What a Rally!!

[Gator]

Great Friends, great fun, great times!!! That's what it is all about.

Well, short story, I stunk it up today. Could only manage 4.47 for the final session. If I would have had 6 pounds I woulda won it all!!!

Great Shellcracker and Frog bite!!

More coming later, shower and a nap coming, then work to do and have to be on a plane in the morning.

Here's the full final list!! Yes, I am the BigNut!! wo0ho0!!!!! Martino Adra is the NumbNut for overfilling a weigh bag and busting it on the dock, losing the 5 pounder that would have won him the tournament!

Name Total Weight Big Fish OddNut
Dennis Bramlett 23.81
Lee Hines 22.23 8.54
Brody Bramlett 22.19
Amy VonSpreckelsen 22.11
James Huffmon 20.05
Geno Chiarpotti 20.02
Gary Collins 20.01
Dick Marchini 20
Martino Adra 19.4
Aaron Hart 19.22
Bill Rowles 19.15
John Chiarpotti 18.95
Bob Morrish 18.9
Ray Stevens 17.79
Dewayne Bonham 16.81
Dick McHenry 16.73
Tom Atkeson 16.68
Leann Baron 16.23
Steve Greene 15.71
Tony Stoltz 14.78
John Fike 14.74
Chad Gulden 14.25
Norval Chan 14.11
Dave Mayo 14.09
Rusty Baron 13.98
Kevin Evans 13.77
Kent Simmons 13.68
Scott Sweet 13.46
Michael Seewald 13.33
Cade Alcorn 13.22
Cody Carpenter 13.05
Morgan Swisher 12.82
Jim Huffmon 12.71
Linda Stevens 12.7
bob repp 12.59
Bob Carpenter 12.58
Sean Alarid 12.43
Andy Cuccia 12.01
Anne Rowles 11.9
Dick Brimmer 11.7
Justin VonSpreckelsen 11.27
robert brewer 10.65
Brian Day 10.44
Brett Shepherd 10.23
hunter mcclaskey 10.09
Larry Nakamura 10.08
Mike D'Ambrogia 9.63
jason garcia 9.34
miguel amodio 9.03
Jonathan Ashcraft 8.9 13.10 Catfish
Rick Wolfe 8.72
Mitch Mitcheltree 7.39
Alexandra Koehler 7.03
Hugo Girol 6.88
Matt Moreau 6.35
Doyle McEwen 5.56
Guy Kelley 5.35
Mark Weichold 5.35
Jody brewer 4.48
scott mcclaskey 1.53
Gary Ryon 1.48

[Norv]

I had a great time. Thanks to my boaters Dwayne Bonham Martino Adra and Guy Kelly. This year I broke off a good fish, dropped a 4 1/2 pounder back in because I thought I already had two bigger fish ( actually only had one fish), lost a bunch of fish on Saturday afternoon and only managed to weigh one fish and this morning I almost fell overboard during the weigh in!!!

Almost all of my fish were caught using jigs by Lefty's Lures over rock piles and weed clumps in various areas around the lake, Rodman Slough and Bass Alley. The depths went from 25 feet to just a foot or so.

I even won a few things at the raffle. But, not anywhere near the amount of goodies won by Tom Atkinson and the guys at Mitch's table!!! I think they had to rent a U Haul to take the stuff home!!!

Great time, good friends and lots of fun.


Norval Chan

[stickbait]

Ol Blue still catching them ...eh ... great job to all !!

[g-man]

Had a great time good to see friends, except Guy! hehe. First session with "The Hub" was really fun! ( did you guys know he was crazy?) hahhahahha! We prolly stuck 20 plus with me him and another guy. Three deep in the boat, I wish I could remember the other guys name. (sorry) Cool guy for sure. Went out with another guy( 2nd session) Can't remember his name either! Another really cool dude.

After day 1, and 2 sessions WE decided to not go for the 3rd session. Just wanted to party with a few good friends, and not worry about waking up.

Dewayne next time tell me your name when you poke fun at me! Had to find out from some one else it was you.

Guy, you know how it is!

MikeD

Cornish nice to meet you.

Kap GFYS you beat me again! Mac good to see ya.

JohnnyC good to see you briefly!

and many more....

Gator good job dude, way to stick two good ones early! You know I was supporting you 100%! Can't remember the feller who won, but congrats to you. sTony had a good 3rd session!

Fun times!!!

Matty thanks for the bed, WE ROLL!




Ash Nice Cat! i have been drinking past 9 again! shhhhh!

[Norv]

g man,

Saying that "Hub" is crazy is an understatement!!! But, he's a really nice guy and a great fisherman. I fished with him last year and had a great time. I think I saw you guys around Shag Rock towards the end of Saturday's morning session.


Norval Chan

[g-man]

g man,

Saying that "Hub" is crazy is an understatement!!! But, he's a really nice guy and a great fisherman. I fished with him last year and had a great time. I think I saw you guys around Shag Rock towards the end of Saturday's morning session.


Norval Chan

HES CRAZY! LMAO all day!

[Terry Smith]

Green Monster I see your wife SPANKED YOU BWWWWWWWWAHAHHAHAHHAA !!!! GREAT JOB MRS. Green Monster!!!!!!!

[bassmeout]

FROM TOPNUT TO NUMBNUT IN A METER OF SECONDS.

To my defence in regards to the numbnut award I can't help it if the bags were straight from the Petco Goldfish department.

