I've been gone from Paso for about 12 years I really miss it. It was good to see a bunch of my old friends and most of them were sober. That's a little unusual for them but I guess as you get a little more
"mature" you learn to
HIDE it better
! Your right about the weather, I will never get tired of the weather on the Central Coast. A little chilly in the morning, perfect Irsh coffee weather, and absolutely beautiful during the day.
I didn't get much time to prefish but I keyed in on what Gene Grey said "it's Naci, nothing has changed" so the prefish I did get I went around metering and just looking. The Humminbird SI really helps me locate fish. The fish I located were still there and I went around gathering my limit. I had a limit in the boat by 7:30 turned around and made another pass. I managed to get the squeaker out by a fraction and from that point on it was balance beam and cull by fractions of an ounce. And at that even, on the balance beam the fish were so close it was hard to tell.
Around 9:30 or so I went up river checking on some old spots that should be in about the right water level at this point but found nothing. I started to work my way back down the lake hitting some historic spots, places that in the past have won events on Naci for me and my old team partner.
Around 11 or so I pulled up to on of those traditional spots and started working on it pretty methodically. I won't say a lot about this spot but if the water level was about 5 feet to 10 feet lower it would have been perfect.
I had a new Revenge
"Viberator" tied on specifically for this situation and started working it pretty hard. About the 4th cast I got slammed and at first I thought it was a big catfish but quickly realized it was a big Spot maybe even a Largemouth. This fish hammered the "Vibernater" so hard I had to use some needle noze pliers to get the hook out.
I culled out a 13 1/2" fish with a beautiful
3 1/2 pound Spot!. I figured that was a good trade. I have been fishing tournaments since the early 80's and this kind of fish absolutely still gets me fired up. I'm surprised you didn't hear me holler when I put it in the livewell. I went right back in and about the 4th or 5th cast I got slammed again. This time I lost the fight and the fish. I made a few more casts and no more fish so I moved on.
I did catch a few more fish but was pretty much done and headed in. I fished the wall across from the launch ramp for the last half hour and went in to weigh in. I was a little surprised that my weight made it to 3rd place but was happy to take it.
I'm extremely happy to have done so well against some of the best anglers on the Central Coast not to mention the West Coast. I should be at the next one in January so make sure you come up and say hello Bryan.
Cya at the next one
jb