Sorry for the late report but I have been busy at work and spending time with the family. Well, once again I did not get to pre-fish since I work weekends. I left work in Napa at 5pm on Saturday and headed up to Sieg "Basstraveler" Taylor's house. I got there about 7pm and rigged up my rods. I knew, from talking to different friends, there was a jig/dropshot, frog, and crankbait bite going on. Ya, I know you could catch them on a bare hook but these were the baits catching the better weights. I only brought four rods with me due to a limited amount of time to fish during the tournament (6hrs) and not being able to prefish. The rods I had were: 1. Crankbait rod-DD22, frog rod, worm rod, and tube rod.

I talked with Sieg and I told him of my plans to fish the south end of the lake for the frog fish I heard were there. He said he was also planning on starting in the same area for the same fish. He told me the crankbait bite was not working for him and he would be throwing the frog, jig, and dropshot.

After getting my rods together I got to bed around 10pm and got up at 3:30am. I made it to RedBud and check in. I drew Randy Pierson as my boater. He made the state team last year and ended up 4th in the western regional. He also has won at least one boat as a pro on Clear lake so he definitely knows what he is doing.

After a little discussion we start on my water. We end up crossing paths with John Lake in the first 15 minutes. An hour later Randy has a 2lber and a 3.5lber. I have a 2lber and a 4.5lber. All topwater fish.

We run to his water which all end up being rockpiles I usually fish this time of year. The first cast and we have a double on with clone 2.5-3lbers. He was throwing a jig and I was throwing a tube. After a few more keepers he switches to a dropshot and I switch to a worm. We catch some more and I end up getting my best fish on a RoboWorm. It weighs 6.04. I had a limit by 7am. We run to two more rockpiles and when we get close enough to shore I end up getting another 4.5lber on a frog.

We end up just rotating through three areas the rest of the morning. By 11am I have the fish I end up weighing in. A 6lber, two 4.5lbers, and two 3lbers. I caught at least 25+ other keepers. Most of my fish came on the RoboWorm or the tube. I only caught four fish on the frog but two of them are good fish (4.5lbers). The crankbait only saw about 5 casts with no hits/fish. I did not have any confidence in it.

Randy got most of his fish on a jig, dropshot, and carolina rig. At about 11:30 Randy hooks a good fish on the carolina rig and it ends up weighing 9.11lbs. This fish propels his total weight to 23.46lbs which is good enough for 3rd place. I end up weighing 21.55lbs and end up in 5th place.

I have been very happy with my finishes this year since I have not been able to prefish. Looks like I will also not be able to prefish Sonoma. Since I have had fairly good success without prefishing why fix what isn't broken?

It was good to see some more belly/float tubers coming out and fishing the TBF this year. I would encourage more of you to come on out and give them a try. They are inexpensive and a great way to make some new friends, learn new techniques/water, and maybe move up to the next level. The other great thing about them is the fact that you do not need a boat to compete/fish them. The schedule for next year is out and on the website so mark the dates on your calendars and come on out and join us. If I can compete without a boat and without any prefishing anybody can!

See you on the water.

Pat

Sounds like you had a good time and got on some fish.Good finish too.:) Seems like I never prefish and when I do it screws me up :o
Wish I lived a little closer but I am closer to the delta so that makes up for it.
Nice report,keep them coming.
Swampy

great report Pat thanks for sharing. Congrats on your finish once again. You have just about locked up your well deserved AOY title. Finish it off at Sonoma.

I'll post a report sometime today.

Thanks for the great report Pat.

While I don't have much to report on my day of fishing, I just caught a small limit, never could get the better bites although, I still caught a bunch of fish. Clear Lake was pretty much on fire which made for a fun couple of days fishing.

I couldn't agree more with your assesment of the Fed events, this has been my first year fishing them and it has been a great experience. I've been able to meet some awesome guys and learned a lot in the process whether its new spots or new techniques these tournaments are a great place to learn and have fun while still on a tight budget. See ya at Sonoma.

What does it cost to fish the Fed tourneys?

70 entry all options would be another 35

All details are at www.californiabass.org

Like John said, each tournament only cost 70 bucks for your entry. The options are another 35 bucks and I recommend always being in the options. If you don't believe me ask CZ the reason why :o . You also have to belong to a TBF affiliated club which Bass-N-Tubes currently is and be a FLW member (25 bucks a year). The only other cost is splitting gas money for the boat. My standard these days is to give the boater 40 bucks.

If you fish all four tournaments in a division you have a very good chance making it to the state championship. They take the top 20 guys in each division. The state championship is a lot of fun and I don't think I have ever seen more raffle prizes offered in any other tournament I have been involved in.

From the state championship the top 12 guys from this tournament move on to the western divisional. I believe the top guys from each state move on to fish the BFL All American! I fished the All American once in 2003 and if you want to be treated like royalty this is the tournament. They pay for your plane flight, hotel, food, and you are guaranteed a check! If you are lucky and good enough you could find yourself fishing the FLW Championship after the All American.

If you want to get the best information then I would go to the TBF website and spend some time reading all the information they have posted there. Hope to see more of you coming out and fishing these.

Pat

Dang Pat $40 I need to draw you :-)

You did draw me, remember? Berryessa 2005. You won :7 ! We were only on the big motor about 60 seconds all day. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't even take the money I offered you. I still remember all those double hook-ups we had on those smallies that day. Even though they were only small keepers, except for your 2+lber, it was a lot of fun :P .

The 40 bucks I offer is usually refused. Most boaters only take 30 bucks for the day. I just figure the boater brought the boat I get to use for half the day, put oil in the boat I get to use for half the day, and put gas in the boat I get to use for half the day. 40 dollars seems reasonable with today's gas/oil prices.

Pat

I'm ready to do this next year, cant wait! :9