Anyways, I had a blast. I found this magic spot thursday during practice loaded with fish and kept two flipping sticks in my hand, one for frogs and another one for jigs. I had the shellcraker and an AC plug tie on but I was having to much fun with my other two baits.

They didn't like senor Frog so they will try to kill it instead of eating it. Fish at C.L are mean!!!!!! I throw back 4lbs in the first session and had a fish around 7-8 lbs miss the bait by an inch.

The afternoon session was very tough for everyone. Pick up my flipping stick and caught 3 fish all day. best two went 5.03lbs.... Sorry Norval !!!!!

The last day I had 10.5lbs for 2 by 6.45 AM and was throwing back 4lbs like if they were 10inch fish.
I found a chessemat that couldn't be more more than 20ft X 12ft that had a million fish inside, my partner Dick and I spend 45 minutes in this places getting fish blow up on every cast but I only managed to catch 5 fish out of this area but none of them help me any.

I'm glad to had help my first day non boater Gary and my last day non boater Dick catch their first frog fish.

I will seek revenge next year. Like Arnold says " I"ll be back" BUT WITH MY OWN BAGS!!!!!!

Martino.

[ash]

Ash Nice Cat! i have been drinking past 9 again! shhhhh!

Maybe thats why you cant remember anyones name....

[ash]

I had great big fun at the Rally as well. It was good hangin with the Kap and Mac.

On Thursday (my first day up on CL) I spun a hub and was down in Soda Bay. I limped back in at 5mph, its ok I needed some "ME Time" Mr. Gary "Crazy Man" DA HUB SPINNA Collins was very generous and gave me the prop off the back of his boat so that I could enjoy the rest of the weekend. Thanks Gary, I really appreciate it!

Tom - Thanks for dinner, Mike D - thanks for not lookin Good to fish with the Tube Master, Dick mchenry and Mike D.

and Really thanks to LEE "Gator" Hines for running this event. I had a great time and look forward to my next Nut award I have 2 out of 4 now its time for BIG NUT and TOP NUT!

[mac (Doyle McEwen)]

I can't really add much to the conversation, but will throw my two cents in anyway..As always, those that could not make it missed out on a great event..Kap and I arrived there Thursday, and after getting the boat inspected, then unloaded at the Casino resort, we put the boat in the water and went fishing..

Day 1 of pre-fishing was spent pn the north end starting out around Long Tule Point..Caught a bunch working Senlos and drop shots..Didn't catch any frog fish or jig fish but had a blast..Friday we went south, Kap was tossing a Wake Bait jr, I stuck mostly with the Senko, we caught a bunch again, just nothing larger than 4 pounds just as on day 1..I'll take that back I did catch a weed infested and water soaked lawn chair that weighed more than four pounds..It put up a fair fight, but I being the superb fisherman I am subdued it..I also managed to catch a smallie about 2 pounds in size..My first Clearlake smallie..

Saturday I went out with Dave Mayo and Matt of LL fame, had a great time and managed to put two fish in the boat..Dave was putting on a school for Matt and I and Matt put on a school on how to use a landing net..Man is that guy good, and fast too..

Saturday afternoon I went out with Dewayne and Aaron Hart..They showed me how to catch fish on jigs, but unfortunately I didn't learn very well and ended up blanking..I did OK at the raffle later that evening though..Now I have to buy a big bait rod and reel to handle all the swimbaits I won..

Sunday I went out with the Hipster, Mark put us on fish and kept us there all morning..But once again, nothing larger than 3 pounds..All in all a great couple days of fishing and having fun..

Just want to say thanks once again to all those involved in setting this event up..Also throwing a really big thank you to all the boaters I drew..And naturally I have to thank Kap for picking me up and taking me..It was great to see all the people once again..I had a great time and look forward to the next one..

mac

[Wolfeman]

Another great Rally. Big Thanks to Gator for doing a great job of being Mr. Everything. Excellent work Lee.
It's always great seeing all the NutCase that haven't seen each other for a year. Too many to name and I'm afraid I'd miss someone.
Thanks to my boaters for putting me on fish: Hipster on Saturday morning, and like most everyone else we found some fish but nothing to write home about. We'll get em next time Mark.
Saturday afternoon with Kap. We had a blast. This was the first time I'd meet Kap and hopefully we have some more chances to fish and hang out. Good times, Bro.
And my good buddy Miguel took me out on his Triton yacht. We always have a blast. I'm glad you were able to draw my name out of the hat.
Thanks to my buddy Hugo for dragging me along. He had an 8.4 on Friday. Sure wish he'd of gotta that one on Saturday or Sunday.
And one special thanks to all the Boaters. It's a great thing that you do by sharing your boat/time on the water with other NutCases; I'm sure I speak for all of the non-baoters when I say 'We appreciate it greatly'.
Already looking forward to next year.
- Rick Wolfe (Wolfeman)

[crash]

I want to apologize to all my fishing partners at the rally.... we all caught fish, but I wasn't able to put you on the big fish... we went to some of the spots where I was catching big fish a week ago, but they sure weren't biting this weekend... that's fishing!!!

Lee - great rally especially since you put a lot of it together solo!!!

