Happy New Gear!

The CBC anglers started off the new year with a beautiful day at Lake Perris.  11 teams patiently waited in 32° morning weather for the gates to open and sun to warm us up.  The combination of the winter bass fishing and the memory of the beating we endured the last time we came to the lake was likely on a few of our minds, but we came to complete and were eager to hit the water.

The sun finally showed itself, the gates opened, and the launch n go format had boats going in every direction, as we all raced to “my spot”.  Though the day was beautiful with clear views of the snow capped mountains, the fishing was as expected for January.  Not for all of us though.  One 5 fish limit was brought to the scales, and the team even culled a few fish….who the heck culls fish in January?!

Team Chris “Compa” G. and Tom C. take first place with 5 fish for 8.20.  It is a good thing they got five, because team Derrick Y. Joe N. were right behind them with 3 fish for 8.11.  I am sure that Derrick’s Big Fish was a great way to start the 2023 year.  Team Big Ed and Mark C. rounded out the Top 3 with 3 fish for 6.98.

Congratulations to Compa Chris and Tom C!  While some of us were catching our first fish of the year, Compa Chris managed to grab his first tournament WIN!  Way to go Compa #1.

Maybe the new captain of “the Duchess” will have to change his Compa nickname to Campeón until the next tournament.  LOL!

It was great seeing some familiar faces back at the tournaments.  It was great seeing and sending sometime on the water with you!

Place/Team/Fish/Weight

1. Chris G and Tom C/5/8.20
2. Derrick Y and Joe N/3/8.11
3. Big Ed and Mark C/3/6.98
4. Gabby H and Mark W/3/5.44
5. Frank and Thomas R/3/5.0
6. Gary C and Steve M/1/2.84
7. Alfred V and Pops/1/2.57
8. Albert V and Robert T/1/2.40
9. Raul V and Sherman/0
10. Brian T/0

Yes the boat is frozen.

.

While Fall fishing can be a great time to catch yourself a new PB, Mother Nature had different plans for the bass Contenders.  She changed the weather the week before the tournament and ruined all of plans of getting a big one.  While we had no rain, we did have some chilly weather and WIND!

Keep your wind is good for fishing comments to yourself, it was a cold morning.  Luckily the lake did not open until 7am and the sun was nice and high to warm us up as we got on the water, THANKS PERRIS!

We all just about tore our rotator cuffs casting into the wind with most of our action coming from changing lures and tying knots.  But, don’t worry a couple of us are fish whisperers and managed to shake the skunk off their boats.

Better to be lucky than good!  Kidding, great job guys!

Place\Team\number of Fish\Weight

1. Derrick Y and Pops C \ 1 \ 3.64 *Big Fish
2. David M and Tom C \ 1 \ 2.9

Before we get into the tournament results.  We want to give a big shout out to a couple of our guys that participated and represented the club at the recent WON Bass Tournament at Lake Mojave.  Both Tom Creasy and Mark Chadeayne looked fabulous while ROCKING the clubs new team jerseys.  congratulations to you both.  Tom Creasy had a strong performance finishing 15th out of 189 with 35.62 pounds, 16.58 coming on the final day.  I can’t confirm for tax reasons, but I believe his check had some extra digits?  I’ll let Mark tell you his side of the story…LOL

Check them out!

While LA county was gray and waiting for our much needed rain, the CBC was out enjoying Ventura county’s beautiful weather at Lake Piru.  Other than a little wind and some low water levels, the boys had a blast on the water.

Congratulations to Team Steve and Thomas who pulled out a first place finish and Big Fish!  Pretty close weights for the rest of the teams.

Place/Team/# of Fish/Weight

1. Steve M and Thomas R/5/6.17
2. Johnny A and Dean L/5/5.64
3. Derrick Y and Sherman W/5/5.20
4. Dave M and Raul V/5/5.0
5. Alfred V and Chris G/5/4.96
6. Brian T and Tom c/4/4.67
7. Frank S and Eddie R/1/19

Big Fish: Steve Meza/2.35

Fishing sounded pretty good for the 6 California Bass Contender teams that made the trek to El Capitan Reservoir in San Diego. The MLF were having a tournament there also, but were a non factor and didn’t stop our anglers from getting fish and fishing “their” spots.  I heard the event staff were great and showed our anglers the same courtesies the “PRO’s” got.

With the season at it’s half way mark, you might want to take a peek at the AOY standings, there are some changes after this tournament.

