king fisher

In my opinion, introducing non native species of fish, in general is not a good idea. That said, the two places I have fished for bass, WA and Mexico, both have bass populations that are not native. Next time I catch a DD bass, I doubt if I will be feeling guilty from my hypocrisy. The most common and damaging introduction of non native species is not done by fisherman, or state agencies. Gold fish are introduced by loving parents, that don't have the heart to flush them down the toilet when they no longer are able to keep them. They take the kids to the local lake and watch them swim away. Then a few years later the lake has to be treated with rotenone, and all the fish killed off in order to be stocked again with what ever game fish is preferred in that lake. This happens all the time in the Northwest trout lakes. Another example I personally experienced was the introduction of northern pike into the Matanuska, Susitna region of Alaska. While pike are native to most of Alaska, the region, south and west of the Alaska range did not have them. Someone illegally put a few pike in a lake that flowed in to the Yentna River. In a few short years pike spread throughout the entire drainage. In this same region, there were numerous small rivers with very little current that had king salmon runs. Most places in the state these types of streams did not have king salmon runs. The reason is now very clear. The pike adapted well to the small stream habitat, and decimated the King runs in this type of stream. One steam had many lodges, and was one of the first to get a king run in the spring. Now this stream is not even open for catch and release king salmon fishing. Yes there are still King salmon runs in the swifter rivers in this region, and people do enjoy fishing for pike, but the loss of the native king runs in numerous streams is a tragedy, that can never be reversed. Many species have been introduced that in most anglers minds are a big improvement to the local fisheries, and others have been there so long, no one even knows what it was like before they were introduced. Common carp and numerous catfish species are common examples of this. Before a foreign species is introduced, there should be scientific study combined with debate from all people that could be effected in the region. A single bucket biologist with his favorite game fish, ready to dump in to a public waterway is not only breaking the law, but a very selfish individual. Again my hypocrisy is showing, because my favorite bass lake in Mexico was stocked by an unknown bucket biologist. The local commercial tilapia fisherman are not happy the bass are there, but I sure am. I guess I have to admit when it comes to bass I am selfish.

My lack of patience when snagged, makes it a certainty, a BFS rod would end up a multi piece rod, even if it came as a one piece from the factory.

Try a #3 Mepps or other brand of inline spinner. You may be surprised at how well such an old simple lure can work in a small pond for both size and numbers.

Depends on the type, shape, size, and position of the rock. Many rocky places, a T rig works great and never gets wedged in-between rocks ( round river rocks). Other places the sinker will snag every cast. Most places fall in the middle of these two extremes. If you can work the T rig over, around and in-between the rocks, without getting snagged than A T rig will work as well as it does in any other type of structure or cover.

I have caught a fish with another lure in its mouth many times. One time a client caught a rainbow trout in a a heavily fished stream, and the trout had 6 nymphs all exactly the same. The sad thing was I didn't have any like that one in my fly box. Another time I caught a king salmon with a lure still attached to a line in its mouth. I pulled the line in, and their was a rod on the other end. Not a bad haul, a 35 pound salmon, rod, reel, line and lure. Unfortunately fish have taken way more lures, than I have found.

I am absolute perfection in all things. Just ask my dog.

Texas rigged worms. I was very late to the party with this one. I tried them when I was young, and had zero success. The sinker would get snagged in the rocks at the lake I fished, and I never would catch anything. I would read an article about how the T rigged was the best over all bait for bass, then give them another try with the same results. After a couple years, I finally gave up. Thirty years later, on a lake thousands of miles away I gave them another try and now I have one tied on all of the time. When I was young, after reading numerous articles on worm fishing, I was convinced that I just wasn't skilled enough to detect the bites. Now, I realize I just wasn't getting bit. The bass in that lake preferred other baits, and the type of rocks in the lake made it impossible not to snag the weight. I now realize most of the time detecting bites isn't that difficult with T rigged worm's, and when they are biting light, it is no more difficult than many other techniques I have used to catch other species of fish. I still prefer hard baits, but I am getting a large collection of worms in my box.

Line breaking.

If you think you may be using the reel in saltwater, get the BG. If you are only going to be fishing in fresh water, buy a similar priced lighter weight reel.

I can easily stand in my Hobie Outback, but it is light enough for me to launch and land on the beach in moderate surf. Peddle system is small and easy to remove. A big disadvantage with a Hobie drive system, is you have to pull a cord in order to go in reverse. I am used to it, and doesn't bother me, but I could see it being a big red flag to many anglers.

