Sierra_Smitty
04-01-2010, 04:33 PM
Well the Del Mar Fred Hall show was last week and while the show is a lot of fun, I was really stoked for my second annual March trip with guide Art Hill.
For those of you that don't know me, I'm primarily a trout guy, but I just got back into bass fishing in the winter of 08/09 and part of that included a trip with Art last March to prepare for a trip to Northern California. Following Arts instruction I proceeded to head north and absolutely OWN northern Cali boating several fish over 5lbs and one that went 8lbs 12oz. I've used Arts tips and techniques a lot over the last year but felt that I was ready for round two of "Bass Class" to prepare for another trip to the north next week....so I scheduled a trip for 3/30. Art guides at both DVL and Vail and left it up to me as to where I wanted to fish. Word has it DVL has been a zoo and with the much cooler and windy forecast, I chose Vail - and I'm VERY glad that I did. Both of my brothers, Evan & Lane, were along for the ride - gotta love good company!
My top goals for the day
- Learn more about fishing texas rigged plastics in heavy cover
- See some jerkbaits in action
- Pick Arts brain about a host of bass techniques
- Catch a few fish
The short version of this report is that I succeeded in all of those endeavors - awesome!
We started the morning off with breakfast at Siggy's - damn fine breakfast and cheap - I love that.
We hit the lake to find brisk conditions with just a light breeze....I could really feel a difference from the morning before..brr. As we would find out, the high for the day would be 15 full degrees cooler than the day prior and the water temp a solid 3 degrees cooler. Not the best conditions but whatever...can't mess with ma' nature.
My big thing for the day was to practice fishing some texas rigs so we started off fishing 6" lizards. I always insist that guides fish along with me on guided trips - I usually learn as much from watching them fish as I do from verbal instruction, fishing with Art is no exception. Not surprisingly Art boated a few fish right away while us boys got busy farming some. We fished around a few points for a while and then moved off to the other side of the lake. It was about this time that the wind started to come up...annoying to say the least.
We worked our way around a few coves and came up on some good cover - flooded trees. Last year Art introduced me to spinnerbaits and for some reason, I had a feeling that a spinnerbait was a good move. My confidence grew when Art told me it was a great idea. A few casts later - BAM - I'm on a good fish. Mama pulled hard but I had her number and my first fish in the boat was the kind of fish I was after - 6lbs 4oz on the digi. BOOOOOYA!!!! Thats the kind of bass I've been dreaming about since last March.
Hooked up...
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/P3300035.jpg
Toad bass
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/P3300038.jpg
Closeup
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/P3300037.jpg
After a few more fish we moved back around to the other side of the cove. Art picked off a few more fish and then Lane hooked up.....BIG FISH....homegirl followed a senko right up to the boat and ate it not 3ft from the boat. After a somewhat short fight, Lane managed to farm a fish that was definitely as big, if not bigger, than the fish I caught. He beat himself up pretty good for farming that fish but Art gave him a few pointers that should help him to land the next toad he hooks in to.
Evan managed to pick up some bass as well, fishing the lizards.
As the day went on the wind increased to the point where it was more obnoxious than I cared to deal with. I made the call to leave early so we could get ahead of traffic.
All in all it was freaking awesome day on the water with my brothers. I managed a toad, we all caught fish under tough conditions and we learned even more about the bass game. I'm hoping that history will repeat itself and getting out with Art will produce similar results up in Northern Cali next week.
I highly recommend Art for anyone interested in an enjoyable day on the water learning more about bass and how to catch them. Dude is hilarious too by the way!
Peace,
Smitty
A few more pics...
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/P3300039.jpg
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/P3300041.jpg
For those of you that don't know me, I'm primarily a trout guy, but I just got back into bass fishing in the winter of 08/09 and part of that included a trip with Art last March to prepare for a trip to Northern California. Following Arts instruction I proceeded to head north and absolutely OWN northern Cali boating several fish over 5lbs and one that went 8lbs 12oz. I've used Arts tips and techniques a lot over the last year but felt that I was ready for round two of "Bass Class" to prepare for another trip to the north next week....so I scheduled a trip for 3/30. Art guides at both DVL and Vail and left it up to me as to where I wanted to fish. Word has it DVL has been a zoo and with the much cooler and windy forecast, I chose Vail - and I'm VERY glad that I did. Both of my brothers, Evan & Lane, were along for the ride - gotta love good company!
My top goals for the day
- Learn more about fishing texas rigged plastics in heavy cover
- See some jerkbaits in action
- Pick Arts brain about a host of bass techniques
- Catch a few fish
The short version of this report is that I succeeded in all of those endeavors - awesome!
We started the morning off with breakfast at Siggy's - damn fine breakfast and cheap - I love that.
We hit the lake to find brisk conditions with just a light breeze....I could really feel a difference from the morning before..brr. As we would find out, the high for the day would be 15 full degrees cooler than the day prior and the water temp a solid 3 degrees cooler. Not the best conditions but whatever...can't mess with ma' nature.
My big thing for the day was to practice fishing some texas rigs so we started off fishing 6" lizards. I always insist that guides fish along with me on guided trips - I usually learn as much from watching them fish as I do from verbal instruction, fishing with Art is no exception. Not surprisingly Art boated a few fish right away while us boys got busy farming some. We fished around a few points for a while and then moved off to the other side of the lake. It was about this time that the wind started to come up...annoying to say the least.
We worked our way around a few coves and came up on some good cover - flooded trees. Last year Art introduced me to spinnerbaits and for some reason, I had a feeling that a spinnerbait was a good move. My confidence grew when Art told me it was a great idea. A few casts later - BAM - I'm on a good fish. Mama pulled hard but I had her number and my first fish in the boat was the kind of fish I was after - 6lbs 4oz on the digi. BOOOOOYA!!!! Thats the kind of bass I've been dreaming about since last March.
Hooked up...
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/P3300035.jpg
Toad bass
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/P3300038.jpg
Closeup
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/P3300037.jpg
After a few more fish we moved back around to the other side of the cove. Art picked off a few more fish and then Lane hooked up.....BIG FISH....homegirl followed a senko right up to the boat and ate it not 3ft from the boat. After a somewhat short fight, Lane managed to farm a fish that was definitely as big, if not bigger, than the fish I caught. He beat himself up pretty good for farming that fish but Art gave him a few pointers that should help him to land the next toad he hooks in to.
Evan managed to pick up some bass as well, fishing the lizards.
As the day went on the wind increased to the point where it was more obnoxious than I cared to deal with. I made the call to leave early so we could get ahead of traffic.
All in all it was freaking awesome day on the water with my brothers. I managed a toad, we all caught fish under tough conditions and we learned even more about the bass game. I'm hoping that history will repeat itself and getting out with Art will produce similar results up in Northern Cali next week.
I highly recommend Art for anyone interested in an enjoyable day on the water learning more about bass and how to catch them. Dude is hilarious too by the way!
Peace,
Smitty
A few more pics...
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/P3300039.jpg
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/P3300041.jpg