DOCK TALK
March 2009

March Meeting

Several thing happened at the March meeting that are important to mention. We are coming up on our first two day tournament of the year at Lake Cachuma the weekend of May 16th and 17th. We will need to know if you plan to attend by the next meeting on April 9th. Remember also that even though the next meeting is on the 9th, the April tournament at Lake Pyramid is not until the 19th due to Easter. Carol Martens will be our guest speaker in April. She is not just the mother of Aaron Martens, she is a very accomplished angler in her own right.

It is also time to start thinking about Lake Lopez in August.

Tournament Results

It was starting to look like it was going to be another one of those terrible fishing days with cloud cover and a calm lake. Well that’s how it started at least. The water was about 55° and flat as a board at take off. It was supposed to get warner but that never happened. That is the weather other people get. By 10:45 the wind was blowing a gail and we were all shivering. 16 boats at launch is the most in a very long time, maybe ever. We were joined in line by Steve Darbyshire, a new member from Texas (long commute) who dicided he wanted to fish with a club so he went out a bought a boat. There is no doubt that Mike’s 12.5 (see Mike’s Place for official weight) was the crown jewel but it did not win the tournament on it’s own. Mike had a keeper early and his partner Wyatt Zollinger put another one in the boat in the last 10 minutes for a three fish total of 16.8 pounds. Walt “J.R.” Klondracki, another new member and Gary Priddy brought in a 5 fish limit for a very respectible 14.49 pounds and second place. Ernie Kost and David Sanchez also had a limit that was good enough for third place at 11.97 pounds. Teamed up with Jessie Benavidas and fishing with the club for the first time was John Schultz of Valencia.

Mike’s Place

(As printed in Western Bass)

Thank you all. This was my first double-digit fish and the fish of a lifetime. I am glad that I was able to share this experience with so many people. The Castaic Bass Club had a pretty full field with 16 teams launching on that fairly cold Sunday morning. My tournament partner, Wyatt Zollinger and I struggled trying to find fish most of the morning. The bite had definitely slowed for most of us since the water level jumped up a couple of feet over night. Around 10:30 we moved over to a spot that I love to throw my Ika. After a few minutes I noticed my line moving ever so slowly upwind. I calmly said to Wyatt to get the net ready. He asked if I was on and as he walked to the bow, I reeled in my slack line so that the rod tip was on the water and swung with all my might. NOW I’M ON!!! The fish turned and began taking line. Most of my fish don’t even come close to pulling drag. I knew that I had a good 5 or 6 lb’r. She headed off parallel to the shoreline for a short distance and I was able to turn her head. Now she headed out a little deeper and all of a sudden stopped dead. I couldn’t move her, the line was solid. She must have tucked into some brush. @#$^& !!!!! I moved the boat around to change my angle on her. Didn’t want to apply too much pressure since I was using 10lb test line. All of a sudden she started swimming again and freed herself from the branches. Chased her with the trolling motor and after a few minutes, (seemed like hours) Wyatt yelled he could see color. I put a little more pressure on her and she started to come up faster. Now she’s close enough and we finally see just how big she really is. HOLY C#$%^ !!! OH @#%^& !!! This isn’t any 6lb’r !!!!! She rolls on her side, head pointing up. Now I ‘m yelling NO, NO she’s going to shake her head !!! I stuff the rod down deep in the water to hopefully discourage her from throwing the Ika. Well it worked except for she decided to take another run. My hearts pounding and Wyatt is poised with the net ready to swoop down on her. I bring the beauty back around and start yelling “ NET HER, NET HER !!! Unfortunately she still at least 10’ from the boat and well out of Wyatt’s long reach. One more time I get her to make an ever-tighter circle and Wyatt snatches her up like an Osprey feeding on trout !!!! SHE”S ON THE BOAT !!!! I let out a yell like no human has heard before. We put her in the live well and the emotions of what just happened kick in. After countless high fives and handshakes with Wyatt I called my wife and daughter to tell them about the event that had unfolded minutes before. They knew that this was a milestone in a fishermen’s dream and were almost as excited as I was. Oh what a feeling.

I am very thankful that I was able to share this experience with my tournament partner Wyatt, and you, my friends and peers.

Fish Details: Weight: 12.76lbs (reweighed after tournament, no wind)

Length: 27 1⁄4” Girth: 22 1/8”

Make it yours

I am not going to stop nagging you all. I would like very much for all of you to participate. Send me a paragraph or two. Tell me a fishing story. If you don’t trust yourself, I have a little talent, I will help you write it.

The end of the line…

I have to admit, I wasn’t wild about the name we picked for the newsletter. I had my own personal favorite but as I have said several times, this is not my newsletter. After the tournament on Sunday I stood in the parking lot and looked at what was going on around me. Roger was helping someone wipe down his boat (do you think they were using Peregrine 250). Steve Rauch was shooting the breeze with a couple other guys. Mike Iljin was describing how he caught his big fish for the eighth time. The people that were not in boats were talking to the people that were. How did you catch it? Where did you finish? Did you SEE that toad Mike caught? New members were getting brought up to speed by old ones. We had 16 boats on the lake on a very cold and windy March morning. Now they were all in the parking lot. I looked and there it was, all around me. I guess we could have called it Parking Lot Talk but it really is, it really was Dock Talk. I don’t know if this was the best tournament ever but it sure looked like the best CLUB ever. To me this is what a “CLUB” is all about. DOCK TALK, what could have been a more perfect choice?

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