Now for true confessions..... on Saturday morning I had some trouble with the brakes on my reel and asked my partner to cover the trolling motor while I worked on it. When I removed the side plate to adjust the brakes, the side plate ended up in the water (this was not one of my less expensive reels [starting with "S"......and ending with "o"!!] Luckily my partner didn't realize it and I wasn't going to nominate myself for the numb nut award.... Then in the afternoon I had to re-tie a lure and instead of throwing the cut end of the line to the water, I threw my sissors into the lake! Again, luckily my partner was talking about his plans for school, etc that he didn't realize what happened. That left me with Sunday morning with Rick... with no unlucky events... guess Rick is my lucky charm.

Again - thanks for a great rally... its always great to see old friends and make new ones each year. Hope you can find an alternate headquarter next year.

Great job.

Crash

[Mike]

I want to apologize to all my fishing partners at the rally.... we all caught fish, but I wasn't able to put you on the big fish... we went to some of the spots where I was catching big fish a week ago, but they sure weren't biting this weekend... that's fishing!!!

Lee - great rally especially since you put a lot of it together solo!!!

Now for true confessions..... on Saturday morning I had some trouble with the brakes on my reel and asked my partner to cover the trolling motor while I worked on it. When I removed the side plate to adjust the brakes, the side plate ended up in the water (this was not one of my less expensive reels [starting with "S"......and ending with "o"!!] Luckily my partner didn't realize it and I wasn't going to nominate myself for the numb nut award.... Then in the afternoon I had to re-tie a lure and instead of throwing the cut end of the line to the water, I threw my sissors into the lake! Again, luckily my partner was talking about his plans for school, etc that he didn't realize what happened. That left me with Sunday morning with Rick... with no unlucky events... guess Rick is my lucky charm.

Again - thanks for a great rally... its always great to see old friends and make new ones each year. Hope you can find an alternate headquarter next year.

Great job.

Crash

Hahahaha I dont know how many times I have taken a small fish off a crankbait with pliers and threw the pliers in the water instead of the fish

[TomAtkeson]

Thanks to Gator for putting up with me for two sessions back to back. We had fun. I think I had more fun netting that big frog fish than you did catching her! Thanks to Mr. Bonham for getting me out to see the deeper side of clear lake I had a great time fishing with you again sir.

Great to see old friends and meet some new ones I bought into the rally next year so I will see ya'll then!

[ash]

When can we expect them pictures Tom?

[Norv]

Martino,

No need to appologize for our fishing session on Saturday. I had a great time. It was great watching and listening to you and Miguel "talking" about the 10 pounder that his partner caught on "your" water!!! I thought you were joking about the two of you arguing about whether it's better to fish shallow or deep water. But, Miguel told me that the discussions get pretty intense at times.

I enjoyed watching you going around the dock on Sunday morning looking for the person that won the Mercury oil at the raffle so that you could get some extra oil for your motor.

Again it was great fishing with you and hope to see you on the delta or at next year's rally.


Norval Chan

[TomAtkeson]

Pictures should be available tonight or tomorrow morning. I'll get them up soon, I just have to get my dad to let me on his computer since my stuff is in New Orleans.

[Guy Kelley]

Rally !? What Rally !? Oh Yeah !! THAT RALLY !!!!

Man talk about it going by in a blur. It seemed that the whole thing lasted a second or two and then poof !! it was over !! TOO FAST MAN TOO FAST !!!

Picked up Tom Friday morning early and we were up to C/L at the limit out waiting for em to open for the inspection tag. Then to the hotel to launch, on the water by 9a:m, Tom knows a spot and we try it . pow a big blow up on a frog , he missed it and I trow in a fluke, the fish grabs it and the fight is on for about 30 sec and then he or she is gone. Time to check in for the reregistration. See gator and the rest of the NUTS, pay our dues, drink some cold ones, get the draw for Sat and its off to dinner and bed. Up early and Chad and I head to bass alley. Chad put a few in the live well and I move over to the bank. Toss a jig into the tulle's look at chad and next thing I know my line is going north at about sixty mph. Set the hook and up she comes, an 8 pound-er is dancing on the surface like some sort of demented ballerina. She heads for the bottom and around the boat a few times with me chasing after her as fast as I can go. Chad gets the net ready and she is heading up ! but she is one hot fish and doesnt like my idea of putting her in a net, and decided to head for shag rock with me in tow. goes out about 50 feet and just stops. turns around and head shakes .

Gives me the fin smiles and is gone. WHAT WAS THAT !!!!! all I got back was a empty jig and shaky knees !!!! Oh crap !!! The Big One that got away syndrome again !!!!! time to go in for lunch and afternoon draw. Weigh in my two minnows and draw a cutie name
Alexandria. a 16 year old from Fort Bragg who is at the rally with her Grand Paw & Grand Maw, Mom and Dad and little sister so she can fish the rally. She has a K-Mart special ugly stick spinning combo and a borrowed frog rod with a white frog on it from her morning partner. Plus her goodies bag, Thetas it ! So we head across the lake for my Frog water. Shes tossing the frog like mad and not getting bit. Me ? I get a few teasing blow ups but no takers. Shes frustrated, and I am Hot !!! its like 100 digress on the water. I pull out the drop shot rig and bait it up with a worm and give it to her. I am trowing frogs and swim baits. she catches a fish and then another and another and another. breaks off a big one and is asking me how to tie on a drop-shot rig, show her how and then she is kicking my can all over the lake. she has now culled about 20 fish and me I am just looking on as net boy.

Time to go in a for the afternoon weigh-in she weighs in her two 3 pounders and me I weigh in my one dink. hmmmmm , that's fishing, but she had a blast and was yahooing real loud every time we bounced over a boat wake at 60 mph. Well worth the whold trip just to see a little girl smile pretty and laugh every time she hooked one ! Watch Out Guys !!! If she keeps it up (fishing) she will be giving you a run for your money in a few years !!!

