Fred Hall Show 2010
February 24, 2010
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The 2010 Fred Hall Long Beach show is quickly approaching. Beginning Wednesday March 3rd through Sunday March 7th at the Long Beach Convention Center in down town Long Beach of course. In addition to the huge selection of boats, booth exhibits, salt and freshwater tackle and of course all of the freebies, this years show will be loaded with hundreds of free seminars, Lowrance learning center, Special Luncheon seminars. Kids enjoy free casting lessons as well as free fishing at the Berkley Trout Pond.
While the majority of the show centers around salt water fishing ff course they will have my favorite section, the Bass Zone where countless vendor booths are setup with great prices on great tackle.
There are tons of things to see and do. One of my favorite is the bass tank. Boasting the Largest selection of fishing boats in California you can see a lot of different makes and models, You can check out the Quantum Kayak Center, See the Fin Nor Fashion Show, Visit the Triton Boats Freshwater Tank, Learn to Use Your Electronics at the “Hands-On” Lowrance Learning Center, Check out the Archery Lanes, Virtual Fishing Arcade Truck, Enter to Win various fishing trips around the world and the list goes on and on.
While I normally make it down to the show every year, this year I will not be able to attend. I recently found out that I’m going to need a total knee replacement. Between football, wrestling and martial arts in my younger days I abused my knees to much and now I’m paying for it. The doctor was actually surprised that I’m even able to walk as much as I do. Seeing how there is so much to see at the show I know my knee wouldn’t be able to handle it.
Admission is $15.00 for adults, $14.00 for military and seniors and free for kids 15 and younger. Tickets can be purchased in advance online or at the door. In my opinion if you’re a fisherman, salt or fresh, the total cost, including gas driving down, parking and admission fee is well worth it. Having everything a fisherman could want in one place is just like Christmas!
Thanks for visiting my site. Be sure to tell all of your fishing buddies and come back soon.
Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!
2010 Winter Olympics
February 10, 2010
Recently I received an email from Liza at Team USA asking me if I would be willing to mention the upcoming Winter Olympics on my web page. Truth be told I was originally skeptical if her request was real or not. After doing some extensive research on her request it appears that this is legit and I feel honored that she took the time to personally ask me to mention it on my site.
This Friday February 12, the world will gather to watch top athletes from around the globe compete in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver British Columbia, Canada. This of course is the 21st Winter Olympics and the official Olympic moto is “With glowing hearts.” Our athletes from Team USA have been training their entire lives will take the stage to represent our country in hopes of taking the gold.
As I’m sure everyone knows, the United States is one of the very few countries that does not fully fund their Olympic team. Your support of Team USA will be deeply appreciated.
Anyone who registers on Teamusa.org will have access to the latest info and will receive exclusive updates throughout the games
When you click on the below link it will take you to the Official Team USA home page where you can view Olympic updates, check out the profiles of our Olympic team, purchase Official Olympic gear and make donations to help support Team USA.
Ford SVT Raptor
February 7, 2010
“DNA of a Factory Perrunner” This thing is a BEAST! It started its life as a regular F-150, then the engineers at SVT basically cut the thing down the middle and added 7 inches to make it wider than the standard F-150, pretty extreme huh? But that was just the beginning. SVT stands for Special Vehicle Team which means this thing in no way compares to the regular F-150. Remember the SVT Lightning?
The Raptor is currently only available in four colors: orange, black, white and blue with different trim packages of course. With the 5.4-liter, three-valve SOHC engine puts out 320 hp and 390 lb-ft and will start at $38,995. Later in the year they will release the SOHC 6.2-liter V8 that is supposed to have 400 hp and 400 lb-ft which will start $41,995. I talked to some of my hard core off road buddies and they told me that if I was to build a truck to the specs of the Raptor it would cost considerably more, then its also a matter of making everything work together correctly
Equipped with Fox Racing Triple Bypass Shocks, these type shocks are used extensively in racing by pre-runners, 
Ford states that the Raptor has just over 12 inches of travel in the rear suspension and over 11 inches in the front. That’s actual useable travel. With the 17 inches wheels wrapped in 35-inch custom made to SVT specs, BF Goodrich
All Terrain, the Raptor rides 9.8 inches high and is quite the Extreme off road vehicle.
This thing sports aluminum cast control rods, rear axle tube shafts that are thicker and better than their Super Duty trucks, upgraded hydro-mounts for the engine, hi-tech jounce bumper stops, high-strength steel for the rear lower shock mounts and additional heat shields. A unique skid plate package with full-sized spare and the running boards are cast aluminum and coated in a Rhinoliner-like material, that Ford claims flex instead of bending.
Even though this truck is designed to excel off-road, it will still has the on-road comfort one would expect from a regular F-150. Opening the door the first thing you notice is this thing is huge! The seats are considerable larger and beefier than the standard F-150. There are switches included in the interior that are there for
when you want to add off road lights.
