Then the most recent Tournament on Clear Lake; what a blast!  Clear Lake in the fall is my absolute favorite time and place to be.  It suits my style of fishing to the T.  6-8 inch swimbaits were my primary tools on main, rocky points near deep water.  I found the most productive structure on the second day of practice when I caught a 9+ on a ripbait, on lava-rock point.  On day three of practice I pulled out the swimbaits and ran points and caught 20+ lbs. in less than 3 hours.  I felt very good about the weather as it was to remain stable throughout the week.  On the last day of practice I went out and checked 2 spots, caught nothing, and headed back to the hotel for maintenance on my equipment. 

On day 1, I weighed 22 lbs.  On day 2, I weighed 25 lbs.  and took the lead.  On day 3, I weighed 21 lbs.  and kept the lead.  13 of those fish were caught on swimbaits while 2 of them were caught heavy-flippin.  The night before the final day, we (the top-ten) had our meeting with FLW and the FSN crew.  They hooked me up with the mic, hat-cam, and cameraman.  It was sick! (This event airs on FSN on Dec.  30 at 9 a.m.)  On the last day I got some cool footage of a 5er on a swimbait that I hope they air despite the fact I'm fishing out of a Triton(Ranger sponsors FLW and they are strict on showing brand names, etc..) Too bad that 5 lber was the only good fish I hooked all day.  I fished my butt off and only had 16 lbs.  I was absolutely loving every moment of that day.

Yea, I didn't take it home, but I can honestly say it didn't bother me.  I have no regrets, excuses, and not one "I lost a big fish" story.  I know that to win at this level, everything has to line up and go right.  All you can do is get as many things going in your favor as possible.  Bobby Barrack calls them "controlables", and it is so true.  So, when the show was over, I was more than happy to net 3rd place and $39,078!  I also got some great exposure over the net and shook hands with a ton of new people. 

I was also lucky enough to pick up some help from Gary Dobyns, I am now on the Dobyns Rod pro staff and I am really excited about it.  I told myself I would only represent company's products I believe in %100.  Dobyns Rods are the deal!  If you're in the market for a new rod, I highly recommend you pick up and feel any of the 50+ technique-specific rods, you'll like 'em.  For you San Jose guys, go see Denise at Coyote Bait and Tackle and tell her I sent you.  She will set you up.  Or, come check out some of the outdoor shows this winter in San Mateo or Sacramento, they always have new stuff worth peeking at.

To end the longest post of the year: For my rookie season, I ended up with 2 top-tens, 9th overall in points, and earned $64,988 for the 2007 year.  I am really fired up for the upcoming 2008 FLW Series beginning in February at Lake Amistad, Texas.  If you ever need to get a hold of me, just look me up on the calfishing.com forums, I post as zaldain.  Good fishing. 

Chris Zaldain