Its dinner time and buy a few raffle tickets, meet old friends and a few new ones, start of raffle, I am getting blurry eyed and decide to call it a day ! gave my raffle tickets too Alexandra and palm the $20.00 bucks back to her Dad she gave me. Shes talking to Mike D about fishing rods and reels he says wait a min and disappears. pops back with a old reel and rod he says he doesnt want anymore and gives it to her. WOW WAY TO GO MIKE !!!!! like that was way really worn out stuff you were handing her shoot man !!!!! hardly had a scratch on it and the rod was brand new !! yeah old dog . Her smile lit up the whole room when ya handed it to her. Next day she said she won a bunch of raffle stuff and sTony gave her a rod too. Way Cool Guys You have now converted a 16 year old kid to the dark side Next year when she is in your boat at the rally, Remember you have been warned. When she show es you how to fish and puts on a fishing demonstration and all you get to do is hold the net for her fish !

Norval and I went for broke the next morning and looked for the big one who got away from me on Sat, nope she wasnt there !!! but had a good one fishing puff ball jigs on the rock piles around Rattle Snake Island. Managed to land a few for the weigh in.

Said my good buys to you Nutcases and time to go home. Thanks to Tom Atkinson for driving home most of the way cause I was one tired puppy. AND A HUGE THANK YOU TO GATOR AND THE REST OF THE WESTERN BASS TEAM FOR THE WORK YOU DID ON PUTTING ON A GREAT RALLY !!!!! SEE YA ALL NEXT YEAR. G-MAN YOU TOO !!!

[Greg_Cornish]

It was good meeting you guy, sounds like you had fun win or lose.

[Norv]

Guy,

It was great fishing with you. Sure wanted to see you hook up again with the big one that got away on Saturday. That was amazing when you hooked up on your last cast of the day. I guess that shows that every cast counts!!!

I apologize for bouncing my jig off the side of your boat during one of my hook set practices.

Again thanks for the great time and see you on the delta or at next year's rally.

Norval Chan

[rrepp]

I would like to thank the boaters who I ended up fishing with, as well as Gator and anybody else whose work made this happen. i very much appreciate it. Gary Collins, Brian D, and Dick Brimmer were all very fun to fish with, i had a great time. since i have never fished a tourney so this was a good learning experience for me. i ended up with 13.5 lbs. thanks again to everybody who made it happen.
Bob

[Johnny C]

Bravo, another great time at Clear Lake. Totally different bite than the past. Geno and I caught a ton of fish from 25 to 35 feet deep on the drop shot. Want to thank Gator, Tony and all that gave Geno a cheer for his good finish. That was the most fish I have needled in two days and had rarely done it in the summer. Great seeing you all again.

[ironmanlu377]

i did not fish the rally but was fishing a club tourney on c/l went to my spot started fishing and then here comes a strotos right on my spot tell him we are in a tourney he says he is fishing the rally and commences to throw his bait eight inches from mine. Now there is always talk on these forums about ettiquite and manners on the water and here is one of our own guys doing exactly what we all say is not right Any way i got a 3lbr off that spot and they didnt get anything.just wanted to vent.

[Aaron Hart]

Once again I had a great time at the Rally. The fishing was pretty tough for me, but somehow I managed 10th place. I got real lucky and caught a 6.65 that ate my jig as I freed it from a snag, which helped tremendously. I'd like to thank my boaters Dick, Dewayne, and Brett for putting me on fish. Had some good laughs too, especially with Dewayne laying out a bunch of rules for Mac when he backlashed or missed a fish Saturday afternoon. That was comedy right there. And Lee, thanks for putting up with me and Sean and sharing your room with us. Anyways, thanks to everyone who helped out and put the event together and I'll see you all next year.

[green_monster]

Green Monster I see your wife SPANKED YOU BWWWWWWWWAHAHHAHAHHAA !!!! GREAT JOB MRS. Green Monster!!!!!!!

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just like to think of it as I was a darn good guide. In all seriousness, my wife just had it figured out. Last year I had a reaction bite dialed in and fished pretty fast and did really well and was able to pull off a 2nd place. However, by doing that I back seated her most of the weekend. This year I really wanted to make sure she caught some fish. I gave her a worm and just told her to work it slow, shake a bit, drag, reel in and cast again. By the end of the weekend I realized she was fishing REALLY slow, I mean casting and not doing anything for 30-60 seconds, then she'd real a couple times and let it sit again. She caught 3 fish each session and and had a fish over 4 in each one. I on the other hand caught a ton of fish both mornings but nothing over 3 pounds all weekend.

With all that said, I could not have asked for a better weekend. This is the one weekend a year I spend fishing with my wife for two days and to have her catch her PB on Saturday (5.4lbs) and then break it again on Sunday with a 6.26lber was incredible! She loved and it and even admitted by the end of the weekend, she "sorta" understood my obsession with tournament fishing.

Thanks again to Gator and Tony for hosting another great rally. I really enjoyed the whole weekend from catching up with guys from last year and meeting new nutcases. Kap, it was great to meet you and watch you and Mac rake in the raffle prizes. I appreciate the couple of swimbaits, I'll do my best to stick a toad with 'em.

We're really looking forward to next years rally! CL! CL! CL! CL!

