All I want is bass.

First fish in a while

2012-04-26T11:06:00.000-07:00

Well, I am a college graduate, or will be soon. This Saturday I will be getting my diploma and license.

But back to the fish. A few days ago I decided instead of doing nothing I'd go fishing at a local tick-infested lake. I only grabbed my UL swimbait rod: a Rainshadow HS 962 wrapped by Adam Cargill that had been cut down a couple inches with a Curado 200E7 with 50# braid. My bait of choice was a weedless Hudd shad. I came up on a small patch of tulles and flipped the bait into a pocket. I spaced out for a second and then noticed my line had come tight. I swung hard to get a good positive hookup, and was rewarded by a fish rolling around in some submerged brush. At first I thought it was a rat, then I thought I hooked a monster, then realized it was nice, but not huge. Either way, I was really happy with it. The fish probably went about 5lbs.

Look for more posts soon, I have about 2 weeks before I join the working force, during which time I plan to fish as much as possible.

A little knowledge...

2012-03-30T15:09:00.000-07:00

I'm still trying to keep this blog going, but it's kinda tough when you strike out every time you fish. I'm in over 100 hours without a bite on the swimbait. A buddy and I were talking about leaders, line, and connections and I offered to make a video showing how to tie the Albright knot. It's traditionally used in combination with an Bimini Twist, however it will work fine just used by itself. I have been using it with heavier stuff, particularly with about 1' of 30# mono to 80# Power Pro for working big walk the dog baits. I apologize for the quality, I shot the video using my old digital camera.

First bass of 2012

2012-02-09T13:55:00.000-08:00

I know it's a little late but I finally caught my first bass of 2012. A couple weeks ago my buddy Adam and I scoped out Lake Collins by Marysville, where we blanked on the big baits. We were about to leave when we saw the stocker truck drive by, so we followed it to the launch ramp hoping to see some of the 8-12"protein bars get crushed by some of the lake's giant spotties. That didn't happen either so we broke in Adam's new spinning rod on a few trout with a ghetto rig consisting of a treble hook and Roboworm tail off a rat. Fast forward to Friday February 3rd, I needed to clear my head so I decided to go hit a lake that hasn't let me down. I was punching with a 5.20 Sweat Beaver in sprayed grass, a money maker colored Paycheck punch skirt, 1oz tungsten weight and 65# braid. Fish ate it deep in the tulles. No monster, but definitely a good fish.

Personal best frog fish!

2011-09-22T16:15:00.000-07:00

Had this guy crush a Snagproof frog a few feet off the bank and rip a little bit of drag. This is by far the biggest fish I've caught on a frog so far.

Bummed I didn't have a scale, or at least a measuring tape but oh well, that's fishing.

A few more for kermit

2011-09-18T21:26:00.000-07:00

Recently had another fun trip with Erik to a local lake up here near where we live. First cast had a good size fish absolutely blast my frog, only to have the fish "kelp trick" me (named from when a calico bass wraps a bait around a kelp stalk and basically pry bars the bait out of its mouth, this actually happens quite frequently). A few casts later it happened again, so I switched to another frog and salvaged the day, only missing one more fish.

Berry 9/10

2011-09-11T13:15:00.000-07:00

Heres a few pictures from a fun (but insanely hot) trip to Berryessa that Erik and I did yesterday.

Its been a while

2011-07-11T21:48:00.000-07:00

My lack of blogs is due to the fact that I was in the South Pacific for school for two months. I am working at Angler's Center again, and fishing as much as possible since I've been back.

I wanted to do a short write up on fishing the frog. I have been on two good frog bites since I've been home; one on San Diego's Lake Barrett and the other...on an undisclosed location. The bite on Barrett was the best I have been on: a small storm rolled through and it was sprinkling, lowering the barometric pressure enough to trigger a bite. We were pitching frogs under trees for the most part, during the bite my close bud Jeff (whenever we fish the frog, he ALWAYS outfishes me) stuck this fish:

The three of us each stuck around 15 fish during the small flurry, and we each picked off a few more after the bite slowed down. A few nights later I went out by myself and got into a bite and stuck four fish, but lost a donkey.

