Mission Bay Classic in the Kraken

The 2nd annual Mission Bay Classic, a Heroes on the Water fundraising event, was a huge success! With over 70 signed entries, the saltwater bass division was full of competition. Fellow Jackson Kayak Team Members Jarrod McGehee and Richard Penny were also in attendance.

Though the fishing was great, it was extremely tough being able to weigh fish, with having regulations set at 14" minimum. No matter the case, it was a great event helping out a great cause.

I took out my Jackson Kayak Kraken, for some easy Bay fishing. Having my Kraken plumbed with the KKrate as a livewell, made for easy catch and release with no fishes harmed (besides being hooked!).

Here's a quick video showcasing the Kraken out in San Diego's Mission Bay!

Mission Bay HOW Tournament

Whoops! Forgot to post up the results of the HOW tournament from 5/9/14 at Mission Bay.

I did some prefishing in the days leading up to the tournament, and had a general idea of what I was going to do. They were biting the warblade, and of course the BH swimbaits. Unfortunately, all the fish I'd caught prefishing were no where close to being legal. I knew it was going to be tough fishing on tournament day. Add to the fact that the days leading up were EXTREMELY hot and windy, and day of would be much cooler. Nevertheless, I was planning on hitting some channels, and some docks, as the east bay just wasn't producing at the time.

Come tourney day, I show up early at 6 a.m. Lots of people already there and boats near the water. Being my first tournament, I was very nervous, yet excited to compete! Met up with Jarrod, and we traded some intel/tips/plans for the days events. Signed in, brought our boats down, and listened in on the captain's meeting. Apparently, there were about 102 other anglers out there on that day. Yikes!

I had brought 4 rigs with me on that day:  Alabama Rig, homemade warblade, BH swimbait, and a spinner bait. I'll usually throw out the BH, as that's my confidence rig that's tried and true. Once I found them, I was planning on throwing some bigger/flashier baits to get the bigger ones. At the start of the horn, we were off to fish some points and docks.

Nothing was going on on our first few stops. I mean absolutely nothing! Fish just weren't where they were before, and the tides was not moving just yet. As we made some stops near the west side coves, I thought for sure we would get at least bit once. Nope, nothing. Threw everything I had tied on. Not a sniff. Decided to make our way to the main channel near the bridges, as that's always a top producer.

Again nothing for some time, and decided to now drift inwards towards Fiesta Island not before throwing some baits out. I set myself up before the bridges and threw towards the shores. This usually rewards me with some nice bass, and I was hoping the same would happen that day. Tossed out my 1/4oz. BH on 8lb test, and got absolutely smashed! Alright! First fish in the boat! Or so I thought...Somehow she broke off, and I knew that one was a tanker. Bleh, should have retied after my prefishing sessions. Oh well, live and learn.

We drifted through and past the bridges, and still couldn't find any willing players. As Jarrod left to hit some docks, I stayed in the general area, tossing out the 'Bama rig, warblade, and the swimbait. Finally, I hooked into another fish and measured it out to be a legal! Nice, into the tankwell she went, and back to slinging the baits. Again, nothing happening for a good amount of time, so we continued drifting inward.

As Jarrod and I were shooting the shit, I looked into my tankwell to see how my fish was doing. It was in there for almost 2 hours, and was probably losing weight quick. But one thing I noticed was some clam shells were all on the bottom now. Hmmm, these guys were on the chew near the bottom. Once I saw that, I tied on my trusty T-rigged T&C Swimbait in Razor Clam and first cast, BAM, fish on! I actually caught 2 more and on the last one it tore up my swimbait. My. Very. Last. T&C. Swimbait (in razor clam). It was my absolute favorite color (one that has caught my 2nd best halibut). Oh well, things slowed down quite a bit as I didn't really have anything remotely close to the T&C. Though, happily we weighed my fish after calling over the weigh boat. Turns out, she was 2lb 6oz! Nice!