While the BassnMan is a Chevy man I’m considering getting one of these because I don’t really consider an SVT a Ford. Yes, the grill says FORD very loudly but I could always do something about that. I would however have to wait until they release the version with the 6.2 liter motor just because I like POWER, but then again, those of you who know what I have lurking under the hood of my Silverado probably understand.
The SVT Raptor has proven itself by running the 41st Tecate SCORE Baja 1000. This is a grueling 631 mile course and the Raptor compled it in an impressive time of 25:28:10. In October 2009 it was awarded 4×4 of the year by Petersons 4-Wheel & Off Road Magazine. Quite impressive indeed!
Enjoy the video below
Thanks for visiting my site. Be sure to tell all of your fishing buddies and come back soon.
Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!
Freeing stuck lures
February 5, 2010
Even though your significant other would you rather didn’t you finally break down and purchase that new expensive lure you have been eye balling for the past month. You then take the time to change out the old line with some brand new quality line and attach the lure with good solid knot. You’ve taken all of the precautions and head to the water.
You make your first cast to a fishy looking spot and BAM, fish on! “Its gonna be a great day”, you land and release the fish. 2 casts later you hook into another quality fish, “This lure was so worth the money”. You continue fishing and hooking up until the inevitable happens, your lure get stuck, “AAAHHHHHHHH!!!!” Don’t you hate it when that happens?
Of course the first thing you instinctively try is just pulling on the lure. While this can work at times, it can also embed your hooks deeper into the object thereby decreasing your odds or getting you lure back.
While nothing works 100% of the time and you will at times loose your lures, I’ll share some tips that have worked for me and has saved me quite a bit of money over the years.
First tip, try giving it some slack. This can be especially effective with a floating lure. Next, try raising your rod tip and giggling it, again putting slack into your line can at times free your lure.
Try freeing it from a different angle. This technique works best if your in a boat because you can get to the opposite direction the lure got stuck. Now of course this technique wont work to well if your in a boat, cast up tight to shore and get hung up. You can also use this different angle technique shore fishing by walking to the left or right of where you were standing when you initially got stuck.
One very effective technique that has worked for me is using the “Bow and Arrow” trick. The bow and arrow trick is where you put some slack in your line, pull the line tight until you have pressure against the snag and a nice bow in your line then let the line go, like shooting a bow and arrow, which throws slack into your line. What happens is when you release the line the rod snaps back and throws slack at the lure and can jar the lure free. Sometimes it takes several tries before working so you need to be persistent.
Be ready when you finally get the lure free. I’ve had times when the lure finally popped free and have a bass just smash it. My guess is the bass was watching the lure “struggle” to get free and when it finally broke free he thought it was trying to escape and the predator in him made him strike it very aggressively.
The Rod tip bump. If you can get close enough to your lure you can stick your rod tip into the water and tap 
the end of it against your lure and tap it free. I really don’t like doing this because I have broke the tip off of a rod doing this technique because it got stuck on the front hook or the crankbait and the rear hook was stuck to bad to free itself from the tapping of the rod. In my opinion its not worth the trade off but I know a lot of people that use this technique with success.
Next we have the pole retrievers. All they are is a long pole, usually made out of collapsible aluminum and can be extended to 12 feet or more. At the end of these retrievers is some kind of attachment that is designed to pull the lure free, hooks and coils are pretty common. Of course these type of retrievers don’t work to well from shore, unless of course your lure is stuck a few feet from shore.
Next we have my favorite technique which is a plug knocker. Plug knockers are basically some kind of heavy weight that you attach to your line, then send it down to your lure where it bumps into the lure and knocks it free, hence the name lure knocker. There are basically 2 different types of lure knockers. You have the free falling ones that slide down your line freely and the ones that are attached to a string that you lower down to your lure. The stringed styles sometimes have something like chain or hooks that are supposed to get tangled with your lure and you pull it back.
You can purchase factory made plug knockers but I like to make my own because they are cheap to make therefore if you end up not being able to free your lure and you end up loosing your knocker as well as your lure. There are several different ways to make your own inexpensive basic plug knocker.
Take an old used spark plug and a big snap swivel. Run the gap arm of the spark plug through the round eye of the swivel and bend down the arm with either pliers or a hammer to secure the swivel in place. Another variation is to get a heavy lead weight, I use a 2-3 ounce sinker, the kind with the metal line tie. I then attach a big snap from a snap 
swivel, PRESTO! Quick, easy and inexpensive. The reason I dont use the swivel part of the snap swivel is because in increases the distance between the top of the snap and the weight. Maybe its just me but I personally feel the closer you can keep your line to the weight, the more effective your knocker will be.
