Super User fourbizz Posted January 28, 2008 Super User Posted January 28, 2008 I was scheduled to go to Reno this weekend and with the giant storm we had coming in, I knew that getting over Donner Pass and back would be a nightmare, so I took my buddy Steve up on an offer to go down to the tournament for free. Sweet! I brought all my gear so we could fish at a different lake the day after the event. I left home at 10 AM and after a 1.5 hr detour around the grapevine, we arrived a little after 8:30. Yep ten and a half hour drive. After some killer mexican food we got to the hotel. I had 4 good friends fishing this thing. Got to bed at 11 and was up at 2:45AM . This was a tournament of a bunch of the top big fish sticks in California. 1 fish limit, winner take all, 50 individual fishermen. The weather was crazy 30MPH winds, punishing hail, and rain so intense I couldn't hear anything else when I had my hood up! I saw on the news that night that this one storm dropped more rain on southern california than they received in all of 2007 After all the boats finally got launched I just hung out and BS'ed and help the TD's setup. I ended up talking to a legend down there who has been swimbaiting lake casitas since the 80's! We ended up going out and fishing the marina ( so as not to beat up the competitors water) and fished for a couple hours. NO fish or anything but it was really cool fishing with one of the OG's and checking out some of his baits. I also found myself talking to a charming lady from texas and we talked about fish aging and biology. All of a sudden it hit me. It was Lane! Creator and owner of the Please Release Me product line and BassResource.com sponsor! After 8 punishing hours everyone made it back. My buddy Matt had to weigh in early to to boat troubles. The win ended up going to a NorCal guy who caught a 10.52 pounder on a 12" Castaic. The bite was absolutely brutal and most of the field blanked and there were a handful of 5's and 7's. Even Butch Brown who has 850+ fish over 10lbs (none of which are bed fish!) didn't get bit despite having caught a 12lber on the last day of pre fish. Sat around the diner table and bs'ed with Byron Velvick which was kind of cool too I guess. I got a ton of respect for those guys that went out there and went big all day in horrible conditions. They still went on stage in front of the cameras with their chins up, proud of their effort. Much Respect! Ended up meeting a ton of the guys that inspired me and a ton of people that were just plain cool. Left the event with some new friends and a couple hundred dollars worth of baits including an A W E S O M E prototype hardbait. Went back to the hotel cold and hurtin and drank a sixer. Woke up the next morning, fished my butt off, got one bite, missed her, and drove 8hrs home with a trailer that had all the leaves of its leaf springs broken on one side. I'm wiped out, but it was a blast. I intend to fish the next HBC event at Clear Lake in July. Congrats Don! That belt is SICK up close! Quote
Super User Redlinerobert Posted January 28, 2008 Super User Posted January 28, 2008 Cool post man! Now lets see a pic of that prototype bait. Quote
Super User fourbizz Posted January 28, 2008 Author Super User Posted January 28, 2008 Can't even fish it front of other people, sorry! Quote
Super User burleytog Posted January 28, 2008 Super User Posted January 28, 2008 Now that's a party! Quote
Super User roadwarrior Posted January 28, 2008 Super User Posted January 28, 2008 Great post! Question: Did you notice if any of the guys fished "traditional" baits? I'm referring to jig & pig, worms, Senkos, etc., rather than all swimbaits. 8-) Quote
slomoe Posted January 28, 2008 Posted January 28, 2008 sounds like an awsome weekend. Good post. Quote
Super User fourbizz Posted January 28, 2008 Author Super User Posted January 28, 2008 Yeah RW, some guys did and somebody got a 7 on a jig. Since this will be a series there were many small fish weighed in just so the guys could get some points. Quote
Guest avid Posted January 28, 2008 Posted January 28, 2008 I also found myself talking to a charming lady from texas and we talked about fish aging and biology. fish aging and biology........ d**n 4biz, you be smoooooooooooooooooooooth 8-) Quote
Infidel. Posted January 28, 2008 Posted January 28, 2008 That is sweet you made it down here. I know you have been looking forward to checking it out. Quote
Super User 5bass Posted January 29, 2008 Super User Posted January 29, 2008 I like the Heavyweight Belt idea.... Good report 4biz! Quote
JUST Posted January 31, 2008 Posted January 31, 2008 Bad *** buddy. Sounds like a pretty nice little Saturday. Quote
Terry_ Posted January 31, 2008 Posted January 31, 2008 Sweet report dude, sounds like a great weekend. Quote
Super User Matt Fly Posted January 31, 2008 Super User Posted January 31, 2008 Some of the known big hitters on that lake totally blanked. Sorry the weather didn't cooperate for them. I guess Byron felt at home in Cali emceeing the event. I like what the winner said about throwing swim baits. He said throwing a swimbait is like playing the slot machine. You keep playing, and playing, and sometimes it paysoff. Good to see Cali getting some of those style of tournies going. Weve had them for over 20 years, and they are open to anyone. Some day, maybe they will get the hourly money going. Imagine paying 12 spots per hour for 8 hours a day for 3 days. Thats 286 hourly checks that pays 1000.00 to 200.oo every hour for 8 hrs for 3 days. This year guaranteed payout is over 1.5 mil. Hookem Quote
Mattlures Posted February 1, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 Matt I am glad there is no hourly checks. that would encourage fishing for small fish. The idea behind this T was to encourage guys to not hold back. Swing for the fences, winner take all. The man who won the event Don Osborne was just being modest. He knows darn well that catching big bass is not luck. In this rare instance luck did play a roll in that he was the first boat out and got his fish on the first cast. The weather was soo bad that nobody else could get another big fish all day. Don called me after he prefished the lake and we joked about what he would say when he caught his first big fish. I called him on his way home to congratulate him on his victory. Trust me the guy knows what he is doing and I dont consider him lucky at all even though thats what he said. He is just a nice guy and was being hunble. As for the Texas T's I think they sound like a blast and I would love to try one. Maybe If I visit my mom (she lives in Tyler) I could donate some of my money to you Texas boys, or maybe I just might get "lucky" and leave with a bunch of Texas cash 8-) Quote
Super User Jimzee Posted February 1, 2008 Super User Posted February 1, 2008 Awsome story man. I wondered when they were gonna have that tourney. I remember reading about it several months back. Quote
deepsessions Posted February 1, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 nice report Jay..I was thinking of going and spectating but thought a few lakes would finally turn on with the storms :-/ Don's a good guy I'm glad he won it and brought the belt to Norcal. That belt is pretty sweet but not half as sweet as the guys personal collection! it is retarded good luck at Clear Lake...they should open the field up to a few hundred for that place! Quote
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