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 2^nd 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.

October Meeting

Bo Viescas presided over the meeting in Mike’s absence.  He reminded the members that elections would be held at the November meeting.  The current board has been basically the same for the past two years.  Bo stressed that we welcome and encourage other members to participate.  To this end, two of our members have stepped up.  Ron Licari has put himself forward for the position of Vice President and Tony Franks is running for Secretary.   Please make a special effort to attend the November meeting on the 12th.

Tournament Results

What a change, a lake with actual water and fish at the same time.  Sure it was windy but this is Pyramid so when isn’t it windy.  Overall the weather cooperated nicely.  Ron Licari and Chaz “Hooksetter” Valenzuela brought in the winning numbers with a 5 fish limit at 11.59 and one that weighted 4.4 that was good enough for big fish.  Second place went to Brendon O’Dell and Shelley Singer (that’s me) with a limit that included one nice Small Mouth and totaled 11.13.  The three man team of Mike Lander, Adam Boyd and is son Hunter Boyd rounded out the top three places with a limit that weighed in at 8.72.  As usual, the Hot Dog Man was there at the end to make the tournament complete.

Mike’s

The year is quickly coming to an end and it’s hard to believe that the annual awards banquet is just a little over a month away. Top dog honor is still up for grabs with the top 3 spots a mire few points apart. I have reserved a room once again at the El Chaparral Restaurant, Canyon Country on Sunday December 20th. The festivities will start around 11:00 with a brunch hosted by The Club. Prizes and awards will follow the food. Please remember to bring your perpetual plaques to Thursday’s meeting so we can attach any plates you earned during the year.  You receive a plate for every tournament that you placed in the top 4. Also all Big fish winners receive a plate for every month. Please make plans to attend this fun afternoon with family and friends. Our next tournament was supposed to be held at Lake Piru but after speaking with the Ranger up there it was decided to move the November tournament back to Pyramid. The water levels are so low at Piru that the launch ramp is covered in mud and the lake has no coves. According to the lake personnel, this is the lowest the lake has been in over 40 years.

It will be a fun time no matter where we fish.

Take care,

Mike

July Meeting

The meeting started a little late, about 7:15.  Bo signed up the boaters and non-boaters and Mark sold raffle tickets.  I want to thank Eddie and Nick for handling the dues payments in my absence.  I promise that my appendectomy had nothing to do with the board meeting at Mike’s house Tuesday evening.  I was actually feeling lousy about 3:30 in the afternoon.  I just didn’t realize that there was a problem until about 11:00 PM.  No new members signed up for the first time in several meetings.  Mike went on to explain again about the Lopez arrangements, and to ask how many were going. Bo stood up and gave everyone the phone number for the Lopez rangers, so those going early could call and get their spots reserved.  He also gave all the info to Eddie to post on the website. We had the boaters draw non-boater for the pairings, and then draw for launch order.  There was a resolution passed by the membership to make the position of President’s Assistant permanent.  That position is currently held by Eddie Carr. It ended at about 8:15.  I also need to thank Mark for providing me with the notes on the meeting so I could get this newsletter written.

Tournament Results

The lake was as low as I have ever seen it.  There is talk about assigning a Zip Code for the island and putting is a walking path from the west ramp.  The fishing was good while the breeze held but that did not last all day.  It came back up about 10:30 which is a little after I got there to watch the weigh-in.  There were 10 boats and 10 limits.  First place and big fish went to Brendon O’Dell and Marcia Thompson with 3.05 for big fish and 9.88 for the win.  Second place was Mike Munson and David “Chef” Sanchez with a total of 8.33.  In third place were Roger Larocque and his guest Jim Frumento with 8.27.

Mike’s

A L O H A

The end of the line…

Just a quick note to thank all of you who called me while I was laid up.  I cannot express how much it meant to me.  Thank you.

Written by Shelley Singer

Be sure to check out the 2009 YTD Results.