Here’s a little information about him. Evan is a 3D artist from the Los Angeles mountains and currently resides near Wrightwood with his wife, Liz, and son Josiah. He has been bass fishing for most of his life and has won various contests when younger in his home state MI. He recently moved to California from Montana in order to work, and is currently scouring Southern California for good bass fishing.

All that being said I give you Fishing for a Predator, Part 1 by Evan Schaible.

“It  is no mystery that largemouth bass love to hide and ambush prey. This is because bass are predators by nature. It will drastically help our fishing when we thoroughly digest this fact, and fish accordingly. Many people who are new to the bass fishing arena tend to ease their way in by passively fishing as if the bass will help them get a limit. This is the reason why many people are discouraged at the sport.”

“When you approach this type of fishing you can’t just rig up a night crawler, drop it in the water and wait. You have to be just as aggressive as the bass in order to be successful. But this aggression must be accompanied by the proper knowledge, or you will end up just as frustrated as the guy who rigs worms and sits back with a soda waiting for the bobber to bounce. Float fishing is good, don’t get me wrong; but if you are serious about catching a few more bass each time you go out, than you have to fish for the predator.”

“What does it mean to fish for a predator?  Bass fishing is a bit like hunting in that most of your time will be spent stalking the bass. But in elk hunting for example, you are acting as a predator stalking a prey animal. So often times fisherman can mistake what they are looking for on the water for being something that is prey (for us it is prey, that’s true). But in the freshwater food chain bass are among the top few hunters in the water, therefore making the methodologies we must employ drastically different than if we were hunting a prey animal. So in the remainder of this article I want to focus on a few techniques and tips that can help you catch the predator.”

“One key thing to remember is that you are not the hunter when you are bass fishing. You are in fact acting as the prey. This is integral, and cannot be stressed enough. We can talk about pitching into cover, and jigging a crawdad, but what we have to keep in mind is the fact that we are trying to impersonate something that the bass are in fact hunting already. So we can either have this working against us, or use it to our advantage. It can work against us if we fish in a way that makes the bass look elsewhere for food. Like any other predator the bass are not going to be as interested in prey that is large and perfectly healthy, and here is a prime area where many anglers fail. If you are fishing a crank bait for example, what you don’t want to do is pull it on a steady retrieve through the cover, missing everything that’s around you. This sends the signal of a healthy, mature prey animal that the bass will likely not be interested in.”

“The key to triggering strikes when fishing baits that are meant to resemble prey animals (shad, blue gill, crayfish, worms, etc.) is to make the bait look injured. This may seem fundamental, but it is often overlooked and taken for granted by many fishermen. This is the reason for bait patterns like the bleeding shad, as the bass, like any other predator, is attracted first to the wounded animal. Wounded animals are just easier meals, and in order to heighten our success as anglers we have to take advantage of this predatory nature inherent in bass. So when fishing cover keep this in mind. If you are throwing a spinner bait, bounce it off a log or stump and make the bass think that the shad you are impersonating is wounded. The same applies for crank baits and jigs. Another useful method is stop and go retrieves with a little jerk in the middle. If you have a good crank bait you can even make it look like the little thing is injured by winding extremely fast for a couple of turns and the bait will almost roll over, signaling a weakness to the bass. There are innumerable ways to make your baits look injured, so take some time in shallow water and work on your presentations, it will pay off in the end I guarantee.”

Well all, what do you think of Evan so far? He appears to be a very knowledgeable fisherman huh? Be sure to check back soon where he presents part 2 of Fishing for a Predator.

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!

I have a friend who has access to the boat docks at my local lake, Isabella because he pays for slip rental and he invited me to join him for a day of crappie fishing so off I went yesterday in search of the tasty cold water crappie. While we didn’t get into the “Slab” crappie we did have a successful day!

Dave and I both got our limits they were not the big ones but they are still tasty, he got the largest of the day. While most of them were only about 1/2 pound, Dave did manage to get one that weighed 2 pounds.

All of the crappie were pretty deep, in about 40 feet of water. Rigged with 4 pound test P-Line Fluorocarbon we caught most of them on the small chrome/blue Kastmasters with crappie nibbles as well as a few on Roadrunners by lowering them all the way to the bottom and very slowly reeled up. The bite was very light, basically a pressure bite. Most of them were filling up with eggs so it’s getting very close to the shallow spawn time, that is of course if this weather ever cooperates.

