Captain Cali

Lucky!! The closest BPS to me is Vegas...270 miles

Wasn't Zell Rowland smoking a cigarette on camera? It's funny how some wouldn't want Ike for a role model but no one mentions Zell smoking...interesting...could it be age discrepancy? Maybe he was smoking to calm his nerves...all the young guys are making him nervous. ;D I might see this a little different but I see fishermen as beer drinking, pizza eating, truck driving, and the guy living next door type of people. While golfers seem like wine drinking, caviar eating, mercedes driving, and living in a mansion getting paid 6+ figures to do it type of people. Seriously, golf is more of an elitist sport. How many PGA tour golf courses can you play without paying thousands to their country club? Not many. Fishing is and should be more accessible to the average joe than golf.

: Be careful what you guys have to say. You never know who might be reading this. So much for respecting others sports I guess. > Just like there are idiot jetskiers on the water there are idiot fishermen and other boaters also. By the way, they are Personal Watercraft (PWC) not jetskies. Don't lump all people who enjoy PWC in the same group, please. And yes I do own and ride PWC so consider me one of those $%#@#'s if you want. But I can guarantee you one thing...with 16 years of experience riding and racing PWC I'm a lot safer on the water than most boaters I see, maybe even you. So please don't disrespect other watersports because I can go off on how some fishermen/boaters act.

: I was under the impression that in tournaments the guy who catches the most big bass usually wins. Am I wrong? I realize a limit is very important but lets just say both anglers have limits. Obviously the guy with the bigger fish wins. Or am I missing something? :-? And who ever said trophy hunters can't or don't catch little bass?

My home lake, Castaic, California has a 35mph speed limit and a seperate area for PWC. Both areas are counter clockwise only but you can cut through the middle if you do it safely. Most Southern California lakes are like this. The part outside the PWC area is 2 arms. 1 arm is the ski arm and the other is the fishing arm. Fishing is allowed in the ski arm but no waterskis in the fishing arm. The speed limit is not really enforced for boaters as much as PWC. PWC have a much smaller area bouyed off. It's funny because a bass boat doing 60 wont get hassled but a speed boat or PWC doing 60 will get lit up right away, especially if you are racing. Castaic Lagoon is limited to non-powered watercraft and trolling motors only. You can take a gas boat on the lagoon but the motor has to be up and not running of course. Same counter clockwise rule but not enforced as much as the main lake.

JT Bagwell ;D That's right baby!!

The biggest for me so far was a little over 5 pounds. It's the fish in my avatar. 2 of my goals for 2006 are to catch my first smallie and striper. Never fished for smallies and only twice for stripers. Those stripers crash the top like runaway trains!!

The problem is people judge him by the highlights which show no more than 1% of the fishing he does. They don't show all the hours spent searching for a bite so people don't get a good perspective on why he is going nuts. It's good to know he is a good person though.

2003 Bassmaster Classic Champion would be my answer...is that serious enough? The guys isn't just some hack. Do other sports champions get critized because they spray champange on each other or dump gatorade on their coaches? That to me seems a little childish but I understand the emotion involved so I don't critize it. Those outside the sport don't understand his antics because they have probably never caught a fish or it's nothing special to them. Those people see IKE and just think "geez...it's just a fish". But to bass anglers it's not just a fish. We put a lot of hard work into catching bass so to show some emotion is good. I wont beleive anyone who says their adrenaline doesn't start pumping when a big fish is on. When that happens...let it out man!!

The guy is doing something right so I doubt he cares. Plus free advertisement for a Bass pro in GQ? How can anyone not want that. They were even talking about him on ESPN radio yesterday and it wasn't the outdoor show. The guy fishes hard and shows a lot of emotion when he has success. What's wrong with that? Is it any different than a NFL player doing a TD celebration? No...it's just something no one has seen before so they stick their noses up at it. Go IKE!! Don't change because of some haters!!

I'm not married but I do live with my girlfriend and it bugs her sometimes. She gets all lonely and stuff. I just tell her..."I could be going to strip clubs and stuff like a lot of other guys do". She then promptly hands me my tackle and pushes me out the door!! It works everytime!! I'm working on getting her to go fishing. She just doesn't want to be out in the cold right now so I'm hoping she goes when spring roles around.

80% of my fishing is done at night right now. The bite seems to kick in after 3am though. I like to use cranks with LOUD rattles and I just got into jig'n'pigs. Jigs seem to be the hot ticket right now worked slow along weedlines & pads.

Nope...no problem here...unless I have a problem also.

While you are correct...I started bass fishing in June of 2005 because I read about Bod Crupi not because I read about KVD. I might be the exception to the rule but BIG bass excite me while little bass are fun to catch but not very exciting.

Bigger usually = Older which usually = wiser. Big bass is generally smarter.

The guy who catches the most big bass. Big bass are smarter and when they do bite they are harder to land.

I think the best way to start is to advertise in your local tackle shop. You can ask the manager if they would post a sign or keep flyers on the front counter for you. Maybe even a sign up sheet at the store. Good luck. If you were a little more south I would consider joining.

I agree...gulp sinking minnow seems to have too stiff an action compared to more traditional senko type baits. Could be the bag I had though. And they stink!

Maybe it's just a bass thing?? :-?

I usually carry 2-3 rigs while tubing but want to start carrying more this year. I'm looking for ideas of homemade rod holders for tubes. I've seen some cool ideas already but it's always great to find more. Pictures would be great too. So if you have a cool setup you want to show off and help others like myself, this is the place!! Thanks...

1) Commit to BIG swimbaits. 2) Gain confidence in soft plastics. 3) Become more consistant. 4) Learn more.

When the next WR is caught here we'll see how many of these same people bashing cali will start flocking here in order for a piece of the action. Oh yeah, I forgot...people already flock here for our great bass fishing among other things. So when the next 22-5+ is caught, have your warm weather gear ready because all of you will be flocking here.

I can't argue with that. Yosemite and Tahoe...enough said.

WOW!! This sure turned into a California bash-fest!! I guess when you are born and raised into something or in this case somewhere, it's just a part of you. Love the stereotypes though!! : I just hope more people think like you guys and get out of here or don't come at all.

85 outside on Christmas eve. How great is that?? I live 15 minutes from downtown L.A. and 30 minutes from Castaic. It has it's good and bad. Bad being all the people, traffic, and smog. The good being the weather and we have a little of everything close by. You can be in the snow and in less than 2 hours be on a beach enjoying the sun. The best part is being able to fish all year long. Obviously there are other places you can fish year round, but not very many places hold a potential world record bass in so many lakes and can be fished all year. If we could just move Castaic to Hawaii, then I'd be happy.