To make a dream come true! My float tube mistress, Tammi, came through on our very first date. Not only did she satisfy me once, she gave it to me a second time.
First float tube go out.
I originally planned for a test run, not expecting anything, just making sure I would be prepared for a second date. Did I give her enough air? Where should I stick my extra rods? Do I have the right kind of fins?
First bass of the day.
Like any great first date, you don't want to move too fast, but you want to make sure to give the other party a sign, so they know you are interested. This fine line between classy and trashy is a tough one to balance.
Mid battle with bass number two.
If she would have stood me up (shown up with a hole in her tube or something), I would have been devastated. If she came out with me, but I didn't catch anything, it might be awhile before I take her out again (I'm talking bass not crabs, this isn't deadliest catch people). Finally, if I took her out and she hooked me up with 20 ten pound bass, I would think geez, this is a little too easy.
Tammi balanced this fine line between classy and trashy like the great Shawn Johnson did the balance beam at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Tammi might not of won gold but she metaled in maturity in my eyes! Giving me a taste, not stuffing me to the gills by putting me on two nice bass! Equivalent to a heavy make out session with some tushy touching. Like Ace of BASS says, "I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes I saw the sign!"
Way to balance that beam Shawn!
Tammi made my dreams come true on our first date, can't wait to see what she does for me on our second! Is it too soon for 6 ten pounders?
What better place to spend the end of the year than at the Bass Pro Shops in Las Vegas Nevada! Looking back on a really exciting fishing season for me. I won my first tournament, beating out 39 other anglers at Santa Margarita Lake in April. I also discovered I enjoy writing! It has never been one of my favorite activities in school, I was more of a Bill Nye guy. Writing is a great outlet that quenches the brain like an ice cold Gatorade after a long run. Each thought put on paper is a newly swallowed gulp of liquid. Ahhhh.
For the year I fished 10 tournaments, 2 more than my goal of 8. Below is a summary of my results. I missed a couple months because of weddings, but it was well worth it to see some good friends take the plunge into the pond of marriage.
Month
Lake
Results
Total Anglers
February
Lopez
9
20
March
Pyramid
13
16
April
Santa Margarita
1
39
$
April
Piru
3
14
$
May
Cachuma
8
13
June
Lopez
14
30
July
Castaic
10
13
September
Castaic
2
13
October
Pyramid
3
12
$
December
Piru
5
11
Average
6.8
18.1
Ah, Bass Pro Shops Las Vegas... The outdoormans Toys-R-Us with booze, gambling, guns and giant aquariums. I stocked up on some supplies for the year and took notice of all the wacky T shirts and crazy bass memorabilia. From bass mailboxes, bass wine holders, bass doormats and even a DVD entitled Girls Gone Grabbin 2! Which is about girls who wrestle with giant catfish a technique called doodling. Lots of fishing related stuff at this BPS.
Giant aquarium with ornaments.
That bass is thirsty, give em some vino!
Stuff that bass with some junk mail!
Not short on silly shirts at BPS.
Me too!
I don't know about you but I am getting turned on.
In the New Year I hope to take my blog from Fremont Street to The Strip. Add a little more glitz and glamor with some videos and the introduction of my new float tube, Tammi. Not completely turning my back on the charm of old Vegas, just wrapping it up in a fancier package. I mean, Vegas would be nothing without Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley, Celine Dion would still be in Canada singing at hockey games if it wasn't for them. In 2012 I hope to catch my first ten pound bass, fish at least two FLW big money tournaments and eight tournaments in all.
Hi Tammi.
If only my blog could look like this guy. Flashy Vegas Elvis. "I'm a hunk a hunk of burning love."
So here is to another year of, "All On The Line", lets see where the bass gods take us this year. Carrie Underwood might say, "Jesus take the wheel", but us bass fisherman like to say, "Cletus take the reel."Just watch video below and you'll see:
I don't consider myself a "Superstitious" angler, so when my partner told me we would be fishing "Stevie Wonder" style I thought to myself, "We can work it out." If Mr. Wonder can catch over twenty Grammy's playing an instrument he can't even see, I'm sure we can fool a few bass. "Fishing blind" is a term anglers use when their boats sonar system is out. Which may or may not be a big deal depending on the time of year and your style of fishing. In winter when bass migrate to deeper haunts it can be a very helpful tool to find humps and clusters of concentrated large-mouths.
Think of a boats sonar system as a bat flying through a dark cave on the hunt for flying insects. Also referred to as "echolocation" a bat uses the echo of sound waves to determine the shapes of surrounding objects like bugs. A bass boat uses "bassolocation" to help determine where the fish are.
A beautiful crisp winters day at Piru.
We began our day in an area where my partner had success a month ago in shallow water. With the water temperature dropping considerably in the last few weeks (In the lower fifties), my "fishy" sense told me that deeper was the way to go. Not being able to take the blindfold off our boat, we would have to use our deep jigs and drop shots to navigate the lakes bottom like a blind man uses his cane to get down a busy sidewalk. Sure we might bump into an occasional stranger or bush but we'll get where we need to be eventually.