[Hipster]

Justin,

That is Classic!!!!!!!! Nice Photo

Nice to Meet your "better half" Friday!!


I fish with the wife 75% of the time now that I do not tournament fish much and when the misses get's um that's what it is all about
good times.

Had a blast at the Rally hanging with Wolf, Hugo, Kap, Gator and Cooch but man that bite was better the month of June it seemed to get tough after July 6th.
Oh well at least Mac and I wacked um GOOD on Sunday morning!!
I think Cooch and Ken got some on Film Hipster setting the hook in Action

[Bill kizer]

I had a great time Thursday, except when I plugged the water pump on my boat. Cut my weekend very short.

So I ended up shooting the breeze on the Balcony with a few of the guys and got toasted.

Then had a great dinner at Angles where Mike D got me blasted on shooters of Tequilla.

Just call me tule Bender

[Kevin Evans - Kap]

I would like to thank my non boaters for putting up with me, Wolfeman, Hugo, Ken Simmons. I just wish I could of put you on better fish. I had a blast meeting all the nutcases and hanging out shooting the bull at the dinner table with Ash, Justin and Amy and Dick. Mac was raking in the goodies now, dont know what he will do with all his winnings though . Then you have the Hipster, MikeD, G-man, Gator, sTony, BrianD, Hub, Cooch, Dewayne, Steve Greene, The young guns, Aaron and Sean, Spookman and Geno the boy Wonder, Bill Kizer, Scott McClaskey and family, etc... and of course Mac and Guy... And anyone I missed..
This is truly a fun deal and I look forward to CL next year.

See ya around,
Kap

[MikeD]

Then had a great dinner at Angles where Mike D got me blasted on shooters of Tequilla.

I'm here to serve... sounds like a job done well. had a great time, lots of laughs, was fun. next year, same time, same place, better tequila.

Ash - anytime in the future when someone says "don't look" you know I'm going to snicker! had a great time buddy

my ride with the Hub Spinnah was memorable, but damned if we didnt figure out a good pattern, I just didnt execute on it well enough the rest of the weekend. That boy can chatter it up though!

got to fish Sat afternoon with fellow member of the now defunct Mother Lode Bass Anglers Dick Brimmer, we hadnt fished together since my early days of tournament fishing on a rainy day at Pedro. we sweated up a storm on saturday sitting in windless areas hunting for a bite, wish I would have laid into that one frog bite better, thanks Dick and good to see you again.

Sunday with Morgan was the day of missed bites for me, a frog blowup at the start, a shakey head miss, a breakoff on a skakey head and finally one rat on the dropshot. opportunities

where's that poll Gator?

and where is the winter rally??!? I'm ready to roll

[ash]

Then had a great dinner at Angles where Mike D got me blasted on shooters of Tequilla.

Ash - anytime in the future when someone says "don't look" you know I'm going to snicker! had a great time buddy

Mike if you would have looked, you would have hurled and I would have been the lock in for NumbNut no doubt.

It was great fishing with you, even though your wimpy delta hooks were no match for that Clear Lake Lava Rock. The bummer part is Hub Spinna was fishing pretty darn close to where we were and just slayed em there, I need to learn to be more patient.

See ya at the winter Rally or the LL event.

J

[sTony]

Well, another clear lake Rally is in the books and I had a blast as always. Got to fish a lot and hang out with some of the best folks I know.

I figure going into these rallys that if you can manage 8 pounds per session average you'll end up top ten if not top five.

Saturday morning I got the pleasure of getting my head handed to me by my back seater Dick McHenry. My game plan for the day was going to be fishing the creek/slough areas of the lake. That meant starting down at Cache Creek in the morning and fishing back to the 11AM weigh in at KVC. I missed fish after fish after fish and am lucky to manage up a squeaker fish while Dick throws that wacky rigged weightless Senko of his to get several nice fish and weighed in over 10 pounds for his best two. I had my chances and blew it and have given up a lot of weight on that average I was talking about. But it was a blast netting those fish for Dick, who caught his personal best while we were in the creek.

That afternoon I was going to execute part two of the plan to fish creek/slough areas so I went up to Rodman, knowing full well the bite was tough in there. I pull up to my first spot and throw out a frog and a monster fish moves up and takes it. One good dive and a jump in the air, head thrashing and my frog comes flying out back at me. I was heartbroke right there on the spot had to take a second to gather my emotions having gone from adrenaline pounding frog smashing action of a fish well over 5 to nada. I grabbed a kreature bait and throw back at the fish but there was no taker on it. I proceeded to fish a the bank in Rodman that I generally do with no bites at all. Took about 45 minutes of sweating and pinpoint casting for no bites and then I go back to the spot I had the big fish on and throw a frog back on her and she takes it again but this time was on for maybe two seconds longer before spitting the darned frog back at me.

This time I fired up the big motor and got out of there and head straight over to Holiday Harbor. Got a few fish in there in the afternoon during the prefish so I figured it couldn't hurt to try. I pitch right next to the wall in there and bamm, get nailed right away. Fight the fish for a bit and get her in my hands and she's probably close to a 5 pounder and I'm thinking cool, I got a chance to gt back in this. I cast back up to the same spot and a fish even bigger nails the kreature and makes a beeline for my boat. I do my best to keep her under control when the fish takes a hard left, hits the surface and throws my hook at me.

At this point I figure it just ain't meant to be and time is getting late so I head back to the weigh in and the fish weighs in at a little over 4.5 pounds.

