NorCal Kayak Anglers
Kayak Fishing Zone => Hookups and Fishing Reports (Viewable by Public) => Topic started by: MolBasser on June 18, 2006, 05:47:56 PM
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I won.
by 3 oz.
More details later.
Winning bass was 3#11oz.
Lots of trout caught, very few bass.
I will write a detailed report later tonight.
Thanks all!
MolBasser
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Chris Baugh rules!
You should have heard him on the radio when he caught that fish.
".....pant, pant, pant.......Ok I think I got the contest winner here....pant pant pant....!!"
"Big bass over at ....(unintelligable)......my heart is beating so fast...patpantpant."
Well, he got it allright, and will soon take delivery on a tie-dye prowler 13
Well done, Chris. this contest was your to win. sometimes the stars do align correctly. you da man.
Also youth division winner Eddie Evans.....in between potty breaks, he helped his dad pull in this 11 oz trout!
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Nice bass...congrats on the win!
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Dude! way to go! we expect details, down to the swivels used.
:smt004
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Kayaker Wins! And look at little Eddie hold that Fish. WTG MB :groupwave .
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Couldn't have happened to a more worthy person! WTG man!
I was bummed I could not make it out today. Still fighting this nasty infection :puke:
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Congratulations Chris!
Nice pose too. Looks like a 7 #er from the photo! :smt003
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So, here is my story.
After prefishing for a couple of times in the previous week, I felt that I had a bit of a pattern. I had been catching bass with spinnerbaits near the bluegill spawning beds early in the morning. After the sun hit the water, that bite would stop. So, with the tourney due to start early, I had a plan to hit the areas where I had gotten the spinnerbait fish before. I also had heard that the topwater bite was on in the far north arm. This was my plan. Hit the bluegill beds and then head for the top water action.
Well, the best layed plans......
The start time turned out to be 7am, and although I was rigged and ready to go at 6:15, I just had to wait....and wait...and wait.... And watch the sun hit the water where I wanted to do the spinnerbait deal in the shallows. Then I watched a bunch of non entered fisherpeople hit up the areas that I was headed to also.
I amused the crowd by looking at my gps clock and counting down the time until the start.
With the close spinnerbait bite looking not so hot, I made a bee line for the north end of the lake and commenced to throw a popper over the tastey looking territory. Loch Lomond has so many submerged stumps and downed trees, it looks just so tastey everywhere....Well, too bad sonny boy, no love for you!!
I spent the first two hours in that arm fishing poppers, spinnerbaits, and jigs. No love except for a bunch of bluegill who would pull down my popper by the tassles on its trail trebble.
BTW, this lake is loaded with bluegill. It would really help it out for people to go up there and harvest a bunch of them to cull the herd.
At any rate, no dice in the north end. I then decided to go to plan C (or is it D at this point) which was to flip any remaining tules in the shade. I found a bank of tules opposite of the arm I had fished to start out and hit it up with a 6" watermellon senko. I got some bites that I gave mighty swings on for nothing. Almost assuradly bluegill again. At this point a had a serious knocking at the back door so I paddled for a portapotty to regroup.
With relief, I headed back south and threw a jig at any visible downed trees with no luck. I decided with 2 hours to go that I had to go to the final plan.
I had found a point that had a beautiful drop off and sun cover a few days back. I had marked fish on it at 15-20 feet deep and it was my alamo for the tournament. I figured I would anchor off of this spot and work it seriously. So off I went. Well, what I forgot was that it is on the shore fishing side of the lake and I found it on a thursday. This was fathers day, and all the available shore fishing spots were taken. My point was not an exception, and when I arrived there was a guy camped on the point. I couldn't very well just anchor up and fish where got to first so I headed into the cove a short bit.
All day I had kept the drop shot rig in reserve (I have no idea why, just never felt I could use it), but now I broke it out. Here is the rig.
Clarus 7ft. medium action extra fast tip spinning rod
Okuma Epixor 30 reel
Stren Original clear, 6# test
Gamakatsu Octopus hook (red) #2 (I think)
Robo Worm Aarons magic 4" Special FX sculpin dropshot worm
(http://www.roboworm.com/snimages/sn8296.jpg)
I set up the drop shot with about a foot of leader between the weight and the worm. I cast parallel to the shore in about 15-20 feet of water (first cast) and started shaking it back to the boat.
