king fisher

When I was young, my older brother told me Santa doesn't exist. This photo is proof he lied.

They will never stop making lighter rods, and lighter reels to go with lighter rods, so you might as well buy a couple reels to try on the rod. Use the one you like best. Then buy a couple rods to try with the reel you didn't choose to use on the rod you had. Buy a couple more reels to try on the rod you didn't pick then back to buying rods for the reel you didn't use. Repeat this process until you run out of storage space, are asked to be on the TV show hoarders, go broke, permanently ban bait monkey from your home, get divorced, or all of the above. Don't try and convince yourself you will eventually find the right compo and stop buying new rods, and reels, I have tried and after many years, I am still trying to match the perfect rod to the perfect reel, the combos keep getting lighter, right along with my wallet. The odd thing is I always seem to talk about all the fish I used to catch years ago when my equipment was way to heavy.

I don't know if I have ever had a genius moment. I get a big thrill from having a smarter than average moment. Most of the time I am happy with getting to the lake, catching a couple of fish, and making it home without loosing or breaking something. I may have to settle for laughing at my mistakes, over bragging about my success, but I always have a good time.

One less than the Bait Monkey thinks I need.

The Coastal 200 fit my hand better I liked the big handle, it felt more solid, and was over all a smoother reel. I fished the coastal often in the salt for three years, and it was quiet , smooth, great drag, and casted as far as any reel I ever owned from the day it was new, until the day it went swimming. I don't know what the difference is between it and the Tatula models besides the price, but I am convinced there is a difference.

Diawa Coastal 200. I had one that I lost overboard. It was my favorite reel for light inshore use as well as deep cranks, and A rigs for bass. It casted 2 OZ poppers well, and I landed many Jacks, and Rooster fish up to 35 pounds with no difficulties. I would have used it for swimbaits, but the Monkey has not won that battle yet. I replaced it with a Tat 150 because I was trying to save money. The Tat 150 works fine, but not even a close comparison to the Coastal. Just goes to prove, sometimes you don't know what you got until it is gone. I also have a Coastal 150, it is a good reel, but between the two I had, I think the 200 is by far a better reel.

I finished my 2022 bass fishing year Saturday on a lake high in the mountains. I brought a spinning rod along just in case I needed to try fineness in this mountain reservoir. The surface temp, was a chilly 62 degrees at daylight, and warmed up to 65 degrees mid afternoon. Kind of reminded me of ice fishing. Only thing I found to catch some largemouth with in this freezing water was a drop shot. Glad I brought the spinning rod. After the New Year, I plan on fishing a lower elevation lake that has a more reasonable water temperature, and leave the spinning gear at home.

I would bet there are some anglers, that have figured out how to combine live bait with Live Scope, and are doing everything possible to keep their success a secret. Most States would have a difficult time making the next greatest electronics illegal, if for no other reason than economics and lobbying by the electronics companies. Those same fish and game departments, would have no problem making live bait illegal. It is already illegal in many places, and who is going to lobby against a ban on bait? Your local bait shop? There has to be some big fish caught this way, that will never be posted on the internet. I personally don't care how someone catches their fish. The best management tools, usually are length of seasons, bag limits, and educating anglers on proper catch and release practices, I'm not saying that mile long gill nets should be allowed as a legal means to catch bass, but I have fished lakes in Mexico where they are, and the sportfishing isn't bad. I doubt modern electronics would make a big difference on the population of bass in those lakes, but it might make a big difference in an angers success rate. If I could afford a boat, I would find a way to afford Live Scope. My biggest problem would be finding the time away from work to learn how to use it effectively. I already have way to much fishing gear, that I have not taken the time to become proficient with. Buying new equipment is easy, spending my valuable time on the water fishing with something new, is getting close to being called work. It's not the equipment it's the angler. I'm sure there are many people that spent thousands of dollars on Live Scope that couldn't catch a bass in an aquarium with dynamite. I am sure that even if I won the lotto, and let the Bait Monkey go wild with every penny, the chances of me ever catching a 10 pound small mouth bass are far less than me winning the lotto in the first place. That is a giant bass, and the angler should be proud of catching it regardless of how he caught it as long as he did it in a legal manner. In my opinion, anyone that tries to diminish the accomplishment, because of his use of the latest electronics, is simply jealous, ignorant or both. I congratulate the lucky angler on the catch of a lifetime.

You may have watched one to many Tactical Bass'n videos.

If I am ever driving to the lake, in a vehicle that is worth more than the rods, reels, and tackle inside, than I need to sell it and buy more tackle. Any piece of junk can get me to the lake, but the truck, wont help catch the fish. A friend of mine from Alaska, had an old plane that looked like it barely survived WW2. Any time someone mentioned the appearance of the plane, he would simply say, paint don't fly the plane. He neve had any pictures, of his house, truck, boat, or plane, but he had albums full with pictures of big fish, and expensive fly rods. I quote him often, and believe there is wisdom in his words to live by. Weather its a plane, car, pickup or boat, paint don't catch the fish.