Next morning I want to continue on the plan I was already dying with and that was fishing the back areas of the lake so I head into another slough with my draw partner Alexandra. She's as about as funny as a sixteen year old bass fishing teenage girl can get. I'm getting bit but still not hooking up on the fish with the kreature so I start fishing a frog and Alex does too. She was retying her frog when I get hit by a really good fish right in front of the boat on a black frog. I'm fighting this fish and she's getting the net and nabs this fish that I figure is at least 6 pounds. Then Alex starts getting blow ups on the frog that gets her really excited but we couldn't get her hooked into one. We got out of that slough and headed across the lake eventually winding up at Shag Rock where I get a couple of fish on extremely slow fished kreature in about 20 feet of water. Jam back to the weigh in and I get an 8.66 weight that puts me up towards the upper third of the field.

It was a whole lotta coulda's and shoulda's type Rally for me and was one of the most memorable I've ever had. It was a pleasure to fish with both Dick and Alexandra.

And I was dead on with the 8 pound a session average as 24 pounds would have won this year. Somehow I gotta get myself back to that number for one of these things, hahaha.

And for all those that attended the Rally, 90% or better of the thing was put on by Lee Hines. He did a great job, ran a fun rally and I thank him so much for it.

Now we just gotta figure out what to do next year!!!

sTony

[green_monster]

Now we just gotta figure out what to do next year!!!

CL CL CL CL CL CL CL

[Morgan]

I sure wish I would've planned a longer stay. I was planning on being a non-boater, but Gator asked about bring my boat due to the ratio. Good advice, as I got in a little extra fishing.

I got on the water Friday at 11AM and tried lots of stuff that I just wanted to try (you know, the stuff that you buy but never gets wet). No luck, so I'm ready to apologize to all my draw partners.

Sat AM I draw Alexandria. She has just one rod, an Ugly stick with a frog on it with 10 lb mono. I take her to a spot that she chose and she gets three blowups and can't connect. I set her up with a flippin stick with braid and a frog of her choosing. She hadn't worked a baitcaster, but sure learned fast. Still no takers. I move around and then take her to a place where we could see the fish and have her set up with a texas rig with a worm of her choice, but only I got one of those and we left four behind after runnin them away. I picked up another dropshotting.

As it got to the last 15 minutes, she still didn't have anything in the live well, so I took her to the springs and gave her my dropshot rod with my worm. She calls my name and is just standing there with her rod bent over and this huge smile. I thought she was hung up, but she finally got one. What a great gal. I loaned her my frog rod for the rest of the tourney as she really wanted to connect .

The second session, I drew my roommate, Michael Seewald and he taught me so much about the frog. I have yet to bring a frog fish on board, but this time I got one out of the cheese and about two foot across. He really has it down and I thank him for the lessons.

Sunday AM I drew Mike D and had a blast. He's such a positive easy going partner, and we just joked around all morning. When you're havong that much fun, it doesn't seem like a tourney. Thanks Mike. Word of the day 'Opportunities'

Biggest thanks to Gator and everyone that contributed to the event. We all really appreciate what you do! I know the Casino dealt a dirty trick, but hopefully it can be worked out next year. I like the parking, both on and off the water, hookups, closeness to Lakeport, the meal Sat night was great (food in the casino wasn't too good, though) and the rooms right there.

I'm in it next year.
Morgan

[sean alarid]

OHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! What a great time again!
I want to first thank Gator and Tony for putting this great event on. Then all of the sponsors for making the raffle possible. Then Gator again for putting up with me and Aaron Harts crap.
It was great to see everyone again. Some of you I havent seen for a long time.
Now as far as the fishing goes I now have become 1 fish wonder! But I did have a great time all 3 sessions. I lost some good swimbait fish that where not cominting to it. Got some frog and jig fish though. Then the 3rd sessions my 2 biggest came on a senko.
I like to thank my boaters Brett, Miguel and Dewayne for dealing with me in all the sessions.
As far as you Dewayne... you put a hole new look into my eyes about clearlake. I never new there was hot chicks up there!
Once again its good to see everyone and I hope to see you all next year!


P.S. At least I beat cooch!

Sean Alarid 12.43
Andy Cuccia 12.01

[g-man]

L2W!! Bragging gets you no where!

[tunaman]

That boy can chatter it up though!

Must have took his meds that day - argh! Good thing for you!

Hehehe...where ya at, Obi Hub?!?

Roger

[tunaman]

I pull up to my first spot and throw out a frog and a monster fish moves up and takes it. One good dive and a jump in the air, head thrashing and my frog comes flying out back at me. I was heartbroke right there on the spot had to take a second to gather my emotions having gone from adrenaline pounding frog smashing action of a fish well over 5 to nada. I grabbed a kreature bait and throw back at the fish but there was no taker on it. I proceeded to fish a the bank in Rodman that I generally do with no bites at all. Took about 45 minutes of sweating and pinpoint casting for no bites and then I go back to the spot I had the big fish on and throw a frog back on her and she takes it again but this time was on for maybe two seconds longer before spitting the darned frog back at me.

I heard there's this guy named Bobby that might be able to straighten you out... HAR!

Sorry about your bad luck, and sorry I wasn't there this year. I'm really hoping next year works out better... can't believe BD, OBI Hub, Scott and maybe Gary were the only local representatives from the South... what a Motley crew!!!

Seriously though - I heard you did an outstanding job, as did Gator, so kudos to you guys once more!

Roger

[Brian D.]

who ya calling motley.