The worm had not moved more than 6 feet before it got inhaled and the fish headed right for deep water. I set the hook and the fight was on. I knew emediately that it was a decent fish and my heart started pounding right away because (as far as I knew) this was the only bass caught, and thus a new kayak was on my hook. With 6# test and drag stripping and an unknown hookset with a tree nearby I was a wreck. The fish came up to jump, and I tried to stop it by putting my rod tip down in the water to no avail and the fish leaped. My heart rate surged when I saw the fish. I started mentally chanting "please don't come off, please don't come off, please don't come off". As I got the fish closer to the boat I saw that it was hooked quite well and relaxed a tiny bit realizing that it would only be lost to a broken line. Here is where my decision to leave the net behind to make room for one more rod started to haunt me, but I was able to lip the fish on the first attempt. I grabbed that lip like a vise!
Now with the fish in hand I commenced the shaky process of putting it on the stringer. I knew that I was going to keep any bass I caught for tacos (I really like bass) so I was not concerned about keeping it alive, I was more concerned with keeping it on my stringer. I have a clip type stringer so I hooked it with 3 clips and double wraped the other end around the carry handle on my Drifter.
At this point I reached to the radio and said (in typical MolBasser fasion) "I just won the tournament". Alan's post is pretty accurate. Lots of heavy breathing and adrenaline in my voice.
Time, at this point, could not pass fast enough. I kept looking at my watch. 10:20.....10:22.....10:25....
After the fish, I snagged and broke off my rig and slowly (too slowly) re-rigged. I couln't tie the knot for minutes as my hands were still shaking. I finally got it back together and pitched out the bait in the same general area and hooked another fish......a trout!
I stringered that guy also and then got word across the radio.....Another "decent" bass was caught by Gordon. No details about the fish. The sweat starts to build on the brow. I start mentally kicking myself for calling that I "had won" on the radio with an air of certainty instead of my typical humorous smack talk.
Talk about nervous. LL is a big bass lake. Any "decent" fish is a decent fish. My fish weighed just under 4 pounds on my cheapy pocket scale. I was very worried that it wouldn't hold up.
I paddled to some other areas and threw drop shot and jigs, but my heart wasn't really in it. I was worried that the fish wouldn't hold up, but I couldn't concentrate. I was going through all the scenarios in my head.
At 20 minutes to the bell I packed it in and went back to the weigh in. I left my fish on the stringer on the yak on the dock and went up the the table. I asked Mark what the current big fish was, and he said 1 something. I said "I've got that crushed, what about the big bass?" He said he hadn't seen it yet and that I should get my bass to weigh. As I headed back to the dock Gordon, and the his bass was on the way to the scales. It looked like a clone of mine. I was WAY nervous. As I brought my bass to the scales the Gordon with his bass was headed back for the lake to release the fish (he had a live well) and we put them side to side. We both looked at each other and said "this is gonna be close!". I got my fish to the scale and after some diddling I got it out of my hand and free to weigh. 3 pounds 11 ounces.
Thump, thump, thump goes the heart....
"What did the other bass go?"......3 pounds 8 ounces......WOOT! I'm in the lead, but there are 10 minutes...
Tick tock, Tick tock..
At that point the press showed up, and the Fish Sniffer dude took a bazillion pictures which got my mind off of the clock.
Noon! and I was the winner. Felt great.
What felt better was all the camraderie of the crowd at the tourney. What a great bunch of guys!
I look forward to more tournaments on my new Sunrise Prowler 13.
Thanks again to Kayak Connection and Ocean Kayak and everyone involved.
MolBasser
Edited several times for spelling errors etc.
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Congrats!!!
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Mol,
Congratulations!!! I guess i called it right for you. With all the scooping- out and Pre-fishing of the lake Paid off for you. was bummed that I couldn't make it this time around.
Again, Congratulations on the Win :smt001
Did you see my brother on his rubber kayak :smt003 Hee, hee...
Alex
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Way to go! Pre-fishing paid off.
Jack
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Right on.... Mol. You deserved the win after doing all that homework!
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Hooray Chris!!!! Will this be the year of skill and preparation? Good showing.
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Congrats Chris, That's the way it's done . . .prefish...prefish...prefish. Excellent report.
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Congrats to Chris,Gordon and Stuart for First,Second and Third place :smt023 :smt023 :smt023!!! Will follow up with more pics!
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Great Job Chris. I will be the first to admit I did not read your entire post, but bet it was a fantastic feeling to put in hard work and reap the benefits. Way to go!
Jason
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Funny thing.
When the reporter wanted to take pictures he wanted me to put on my PFD to cover up my tie dye for the shots.
I had to explain to him that it was "sort of my signature" and I didn't want to cover it up, and I heard Alan in the background snickering "sort of?" Heh....