Place/Team/Number of Fish/Weight

1. Alfred V and Sherman W/5/11.92  **Big Fish 4.40
2. Derrick Y and Pops/4/9.45
3. Frank S and Thomas R/4/6.17
4. Brian T and Raul V/3/5.93
5. Chris G and Dean L/3/5.22
6. David M 2/3.88

Big Fish Alfred V and Sherman W 4.40

The CBC made the trip down South to San Diego last weekend to fish the San Vicente Reservoir.  The early morning comradery was great, the weather was good, and the fishing was even better.  If you thought the DVL launch ramp hike was long, this one was like climbing Mount Everest.  After the co-angler workout, we safely launched 10 teams and all 10 teams weighed fish at the end of the day.  A significant upgrade from July’s DVL tournament.  Just about every technique worked, top water, jerk bait, dropshot, deep, shallow, and even the ol’ spinner bait came through, but the name of the game was CULLING.  If you got one fish, you needed 4 more.  If you got your 5, you still needed 5 more, just bigger than your last.

With San V being a contact lake, the recreational boaters were out in force.  They made the water a little rough and the shoreline muddy (spinner bait), but overall they weren’t too bad on the water.  It was off the water that we felt their presence.  The launch ramp was crowded, causing delays getting off the water and getting our fish back in the water.  The delays, combined with the August afternoon heat, caused us to lose some fish before we could safely release them.   As a catch and release club, we have to everything we can to safely release our fish.  Luckily, the lost fish were given to a person who was able to not let them go to waste.

The number one spot went to Derrick Y and Robert T with the only double digit bag, 10.47.  They did lose a fish during the delays, knocking their weight to 10.22.  The DF penalty almost cost them, because Frank S and Joe N, were coming on strong with 9.67.  Their weight included the Big Fish honors, 2.90.  Rounding out the Top 3, was Alfred V and Tom C, who finished with 8.15.

As a reminder, each team needs to weigh a big fish so we don’t run into tie scenarios.

Thank you all for making it a great day!

Place/Team/# of fish/weight

1. Derrick Y and Robert T/5/10.22 *DF penalty
2. Frank S and Joe N/5/9.67
3. Alfred V and Tom C/5/8.15
4. Steve M and Albert V/5/7.70
5. Ted R and Thomas/5/7.46
6. David M and Dean L/5/6.50  *DF penalty
7. Eddie and Raul V/5/5.99
8. Mark C and Kevin D/3/3.75 *tie
9. Brian T/3/3.75 *tie
10. Chris G and Sherman W/1/.88

Big Fish

Frank S 2.90

With the temperatures expected to reach the 90’s in Wildomar, the CBC toughed out the heat and had our first “summer hours” tournament of the season.  Some members arrived at the lake in the wee hours of the morning only to find out that the lake was very strict about their 6am gate opening.  WHAT!  We had a launch in order format so it didn’t make too much of a difference, however the beautiful sunrise occurred while we were still in line at the gate.  Doesn’t Lake Skinner know about that early morning top water bite that we have been looking forward to all winter?

Despite the delays, our teams did everything they could to beat the lake, but the lake definitely fought back and did some beating of its own.  This tournament brought some of the out of towners back to California.  Ted R and Kevin D, both pros of the desert heat living, were welcomed back with open arms.  Kevin D and Mark C were there fishing on their brand new boat, and boy what a beautiful sight….the BOAT!

The 6 hour tournament format saw us off the water at 1pm and weighing in on the asphalt at 1:30.  The desert living pro, Ted R and his partner Dean L, managed the only limit and it was good enough for a fist place finish with 5 alive for 13.69. The Conrad’s fishing together still pulled off a double digit bag, 4/12.73, that also included Big Fish of 4.5.  Johnny A and Alfred V rounded out the podium with 4/8.63.

It was great to see everyone and can’t wait to see you all at next months summer nights tournament at DVL.

Place/Team/ number of fish/weight

1. Ted R and Dean L 5/13.69
2. Conrad Jr* and Conrad Sr 4/12.73
3. Johnny A and Alfred V 4/8.63
4. Frank S and Tom C 3/8.31
5. Steve M and Gabby H 3/8.14
6. Kenny I and Robert T 3/7.31
7. Gary C and Joe N 2/5.89
8. David M and Raul V 2/5.11
9. Mark C and Kevin D 2/4.16

*Big Fish Conrad Jr 4.50