Congratulations Troy Linder & Bill Siemantel...

[JJCJR]

...for besting a field of 188 teams at the 2010 American Bass/Ranger Boat North Team Classic at Clear Lake this past weekend.

Big Tuna Bill, Wendy Toshihara and I would like to thank Bill Siemantel for being with us on Rod & Reel Radio Sunday evening discussing just what the guys did to best the field of 188 boats with a 44.00 winning weight.

If you would like to listen to Bill just click on www.Rodandreelradio.com in the next copy days and you can hear our interview with him. The interview goes on at approximately 6:38 or 38 minutes into the second hour of the broadcast.

Again congratulations to Troy and Bill and thank you for sharing your experience with us all.

Hopalong

[Jim V.]

Tuned in late - it was a great interview. Didn't realize the show was on the radio. Was looking for the football game when I went to the store & came across it. Heard the discussion & sat outside the store till it was over.

[JJCJR]

Thanks for listening Jim,

The show is more of a guest run show than caller directed. I want to thank Bill for being on with us. I got a hold of him after we had started on the air. He had just gotten Home from the tournament and was about ready to sit down to have dinner with the family. We gave him 40 minutes to eat and than only 12 minutes of air time (for dessert). That's like attempting to put 20 pounds of mud into five pound sack. Bill did a great job explaining how he and Troy had prefished Clear lake, what their strategy was and what they did to take the event. Hard to get that accomplished with Bill in 12 minutes but he did a great job.

Next Friday (AM1050 11-12noon) I hope to have John Rowe - Superintendent from Lake Perris talking about lake operations and the lake's new winter schedule. John should also be on with us come Sunday evening and if I get lucky, we'll get Paul Bailey on to talk about his taking of the AOY in the WON Pro/Am Circuit.

Thanks again for listening. Hope you become a regular.

[Jerry Fournier]

Congrats guys great job!

[mark poulson]

Congrats guys great job!

+1 Luck is the residue of hard work, and those guys work hard.

[GKramer]

Never good when an outsider has to travel long distance to fish on a strange lake against the locals. Oops.

gk

http://www.kramergonefishing.com

[bump]

Awesome job guys

CONGRATULATIONS

[Bill Siemantel]

Troy and I just wanted to drop by and say thanks. One of the hardest tournaments I have ever fished. Here it is in a nutshell.

A Helping Hand



On a recent trip to Clear Lake, California, my fishing partner Troy Lindner (son of legendary angler Al Lindner) and I were fishing the American Bass Association (ABA) Tournament of Champions. We found the conditions at Clear Lake to be one of the toughest seen in many years and looking back at the number of teams that left after the first days weigh-in proved the point.

Troy and I broke down Clear Lake into 3 sections, the North end (by Rodman Slough) where the last 3 big tournaments where won, the entire arm of Rattle Snake (from Kono Tayhee point to Wind Mill), and all of Redbud. We had found the big population of bass at Rodman, but my style of fishing does not include combat fishing and bumper boats. With the previous weeks tournaments we saw over 60 boats scrape gel-coat to fish just a few small grass clumps that were holding the right quality of fish. The following days of pre-fish we found ourselves fishing MILES of shoreline with no fish of quality size and finally putting a limit together after 20 hours on the water. This didn’t play into the 8-hour rule within the one-day tournament time; so we place our concentration in Redbud and the area know as Bass Alley.

I have come to rely that when conditions turn tough the basic tools of the trade and known techniques are the best places to start on any body of water. Anyone that has fished Clear Lake knows that rattle baits are just a go-to lure to catch a fish, and my lure choice was a Spro Aruku shad with 10 pound test Maxima line, Lamiglas XC 724 Senko Special rod, and Shimano Chronarch 100. Trust me, I had my box of RoboWorms, 4” and 6” BBZ-1, and every other lure known to man ready and willing to play in the game. Troy also brought a case of Rapala ice jigs that caught some of the biggest catfish I have hooked into in years and some key bass during pre-fish and backed up my Aruku shad with his Clack-in-Rap.

Everything took a turn for the better a few days before the tournament started while Troy and I were working around some big fish over at the corner of Sea Breeze Marina.
I noticed a group of people on one of the docks over 20’ of water dropping a bare hook under the dock. The first thing out of my mouth was “ Don’t tell me you dropped your rod in the water? ” yep, my buddy sure did. After fishing for 6 hours without a single bite I was going to catch something! I had a new Aruku shad tied on and ask one of the guys where about did he think his rod dropped? “ Right under the dock here in 20 feet”. First cast and guess what? I lost my new bait! Oh well, I tied on a treble hook and sinker and Troy and I started to tear apart the dock with the precision of two finally trained doctors. Out of curiosity I asked if this was an expensive rod? “Nope, it is a custom rod. My buddy only has one arm and I built the rod to keep him out here fishing with me”. Troy and I looked up and sure enough the guy was missing most of his left arm. I pride myself in noticing things and this one really caught me be surprise. I had to get this guys rod and get him back fishing again. Well after about 15 minutes of trying every angle possible I finally got hit and pulled in the best catch of the week. Going a little over 5’ long and weighing in at a whopping 1.5 pounds we boated the trophy and handed it off the gentleman. Right away the wife came over and offered us a beer (most of my friend know I do not drink) I said no thanks and started down the bank. They shouted out as we trolling motored away- for your good deed you guys are going to win the tournament this weekend! I looked at Troy and said I wish it would be that easy, help someone in need and be repaid by good fortune.