When you get your lure stuck attach the snap to your line, hold your rod tip high so it travels faster and let it slide down your line and knock your lure free. If it does not free right away don’t fret. Sometimes it takes giggling your line to bump it free. A few times I’ve had to send a second knocker down to free it. By the way, I have found that the plug knockers work very well on crankbaits and swimbaits and not so well on jigs and worms.
To summarize, nothing works all of the time and you will loose lures, that’s just part of the game. But if you follow some of the tips I mentioned I promise you that you wont loose as many lures.
Thanks for visiting my site. Be sure to tell all of your fishing buddies and come back soon
Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!
Sunglasses, which ones are right for me?
February 2, 2010
That’s a question that I’m sure each and everyone of has asked more than once. With all the choices it can all be very confusing so I will attempt to break it down some, at least from my personal experiences.
Before I go any further let me say that in my opinion, there is no one perfect pair for everyone. We all have different facial features and different needs so you need to find ones that fit your face as well as your application and of course if they don’t make you look like a dork, that’s another plus, HA!
From my personal experiences first and foremost, you must try them on in person. I live in a small town with very limited choices so it made it pretty difficult to find the right pair for me. Lets just say that the BassnMan has a larger than average melon. I also don’t have much of a nose bridge so it is very difficult to find a pair that I am happy with.
I needed ones that were wider than average as well as having larger lenses and they had to have longer nose pieces so the lenses would be further off of my face so they didn’t ride on my cheeks.
I have more than once ordered them pairs thinking they would fit my face right but was sadly mistaken when they arrived. Yes, I was able to return them but it was kind of a pain in the back side.
OK, now onto the actual post.
Brands: Lets see, you’ve got Oakley, Ray Ban, Maui Jim, Solar Bast, Costa Del Mar, Wiley-X and countless more brands, both inexpensive as well as expensive. Speaking from personal experience, buy the best you can afford, you won’t regret it. I know the more expensive ones tend to have better quality optics which are better for your eyes and are usually offer prescription lenses so that’s a plus for people that need them. You can also purchase the ones that just go over your prescription glasses like the Cocoon brand.
Frames, Metal or Plastic: Back in the day metal frames were heavier that plastic ones. Now days the metal is considerably lighter so weight is no longer an issue. One thing to note is that during the summer metal frames tend to get hot quick and tend to hold heat longer, that’s why I prefer the plastic frames.
Lens: There is more than one aspect to consider concerning lenses so I’ll try and break down the basics.
Glass vs polycarbonate. For clarity it’s difficult to beat glass lenses and if I could afford 2 pairs of quality shades then I would own one of each pair. The glass ones for driving and casual wear and poly carbonate for fishing. I personally went with the Poly Carbonate ones. The main reason I made this choice is because more than once I have been hung up on some sort of structure, a shallow rock or tree limb and while attempting to free my jig, it abruptly came free and flying back at me like a bullet. Two times I have been hit right on the lens. If I had glass lenses chances are they would have shattered from the impact.
Polarized or not: For fishermen this question is a no-brainer, Get Polarized, I can promise you that you won’t regret it. Their ability to cut through the glare and being able to see through the water better makes them a valuable asset. About the only down side I have experiences is when at the gas pump. I noticed on some gas pumps you cant see the numbers when wearing polarized shades.
Lens colors: Here again there are several hues to choose from. I’m just going to go over the basic 3 color even though there are others to choose from.
First we have gray or smoke. Gray lenses usually come in light or dark and will reduce the light intensity without changing the color of objects. Therefore they will provide the most natural color vision. Statistics show that gray is far and away the most popular color lens in America. Gray lenses are best for bright clear days.
Next we have brown lenses. They enhance contrast by blocking more of the blue light than gray lenses do. Brown lenses tend to provide a warmer appearance to all colors and have been known to make greens look greener. These work well in medium to bright light and are considered good all around lenses.
Finally I’ll discuss amber which block almost all blue light and provide superior contrast. Remember the Blue Blocker sunglasses? They have amber lenses as do shooter’s sunglasses. While amber does enhance contrast, they tend to distort colors and may not be the right choice for activities that require accurate color recognition. They work well in flat to medium light as well as shallow water applications.
I have a pair of goggles that have an amber lens. I especially like them when I’m going across the water at high speeds in low light conditions because they make objects, tree stumps and rocks, really stand out.
From the sounds of things a person actually needs several different pairs of sunglasses. For me, I went with a pair that has interchangeable lenses so I’m able to change out different lenses as conditions dictate. Purchasing extra lenses is considerably more cost effective than buying the entire setup.
Hopefully I didn’t confuse you even more and gave you some things to consider. To summarize, shop around, try them on, consider your specific application and buy the best you can afford.
Thanks for visiting my site. Be sure to tell all of your fishing buddies and come back soon
Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!
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