The only problem with this scenario is in a tournament time is an issue. Not only are we up against momma bass we are also battling with father time. We caught our first fish around 9 am near the dam in deeper water on a six inch purple worm rigged on a drop shot. Our second fish coming an hour later also on a drop shot but a different color, prism craw. The last keeper fish of the day was caught around 2 pm in a totally different area then the first two fish. Our three fish limit came in at 7.16 pounds good enough for fifth place out of eleven teams. The winner had a five fish limit weighing 11.58 pounds, their big fish came in at 3.75 lbs and was caught on a jig, something we should have committed more time to.
In summary it was a really tough day on lake Piru. With temperatures as cold as polar bear farts I'm surprised we caught fish at all. On the bright side, not every song Stevie Wonder wrote won a Grammy. Our day was a lot like one of those songs, a good listen but I'm not going to sing it at my daughters wedding.
We are all chasing after something we can't see, hoping what ever it is we are going after, if we catch it at all, fulfills us in some way.
There are many people in life that never go out and get a tackle box. They figure what's the point, I'll never catch anything, why waste the money?
Some people know exactly what to buy and where to cast, catching fish after fish, filling their limit and going home.
Others stay on the water their whole lives, becoming the osprey, searching and catching never looking back. Addicted to the thrill of the game.
Another group of people are confused, not sure where to cast or when to set the hook. "Was that a bite or did I just snag some weeds?" They look back at past catches wondering if they let the "Big One" slip through their fingers. Lost in a murky sea with a blanket of fog on the horizon.
At the end of the day, some people in life don't like to fish at all, some fish to catch a limit, others want to catch everything that swims and the rest of us like to fish but aren't sure why., but all of us that got up out of bed, tied one on and caught a few, wonder about the one that got away... the one we never got to see at all.
Sky man out.
Thought I would bust out a philosophical post for ya'll, considering it's the holidays.
And bite me they did. Our tournament at Pyramid lake October 16th, 2011 was a blast and a half from kick off to the hot dog on the way out. The bite was on early and continued through out the day. It started as a top water bite and evolved to a slower deeper more finesse bite.
2 of our 4 fish limit.
It was only my second time on the lake so I did not know what to expect. The lake was really weedy which made certain lures frustrating to use. Early on it was perfect conditions for top water. The water was warm, there was a lot of shad boiling along the surface and near the shore line and the weeds gave the bass ideal hide out spots to ambush their prey. The majority of our fish came up from the weeds to hit a spinner bait, fluke and popper. We also caught fish on a drop shot, crank bait and Ika.
The Ika master.
A good tip I learned from my partner was how to fish a Fluke Jr. with a stinger hook. I usually fish the full size fluke (5 inch model), but my partner used the smaller 4 inch model and it looked great on the surface! He missed quite a number of fish so he added a stinger hook to the back. The hook weighs the bait down a tad so the action isn't as realistic. When I find myself with this predicament in fishing I always keep the action true on my bait rather then adding a hook or more weight to help land more fish. If you never get the bite to begin with how are you ever going to land them?
Our bass sack for the day.
I was able to catch a fish with the Ika for the first time so that was exciting. I got some tips from the master himself and he taught me to use the rod to move the bait to get more feel rather than using the reel.
The hotdog guy!
When it was all said and done we ended the day in third place with a total weight of 9.75 pounds of bass. To help celebrate our great day on the water we bought hot dogs from a guy on the way out, where I got the last bite! I may not eat bass but I love dogs! Sorry peta.
Thanks for the Bass Art Summer Sauce! I hope that's a good knot.
Fishing may knot be your cup of tea but there are some fishing philosophies that translate to all aspects of life. The great UCLA Bruins basketball coach John Wooden would teach his players in their first practices how to tie their shoes. This may sound silly to some but the man has won 10 NCAA titles, so I would at least hear him out. To compete on a high level you must focus in on the details to eliminate possible error. If you have already thought of the things that can go wrong on the water, basketball court or in the game of life and are prepared for them you can concentrate on the task at hand. Silly? I think knot!
In fishing one of the most important details to spend some serious thought on is your knot!
Knot, knot...
Who's there?
Your fishing line...
What do you want fishing line?
You better tie me right or you are knot going to catch many fish!
I can't stress this enough, details are important. There is a famous phrase that says,"The devil is in the details," which to me means looking out for the small details in life is generally a good practice, since it greatly reduces the risk of surprise. While some surprises are pleasant, those planned by the devil are generally knot, so it pays to avoid pratfalls which are preventable by remembering that the devil's in the details.
Below are a few of my favorite knots, so if I were you I would practice these to avoid being thrown into hotel heartbreak where you get to watch Elvis have his way with your girlfriend while you're stuck in a glass box of emotion, courtesy of of bucket mouth billy bass. Shake it billy but don't break it!