[Johnny C]

I like to start by saying my rally week as realy in jepordy. Four weeks prior I found out I had gout a three bulging dics. So after three and half weeks in bed, cancelled guide trips, and missing the 100% at McClure I took a guide trip in the smoke and 108 degree heat on Melones. With the help of some pain killers I made it through and the trip was on. But I was going to have to take it easy and I prayed the lake would be flat.

Saturday the 12th we head for the lake to our stay at the Carraige House in Lakeport. By best friend David Hill (sdisturber) is already at the lake fishing and will be staying with us through Tuesday. We stop at Clear Lake outdoors where Dave Brabec has my boat sticker waiting. I load up on tackle (none of which I ever used) and then to Safeway for groceries. Check in to our house and unload. Four o'clock and I am ready to go fishing for a few hours.

Luanch at Library Park and I can already see the weed mess. It is very smokey out and that looks good. I head for the little harbor by the Lagoons and throw the frog, buzzbait and senkos. Nothing there, so it's through the weeds into the lagoons. The weeds look bad in there except for the dead center. Miss a small one on a frog and then I try the senko. I finally get bit on a small underwater wall and break him off. Re-tie and get another bite and my first fish is a five. Head for the bay between Landsend and Long Tule point. Lots of weeds here that are green and fifty yards of cheese out from the tules. There are lots of boats in here and I see them catching fish on the outer edges. I finally catch a small one on a Yozuri. I swith to the buzzbait and its on. I get ten fish between two and four pounds. Try the Corinthian side and nothing. Have about twenty pounds and dicide to go in and eat. Dave is at the house and tells me that he and David Windmiller did good down south and they had cuaght back to back sevens in Jago Bay.

Sunday I go out with my girlfriend and Geno goes with Dave. I start at a rock pile on Hwy. 20 and get a 2 1/2 my first cast on a jig. Hit some weedbeds along the Hwy. and the docks at Kona Tyee and not a bite. Over to Buckingham beach and spot several fish cruising, including an eight, but can't gey bit. Move to the bay behind Anderson and get a few small ones off the docks on jigs. At this time I notice there is nobody on Anderson reef or Glenhaven? This sure seems odd so I get on the reef at Anderson and get one bite on the jig but he dosen't eat it. The lake is gin clear and the smoke is gone. So I head to the deep docks south of Windflower and can't believe the weeds. Hell if those fish were under the docks I would see them in this clear water. Give up on the jigs and get one on a Zappu head trick worm about 18 feet deep. Move to Honeymoon and try jigs deep. Zip. Meet up with Dave and Geno at one o'clock and Dave says he got another seven at Long Tule on a vixen with a couple of fours also. He tells me his dock bite dried up down south and he and geno got fish drop shotting some rock piles in Pirates and Monitor. We discuss the situation and dicide the clearing smoke and the aproaching full moon may have them deep. We dicide that we need to hit the deep rocks at Rattlesnake. This was the ticket and we catch lots of fish between 3 and six pounds and head back to the bay were I buzzed the fish. Dave gets two threes and a four on the Vixen and I get a few on a basstrix.

Monday Geno dosen't want to fish so Dave and I head to some tule points near the county park. The morning shallow bite on top is slow, but Dave gets a couple on the Vixen. Dicide to fish Henderson next. Dave is cranking and I am throwing the jig. He gets nothing and I get five from 2 1/2 to 3 1/2. We fish all the way to the back of Horseshoe and I get one small one on the jig. Time to head south to Pirates. I get two more on the drop shot about twenty feet deep. Monitor is next, I get one and Dave catches six with none over two. Hit a weed coverd hump were Dave caught some topwater fish Saturday and nothing. Motor to the weed beds near Lake Place and I get a four and a small one on a basstrix. One small keepr off Bass Alley and we strike out on the points in Jago were Dave caught some swimbat fish. Blank on a few more spots and head back to Long Tule for a few on the Basstrix. Seems like this area is slowing.

Tuesday Geno is with me and Dave is in his boat. We head for Rocky Point were Geno catches one on his first cast. I miss a big one on a frog and Dave catches a three on a LV500 outside the weedline. Geno and I move out there and get six or seven. Geno thows up on the pole and hooks a five plus and gets it to the boat where Dad grabs the line and it comes off. Man he was mad. Dave gets a couple more and a catfish. Try a couple more spots in Lakeport and can't get bit. Dave heads to Lucerne and we go to the Ciago dock. I finally git one on a spook. While fighting him another gets on and there are fifty with them. Then they are gone. Move to some weeds near Hwy. 20 and G gets two on the basstrix. There just isn't any size. We meet up with Dave and he says he cranked about ten fish off the weedline over fifteen feet of water and then the sun shut them off. Nothing big so we head back to Hwy. 20 and can't get any jig fish. We head back down to Rattlesnake and this time we fish the Box Car rock piles. We fish several rock piles there and we are catching lots of fish in the two to four pound range in 22 to 27 feet deep. Mark a bunch of waypoints and head in at 2 o'clock so Dave can go home. I go back out at 4:30 by myself and decide to try the lagoons again with the crankbait this time. Get crushed on my first cast and it's on. The fish are stacked in the only living weeds. I catch 20 fish with many three plus pounders.

Wednesday I sleep in and go out in the afternon for few hours and get a five on a senko near Rocky Point where I missed the frog fish. The crankbait fish are gone. Try swimbaits along weedlines near Lakeport to no avail. Run to Swimbait Alley and get two on a spook and head in.