No. 1 The sound of a screaming drag. No. 2 The sound my phone makes when I turn it off.

This reminds me of a time 20 some years ago in Alaska, when I had a battery catch on fire. Two college age first year guides, and myself were sent to a stream with a portage around a water fall, to get a commercial clothes dryer that was to big to fly out to the lodge. The dryer had made the first part of the journey in an 18 foot John boat, and was waiting at the bottom of the falls. The plan was to drag the dryer with a 12 volt electric winch rolled on logs left from previous portages around the falls, where we would then load it in to a waiting boat, while the other guides and I would continue on in the airplane to another river for another project. The pilot of the plane going to the falls, and I were busy doing something else when the plane was loaded. When we landed at the falls, I went to tie the plane up to a tree, while the pilot and guides started unloading the plane. I had just finished tying the plane, when I heard one of the young guides, yell out that there was a fire. He was just standing there looking down in one of the float hatches pointing at a deep cycle battery that was on fire. The two guides loading the plane had placed the battery in the float and placed some of the cable with for the winch near the battery. When landing the cable had moved, and was connecting the two terminals. I jumped on the float, grabbed the handle on the battery, which luckily hadn't burned all the way through yet, and threw the battery in to the river. The guide just looked at me and said, Dude, you just totally polluted the river. The pilot quickly asked the guide how much pollution in the river he thought a burned down Dehavillan Beaver would cause? I thought he was going to shove the guide in to the water and tell him to get the battery, but in the end we had a good laugh and continued with our day. Luckily the ten gallons of gasoline in jerry jugs, ended up being in the float on the other side of the plane. We weren't sure at the time where the gas was or I might have tried putting the fire out with the fire extinguisher in the plane, while the battery was still in the float. As it was I didn't want to take the time to get the extinguisher out of the inside of the plane. After that all batteries had to placed in a container with a lid, that prevented that type of accident from ever happening again. If someone got lazy and tried to put a battery in to a float without the proper container, I would tell them the story, and they would never try that again. The young guide that objected to me polluting the river with the battery, was not the brightest kid I ever worked with, but he was a natural fisherman, that ended up becoming a good guide. All is well that ends well.

Crankbaits all of the time, Spinnerbaits if it is windy.

Soft plastics- June Bug, or some other shade of purple. Crankbaits - Chartreuse and black Spinner baits - Black, Chartreuse, White, or some combination these colors. Jigs - Black and Blue. Top water- White or Black. If the water clears up, I would try the same colors.

My lake Menderchuck south was discovered last year. The increased pressure forced me to either drastically improve my angling skill, or find another Lake Menderchuck South. The fact that this spring I was still catching big bass, while casting with the accuracy of a sawed off shotgun, means I have found a new lake, and and for once in my life am going to keep my mouth shut. I'll take luck and stupid bass over skill any day.

I'm not bass fishing because of a four letter word starting with w and ending with k. I am getting the boat I captain ready for a two week trip in late October early Nov. to Magdalena Bay on the Baja Peninsula. This will could be the fishing trip of a lifetime, if all goes as planned, or a total disaster, if I am not prepared. I am in the middle of a complete electronics upgrade, 5,000 hour engine service, and fixing all the other systems, that decide to break during the hot summers in PV. After the Mag Bay trip, I hope to have some time and money to chase bass. I haven't caught a bass since early June, and have been looking at all the big bass pictures posted here, makes me want to quit work and move to Maine.

Buzz Baits

I haven't tried their rods, line, or soft baits, but their crankbaits are not only better than other store brands, but some are better than way higher priced name brands. High highly recommend their 3/8 oz. square bill, and 1/4 oz medium diving Model M. They come with oval split rings, decent hooks, run true out of the box, and most important, catch bass as well as other crankbaits that cost twice as much. Down side is they wont ship to CA, which is how I get most of my tackle to Mexico.

