Castaic Bass Club Blog

May Meeting

The May meeting is historically a short one with a few of the members already staking out territory up at Cachuma.  Pretty much the dues were collected and the pairings were done and it was time to go.  This does not mean that nothing important was talked about.  Remember that our Next meeting on June 10th is when we will be selecting lakes for next year’s schedule.  This is NOT an ongoing process.  The June meeting will be your one and only chance this year to have input as to where you would like to fish in 2011.

Tournament Results

Well, I was right, the tournament at Cachuma was the funnest.  The weather was the best.  Saturday morning dawned with fog on the lake that gave way to a thick marine layer that did not clear until about 2pm.  This was great news for those that like to throw blade baits or for people (like me) that had never hooked a spinner bait fish before.  Water clarity and wind depended very much on where you were and when.  Saturday night Chef David prepared Carne Asada with all the fixen’s and nobody walked away hungry and yes, he remembered the salsa this time.  Sunday’s launch was much the same as Saturday’s except the morning fog was thicker and the sky cleared earlier.
When all the weighing was done and the dock talk was running down the finish came down to this.  In First Place with a total of 10 fish weighing a rockin’ 21.09 pounds was the team of Jeff Jue and Adam Boyd.  Jeff also had the tournament Big Fish for the tournament at 4.64 pounds.  In Second Place was (you guessed it) Kevin “Keh-Ching” Miner and Marcia Thompson with 10 fish at 18.30 pounds.  If you are keeping score that is 2 wins in a row for Jeff and 5 checks in a row for Kevin.  In Third Place was our only 3 person team for the tournament, Bo Viescas, Tony Franks and Bo’s guest, his son Jake.  The three of them pulled our last limit with 10 fish at 15.71 pounds.
See you at the meeting on Thursday and remember that after the regular meeting we will be staying to talk about schedule.

Mike’s

It’s almost Summer time, that means things are heating up and that includes your live well.  Check your fish often.  Make sure your recycling pump is on and working.  If you want input on next year’s schedule than be at the meeting on Thursday or call someone and ask them to speak for you.

Mike

April Meeting

I sense a pattern developing here and I don’t mean running a Bubblegum Grub at 30 feet over a point.  I mean the willingness of our guest speakers to virtually overwhelm us with great insight and information.  At our last meeting it was Team Davies, Steve and Delynn’s turn, although in reality Steve did most of the whelming.  Steve spoke at length about technique and tactics so if you weren’t there, well, sucks to be you I guess.  As before, Steve and DeLynn brought with product aplenty.  Their Tear Shot slip on weighs are my personal favorite and are available locally at J&T Tackle in Simi Valley and Anglers Marine in Anaheim and online from MonsterTackle.com (their website was down at the time of this writing).

Don’t forget, our next tournament is one of the funnest things you will ever do with the club, our two day event at Cachuma, May 15th and 16th.  Chef David “Aquaman” Sanchez will be preparing a sumptuous feast for us on Saturday night provided he remembers the salsa this time.  You are on your own for dinner on Friday so bring it or buddy up.  It will be a launch and go because some of the boats will not get to the lake until late and will have to go through inspection in the morning.

Tournament Results

Be careful of what you wish for you just might get it.  That may describe the conditions at Pyramid on April 11th.  I know we were all tired of the cold and the wind on the lake and we were all wishing for a change and we got just that, in spades.  Along with the frigid cold and the wind we got rain and whitecaps.  It did everything but snow on us.  That did not however keep the fish from biting.  Winning the event with 5 fish at 14.22 pounds (respectable even when the sun is shinning) were Jeff Jue and Eddie Carr.  Jeff (who says he never does well at Pyramid) also had the Big Fish for the tournament at 3.85 pounds.  In second place were Kevin “Keh-Ching” Miner and Jessie Benavidez, 4 fish, 10.12 pounds.  Third place with 3 fish and 7.11 pounds went to Roger Larocque and his guest (spelled r-i-n-g-e-r) Derrek Stewart.

Mike’s

Our 2 day tournament will be at Cachuma next weekend.  Remember that we will be in the Apache Sunrise campground.  Make sure that you let them know when you check in that you are with the Castaic Bass Club.  You will only be responsible for the entry and launch fees.  The club will pick up the camping fees.  May 21 the Castaic Bass Club will be hosting the first F.O.C.L. night tournament B.B.Q. There will be 4 of these events this year and the club will be hosting all of them.  Please sign up to help.

See you Thursday,

Mike

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.

August Meeting

The meeting was shorter than usual due to the small turnout. Mostly we discussed the upcoming tournament at Lake Lopez. I think the most time was spent trying to make pairings. A lot of the boater/non-boater combination had already fished together during the year and some of the non-boaters had been 3 in a boat several times. Eddie nearly twisted himself into a pretzel but finally came out with a pairing list that was fair to all. Mike and I both commented on the Bar-B-Qs that the club does in conjunction with the ABA tournaments. Remember that these are fund raisers for the club. With the money from dues and membership, they help pay for our own dinners on the two day tournaments and for the Holiday banquet. The money goes into awards and plaques and for the bar-b-q at the upcoming challenge event. Next year we will be doing the Bar-B-Qs in conjunction with National Bass West tournaments. There will probably be a signup list for next year and please, we do need your help.

Tournament Results

Over 1000 miles of shoreline and a light chop on the water. That was Lake Guntersville in Alabama on August 15th and 16th. We were on Lake Lopez in Arroyo Grande, California. 31 miles of shoreline and two docks. Wind that could blow you into the next county and pea soup fog on Sunday morning. We saw lots of deer, quail, turkey, turkey vultures and even a couple of bald eagles. What we didn’t see were any limits of fish. Bo Viescas, Adam Boyd and Gary “Net boy” Priddy brought in the win with Adam’s 5.92 tournament big fish on Saturday and Gary’s 4.8 on Sunday. In spite of a .02 penalty, Mike Munson, Jason Haustad and Mike’s (ringer) Guest David Eberle finished with 4 fish and a two day total of 13.79 that was good enough for second. Bagging 5 fish for the weekend and coming in third were Mark Poulson and Chaz “Hooksetter” Valenuela.

A HUGE THANK YOU TO DAVID “IRON CHEF” SANCHEZ. After fishing all day David prepared Carne Asada for us all with a killer Chili and all of the sides. I should note that those sides included a fire started salsa that David bought from a “restaurant” down in Arroyo Grande because he forgot his at home. Calling the restaurant a “hole in the wall” gives a bad name to all holes in the wall. It is fortunate that it was after 8:00 and all of the local bangers were already home asleep.

Mike’s

The C.A.S.T. event is coming up very quickly and we need volunteers. Please sign up for this very special day. I will also hand out flyers at the meeting. You can drop them off at the lake, give them to me or mail them in. This is truly a rewarding day.