Posts Tagged ‘Bill Siemantel’

Dock Talk – March 2010

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

The Meeting

The issue of 3 versus 2 “Throw Out” tournaments in our schedule was again discussed and voted on at the meeting.  The original intent of 2 throw outs was because some of the members could not attend the 2 day away events and should not be penalized.  The club overwhelmingly voted to retain the 2 throw outs rule.  Another rule change was the adoption of the Troy Rule.  The Troy Rule was created by Mike Iljin, who is also the Tournament Director for Angler’s Choice Castaic Trail. The rule is in response to what to do in the event that an angler falls into the water during a tournament.  In this case, the angler is allowed to go on shore to change into dry clothing and return to the tournament with no penalty beyond the obvious loss of fishing time.  The anglers comfort and safety, especially during times of cold weather, are tantamount in importance.   There is to be NO removing, replacing or changing in any way the anglers tackle.

I cannot say enough about guest speaker, Bill Siemantel, who honored us at the February meeting.  We have been fortunate to have some very fine speakers but Bill’s wealth of knowledge and willingness to share is unparalleled.  Not only did Bill bring his years of experience, his sponsor, Spro Lures, sent him with a passel of goodies for our raffle.  THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH.

Tournament Results

The tournament at Lake Piru went much as expected.  It was tough and not in the ‘just complaining because I didn’t catch fish’ kind of tough but tough for everybody.  Stained water, no pattern, changing weather and wind throughout the day, did I miss anything?  There were zero limits brought to the scale.  Three boats had no fish but the actual number of anglers that blanked was far higher than that.  Rodney “Secret Lure” Scott and Eddie Carr brought 4 fish to the scale that weighed 11.39 pounds and got them first place.  In second place were Walter Kondracki and Yours Truly with 3 fish at 11.08 pounds.  Big Fish also goes to Walter who landed a nice 4.38 pounder.  In third place came Kevin Miner and Chef David “Aquaman” Sanchez with 3 fish that weighed 6.82 pounds.  David also joined the elite group of members of the prestigious Castaic Bass Club Swim Team.  David performed a nearly flawless Push And Miss with a one half lean back in the AW Sh.. position to kick off the morning and earning him an average score of 5.8 for the fall.

Mike’s

The start of last month’s tournament was kick started by David Sanchez’s dunk in the drink. It seemed ironic that minutes before we had discussed this very same scenario and many of us couldn’t believe the event that was unfolding before our very eyes.  A quick response from Jeff Jue turned this potentially serious situation into not much more than a soggy and cold Chef David. The members rallied to David’s aid with many articles of dry clothing.  After a fast shedding of wet clothes, and an equally fast dawning of dry ones, all was right and the day of fishing and fun began.
The Castaic Bass Club Swim Team welcomes its newest member: Chef David Sanchez.  Even though we can make light of it now, we must always remember safety first and to take care of each other.

On another note, I will be bringing some LOGOWARE sweatshirts, sweatpants and a few long sleeved tee shirts to Thursday’s meeting.  It will be on a first come first serve basis for the sizes that are left. I do not know when we will be able to make a replacement order since our embroiderer requires a large minimum order. Any new members or those that want another Club jacket, please let me know on Thursday and I will try to put an order together that is large enough for our guy.

DOCK TALK – February 2010

Friday, February 12th, 2010

The Meeting

The first meeting of the year is always a busy one.  We had a lot to discuss.  The

Subject of “3 to a boat” took up the bulk of the time.  This issue arises when we have more Non-Boaters than Boaters and it happened a lot toward the end of last year.  The club policy is no fisherperson (for the P.C. among us) left behind.  That means that 3-to-a-boat is inevitable at some point during the year and so let’s deal with it now.  Some Boaters feel that having 3 in their boat gives them a 50% advantage; others don’t care one way or the other.  When the situation occurs we will ask for volunteer Boaters.  In the event that there are still Non-Boaters without a partner we will go to a draw.  We will make out best effort to insure that no Boater takes the extra person multiple consecutive times; this is not fair to anybody.

The next subject was the change of venue for our second 2 day tournament from Lake Nacimiento to Santa Margarita in San Luis Obispo County.  Tony Franks is investigating the availability of campsites and tournament regulations for the lake.

The good news is that we have reserved the Apache Sunrise Group Camping site at Lake Cachuma for our 2 day tournament there in May.  This is the same site we had last year.  It is mostly flat and has good access to the rest areas and showers.

At the meeting tonight we have a very special guest speaker and great friend to the club, Mr. Bill Siemantel.

This month’s tournament is at Lake Piru and the good news there is that the lake has come up a little but there is a lot of debris and the water is very stained.

Tournament Results

Cold? Yes. Windy? Some.  Water temperature? Good.  Rainy? At times.  That pretty much sums up the lake conditions at Castaic for the January tournament.  The best news of all was; Water? Yes.  The lake was up considerably.  I know that all these water level changes can put the fish off the bite but it was either that or walk to your favorite spot and dig in the mud.  Besides the fish at Castaic will use just about any excuse to not bite, they have a very strong union I think.

Bringing the big bag for first place was a team of returning members, Jeff Jue and James Fu.  Their 4 fish limit weighed in at a nice 8.93 pounds.  In second place were a new member, Kevin Miner and Eddie Carr with a limit that weighed 7.40 pounds.  In third place was another new member, Ken Burkhart and Shelley (can you believe it) Singer who executed a perfect set and zip (set hook, zip pants) on his first keeper. Ken and Shelley had a limit weighing 6.87 pounds.  The rare occurrence of the tournament was in the Big Fish category that was not won by one of the top three teams.  Big Fish went to the team of Brendon O’Dell and Chaz Valenzuela who only weighed one fish but it was a good one at 3.42 pounds.

Mike’s

Last month marked the 2nd year since the passing of Manny Nunez. I spoke with Anita and let her know that the Nunez family is always in our hearts. She is in good spirits and still speaks fondly of the club. I invited Anita to join us and after she stopped laughing, paused for a moment, then said that she wasn’t a good fisherman. I assured her that she would be in good company. We will see what the future holds.

At the beginning of this month, Grant Powell’s wife, Gail, passed away. It is a very difficult time in Grant’s life right now and a phone call from his fellow club members will go a long way in soothing his aching heart. His number is 661-510-3592.

Please keep the Nunez and Powell families in your prayers.