Crappie tend to spawn at a temperature between 60 and 65 degrees. Whereas the Bass spawn between 65 and 70 degrees. This is not to say that both species wont move up into the shallows, actively feed and start to check things out at a lower temperature because they will, they just tend to start the actual ritual at the above mentioned temps but always remember, nothing is written in stone. Its the longer days and raising water temperatures that triggers all fish to move up shallow

Tips to locate pre-spawn crappie is similar to pre-spawn bass, look for deep water near shallow flats. Look for creek channels, road beds, submerged tree lines and ledges that lead into the shallows. Try drifting a Roadrunner or Slab Daddy to see it you can locate them. Or tie up to an old tree and work it with spoons or jigs. Once you’re able to locate a school you can have a great day! I remember in my younger days when there was not a limit on crappie we would catch ice chests full of them and then spend hours cleaning them. Even now with a limit of 25, at least here in CA, that’s still allot of fish fillets!

When they actually get into the shallows the Kastmasters are pretty much out of the question, unless you get them for free because it gets very expensive loosing them in the structure. Look for visible structure, trees, rock piles, etc. I like to use Maribou Roadrunners and Slab Daddy jigs in various colors covered in scent. One trick to not get hung up as often is to take a pair of pliers and bend the hook point downwards. The down side of doing this is you don’t hook as many but when you’re “On Them” you won’t notice a difference.

When the crappie bite is on it’s a great time of the year to take kids fishing because the crappie are plentiful and easy to catch so short attention span kids stay busy catching a lot of fish and don’t have the time to get bored. The only down side is they can at times get tired of catching fish, HA!

In my opinion Crappie is one of the tastiest fish you can eat. They are a very firm white meat fish with a very mild fish taste. My wife prefers the taste of them over all other fish, even Alaskan Halibut.

While there are so many ways to prepare crappie, in my opinion its hard to beat Bass Pro Shops Uncle Bucks Fish Batter Mix. Its one of my favorite coatings to fry up these tasty fish. Give it a try, you wont be dissapointed.

I hope I’ve shared some tips that you can use on your next crappie outing to make it a success.

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!

I’m going to try something a little different, this post will be a video post, hopefully this will work. By the way, just a warning, the video is almost 30 minutes long so it might take a few minutes to load up so please be patient. Also, if you double click the video you can view it in full screen mode.

Disclaimer: Any servicing you do to your reel you do so at your own risk and I will not be held responsible for any damage caused.

One trick I thought of after making the video is after you remove the cover take a few pictures of the internals with your digital camera. That way, in the event that parts fall out you can compare your pictures with the schematic and you should be good to go.

Well, what did you think?

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!

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!

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.

“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 41^st 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!

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!

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!

For those of you who are not familiar with what the California Aqueduct is its a system of canals, tunnels, pipelines and reservoirs that conveys water collected from the Sierra Nevada Mountains and valleys of Northern- and Central California to Southern California. The Department of Water Resources operates and maintains the California Aqueduct. It’s basically a huge cement canal that supplies drinking water for the Los Angeles area that runs from northern California to southern California.

I got several good tips after talking to several people that live as well as fish in the area. I was told that if the water was flowing the bite would be better. I was also told to not bother spending too much time in a spot, if they were there they would bite. Just be sure to try a variety of lures and retrieves, if nothing was happening pack up and move on.

Seeing how I live north of the Antelope Valley I started at the northern end, or at least what I thought was the northern end and worked my way south. I found out later that there are more spots further north of where I started. Maybe next time.

So, I’m driving along thinking that I probably should have arrived at the first spot when I see a couple people riding bikes and figure I’d ask them where it was. They told me that I had just past it. For some reason I thought it would have been exposed but as it turned out where the main road crossed the duct it was under ground.

I turn around and go where the bike riders told me to go and low and behold, there it is. I pull into the parking area and notice that they have handicap access which is good for me because I’ve been having some ankle and knee issues lately. As it turned out all of the spots had very short and easy access to the water. So I  hop out and take the short walk to the water. Remember how I mentioned that the bite would be better if the water was moving? Just my luck, the gates were closed and the water was dead calm. Oh well, gotta try it anyways. As I’m getting the rods rigged at my truck up comes a welcome very friendly visitor.

I later find out from several locals that this dog visits everyone that fishes the spot. I continue working the area for about 1/2 hour throwing several different lures at different speeds without getting any bites so its time to move on.

Heading south its onto spot 2. The water is still not moving but I have to try it anyways. After about 1/2 hour and what seemed like a couple hundred casts with no bites it’s once again time to make a move. Spot 3, spot 4 and spot 5, still not feeling the love, nothing happening except for multiple casts and retrieves.

So its time to take a break. The wife has been talking about trading the Monte Carlo SS for a 2010 Camaro SS but we needed to know if there is enough head and leg room in them for me to be comfortable on long drives and since our local dealer no longer sells Chevrolets so I had not had a chance to check it out. Detour time to their local Chevrolet dealer, which was maybe 1 mile out of my way, to take one for a test drive.