I don't have a ton of experience froggin' but here's what I have to offer up:

Line: I prefer 65# Power Pro, it cuts through slop, tulies, and whatever other junk you may be fishing. The lack of stretch also allows for better hooksets when fishing in slop.

Reel: Anything with a faster gear ratio will work, a Curado 200E7 works great. Lately I have been using a 300E, which may be a little big but it winches fish in quickly.

Rod: A heavy, fast action rod will do the trick. I fish a Crucial 72H, it's a pure meat stick and gets fish out of the slop fast; however it lacks the soft tip that many anglers prefer.

Frog: Whatever frog you have confidence in. I personally like the Reaction Innovation's Swamp Donkey, sadly like the Vixen, it is also no longer made. It has a great hookup ratio because the hooks are positioned with the points up. Paycheck Baits acquired the mold and added a popper mouth, I haven't fished it yet, but I have heard good things.

Unexpected weather

2011-03-30T23:36:00.000-07:00

The weather the last few weeks up here has been pretty horrible, it rained every day for over a week. Needless to say I didn't think I would be fishing, especially since it's getting down to the wire with school and finals before I take off for the South Pacific for a few months. Anyways, Erik and I decided to go hit Berryessa. We got on the water, and within a few minutes of stopping to fish we stripped out of all of our foul weather gear. We were unsure of how warm it actually got, but it was definitely over 70*. The fishing itself was tough, the water had clearly risen very fast, this was apparent from the amount of fresh, green vegetation as deep as 7' (that was the best visibility we found). I mostly threw a 6" Huddelston swimbait, looking for that bigger bite and Erik threw various plastics and cranks. I got my first bite at around 1400, but it didn't stick. Erik stuck our first fish of the day (a small LMB) at about 1700 on a crank, so I played follow the leader. I put a pair of bass on the boat in about 6 casts. Erik finished up with another and we called it a day.

Its kind of embarrassing for me to admit this, but I am unsure of whether my fish were spots or smallies. Anyone got any feedback?

Edit- a buddy helped me out. The fish from left to right are a mean mouth (smallie/spot hybrid), a smallie, LMB, and another smallie.

Well...

2011-03-20T01:17:00.000-07:00

I was hoping to post a new report to add something to my blog, but today was ( as we SoCal sportboat guys call) a hate mission. We (Erik and I) dumped his Whaler in at around 0930 at Orwood and went to fish the Discovery Bay area. Well, bad idea. we pulled the boat outta the water at 1300, it was 46 degrees and we had sideways rain. My hands were numb to the point where i couldn't flip or skip a bait. So much for the good topwater bite Erik was having earlier in the week. Hoping to have a better post or report later in the week. Take care.

Oh Vixen, how I miss thee

2011-03-03T19:57:00.000-08:00

When most people think of the word "vixen" they think of it as a term used to describe women. I, on the other hand, think of a topwater bait named the Vixen made by Reaction Innovations. The Vixen was made in two sizes, a 3.5" and a 4.5". I currently own five of these beautiful baits (one 4.5" and four 3.5'"s), but like any angler would prefer to have more.

The bait easily walked the dog with the greatest of ease, in a tight, seductive action. This bait has accounted for tons of largemouth and striper for me personally, including this striper taken at DVL during a foamer:

Sadly, Reaction Innovations stopped making this bait a few years ago. Paycheck baits did acquire the mold though, and now produces the bait under the name "Repo Man." The originals are hard to come by, and when they are found usually go for $30 or more.

A little love from Jeffy

2011-03-02T22:24:00.000-08:00

Heres a video Jeff put together from various footage from last summer. It includes Newport Bay, Diamond Valley, and some other salty bass. Enjoy, I recommend in HD.

First post

2011-03-02T21:37:00.000-08:00

So after having my mom and tons of friends tell me that I needed to start a blog, I decided to finally do it. Obviously this blog will about bass fishing, I'm hoping to post a report here and there and to put up some dope on new baits and stuff like that. If you want to request anything, just let me know.