The Albright knot: This knot is a great knot to use to tie two different diameter lines together as well as attaching a flurocarbon/mono leader to braid. This knot finishes in the shape of a triangle or pyramid.
The Uni-knot:
This is another knot used to tie two lines together. It is better with two lines that have a similar diameter. The knot itself will be larger than the albright knot so if you are using a shorter leader I would go with the albright knot.
The Palomar knot:
A great all around knot, I originally started using this knot a lot when I got introduced to braid. It does knot slip like a trilene knot which makes it ideal for braid. Also, it is my knot of choice for a drop shot, you just have to pull the line through one more time so your hook is perpendicular with your line.
The Rapala knot:
This is a great knot for lures with a lot of side to side action. It allows more freedom of movement for jointed plugs and some top water walk the dog type baits.
The Trilene knot:
This is another great all around knot like the palomar. It is the first knot I learned to tie and still use it to this day on everything from Texas rigged worms to crank baits.
The Snell knot:
A new knot to my arsenal. This is the knot to use for flipping and pitching into heavy cover with large soft plastics like the brush hog as well as punching rigs. What makes this knot great for these applications is when you set the hook on a fish, the knot pulls the hook up facilitating the hooks penetration into the mouth of the fish. That's what you call a good wing-man!
A good solid double knot on the old basketball shoes should do the job so you can, "forget about it" and drop a triple double on your opponent. If you master these fishing knots you can concentrate on filling your livewell with lunkers and joining coach John Wooden in the trophy room instead of getting thrown into the dirty bed bug infested hotel of heartbreak with the fat Elvis, not the skinny good looking one.
Knot so fast, one last thing. Always lubricate your knots with saliva to avoid friction which can lead to line breakage:)
Now go out and get knotty!
Skyman out
Final knot count: 39
Below is a Mickey's puzzle. See if you can solve the riddle.
When I say Kong I mean giant ape Kong. There is an island on Castaic lake with a giant ape attached to it called Kong Island and it would prove to be pivotal to our success at the Manny Nunez Annual Memorial Bass Tournament held at Castaic Lake this last September. The tournament is a club challenge event that pit our club up against 8 different Southern California Bass Clubs. To win the tournament and get your clubs name on the trophy, would mean you had the highest combined three best weights compared to the other 7 clubs. My partner for this event was George and we were really excited to represent our club and kick some serious bass!
Hello George.
Mr. Kong himself. He loves America.
At the meeting before the tournament I talked with George and he mentioned to me that shad colored worms were a hot bait in the late summer. Anything that went along with a shad pattern was a good bet. So I stopped by Sports Authority (not my usual tackle spot but time was an issue) and cruised the isles for shad baits. I purchased some roboworms in a prizm shad color that looked really good to me in the 4 and a half inch size. I also got a 4 inch BBZ gizzard shad swimbait and tied on a revo topwater popper as well. I was ready for thems basseys.
Mr. Revo
So the tournament kicked off with a bang! George took us to Kong Island which was about 100 yards from shore and had an anchored booey with a King Kong figure attached to it and an American flag sticking out of its rear end.
Yo mister monkey, you mind if we fish here?
We pull up to the island and start fishing. I got a blow up on the revo and was not paying attention so the fish was able to spit out the hooks before I could get a good hook set. A good sign that the fish were active, but made me feel dumb. A few more minutes passed and fish on! This time I got em, a nice 2 pounder on the drop shot prizim craw robo worm. Ten minutes later, another fish on and as soon as you can flip a pancake we had 4 fish in the live well and it was only 8:30 am. That's what you call a good morning of fishing.
Another view point of the Island.
I gave George some of my worms because the fish were not getting excited for the color he was throwing. The only problem was I only had one bag! Drama! Usually I don't like to share worms with just anybody, but George is a cool enough guy and since I am a team player, I did what I thought would give us the best odds of getting our clubs name on that trophy. So George grabbed a worm out of my sack and we did laps around that island like we were middle school kids running the mile, all morning long drop shoting our roboworms.
A Castaic Lake Landscape.
The conditions changed on us around 11:00 am, the sun came out, the wind picked up and the bite died down. We made a move to another part of the Lake which turned out to be a bust so back to the muscular arms of our buddy Kong once again! Hold on loosely Kong, but don't let go. We caught 7 keepers for the day which ended at 12:30 pm, not bad. Of the ten worms that I had at the start of the day, only one remained at the buzzer. Our total weight was 6.8 pounds good enough for 2nd place with in our Club and more importantly our weight was included in our clubs weight. Thanks to our great ape friend, the Castaic Bass Club got it's name on the Trophy for 2011!
The final weights for the day.
Our total weight.
All in all a great day out on the water. We had a BBQ at the end of the day where I ate two burgers, one for me and one for my primate brother from another mother, the Gorilla on the rocks.