Another funny thing was Mooch asking me if, since I won, I would stop with the smack talk.........I think everyone was laughing when I said "Heck no, I'm gonna smack talk more!". I didn't see who it was that educated Mooch that I had just been rewarded for the behavior...... :smt003
I edited my main post a bit and included a picture of the bait I used.
MolBasser
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Congratulations Chris. I bet its a better feeling to win a kayak on the water than in a raffle. Nicely done.
Paul
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Yeah, the guilt will be far less.
If that is possible...... :smt005
MolBasser
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Congrats MB. Sunrise is the best color, IMO.
BTW - I think Stu has placed in every tourney he has entered... Watch out HMB and Elk, I think he's due for another win... We might consider pulling a Nancy Kerrigan on him before the next big tourney... :)
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I think Stu has placed in every tourney he has entered
Yes he has :smt045
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Good job, Mol!
Here's how I came up 3 oz short of a new kayak... :smt010
I was focusing on bass. I hadn't been to Loch Lomond since high school (don't ask how long ago that was...) so before the tourney I downloaded an aerial picture of the lake from Microsoft Terraserver (http://terraserver.microsoft.com/cmap.aspx?src=0&ppd=1&r=4&c=3&W=0&ClickAt=?0,0). Fortunately, the picture was taken when the water was low, so it showed several points and flats that would be underwater during the tourney.
I got on the water about 6:45 and started rigging up before official "blast-off". I tried to switch on my depthfinder but nothing happened. :smt013 The livewell aerator was not working either, so I assumed dead battery (the battery checked out OK @ home, so I think it's a wiring issue inside the yak). So I was basically fishing blind all day.
Based on the aerial map, I thought fishing around the island showed promise and started there, alternating between several baits (spinnerbait, big swimbait, brush hog, crankbait). No takers so I headed over to the tules across the lake. I tried flipping a big jig deep into the tules and around any brush/wood I could see. This wasn't panning out either, so I went to plan 'C' -- dragging a carolina rigged Baby Brush Hog. I worked my way from the back of the cove with the tules out to a main lake point and then turned around and started back in. I didn't know how deep I was -- just trying to keep the bait in what I thought was 10-15' of water if I could. Halfway into the cove I got a very soft hit, almost like I was pulling the bait through some weeds. I pulled back and the weeds shook their head, so I set the hook. At first I thought it was a smallish fish (probably because I had so much line out). Once it got close to the yak the battle started in earnest, as I was uncomfortably close to a submerged stump, and I knew they have huge root systems. I pedaled my yak (Hobie Mirage Outback) towards deeper water so the fish wouldn't wrap me up. My hands were shaking as I netted it and I breathed a prayer of thanks. I didn't want to chance weighing it on the water, but I guestimated it between 3 to 4 lbs (turned out to be exactly between -- 3 lb, 8 oz). I put it in the livewell and checked my watch -- ~8:45. Why couldn't the tourney end at 9:00?
I was going to stay mum until weigh-in, but I ran into Stuart and he told me what he had so I told him what I had. Then I saw Mooch who said, "Did you hear? Mol got a 4-lber!" I though Stuart had radio'd him about my catch and Mooch was just yanking my chain...
Spent the rest of the day looking for a bigger bite with the jig and the swimbait, but no love...
So I won a seat/backrest for 2nd place. I showed it to my wife and said, "The rest of the new kayak is on the trailer -- just kidding."
It was a fun event. Thanks to Kayak Connection and the sponsors. Good to see all you guys out there.
Gordon
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Thanks for telling your stories guys! Sounds like you both worked pretty hard for those fish!
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the morning launch....(who needs a launch ramp :smt002)
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more launch photos (you can never have enough)
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Congrats to Mole and Gordon. That was an exciting finish.
I fished with Fred, Joel, Chuck and Harold.
Hearing the bass fishing at the Loch is TOUGH, we targeted trout first, just to "get on the board". Right away, we saw Jim (or Ed?) and his son hook the first fish of the day, quickly followed by Fred and Harold.
With cookie cutter planters caught in the first 15 minutes of fishing, we figured trout weren't going to take first, so we then focused on bass.
Between us, we fished hard at several fishy spots for nada!
Not being a bass purist by any means, I figured I'd try two frowned upon techniques at the same time. Bait and trolling. :smt001
I went really, really slow, with a live night crawler tight to the shoreline, 7 feet under a small split shot and a bobber, trailing way behind the yak. Had several annoying bluegill hits, but no real love. I was getting a sore neck, looking behind at the bobber, so I switched to tossing the crawler along the shore.