I was ordering things I needed, terminal tackle and line. The Bait Monkey detected a moment of weakness, and convinced me to order a Bacca Burrito for $39. (Thanks to Tacktical Bass'n modern day bandits) I keep no secrets from fellow anglers, but the Bacca Burrito will be a secret kept from my wife.

I have a friend that does everything wrong. He fishes with the cheapest rods, reels, line and lures he can find. He attaches every lure he fishes, including the smallest size Floating Rapala, with his off brand Walmart $3 for 2,000 yard mono, complete with a giant, brass swivel. If there were a ten commandments of bass fishing, he would break every one of them. I have fished with him since we were in 6th grade. I have learned the hard way to never criticize the way he fishes. He will out fish me on most days, but if I mention his inferior methods, he will beat me so bad I will consider giving up on fishing all together. He is very observant and has a natural ability to determine the speed, cadence, and depth the fish want that particular day. He will probably be fishing some old beat up rusted lure he found, his rod will be missing a guide or two, the reel will sound like a cement mixer, but at the end of the day he will be eating fresh bass fillets. Is he fishing wrong? Heck yes, but I am not going to tell him, and for sure the bass don't think so.

I wish I had those kinds of accidents.

I am going to a PITA lake for the weekend too. This lake takes me 3 to 4 hours to get there, the wind blows 20 to 30 MPH., every afternoon, making fishing from a kayak a challenge. The local farm kids party at the launch on the weekends, which is next to the only place I can camp, making sleep almost impossible, and I always loose way to many lures at this lake. Why did I pick this lake? Because it is my best shot at catching my biggest bass of 2022.

The strange bass pattern I have noticed this year, is the bass do not bite any of my lures. I bought and tried new lures, with the same results being the pattern of the day. After looking at this thread, I think I may find a successful pattern. All I need to do is get one of my duck decoys, put hooks on it, and fish very shallow. I'm glad I saw this because the Bait Monkey was trying to get me to purchase a massive amount of finesse gear for Christmas. I told the Monkey to hold off until I give the duck pattern a try. If I have success, I might have to buy a specialized duck rod, reel combo, so the Monkey wont loose our completely.

This will slow me down for at least 10 minuets, maybe more.

I couldn't find a small used pickup I could afford so a I bought a 12 year old Ford Echo sport from a friend of a friends cousin. It was a rattle trap when I bought it 5 years ago, and all I can say now, is it gets down the road most of the time. The rods and tackle, I put in it are worth far more than the car. With the Kayak on top, it definitely looks like a $1000 saddle on a $500 dollar horse. The good thing is I don't ever have to worry about someone breaking in or trying to steel it, because it is a piece of junk, even by Mexican standards. Any would be thief, takes one look and assumes the owner is completely broke. It gets my Kayak, gear and me to the lake, and that is all that matters. It would be nice to have a pickup, my back would appreciate not having to lift the kayak on top, but for the next couple years I will have to consider lifting the Kayak good exercise.

I wish a pro would come show me how to fish my home water. Right now I am not sure if I could catch a bass at my local honey hole, with Dynamite, and hand grenades'. Some professional help would be highly appreciated.

Can a Vission 110 be made for less than $25 with baking soda an super glue?

Thanks, but my inventory of 6th Sense crankbaits is at the point, I should be the one having the Black Friday sale, but I did promise the Bait Monkey I would take at least take a look, after all I did loose a couple last weekend.

Don't show that picture to the guys at Tactical Bass'n. They will make a video about it, and the Bait Monkey will be all over my back, trying to get my to buy the ridiculous thing, all the while telling me Mat and Tim have one, it must be an absolute must for every bass angler to own. I have enough problems dealing with the Monkey after one of their swimbait videos, I am sure I don't need a pet bass walker.

One that is cheap, catches fish almost every cast, does not tangle, impossible to snag. Can anybody recommend such a Lure?

The craziest part of my conversation with him, was what he was the most proud of wasn't the fish he had speared, but the fact that he had made the spear gun and darts, himself. I wanted to tell him, that many bass fisherman would pay more money than his boat, motor, and home made spear gun was worth, to land a 5 kilo bass and let it go. I held my tongue because I felt it wasn't my place to tell someone who lives there how they should fish. Sad to think of all the giant bass he will kill, but I was impressed that he could find a DD bass, with his Walmart snorkel gear, sneak up on the giant, and spear it with home made spear gun, all while his entire family is crammed into a 12 foot aluminum boat, enjoying themselves more than people I take out fishing on a yacht catching Marlin.

That is a great rod for crankbaits, and Lipless crankbaits 1/2 oz and under, chatter baits, underspin's, and many other moving baits. I have a 7 foot medium fast Diawa Ardito, casting rod, that is one of my most used rods. I put a new Zillion on it a month ago, and a person would have to kill me if they wanted to take that combo from me.

If I were you, I would buy her a weeks stay at Lego Land, and pitch my tent in the Bass Pro parking lot.