2019 Hobie Outback camo edition

Awesome yak that’s been on the water about 20 times and in excellent condition.  Paddle, seat, drive, Lowrance Hook2 5” Splitshot, 10.0Ah Nocqua Pro Power Kit Battery Pack, RAM mount, set of Hobie straps and a Hobie flag.  If you don’t want the Lowrance/Nocqua setup I can keep it and knock a couple hundred bucks off the price.  $2900.  Shoot me a PM if you're interested.

With soccer season and school wrapping up we now have time to move onto the more important things in life, like fishing.  Jacob (BassMasterJake) was lucky enough to win the raffle for the Feel Free Move Angler by participating in last years JAOTY, and we were fortunate to get the invite from Bryan (eastonkayaker) to fish his home water for bass and panfish to break the yak in.  The alarm went off at 5:45am, and after a few attempts to get Jake and brother Colton out of bed, we grabbed donuts and were on the water early to beat the heat.  Bryan shared some tips on locations and tactics, and the fish cooperated nicely.

It was a solid morning on the water, with both boys hitting their targets of largemouth >15” and non-stop bluegill/sunfish action.  Big thank you to Dan Arbuckle and the crew at Headwaters for the kayak donation, it is absolutely perfect for Jake (and has plenty of fish mojo!). 

On the drive home the boys were running down their checklist of species and naming off the waters we’ll be targeting over the summer:  Baum Lake for browns, Whiskeytown for kokanee, Siskiyou for rainbows, Trinidad for perch and rockfish.  Lots of fish slime and smiles on the horizon…I want to encourage all of you to sign your kids up for JAOTY and get them on the water this summer!

Tight lines,
beenfishin

Time for my annual Kawasaki Disease Awareness Day reminder.   

Long story short:  very rare disease (19 out of every 100,000 kids), origin unknown, can be treated successfully but it must be caught within a 10-day window to reduces chances of coronary aneurysms.  My little dude came down with it when he was 3 year old, it was a bumpy couple years but we've got things under control now thanks to the awesome team at Lucile Packards Childrens Hospital.  I'm happy to say he's top in his class, a rockstar on the soccer field, and took 3rd in the Junior Angler of the Year last year....and gunning for the #1 slot this year!

Picked up my 2017 Hobie Outback in camo on Thursday from Headwaters Adventure Company, just in time to take Robert Field of YakFish TV out for a trip on the Sacramento River the next morning.  Within the first 5 minutes it was fish-on, a really nice rainbow around 22".  Nice way to break in the new yak!

I think everyone is familiar with the Outbacks enough, the big deal on the 2017 Hobie's is the new reverse-capable drive system.  Honestly I didn't think I'd be using it too much in the river, but I found it extremely helpful for side-drifting down the river, allowing for super easy adjustments to get just the right drift.  At one point Rob had a fish on his lap and camera's in hand while heading straight for a sizeable boulder, I was able to nose in, grab his yak, hit reverse, and back us into safe water.  Super, super helpful.

With the yak properly broken in I'll start on the modifications tonight.  We will be taping/uploading How-To videos, I'll keep this thread updated with new postings.  Plans right now call for:
-Rectangular hatch install
- YakAttack rails
- Yak Attack Zooka tubes
- Lowrance Elite 5 HDI / wiring / battery
- Scotty Laketroller downrigger
- Gun rack
- LED lighting

Tight lines!
-beenfishin

Sunday 4/17- I’ve spent a lot of time on the Sacramento River here in the Redding area, but planned to work further south and explore some new waters and species this year.  The reports of red-hot striper fishing in the Colusa area got me fired up to give it a shot.  Armed with some intel from Clayman, I was joined by Tim (Fisheducator) and my buddy Don.  We located the drop-in location about 7 miles upstream of Colusa, roped the boats down the levee, geared up and gave it hell.  And gave it tackle.  Lots, and lots, of tackle!  I’ve never had so many snags in a day of fishing, that whole stretch is a minefield of submerged trees. 

