NorcalBassin

Really enjoying this thread and Glenn's video. Admittedly, I usually move along to other things in the fall and now I'm thinking I have a new "excuse" why I need to push off some yard projects til winter.

Since you'll usually be retrieving your swimbaits slowly and all of the way back to the boat I'd recommend the lowest IPT for a given reel on a designated swimbait setup.

Avid or E6x. Could be partially brainwashed by those two companies, but I have a number of each of their rods and always enjoy fishing with them.

Looks like the warden arrived in less than 5 posts and your trolling about the bass in his avatar not being impressive excludes you from being taken seriously. WRB hardly shot it down... just pointed out certain equipment is better suited for certain tackle. You can tow a 24' travel trailer with a Tacoma and get the job done, but given the option a 3/4 or 1 ton will get the job done more efficiently. That shouldn't be offensive to anyone with a Tacoma.

Feels good to finally get out of the basement. Not feeling real good about this week's matchup making it 2 in a row though!

Definitely pretty there with a nice microclimate, but the only two lakes I'm aware of allegedly have some pretty substantial issues that would be a bummer to move all the way out here and have as your "home" water. As far as hunting goes, the general rule of thumb is the further west you go in CA the less likely you are to find hunting (or be accepted as a hunter) and once you're in the central valley the further east and north you go the opposite holds true (probably similar to NY in getting away from NYC). The lower elevations (away from coast) are hot but not humid in the summer and rarely hit 32* for a low in the winter, and pretty much anywhere from Fresno up to Redding (300+ miles) will have excellent fishing or hunting within 1-1.5 hour's drive or so. Might be time for another trip to rent a car and take a look at a few towns to get a better feel for them... best of luck!

The legless slitherers are relatively common anywhere there's turkey, but it's pretty rare to see them in inhabited areas. Redding (very close to Shasta Lake) would fit your list well and add quality deer, bear, and boar hunting along with excellent trout, salmon, and steelhead fishing to your options if you do not mind the heat all summer long. If you'd prefer 4 seasons all you have to do is head a little further east into the 3000'+ elevation of the Sierra Foothills. Most of the foothill lakes in NorCal have very good bass fishing and places like the Delta and Clear Lake that are generally better to visit than live nearby are close enough for an easy drive. If you do not mind a lot of people and traffic a place like Vacaville as GC mentioned would be a nice option. Best of luck!

Just like with fishing gear, unless you're in a pinch don't ever pay retail for a gun. When I bought my first handgun it was at a local place and ABOVE retail. As I got more into it I learned that place was the biggest ripoff around and places within a comfortable driving distance routinely have most of their stock's everyday prices anywhere from 10-20% below retail. Not implying your local store is like the one I referenced... just that there is a lot of markup in guns and they should definitely be able to work with you.

Thought this was a funny troll thread when I first saw the title. There's a live and well Shimano posse for a reason...

Sorry to hear what you are going through, but fortunately it sounds like you're in the right mindset of keeping your daughter and her future with you as your top priority. I'd also agree with getting a lawyer to help set up your long term plans, and doing that now will save you a lot of headaches down the road. Best of luck with everything... you're on the right path already.

I'm in. Thanks!

Agree with the M&P Sport recommendation. Affordable price and will eat pretty much anything you put in it. Since you do not have much experience I wouldn't recommend building your own... if you really get into it and want to build one later the Sport will provide you with a nice entry level build for you to see where you want your upgrades. On another note, I'd recommend 5.56 over .223 since it can safely use either ammo... don't put 5.56 in a .223 barrel. Enjoy!

Happy birthday and best of luck on cashing in at the tournament!

Absolutely beautiful lake and often times has a lot of water in it when most CA lakes don't fill. If I was in your shoes I'd probably fish Whiskeytown as a change of pace and focus my efforts on Shasta and one of the SM lakes to the west or east referenced by Tom. The steelhead and salmon fishing can be fantastic on the Trinity and Klamath, and the flyfishing for trout on the upper/lower Sac is alleged to be the closest thing you can get to Alaska in CA. You're relocating to one heck of a year round fishing paradise... enjoy!

Place looks awesome... combination of property and being a little further away from things is tough to beat, not to mention that priceless perk of a shop/man cave. Congrats!!

This thread is full of wins already. Good stuff fellas!

I thought you were going to the bank to settle things when someone pulled up and fished too close to your favorite spot! Congrats on staying composed when he didn't and being rewarded for doing so.

Before I knew a thing about bass fishing we'd pick them up while trolling for trout and instead of being excited like I would be now we'd be upset about the "green carp" we were catching. Lots of missed opportunities. On the flip side, the only bass lure I had back then was a spinnerbait and we would slay them one after another from mid-May to mid-June every year. We'd throw them for a couple hours in the morning before trolling for trout/kokanee and that was the only time we'd bass fish all year. Now that the majority of my fishing is for bass and I have more gear/tackle than I could use in a lifetime I can't buy a bite on a spinnerbait most days. Go figure.

That's terrible and I can certainly empathize. My wife got a '15 Tahoe as soon as they came out and it was nothing but problems from the get go with repair after repair after repair. They even had to replace all of the fuel injectors at 12,000 and then on a trip to San Diego (8 hours away) the check engine light came on and they had to clean them again and replace a couple other things with about 35,900 miles on it. We had to take it to the dealer 14 times over 2 years and they wouldn't extend the warranty for us or anything for our troubles, so we walked away from it and picked up what we assume will be an ultra reliable 4Runner. We know quite a few people that swear by their Tahoes, but ours was definitely a lemon.

Agree with the 842. The DSR would still be a very nice rod, but the 842 will be more versatile and fit your needs better as an all-purpose finesse rod. Enjoy!

Watermelon red definitely works well on our spots out here.

Agree with the live bait recommendations. Not necessarily a "sporty" way to catch bass, but it should be a slumpbuster.

1/4 oz darterhead with a 4-5" grub or a split shot/mojo rig with a floating finesse worm slowly crawled back to you, working parallel, shallow to deep, or angled deep to shallow until you find them. If you don't it's time to lace up your boots.

Wow, so big it would almost be scary to catch. Almost.

Have to admit the action looks pretty sweet. Might have to add one to the collection for kicks.