaits with a variety of premade forms. I use Stanely Wedge willow leaf blades, Hildebrant Colorado, or Indiana blades and Lumaflex skirts. This is what I previously posted, but it some how got changed to Lumaflex skirts game changer. I don't care, but it was odd.

Lumaflex skirts Game changer!

Hope and a prayer.

Zoom Ole Monster, Zoom Mag trick worm, 7 inch Senko.

I will be fishing the same 4 lakes I fished last year. All have Spanish names, and big bass.