We drifted along throwing swimbaits/black worms/jjigs/minnows, and just weren’t marking any fish or having any luck.  Talked to all the bankies and other boats, a few shakers here and there but overall it was a ghost town.  I finally marked a few fish in a nice eddy, dropped a minnow on their head and pulled in a pair of shakers…nothing to brag about, but my first stripers and the skunk-savers for the day!  We reached the State Park, shuttled the vehicles, and hauled the yaks/gear up the levee and got on the road.

Overall it was a fun day, I wish we could've slayed them but paying dues is all part of the process.  I'll be back. 

tight lines,
beenfishin

It sure is nice to be able to fish willows/trees again, and visit spots that have been high and dry for several years.  The lake is full and the fishing is lights-out right now.  My last trip out was with Mike, a family friend who hadn't fished in 30 years.  He recently picked up a pair of kayaks and wanted a lesson in Shasta Bassin, and right now is prime time.  We picked up a dozen 'natural swimbaits', my go-to for beginners to get a few fish in the yak and boost confidence a bit.  We launched at Packers Bay under drizzly skies, with air temperature in the high 50’s and a water temp of 63 degrees.

A quick overview of the yaks and techniques, and we made the 1/2 mile peddle to our first spot, a small cove with a nice willow in 20' of water with a small creek trickling in.  Like clockwork, Mike dropped the minnow down, I counted to ten, and his first fish was in the boat.  Not a monster, but he was smiling and it set the tone for the rest of the day.  Spot after spot, all in the 10-15” range, then a nice black crappie just over 12” consumed the rest of the minnows, and it was time to venture into a variety of senkos, worms, mini-swimbaits, and Gulp minnows on a darthead.  If you’re in rocky/cobble @ 10’ of water, bouncing a Gulp with a squirt of garlic Pro Cure is about as sure of a thing as you can get.  Mostly spots, with a few smallies and crappie rounded out the action. 

More Shasta action this weekend, then bouncing around between the Sac, Baum, Whiskeytown, and Lewiston over the next few weeks.  Love this time of year!

Tight lines,
beenfishin

January 26th- Kawasaki Awareness Day

Some of you have seen my annual Kawasaki Disease Awareness Day posts before, please consider this a reminder.
Some of you lent support and encouragement as we went through the battle 3 years ago with my son Jacob, for that I am still truly grateful.
Some of you are new to NCKA and might have never heard of Kawasaki's Disease, so here's the short version: 

My boy was almost 3 years old, became sick, kind of like a bad cold.  Then a nasty fever, extreme lethargy, no appetite, a rash, and red eyes.  After 3 days we saw the pediatrician, were told it was a virus and give it another 2 days.  At day 5 we took him to the ER, were told he had a bladder infection and sent home with antibiotics.  At day 7 we were back in the ER and admitted.  At day 9 we were prepping for transport to UC Davis and the phrase 'bone marrow scans' entered the picture.  That was a shitty day.  At day 11, a new nurse came on shift, read his chart, talked to us, and within minutes recognized this as Atypical Kawasaki's Disease.  Never, ever had we heard of it.  A scan of his heart confirmed it, he was immediately given a treatment of IVIG, steroids, and high-dose aspirin, and by the next morning he was eating waffles and watching Spongebob. 

The first year post-diagnosis was rough, lots of side-effects to troubleshoot, but now he's ripping lips and shredding snow like a pro and nothing holds him back. 

Tight lines,
beenfishin & Jacob 

Sorry, not a yak report but the drift boat is close enough right? 
Had a cancellation Saturday so loaded up my middle-boy and brother and headed over the hill to Baum Lake, just east of Burney.  We got a super late start to avoid the chilly temps, and it was mere minutes until Jake hooked/landed his first brown of the day.  Fresh nightcrawler, cast, wait a minute, and repeat.  Again.  And again.  He soon got bored (he is 6 after all), so we set him up with binoculars and candy while we got some fly action and hardware slinging in.  More browns, a few rainbows, no monsters but nice clean fish.  The Baum never disappoints!

Tight lines,
beenfishin