I fish a lake where water clarity seems to be a big factor. I always measure the water clarity as soon as there is enough light to do so. If the water is less than a foot deep, I never catch or mark the fish deeper than 15 feet deep. They may be suspended in trees, that are in 40 feet of water, but the bass themselves always seem to be in 15 or less. They may be on the surface and 15 feet deep at the same time, but they wont be deeper than 15 feet. Much of the year there is no thermocline on this lake so it is not a factor. When the water has two foot of visibility or more I catch and mark bass in all depths. I can catch them right on the bank, and in deep water suspended or on the bottom. If there is a thermocline, they are always above the thermocline. When the water is 6 inches to a foot, the bass are usually along the shoreline, but can be suspended in the trees over deep water. When the water visibility is less than 6 inches, the bass are always in very shallow water and are never suspended over deep water. I realize this is just my experience in one lake. I am sure others have had different experiences, but from what I have seen, the chart is a good general guide line. It does not predict what depth the bass will be in, it only is a general guide to the limit of depth they will go. If the water is relatively clear, that doesn't mean they will be deep, it only infers, it is possible they will be deep, but does not rule out the possibility of them being shallow. If the water is pure mud, they probably wont be more than a few feet deep. If the water has more than 3 feet of visibility a person can probably catch bass at almost any depth in the lake on the same day, but if the water visibility is 8 inches, I would suspect the bass would not be on the bottom in 15 feet of water. My best luck for multiple big bass in the lakes I fish have been when the water clarity is 2-6 feet. The bass are not as spooky as they are in clearer water, can be found in schools of like size, and are susceptible to a large variety of techniques. I have caught DD. bass in 6 inches of clarity, but they always seem to be lone bass, and may be one of the only bites of the day. 1-2 foot of clarity is good for me on one lake, simply because that is what it is most of the time. With the clarity being constant, I concentrate on other factors more to determine depth of the bass. People that fish water with fairly constant clarity probably wont think it makes much of a difference. Some of the places I fish, I feel it is probably the biggest factor. That being said, those places have an almost constant water temperature, so therefore in my experience water temperature is not much of a factor. Where many places temp. is a bigger concern than clarity when determining the depth of the bass. The bass will always be near their prey. If the prey like a certain water clarity you can rest assured the bass will be near by. They may be a little deeper, or more shallow than the prey, but they will be at a depth they can easily ambush their next meal. One other thing to consider is the length of time of a certain visibility. If the water has had one foot of visibility for weeks, the bass may have a deeper max limit, than if the water recently went from 4 foot of vis. to one foot of visibility.

I only fish rock when it is windy, calm, hot , cold, clear, cloudy, raining, or dry.

I copied this from fishing gurus, and is the same as a video from Fish the Moment. I agree with the depths as a general guide line, but nothing in bass fishing is written in stone. 1) Water clarity 6 inches or less, bass will be less than 6 feet deep. 2) Water clarity 6 inches to 1 foot, bass will be less than 10 feet deep. 3) Water clarity 1 foot to 2 foot, bass will be less than 15 feet deep. 4) Water clarity 2 foot to 6 foot, bass will be less than 35 feet deep. 5) Water clarity 6 foot or more, bass will be less than 55 feet deep.

Mexico has many places with great golf and great saltwater fishing. Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlán, Puerto Vallarta, to name a few. Mazatlán has fantastic bass fishing with lodging and guides an hour away.

This load is for the soft plastics. Hard baits requires a horse.

Bass caught on spinnerbaits taste best.

They all have advantages and disadvantages, and will all catch bass for you. If you pick one and stick with it, you will become accustomed to that line, and it will become your favorite. Braid is strong, has zero stretch, great hook sets, and very sensitive. Down side is it is only sensitive if the line is tight. Any slack in the line and you loose all feel to your bait. Floro has stretch, but is still sensitive because it heavy and sinks. Floro is the best line for slack line sensitivity because of the weight even with a small amount of slack, with a, bow in the line you can still have contact with the bait. The down side is it must be replaced if you get a kink from a backlash or other professional angler type tangle. Knot strength is poor, and the line is very expensive. If I was a pro and someone was giving me line, Floro would be my choice for almost all bottom contact applications. Mono's advantage is it is inexpensive, very forgiving, has some slack line sensitivity,( not as much as floro) and while not perfect will work reasonably well in any situation. I use mono for many applications, including T Rigs, and jigs, or when I swear off using Floro, for the hundredth time, because I was to cheap to replace the line after a professional overrun, causing me to loose a big bass or my favorite balsa crank bait. I suggest you try them all. If you started fishing with braid, when you first try other lines, they will seam like fishing with rubber band. Give them some time and you may end up liking them. Make sure whichever one you choose, you develop a strong personal opinion for that line type. The winters can get long, and a good argument over what is the best line is always entertaining. Be careful what you say because if you end up being like me and constantly switching opinions, you will be quoted and rightly accused of being a hypocrite.