MFF tourney at Chabot~sun 1.28(w/PICS)

Started out with high hopes and eager to meet up with fellow anglers.The morning was as perfect as could be as I approched the lake at 8a.m.
PIC~1

Started towards the island and hit the hot spots from the week prior....saw a yellow yaker and called out MOOCH?...it was not mooch,but his buddy Bill(not Papa) testing out a P13.Ran into Mooch and continued my hunt.

Nobody had landed anything yet,so the vibe was good.

My nephew(Moochs' BAMII Cabana Boy) had just got his new P15 and I entered him into the tourney.
PIC~2
He was off on his own mission and had an agenda to troll-up his first trout on the "passed-secret-lures"......and he DID just that!
With a few simple tips that were shared with me,slow and keep you rod-tip at a QUIVER.
PIC~3 & 4

My life-long buddy and his first Chabot trip.
PIC~ 5

Sill no other fish had been landed other than one.Tim,Mooch,Bill,Tony and myself were still on the hunt.
After about mile 10,Mooch paddles up and reports of visible bass over submerged Xmas trees just around that point.As I trolled to that area the wind picked-up and was blowin like the bay,it's hard to finesse fish when your gettin blown around...cancel that plan and AGAIN!! troll for the trout I see on my FF....ALL OVER THE #%!*ing LAKE.

Now the mile mark for the day is approching 14 and I have stuck to plan. NO BASS HUNTING!!,yet.

As I pass a wooded,rocky drop that goes to 20ft.deep, I see a LRG.DARK ARCH at the bottom, as I put on the brakes,I tell my buddy that I see one down there and I'M GONNA GET IT!..WATCH and LEARN!.....Back-paddle a bit and drop down my worn-out 7"wacky-rigged SENKO in a last ditch effort to catch something.It lay motionless at the bottom as my yak gets wind-redirected I counter paddle and stay right on top of it......AHH,there it is again...I twitch it a bit,then jig it a bit....thunk,thunk it goes!....open the bail and give it some line...wait second while I visulize the ENGULFING...and swang fer'da fence!! FISH ON!! as I yelled out and pumped the fist of conquer!!

THIS ONE FELT THE BEST,seeing it twice on the T.V. and it actually bit!!
19" and my biggest from chabot(so far).

FIFTEEN MILES and well worth the pay-off.


 


 


 
 

Started out early with my HS buddy back from the Philippine islands = Bill. He's a long time fisherman but first time on a kayak. Before launching, I gave him a few tips on getting in and out of the kayak = gracefully , self rescue and paddling tips. Off we went as I had him troll my lucky secret lure for Chabot = shad rap / fire tiger color. He was on a P13 and was doing fine - he just had to get used to paddling without hitting the side of the yak. And in an hour or so, he was already side saddling the yak and casting out from it And sure enough, he was rewarded with a nice trout...but unfortunately, he did not have a net and the trout simply bounced off the yaks deck and unbuttoned itself Still - he got to get his first fish on his first outing  ) GOOD TIMES! Reminded me of the time I took Alex / Aliens out of Santa Cruz for the kayak Connection Derby - it was his first trip on a kayak and he boated a 30 + pound halibut and won a brand new P15 for it 

Anyway, at half time, I had Bill try out the P15 for the rest of the day while I took the P13 on a joy ride. Bill's first comment was that the P15 seemed "lighter"and easier to paddle while the P13 was more stable but much slower. I came out with the same conclusion at the end of the day.

It turned out to be a beautiful day on the lake....despite the fact that I did not kill anything Had a great time hanging out with da boyzz 

Congrats to Chad / Cabana Boy for finally getting his new P15 - will be interesting to see how he pimps it out 

Bill - hope you get a kayak soon!!!

Special  thanks to Vince of Aquan Sports for loaning me the P13 for my buddy Bill to use!!!

My older bro actually got out in the water and paddled for his first time.After he hooks into his first Yak-puller,he will be inquiring where he can get one

and a setting sun was the capper to a full day of YAKIN'......

  Looks like a amazing day.
Adam,
it looks like there is something wrapped around your senko. are you using a band to hold your hook in place? or is that some braid?  Ive been considering trying the band, since the wacky style tears through the worm so easily. Its rare that I can  get mulitple fish on a single senko.
 

 

Good eye Spidey!....that single pictured 7" Wacky-riggd SENKO w/O-RING has fooled over 80" of winter-BASS so far and it is gonna get tossed out somemore before it is dead.The guy at the shop had this plastic-thingy(think a large pen-casing-half) that you slip the band/o-ring onto,then insert your senko into it and slide the ring over the casing onto the senko-middle.I had to cut into the one I got because the 7" would barely fit into it.he said the rings would result in using 1 for every 10-NOT RINGED.i'll will have to agree.I also use a hook w/a weed-guard on it too.Another guy told me to "TWIST-UP" the senko every once and a while(like ringing out a rag) to release the salt-granules for TASTE.I have also been dippin them in that "BASS GRAVY" in the BLK.sqeeze bottle.
 

So....who won the MFF? Did Fishhunter win?

 Thanks Adam, im sold on the band. I had a 2 bag a day habit last summer. Im not sold on twisting the bait, but during these winter months when im doing more dead sticking Im all about using scents.
I havnt used one particular scent enough to have a opinion on which is best, Im messy with all of them.  I also suspect that using scents brings the otters a bit closer.
As far as MFF goes, I figured Mike was getting ready to hit us with a behometh from the russian for the win.
I wasnt prepared and didnt have a measuring device, but looking at the pics Id say Adams LMB was bigger than mine.

when you twist them it kinda ROUGHS EM' UP and they look ugly,but I dont think the mind it.
I think the scents are human cover-ups(caught them with and w/o)

late pics.....sorry

Pic 1: my buddy Bill on a P13 (many thanks to Aquan Sports for the loaner  )
Pic 2: "da crew"

Adam Chad and Friends -

Way to go. Beautiful fish Adam. Did you win?

Scott

 Did you win?

Yes I did!
 knocked my  nephew-NEWBIE  (Chad) off at 2:30....(he had a 19" trolled trout )
Thanks GB2! see you out there one day!