As the time ticked on, and the day progressed, fishing was just extremely slow (as I expected). Not much chatter on the radios, so we headed back towards the launch. Once closing time came around, and everyone had their fill of some delicious Thresher shark tacos, we awaited the results. Apparently, it was slow fishing for everyone else too. Not much people caught legals, so I was stoked that I at least weighed one fish. If I hadn't lost my first one, who knows what would have happened. They announced the top 6 (or 7), and would announce the rest of the results later in the coming days. Turns out, I actually got 8th place! I was super stoked! Fishing my first tournament, against 102 anglers, and I got top 10!

All in all, I had a great time, for a great cause. Definitely will be fishing more tournaments to come! Didn't really take much pictures on the water, as I was too focused on fishing. But next time, hopefully I'll be able to get more footage, AND do better.

Hana pa'a!

lake murray - my new nemesis

if i had a nemesis lake, it'd be murray. hands down, with out a question, this lake has frustrated me to no end. i used to live maybe 10 minutes away from this lake, and have tried my luck here before. every single time, probably 4 or 5 outings now, i have come out of that place smelling like skunk. i've thrown my whole tackle box out there, spinners/worms/cranks/topwater/etc. with nothign to show for.

now, seeing that the boards have been flooded, and i mean flooded with new personal bests from murray, i had to give it another try. so, off i went with my gf.

started off tossing some worms out into some of the lakes nearby arms. bleh, the lake was just breaming with weeds, EVERYWHERE. the bait could not settle down, unless you found a pocket in that huge mess. i decided to move on to different waters, looking for some tules or open water. i made my way to the power lines, and spotted a few tules. started flipping my weightless senko right into or near the tules. did the same to some other bunches of tules, until i made it just past the power lines. threw in my senko once again to slack line. this time tho, once my line dropped in, it kept dropping. there was no way the water was more than 2 ft deep, but it seemed like my line kept on dropping. at that instant, and started reeling, and what do you know, fish on!

so thats why they say to watch your line for anything "different".

well, murray's still my nemesis lake, but i've got 1 fish out fo here! stoked, and can't wait to get back out there.

PB in the Fresh!!! - 6/6

i had written up a long report, sprawled with my epic story of catching this beast. but, decided to cut it out, as most people only like looking at pictures. and i also started rambling off topic....

well without further adieu, my personal best LMB caught in our fine SD lakes!

caught on a brown 4.5" roboworm using my 7'6" ML/MF shimano compre on 6lb test! finesse style ftw! i was trying out some new rigs and decided to throw this finesse rig, and started jigging it around some points. hooked up to a smaller one at first, and thought, man this thing works! then after a few more cast, thought i got stuck on some rocks. gave it a tug, and it started tugging back! started reeling it in a bit, and it surfaced and jumped out of the water! once i saw it out of the water, MAN! my heart started pumpin! i fought her real nice and slow, knowing that i only had 6lb test line on. she kept giving some good hard runs, almost like my PB hali (33 incher). what got me more afraid was when she buried herself in some grass. on my ML setup, i thought for sure she was a gonner...but she came out and i surfaced her and eased her in. lipped and landed her! i took the hook out with ease, and damn lucky she didn't do another aerial show as for sure she wouldve shooken the hook out. took a few pics and set her free. she splashed her way back and swam away strong. man, she was a beast!!! i could literally fit my whole fist in her mouth.

SD Lake Lunker - 5/10

welp, decided to change things up and fish the fresh, so hit up one of the  inland lakes in sd county. made it out at around 1:00 pm, arrived to very little wind conditions, and many a jumping fish! threw the entire tacklebox at them. swimbaits, jerkbaits, lipless crankbaits, worms, jigs, everything. did hook up to a nice bass on the lipless crank, early on, but still had many fish jumping around.

then, my buddy goes back to what he had tied on when we arrived. big hammer swimbait. someone told me that those wouldn't work in the fresh, but he was immediately on some fish! nice crappies to boot!

so i decided to tie my salt stuff back on and gave it a whirl. got a few taps, so remade with the mini big hammer. still getting taps but no takers, as my buddy hooks into his 3rd crappie on the swimmie. i then toss to a point, and get immediately slammed! fish is taking some crazy drag. pull her in as she comes to color, my personal best largemouth!

she was quite the lunker, and my forearms hurt after that. bass on the bh swimbait? i know, didn't believe it myself. after that i finally got into some crappie with the same bait.

my very first crappie!

crappie are like the surfperch of the freshwater. fun suckers on light tackle. ended the session with 2 bass and multiple crappies. all in all, good day on the fresh!

hanapa'a!

