Hey walt, there is always next time. The fishing will probably be pretty tough but I will try and just let it happen. Any day fishing clearlake in a pro's boat is a good day.I'll see you there.I hope it is not too wet out.

Looks like I get my wish of getting to brave whatever weather comes at us in the next few days and go mix it up with the pros. It should be a lot of fun.I hope that fellow member sramos has had the same luck in securing a back seat for what promises to be a very exciting and hard to fish tournament.I have talked to quite a few pros and while some are finding fish others are struggling to fill a limit.I just hope to do well. I will let you all know how I do and try to get some pics up here for you as the days progress.Thanks all Mike.

Thanks for the information Ed. I got in touch with the Flw headquarters this morning and found out that I am fifth on the wait list so my I should make it into the tourney.I am very exited to do my first big name tournament in four years. I hope that I can put all of the fishing knowledge that I have gained from this site and my experience to good use out there on the lake when it counts. Thank you for the good wishes. Got four fish today on the same lure that I was using yesterday and missed three bites. I have to stop doing that if I am going to have any chance in the tourney.

 Well the FLW guys are starting to pour in and the weather was just bad enough to make me doubt taking out my little boat so, I decided to stick to the shore around the launch ramp in the oaks. I fished for about three hours dragging a twin tail lure on the bottom real slow. I mean real slow. I was rewarded with three real decent fish from one and a half to two and a half pounds. My first shore fish of the year. So there is hope.It is starting. On a side note I am in the same"boat" as fellow member sramos, as I have been signed up(paid in full) as a co-angler for the stren since before the deadline and I am still on the waiting list so ditto for me,if any pros would consider signing up with a co-angler, I would be honored if you would do me the courtesy of registering me as a co-angler and guaranteeing me a spot.I can be reached at suanmarlowe77@yahoo.com. Thank you and good luck to you all, Mike

 You have to buy the "Gold" membership and pay your entry by the 11th of this month. Entry for a co-angler is $325 and the membership costs $35. Other than that you just have to be at konocti at 5:30 am on the 5th and 6th of march and you are good to go, blast -off is at 6:30. The rules are all on the FLW website. If you should make it to the third day(only the top ten pros and co-anglers fish the third day) then blast-off is at Red-bud.Pretty cool.

 Well it sure is quiet on the board. Is anyone fishing? I went out yesterday for about four hours. I am on a jumbo minnow kick right now for some reason (probably because I love to catch fish and not just sit in the cold). I brought out six minnows and managed five fish from one to three pounds. No pictures as I decided to share a soda with my camera phone the other day and it did not seem to like the flavor. I got signed up for the upcoming FLW tournament in march yesterday on the co-angler side so it looks like I will have to go back to figuring out how to nail those bass on the artificials again for the rest of the month. I will keep you all updated on how the fishing progresses this month.

 Thank you knotglilty. My kids go fishing with me very often. Last fall I was able to find the shad running in the cove at wigeon bay and my kids were able to hook, reel in, and net bass caught on live shad without my help at all. They are 3 and five years old and I am one proud dad.

I finally talked my wife into going with me on my little boat.The weather was perfect and the water was like glass. Are you sure it is january? We fished for five hours with jumbo minnows and the kids outfished me two to 0. My five year old daughter caught a very nice 5lb 10 oz bass,and my three year old son caught a very decent 2-3 lb bass. It was a wonderful day with the family. Here is a pic of my daughters big catch.

   Went out at noon on sunday and decided to make a run up to shag rock, with the weather being so nice. when I arrived I found two guys fising minnows off the point. I hung around bouncing a jig off the bottom to no avail. Saw the guys with minnows catch a coulpe decent fish and after a couple hours I got a little bored so I started to head home. I stopped at a well known rock pile straight out from wigeon bay and was able to knock a couple nice two pounders on a tube bait. I went to start my motor up and circle around to make another drift when my engine died and would not start up again. I was all out of trolling motor battery power and I could see the dock about a mile away. So up to the front of the boat with my paddle I went. Now picture if you will a rather large man in the front of a 12 foot aluminum boat paddling for his life. Yeah it was funny! I made it about a half a mile when a bass boat on his way in stopped and towed me the rest of the way in. I didn't even have to flag him down, he just pulled up and asked if I needed a tow. I thought this was very nice of him and I hope to see more of this kind of behavior out of my fishing brothers out there on the lake. If you try it a couple times you will find that it makes you feel good to practice random acts of kindness. Hope you enjoy this story and Happy holidays to you all.

Nice fish. Good pictures.

 Does anyone know what the scheduled date for the clearlake bassmasters bass derby is this year? I checked their website and it says "to be held saturday, october 2008." If anyone knows which saturday I would really like to know, thank you. Heading out for a few hours fishing this morning. I will let you all know how it goes.
 

No. Surprisingly,she was a very clean  fish, other than a few small red blotches near the tail it was flawless. I almost hated having to slice the upper lip to put it on the scale. No hook marks  at all. There is a lot of bait balls forming over here. The other one that I caught today coughed up a bass fingerling.Most of the fish we have been catching have come on "baby bass" wacky worms, or green w/ blk flake. I did get one to pop my zara spook out of the water today, which made me very excited.

 I forgot to mention that included at no extra charge is a picture of my incredibly ugly mug. I usually have to take pics while I hold the fish out,guess that is one benefit of having another person on the boat.

Been low on funds so I have been sticking close to home to save gas and time. Fishing has been slow, but I have seen many large schools of minnows and fry gathering around the inlets and coves. Launched this morning around 10 o' clock out of the clo public ramp. Fished for three hours with topwater, wacky worms, tubes and crankbaits before I got my first bite on the wacky worm. A nice one and a halfer.Lot of work for one fish though. Iwas about to call it for the day when I decided to fish one last spot on my way back to the ramp. A ploe that marks some rocks in the middle of the lake. Decided to bounce a rootbeer tube off the bottom. Turned out to be a good decision as I was about to reel in I bumped against something that felt like a rock. When I reeled on it however it started to rip drag straight down. I turned to my fishing buddy and said it's a catfish. About ten seconds later it started to head for the surface and I said"BASS!!!!" The pig came up and tried to jump but I lowered my rod while still keeping the tension and all it could do was shake it's head on the surface, and what a head! Well to  make a short story long it was a blast and we got it to the boat. Spring scale said it was a little better than 8 pounds,but I think it lies. Only two fish on the day but one was the right fish which made it all worth it.Hope the fishing picks back up soon though. Good luck everybody.

 It is time to get some catfishing on. The weather should be much better than what we had to deal with last year. I am so excited, I wet my pants. Good luck to everybody. See you at the weigh tables! P.S. My name is" lurcats "for the weekend. I am not a very good  fisherman so I am just lucky that I am a master baiter.LOL.