Geez, I was damn near HOARSE, after all the talkin' I did at the show Wed. night. First of all, to all the club members I saw -- Rob, Todd, Al/Robert/Chris -- & then to Dave Rush, Aaron Coleman (in the Coyote booth), who's that big guy who works at Coyote B&T, Denise from Coyote (left some club flyers at their cash register -- not to mention sprinkling them around to guys in the various booths), big Stewart @ Big Poly, the STI guy ('Mike'? I bought one of his clear deeper-lipped jerkbaits, which he wanted me to send him some feedback on), Andy Gianninni (NCBF'er, with Persuader lures), the Bass West guys... on & on & on, right up 'til closing.

I guess it's all about what you make it! I didn't spend more than 10% of my time in anything but that first row, by the demo tank. But then, why would I want to go anywhere else, other than to look at the kickboats, gadgets, special lures & such in the other aisles?

Trust me, more guys are aware of our club now! I've been dropping flyers around for the past few years now; some of the guys remember me from years past. Unfortunately, one of the comments I keep hearing is: "Oh, yeah! Jimmy Reese used to run that club, didn't he?" Naturally, I have to spend ten minutes explaining that that's the SONOMA club, and that we fish each others' tourneys on a regular basis, blah, blah, blah...

Yeah, I did some shopping, too -- to the tune of around $150 bucks. Lots of SWEET-looking lures!

Dave Rush had an impressive double-hook drop-shot demo, where some of the biggest fish kept inhaling the bottom green-weenie worm, cast after cast after cast! Suck it in, blow it out, suck it in, blow it out. I really gotta get & try that double-hook technique! He had those baits just shimmying around, looking SO seductive! Those fish just couldn't leave it alone! (Pretty surprising, since I've seen shows where, if it's their first day in the tank, those fish don't go after NOTHIN'!).

I pointed out Dink Mendez to Todd, whereupon he hit him up for some spinnerbait & jig donations -- Dink has said for the past couple of years he's more than willing to support our events! It just seems that nobody's ever come to him, when it comes time to work a deal. Sounds like Todd is gonna change THAT, though! :-)

Boy, Todd was lookin' pretty SWANK in that flashy grey suit! Not your typical FISHING GARB, by any means! ;- )

Go get 'em, bud! You were WORKIN' them booths!


Anyways, as you might surmise from this novel here, I had a GREAT time! Not sure if I'll make it back this week, but then again, there's always PLEASANTON in a couple of weeks! (I never made it to the CATCH CAM booth!) :-) . Later! -- j

- jeff

-----------------------
Every day Congress convenes, we lose a little more of our LIBERTY!!!

(-- Mark Levin, radio-show host/KSFO 3-6pm)