Thursday I meet Richard Pounds at the ramp and he tells me it's been tuff since the smoke cleared and the moon is getting full. I head over to the Lucerne area and start cranking the weeds and just get one small one. Catch a few more rats pithching jigs on the weed line and thats it. Fish the Nice area and it's a weedy mess with no bites. So off to Rodman. Plow through a half mile of weeds to get in. Fish the bridge, nothing. Water here has color so I can finally break out the flippin rod. Get a 3 1/2 right off and then nothing. Decide not to fish up the slough arms and head back to Long Tule at 11 am. Get a small one right off on a spook and miss a big one minutes later. As I am working the weed patches I start to see bass swiming about six feeet deep in 12 feet of water. Break out the drop shot and get ten fish with a couple of 3 pounders. Give Geno a call at the house and tell him they are biteing and I go pick him up. Well when we come back the bite is about done and we get a couple more. We move ove to Quercas point and fish way off shore. We spot a couple of sixes in the grass. Geno catches five two pounders on the Vixen and then it dies. Geno says why don't you take me to the lagoon fish. So we go over there and pound on about a dozen off them and go in.

Friday I am going to check Rattlesnake in the morning. I run into Bob Myskey at the dock and he tells me it is tuff for him too. I start on the Island throwing a BBZ and get one fish about four to follow but dosen't commit. As I come around the Island I meet up with Mr. Curry, a local stick who caught a 40 limit on Wednesday and 32 lbs. yesterday. He has a 5 1/2 already on a wakebait and then gets a seven on a senko. Tells me he dosen't fish weekends and that I should fish this spot. He is a great guy and we B.S. for an hour. I go check one hump and I get a six on a jig first cast. Things are looking good. I move over to Sunset and run into an old friend Calvin Berry. Tells me he caught a four pond smallie here yesterday on a tube. We B.S. for over an hour and catch several small fish there. He tells me he has a Sunday club outing so I tell him to join me on the piles. Well man I have wasted the whole morning but it was relaxing. I check some areas between M&M point and the island and I find some isolated weed clumps on my meter in ten feet of water. All these have a couple of crank fish on them with nothing over two. I go check some rock piles on the south bank of the Rattlesnake arm and get some more two pounders and these fish are in 30 feet. Head up to throw spooks off some Glenhaven docks and get a five to follow again on a seawall. Run into Jonathan Ashcraft near Glenhaven Reef and shot the **** and head in to get Geno and check in for the tournament. We get checked in and I discuss our plan with Geno. He wants to go to Rocky Point but I convince him to put our eggs in one basket and go to Rattlesnake.

Saturday we get to the Island at 5:35 PM. A club outing is coming out of the Oaks and they all blow by. I decide to try a Kong this morning hopeing they would take a smaller wakebait. I get five blowups but no takers. They didn't look that big. Geno is striking out on the Vixen. After 15 minutes we switch to crankbaits and we each get our two fish. We each have one over three. Time to hit the rock piles. A local guy is on the best one so we give him plenty of room and hit another one further out. The guy gets a five and a four on jigs where I got the six. We switch to jigs and get five or six fish then it dies. Time for the drop shot. We start catching fish after fish in 23 fet of water. We catch them all the way till we had to leave. I have culled 7 threes and we can't get a good bite. They got to be there. We hit a couple of seawalls on the way in and nothing. I have 6.82 and G has 6.69. Man I was dissapointed in the size. Gator has 13 plus, but alot of weights are low.

I decide we are going right back there. We both have our two fish in two drops. The average fish is smaller. Go to where Mr. Curry was fishing and I get four on senkos and they are all two's. Go to the box cars and we are on them again , but they are all 2 1/2's. We go to weigh in and Geno has over 6 pounds again and I have 5.52. What happened to the afternoon big fish. Gator weighs five something and still has the lead. We are still in this.

Sunday we get to the Island at 5:40 and my old buddy Dick Brimmer is there. He says where have you been? Sleeping? Today there is no blow ups on top. Geno hooks the first dink of the week and I crank a crappie. Rockpiles now!!!..We move out there and Calvin is fishing there and catching fish. We move out behind him and the bite is on. We are catching fish after fish from 28 to 35 feet deep. I am having to needle every cull fish for me and Geno. The fish are more plentiful then yesterday, but smaller. We keep catching them till ten and I am wore out. I have around six pounds and G might have five. We leave and go to Braidos to frog the floating docks. The water is gin clear in there and full of grass. Dam, I am out of here. We head to the weedy bay by Long Tule. No spook bites and we each drop shot a barely keeper. It's now 11:10 and Geno says lets go to the lagoons. I have not been in there at mid day, but heck it sounds good to me. We ge to the hot spot and I get a small keeper my first cast. Then I get a two. Geno yells got one. I look up and a fish close to five is doing back flips. I say to myself, God let that fish stay on that crank bait for him. He plays him like a pro and he's in the net. His smile is breaking his face. I get one about 3 1/2 on a senko off that underwater wall. We get a few more small ones and we have five minutes to weigh in. Geno weighs seven something and I get six and change. He is so happy he beat Dad. But I think I may have been happier for him.

Thanks again to Gator, sTony, and all the nutcases. That's my story and I am stickin to it.

[Norv]

Johnny C,

Great story.

Geno did have a pretty big smile when Gator announced that he had beaten dad.

See you at the next rally,

Norval Chan