I pitched it close to shore, right in between two stumps and had a surprise hit. I knew it was a bass and was screaming like a school girl. As soon as I landed it, my fishing companions looked at the fish, looked at me, looked at the fish again, shook their heads and paddled away. At the moment, size didn't matter. Finally catching a LL bass was a big accomplishment!! Stupid me was thinking maybe, just maybe, could it be possible that I had the only bass of the day?
Ran into to Gordon along the shoreline, and he told me he had one too. I knew his was bigger, and when he said 3-4lbs, my heart sank like a G Loomis rod to the bottom of the Loch.
My radio was on the wrong channel, so I didn't hear about Mol's fish till late in the AM.
Thanks Kayak Connection and Allen Bushnell for hosting the event. After wards, we met up with my family and Joe's family enjoying the rest of the day at the Loch. We even decided to paddle out and have a little bluegill contest. Lots of hits, misses, rigs in trees and small blues.
Family, friends and fishing. What a great Father's Day.
Stuart
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on the water - on stand by....the crew waiting for the "gentlemen, start your engines" signal from Allen Bushnell....
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while we were all waiting for the green light to fish, I took some pics of Gordon's pimp ride Hobbie Kayak.....
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Since it was a Father's Day event....I figured I'd honor the Father's who brought their offsprings out for a paddle and a little fishing.....
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more Father / offspring photos....
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Chris "the smack talker" Molbasser with the First Place LMB.....
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Stuart with the 3rd place LMB.....
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more "on the water" shots....
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As usual... big UPS to the Kayak Connection and Allen for putting on another great derby. Ended up with a large group this time around. Also, props to Mol, Gordon and Stuie for turning in the best fish of the day in that order. Also, to little Eddy for being the top go getter in his class. That's a tough lake to hook up on... for bass anyways. Lots of us did as good as we could and came up short. Hard to believe that out of 33 anglers, only 3 of us hooked up onto a bass. Mol did his homework and was rewarded accordingly. After a couple of hours, I was just looking to get lucky... not... Oh well... there's always the next derby. Had tons of fun and it was a great day.
Good Job Guys,
Freddie
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Many thanks to Mark of Kayak Connection and Allen of Ocean Kayaks for the setting up the derby and feeding the hungry after all was said and done :smt002 Again, congrats to all the "catchers" and of course to all those that made the effort to attend the Derby :smt023 Thanks also to the FishSniffer reporter - for covering the event :smt023
Despite the loss my of my favorite trout rod.....a GLoomis (my one and only).......that is now a permanent resident of the Loch...I had a lot of fun just doing what I like to do most = hang out with the crew for some paddling and fishing .....and eating :smt002
I did all I could to catch but came up short.....the only love I got was from a bunch of these little bait stealers :smt013
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does this look "fishy" or what :smt045
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Sweet pictures.
Did Stuart measure his bass? It looks pretty close.... :smt002
Just got off of the phone with Mark at Kayak Connection and got the word on my yak.
P13
Sunrise
Not angler addition (although Mark tried, they don't make it in that color. No biggie).
But get this....and this is good (are you reading this Allen?)...
THEY ARE INCLUDING THE RUDDER SYSTEM!!
Woot!!
Kayak Connection kicks booty.
Thanks Mark and especially, thanks to Ocean Kayak!
MolBasser
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I am slightly disturbed that you will now be paddling a tie-die kayak :smt003 when are you getting a tiedye paddle?
Seriously that is going to be a great boat for you and a big speed bump from the drifter.
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does this look "fishy" or what :smt045
Dude, I have fished that spot a bazillion times in the last week for squat.
I haven't tried a frog on it though....
It does look beautious, but it is a bit shallow.
MolBasser
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I am slightly disturbed that you will now be paddling a tie-die kayak :smt003 when are you getting a tiedye paddle?
Seriously that is going to be a great boat for you and a big speed bump from the drifter.
Just as soon as I get my new paddle and hire some artsy hippie from UCSC to airbrush it.
Seriously.
MolBasser
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I'm most definitely sorry I missed this one. I hope to be there next year. Chris had a good ideal about a get together to thin out the blue gill population. Every year here in Fresno The local fly club have a sunfish tournament at a lake called Little Panouch then we have a fish fry afterwards. They charge $10. 1,2 and 3rd place winners split the pot accordling.
Chris will you be at Lake Natoma? There's largemouth and smallmouth.
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A bluegill tournament shore lunch on the island at Loch Lomond would be a total blast!!!
Great idea.
I don't know about Natoma....
MolBasser
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Carlisle makes some multi-color paddles ... almost tie die-ish.
-Allen
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Sweet, that would go with sunrise on the yak....
I'll check it out.
Thanks.