They bite at night! - Mission Bay 2/22/2012

i haven't posted any reports lately, mainly because someone gave away my go to spots and now fishing
at night is crowded......anyways, my gf's been bugging me to pick up something that floats that'll fit the
both of us, so we can go fishing on the water instead of the shore. decided on a Seahawk 2 (kinda small
for 2 ppl). took her out on some earlier fun adventures this past week, but not anything like last night!

went to an old spot around 6:30 pm, armed with my 7'6" MF Clarus, symetre 15lb pp t-rigged t&c  black
widow, and 7'6" ML Compre, symetre 8lb pline drop shot fluke jr arkansas shad (that was a mouthful), i had
steady pickings of sbb throughout the night.

you're usual grump.

if you've ever caught a sbb in mb, you know the fight they put up. last night was a bit different for some of
them. theyd fight for a bit, then just give up, felt like pulling up dead weight a lot of times. imagine my
surprise when i hooked something a bit different!

i was casting near some boats and had already picked up 3 sbb in this spot on the dropshot. this time when
it bit, felt like i said earlier, dead weight. right when i brought it to the surface it took a dive for deeper water!
man, good thing i had just respooled with 8lb test (coming from 6 lb) and my drag was on the lighter side, or this thing woulda broke me off. he made some good runs, and i finally landed him! had to tire him out and tail grab him since i didn't have a net with me.

they bite at night!

so pumped! all fish safely c&r'd. ended the night at 11 pm with 16 spotties, 2 sandies, 1 hali!!

hanapa'a!

i never tire of these...

im puttting in my time before my 4th knee surgery and will be out of commission for month or so, so hit up mb again. i never tire fishing for SBB. pound for pound, they put up a mean fight. been fishing right at sunset into the night and have been picking up a steady count. 4 on the dropshot fluke, 3 on the t&c black widow. most came nearer to and after sunset. there still out there, go get um!

MB Night Bassin 1/24/2012 - 2 PB!

the stars looked aligned for another great night bassin' session, so decided to hit up MB. night was a little cloudy, a little windy, but not too cold. hit up a few new spots for nada, so decided to hit up my go to spot. lots of boils and baitfish swimming around, but was able to only pick up 1. decided to move around. good idea as around 8 pm, the wind died down, and the bite took off.

picked up my pb SBB! a little over 17".

another look at him.

back to back fish on multiple casts, brought an exciting night for me. ended the night at 10:30 pm (gf was calling), and they were still biting. left with 15 sbb, another new best for me!

equipment of choice: shimano clarus, symetre spooled with 15lb pp, t-rigged T&C Black widow (thanks kevin, may need more)- 1/0 EWG, 3/8 weight. had to bump up my weight as all the fish were in deeper water.

hanapa'a!

MB Night Bassin 1/2/2012

did not finish 2011 with a big bang (skunk and dinks @ the surf), so decided to try something a lil different. been seeing all these night bassin posts, so said, why the heck not?

hit up MB at around 6:30pm, to nice flat conditions. hit up my 1st spot of the night for nada. drove around to a 2nd spot and picked up 2 spotties! sweet! i'm liking night bassin'.

first catch of the night. ~12"

decided to move once the wind picked up and the fog rolled in. found another spot and the wind calmed down, but the fog was thick. saw a bunch of movement in the water and knew i'd get into some.

size 11 for reference.

bass thumb. sweet.

ended my sesh at around 9:30pm, biggest was about 16", the rest being 12-14. total tally - 10 spotties! had an extremely fun time, will definitely be back for some more night bassin. set up was 7'6" clarus, symetre 2500 spooled with 15lb braid pp. all on 3" bh black widow slathered in unibutter.