starcraft1

My 60th is right around the corner and I'm hoping for the gift of my life (so far) 1 mine you, just 1 - 10+ large mouth, 1 - 8lb. spot - 1 - 6+ smallie. Not much to ask for, right?

I'm the "keeper of rods" I've caught 2, both on Clear lake. 1 while flipping tules, the other pitching a dock. The 2nd one had the brightest green line I've ever seen. Discovered it belonged to a couple of guys night fishing and fell asleep. Looked to us as 1 to many bottles of wine, they were all over the dock!

For a west coast version, Dee Thomas (flippin' method)took Gary Klein under his wing back in the late 70's Dave Gliebe, taught me how to flip and pitch, also in the mid to late 70's, still fish with him on the delta to this day Gary Dobbins (some guy who's got his name all over a bunch of rods) HE, HE! Hopes he reads this! Skeet Reese, still remember his head bangin' rock coming out of his beat up car! And that hair cut back then? Skeet got there the hard way and earned everything he's got! Gary went thru some tough time as well, not doing bad for a cable installer! Dee, still the "grumpy old fa#t!" Dave, still a class act, now working at B.P. in Manteca, Ca.

You sure Raider isn't up in the N. Cal. Mts.? Looks like some of the pot growers we have up here!

Watched Ole' Ben Franklin grow wings and fly out of my wallet! Filled truck, wife's car, and boat, I'm broke! Also complete "nose to hub" elect. brake system for my 98' skeeter trailer. OUCH!

Being 4th gen. from California you'd think I'd say out here.South Oregon is what I'd tell you. No sales tax, my friend pays MUCH LESS in prop. tax than I do, example: he has the same amount of land as I and his house is 600+ sq. ft. larger than mine and his taxes are 500+ less than mine. As far as fishing? 5 trophy bass lakes within 25 miles of Grants pass, Rouge river for salmon, steelhead, small jaws, and some of the biggest clear water catfish you've ever seen. Most importantly, the people are great! "Be a good person, we'll treat you that way" If you hunt, turkey, deer, elk, west coast fly zone - geese & ducks. Tried (and still trying) to talk my wife into moving there. Her response, "it rains to much there" Oh yea, no drought season. Also they have signs every where 12"H X 18" W that say it all, "VOTE NO" they vote no on everything. Like I said, GREAT PEOPLE! Thank god my buddy moved there some 9 yrs. ago, my escape!

I make ball heads in 1/16, 1/8, 3/16, &1/4 - 1/0, 3/0,4/0 60 degree flat eye hook, also a 30 degree hook in 3/0, 4/0, 5/0 - 1/8 & 1/4.

I live 10 Mins. from lime saddle marina on the west branch of Lake Oroville. Gas thanks, tackle - I make all that I use. Bring your own rods and reels. If you want to pick up some tackle, buy the 25 pack of "old Ugly" tubes. That's about all you'll need on Oroville right now. There's also another spot lake near by, Bullards Bar. The bite is just about over on Bullards, but their still pulling out 7 & 8 lbers. These are spotted bass. The local guide is a close friend of mine and all the "skinny" for either lake I can get in a phone call. Give me a call, 530-680-5838

Once I get one of "my" nerd types back over her I'll have pics. 1998 Skeeter 50th anns. ZX202C with Yammie 200 Z-Max.

By the way, if you want Fla. style fishing, go farther west. Clear lake is another 5 hrs. or Oroville is another 1 1/2 hrs. down Hwy 70. Oroville is loaded with spots & large mouth.

Glad I could help. From Reno, I believe 395 will take you one way. The way I take is; Hwy 70 to Hwy 89 going towards Greenville. Just before Greenville there's a turn off to the right (Antelope lake) or go straight and Alamanor will be on your right side. Butt will have a left turn off just past Rocky Pt. camp grounds. If your going to Butt, Stay there. If you don't, the road to the ramp is a tough one. The camp ground ramp is top of the line. The camp grounds at Rocky Pt. are for the party crowd and the one farther north (another 2-3 miles) is for fisherman. A lot of out of town tourneys are staged out of there, but on weekends. There's tap water & drop toilets on both. I think it's $14.00 a night with ranger's around a lot. I made the mistake of staying at Rocky Pt. ONCE!, NEVER AGAIN! For the second one (I call it the P.G.&E.) has a bright yellow building back away from the road and not much of a sign to turn. It's the next right pass Rocky pt. If you keep going on 89 (another 4-5 mi.) 89 will dead end on Hwy 32. Make a right on 32 and the Town of Chester will just ahead. Gas, food, and high priced lodging. The good thing is the gas isn't that bad of a price, and food is good. They also have some better than average food. If you need tackle, go thru town (3-4 mins.) and on both the left and right sides of the road will be a outdoor shop (left) and general store (right) across the Hwy from each other. I choose the gen. store, better people to deal with and more in tune with the bite. I wouldn't go until mid to late spring (last part of April - mid June). The small mouth bite is great at that time and I'm sure you'll find me up there. Look for a 20' Skeeter my Chevy truck. I'll be happy to help with info and set you up as far as tackle, lake quirks, weather, and the town. Butt & Alamanor = small mouth, Walker & Antelope = large mouth - N. strain

April is Pre-spawn to spawn time on Clear Lake. Some bed fishing, but more on the jig & swim bait bite. The big cows will be staging by then but with this weather, you could be looking at a full on spawn. State & country parks, Rodman, the banks on hwy 20- Lucerne area, and the keys should be your best bets.

Good luck on crank bait fishing during the winter? If your fishing tournaments on these res. use a tube, jig, drop shot or float & fly. Green pumpkin or clear salt & pepper tubes will full the live well fast.

Hey guys, I'm in N. Calif. and have been bass fishing these lake for decades. You have 3 real close to you. Alamore, Butt, & Walker are within a few hrs. of you and you also have Antelope. All have both large and small mouth in them. I make jigs and jig heads for both of them and if you need any info, P.M. me or e-mail me at mydog345@sbcglobal.net Pardon my spelling

I'm really interested in your process. Out here in Calif. the same thing is going to happen as far as the lead ban. I make jigs for guys out here and would be very interested in talking to you. Thanks Bruce, Paradise tackle.

Last nights left overs, water, & a touch of bubbly in my coffee for the morn chill.

See that hole just above those rapids? Hang on, we're going for a ride!

Mine came from the 1st "bass boat"? I ever owned. Yes, I know StarCraft didn't make a bass boat at that time (1968), but I didn't care. I made my 16' run-a-bout into to a Cal delta fishing/bass boat. A lot of work went into that boat and had a few of the pros at the time like what they saw. I even fished my 1st few tournaments out of it! We own the 1st ever high school fishing tourney with it. Still have the side name plate off that boat.