Back in action... Sort of. 4/21/12

[Socal Bassman]

It's been awhile since I've posted a report, or been on the water for that matter. Well, on Saturday we decided to take the kids to the Tommy Thomas Kid's Derby. We got a late start, so it wasn't a surprise that the shoreline at Lots 11 & 12 was packed. However, it didn't look like the turnout was as big as previous years. We eventually found a little spot to fish from and began setting up our tackle. I had a Flick Shake on my dropshot rod, an LC Pointer75 on my baitcaster, and 1/8oz. gold Kastmasters on the kids' poles. On the first cast with the Flick Shake, I feel the tell-tale "tick" and I slam the hook home. I immediately handed the rod over to my 3yr. old daughter and had her reel the fish in. After a short tussle, we eventually got the fish close enough to shore for me to get a hold of it's bottom lip. My wife and daughter quickly ran the fish back up to the parking lot to get it weighed in. After getting it weighed in they made their way back down to the lake to release it.

We stuck around a little while longer until another family came around looking for a spot. Since I'm not one to stick to one spot, we decided to make a move and relinquish our spot to them. Hopefully they were able to get onto some fish. We made our way towards the launch ramp where we ran into a couple tubers who were about to launch. One of 'em had a really nice Prowler rigged up. Asked the wife if she wanted to venture into the jungle, but she said no so we decided to head back to the car and give the marina docks a try. No luck there, so we packed up and headed for the launch ramps. Seeing that the shad was pretty much everywhere, we tried a variety of shad imitating lures. After an hour or so with no luck and the sun beating down on us, my wife suggested that we pack up and head back to 11 & 12 and relax considering that there was only 45 minutes left for the derby. Not ready to quit yet, I told her "Okay, after a few more casts." Switched over to a Flick Shake in Bluegill and started fishing a weedbed that I got hung up on earlier. Two casts later, I notice my line slowly moving out towards deeper water. I quickly reeled in the slack and set the hook. Handed the rod to my son where he and my daughter used a little teamwork to reel the fish in. He held the rod while his sister reeled. The fish put up a good fight, but they eventually got it in. Quickly rushed to the weigh in site, got the fish weighed, and I had to make a mad dash down to the lake to release it as our bag was running out of water quick. By the end of the derby we saw a few bass weighed in, some small rainbows, and a lot of decent sized redears. At the end of the event there were food and drinks for the participants, a raffle, and awards were handed out to the top three 5 fish limit for boys and girls in each age group.


Jr, Lauryn and momma weighing in the second fish of the day


Lauryn,3, with her brother holding up her 1st place trophy.

[SirBluegill]

Nice report Bassman, I remember seeing that banner up at the park entrance for the derby. Kinda wished I had a younger sibling to take to the derby, that woulda been fun.