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NOTHING LIKE FISHING IN
THE RAIN!
By: Ron Wilson
March 27, 2003....Great
weather last week gave way to lousy weather on Sunday. But it’s been a
pretty good
year so far, as this was the first tournament that I had to fish in a
rain that lasted all day long! The steady drizzle was just enough to
make it a discomfort, but not ruin the day.
My
day started at 3 a.m. when I headed to Lake Don Pedro to check in at
Fleming Meadows for the Nor-Cal Bass Open Team Tournament. There were
only 32 boats this year, where in the past there was 50 or so! Weather,
War or poor fishing the day before could have had something to do with
it.
We
blasted off on time. My partner Tim Paes and I fished together, but
somehow became last to leave. I think Tim volunteered to blast everyone
off! I guess he figured it was part of his Nor-Cal jack-of-all-trades
obligation to do this! Then maybe again he wanted everyone to think he
was one of those all around nice guys. Don't tell anyone but so far he
kind of fits that bill as far as I am concerned, but I reserve the right
to disagree with myself!
I
got a kick out of watching Bass Pro Norval Pimentel taking off in his
brand new patriotic colored 2003 Stratos Bass Boat. First time on the
water and the boat could not get on pad without his partner getting on
the bow to weight it down as they blasted off! I bet the old pro was
talking to himself. If it had been me I know I would definitely be
taking the matter up with a brain dead mechanic that forgot to put the
prop ring on before he installed the prop! However, for the rest of us
watching, it was a good laugh at his expense. Nothing like having
something to hassle a fellow competitor about!
I
hadn't been on the lake since January and it had been longer for Tim. So
Tim let me make the call on where we should fish like it was my boat and
not his!
Our
first stop was Ramos Creek. We got there and started fishing down the
bank heading to the back. After we had worked our way almost to the back
of the creek channel I looked at Tim and said “well I don't know, but
evidently nobody has found any fish here otherwise they would have beat
us to the area”!
Tim
was throwing everything but the kitchen sink. Spinnerbaits, crankbaits,
Zara Spook’s, pig and jig, rip baits and probably a couple more that I
hadn’t noticed. I was busy concentrating on my red darthead with a 082
red flake Keeper Custom Worm. This is my favorite bass catching method,
but it wasn't working! I soon started switching baits, 6 inch 082 black
flake, brushhogs and then back to 082 red flake. Finally a bass picked
up the bait and started swimming off with it. I set the hook but nobody
was home, Hum, bed fish, maybe? I worked down the bank to a point when
another fish grabbed the bait; I bowed to it and set, but nothing. Not
good, I thought to myself. Tim just shook his head and kept pitching
baits out there as I told him that it was his job to catch our kicker
fish and I would put our limit of keepers in the boat.
We
moved to the next point where I missed another one and then the next
point was the same thing! Tim, I said, if you haven't notice these fish
are kicking my butt today and I have no idea what I’m doing wrong!
We
moved to a steep rock wall in the same area and I caught our first
keeper. Tim put on a worm rig and missed one. My mind told me the
pattern is simple, the fish are scattered all over and you just have to
keep moving and pitching until you find one that wants to eat. We
motored back to the three I had missed earlier, the first two didn't
want to eat but the third one did and we now had two fish in the boat.
Finally
the rain had let up a little, I told Tim lets run into the next creek
channel. The short ride to where I though we could catch a fish didn't
pan out. So we started covering water. With the wind blowing into the
rock shale coves I was able to find 3 more fish that were hungry for my
Keeper worm and the last one was a nice smallie. Okay five in the box;
all we needed was that kicker as I once again informed Tim!
In
the next cove Tim was working a white spook as a fish exploded on it
close to the boat. I saw the splash out of the corner of my eye and
ducked immediately, luckily Tim was professional enough not to jerk from
the exciting splash the fish made when he missed the bait!
The
weather finally cleared a little and I told Tim I thought I knew a spot
back in Rogers Creek where we might find a good fish. When we pulled up
we saw Norval fishing it, so we stopped to ask how they were doing.
Norval asked Tim if he had a spare prop ring he could borrow for his
motor. Tim said, “Yep I got one with my spare prop”. It was the
propeller ring that the mechanic had forgot to install when he was
detailing the boat! We watched Norval take the boat into a cove
where he got out and fixed it while his partner, Larry Stewart from
southern California, sat in the boat happily smoking a cigarette. Seems
Larry had lost his lighter that morning and was shaky and grumpy by the
time we came by! Tim just happened to have a couple books of matches.
The first book ended up on the wet floor of the boat and then a wet
handed Larry complained because the matches would not light in the rain.
The second book had been handled with kid gloves and Larry was now
enjoying a smoke break! Norval installed the propeller ring and then
came back by and dropped off the tools.
Tim
and I started working our way out of the creek. I looked over at a cove
and told Tim that we needed to go fish it. I knew from years past
that this area had everything big bass needed. It had standing and
laying timber and a nice gravel area to make nests!
We
worked the cove from one point out to the next and Tim, who finally gave
up on trying to find an aggressive bite, finally got his second bite of
the day. The fish looked huge when it jumped the first time trying to
shake the dart head out of its mouth. The next jump was just as
impressive and then the fish pulled drag to the bottom a couple times
before she was netted! No monster but a nice fish in the 5-pound class.
The kicker we needed to help separate us from the pack. A quick high
five and then I said Tim we need another 5 pounder to make some good
money and we still have a couple hours to find her.
We
caught several more fish but couldn’t improve anything we had in the
live well.
At
the weigh in, we saw some nice fish brought to the scales and heard a
lot of stories about the big ones that got away! Tim and I were lucky
enough to put our big one in the boat, finishing 4th and picking up a
few bucks. For tournament results go to www.nor-calbass.com.
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