They had a very nice Red with Black Rally Stripes SS/RS but they would not allow me to take it for a test drive. The dude told me that people who buy them don’t want many if any miles on them, which makes sense to me because the SS/RS will be collectors items. Anyhow I took a regular SS for a test drive and I must say, VERY NICE! I’ll be taking the wife back there within the next few weeks and if she likes it as much as I did, if so maybe we will be driving one home. As I talked to the salesman I found out that he was a fisherman as well and he told me of a couple more spots to try.

By now I’m getting pretty hungry so it’s Lunch Time. Onto In and Out for my favorite burger the 3×3 with grilled onions, no sauce with ketchup and mustard, yeah buddy, that hit the spot.

Feeling good its onto spot 6, after about 15 casts I finally get bit and it feels like a good one. Drag screaming, its making runs up and down the duct, OH WHAT A FEELING! Then all of the sudden the line goes completely slack, DAMN, she came unbuttoned! Because I finally got bit I continue to fish the spot for a little over an hour to no avail.

Onto the last spot I go. After about ½ hour there I decide to call it a day but “I’ll be back” Hopefully the next time I head down the water will be flowing and then maybe the bite will be better. I talked to several locals online afterwards and was told that I actually did good by getting the one bite, especially seeing how it was my first attempt fishing there.

Also, as you may have noticed I purposely negelected to mention any exact spots or lures used during this outing. I did this for a reason. I was given some tips on what to use by friends I have met online and was asked not to make them public knowledge.

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!

I knew that while I was there I would like to get some fishing in however due to gas prices we decided to take the car instead of the truck so of course I didn’t take the Champion, besides that my step son Brian didn’t have any place for me to park my boat. Guess what that meant? Yep, I would be shore bound, or would I.

3 days before we were scheduled to leave I posted a “Looking for open back seat” request on a popular Arizona bass fishing site hoping to find someone that might be able to take me out fishing for a day on Lake Pleasant. The reason I chose that lake was because of how close it was to where my step son lived.

The day before we were supposed to leave I got a response from a fisherman named Jim who just happened to live about 1 mile away from Brian, what luck! He was going to go to Canyon Lake, just outside of Phoenix, to prefish for an upcoming tournament. I gave him a call and set it up to meet him bright and early the following morning.

As it turned out we ended up leaving town later than we had anticipated so of course we arrived in Phoenix later than I had hoped so I didn’t have enough time to get a license that night so the plan to go fishing bright and early was not going to work. I called Jim to let him know that I would not be able to make it and thanked him for the offer. The following day I went to Wal-Mart and picked up a license so I could do some fishing.

Arizona has an Urban Fishing program where they stock city lakes and ponds to allow people to experience fishing. The following is from the Arizona Fish and Game Web site;

“Arizona’s Urban Fishing Program is recognized nationally as one of the best in the country. The Program is a partnership with the Game and Fish Department and local Parks and Recreation Departments to intensively stock and manage park lakes for fishing recreation. Simply put, the Program operates on the premise that “if people can’t get out of town to fish, we will bring fish into town for the people.” The Program provides convenient, affordable, accessible and fun fishing for anglers of all ages and abilities.”

So off I go. My first stop was at Rio Vista Ponds which is located in Peoria, about 3 miles from Brian’s house. I ended up catching and releasing 4 bass, nothing of any size but still fun. I also caught 7 trout while targeting crappie with a Road Runner, 2 of which I gave to an elderly gentleman and the other 5 I gave to a little boy named Steven. He put them on his stringer and asked me if it was OK to tell his dad that he caught them. I laughed and said, sure, no problem. Next I took off to Cortez Lake which was about 7 miles away. While there I caught and released 3 bass with the biggest being maybe 2 ½ pounds, again, nothing big but still fun. I also caught 2 trout. It was getting late so I decided to call it a day.

The following day we went to Cabelas there in Glendale, not only to spend the gift card I received for Christmas but to see several FLW pros that were there for the day. I got to talk briefly with John Murray and Brett Hite, a couple nice guys. While there I found a few discontinued lures on the Clearance rack that I had been searching for so I purchased all 6 that they had left, What A Find!

The next day I took a drive up to Lake Pleasant, which is about 40 miles away from Peoria to wet a line. I tried several different lures but was unable to get bit. Then I tied on a Silver Buddy cast it along the dock and got one heck of a bite, the drag was screaming on the 8 pound Maxima. I believe it was probably a big striper but it came unbuttoned before I could see exactly what it was. What a rush! That was my only bite there but any time spent fishing is a good time.

Hopefully you enjoyed reading this and I didn’t bore you to much with this post

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!