This is when good fortune turned up, we left there and headed back down to the Redbud area and started to really put a game plan together. This coming weekend rain was in the forecast; along with it was a float tube tournament and opening of duck season. As we watched boats work the area we calculated everything we could on how the fish and environment would reposition everyone in the next few days. We came across a lonely dock and noticed some bait flush and a nice boil. Troy hooked up with a nice 5-pound bass on his Clack-in-Rap and we stopped and I went to work breaking down all structure and cover elements. This is the moment where the BBZ concepts shine and doing just a little homework pays big dividends.

I have always preached that fishing up hill, working the Top-Middle-Bottom, creating a funnel, doing a direction change at key locations, and letting the bass think that he is in control of his own environment (you are not tricking him to eat, but he is eating under his own will). After about 10 minutes it seemed that I had very little to work with, no grass in the key area, no true break line, no rocks, but a lonely 6’ dock that was 1’ over the top of the water with a whopping depth of 1.7’ by the two posts that supported the dock. The posts were back about 3’ from the docks edge; at the tip of the front of the dock the bottom dropped to 2.5’, that was it in a nut shell. Sometimes you will find yourself scratching your head on what the heck is keeping the bass here, but do not over think this one. They are and that’s all you need to know.

A few month back I picked up a new sponsor Power-Pole and it’s one tool everyone needs to take a very close look at. Without them I would not have been able to lock down my boat in the exact spot and make the perfect cast. If I was going to make an up-hill approach, create a funnel, do a directional change, and work the TMB I need to be in complete control. I had to place my Basscat in 1.5’ of water 30 yards to the side of the dock, lock dock the Power-Poles, make a perfect cast and mend my line so it would go under the dock, and then have my Aruku shad land in 2.5’ of water. While on my knees I would work the bait uphill (2.5’ to 1.7’), create a funnel against one of the two poles (spot on spot was a 2’ by 4’ area), do a directional change while working the TMB, and then letting the bass do his thing by eating the bait.

The key to this tournament was giving a helping hand and taking the time to help someone out. As I was leaving the area of the one armed fisherman and his custom rod a few things ran through my mind. One was that we absolutely knew his rod was under that dock, and two was if we hit the right angle I was going to catch it. Though it may have been in 20’ of water my concept of the TMB never changes. That dock we found in Redbud was no different even though the water may have been 1.7 foot in depth it still had a TMB and second we knew that there were bass down there. We just had to find the right angle. In life you will find out that for every action there is a reaction, and the action that Troy and I took to give a helping hand for someone else’s trophy turn into a trophy for us within the next few days. There is a lot going on while you fish or just in life, pay attention and see what it may have in store for you.

In the following two days Troy and I led day one with 22.88 and then followed it up with a 21.12-pound limit for day two. While the majority of the bass came on the Aruku shad, other key fish found their way to the scales with the help of no other than a RoboWorm 6” Oxblood Light worm and a custom 6” BBZ-1 slow sink model with a top hook system. Troy stayed true to his Rapala baits and was looking the part for opening duck season with his Fishouflage gear, as Troy says, “ Its for the love of our sport and our tournament”. Also a special thanks goes to Power-Pole, Basscat Boats, Lamiglas rods, Team Davies Tear Shot, Maxima Line, Spro, Gamakatsu, RoboWorms, Pro’s Soft Bait Glue, Peregrine 250, Wire2fish.com, WileyX, Lowrance, Shimano, Team LiftOff, and http://www.thebbz.com

Until next time “ Keep it in the BBZ’

Bill Siemantel

[Homer]

Way to represent SoCal. You two show that you dominate fishing, not just a lake. Congratulations on another new boat.
Take care,
Mike

[Kevin Evans - Kap]

Nice,
Thanks Bill for sharing the indepth report. A great job well done and a Congrats on your and Troy's win.

A great read and I wish more folks would write up their days on the water as well.

BBZ all the way,

Kap

[CN]

Nice post Bill and congrat's on the win. I was watching one of Al's show and he made the comment that he comes out to California to pre-fish and just fish with his son Troy and that these are some of the toughest Lakes to fish compared to the rest of the Country.

[sTony]

Thanks for the story and Congratulations to you and Troy on the win!!!!

sTony

[MrGambit]

BIG CONGRATS Guys way to fish hard and strong, and God bless you both for the helping out fisherman in need, the story is truly made for TV, I do feel you and Troy should have your on TV series to show how battle the tuff conditions we all face out here on Tourney days, I know it would be great for our sport,

[mark poulson]

BIG CONGRATS Guys way to fish hard and strong, and God bless you both for the helping out fisherman in need, the story is truly made for TV, I do feel you and Troy should have your on TV series to show how battle the tuff conditions we all face out here on Tourney days, I know it would be great for our sport,

But Troy will have to fish with a bag over his face.