MolBasser
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I am slightly disturbed that you will now be paddling a tie-die kayak :smt003 when are you getting a tiedye paddle?
Seriously that is going to be a great boat for you and a big speed bump from the drifter.
Just as soon as I get my new paddle and hire some artsy hippie from UCSC to airbrush it.
Seriously.
MolBasser
you'll find more hippies at Berekely :smt002
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Wanna bet on the hippies in SC vs Berkeley?
MolBasser
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Joel,
I'm surprise you didn't get a picture of my Bro in his blow-up rubber kayak! I'm sure you seen him :smt003
sorry about the lost of a g-loomis.
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:smt033
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Mooch, special thanks to you for your pictures! Good picture of a bluegill too.
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Joel,
I'm surprise you didn't get a picture of my Bro in his blow-up rubber kayak! I'm sure you seen him :smt003
sorry about the lost of a g-loomis.
Are you serious? There was a guy there in what looked like a tiny yellow banana-style sevylor inflatable kakak/canoe(that looked like it wasn't fully inflated)... if anyone needed a new kayak, it was him :smt002
Nice to see everyone & get out on the water. It was a fun time even with the lack of quality fish. I was so exhausted by the end of the day. The sun really took its toll... the last bluegill session resulted in Mooch & I looking for shade more than the fish :smt011 Luckily the bluegill seemed to appreciate the shade as much as we did. :smt005
Mol, congrats on the fish & the win - always good when a plan comes together in the end. :smt004
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Mooch Thanks for the picture. Thanks to everyone involved with the tournament. Eddie and I had a great time. Chris great job winning, for about 10 minuets Eddie and I thought we had it wrapped up, but you definitely deserved it after the skill and work you put into it. I have to agree with Allen though, you on the radio was one of the highlights of the day. For a lot of years I thought talking smack was bad juju, but after your success I may start doing it all the time.
Ed
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If the 390 lbs of my my 34 yr old son and I had been in the same kayak, even the largest, out there, I'll bet there would have been a photo of that too. And we probably would have wound up in the same location as a certain untethered rod. Come too think of it, with all the snags we got, we should have "won" that with one of them. We had a nice day together, and we didn't have to worry about cleaning the steak we had for dinner. Some of the best moments of the day were those watching the patience the dads had with the little ones.
They grow up so fast.
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Joel,
I'm surprise you didn't get a picture of my Bro in his blow-up rubber kayak! I'm sure you seen him :smt003
sorry about the lost of a g-loomis.
Alex - I did see your bro on a yellow inflatable rubber kayak - in fact, I passed by him at one point and asked him how he was doing...he was not very chatty....unlike you = :smt091 blah blah blah blah blah.....blah....blah...................................blah :smt003
Glad you all like the pics :smt023 I just think ALL fishing reports must contain at least one photo - even if there's no fish involved :smt002
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Wanna bet on the hippies in SC vs Berkeley?
MolBasser
dude - no contest = Berkeley breeds hippies :smt045
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...and then they grow up and move to SC :smt003
Looks like a really fun time, I've got to get over there & paddle LL this summer.
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Wanna bet on the hippies in SC vs Berkeley?
MolBasser
dude - no contest = Berkeley breeds hippies :smt045
When were you last in SC?
I'll bet the SC hippies over the Berkeley hippies any day.
MolBasser
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wednesday farmers market hippies in santa cruz will outnumber the berkely hippies 5 to 1. But it's gotta be wednesday.
Fun tourney. Good meeting all you! Next time I'll be pulling something outta there. ......still a GREAT way to spend a weekend. Cheers
Garen
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Glad you all like the pics :smt023 I just think ALL fishing reports must contain at least one photo - even if there's no fish involved :smt002
I agree with you Joel. a report with pictures always makes it more fun :smt001
That's why I'm still looking for a good camera that's affordable :money:
Alex
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All hippies,somehow,are traceable back to BERKELEY!it's where they were invented :protest: :color: :hippy2:
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Sweet!
That smiley went right into my signature!
Thanks
MolBasser
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Joel,
Did I overlook something? Or did your rod go overboard during the derby? If so, then at what depth? Or did you just look behind you and it was gone?
If you know approximately where it is, and it's in less than 50 feet of water, then I bet it can be retrieved. Either by diver, or by grappling hook. Heck, my wife dropped a rod in 20' of water in a Sierra lake. Good thing for me I had my mask and snorkel in the truck. Result, one rod returned to the fold.
Regards,
Scott
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Scott - I did not flip the yak, I did something more stupid than that...just read my post at the bottom of this link...
http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/bb/index.php?topic=116.15